GUNNER ON THE SOMME.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 268, 20 April 1917, Page 1 (Supplement)

GUNNER ON THE SOMME.

EXPERIENCES WITH GAS. BENEFITS OF BEST CAMPS

The bulk of tho patients who returned recently by the hospital ship showed a marked disinclination to talk about their experience*. For the most part they were more interested in the doings in New Zealand since their departure. One of their number, an Ootago man who had had over two years' service with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, spoke of a very varied experience. Ho had seen practically the whole of the Oallipcii expedition, having landed there with the Mounted Rifles on May 12 and seen the action through to the evacuation. After the withdrawal he joined the Artillery and proceeded to France, where he served for five months. Describing the Somme action, he sketched the part played by the gunners in supporting the infantry in their advance. The guns were galloped into position, unlimbered, and proceeded straight into action without gun-pits or any protection whatsoever. One of the functions of the gune wa.s the dispersal of gas clouds. The trenches vacated by the enemy were frequently covered with heavy clouds of poison vapour. Shelling with high explosives, by concussion, broke and dissipated the lii'avy cloud, dealing the air before tho advancing riflemen. "Meantime," added the gunner, "the gas drifted back upon us, and though we were provided with respirators, tho ga.s seemed to affect lis through everything. Very often when we had finished the ma.sk was full of blow!." Contrasting his experiences on the western front with conditions in Gallipoli, the gunner said: "In France, when you are shelled you are shelled with a' vengeance, but once you get out of it there comes a complete rest, with nothing to do but eat and sleep, and jKM-hapfi take a little exercise. If we had been able to take the same spell on tho Peninsula, instead of the everlasting fatigues under shell-lire, it would have made all the difference in the world." As an indication of how the batteries fared, the gunner said that, his battery in four months had suffered 80 casualties out of an original strength of 120, and had had nine guns destroyed by the enemy shell-fire.