Papers relating to the service of Stewart Murray Hansen, 1915 - 1917 - Part 9

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Our Company has gained the

unusual distinction & honour of

the first V.C to be attained by

the Australian [[?]] Zealand [[?]] Corps

Lance Corporal Jacka V C was

notified by H M. The king that 

his actions on the morning of
 June 19th had been deemed worthy

of the highest possible distinction

he could award. Naturally

the company, the 14th Battalion,

the 4th Brigade, the N Z & A Division

the Army Corps are [[greatly?]]

proud of the first V C and

besides being congratulated

separately by H M King George he

received congratulatory messages

from each subordinate Commander

from Gen Sir Ian Hamilton

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down to the Company Commander 
and Minister of Defense.

The reason briefly was that on
night of 18^th-19^th June a section
of  Courtney's Post was captured
by Turks and after 1 officer &
1 man were killed & l officer & 4
men ^were wounded in the attempt
to drive the enemy out, he
single handed killed 5 Turks
by rifle fire & 2 by bayonet
thus clearing the trench and
holding it against further
incursions until arrival of
supports".
For five days past a Turkish
aeroplane has flown over our
position and dropped a bomb
and several steel darts but
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no damage resulted. Aeroplanes
always create excitement even our
own as they often drop bombs
on the Turks positions but naturally
an enemy Taube draws more
spectators and field glasses
come out with a snap.
The distinction between them is
known by the following
[[?]] Black ring inside red
ring with white space separating
them on each under-plane
Taubes (German) Black maltese
cross on tip of each plane.
Both [[?]] fire on underside
to date we have seen no air fight.
Our Brigade H. Quarters
have initiated a scheme of denoting
each half hour correct time
 

5
This consists of an empty Turkish
shell hung up on wire and
struck by entrenching tool handle
(metal end) as ships' bell.
We have had a new gun
against us this week - we have
been quite used to distinguishing
between each gun by the sound
of the flying shell also the explosion.
This new gun is evidently a naval
gun of 3.3" calibre and fires
high explosive on to Anzac beach.
with nasty results as a rule.
But "little mother" (as we call
a Torpedo boat Destroyer which
protects our left flank) manages to
keep it quiet soon after it fires its
first few rounds.
Today we also discovered a new
 

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schrapnel shell which was fired
and burst over our heard against
a steep cliff sending down showers
of heavy gravel but doing no
bodily harm. She [[?]] one
burst among part of our Brigade
and severely wounded two men.
The case had two copper driving
bands instead of one and was
a few metres shorter in length —
probably a howitzer shell.
One of my -"scratches' has turned
septic but by the application of
foments at the Base Hospital twice
per day, the conditions have
improved and although the complaint
is very prevalent amongst our
Brigade, the wound should be
well again in a few days. My
blood is quite healthy, the cause was
probably due to flies which are
 

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a plague.
We have been [[?]] violent
bombardments "down South" at
Achi Baba [[???]]
but whether by the Turks or ourselves
we can not see [[?]]
I've received word that Bagdad has
been occupied by the British and 
we [[?]] the Turks with 
fulisade of rifle fire and a round
of cheers. This was acknowledged
in turn by about 10 minutes
[[??]] Johny [[?]] waste
of his valuable ammunition.
My night work is diminishing
as the work is almost completed.
The working parties have lately been
comprised of Maoris who have been
here some weeks. They are a

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fine physical specimen and hard
workers. Their [[?]] Officers & Non-coms
are nearly all University
students and consequently very
refined.