New Zealanders at the Front

Horowhenua Chronicle, 24 August 1916, Page 3

New Zealanders at the Front

.V IrESCtUPUVE LETTER

The following .citer was ioceived iliis Hceiv in Levin i rum Private Walter liarr.itt, ol 1.e..11, who Iclt with the ILtli Reinforcements:— in the Uillots, France, July 7th, lltKi. Übvi'jig been shilted about considerably one does not get much of an opportunity for writing letters, so J luivo .sent postcards to several to let them see that in the midst ol flume and smoke of battle they are -not loigoiteii. ( sent cards from Albany, Egypt, seilles and now send them from the firing line. [ order thorn at the stationer's and he undertakes to post them for me. 1 have been under shell lire. When I arrived here I was at once '-.'lit into the thick of the light. On the way it was a deplorable sight to see the devastation which the shells had made in the little towns. Buildings utterly wrecked and their contents lying cxpi.i-ed. Some of the residences had been really prettty, for they were artistic in design, ornamented with mtolln in cement, and built of brick, and there were beautiful gardens aud shrubberies- all ruined. At the front the artillery on both .sides usiiaiiy open liic al about 10..'10 at night ami pour into the opposite side a rain of shot i!M.I shell. Some <if the Hun shells are enormous and used liberally in the destruction of towns as well a's trenches. Shrapnel • weighing 20lbs ami upwards bursts overhead and o.iuses • more in casualties than in killed. The concussion knocks one out, and it is an awful strain on the nerves. The nun bombs, weighing about (jOlbs, do an amazing amount of damage. I have been in the trench when they have been flying all about us, and though. no far, I have escaped, yet it affects one to see comrades hit and laid out. The Amcricam general, Sheridan, m iid : "War is belli" Well, he never saw the bell we are in. The shells scream and roar, aud whistle and hiss, and it f is infernal music. You feel like a pigmy in a mighty furnace, and wonder how yon get through it. It is "scientific savagery." 1 have met .\fr FofcK. whom we al! knew as a teacher -at Levin school. I sun told that Jack Mill#, also a teacher there, got as far as Walker's Ridge when he was shot; not when he was stepping off the b(,<at. Have met a few ol our Levin comrades: among them Willie Hansen, son of Mrs Banks. Weraroa : one of ,\lr Mefvain's coiisms, rind Mr Young, late A..M.I', agent for' Levin. The aeroplanes are wonder!ul to see in their evolutions and their mastery of the air, and from what I have seen the Hun nwichines are "not in it" with those of the Allies. We Raw two of our machines I chase two of the enemy's over our lines, and shrapnel was bursting all around. Tt is marvellous and exciting to see an encounter'in the air. The ITuns turned and fled, and then Ave cheered our airmen with all our lungs. One evening we counted I-l of our aeroplanes going over the enemy's lineis, and though none of their 'planes appeared | our men were subjected to such a quantity of shrapnel that the .surprise was that one of them escaped destruction. Hut they glided to and fro deliberately, dropping their deadly missiles, anil all came home safely to roost, and without receiving damage. ' You cii'ii form no idea of what a 'bom- c bardment is. No imagination can picture the hurricane of shells screaming and whistling over your head, and when they drop, billeting and ripping 11jj the earth, making craters big enough to hide a waggon in. h i

tin inferno, and yet above it the moon I may be shining in cailm serenity. The n wonder is that any human being lives |i through it. We carry our gas hel- I a mots with us. as gas has been known to n kill persons 14 miles behind the firing e tine. You get two whiffs and you are t a "goner." The Huns send over b "tear shells" and they favour the gun- h uers mostly with these compounds. It n brings such tears to one's eyes that it o is difficult to get proper rifle sight.

but for this we wear goggles. The steel helmets are fairly heavy, but they save many lives. We get good lood in tho billets—same as in tlie trenches —bacon mnd stew, cabbagc and spuds. And wo net letters from home as dessert. T received nine all in a heap, and altogether T haive received 25. Manv heartfelt thanks to my many friends for their land thoughts. There are church services bore, and even "the dare-devils" pay reverence to the preas clior's word. Tt seems as if all denominations are one here. T suppose n "fellow-feeling makes us wondrous kind." There are times when sitting in a dug-out xVe think of loved ones far away and we echo the words "Tho night is dark and T am far from home, lend Thou me on." Hoforc the day closes the infernal racket begins again and next daiy tho roll-call sbows that some of our best fellows are among the slain.