AFTER THE SOMME FIGHT.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 March 1917, Page 6

AFTER THE SOMME FIGHT.

NEW ZEALAND TROOPS. HOW THEY CAME BACK. AN EYE-WITNESS'S STOR'Y. A letter recently received from a member of one of the New" Zealand reinforcements who reached the front just after the great engagements on the Somme ia September last throws some interesting sidelights upon the colonials' share in the fighting. , > "Our reinforcement," he says, "has not as yet been in the firing-line, but we have now been absorbed to reinforce our army at the front. Every reinforcement loses its identity in this way, and it- means that we are dropped in with men who have had experience in real war. Experienced veterans many of them are, too. Naturally, being mixed with these fellows will help us greatly iD the great war game. / "We had a week lately just behind the firing-line, and had the privilege of seeing and meeting men just fresh from the fighting of September 15 and 1(>, in which the Ncjv Zealanders took such a worthy part, living right up to the best traditions of -"our boys. Covered in trench mud, dirty, unshaven, their clothes in rags, they were not the spic-k and span soldiers you see in the New Zealand towns. Yet there was no mistaking the keen, strong features, and the bright eyes under the steel helmets. They were our own New Zealander.T Their outward casing was disreputable, but it was the men inside who had inadfe good.

SORROW AT LOSS OF COMRADES. . "The average colonial is very matterof fact. There was little talk of the terrible fighting they, had been through, and no elations at the success gained. Sorrow at the loss of friends anil comrades was the,thought uppermost in every mind. It would comfort the relations in New Zealand of those who nave fallen to hear how feelingly their comrades speak of the way they died. Our fellows do not drill to perfection, and their discipline is not of the Prussian type, but when it comes to fighting they 'can always die with their faces in the right direction. One noted also the free|dom and friendliness that e:. i ist between the officers and men who had returned | from the firing line.

WAR'S DEVASTATION. "For several days we wore camped immediately behind the firing-line. Life there is very primitive and grim. We were on land that' had been the scene of many bloody contests before the Huns were finally driven back. The countryside. bore eloquent testimony to the ruin and devastation caused by the war. The fine, wide valleys and long, gentle slopes were scarred and seared with trenches, ■dug-outs, and sand-bag emplacements. Shell-holes pitted the ground everywhere. What were qnce beautiful woods and plantations were blackened and smashed up till they resembled a new bushburn in New Zealand. Dwellings and villages had disappeared. Some .of the little towns were very desolate-looking. Nearly all the civilians had disappeared, and many of the buildings had been smashed beyond repair by the shell-fire. Nowadays the shelling is on a much more satisfactory basis. The Germans are getting it good and strong, nifcht and day, without intermissioi. It was'really wonderful to hear the'gunfire. During the day it was constant, but (.lie full orchestra starts at nightfall, The firing at night is like the continuous roll of thunder, accompanied by a mighty, rushing wind The lurid flashes'in the darkness, combined with the reports, make the landscape resemble an inferno."