THE HEROIC ANZAC.
FORCES THAT STIRRED THE WORLD IN THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGNS--FAMOUS AS
SAPPERS--THE BLASTING OF MESSINES RIDGE--TWO YEARS TUNNELING--30,000
GERMANS BLOWN TO ATOMS--1,000,000 POUNDS OF EXPLOSIVES USED--TROOPS THAT
WERE TRANSPORTED 11,000 MILES.
When the final history of the war is written, and the years have passed
into ages, the story of the Anzac will form a brilliant passage in the
book of nations. The Anzac in the campaigns at Gallipoli, the
Dardanelles, and in Flanders served England with a loyalty and heroism
not excelled by any other force. And what were the Anzacs? They were the
soldiers of Australia and New Zealand. Let A represent Australia, N.Z.,
New Zealand, and A.C., army corps, and you have the basis of the word
Anzac.
Generally in the news dispatches, the Anzacs have been referred to as
Australians. They are described as fearless, daring and fierce fighters,
whose presence added pep to every engagement in which they participated.
No more picturesque group has ever been written into the history of
armies. Composed of men who were bushrangers, cattlemen, miners and
hardy outdoor workers, many of whom served in Egypt, India and wherever
the British flag floats, their character is indicated by the fact that
they have been at times called the "Ragtime Army."
The description of the landing of these troops at the Dardanelles, where
in a rain of artillery fire, they dashed into the Turkish trenches, is
one of the most thrilling of the war. With the shells from the ships
falling upon the Turkish forces the Anzacs chased the Turks step by step
inland, engaging in the most desperate hand-to-hand encounters.
Perhaps the story of that first battle might have been different had not
Turkish reinforcements appeared upon the scene. As it was the British
men of Anzac were temporarily driven back, retiring with terrible loss.
For hours the Australians engaged in solid fighting through a broken and
hilly country, digging at night to establish entrenchments, with a
renewal of the defense at daybreak, and then repeating the program. This
is what the Australians and New Zealanders did, living upon short
rations the while.
In all of the campaigns in which the Anzacs have participated their work
as sappers has been a feature. Sappers, by the way, are those men who,
in modern warfare, burrow in the earth, planting mines, digging
trenches, dugouts and fortifications. The Australians are fitted for
this work for a large percentage of them had civil experience in the
mines, and on extensive contract and excavation work.
AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND SAPPERS.
Probably one of the most effective attacks of the English against a
German stronghold in Belgium was made possible through the work of the
Australian and New Zealand sappers. That was the blowing up of the
Messines Ridge in June, 1917. In this action the Anzac shone in a manner
that can never be forgotten.
On June 7, 1917, the British, with one terrible stroke, tore asunder the
strong German position south of Ypres. This stroke was in a little
corner of Belgium, where the armies of the Allies had successfully
outgeneralled the enemy for two and a half years.
During almost two years of this time several companies of Australian,
New Zealand and British sappers were busily but silently engaged in
mining the hills of the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge, on which were the
guns of the Germans which had been raking the troops of the Allies all
this time. Nineteen great mines which contained a total of 1,000,000
pounds of ammonite upon their completion, had been dug into the vitals
of these hills. Great charges of this new and powerful explosive had
been placed in the mines nearly one year before their completion, yet no
one except those actually engaged in the work knew of it. The secret was
kept and the troops of Australia and New Zealand worked directly beneath
the great German fortifications.
Then came the crucial moment. At exactly 3.10 o'clock in the morning of
June 7, the whole series of mines were discharged by electrical contact,
and the hilltops were blown high in the air in one terrific burst of
flame, which poured forth as from craters of volcanoes. The ground for
miles around was rocked as in an earthquake, and the roar emitted was
distinctly heard in England by Lloyd George, the Prime Minister,
listening for it at his country home 140 miles away.
A PRE-ARRANGED SIGNAL.
The explosion of the mines was a pre-arranged signal for the beginning
of a heavy shell fire by the artillery. The whole section affected by
the mines was subjected to a most intense shellfire, and following up
this death-dealing storm came the troops of General Haig, under Sir
Herbert Plumer, who finished the work of the great mines and big guns
with a brilliant charge of men, who used rifle and bayonet most
effectively. Within a few hours the whole of the Messines Ridge was
securely in the hands of the British, and they had captured 7000
prisoners and many guns. The German casualties were estimated at 30,000,
those of the British being about 10,000.
Rushing the whole sector south of Ypres, from Observation Ridge to
Ploegsteert Wood, north of Armentieres, the British forces succeeded in
capturing that position with little loss. Then came the assault of the
rear defenses, which were formed by the ridge itself. The natural
formation of the land greatly helped the Germans in arranging their
defenses, and the fighting was very fierce. The work of British troops,
in which were many Australians and New Zealanders, together with English
and Irish, all under the command of General Sir Herbert C.O. Plumer,
was given great credit in the reports of the commander to the War
Office.
The British War Office summarized the attack as follows in its report of
June 8:
"The position captured by us yesterday was one of the enemy's most
important strongholds on the western front. Dominating as it did the
Ypres salient and giving the enemy complete observation over it, he
neglected no precautions to render the position impregnable. These
conditions enabled the enemy to overlook all our preparations for
attack, and he had moved up reinforcements to meet us. The battle,
therefore, became a gauge of the ability of the German troops to stop
our advance under conditions as favorable to them as an army can ever
hope for, with every advantage of ground and preparation and with the
knowledge that an attack was impending.
GERMAN FORWARD DEFENSE.
"The German forward defenses consisted of an elaborate and intricate
system of well-wired trenches and strong points forming a defensive belt
over a mile in depth. Numerous farms and woods were thoroughly prepared
for the defense, and there were large numbers of machine guns in the
German garrisons. Guns of all calibers, recently increased in numbers,
were placed to bear not only on the front but on the flanks of an
attack. Numerous communicating trenches and switch lines, radiating in
all directions, were amply provided with strongly constructed concrete
dugouts and machine-gun emplacements designed to protect the enemy
garrison and machine gunners from the effect of our bombardment. In
short, no precaution was omitted that could be provided by the incessant
labor of years, guided by the experience gained by the enemy in his
previous defeats on the Somme, at Arras, and on Vimy Ridge.
"Despite the difficulties and disadvantages which our troops had to
overcome, further details of yesterday's fighting show that our first
assault and the subsequent attacks were carried out in almost exact
accordance with the timetable previously arranged. * * *
"Following on the great care and thoroughness in preparations made under
the orders of General Sir Herbert Plumer, the complete success gained
may be ascribed chiefly to the destruction caused by our mines, to the
violence and accuracy of our bombardment, to the very fine work of the
Royal Flying Corps, and to the incomparable dash and courage of the
infantry. The whole force acted in perfect combination. Excellent work
was done by the tanks, and every means of offense at our disposal was
made use of, so that every arm of the service had a share in the
victory."
A good description of the Australian soldier, as he follows up his
victory, was given in a story of an American war correspondent, who
wrote concerning Flanders:
NEW LAND OF WARFARE.
"After these many months of trench warfare there is keen delight for the
Australian soldier in this new land of warfare which the German
retirement has opened up. The fighting is in open country now, over
gently rolling downs of what looks like grass land. It is really most of
it wheat or turnip land which has not been cultivated for a year or two.
The country is as open as the Australian central plains.
"It is quite a new sort of battlefield for the Australians. They march
down to it through valleys almost exactly like the valleys in the
peaceful parts of France. There are whole acres in which one cannot see
a single shell hole. Back across the green country or down the open
roads come men in twos or threes occasionally, sauntering as one might
find them on a country road. They are the wounded helping one another
back to the dressing station. The walking wounded have to help each
other back in these modern battles. It is no longer looked upon as
meritorious for an unwounded combatant to leave the field and help a
wounded comrade to the rear.
"Nearest the front the country becomes more feverish. Angry bursts of
tawny color are seen in a haphazard sort of way dotting the horizon and
the countryside. Here and there are Australians standing behind mounds
of earth with their rifles pointed over the top, bayonets always fixed.
Frequently, when there is no other shelter there are hastily scooped
trenches. A quarter of a mile away another party is lining a roadside,
flat on their stomachs in the ditch, bayonets peeping over the top.
Shells are whizzing by at the rate of two or three a minute, high
explosives bursting on contact behind their backs about as far away as
the other side of a cottage parlor.
PRISONER AND ESCORT.
"Frequently one meets a prisoner being escorted to the rear. There is
something very impressive about these little processions of two men,
prisoner and escort. The prisoner, usually a young German private in
neat gray uniform and steel helmet, walks in front. After him, grasping
his rifle with both hands across his chest, his weatherbeaten brows
puckered as he picks his way over the tumbled stones, comes the living
embodiment of the Australian back country. Nine cases out of ten,
somehow, the soldier who escorts a prisoner seems to be that bit of pure
Australian, either Western Australia or South Australia, the Warrego or
the Burdskin.
"He is an earnest man, intent on executing his errand with dispatch and
exactitude. 'Can you tell me the way to headquarters?' he asks as he
passes. Then he disappears slowly up the street on the heels of his
silent companion.
"These Australians are just as good fighters in this new warfare as they
were at Gallipoli or in the trenches, perhaps even better. They had
their first encounter with German cavalry the other day, but it was only
a feint at a flank and lasted but a few minutes."
Australia is ambitious, some might even say self-centered, and Germany
undoubtedly made the mistake of considering that Australia was awaiting
a chance to become unfriendly to Great Britain when she started to
fight. But no nation ever made a greater mistake. As soon as the House
of Hohenzollern placed the mother country in a perilous position
Australia was at the command of Great Britain. Notwithstanding the fact
that the Australians are primarily peace-loving, most intent on
attending to their own affairs, the response to the call was immediate
and whole-hearted.
AUSTRALIA'S COMMENDABLE PROMPTNESS.
The Australian centers buzzed with activity, and within two months after
war was declared the Australian fleet, which consisted of five unarmored
cruisers, three torpedo-boat destroyers, and three light gunboats, which
had been built and manned at the expense of the Australians, were in
possession of the German Pacific Islands--Samoa, Marshall, Carolines,
Pelew, Ladrones, New Guinea, New Britain--had broken the wireless system
of the Germans, and had captured eleven of the vessels of Germany. She
also forced twenty-five other ships to intern, and prevented the
destruction of a British ship in Australian waters.
Then came the scouring of the seas by the German ship Emden, and her
trip to Australian waters, with the object of carrying on the work of
destruction which had marked her career in South American waters. She
lay in wait for Australian transports, with the result that the
Australian warship Sydney sent her to the bottom but three months after
war had been declared. Shortly after this the Australian fleet drove von
Spree's squadron from the Pacific directly into the trap set by Admiral
Sturdee at the Falkland Islands.
The fact that all the troops of Australia must be transported to
London--a distance via the Suez route of approximately 11,000 miles, and
through the Panama Canal of 12,734 miles--did not keep back these brave
men from quickly enlisting. The great distance made fighting extremely
expensive, but the task was loyally assumed by the military of the far
continent. Universal military service was inaugurated for the first time
by an English-speaking community, and war loans were offered and quickly
accepted. Transports were immediately constructed out of seventy
steamers which were requisitioned.
At the declaration of war in November, 1914, the entire Australian army,
which consisted of 20,000 men, left Australia for Egypt, and at the end
of the first year of the conflict there were 76,000 men in the field. By
July, 1916, nearly 300,000 volunteers had been recruited and had crossed
the seas. The creation, equipment, and supplying of this army by the
people of Australia, a task involving enormous cost and personal
sacrifice, constitutes a thrilling chapter in the history of loyalty.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ALIKE.
To those who think that Australia is a little island situated in the
Pacific ocean it might be interesting to know that this continent, in
size and shape, is almost the exact duplicate of the United States.
There are also outlying provinces, that of Papua, a tropical land,
offsetting Alaska. Then there is the rich little Lord Howe Island, and
Norfolk Island. The surface of Australia is the most level in surface
and regular in outline of all the continents, and is the lowest
continent, with an average elevation of Ohio.
There are 2,974,581 square miles in Australia, while the land area of
the United States is 2,973,890 square miles, a difference of 691 square
miles. This, of course, is only the continental United States. Only
about one-twentieth of the total area of Australia lies in a latitude
farther removed from the Equator than Chattanooga, Tennessee; Clarendon,
Texas; and Albuquerque, New Mexico, and there is less than one-third of
the area of this unique continent which lies in a cooler latitude than
the sugar-cane lands of Louisiana.
The streams of Australia are fewer and carry less water than those of
any other continent. The heart of this great island is dry and barren
and thinly populated. Most of the inhabitants are found within easy
reach of the coastline. The population of this great land, at the census
of 1911, was 4,568,707 persons.
New Zealand is situated a little more than 1200 miles to the east of
Sydney, which is in the southeastern section of Australia. It consists
of three fairly large islands, together with a number of small adjacent
islands. The area is 105,340 square miles, the population being, in
1911, 815,862. The surface of the principal islands is diversified,
being mountainous in some parts, and undulating in others. The best
harbors are in the northern district.