s from me. 'Pull them up!' I roared to the fellows; and
I dashed at one of the upright posts, put my arms round it, and
heaved and strained at it until it came up in my arms, the same
as you would lift a child.

"I believe there was great cheering when they saw what I was at,
but I only heard the scream of bullets and saw dust rising all
round me. Where they hit I do not know, or how many posts I
pulled up. I did my best, and the boys that were with me did
every bit as good as myself.

"When the wire was down the rest of the lads came through like
devils and reached the trenches. We won about 200 yards' length
by twenty yards deep and 700 yards from the shore. We met a
brave, honourable foe in the Turks, and I am sorry that such
decent fighting men were brought into the row by such dirty
tricksters as the Germans."

In Sir Ian Hamilton's despatch describing the storming of "Beach
W"--close to "Beach V"--by the Lancashire Fusiliers, there are some
striking passages relating to men of the battalion who rushed forward
to cut passages through the entanglements. "Again the heroic
wire-cutters came out. Through glasses they could be seen quietly
snipping away under a hellish fire, as if they were pruning a
vineyard." For his gallantry in this undertaking Private William
Keneally, one of the many Irishmen in the Lancashires, got the
Victoria Cross. The distinction is greatly enhanced by the fact that
Keneally was selected by his comrades in the ranks as the one among
them best entitled to it. The official record says:--

"On April 25th, 1915, three companies and the Headquarters of
the 1st Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, in effecting a landing
on the Gallipoli Peninsula to the west of Cape Helles, were met
by a very deadly fire from hidden machine-guns which caused a
great number of casualties. The survivors, however, rushed up to
and cut the wire entanglements, notwithstanding the terrific
fire from the enemy, and, after overcoming supreme difficulties,
the cliffs were gained and the position maintained. Amongst the
many very gallant officers and men engaged in this most
hazardous undertaking, Captain Willis, Sergeant Richards, and
Private Keneally have been selected by their comrades as having
performed the most signal arts of bravery and devotion to duty."

Precedents for the choice of a comrade by his fellows to we