THE SOMME BATTLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 January 1917, Page 5

THE SOMME BATTLE.

THE NEW ZEALANDERS' PART), FURTHER DETAILS 01 TIIE FIGHTING. '*oo.o U'OKK BV THE- RIFLE BRIGADE. (I'l-oin Captain Malcolm Ross, War Correspondent with the New Zealand Forces in the Field). Northern France, November 10. that the Xew Zealanders have left the Homme, and the (jround they won there is well behind the firing-line, which lias been carried forward by other brave troops, it is possible to give some further details of the fighting :n whicli t hey so successfully engaged. In previous articles I have described the nature of the country across which they had to advance. It extended from the crest lietwocj nigh and Delville Woods down a gently-sloping ralge-side to a point beyond flers village, some :)000 yards distant I have already explained in some detail how the Switch Trench was captured and held by the Second Brigade. In this article .1 purpose dealing more with the work of the Rifle Brigade. As soon as the Switch Trench was taken, the engineers commenced digging, under fire, communication trenches up to that point, and assisted the infantry in the construction i<f strong points in the portion of the trench they had captured. As already stated, the "tanks" did not take part in the adj vance on the first objective. But. it did I r.ot mattei. Later, the "tanks" justified their manufacture. ' THE MAIN ADVANCE. The men of the Otago an-J Auckland Battalions who commenced the advance, went forward in company column of platooii-s in single rank, extended to a certain number of paces, and nt'a distance between platoons pre-arranged. Our advance was on a front of between COO and 1000 yards, and the men wont forward in a certain number of waves. More than this it is inadvisable to (state in detail. As the advance ivocCcdcd'' the English Brigade on our left became involved in fierce fighting near High Wood, and some concentrated German shell fire. This delayed their advance, .and so a gap was created between tab two brigades. But our men went steadily on and in less than half an hour had taken Switch Trench—the first serious obstacle. Though this trench was strongly held "by German machinegunners our artillery barrage wa*„ so heavy and our onrush so swift that they had little chance to use thr-ir guns. They were more concerned with keeping their heads below the parapet But some machine-gun fire did come from the left and bowled several of our men-over. < Others fell to the German shel'bg: The Otagos, especially, suffered from shell and machine-gun fire during tlvir advance. The situation on the left was for a time none jtoo satisfactory, but a company of the Canterburys en me forI ward and partially closed the gap. They busied themselves making strong points «<> ns to form a defensive flank on our left. TIIE RIFLE BRIGADE CO FORWARD. In the meantime, ten niin'ltes after the first advance, the 4th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade advanced to attack the second objective. Each company came on in waves at certain intervals as pre-arranged. At 7.50 a.m. ".lie line was taken. ~ The enemy artillery had been badly disoiganised by our heavy bombardment of that moriiir.g, and the preceding days, and its reply to our attack was not all that the German High Command could have lesired Therefire tiijs trench was taken at eomparo- ' tively little cost. llalf-nn-hniir later reinforcements came .111 to gain Hi. next ; line. 11l front of this was the German defensive system knoivi as the Flers ! Line. It consisted of a fire trench, and ' a support trench", both heavily protect- ' ed by barbed wire entanglements. Hie battalion 011 the rig*ht succeeded iu setting heir section of the Flers' Line without much difficulty, but on the right some of the barbed wire remained unbroken, and ihe German ir.a.-hine-gun-ners got'to work and held up our men. It was half-past 10 before a solution of t'/io problem was reached. At tins juncture, most opportunely, three of the "tanks'' arrived. One, peppered bv rifle . and machine-gun fire, sidled stately o<T ■ to the left, the other .•runohnd through I the wire and soon silenced tV> machine-' ■ nuns protecting Flers Trenen. Some riflemen were %r aide to get into the ? trench, where a hundred oriso-jewere quickly gathered in. GALLANT DEEDS. All this, told in plain iai.gaaf.c and simple matter of fact- and detail, mav jjjt seem ven enthralling, but,if Hie reader has any Imagination and can fo' a moment transport himself to the centre of a modern aattlefieid l>lasto<l liv a very tornailr of shot, and she.l littered with the A'reckage 0 wai, and ; Gruesome and noisesomt wit'i its hor- ' rors lie may realise in part'the. heroic 'efforts, the splendid sacrifice; that -re made |» former articles I have given some , instances of individual corraae r"c. evotion to duty on the part o: tin: ..ml Brigade The other brigades I,f.- a.so . their splendid records. 1 v' ' d-jal row : „nly with the Rifle Brigade Again I cannot mention names. Thc«; you \v.l ! see in lue course in the official In this fighting which I ha\< been describing, a second-lieutenant when hn ' companv commander was. UUcd, took command and reorganised ar.d led ,us men to the assault the Fle-s and Flers Support Trenches. His men were falling undei enfilading machine-gun I live but he inspired them to advance in , fact of the bullets, and when the objec- ! tive was reached he at once commenced forming a strong point on the !ctt flaiu and made 'blocks" if the trenM. to hold the enemy in .'heck. Sy the judicious niacin" of his Lewis guns and the nuiin- . :l or 111" which lie cheerily encouraged .ms men he undoubtedly helped greatly 111 maintaining the position, and also piobablv savins other lives. Durin" the advance of this same battalion when its left flank was under direct fire from an enemy mae.iino gun 111 Flers trench a lance-corporal organised ; a small bombing pavrv, wovked round ■ the Hank in advance nf our front !in\ • and, though exposed to severe fire, suc- - ccedcd in killing the oeimar niach.ne- - gun crew and putting the gun out of 3 action. His initiative and bravery enl abled the advance to proceed, and un- .. dqubtedly saved many lives.

Aftei the brigade lad gained it* o% jective, witli the exception of a Oattal* ion held up on the left, a major, f.hnnbty wounded, organised a -small party to take a, section of Flers trench. It wa4 this party that took the hundred ers, so his efforts wero not.in vain.; ** THE ATTACK ON FLERS. When the brigade proceeded to US tack thi ;orner of the village progress lor a time was slow, so an additional company was sent to assist. The second battalion had got considerably to the right of the divisional boundary, owing to the fui't that the division on iharf right hnd not got up. It found its flanK ■ "in the air." The .aptain of the right! leading company, after reaching his oS* jective, finding himself heavily pressed, fell hack slightly, dug in, reorganised the men of various units who had got so far, and consolidated the lines nortH and nortn-east of Flers. This line ho and his men held successfully aguinsfl counter attacks until the battalion w&4 relieved on the following night. Then there was ,8 young second lieut* enant in command of a reserve of two) platoons, who, when his (lank was uncovered, and there wae K> 1 gap between it and the unit on right, on his own initiative moved f6r- : > ward his command and engaged thß enemy who were in superior force, Ha not only succeeded m checking enemy advance, but he formed a defensive llank and held the position against all attacks until reinforcements c&ing - «!>• ' v THh MORNING'S WORK. The position shortly after 11 a.fy after five hours' hard fighting, was thlsf The Switch Trench, or first objective, was held by the Aueklands, Otagos and. Oanterburvs. The -Hi fie Brigade held tlii- 1 Flers and Flers Support t>enoheS| while the village just ahead wag held : by a mixed lot of the Rifle Brigade a&4 ' English troops. The Rifle Brigad* w ere consolidating a 1 i)io a littla in ri« of the third objective on the Jeft fronj of'Flers. aHE POSITION "uncertain- - Our troops in parts h?d got somM what mixed tip, and there continued ttj ... bo some •uncertainty about tile t-ositioil . on the right, but by 11.30 a.m. the Rifle Brigade had commenced its assault on the final 1 objective. Swinging "OU&d to 1 the left one detachment lid good work r in a spot known as Grove-alby, where two German field guns were lound in action. Nothing daunted, the men of this detachment advanced bravely under fire and the teams of the battery werq quickly bayoneted. At this, sago of ha fighting the enemy ma;liine-gun fire was very heavy, and as the right flank was entirely "in the air" it was decided to| withdraw slightly to a. more prudent ; line. At 1 p.m. it was reported that a German counter-attack was developing, north of High Wood. The situation in that sector —on our loft—was ("till obscure. Fighting had continued to be severe there, and our left was Still' "Jn the air," ( . : ■■-, ; The position gave cause for, some anxiety, so to clear up the fonvaid%ltu* ation, a staff officer was sent out iron) Headquarters. He t re- ■ liable man, who had done good work under similar situations during the attack 1 on Chunifk Buir and elsewhere on Gallipoli. The first part of the joumey" was by car. Then the officer had to go across country that was all under shell fire, but by avoid'ng roads and batteries and tranches as much as possible he gained his destination unscathed. On ' reaching Flers he ascertained what le actual situation was, '*»)« ' troops there, and by his -n----iured the defence of the », * • impending eounter-auaia-'. ' There were deeds o! • performed during this day, many ■' tnem alas! unrecorded, some, no doubt,-wen* unnoticed K few that are authenticated may be briefly mentioned. Nortn of.. Flers while some of the Rifle Brigade; , during a critical time, were lotting officers and men through machine 'gun firej| a second-lieutenant of one of the machine guns companies got hi: guns into action and did splendid work. He went ; alonr a trench in the .making and chose the positions for his sections, which, eventually silenced the enemy's fire. After a hard day's fighting hj continued at work throughout the nighty OH 9 o'clock in the morning, displaying remarkable bravery and roolness, and spurring on his men to do their utmost. Qne company of the Brigade in this advance had all its oflieen but one kill- " ed oi wounded- The lieutenant left took charge, and led his men with great skill capturing the objective allotted to the company. He then reorganised th® remainder of his company, and, though t he Aar slightly wounded, consolidated tht position under- heavy shell Are. Next morning he was again wounded while 3ca I rehinfi in front of the trenches for a wounded officer. Then there was a sergeant in one battalion, who, after all the officers of his company -vei'e either killed or wounded, < rallied forty men and consolidated part . of a strong point north of th* village of Flers. H held on determinedly all that night and until ' o'clock .he following afternoon, when he was relieved. -, The courage and coolness, h' displayed 1 was an inspiration to his gradually decreasing band of men. Forty went into the position. When the relief came only, ~ twenty-five were left. A rifleman behaved with great gal- . lantr? during the attack on the village, lie constantly volunteered to go out under heavy, tire and bring in wounded men. By his own unaided efforts ha brought in no fewer than badly wounded men. Wounded'in the arm and , le<», a sergeant of another batta'ion continued to lead his platoon, and helped , to consolidate a captured position. He tnly ceased work when again wounded in the knee. This man had already, won the-Military Medal and the med^ of St. George (second class). THE* CASUALTIES. New Zealanders will now *now that the casualties in thii. fighting w*.re eottv siderable. They jpigat, however, very ' well have been heavier than th.y were. « As a matter of fact, ouy men hr.d been sparingly used. The test Of a successful operation is the number ol troops left at the end if the day ft had no'fewer than five fresh battaliqjjl ready to go on.