NEW ZEALANDERS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1880, 21 September 1918, Page 3

NEW ZEALANDERS.

FIGHTING AT TRESCAULT,

HARD BATTLE FOR THE RIDGE,

DETERMINED ENEMY COUNT-ER-ATTACKS.

(Special from the Official War Correspondent, Captain Malcolm Ross.)

By Cable, 15th Sept

The long spell of strenuous fighting, in which the New Zealanders have taken such a conspicuous and continuous part, reached its culminating point in (lie assault on the Treseault Ridge, east of the Havrincourt Wood. During the past few days this fighting became somewhat confused, and more determined than ever.

The ridge constitutes one of the butrosses in the front defences of the Hindenburg Line, and a certain well-known trench was the key to the position—the main defence Hue of the enemy in (bis sector. It was defended by stout divisions, who were ordered to hold if to the last. Prisoners said that all attacks upon it were to bo resisted to enable the Hindenburg Line to be further strengthenud, and that the final withdrawal would be to that lino, which would be held at all costs.

At dawn on the 12tb, the New Zealanders attacked in conjunction with (bo troops on the flank of the division, and, following a splendid barrage, the Rifles bad no difficulty in attaining their first objective. Further progress, however, was difficult, owing to the intense ritle and machine-gun fire that came from a trench held by the enemy in considerable force. Except lor a few posts we pushed out, our line remained for the whole day on tiie first objective. Frequent bombing attempts by the enemy to win hack the positions we had gained achieved no result.

To the south the battle fluctuated, owing to (lie strong enemy counterattacks. One which was delivered at fi a.m. drove our thin line back for some distance, and a second was delivered at 2 p.m. along sunken roads with covering machine-gun fire from an adjacent trench. Heavy fighting ensued for (he possession of the captured trench, and as the enemy succeeded in mil flanking ns from the south, we laid to -withdraw from almost all of the trench wc had captured except one portion that we continued to hold in strength. At 7 p.m. a further attack under a barrage was made by us, to endeavour to attain the final objective. At first our men met with stubborn resistance, but by 7,30 their line was well advanced.

The determined Jaeger assault troops counter-attacked again at 10.30 p.m,, advancing down the trenches, and we had to make farther slight withdrawals after stiff fighting'. We captured forty-three iinwomided and fifty-seven wounded prisoners, and our line was still left in advance of the original posit ion.

The English troops gallantly fighting on our left captured the villages of Tvescanll and ITavrinconrt. hut on our rigid no progress could ho made. The enemy had fought stubbornly along (he whole front, and his machine-gun tire had been intense and well aimed. On the following day local lighting continued for two sectors of trench hy both sides, the enemy showing dogged determination to hold the remainder of the ridge still in his possession. At 2 pan. we again attacked, and drove the enemy ont of part of a trench he was holding. Remnants of one German company, realising' tin* position, fled across (he open, and the New Zealanders shot at them at they ran. Eleven miwounded prisoners of the Jaegar machine-gun companies remained with us. Tt is noteworthy that these Jaegers have more -mach-ine-guns than most ol the other divisions, and that they use them with determination and skill.

During the afternoon and evening the enemy renewed his counterattaeks, and forced us to withdraw a little; and at 1.-15 turn, he came at the New Zealanders with bombs and liquid lire, forcing one of our posts to withdraw. The enemy shelled us with guns of various calibres throughout, and also used much gas.

In addition to the large number of prisoners raptured, we in (lifted very lienvy casualties on the enemy. One of his companies was reduced in a day from sixty to twenty-three, hut was lucky in gelling reinforcements up a communication trench during a rain-storm. The men ol Hie Ritles were the principal actors in this strenuous fighting, hut at the finish Wellington troops also had a hand in it. SOME DARING ADVENTURES. Most extraordinary were some of the daring adventures upon which small parties, and even individuals, embarked. The men themselves say little about these, and often one only of them by chance. One of the finest traits in “the diggers” is their modesty in regard to their own most gallant deeds. About the last day of this fighting a sergeant of the Ride Brigade, with ten men, went forward to exploit a success already gained, and in a sunken road came unexpectedly upon a whole company of the enemy. Our small band might have been pardoned had they taken to flight, hut they stood their ground and fought, and any German who did not put up his hands was killed. A Jaeger officer who rushed out of a dug-out to rally his men, was promptly shot. The others in the immediate vicinity then surrendered. By this time there were only six New Zealanders left unwounded, but they proceeded to collect other

Germans from the shell-holes till eventually the half-dozen marched back to our line with forty prisoners.

THRILLING BIGHTS IN THE AIR.

• So much for events on land. Almost every night now we witness thrilling scenes in the air. The other evening we watched a German aeroplane being held in the beams of over a dozen searchlights, while the “Archies” and machine-guns were firing continuously at him. Presently the bright silver of his wings in the searchlights turned to (lame, and he began to make an awful descent for thousands of feet in one streak of yellow flame, the yellow and blue of this signalling flares shooting out from the column and adding to the pyrotechnic display. Finally the tree-fringed crest of a low ridge behind which he fell was silhouetted against the glow of bis burning petrol tank as it crashed to earth. Later another aeroplane was brought down in the same manner, and a third, shot in a vital part, landed in our lines. Two of its occupants had got away in the strong wind in para chutes, but the pilot, a fine strapping young fellow, was captured by the New Zealanders, and was very crestfallen at his bad luck.

To-night the clear moonlit vault is a buzzing hive of aeroplanes, and at intervals come the uneven droning bass of a German machine, the dull crash of his exploding bombs, the rattle of machine-guns, and the staccato banging of the “Archies,” all bent on his destruction.

While I was writ ing this message, loud cheering outside my flimsy hut announced the flaming fall of another enemy machine. The “diggers,” scorning cover, were all on the watch. Nothing pleases them more than to see a Boche bomber descending in flames.