MARCHING TO THE SOMME

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2925, 10 November 1916, Page 7

MARCHING TO THE SOMME

• Draining new zealanders for their victories ! & LECTURE ON COLD STEEL ffßVom Captain Malcolm Ross, War Correspondent with the Now Zealand Forces.) • Northern France, September 1. . ■ Day by day wo aro getting nearer flTae big battle, and day by day .the force is increasing its efficiency. The .'equipment iB probably hotter than .'ever; tho training goes steadily on. .We have left the old sights and 'sounds. We aro in beautiful country, jtho flat lands of French Flanders having given place to rolling downs, plantations, farms, and villages nndevashaied by war. We no longer tear the (thunder of tho guns, tho bursting of jbombs, the crackle of riflo fire, and tho tat-tatflng oT the macliine-guns. .The weather, : fine lor a time, broke .'•with a terrifio thunderstorm and heavy vain. There followed drizzling rain and -.Trust. Tho peaceful rural scenes aro, however, but the prelude to battle 'fiercer and more in toil so than anything ■ We have experienced for some months. 'Manoeuvres and an Aeroplane. : Two days ago the landscape was al'Snost blotted out"sy fog, the trees and 'corn' were dripping wet, and tho roads "were muddy. Through a pioturesque "Village the men of ono brigade came '■ '.inarching in column of fours, lleflect•e<l in a pond thoy swung round a treeiringed road, and on through cornilields into a shallow valloy,. whore on the slope of a grass field they were to 'manoeuvre updor aeroplane observaition. The clouds hung so low and tho ■fog was so tliiok that one felt certain that flying men-would never find us. iA cross, made' with white calico stretched on the groulid, marked a somewhat ■difficult landing-pkce; . But presently 'we heard the droning noise of a propeller overhead, and in two minutes >e saw the piano banking and circling 'round. Tho "bank" was so steep !that one feared for ifie safoty of the inachine. The pilot seemed uncertain, ihut after wheeling in the air like a great bird the plane dipped, and, flying Tow over the heads of the'waiting men, it dipped again and'came to earth 'amidst a hearty burst of cheeking. The "two young Englishmen unbuckled themselves from their seats, stepped out from the machine,, and walked with leisurely stride down to where the General and the Brigadier 'were Waiting. They wore brown , leather coata over their khaki, and the ■close leathor skull oaps with their little ear. windows that are the conspicuous 'feature of the dress of our air-men. The one was tall and of athletic build—he 'lvas a Harrow" hoy and a woll-known cricketer—the other a mere lad just out of his tueus. The General asked • them if it would be all right for the manoeuvre. ''Yes," they said, "it 'would be perfeotiy all right; but they would have to fly very low." Then they i started the wooden propeller once more, got into their maohine, and, rushing off at a terrifio pace were almost at once in the air again. It seemed as if they would hit a clump of trees on a. •litllo knoll in front, but the turn of a ■lever unseen by us oaused the plane to mount 6toeply, and in another minute they were circling gracefully overhead while one of tho battalions, with the others watching, carried out the work it had be6n ordered to do. It was all very wonderful, and one would have quickly realised, if'ono had not already done so, tho'splendid work these young men of the Royal Plying Corps are ac- \ complishing in France. The excited aid Frenchman and the'women andchil- - dren from the adjoining farijis crowded - on to tho hill-top, and, fascinated, watched tho pbne circling overhead for , half an'hour. For them it was a won- ■ derful entertainment." The pilot told ! me that he had mad© his way by steer- 1 i'ig due. we?:, then' Lv following the ' Somme, and finally-by following a road. ' To a mere iandimii it seemed a splendid performance. Then off again up into tho,clouds that were swirling overhead, and so to home.

A Professor in a Field. , l esterday near another village, in a green field I found another lirigado assembled, and, on a wagon, a well-built, strong-looking mail of middle nge was lecturing. He wore tho glengarry, and had come from a famous Highland Regiment to carry the bayonet as a sort of fiery cross throughout the land. He might have been- a professor lecturing to a class, excopt that ho" scorned to Tiold the class altogethor enthralled in such manner as a university professor seldom does. And notwithstanding that his subject was a grim one, a rippling laugh ran through the assemblage at frequent intervals. He bad tho splendid faoulty of making his subject intensely by the terseness of his language and metaphor, and by the clearness of his demonstration. And if on tho part of tlio dullest thero should be any tendency to inattention it was quickly restored by a. situation or a story humorously "described or told. He had been a ohampion heavyweight of the Army, and that' also' went for something with tho sporting New Zealandcrs.

1 have in previous articles referred to tho new bayonet drill that has been developed by the British Army. Kts so important that, no apology is necessary for again reverting to the subject, and' without giving away to tho Boche any of tho points—except those ho will- got on the battlefield—l should like to give some description of this lecture as it struck me. It is a subject that cannot be too much discussed while tho war lasts, Tor wo have ample evidence that the new 6.vstem has already borne excellent fruit. As the lecturer 3aid, if you go over the parapet you a'ro in for a killing match; you must cither kill or bo killed. Our men thoroughly realise that, and they are out .to kill Germans all the time. One principle of tho now drill is that you do not waeto enorgy—you do your work lightly and artistically with a minimum of force. When tho First J, Australians took Pozierca those who came after thorn found many dead Germans who v seemed to havo no scratoh . on them, aud lookccl as if tlioy might havo been gassed. But they were not gassed, said the lecturer; tho Australians, who aro master hands with tho bayonet, had simply been gotting some of their fine work in upon the' enemy. It was liko the scientific tap of the experienced boxer, but it was very effective if it fell on tho right placo. Some soldiers thought it all rig|it if they got their foresight in, said' the lecturer, and tho Bngado laughed at the contrast. Ho was telling them' in cold biood of things that would have to be dono in hot blood, but ho added that ho was now going to stir them up. And he did so by reading a Soche proclamation that had been found on a captured officer. It was ii .proclamation heaclcd "Butchery as a Duty," telling the Germans in the name of God to go forward and carry out tho duties of an executioner. The cold stoel was put in tho hands of the soldier to be used without hesitation and without mercy. But, added the lecturer, tho Gorman did not know how to use tbo bayonet like our men. He told how an Australian had killed two Germans, hut could iiot get his bayonet out of tho sccoiul one, so picked up a German bayonet and killed his third man with that. With tho assistance of his instructor he proceeded to show how they could kill a . Boche so long as tho latter supplied tho rifle and the bayonet. The Australians, ho added, were keen as mustard in : acquir-

ing the now bayonet drill, and he had found tho New Zealiuiders who had taken it on equally keen. They took to'it like mothers' milk, and during 0110 silent raid all that was heard was thb 4th Australians grunting as thoy went along the German troneh in tho darkness—"lnl Out! In I "Out!" That was the war-cry, of the 4th Australians, and it was a very good one too. "There is,"' ho added, "one Knglish soldier who got fifteen Ciormans and tho D.G.IU., and is now on our staff." But ovon that was not the record: there was another man who had eighteen to his credit. Tho charge and tho rush ho told them was now played .out. A man had to save his breath if he wanted to kill when he got into tUB trench. In a recent charge tuero was one man who had got a German by both ears and was biting his nose. Yes, it was humorous, but it was fury wasted. This war was nothing else but a glorihed game, and they had to treat it as thoy treated their games and remain cool. Tho only difference was in the mothod of scoring—men killed! Jirory German they killed would bring victory so much tho nearer. They were and though the poets eaid it was a gloriouk thing to die for their country, they could take it from him that it was a mucli better thing to live and to kill. for their country. There was only ono good Boctie and he was a dead Bocho, and it was their bayonets that woujd make htm a uood 'un. Finally he asked it thoy had any questions to put, and there being none ho told another story. At the end of one of his leotures to an English Division he had ftskecf r.'ils samo question, and one "Tommy" ; \ tho fcaok got up anil said: "Please, fcjlr, can you tell mo what stops I should take to transfer into the Army Service Corps?" At tlie. end of tho ieoture there was a demonstration of the new method with tho bayonet. Then the lecturer was thanked by the Brigadier, and the Brigade, instructed, amused, and inspirited, rose up as ono man and moved off to practice what had boen preached.