NAMELESS HEROES.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 27 December 1917, Page 3

NAMELESS HEROES.

New Zealanders at Beilevue Spur. THE BATTLE OF 1 OCTOBER 12. Despatches from Mi- Malcolm IU/&S, the New Zealand official correspondent with the iNew Zealand' Army, give a vOv.id account of 'ihe gallant fight madtei by tfie tl\ T ow Zealanders at Beilevue Spur on October 12, when so many brave men made the supreme sacrifice. Extracts from the 'letters follow:

On the night of the 11th October Jslio New Zealanders wore ready" once more at the starting-place for the mew attack, Australians again on their rights, British, aas before, on their left. A cold rain fell in t'lie night, anc\ on the morning of the 12till dawn came through mist and a drizzle of rain. Out jumprug.off place was, a front of aboui'i 1600 (yards. Though we did not know it at tho time, -wo were uip against a stiffer proposition than we had tacklod at Messines, stilfer even than Ithat which confronted us on the Somtne. The. remains of the old Btaden-Zonne-beke wired lines was on tho left, with the cemetery, Wolf Farm, Wolf Copse, and Beilevue first to the attacked with their nests of pill-boxes and machineguns only four and five huncljred' yards ahead. There wn<s also uncut Wire. Our mon came up against it unexpectedly. It was thick across tho whole Beilevue Spur, which sloped up to fifty metre ccrj'riour. It was of the low picket pattern, 2ft. Cin. high, and varying from 20 to 4 yards in depth. It was really damaged wire of the old Staden-Zonnebeke line that had been blown aboii|'i iby shell fire but Shad been repaired and was still formidable. The ground was very marshy.

Heire, then, were the most adverse conditions possible for an attack—greasy mud, waterlogged shell-holes, concrete redoubts fronted with wire and drammed full with machine-guns and' tilieir" crews. But, in addition to all this, the artillery had had the greatest difficulty in gotlbing up their guns. Some of them could not be got up at all. Other* that (JM get up had difficulty in carrying on, for after a shot O'V two had been fired ' K l lr tiails slipped in the mud, so that accurate shooting became extremely difficult. The sum total of this was that tlie infamry had not the splendidl protective and destructive barrage tliflt they had become accustomed to in other fights, the wire remained partly uncut, and most o,P the "pill-boxes" remained unslvockcd'.

Following the fchin barrage, the advancing wavcU of in fantry found them_ kcllvcfc raked with macliine-gun ytire, sniped with rifles', and even shot a.t by maehVno-gnmiors perched on little pliatforms in the almost branchless trees ahead!. HEROISM OF THE NiEfW ZEALAND. HRS. For some honors now on the slopes befOV<* tlie Bellevue llidge, deeds of lah a most glorious heroism were being enacted. One could see that not only the New Zealanders, but "the troops on the right and deft of fliem were also being held up. They had com© up agaiir-t masses of barbed wire, and awithering macliiine-gun fire from the German Ihroops ill the many pi'll-boxes scattered over the groundi. They fired on the men marching on Wolf Farm and the Cemetery, and. indeed all along tlio line. The conditions were sucli tliat it was a physical impossibility to bite deep in to such a syM-em of defence 'iHitfl it liad been further reduoed by more intense artillery fire.

II ut with a grim determination and an ab-olute disregard. l of danger, they s|';uck to their work. Wave after wave went forward. 'Numbers were shot down, but still they persevered. Of individual heroism there are many examples, but dozens and scores of bravo deeds must have passed unrecorded, and even unnoticed. Two of our colouelr< were killed; early in the attack and inow, when further pirogrebs became slow aitd almost impossible, other colonels and officers came oui'j irom what llisfrtie shelter .there was in rtjha wet shell-holes to reconnoitre and reorganise, and urge their men forward. Non-c-oniniisr;ioned: officers and privates displayed] equal bravery, and', often, great initiative.

Otago and Canterbury troops were concerned in the attack on the Bellevue Pi id go. Just at the commencement of the attack a colonel of the Oaiiterburys was Ikilled outright by a bursting shjjll. A signalling sergeant then went forward, under heavy: shell and machine-gun fire, to find a certaiui captain, and bring liim ibaek to command the battalion. When lie got forward lie found this captain 'had been wounded. The sergeant then went

.across the lino—still under lire-to lind tho next senior officer. W hen he reached this officer's company ho found that ho also had been wounded 'Ihe sergeant then returned to -headquarters to report, only to find that i lie officers he liad left at the lieadqu.u'lei-s had become casualties. Thereupon he es_ tablislied ,commuaiica|Won with a divisional .station, and again we ii forward to find a lieuteniant to t-ake command of the battalion. At this time nearly everyone was under cover, as bciVh »-a_ chine-gu 11 fire and •.flo fire were sweeping the position; M;t th.s gallant ser. goant movedl across rite open omxiiiraging and helping the men. After about a*! hour's he !oiind the lieuten-

an' he w-as lookicig for, and guided him baok to headquarters, where the Lieutenant took cotnii'aiid. 'J he se/prc-an.t now returned, to t:iks command of his signallers, and remained with them until irelieved. ' 13RAVE DEEDS BY SUBALTERNS AND CAPTAINS. Same lieutenants led their pla|'x>ons with great dash andl gallantry against strongly.wired and defended, positions. Tliciy even crawiled 1 through the firs)'; entanglements in their efforts to find a way through for their men. Captains led in determined rushes against enemy strong points. They diod'ged from silieM. hole to sheMiolc continually alwayis under observation andi the lire of the enemy, trying to find a gap or in way round!. An Otaga sergeant showed great bravery and determination after all the officers of his company had become casualties. He took over the command at a critical moment, captured a "pill-box" near Wolf Copse, and' held it tenaciously all day iu spite of machine-gun fire. A second lieutenant of an Otago battalion, ■wiho was acting-captain and ad-

jutanji, did) famous work when men got mixed up in theiir endeavours to find a way through the impenetrable wire. When it wiajs seen that further adiva-nce was impossible they dug in on the spot and remaiijied thero under the nearest commanders. It was decided to reorganise aifter. dlusk and to occupy- a line not quite so close to the enemy wire. This young officer went up after dusk to assist in the reorganisation. There was then, so far as he could ascertain, only one company officer imwoundiedl Meanwhile the enemy had put down >a barrage, yet lie we rut from one end of the line to the other through the barrage, collecting men of his own units and/ telling them where to go. The result was that in the end he had the battalion reorganised ami ready to meet iany enemy couni':-er-at-tacik that might eventuate l . The en emy himself had, however, got such a gruelling that lie liad not the strength I or the dietermination to counter-at. j tack. I

There were two walsty "piil-boxes"' close to tho little Eiavebeek stream, and an Otago platoon swinging round to fill a gap found itself under their fire. Tho officer in charge immediately led his men forward, and the enemy in 'Mio trench surrendered to them and were sent to the rear. The. "pill-boxes" continued to hold out, for the Germans, were now fighting well. The New Zealand officer, however, was determined to set'd'e the fate of these two. Hold, ing tli© garrison with a frontal attack by a Lewfis gun and working (round the flanks, he a.nd- some of hts men eventually succeeded in capturing both pill_ boxes andi in all about eighty prisoners. By this time l':lie platoon was reduced to two—t':he' officers and his bat man. The young officer constituted himself the garrison of the pill-boxes, and, remained in one while his batmanwaa sent to repoi/i to battalion headquarters. -Looting out from the pillbox he saw his batman killed before he had gone far. Some Australians then apeared on the scene, and the New Zealanders took them into tho pill-boxes as an addition to the garrison of one. During the operations he repeatedly endeavoured to get messages back, and had no fewer than five runners shot in the attempt. He held on till evening, and then, in compliance with instructions, rejoined his company, of which he was by this time the commander. He reorganised/ his men under heavy shell fire, consolidated the position chosen, and established part of a new line. During the attack he himself Killed several of the enemy with hi 6 bayo lie/-.

One could go on mentioning deeds of the greatest gallantry, but they are really so many that, without names unci units, which it is nop permissible to give, the mere 'repetition of them would become monotonous.

J n the afternoon tlie attack was broken off. _ The wia-lking wounded were struggling back. Mud-staCned and blood-stained, some smiling andi cheerful, obhers thoughtful and with wan faces, often leaning on a comrade's ■shoulder or arm, the little stream came trickling down. After some hot food and a liot drink they bucked up wonderfully. And then the inevitable cigarette! Who is it"; that has ever seen a wounded man march down without a. cigarette in Ms mouth P

All day and all niglht the medical officers and their orderlies and the str-etcher-bearerns toiled in the interests of our wounded. They did heroic work. Tlie \ .M.O.A. also helped, and reeeived tlie bio-sings of many a wounded and tired man. Mr Hay, the New Zealand representative at the front, was, as ever, indefatigable in the good work.

If many of the inifaiitrymen fought': till they were exhausted, so also did tlie sti etcher-bearers toil ceaselessly until they were ready to drop from very fatigue. They saved many lives. For two days and two nigljis they were carrying under fire tltrough f-odden shelltorn ground, and often in vicious weather. Some of them carried lor thirty-sis hours to regimental aid posts. One saw themploughing through the mud—six men ,to the stretcher—aincl adimgred. (For tliem there i? no thrill except the whiz and the thud of a .machino-guii or rifle bullet, the shriek and crash of ia shell. There was mud on that battlefield in places four feet deep, and fJi-tretcher-bca rers became bogged and had to haul one another out. By night the ground was almost impassable, but the bearers toiled at their work. By day tihey were under observation by pile enemy, sti'U on Ms ridge, by night they trusted to thbir luck in the darkness. It took six men -s'ix hours to carry one wounded man from near the front to a place at , a distance of 3700 yardp. From there it was 'another carry of Itu yards to a point where the wounded could be put on trollies and trains. Infantry, ■ artillerymen, and Army Service Corps men assisted in thi,s good work, so thap by 10.30 a.m. of the 14th the whole battle front on the N'ew Zealand sector was clear of wounded. This considering all tlio circumstances, was a really remarkable feat.