ON THE NEW ZEALAND FRONT

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 287, 23 August 1918, Page 5

ON THE NEW ZEALAND FRONT

HARASSING THE GERMAN RETREAT

PATROL FIGHTING

(Special from the Official Now Zealand

War. Correspondent.)

August 19. For some few days now, apparently in conformation with what may mean a, more general scheme of retirement to a shorter and more easily defended line, the enemy has been gradually falling back opposite our sector. The first indications of this retirement wero noted on tho morning of the U!h, when, everything being extraordinarily quiet, patrols were pushed out at 5 o'clock. _ The enemy artillery was below normal, smoke was rising from certain localities in the enemy territory, while the German aircraft was inactive and showed" no disposition to cross our lines. During tho previous day a few of tho enemy were seen going and coming in vnusuul places, and some stretcher ruses wero carried away from a dugout, bat there were no signs of retirement. On tho 14th, however, our patrols wero soon pushing out towards tho Puiisieux-Serro Ridge. Occasionally an enemy machine-gun opposed our advance on the right flank, but invariably after a few minutes' firing it was withdrawn,-and ouir patrols pushed on at tho heels of the enemy. By nightfall, Canterbury and Otago troops had advanced tho fighting to a lino along tho Serre-Puisieux Road. They had killed and wounded several of the enemy, and woro able to send back forty prisoners. On the left the Wellington troops found the onemy resisting moro strongly, and ' progress was moro difficult. Six prisonora were captured. Early in the morning wo had occupied a 6ystem of trenches a thousand yards to tho south of Puisioua. Pressure Stiffened. At dawn on the 15th two companion of the onemy had reocenpied & sunken road to the north cf the village, but were engaged 'by Otago troops, who inflicted casualties, captured tour prisoners, and advanced tho line another eight hundred yards. During tho day enemy moving back wero fired on, and machine! guns wero silenced by our artillery. During the night a harassing fire was direct, ed oh tho enemy communications, whil« trench mortars, moving forward with our infantry, gave covering fire. Tho aircraft gave timely assistauco with special ■ patrols, and brought back eairly roporta of the location of the enemy. Progress ■ on our left was slowor, owing to tho high ground not being in our possession. Tho onemy guns were evidently 6hooting at oxtroraq ranges. They shelled the ruins of Sorre village, and-put down barrages with tho evident intention of hindering our advance. Maohino-giuis in ! pockets gave considerable trouble to our 1 advancing patrols, and in most casos held i on till tho last moment to delay the iad- i vance. Tho onemy was holding his front lino with outposts, in which wero eight men with one machine-gun, well in front of the main line of resistance, which, con. tained the remainder of his forward battalion, the support (battalion of each regiment; being a long way further back. The' enemy patrols had orders to beat off our patrols, but to fall back fighting if strongly attacked. In nearly every caso his patrois gave way at on;a on a show of determined pressure. An Attack Countered.

At dawn on the 16th, the enemy attacked to reoccupy some trenches south of Puisieux, but the attacksrs were wiped out by the New Zealanders. Ton priSonera, including an officer, were captured, and the remainder killed. Two machine-guns wore secured. The enemy shelled spasmodically our whole area, but with extraordinarily little effect, except at ono place. In cleaning up a, pocket that had been delaying tho advance on. the left, eighteen prisoners and two machine-guns wero captnrcd.. it 5 o'clock on the morning of tho 18th the enemy attacked the Otago's front with four sections of a storm battalion and a party of the 418 th Infantry Regiment, about a hundred men in all, the objective being a sunken Toad south of Puisieux, and their object the straightening of their line there. Tho enemy began, with an intense bombardment on tho front-lina area, and infantry attack followed. On the. right and' centre of tho front an Otago company .pushed forward Lewis guns, to bring flanking' fire to bear on the enemy, and heavy riflo and Lewis-gun fire was ponred into the advancing Germans. This broke up the attack. A lieutenant then led his men forward to mop up what remained of the enemy, and captured eleven prisoners and eleven machine-guns. A email patrol then pushed through the village and killed six Germans. Later another patrol, pushing down a, shallow valley, counted German'officers and twenty-five other ranks dead. Enemy orders for this attack appear to have been very 1 indefinite, which fact no doubt contributed largely to its failnre.