THEIR BAPTISM OF FIRE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2696, 16 February 1916, Page 6

THEIR BAPTISM OF FIRE

RIFLE BRIGADE IN ACTION ALL-DAY FIGHT WITH THE SENUSSI By Tclegmph—'Press Association/.

Auckland, February 15. 'An account of/the first'!• engagement, between a British/forco and the Semissi on Christmas Day has been received from .Rifleman G.'L. MKinstry,-'First' Battalion iS'ew:: Zealand /Rifle / '.Brigade. •For-the battalion; this action/was/ its baptism , of fire/> '. -Biflem'an M-'Einstry says that the;:battalion moved from its camp at_Heliopolis on December, 18, and arrived'in Alexandria in the early hours of the. following morning. - Next day the battalion made a route march' through , the "city," '.but " no'leave was granted.. That .afternoon ..they, embarked,on an old Egyptian gunboat, and arrived, at', the "Western Frontier' of ■Egypt'.',at;daylight, .'on v December 21. •"I _.thought the last Christmas Day, which I spent in Samoa, was bad enough," he says, "but I shall never forget this one as long as I live. "We received our baptism of fire on Christmas Day. Wo marched but of camp at five o'clock in the morning to Kwot, the enemy. The first shot was fired at 6.30 a.m., and the fight lasted till five o'clock at night. The enemy opened fire on us as soon as we came within range. They had only one big 'gun, and it was very soon put out of action by our .artillery. . ,They were ■also bombarded from tho sea by a warship, and, after a while we advanced under cover of our artillery. We very -soon'got within range of. their rifles, and then they were driven back for JMilgs, and finally. rWnded up in a 'gully- By the time we, had finished there were very few of them left to tell the tale.

. '"We wore in some very warm corners, and had some very narrow escapes. iTho onemy used all kinds of rifles and ammunition. We arrived back at bivouac about eight o'clock, but it was too cold, to sleep, so we had to walk ■sibout until four o'clock, when we started to march back to camp. Everybody was dead beat,'and it took us about . three and a half hours to walk back tbo six miles tb camp. Rifleman M'Kinstry. mentions that the battalion was camped on the beach, and the men wore able to have plenty «f swimming.-