PERSONAL NOTES.
Trooper James Dow was the younger son of Mr and Mrs John Dow, Dunedin, and only brother of Trooper David Dow, who is also in action at the Dardanelles. He was educated at the North-east Valley School, and served his apprenticeship as a blacksmith, later discarding his trade in favor of farming, which occupation he followed in the Wanaka district up till the time of his enlistment with the Main Expeditionary Force. Some time ago he had the misfortune to lose his left eye, but notwithstanding this he enlisted immediately after the outbreak of hostilities. Trooper Dow was a quiet, unassuming fellow, and greatly respected by all with whom he associated. So far neither date nor details of his death have come to hand, but from letters received it is known he had been in action previous to his last engagement, and was fighting beside his brother. -Evening Star, 2/9/1915.
The Fighting in Gallipoli.
A LOCAL SOLDIER'S ACCOUNT
HOW LOCAL HEROES DIED
We have been permitted to makc the following extract from a letter received by Mr W. Bel!, of Cromwell, from Dave Dow. He writes:
"Our principal scraps have been in the dark, when we could not see how many we accounted for. I do not think the letters from the hospital are censored, so I will try and give you a description of our advance on August. 6th. We got our orders that evening. A warship was to throw her searchlights on the Turkish trenches, some 400 yards from us, and shell it for ten minutes, then a spell, then the searchlights again and another ten minutes shelling, and then the searchlights were to be turned off, and at halfpast nine on the night of August 6th the Otago Mount Rifles were to take Bauchop's Ridge, which was a mile away. Oh! One order I forgot: "No man was to have any cartridges in his rifle or magazine, and every man had to have a piece of white calico on his back and a piece on each arm." Our boys naturally did not like the idea or no cartridges in the rifle, but it proved the best thing for us. When the time came the warship went through her part of the programme, and at half-past nine the Otago Mounted Rifles moved out like a lot of mice, the 5th under Major Orbell, the 7th under Captain Paddon, and the 12th under Major Grigor, and I don't think if any of us live to one hundred we will ever be in a hotter corner in our life. The Turks must have spies here, for the instant we sallied forth they started with rifle fire, and bombs thrown from mortars, and they sent up enough flares so that the place was just lit up like daylight. As we, the 5th, were in a very exposed position, we were ordered to retire, which we did, and a little later we moved out under Captain Hay, and did not stop till we got to the first line of trenches. It was somewhere near here that Jack Beattie was shot dead and never spoke. Speaking personally, the bullets, which were flying about in thousands, never cost me a thought. I was a bomber, and was carrying a haversack of bombs, and Trooper Paddy Walsh was carrying for me. He cut the and handed me a bomb whenever I wanted one, but he had hard luck to stop a bullet in the stomach, and died the same night. When we got to the trenches we all lay down flat about ten yards away, and the order came along to start bombing, so we out with our slow matches, which we had burning all the time, and at it. By jove! you should have heard the Turks nearest us: "Allah! Allah! Allah!" is what they cry. Allah is their God, and off they went. We got the order to charge and hopped into their trenches, to find the "Turkeys" all fled. Well, our blood was up now and we were fit for anything. We gave three good colonial cheers and off for the next line of trenches. The New Zealand Infantry, which was on our right, gave three good cheers back, and the Maoris, who were on our left, gave a haka. When we got to the next trench we bombed them and charged and got very few Turks here. All the time men were falling all round us, but we had to push on, and the Turks were lying round us in holes in the ground and under the scrub, and firing at us as we went past. It was good sport. No sooner would one of them fire out of a tree than two or three boys would into the tree, and no matter how he cried for mercy he would get the length of their bayonets. Bill Reid, of Arrowtown, was shot about here. He was very badly wounded. We got into some very rough, steep country here, which was overgrown with a scrub like matagouri, and it made a mess of our legs, as we nearly all had short trousers on. Then our final charge came nearing Bauchop's ridge. We got the order to charge; a bloodcurdling yell from everybody and at it, and for the first time since we have been on the peninsula the Turks faced us. We just simply went mad and into them. Sergeant Jack Fea, who was just beside me, got three bayonets into him. Mine went into one of his assailants, but before J. could parry I received one in my uniform. It only made a cut about two and a half inches long and a quarter-inch deep, and then Jack Stephenson, a relation of J. Percy, blacksmith, settled with the Turk that nearly got me. Then the Turks made off; they had had quite enough. Jim Dow and "Tiger" Smith were both shot here, Smith dead, but Jim lived until the next day, he was shot badly through the chest and one in the head. Captain Hay and Colonel Bauchop were both shot on this ridge, The Maoris fought well; they are quite as good as the other troops, and put plenty of ginger into their work.
I am in the hospital now with a bad back, but I think we deserve a spell after fighting from May till September 8th without a spell. A lot of our men are getting a holiday to England and New Zealand, but I will not be as lucky as I am keeping too well, being 5lb heavier than when I joined the force. I have done nothing for the last three weeks but eat and get my back rubbed, hence I am in good nick, but about six weeks ago I was very thin. -Cromwell Argus, 15/11/1915.
WANAKA NOTES.
(Lake County Press correspondent)
The Weather
After a spoil of dry and windy weather, a steady rain has set in, and the change will be welcomed by the farming community. During the past fortnight we have had a few late frosts, and should they continue they will no doubt detrimentally affect crops and pasture.
Departure.
Mr James Griffith, of the Stock Department, who has been stationed at Pembroke for a number of years, has received notice of his transfer to Fairlie, and he expects to leave for his new district at an early date. Mr Griffiths was met the other evening by a few friends and presented with a handsome dressing-case. The Roll of Honor. The sad news was received during the week of the loss of some of the lads who went to the front from this district. Thomas Galvin, son of Mr Patrick Galvin, a well-known resident, has been reported as missing since September. Thomas Allan, second son of Mr W. Allan, of Pembroke, is also reported as missing. He left New Zealand with the Twelfth Reinforcements, and had only been a short time in the firing line. David Dow, who resided in this district for several years, left New Zealand with the Main Body, and fought right through the campaign on Gallipoli. He was wounded on the Peninsula, and after recovering was sent to France. In October he was again wounded, unfortunately with fatal results, advice having been received that he had succumbed to his wounds. His brother John, who also went with the Main Body, was killed in action on Gallipoli, and much sympathy is felt for the father, who resides in Dunedin. He had only two sons, and both have fallen in battle. -Lake County Press, 2/11/1916.
David Dow was transferred, after Gallipoli, to the Field Artillery as a driver. His pre-enlistment job as a waggoner would have made the transfer a logical one. In the ammunition column, he would have been out of the range of enemy fire most of the time. But not all of the time.
The wounds from which David Dow died are concisely described in his Army record: "SW head and knee." Shrapnel was an effective weapon, like a big shotgun shell fired at enemy positions and fused to burst its charge of small metal spheres at a distance estimated by the gunner.
He was admitted to a Casualty Clearing Station on September 13, 1916, and died there four days later. The fact that he died at the Station indicate one of two things: either the volume of wounded during that portion Battle of the Somme or the severity of his wounds. As he was killed during the preliminary bombardment before the infantry advance, my guess is that his wound was assessed as not survivable.
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