Anzac Raids

Horowhenua Chronicle, 29 August 1916, Page 2

Anzac Raids

NKU ATTACK GERMAN 1 i'ENOHES. liN I'>M i iiOMBEi) A.Vi) ISAVONJiTJvI) (From Malcolm 1!05.5.) Noiiiioi'ii i'nuice. July 7. ii.lt' ro.u battle,* are i;eilig lougill wiili u fierce and bloody determination la,ther south along ilio line in France, thi- Anzacs have boon harrying the enemy with their artillery and trench mo,'tars, and almost- nightly raids 'are being made. 'Liio Germans retaliate with their guns, and also u'y their hands at Raiding, but so far the honours have been entirely with the co onial forces. These raids have undoubtedly been uselul in deceiving the enemy as to the actual point of attack in connection with the great push, anil apart from that they have also had a deteriorating effort upon his morale. When in tho silences of tho night ho suddenly finds his trenches .swept with a storm of high explosive, and, a IVw minutes later, a baud of sturdy men. with bayonets gloaming in the Hashes of the flares, come tumbling over the parapet into trench and dug-out. the bravest Uoche is apt to quail and put up his hands. Added to all this is the I>omb tiud the cogwheel knobkerry, w'-ic!' makes the situation still more disconcerting. Quite recently 1 .spent a night in a for.wai'd position observing one of these raids. We went in the darkness along the duck-board Walks and through the fields, and eventually found ourselves in a deep trench. In a dug-out, more or less shell-proof, we found an Australian Brigadier 'and other officers waiting. Presently, with wonderful and dramatic precision ihe guns opened on the enemy's front trench. The crack of the, guns, the tearing,noise of the shells overhead and the bursting of tho shells ithead, made a terrific mnVe. The perliminary bombardment might well he called intense. We went outside, and. crouching on a mound of earth behind tho trenches, viewed the scene. It was strikingly pietuies<|iie. A drizzle of rain and the smoke from the shells added to the effect. The sky was aglow with bursting shell and flare. Clumps and lines of (roes wore silhouetted against the flashing lights. now clearly, as there was a particularly bright illumination from a number ol shells ami flares bursting together ai one point, and now ghost-like, as the intensity of the bombardment momentarily die' tlow.il. Gentian searchlights waving across the firmament added to the general pyrotechnic effect of the display.

Tn this raid there were several par- [ ties and soon alter midnight we learnt t that they had got. in and out of tlie German trench. A little later flame the message: "One prisoner just arrived, nir!" Tlie prisoner was a man who talked English* very well. He had been a clerk in Tendon. "Don't kil' me T am in married man," ho said to tlie liig Anzac wbo captured him. FTi•aptor give him a little pat on the- head and replied : "You're all right-, sonny! Don't, you worry!" The prisoner tfaid he reckoned this raid was rery cleverly earned out. Tt was — clever, lie said. Using; an adjective with which tin'

«S ... J Anzacs are quite ill miliar. I miv tTie prisoner afterwards. He was a goodlooking J'eiliHV. fflie searchers Cook quite a lot ol letters oil liuu. and piiotograph*, ol his wife Mini children. He

had a pretty wife and pretty children. J here was also a rcc. lit letter from'his wile. It would he the iant she would icceive lor some days- until he could get m letter to her through a neutral country. 'Ilie prisoner was anxious to keep the pictures of his wiio and family, and these were promptly handed back to him as soon jis he w'.is put in an adjoining dug-out under guard. He was given cigarettes and some of tlio men gave him food. One could not i'eip thinking ol the contrast in the treatment of our men in (he IMinleheu Camp! I'or a considerable time there was no word ol one party and the artillery b-irrage was kept going. It'was an' anxious time, hut the commander remarked he was not worrying. Half an hour beyond midnight a report came that the enemy we,is dropping tear shells around one of our batteries, but the guns continued tiring. Alter wine waiting we heard that men Irom all throe parties were coming back safely over tho'r own parapet. There were also a lew killed and wounded to be taken in. I're.sentlrv. in the small lioui'k of the morning, the first of the returned l .ideis began to reach the dug-out whore we were. They brought with them three prisoners. On comparing notes afterward* it was found that in all -they bad killed about 80 Germans. On. the winy back through "No Alan's" land some of the raidei-s. when tlie Germans .sent up flares, flattened themselves down in a ditch half filled witli dirty water, and when the shiitpnel began to come over in another placo five ol' them crowded into a shell crater that forcibly reminded thorn of Hail nslVithors famous picture: "AVell, it yon know* of a better place you better go to it." Considering that the Anzacs had some 250 men out in tlii.s triple raid their casualties were not heavy and the enemy certainly suffered to an extent that made the excursion worth while. GOOD WOIIK liY TliK MOW ZEA-* LANDERS. One of the most ol' all theso Anzac rnidis was made by the New ZeaI'mders, who asaulted a section of the enemy's trench recently on a dark night. The preliminary bombardment by the artillery and tronoh mortars commenced at 12.80 a.m.. and after twenty minutes the guns lifted to form

a somi-eircitlar barrage, 'during which a party wont forward, wild finding the Gorman wire well cut hv tho high explosive from the trench mortars, got into t; 110 front Gorman trench without great difficulty. Indeed none of the parties mot with the slightest refiistanco in their forward move. The riiidors remained for .some time in the trench and then withdrew. They brought hack with them much bootv and ten prisoners. They killed !."> Germans in tlie trench and a number were also undoubtedly killed by our shell fire. Our 'irt-illerv ceased firing, but the enemy continued his bombardment of our positions. 'Captain A. H, 'McOoll, the leader of the party, was mortally wounded while gallantly assisting his men. He had got- safelv back to his own trench. but returned to help our stretcherbearers. who had got into difficulties in a ditch not far from our parapet. \Mien getting hack over the parapet he was caught by machine-guns fire and severely wounded. He died before reaching the dreesing-station. Apart from this our casualties in this raid were only one man killed and nine wounded. Of the nine only fou?' wove wounded during the course of the raid. The German wire entanglements were found to be thirty-five yards through 'and lour feet six inches high, the wire having heavy barbs placed close together. Their parapet was twenty feet wide at the base find six feet at the top. The trench sides were rivettod with lattice work and here were no sandbags. In the trenches there were no dug-outs under the parapets, but there were shallow shelters. At one point there w.as a large bomb store

with an iron door. ■Out of this door three men came, a fourth remaining inside and shutting the door. The

door was blown in by an engineer a f tcr the raiders liaid left tlie trench. A shaft was found leading from a oi-ep well to a bombing station in the rem. It was demolished by tan engineer who followed the pipe line for some distance hut could not find the p-imp. The trench was sis feet deep, narr jw, strongly traversed, and floored villi duck-Boards. The parados, which mas not so high as the parapet, conta'imd a number of roomy dug-outs. In several there were beds. They were all very strongly constructed, with a thick solid roof, supported by heavy iron girders. They were sufficiently rooinv to permit of a man standing up in them. Amongst tho booty taken hack by our men were a number of Prussiau and Saxon helmets.

us[i; s-tiA\ [>n:.I l! .mij-i «Ti|l utoqV made by (lie Wellington Koginient. This raid, however. Was not so successful as was anticipated, the artillery not having been able, as on other occasions, to cut all the wire and silence tho enemy's machine-guns. Thus the raiders got through only in twos and threes and the enemy bombed tliejm in

detail. Apparently the raiders got into ari outwork and not into the mam trench. Some HO or 6() of the enemy tried to follow the raiders, but were Kept hark by a Wellington lieutenant and bis men. During the raid tlie enemy searched "No YtnnV" land with their machine guns. T.ient. K. Mulll'o «-;n killed 'it shrapnel 'In-fore tlie boinliardnient lifted. Lieut. Sheldon was w.p wounded. Tlie enemy's bar ruse on this occasion was hoary. X<> men ■vere found in the trench into w'-Yi our men entered.