NEW ZEALANDERS IN BATTLE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 79, 27 December 1917, Page 5

NEW ZEALANDERS IN BATTLE

AT GRAVENSTAFEL THE ATTACK BY THE RIGHT

. Continuing (under date of Belgium, October 21) his account of the New Zealandors' part in the attack on Gravenstafel, the Now Zealand correspondent (Captain Malcolm Ross) says: Tho right, sector included strong points at various ruined farmhouses and various "pill-boxos" and shell-hole jKisitions leading up to tho heaps of broken brick work that once sas the little village of Qravcnstafel on the left and the Abraliam Heights on she right, the 38-metre contour here being tho highest point in our attack. This was in reality a little slightly rounded plateau on tho crest of tho low ridge, feyonff that the ground sloped gently to strong points at Berlin on the left, and Berlin Wood a little further on in the middle of and about the I'mit of the objective. The troops in this part of the attack were from Auckland, Canterbury, Wellington, and Olago. They were riot our most expel lenced troops, but they have s stiffening of our more experienced officers and men. One and all they rcqmtted themselves admirably. Tlioir commander dates his war experience back tvAnzac and tho Heights of Chunuk Pair.

Toward the First Objective. The men kept well in line behind the barrage going up to the crest of the ridge, except at Van Meulen, where they were held for a while by machinegun, fire. The halt provided for on the first objective then stood them in good stead, Otago and Wellington troops took tho position. Tho Wellingtons helped their comrades from the South Island in the capture, after which the former went on to the last objective. There was no great difficulty with 'Abraham Heights. Our men went straight over it without much opposition. At Gravenstafel, further on and more to the left, some Otaigos went forward very close at the edge of the barrage in their keenness to get at grips with the enemy congregated there. They were very successful, for they got close upon a hundred prisoners. In the meantime, however, ma-chine-guns firins from Abraham Heights had cpsb us some men before the time came to capture the heights.

At Berlin and Berlin Wood further resistance was met.' Wellington men captured one position and Canterbury men the other. The iight trench mortars had to be brought to bear on one strong point, after which it was suc j xessfully rushed. 'There was also a • strong point at Waterloo on the left of jthe Hue and slightly down the slope leading to a declivity in front of Passchendaele. This was quickly captured. It had evidently been a German battalion headquarters, and soon after it Jiad. fallen the NeV Zealanders were drinking German soda water and smoking German cigars found there,. 'All the farms on the way up were full of tho enemy, apparently in view of the attack-that was timed for about an hour later than our own. This would perhaps account for tho larre number of prisoners'the New Zealand-ers-were able to secure in this fight. One s,it te' coming down in hundreds during'the forenoon.

Prisoners-in Column of Fours. ■; One lot appeared on the sky-line 'early in tho morning, and came marching down in column of fours with an officer at their head. As he passed our ,New Zealand Gcnoral at a later stage »f his journey a peremptory German command rang out and the column .went past at "Eyes Loft!" At internals smaller groups ot prisoners came 'down the duck-board tracks and along ;the roads without escort on our part. TThe men who captured them had been bo keen to get on with tho attack that ."they did not bother to send anyone ihack with their prisoners. The prisoners came down willingly enough. Many .'of them were quite young—mere boys. ;l As one of our men put it, they had 3iever seen a razor in all their, life. Ono saw them, too,, being carried in by ■our stretcher-bearers, pale and uncomplaining, with thoir life's blood ebbing on the. battlefield when they should have been with their fathers and mothers in their own homes. They were, of course, not nil youngsters, and subsequently in the later attack on Passchendaelo tho New •Zealanders found themselves up against 'tougher material of the Jager typo, men .who stuck sturdily to their "pill-box" positions and fought well, though under a less punishing barrage than,we put across their ground on the first occasion.

Thero were prisoners very shaken and fecaicd.- ' Some evidently had r-w-n told terrible tales'of British ferocity," and -were surprised that our' men should give them cigarettes and help "along their wounded. Ono youth ■ wnlked for more than a mile with his lands at the ready, and put them up whenever he met a New Zealand soldier. His pi ogress along the duck-walk was comical in the extreme, his arms going up and down as if he were a marionette worked with a string. Among the prisoners were two battalion .-■onimandGenerally speaking, the officers were more subdued, not to say despondent, than any we had captured in former battles..

Bravery of the Troops, As on the other flank, so here officers nnd men behaved;with the utmost gallantry. The,.men speak in praise of< one battalion commander whose gallant conduct impressed them f/reatly: }h went repeatedly through the enemy's barrage, steadying and encourngini; his men. • The manner in which subalterns and n.c.o.'s carried on in the face of difficulties when their seniors in command were 'tolled or wcunded was an inspiration to all. I have heard the story of a corporal who led his section .gallantly almost to the final objective. Ho belonged to an 'Auckland unit. Just before retching the objective he had his arm llown off hy i>, shell, hut with magnificent courand determination he refused assistance, and continued to vrge his men on for some little time afterwards.

A signaller with the Auckianders did excellent work in 'maintaining communications under heavy shell fire. Once he was completely buried by the debris cast up by a s'fielt. Hia comrades dug him out. Much bruised and' shaken ho mijilit very well have gone back, but ho. insisted in carrying on. 'A second lieutenant, aftcx •■aptSirinc; with his men two positions under shell and machine-gun fire, began to ooisolid.ite, but found _ other machine-guns firiri' on the position from the front. Taking two men with film, he worked round on the position from the flank and succeeded in killing the Herman gurncrs and capturing {wo «;uns. In this p.vploifc lie was severely wounded. A Wellington subaltern found his platoon held up near Gravenrtafel By thrc" machine-guns firing from a "pillbox" a little farther up Ike slope. Tie quickly organised a small party, rushed ilie position, and captured the shins, and no fewer.than twenty-livo rrjsonr>rs. In this rush he was •rounded, but he continued to lead his 'oen until their objective had been readied. The Story of a Deerstalker. (is one of tho Wellington units there i? an elderly little man, whom v.e will call Harrington, in whom the ."pirit of ndienture was surely inherited from jomy soldier ancestor. Harrington, whom I met on tho battlefield next

day, assured me himseirfhat his grandfather, who fought in earlier wars here, is "carved in marcHc" Bomewhero in Franco. In New Zealand Harrington is known to the runholders and deerstalkers of tho Wairarapa district. Out towards tho East Coast thoro is a sta- , tiou on which the red deer increased so tepidly that tho hinds had to lo shot off in thousands in the winter because they wero eating rather more grass than was good for a well-stocked run. Harrington was one of the men put on to reduce their numbers, and himself Bhot two thousand. He used to disappear into tho woods with his rifle and ammunition, some tea, and a few pounds of flour, and come back with a record in "lugs." He was a wonderful shot. Seldom lie failed in bringing down a trotting hind with a bullet clean through the neck—a shot that brings them to their knees at once. In one winter there were four thousand deer'shot on that station. He got a shilling a head and supplied his own ammunition, so there was some need for his being a good shot. He could not afford to make misses. Harrington was rejected for tho Boer War in the New Zealand contingents, and he tells an interesting tale of how he, in company with a parson's son and a policeman, stowed away in one of the transports, swam ashore at Cane Town, slept out on \he slopes of Table Mountain, afterwards joined _ Brabant's Horse, and saw much service. He has also a wonderful tale to tell about stowing away on a train from Cairo to Alexandria in order to get to Gallipoli. "But," he said, "they stopped mo at Alex., and gave me fourteen days' detention. Then they shoved me in the Veterinary Corps!" This part of the story I cannot vouch for. bnt tho deer-stalking part of it and what follows are facts well authenticated. There was.doubt in the mind of Harrington's company officer whether he was fit for such a battlo as was likely to be fought on the Gravenstafel Kidge, so he was sent down to the M.O. In answer to questions, he said there was nothing tho matter with him, and he would like to take a hand in this coming fight. The doctor decided to give him a chance, and let him go back to his unit. He went straight through with tho others to the final objective,' and from the crest of tho ridgo they saw a number of Germans hurriedly retreating. This was Harrington's chance—the chance of a. lifetime—but just as he was going to firo his company commander, a plucky young officer, took Harrington's rifle to do the shooting himself I Then he ordered Harrington to tale the place of a runner who had been killed.

The new runner did his wort thoroughly, notwithstanding his years, and with an utter disregard of shell fire.- He took important messages in quick time to Battalion Headquarters in face of both machine-gun and shell fire. Not only did he do this, but he attended to wounded men under dangerous conditions, moving them to places where they were out of reach cf the bullets. Not content with all this, unaided, lie captured a machine-gun and two German gunnors. Late in the day Harrington was seen very happy, for he had found a German who had a bottle of whisky in his kit. But he never forgave his commander for. taking away -his rifle at a time when he might have dropped any number of Germans, just as ho had dropped tho hinds in the winter shooting on tho East Coast of New Zealand. "Fancy 'jm taking' away my rifle at a time like that," he. was heard to say, "an' me the best shot in all New Zealand!"

Canterbury and Otago Men. The Canterbury and Otago men in this fight were no whit behind their North Island brethren in deeds of valour, I heard of a Canterbury captain who, just before reaching his objective, was held up by the usual "pill-box machiuo-gun fire. At once ho organised an attack on the position, and, himself loading the way, got not only the ma-chine-gun, but seventeen prisoners in addition. Tho company on his left having lost all its officers, he took command of it and directed the consolidation operations of both companies. Then there was a Canterbury stretch-er-bearer who did magnificent work for forty hours at a stretch, and who with alacrity and cheorfulness responded to every call. A sergeant took charge of his platoon, and, after having been badly wounded, continued leading and cheering on his men. Ho did Jiot cease in his efforts until he becamo helpless through paralysis. An Otago battalion commander,.when tho situation was obscure, himself went forward, in spite of the shelling, and gallantly, reconnoitred the position so that the subsequent operations of his battalion were facilitated. Captains, subalterns, n.c.o.'s, and men or the Otagos distinguished themselves by their bravery, initiative, and tirelessness in all this fighting. With almost reckless courage they charged pill-boxes from which machinoguns were firing, and in every instance killed or captured the enemy crews. One sergeant, when his platoon officer was severely wounded, although wounded himself, took over the command, and, under heavy shell fire, consolidated the position that had been won. These Otagos while holding the advanced position until the hour of attack were heavily shelled almost without respite for eleven or twelve hours, but bravely they hung on. When a section was holding tbo advanced position later in the day a stretcher-bearer, seeing ono of the men lying wounded in front, went out in view, of the enemy, bound up the man's wounds, and carried him into a little bit of trench that gave shelter. All the time tho locality was being heavily shelled. He then had tho wounded man conveyed back' to a regimental aid post. Undoubtedly, but for his prompt and brave action the man would have.bled to death. In one "pill-box" four machine-guns and_ 80 men were captured. With such incidents the day passed on to victory, glorious and complete.

AFTER THE FIGRT PUSHING ON~THE"COMMTJNICATIONS. The battlefield next morning presented a scene of tremendous energy struggling in the midst of a vast desolation. AH the divisions engaged in tho, battle had secured their objectives, and the enemy, bleeding and crippled, had been hurled back from strong positions—from heights that lie had thought impregnable, and that he had no doubt hoped to hold through another winter. Looking now at the ground Across which the troops had fought one marvelled at their success. One felt that had we occupied such positions they would never be taken. The courage of our men and their determination wero certainly immeasurably superior to the bravery and resolution of the enemy opposed to us in this fight. It was plain that in the German line were too many young lads whose hearts wore not in the fight. They surrendered too easily the moment our men got to close quarters with them, where they did not surrender they were killed, and one of our men was frequently a match for four of them. But for their concrete, reinforced with rounded iron as thick as a man's finger, and sometimes with still stouter iron, like the me.tal of a railway, they would have had many more killed. There were of course, some troops of sterner stuff, who did fight to the last, hut theso wero not in i majority. The Stream of Traffic. On this battlefield the traffic was not nearly so congested as it was on tho Sornme. There, roads are fewer than in the more fertile Flanders country, and where before we had only oiw road for two or three divisions, here there was usually a road for each division. As on the Sommo the roa<ls had

been torn by shell (ire, but that other army of Labour Battalions that works behind tlio front, yet close enough tip to bo under shell-fire day and night, was already busy with millions of feet of bault timbor, which, laid crosswayfi, kept the lorries and limbered wagons, and mule trains from becoming one- inextricable tanglo in places where tt metal had been blow awav.

Along these reads went the great streams of lumbering lorries to the farthest possible point. Beyond the point where tho plank road ended for tho timo being, the stream narrowed to ono of limbered wagons and mule trains, splashing through mud, in places kneo deep. A light tramway already ran well forward. It was nil very wonderful, and very interesting. Overhead sailed the German planes observing all this, and, later on came shelling to stop the work. But the work went on, on, and it was evident that the enemy had not too many guns to epnro for this job.

The Wounded. Wo called in at a dressing station where tho wounded were being cared for. Amongst them, still lying on their stretchers, were several Germans, strangely silent and thoughtful. They got the same attention as our own men and seemed grateful for it. Tho wind had the nip of late autumn, if not of winter, in it, and the wounded, some of whom had been lying out all night, were glad of warm food and drink. Not ono of' them complained, and many ! were even cheerful. On ono of the stretchers was a young Wellington man who had got as far as "Berlin" and had then been hit. He said there was a big German dug-out there, and fifty or siV.y Germans in it sheltering from our barrage. There were a lot cf enemy machine-guns there, and in the vicinity. Several Germans were killed and a number taken prisoners. They were a mixed lot, some very young and others quite elderly. Two sucli men we saw at this dressing station, the one a pale-faced boy with hands liko a girl's, the other a typical Prussian, with a very swollen face that gave liim a repulsive look, like the superman caricatures that the Boche had done of themselves in the hall at Suzoy on The French front.

The Road-Menders. The road-makers and the road-mend-ers were busy all along this line, but with many interruptions to their work as.the traffic rolled by. Limbered wagons with their painted shells rattling in their wooden boxes ploughed through the mud. Mules, each with eight eighteen-pottnder shells, four on either side, slung in a canvas apron ma<lo to go over the ordinary saddle, splashed the mud over you as they toiled toward the front. And there wore engineer stores, food, and water, and blankets, and a dozen other things,.nil going up. In the final stages a good deal of it reached its destination on the backs of men.

Along this road tho engineers and the Maori Pioneer Battalion were doing good work. On either side of the road was a wilderness of shell holes, almost all of them full te t.h© ■ brfit? with water. On a. slope on the right one of His Majesty's tanks lay pathetically derelict, a reminder of a former conflict. Near hero a battalion of the Rifles were at work.

The Maoris were carrying nn their broad shoulders great fascines that other of' their fellow tribesmen had cut in the French forests many miles behind the, line. "You have the good time up here?" I remarked to cno sturdy warrior with the name of P. B. Te Pohatu printed with an indelible pencil on his gas respirator. "No fear," he replied; and when I asked him the reason he did not mince his words. "Too much plurry Boche shell." lie said, with a. grin that revealed a set of teeth that would make light work of breaking up even -Ml army biscuit.

Along the line of route men from the Signal Company were still looking to the communications. Theirs is a somewhat thankless task for the linesmen are not in the limelight. The excitements of the slow advance, the thrill of the bayonet charge, are not for them. If things go at nil wrong they are more likely to be cursed than praised. And in battle things generally do go wrong with signals, so mat at times human flesh and blood have to. do the work of the wires. That is often the case in the forward positions. T'ho running of lines from cable head to brigade forward stations is not altogether a sinecure, and the maintaining of lines once they had been laid is not easy wheu >a fierce battle is raging. Still it is attempted, and, With certain interruptions, done. In one section in this battle three hundred yards of line was broken in thirty places, and men worked sixteen hours out of the twentyfour endeavouring to maintain the connection. Once lance-corporal was in this battle blown up by shell fire for the fourth time. On the first occasion he escaped with the loss of his shirt; the second time he was blown out of a trench and suffered slightly from shock; while his third experience left him with some slight wound.

Along the Traoks. The work of pushing on the tracks to dump-heads near Gravenstaf'el was at times exciting enough. Here the engineers took many of the risks of tho righting soldier. You could see young engineers superintending tho work under fire. Officers, n.c.o.'s, and men worked with a will, scorning the danger. Pushing the mule track forward under shell lire was quite an enlivening occupation, lteconnaissances had to be made for the forward mule and infantry tracks across and through the wilderness of shell holes, and material was carried up under the enemy barrages. Fortunately his barrages were not so destructive as one might have expected from the German artillery.

Along tiiese roads and tracks the D.A.C. did splendid work. One watched them admiringly in daylight and darkness splashing along. Sometimes a shell would explode and men and mules would be blown sideways from the road or right off the track. Ono saw pathetic little groups huddled in strange shapes—men and animals that had died in the strenuous work of feeding the guns and the troops. There was not time as yet to trouble about burying them—the living, and not the dead, wero the chief concern, One marvelled to sec hot meals supplied up near the firing-line. One night near Weiltje a few days before the hattle a supply column came under hostile .shelling, .and the wagon teams stampeded. A corporal with the column stopped a team that had bolted along the road full of transport and troops at considerable risk to himself. He then returned to another wagon that was in difficulties, and soon had the team clear, although one horse had been killed and the driver wounded. He himself was in turn wounded, hut he pluckily attended to the wounded driver and then carried on his work with .the column.