GERMAN TRENCHES RAIDED.
SPLENDID WORK BY THE NEW ZEALAND RIFLES. A MIDDAY FORAY. NORTHERN FRANCE. (From Captain Malcolm Ross, War Correspondent with the N.Z. Forces in the Field). Christmas Eve. A blanket of grey mist shrouded the sodden fiat fields of French Flanders. And over that was spread in silence the darker pull of a moonless night. At intervals the dull glow of flares lit the skies momentarily. The crack of a sniper's rifle opposite, the gibber of a machine gun from the jolo of our own trench, alternatively broke the silence. Thus the dark hours passed. They pass slowly under such circumstances. At length the hands on luminous dials pointed to 1 o'clock. Then two hundred men, with strange weapons arid blackened faces, como quietly towards ';he firing line out of the double blackness of the mist and the night. They were cheeked as they passed an officer. This to see that- they were all there, that there was not one too many. In the support line each man got a cup of hot coffee with a dash of rum in it. The great majority carried rifles and foayoi nets and revolvers. Some men were armed with knobkerries. On to-the point of exit in the front line they marched, silently. There they received an issue of bombs. Certain of them carried also electric torches. These were, to light up the dim recesses of deep German dugouts, where a cowering enemy might be lurking. .For days now these men had been training. They were not picked men. They were platoons of companies from certain battalions of a rifle brigade. Thus they all knew each other, and each knew that lie could trust the other. And there would perhaps be a certain rivalry between the different platoons which would also be so much to the good. Each platoon had a Maori name. Let us say that they were called Wainui, Mokdia, Aroha, and Himitangi. Each man had a number. Thus, as if in the gloom of the battered enemy trench, Aroha No. 2 met Mokoia No. 8 were to meet, they would, quickly know that they were friends of the same hapu, and not Allemands waiting to spring. For some time now all these men had been billetted together, they had engaged in brisk route marching, ami they had played strenuous football. In shore they were trained to the day. Of their training and their organisation much might be said—aprcs lo guerre, not now. There is no good object gained in presenting the enemy with information, even,at a time when he is arrogantly piping for a premature peace. Until this day the raiders did not know the day of the raid. That was kept a secret, for, if it is true that in peace-time walls have ears, such truth is of greater importance in time of war. Just before- midnight the raiders climbed over their own parapet and walked into No-Man's-Land. It was an anxious moment. Would they getacross without being seen? A flare went up, and they stood stock still, crouching! The flare gives its own warning. You hear its ascending hiss and note the thin streak of the lighted fuse that will make it burst into a bright glow at the apei of its flight. That is the warning to stop all movement. The precaution may be sufficient, for there arc the trunks and stumps of war-worn trees that loom spectrally through the mists, and a'man with .blackened hands and face- who stands still might very well be taken for one of these. But there is always the danger that some specially alert or suspicious sentry may give the alarm. On this night the German sentrie were somewhat sleepy, and even when the flare went up when our men were passing through the enmy's torn wire did not reveal their presence. The scouts - had examined the. land thoroughly before the day of the raid.' One sergeant in particular had done splendid work, going night after night right up to the enemy's wire, and even beyond it. Twice on these dangerous journeys he was shot at. He obtained most valuable information, and now, during the raid, he led his party Avitii great bravery and dash. Ho took them right on to the enemy's support Hue, and by his splendid example, both before and during the ;raid, lie contributed largely to the success of the undertaking.
One section of the raiders was hampered by the state of the enemy's front line trench. It was waist-deep in water and tli© "duck-boards" were afloat. Their progress was hindered, hut they had the luck to meet some of the enemy, and five of ',heui were killed. Another lot Teachcd a supposed fort, which was found to consist of dummy trenches made of convas and wood that had Doen. very much battered by our trench mortars- In that matter the German" had had the laugh on us. Not so now. The wet trenches being impass»Ne, our men marched boldly along tho parapet till they came upon a sentry group of four men, all of whom were killed. By this time the enemy had got wind of our adventure, and one section of our party was met with a shower of bombs. Then the enemy opened with intense machinegun lire from a strong point further along tho line. But our men were already in the trench, and so this did no harm. The machine-gunners met their fate at the hands of our bombers. One of their guns was knocked out, bur. owing to water and barbed wire it could not bo got away. There was a bombing fight between this party and the enemy, and our men were easily the victors. It was estimated that they had killed and wounded some twenty Germans. On our side we threw three hundred bombs.
At one spot a section of the raiders formed a "stop" in the trench, and ■while this was held by a few men, others went along a trench tramway, w'-ere, in shelter, another sentry group was found. These raiders were now met with a shower of "egg" bombs. Two were slightly wounded. It waß found impossible to move forward in the face of this opposition so the leader took his party along a commmipcation trench to attack the position from the rear. This also was found to be impossible, but a dugout was discovered, and in it were ten men, five of whom were brought hack as prisoners. This party killed in al! ten Germans, and they were not long about it. The front line was found at this spot to be almost obliterated, hut there was a good communication trench, 7ft deep, duck-boarded and dry. A fourth party riiahed forward down the main communiontioo trench and into y»o«>?£ twwr*- *■»■ ».., *fc»
communication tvenclv three dugout! were found. Two of them -which were occupied were bomhed. Another dugout was bombed in The sapport line, which w.is found to be in good order. Here seven men w»re killed and throe taken prisoner. On the wey back, when close to our own wire, this party captured another prisoner. He was either a partol or a man who hail got away from one of the other parties. A pump in the communication 'trench was destroyed, as was also a section or a tramway, by men from the Engineers. The raiders returned with nine prisoners, otter having; killed at an estimate iil'iv of (he enemy. This they did at a cost of one killed and four wounded. The man who was killed was hit by a .stray bullet soon after leaving; his own Pirciich. The caption who acted as leader of the raid did splendid work, both in the training of the ism and ir. the raid itself. He also (.bowed great .bravery in personally co'.'dueti'.'g patrol operations. He is a young man whose work hud already attracted attention in the fighting at the Somme.
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Taranaki Daily News, 19 February 1917, Page 2
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1,325GERMAN TRENCHES RAIDED. Taranaki Daily News, 19 February 1917, Page 2
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