WAR ANNIVERSARY

Hokitika Guardian, 9 November 1932, Page 8

WAR ANNIVERSARY

THE NEW ZEALANDERS IN FRANCE

FALL OF LE. QUESNOY

On November 4 opened the lust of the great battles of 1918—the Battie -of the .Sambre. The role allotted to the New Zealand Division in this action involved an advance of some tour miles to ia portion extending from the western edge of the Foret de Mormal to Tou's Vents. The old , walled town of Le Quesnoy had to be captured. Bombardment of the undamaged town was undesirable, and it was therefore proposed envelop it frpm tlie flanks. ■

At 5.30 a.m,, November 4, our ar-tM-lery opened with a crasl}, under cover of which the New Zealand Ride Brigade moved off to the attack. The right and centre battalions, despite a good deal’ of sporadic resistance, had no trouble in reaching the first objective. On the left, however, 2nd Rifles encountered stubborn opposition, and ft wag only after fierce fighting that the .railway triangle was cleared. In ispite of this the objective was reached up to time. Uhe -supporting artillery no-v began to move forward, battery by battery, w'thout reducing the volume of fire. Then at 7.29 a.m., 3rd Rifles, south of the town and twenty minutes later Ist Auckland, north of the town, began the envelopment of the fortress town. Thin movement was covered to a great extent by the morning mH and by emoke screens laid the rampart north and south of tlje town.

By 8.40 a.m. both battalion objectives were secured. The sun by now was well up, the mist had dispersed, and the day was brisit and clear. In. the clearer light the German machine-guns at once became more troublesome. Nevertheless the advance was beguii anew, and -by 9,25 a.m. Le Quesnoy was entirely surrounded, and while Ist Brigade swept on tp the final objective, the Rifle Brigade commenced its 1 st action of the war—^the storming of the fortress of Le- Quesnoy.

■ Surrounded by a double moat, the dividing • line of which consisted of a line of demi-lunes, and ‘backed up' by the town ramparts some 60 feet high, the fortress of Le Quesnoy presented a difficult task. Under cover of the smoke put down to screen the envelopment of tHe town, ■ the Rile Brigade patrols worked forward to the outer ijmoiat. 'ln the south-east, the only .chance of 3rd Battalion lay in finding -the bridge on the Landrecies Road unguarded, Here, however, the battalion patrols encountered fierce .•maclnne-gun -fire, and were driven off. North of the town, four men from 2nd Battal.on .managed to gain a footing on a demi,lune between the moats, only to be ,driven off by machine-gun five. Immediately a fresh attempt by two platoons wn s driven off, and, such men as reached the foot of the bastions were pinned 1 /there, unable to move for several, hours. AIL along this face of the towri the enemy was engaged without s u cce?6 • till, about .4 p.m., .a fierce bombardment . by" trench mortars at last silenced the hostile machine-guns.

,tD VANCE CHECKED

For some hours the 4th Battalion had been engaged against the west face of the town. One platoon -under cover ■of a concentration of rifle grenades, and with the help of .a sealing ladder,; , worked forward 'iano established itself j on'a demi-lune. From this work it j had been observed that a practicable. route to the inner ramparts existed via some broken masonry. It wa s now 9 a 4., and the mist arid smoke -was clearing. ’ As tin, platoon commander with a small patrol was advancing via this broken masonry, machine-gen fire suddenly brolie out. The leaders ,of the patrol were at once killed, and the remainder pinned to the spot for the next six Hours. Machine-guns now b«--arae increasingly active, firing from |: all along the inner ramparts, and further progress became impossible. ; There was now a pause, which 4th Battalion spent in reorganisations and reconnaissance. Prisoners wer e sent .into the town with messages to the ■ enemy commander inviting him to surrender. Shortly after noon, 4th Battalion again attempted to storm the ramparts. With the aid of a section ■of light trench-mortars, which, had just ■ come up, ar I a barrage of rifle-gren-!ade.s, a series of outlying bastions were cleared in turn. On these were placed all the available Lewis guns, and these and the trench mortars opened an intense fire against the main ramparts. These now appeared deserted, and patrols at once pushed forward.

THE FINAL ASSAULT,

Using scaling ladders and working via the broken masonry, two parties ■ penetrated to the near side of the inner ■ moat. Here a r ' narrow stone ;(v,b l !ifig e jigpiunned the moat, and • fronx I this bridge, and here only, it was found •the 30 feet scaling ladder would reach ithe top of th'e (final moat. As the combined parties moved to the br'-dge they were met by a shower of '"stick” bombs, forcing them to withdraw. A frcsn attempt was at once organised. A trench mortar was brought forward, and with the Lewis guns searched the ramparts with bursts of .heavy fire. Under cover of this fi r e, the scaling ladder was picked up and placed in position without interference. • It was now nearly 4 p.m., and 2nd-Lieut. Averill at once ascended the ladder, reaching the top of the rampart unmolested. Here h e was quickly joined by 2nd-Lieut. Kerr. These two officers, descending the ramparts, encountered a party of. Germans, rthoni they at onct attacked, but the party at once bolted. By this time the remainder of the battalion, led by.' Lieut.-Cep nel Bar--

rowclough, were swarming up. the ladder and 'nto the town. Also to the north, 2nd Battalion was now established on the ramparts. Bowing to the inevitable, the Germans now threw up the sponge and all resistance ceased. Tp 'Quesnoy had fallen to the Rifle