THE FIGHT FOR THE RIDGES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 7, 3 October 1918, Page 6

THE FIGHT FOR THE RIDGES

THE NEW ZEALAND ATTACK AT CAUBIiAi THROUGH THE HINDENBURG. LINE (Special dispatch from the New ZcaUinU Official "War Worrespuudcnt.)

September 29. Yesterday we heard tliat the enemy had evacuated the Welsh Kidge and iUarcoing, anil that two finglisii divisions were advancing with a view to securing the Bon ;uis Kidge. The New Zealand Division was to push through theso divisions and drive the enemy across the St. Quentin Canal, liy nightfall, however, tlw Welsh and the Bon Avis Hidges and Laracquolc were still being held by the enemy. It fell to tho .New Zealanders to .take them. . Tho North and South Island Brigades marched up during the afternoon and night. A strong cold wind, with rain showers, prevailed all day, but the weather cieared in the evening. At 3.20 o'clock tliis morning the guns' commenced their barrage, and the Auckland and Wellington, Ottigo and Canterbury troops advanced to the attrtck under the feeble light of a moon 'sinking near the horizon. The somewhat unusual hour selected successfully introduced the element of surprise and the enemy v. - ns late with his coun-ter-barrage, liy 6.40 a.m. our Light Battalion reported having crossed- the, sunken road, and were advancing on the Bon Avis Ridge. Their casualties were slight, and already thej had captured ono hundred prisoners. * Some of the enemy's strong, points were stjll being dealt with half an hour later, At the left battalion reported that the Bou Avis Kidgc had been captured. There had been a lot of machinegun flro at tho start, but it eased off later, and our men continued to go forward in splendid style. At first there was very little- enemy shelling. Laler there came soni6 artillery lire irom tho right battalion front. It is a glorious day, calm and sunny, and everyone is in nigh feather with our success, and the splendid news from farther north. Already we appear to havo captured between eight hundred r.nd a thousand prisoners. At tho moment of writing Uonnelieu has not yet fallen, and our troops, who havo made a"'fine advance, are being shot at from their right rear. The canal ahead 'is a formklnblu obstacle. Wo nro in occupation of tho ridge overlooking Vaucelless, a village , beyond the canal, and havii already cue the Cambrai-St. Quentin itoad. Probably the enemy will retire" to the Masnicros-Ber.urevoir line. ,

THE DAY ENDED WELL

London, October 1. Tho day J:as ended well for the New Zealanders and badly for the J3oche. Our casualties are surprisingly light. Many Germans have- bitten the dust, nnd wo have captured several , officers and 1100 men. To-day beyond tho Hindenburg line thero nro many'dead Germans. Many wounded' Germans arc being treated' by New Zealand doctors at our Crossing stations. Tho German officers seemed very disconsolate, Und the men, who complained thaWecently tliey had not had enough food, certainly had rather a pinched look. Early in the day ulso we had captured two 6-inch naval guns and some smaller pieces. The machine-guns , nowadays we scarcely troublo to count. Orirnien. wero in splendid form and neve? inoro keen to get into the front line. They had absolute confidence in their superiority over the enemy, and they proved that that confidence was more than justified. This morning when our troops advanced behind "the barrage tlip. sinking moon shed but the feoblest light over the battlefield, and as it dipped to tho horizon'it became quite dark, but all went well except .for a slight check to a company , of_ Otagos who came up against hirbed wire, and owing to that obstruction slightly lost direction. About 6 a.m. the Nornh Island Brigade had established itscflf on Bon Avis Ridge, slightly over 400 feet above sea level. The South Island J3ri'gade got on to the same ridge on its left, hut on its right, south-east of La Vacquerie it was held up by mselririegnn fire from the right rear at '3onnelieu. Later in the day othsr Auckland and Wellington battalions' advanced through their two leading 'battalions towards the canal. Pushing the enemy before them and still killing and wounding many, they estal Jiihed a line on commanding ground. F atrols from our left moved the fight do , vn to the canal itself. Some of the Aiicklanders actually fought their war .on to a distance of 8000 yards, hjit were subsequently withdrawn somew bat. Our casualties were still extremely light except on our right, whore stine Canterbury troops suffered from i. ia-chine-guu fire from the direction of Gonnelieu village to the south-west.. CieiHTflly Kpnaking, the enemy, who was badly surprised in the darkness : > <lid not hght gallantly and surrendered'. freely. Though the barrage on this : occasion was necessarily thin, it nevertheless killed and wounded many Germans. On the other hand, we lost semo prisoners through their getting away in tho darkness after surrendering.' It says a greai; deal for our men that they managed to gain ono of the principal objectives in the. darkness. Our surprise caused the enemy's artillery to be late in coming into action, and it was about 10 o'clock before lie began to shell Bon Avis Ridge heavily and constantly. On our right other troops who had had hard fighting were delayed in their advance, and this in turn had the effect of retarding the ) progress of the South Island Brigade. This afternoon our men were consolidating the positions they had won, with "a view to a further advance. Ahead to the north-east wo saw great smoke columns rising from Cambrai,. and also what ■ appeared to be enemy dumps going up in huge puffs. The enemy's transport wero seen moving away) hut a few months ago when they wero stemming the rush of the German horde'on Amiens there was.no one who even dreamt that in September he would have the forefront of that nuicii-helauded system-of defence, the Hindenbura line, but to-day our men have marched across it, and another dawn will find them willing, nay eager, to go still farther afield.