HOW HILL 60 WAS LOST

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2535, 9 August 1915, Page 7

HOW HILL 60 WAS LOST

A VIVID STORY SPLENDID HEROISM OF THE BRITISH FRIGHTFUL WORK OF THE GAS-FIENDS Br Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Rcc. August 8, -3 p.m.) London, August 7. Mr. Valentine Williams contributes to the "Standard" the first complete account of the. stand by the British Thirteenth Brigade at Hill GO. He says: "It is a.' story of innumerable feats, deathless heroism, splendid tenacity, aud tho beginning of a fine feat of arms ending in the asphyxiation of gallant men, a crime so foul that none who saw the result will ever shake tho hand of a German again. "Tho Germans-held the upper slopes of the summit, while the British trenches ran along the lower slopes. It was decided to mine the summit and send the infantry to occupy the craters formed by the explosions, and capture the hill. The Ist West Kents and the 2nd Scottish Borderers manned the trenches, awaiting the explosion of the mines, which was timed for 7 p.m. on April 17. Five mines exploded punctually, while the French, Belgian, and our guns opened 1 the road: to all the German positions in the vicinity when the last mine went up. Hill Captured in 20 Minutes. "Major Joslin led the West Kents over the parapet, and the Germans, completely surprised, hastily quitted their ruined and were raked by our machine-gains. Those who stood their ground were bayoneted or driven into the communication trenches. By 7.20 p.m. the hill : was ours, with few casualties, "The Germans early next morning opened a bombardment in which the Borderers relieved the West Kents. Major Joslin was killed. A terriblo bombardment was kept up all'night long, but these astounding men sang choruses while the high explosives were bursts i,ng. Tho Duke or Wellington's regiment relieved their comrades in tho morning, but tho Germans, under cover of the merciless shells, crept closer and closer, and by noon of April 18 had recaptured the , hill, save a Bcotioji of a trench. "A British counter-attack was decided on, and the Wellington's, as full of fight as over, led the way, while the Yorkshire Light Infantry followed. . B Company of the Wellington's right reached the trenches with slight casualties. 0 Company, in the centre, charged across open ground, and oiily Captain Barton and eleven men reached the trenches, but with their bayonets they routed the enemy. D Company, on the left, lost all its officers, but gained their goal, and Hill 60 was again ours. The Greenish Death Cloud. "Many fine deeds wero done Jc and many distinction's' gained, but the Brigade was exhausted, and were' sent to their billets at last; The Surreys, Devons, and Dorsets were next sent to hold the hill, and held on till the early liours of May'l, when a low, greenish cloud came rolling over the hill on top of the Dorsets, who were wholly unprepared. In a minute or two the gas had the men in its grip, slowly choking them to death, -as the Germans swarmed out of the trenches. Tho Dorsets were half-asphyxiated, but scrambling on the parapet, held tho enemy at bay till night fell. The Devons relieved the Dorsets, stumbling over. many' gallant men who. were lying in the fields and ditches. "There was a second gas attack on the morning of May s—a warm spring day, with a gentle breeze. The Wellingtons were holding the hill, and when the gas had done its work Captain Robins staggered to the rear and gasped: 'The Duke's gassed men. are all dead. I believe I was the last to leave the hill. They were splendid.' Captain Robins died that night. "The Germans did not advance, remembering the lesson c-f_ May 1, but the situation seemed so critical that the Devons beat up every reserve man — even the cooks lined the trenches. Men who described the 'railway cutting on the side of the hill' said that the dead and wounded lay so thickly that they had to pick their way to the scene. What they saw made witnesses sick with horror, and fierce anger .was aroused against the fiends who perjietrated the crime. "A counter-attack was ordered at 10 o'clock tho same night, and entrusted to the West Kents and Borderers, but failed against the tremendous bombardment amongst tho shell-holes aud fragments of barbed wire. ■ The leading files were mown down instantly. Another counter-attack was launched next morning with the Yorkshire Light Infantry and Irish Rifles. The men fought fiercely, amid the same obstacles, and failed. We finally retired to the lower slopes of the hill. " It was failure, but glorious." ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES : « : KILLED BY A FALL OF GRAVEL. By (Telegraph—Press Association. Wanganui, August 8. Thomas 'Arthur Wilson, a ■ married man, aged twenty-nine, was killed at Castlecliff on Saturday afternoon through about two tons of gravel falling on him while he was working in a pit. BUMS TERMINATE FATALLY. Auckland, August 8. Gertrude May, a single woman, aged twenty-six years, died in tho To Kopuru Hospital yesterday morning from injuries sustained in a fire at Mangawhare on Wednesday night. Miss May was visiting her sister, and had retired for the night,-when her brother-in-law, hearing some commotion in her room, rushed in and .found her enveloped in flames. She sustained sovdre burns on the body, and her condition was so critical that the doctor ordered her removal to the Hospital. S'ho never fully recovered consciousness. SUDDEN DEATH FROM HEART FAILURE. Inglewoodj August 7. A man named Andrew Walters, who had been here a week, was taken ill. While being taken to the railway to go to the Stratford Hospital he collapsed on "tho road, and died almost immediately of heart failure. No inquest is necessary. WAGON-DRIVER,KILLED. Blenheim, August 7. George Melton', aged 26, a driver, was killed instantaneously by tho overturning of a wagon down an embankment at Wailiopai. MISSING BODY RECOVERED. Rotorua, August 7. The body of Walter Hartley, who was drowned in the Kaituna River, a.t Okere, on July 22, was recovered this morning, 200 yards from whero he sank. On Saturday aftorncon a boy named Conrad Ryan, aged ten years, a son of Mr. J. Ryan, Fitzherbert Stroet, Potono, whilst playing on tho recreation ground, slipped and fell, fracturing his elbow. First aid was rendered by Messrs. Kyle, Marsden, and Steinmuller, of the Potone Ambulance Division, and Dr. Harding (subsequently, attended tb.o lad* .■•