TOURING THE WAR ZONE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 70, 17 December 1918, Page 5

TOURING THE WAR ZONE

NEW ZEALAND PRESS DELEGATES AT

THE FIRING-LINE

SCENES ON THE WESTERN FRONT The most interesting as well as the most thrilling part of the tour was the visit to the Western front. It was mado more thrilling by the fact that on lour separate days the party wero well within the zone ol' shell fire. This part of the torn- was somewhat delayed, owing to the later' arrival of the Australian and South African delegates, but tho expedition eventually set out for France 011 the first Sunday in September. ' There wero in the party twelve representatives from Australia, six each from New Zealand and South Africa, and one from Newfoundland, making twenty-fivo in all. The intention that the first week should bo devoted to the British front, and the , second week to the French. Tho tlirco sections o£ the party were. located for the first Week at points convenient to their respective units, where they wero to mako their daily journeys by motorcar, finally joining together and. making Paris the headquarters for tho second part of tho four. Consistently with this arrangement, the New Zealanders were domiciled at the British Victors' Chateau, an historio mansion situated in beautiful grounds in the northern part of France, where they had every- reason to be satisfied and' even delighted with their accommodation nid entertainment. Their lives were most certainly cast in pleasant places. Tho first day was agreeably and interestingly spent inspecting , an. immense bakory at. Calais, where a quarter of a million rations were prepared daily, a great factory. 'employing much female labour, whero old war 111 - ■ terial was converted into new, and in watching the arrival of an ambulance train (was this not the transference of wounded men from train to steamer ?), and the. transfer of the wounded -to a hospital ship. This work was chiefly done by German prisoners.

Albert and Banaume. The second day was devoted to the long-expected and - ardently-desired visit to the New Zealand front. For the x fivst part, our route lay through beautiful and most fertile country, covered with ripening crops, but gradually the scene changed, and wo saw on either hand- tho abandoned trenches, the dilapidated stretches of barbed wire, and the wrecked buildings that indicted tlmt we had reached the war zone. If any further evidence of that fact were required, it was furnished by the streams of transport and ambulance-wagons travelling in either direction,' the soldiers in companies or straggling in twos or threes, and the groups of Tommies chatting and • smoking at the corners of roads or resting by the wayside; Occasionally, we passed,-what had once been a village, and Was marked as such oil our maps, but was now merely a patch of bricks and mortar, with scarcely one stone standing on another. Thus we made our progress till we reached Albert, once a well-populated and prosperous town, but now a heap of ruins. Tho destruction of Albert had been very recent, because it was captured by the Germans in the' push of March last, and was recovered by the British only a fortnight before our visit. The traces of German occupation, and especially their sjgnposts, roughly constructed f-om packingcases, were visible 011 every band. Though Albert was a scene of civilian activity in the earlier part of this year, with its picture shows, estaminets, and shops doing: thriving business, it was now a hopeless heap of ruins. We traversed the streets, inspected the ruins of the or.ce fine cathedral, and realised to some slight extent what war really means. But our desire was-to push 011 to Bapaume, which the New Zealanders had taken a few days previously, and we had no time to waste in fruitless sentimentalising orer the fate of Albert. Our cpurse 'ay in n north-easterly direction, and we passed through such well-known places as La Boiselle, "Pozieres,/Abeloy, Thiepvai, La nnd.Wolancourti which were nil niere heaps of ruins, They, existed only as names on the map. At Tliiepval we saw a cage of German prisoners, just in from the front, and conversed with some of the men, all of whom appeared to be of a sturdy and well-fed type. Those we spoke to declared frankly that they were tired of the war, and they said tliat the feeling in their lines was that it was immaterial who won so long as the war came to an end. We.found General Russell and his staff in « tiny hutment at Grevilliers, which had been the German headquarters s not riiany days previously. and which in appearance resembled an immense corrugated , iron tank on its side. However, it was useful and comfortable, and as the New .Zealanders were rapidly pushing on, was only a temporary domicile. Grevilliers is rather more than a mile to the'vest of Bapaume. We gathered from the general that the New Zealanders had started their advance from Gommecourt a fortnight previously, had encircled Bapaume on two sides, and compelled its had pushed on rapidly in open country, talcing Haplincourt only that morning, and that it was difficult to keep, in touch, with the Germans, who were retreating rapidly. The party pushed 011 to Bapaume, under the guidance of Captain Malcolm Boss, and found it completely in ruins. They then made a tour of the battlefield beyond, visiting Haplincourt, which had been taken that morning, and saw many German dead and some wounded who lay where* the battle had been fought. It was an interesting, even if a gruesome sight. To tho disappointment of the p.irty, the visit to the New Zealand front was,limited to three hours, because the division was still in action, and our endeavours to prolong the stay or to resumo the visit next day, in tlie hope of seeing more of our little army, was unavailing. We wero in the hands of Array Headquarters. However, we. appreciated the privilege of being permitted to visit the division at all whon it was engaged with the enemy, and we left the general and the men whom wo met with cordial wishes for their ultimate victory and safe return. There was a thrilling side to our visit in tho fact that tho booming of artillery was incessant, we could hear the rattle of machine-guns, and occasionally' a shell exploded within measurable distance of us.

Ypres, Vimy, and Arras. Our second cspeditionf was to Ypres, where the New Zcalanders spent Christmas of last yenr, and around which some of. the heaviest fighting of the war has token place. On the way, we called at the. headquarters of tho New Zealand engineering section, who are working a branch railway in this neighbourhood, and had a'delightful lunch with Major Dansey and his officers in an artisticallyfurnished little hutmont. The trip from this spot to Ypres was made in a tiny railway with a quaint observation car which was wonderfully ■ convenient. At Ypres, wo were onco more in the active war zone. Artillery was pounding away heavily behind and in front of us aeroplanes were soaring placidly aloft iiko immense birds, apparently indifferent to the shrapnel bursting around ihem in grey puffs, while occasionally the crackle, of a machine-gun could be easily distin-" guished. Several miles we could see Mount Kemmel, from which the German? had been driven several days previously, and which they were now bombarding heavily. In tho distance was. the famous Messine.i Ridge, which the New Zealanders assisted to take last year, and we were enabled to watch with interest a British battery of ■artillery sendin? its 0.2 shells over the ridge, into the German positions, at a rango'of six miles. Each of those shells weighs 2001b., and costs .£25, so that (he bombardment wns a somewhat costly business. We strolled through Ypres, saw the hopoles? ruins which are all'that is left of the famous Cloth Hall and Cathedral, and realised a little of the price Belgium has paid in its wrecked homes and its streets of pretentious shops now lying waste. And all the time the heavy cannoning continued like a furious thunderstorm. On our wav to Vimy next day we called on General, Home, tho commander of the First Army, at hij headquarters, and had an interesting chnt with him. Vimv was a most interesting spot. Here, in the Sondez Valley, with the 'French on one ridge and the Germans on the other,

was fought the battle for tho French coalfields. To and fro the battle swayed, i the French losing 400,000 men, but tho | Gormans being drivon 011 to Vimy Ridge. Up tho slopes tho Canadians and Scottish fought them foot by foot, the trenches sometimes being only eight feet apart, and Eventually driving them over tho top, and capturing the position in a single day. Wo sat on tho top of the ridge, and watched the battlefront around Lens, which was distant from us 011 tho level ground about three miles. Half a mile on our left a British battery was pounding away at tho German front line, and we could seo- tho smoko and dust as each shot burst over-, head. A German aeroplane was making observations, and presently the Germans returned the fire. Our guides thought our location rather risky, and, separating into small groups, we slowly boat a retreat. Thence we motored to ATras, which is the key to the Channel ports, and around which, the sway of batllo has continued for four years. At one time the Allies held the town and the Germans the suburbs, and the .barbed wire defences in the city still remain. Tho cathedral and Tojvn Hall are in ruins, but while many of the buildings are damaged the. greater number are apparently intact.' From the trenches outside the town we watched the shelling on either side; the aeroplanes overhead, which wijre continual objects of target practice, and we could hear the incessant sound of artillery and machine-gun tire. Arras was not by. any means a safe 'place. While we wero enjoying coffee in a dug-out, a shell burst at the receiving station close by, and we saw in the street several dead horses that had been killed the day before. The town was being heavily shelled when we left, and was hidden behind us bp a dense pall ot smoke.

The ' French Zone. • There still remained to us a full week out of the. thirteen days allotted to the M T estern front, and. though we had been disappointed at not having two or three days at least with the New 'Zealand Division we were ourselves upon the prospect of a visit to several of the more important centres in the French theatre of war. To some extent, however, we were doomed to disappointment. One of, the chief spots of interest to us was Verdun, where the French had made their _ magnificent stand against the Germans in 101G, and we w£re glad that this place was included 111 tho "itinerary of the tour. However, we had not reckoned upon the exigencies of war. When we werti setting out upon our motor journey to Paris, which was to be our headquarters for the rest of the trip, we were informed that a big American attack was in contemplation somewhere in the neighbourhood of Verdun, and consequently this part of tho itinerary would have to be abandoned. This limited the places to be visited to Montdidier, the'Marne battJefield, including Chateau Thierry and Fismes, on the Vesle Kiver, spots of great interest in the big advance to the Mnrne, but by hn uufortunate misunderstanding on the part of one of our jjuides Montdidier was also eventually omitted from the programme. Setting out from oufl chateau on Saturday, September 8, for Paris, we made two most interesting calls on the way south. The first was on Field-Mar-shal Sir Douglas Ha ig, whom wo found in simple, quarters in a beautiful chateau, surrounded by most charming groiinds. Sir Dougias is a brainy-look-ing and forceful personality, . with a kindly eye and most affable manner. He .wc.s surrounded with great maps, extended on the walls, on which the opposing lines were indicated by tapes, and the position of every division on the German and Allied sides marked by tiny squares. In stating his pleasure at meeting us, he said that no soldiers had fought better than the New Zealanders. When he had asked them to do anything, they had done it effectively, and a bit more. His old friend, General Russell, had also been a great stindby to him. i Before our departure (he whole party of journalists, including those from Australia and South Africa, wer-3 photographed with Sir Douglas. Then we made a call upon General Sir A. 11. Lawrence, Chief-of-Staff. His surroundings were 'also of a simple and businesslike character,' with the inevitable _ maps covering tho walls, and tho positions of lines and divisions clearly marked, General Lawrence chat-, ted for some time,' explaining about tho great German push in March, and why it had failed. In the attack they had 112 divisions, and'we : had 35; and it was a marvellous achievement that we had stopped them. If they had continued to pnsli on, in the opinion of General Lawrence, the result of the battle might have been very different. The Mistake they mqde was, when success seemed so' near, going north to the Lys and commencing a second push there, 'vhey were stopped, with a loss of 150,000 men, .ind in the meantime the Americans had begun to come in. The general concluded by saying that the progress of events entitled us to look forward to the future with confidence.

The Marne Battlefields. After a couple of days pleasantly spent m Paris, we were called at 5.30 a.m. 011 a .miserably wet morning to catch an early train taking 11s part of the way to Montdidier. How it did storm, to be,sure! As we drove -to the station, the hammering of the rain 011 the roof of Hie car was like the crackle of maclnne-guns. And then, to our disappointment, we reached the cheerless station only to find that someone had bungled, and that the. military passes without which we could not travel' were not forthcoming. However, on the following morning we set out for Chateau Thierry, under the guidance of a French officcr. Our route lay along the valley of the Marne,,.which was tint country, witluhigher ground rising 011 either side, and the rivor winding its course in the ceutro, close to the railway track. The Germans .were twice in this country, the second time being only six weeks previous to our visit, when they suffered their second defeat on the Marne during this war. Approaching Chateau Thierry, there wero illuminating signs of destructive war 011 every hand. Great holes were torn in the roofs and sides of buildings, freshly-constructed temporary bridges spanned the river at several points, and the surrounding country was lined with trenches and covered with stretches of barbed wire. In their retreat the Germans had not time to burn tho town, bitt they had made a start in. thsvt direction, while the shellfire had contributed materially to the destruction of .property. The inhabitants were already back at work 011 their farms, and, in some instances, had reopened the dilapidated shops.

Fismes. We made the journey to Fismes by motor-car, and all the way thither wo had ample opportunity to see tho destruction, caused by war, and occasionally the equally great but wholly wanton destruction which was the result of the German anger and Tevengo in tho face of defeat. At one spot we were shown the ruins of a great French hospital, which had stood in an isolated position, but which was 'burnt with the loss of many liles through aerial bombing. In this case, there was no cxpusc for the outrage, as the hospital wan plainly marked, and wns well known to the Germans. At F§ro most of tho buildings were.ill ruins, and others were pitted with iriflo and machine-gun bullets, anil torn with shellfirc. Tn May last this place was untouched. But tho Germans occupied it in their big ndvance, and thero was hot work on both sides in getting them out, a 'fierce battle having been waged here. Fismes bad boon a charming village, with beautiful gardens, but scarcely a building was intact. However, explained our military guide, this was war. The damage was done by the artillery of both sides. It wns quilo another matter from what happened in a district not far ijway, where tho Germans in their retreat had blown up sixty villages for no sound military reason whatever. The German lines lay just beyond Fismes, and once more we were within the zone of artillery fire, aiiil once more witnessed war in active progress a milo or two beyond us. There wag the same thunder of artillery, tho cracklo of machine-gun's, and tho same procession of ambulanco wagons returning with their loads of wounded. After spending an hour in Fismes, wo ascended a hill at the back of the town, and watched tho artillery duel in progress. Gorman shells wore tailing on a wood half n milo to our right where Mve stood looking back, and an Allied battery in the wood was vigorously replying. The effect on the eaTS and mind was for all tho world like a thunderstorm in the distanco, with frequent and vivid flashes of lightning.

The Last Day,

On tho following (lay, which was the Inst of ouv visit, we wero entertained at a great lunch in the Quai d'Orsay, whon Lord Derby, British Minister in France, was oil tho right of tho chair. There was a largo assemblage of French journalists and representative men. In the afternoon, wo wero introduced by Lord Derby at the Palace Elyseo to M. Poincare, President of the French Hopublir:, who spoke a few words of wolcume, in which lie praised tho overseas troops, and said that without the help of Britain the war could not have boon a success. Then wo paid a visit to the. French Ministry of War, where Lord Derby introduced us to M. Cleme.nceau, the Prime Minister of till? Eepublie, who is a vemarkablo /personality, _ full ot virility, and bearing opt by his speech and style the description of him as a tiger. Probably lion would bo a inoro apt. expression. Anyhow, lu3 lis unriuestionably a great man. In tho speech he made to us, he emphasised the impossibility of allowing such barbarians as the Hmis to achieve the mastery of the world. Before our departure we also visited the Soldiers* Leave Club at the Hotel Moderne, whero British soldiers 011 leave are provided for at .nominal cost, and daily fours arc arranged for their entertainment. The work _is admirably done by a circle of British female and malo residents in Paris, and the institution is an excellent 0110.