ATTACK BY OTAGO MEN

Levin Daily Chronicle, 15 October 1918, Page 4

ATTACK BY OTAGO MEN

GAINS AT ROSSIGNOL WOOD. WITHDRAWAL OF THE ENEMY., j t Towards the end of July- Otago troops were fronting the enemy in Rossignol Wood, on the old Somme battlefield, writes the official correspondent with the New Zealand forces. The Otago men had posts out in the corner of a square that made rather an uncomfortable salient. Farther along, the line bent round the wood in a. salient that was not as unsatisfactory to the Germans. They did not feel at all happy there. One day the redoubtable Otago patrols found that the enemy were no longer in the wood. The scouts kept working ahead all the time, occa : sionally killing a few Germans, and generally bringing back valuable information. It was in this fighting that Travis, 13ie famous raiding , scout, did such excellent work, and was eventually killed. The work of the Rifles on July 15 had made the position of the enemy still more uncertain. On Saturday, July 20, patrols reported that the 1 enemy had been blowing up his pill jl boxes, and wag evidently retreating 'j from the wood. The Otagos pushed for- .1 ward to keep touch with the retreating Germans. Auckland and Wellington also ,pushed out patrols. It was then decided to attack the enemy "trenches in front of the wood. .For this purposo some Otago men were specially, trained, and made made themselves thoroughly acquainted with the ground. After a trench mortar bombardment, the men advanced in daylight at five o'clock on the Tuesday afternoon. There had been heavy, almost tropical rain the day before, and the attack had, to the last minute almost, been postponed from that day. The men from the Otagos went gaily forward, and got their first objective right away. In ten minutes they were in the trenches that were their second objective,. These parties pushed on on the right , where the enemy seemed to be massing in a trench. They pushed down to the junction of a second trench. Here they ran out of . bombs, and, after using all' the enemy bombs they could lay their hands on, they retired on their allotted positions, and established a block in the trench,. They brought back with them two machine-guns, after having killed the crews. 1 ENEMY MASSES FOR COUNTERATTACK. About sixty dead Germans, half of whom were killed by the artillery, were counted in the trenches. In this little attack there were, half an hour after the start, only 10 casualties. Four prisoners and five machine-guns were captured. Ration parties, small arms ammunition and bomb-carrying parties, moved up with great bravery under ; shell fire. Stretcher-bearers stuck closely and indefatigably to their work.

The following day was quiet, but oil the Thursday the enemy put down a heavy artillery barrage in the morning. Aa he was seen massing in his trenches for counter-attack in the evening, the S.O.S. went up, and the artilll'ery put down a very fine barrage. About forty of the enemy got over into a part of our trench on the right, owing to our bombs there having been blown up by a shel. Subsequently our men counterattacked, and won back the,. position, after killing and wounding several of the enemy and capturing 30 prisoners. Of these about half were killed by their own retaliatory artillery fire as they were going back to the rear. DIFFICULT AND TEDIOUS PROCESS.

• Some Aucklanders co-operated with the Otagos in clearing the Germans out of a trench on the south of the wood. It was decided to push on down a set of trenches that ran due south from the east of the wood, and a trench that ran south-east from the middle to the .eastern edge of the wood. After going some distance, the men found their path blocked by a mas of old and new wire that filled the trench. The men got "out of the trench to continue their advance, but were met with the fire of machine-guns well placed. . They went back into the trench, and had to cut the wire and pull it out under fire. This was a difficult and tedious process, but it was successfully accomplished, and the advance continued.. Meantime, another paTty was proceeding down the trench that joined on to a sunken road almost at right angles. This trench also was found to be blocked with wire, but not to the same extent as the other one. They got to the sunken road with some casualties. It was about 1000 yds in front of the wood. There was fighting in several of these saps, and one ma-chine-gun position, with four Germans, was captured, two of the enemy being killed and the other two taken as prisoners. In one placo, where a solid mass of wire was found in a trench, the men climbed out of the trench and doubled in the open past the block until they could hop into the trench again. Others of the enemy were bombed along their trenches. Most of these ran back, and our men pushed on, but generally the enemy ran too fast to enable these Otagos to get at close grips with him. Finally our men established themselves on their objectives. At one stage five Germans were seen advancing from a sap in front, and a young Highland lieutenant, with two or three of his braves, climbed out of the trench and fired on them with rifles. One was shot dead, and the others then beat a hurried retreat up the sap.