WAR STORIES

Hokitika Guardian, 4 January 1930, Page 2

WAR STORIES

SAPPERS GUARD THE FLANK. (By “Signals” in the Daily Mail.) "When 4110 German bombardment opened on the morning <>l March -1, 1918, the 12th Field Company, Iloynl Engineers, went forward in gas niasxs to man a trench in trout ol Morchios. north of the Bapaume-Camhrai road and over two miles irom our limit line. Before the sappers were m position their t-omriiander and sei-geant-major were killed by the same shell and the company was heavily bombarded all day; At dusk our retreating infantry came through and the sappers assisted to drive off the pursuing (irv mans with ra.pid rifle lire, after which they went out and closed- the- gaps in the wire ontaglemeiits. The, company was withdrawn at night. Early next morning, assisted l,v other engineers, it constructed n redoubt west of the Bcugn.y-Yalux Vnuicourt road; hut when the Gelmans pressed on it was moved out to .defend the left flank. After fighting stoutly here till the afternoon a general withdrawal left, the 12th Company with a few other sappers and about 60 infantrymen isolated, and heavily engaged v itli the enemy converging Upon them from the east and nortli-east. Low-flying aeroplanes used th’ir machine guns upon the little force and a German battery opened fire at close range, bn* for over two hours the steady rifle-fire of onr men protected the left flank of the division bv keeping the German advance in cheek,

Then, when there was no ammunition left and the enemy had , almost surrounded the position,, the survivors withdrew for a mile to join mn troops manning the next line of defence*. The 12th Field Company had entered the "fight 100-strong with 4 officers; by this time 2 officers and 43 others had been killed or wounded and 7 men were missing. THE NEW ZEALAND AT JUTLAND. Through the sudden and terrible destruction of the Indefatigable in the Battle of Jutland on May 31, 1916 the New Zealand became th'e last battle cruiser in Sir David Beatty’s line. Up to the moment when tile Indefatigable was sunk she had not been fired at by any German ship. She now transferred her own fire from the Moltke to the Yon der Tann, which German battle cruiser had sunk the Indefatigable, The British sth Battle Squadron was at this moment beginning to engage, and its interposition helped to protect the New Zealand. About 4.10 a torpedo, probably one of four fired by the Moltke, passed between the Now Zealand and the Tiger which was next ahead (.4* 4.20 the New Zealanci hit tlie barbette of the forward turret in the Von der Tann, but the shell seems to have exploded onstriking 'tlie- armour,’or it might have brought the end of the German ship, / \ i , A few minutes later another shell pierced the Von der Tann’s armoured battery deck and put six men out of action, besides jamming for some time the after turret. The magazine had to be flooded beneath this turret, and smoke and gas poured into the steering engine-rooms so that the men in them had to be withdrawn. About 4.25 the New Zealand received her first and only hit. The stern turret, in accordance with a Maori Chief’s prophecy, was struck by an llin. shell (probably from the Moltke) which punched out a circular piece of armour. Just about the time when the New Zealand received her hit, the Queen Mary, two ships ahead of her in the British line, blew up.,

TERRITORIALS’ FIGHT AMID TEAR GAS.

(By “Signals.”

On the evening of. August 18 1916, a brigade of Warwickshire Territorials attacked in flunk.:the German defences between Ovillers-la-Boisselle and Theipval. The l/6tli .Royal Warwicks, who formed the right, of the assault, found that some of the German machine guns were unsubdued despite our excellent barrage; but although our men were kept at bay for a time by a strong enemy post at the junction of four tren dies six officers and 140 other Germans with three machine guns eventually surrended here. Progress was easier thereafter and many prisoners were taken in dug-outs. The l/sth Royal Warwicks won j through in splendid fashion to the line which they had been ordered to take. On the extreme left, however, the bomb" ing parties of the 1 /7th Battalion were engaged in a fierce struggle. A German barricade was stormed at the second attempt but lost again, and was finlly taken early next morning. The bombers perservered and captured another 300 yards of trench,, which the battalion held under terrific 4 ie^'^re until relieved two days later. Meanwhile the l/sth had been heavily counter-attacked and obliged to give ground ; but they were not to be denied and bombed the Germans back again with heavy loss on August 19. So in spite of high explosive and tear gas, which rained upon the whole captured position, the Warwickshire Brigade was able to hand it over intact to the relieving troops. The three battalions lost in all 10 officers and 338 others, but captured several hundred of the enemy and many ma-