ARDUOUS STRUGGLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 July 1915, Page 5

ARDUOUS STRUGGLE.

FKJHTEsX) IN F&4NGE. ■s', RBQtLMBNTS DBBERQYBD. 'J LIPTBB PROM ASf OWFTOER, Som# liea oi tlha ol tliti •truggl. which is prooeedingtaN'orthcm--France is given in furthir Uttan «#V| ceived in Auckland from Lieutenant* Guy*' Fotherston, of tie 'ftoyal Field Artillery. j " W. hare tutfl some hot work in „ tad.' last two days," says lieutenant fftthwston, writing under date (May It. *l| haa been mostly night work, [firing mltos . at the.Germah trenches half the nsgbiv| We are in for a life and death struggle,« but 'half England does not realise itTxhe ? liusitania affair will wales them up a bit.' We muddle on and will win eventual!!", ! but at a prfce, A shell hit onr billet, ; and another went through it* and put " the servants out of action. Tn two.-, minutes it was in flames. A great 4tt6U ' fell under one ol roy guns, threW' it • over, and by lu#k only atunaed th« d«- J tachment. II wm a most wonderful' escape for then). The 4hfll mad« a h«!*J in the ground one oould but/ a waggon in, but it did not injurs the gun. have the guns in nits, with tt«e* the top. The aplintoita from tba cut through eereral K>gs eighteen In'its ; in diameter. I was superintending ik* : ammunition, and bad twenty men «arty, ing it from the waggons. We gvt, it' ■ hot, »heilß falling among as. J.jievnisJj remenfoor such a long day in my Jtf*.; All next night we fired on. It fer njn.! awful eigfht at night to see the gtith \ belching fire and flhi shells bnrrtini'. Men went to their deaths witho.it A mumtur or thought of death. ■ I hop* the Dardanelles will be taken soon, Mit will help us 'here. iWe may SO out of action for a while to rest, a* the infan- . try of this army is neaily oil gone. Tb» j Qcnnana are not nearly beaten; in fact,/ they tare Teally been doing better tl'; 1 - us for some time, and w# cannot ah if V - thein." ' In a letter from Neure ChapelW, writ- ■ ten on May 22, lieutenant F«ther»to* • says:—"We are in action every day, b#l-' are only defending our front and art attacking. The weather has been »wfu'« ly wet in tho lost two weeks, afld we W? i knee-deep in mud. It fa warm, but country is nothing but rank TCttcUtniii ■ and smells most unhealthy. I lost aw* ens of friends in the last 'go,' au4%hol# ■ regiments were wiped out. England hMj * at last awakened to the troth, and no*' it is a life and death struggle. Up to'' now thfc Germans 'have had the best « . things. Tfe are going to nss glB- At:' it is, we co with madks shng round w neoks. We get shelled every toy, but ( with luck We d!odge them. I never think - of 'being killed by the Germans. I think there in a lot in presentiment. I know of chap* who thought they would bf % killed and they always were. Hundreds ,! of thousands of Kitcheners Army ar* 2 arriving now. Tho AustraliaM and ■* Zealanderfl seem to be doing well in tho.Dardanelles, but believe me it is a pie- - nictothis. I wieli I were fighting Turks Instead of Germans. lam fortnnate to ' be in the famous battery, The Blaiers. I would not be in a.ny other brwnch ot the service after this —always on tM ; right of the line. The infantry cwinpt • move a yard till we have tint t«a« ' mered the enemy well. It is shells yet want, and millions of Miem, W« too. The Indiana are with ««—the Mee- . rut division. They *re fine figotejj. when they get among the Germans, thev cannot .stand still and *be Aelled, Tliov must be on the move. We do seo sights, but wo get so tised W then that we don't even bother to discuss it now, and .everything is s matte ol course. Life here is sumtoea tho subaltern an months of moments of terror. Everythmg here U , in ruins. • We always <moyfl at » moments' notice, and at l a.m., , when it is pitdh dark. There are na lights, and often it is In pouring rain.