NEW ZEALANDERS IN THE ADVANCE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 303, 11 September 1918, Page 5

NEW ZEALANDERS IN THE ADVANCE

HAVRINCOURT AND GOUZEAUCOURT WOODS (Special Dispatch from the New Zealand Official War Correspondent.) September 6. _ Starting from their outpost positions won as the result of yesterday's advance, the Now Zealanders continued their forward marah, this morning. They mopped up numbers of Germans remaining in shell-holes in front of last night's objective, and took .fifty more prisoners. The .patrols then pushed on south of Havrincourt Wood to tho village of Metz-en-Coutre. Havriucourt Wood, where wo expected stiff fighting, was evacuated by the enemy. . September 7. To-day tho New Zealanders have coi> tinued their advance east of Havrincourt Wood Rnd tho village of Metz-en-Coutre, and have pushed their patrols right into Gouzcaucourt Wood-so-called, for the enemy has cut it down for timber. We are well. beyond tho Canal-du-Nord, which we crossed where it is 'tunnelled. To the southwest tho enemy has blown up the rail-, way, and away in _ the north-east we can see fires burning in Rihecourt, Flesquaires, and Epinoy. We are moving eastward almost parallel to the Hindenburg Line, but what is of more importance than tho ground gained is tho undoubted deterioration of the enemy's moral. Some prisoners who w<jro captured yesterday accused another unit of running away, and yet another lot complained that troops detailed to relieve them did not come up. There is an increasing; reluctance to fight to a finish, and even officers now admit that Germany cannot win, and that generally they are very tired of the war. One officer stated that wo wore not yet in possession of Kcmmel, and when told that wo got it without fighting was moro scornful still. Tho enemy has blown great craters in. the roads near Metz. A soda-water plant that was captured is now ready io supply two of our divisions, and thousands of full bottles have been discovered. Two German tanks lio stranded on tho ground the New Zealanders have won. Ono wood we occupied contained almost luxurious headquarters undestroyed. The enemy ■ had evidently intended •to settle there for the winter. _ There were wimerous huts with excellent beds, and almost each had a. safe dug-out to which the occupants could retire in of shelling. Flowers were growing in window-boxes. ' Two days ago the German gunners began savngelv to shell this camp, and 1 wo found tho clugouts useful. One lmt was sot on firo, and some men, climbing to the roof, pluckily beat it out while the shelling continued. Returning, our car raced through a barrage of 5.9's splinters of which pierced our mudguards. Everything goes to show that tho enemy is greatly annoyed, though powerless to stay our advance. Ho is resisting with machine-gun fire from the south end of Gouzeaucourt Wood and Trescault Ridge.