THE MESSINES BATTLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 September 1917, Page 6

THE MESSINES BATTLE.

NEW .ZEALANDERS' PART. - STORMING THE LAST OBJECTIVE. COUNTER-ATTACKS MELT AWAY , (By Captain "Malcolm Ross). 23rd June. Troops among whom were name who fought on the Suez Canal and on Gallifloli were allotted the task of going forward to the New Zealanders' farthest objective, beyond the village of liessiner. They had'to establish and consolidate a line from which troops were to be sent out to a position still further forward—a position that was to be the jumping-off place for the Australians, who had to out to the farthest objective. During the assembly, and on previous nights the enemy bombarded with highexplosive and with gas and tear shells. The poison gas made you sick; •.be other gߣ made you weep. The high explosive . if men were anywhere near it, killed aad wounded. Intermingled with all three, as the day wore on, was some shrapnel. Against this the only protection was the steel helmets, and if the swish of the shrapnel was near, even the ' "tin" helmet might fail to stop it altogether. THE ADVANCE, Moving in small columns. Auckland ' and Wellington men advanced at 3.55 ' a.m. Close upon the heels of the troops i of the leading waves, through whom they passed, they went forward, avoiding < Messines. By 5.25 a.m. they had captured all their objective and were engaged in consolidating them. On the way the Aueklanders captured two 77mm. guns, and oilier killed or captured the greater number of the gun-crews, in spite of an attempt by the enemy to get away with the guns, in spite also of covering fire from a machine-gun, which in its turn, also, was captured. The Wellingtons on the north-cart of Messines had some sharp fighting. Three mahine-guns and j 27 prisoners were taken here at a point known as Blauwen Molen. . On the left the enemy wore firing from shell holes. Resistance was also met with from Fanny's Farm, on the extreme left of our part of tlie forward line, but was soon subdued, ami three Stokes mortars attached to the Wellingtons dealt with a machine-gun in Swaynes Farm and a*other at the junction of two trenches. These Wellingtons captured 7 machineguns. 5 officers, and 222 other ranks in the fighting—a goodly bag. A continuous trench was gradually constructed ; and completed on the following day. Mere Auckland* moved towards their objective—which was a switch from the other line —at 5.40 n.m.. behind a barrage that advanced as posts were established. One of the po-ts had to retire a little at one stage owing to.shelling from cur own gun*, but the line was established anil held. By 0.10 a.m. when the barrage h':d ceased, two units of Aueklanders were rushing out patrols to reconnoitre farther on. which was the objective of the Australian Iroops that were to go through us. Mecsases sent hack'did not reach Brigade Headquarters owing to the cutting of the telenhone line and to the runners being killed bv cnemv shell-fire. ALARUMS ANT) EXCURSIONS Then came a period of what might be termed ' "alarums and excursions.'' Shortly after 1 o'clock in the afternoon the enemy were seen by two Auckland officers to he massing for a counterattack. They were advancing in about ten lines from the region of the farthest objedivc towards our whole divisiona l front. The move wa< also seen through telescopes from a distant hill. An 1 artillery barrage wiin turned on and the j attempted counter-attack melted away. Shortly after 3 p.m. the Australian troops came through for the attack In front, and for a considerable time the forward position was uncertain. At eight in the evening there was an alarm of another counter-attack, and some of the other troops came back, but nothing very much came of it, though there was s'ome rather heavy shelling. DEATH OF THE BRIGADIER. At about 10.40 a.m. on the morning of the Sth the Brigade Commander, Briga liicr-Oencral ('. 11. ,1. Brown, was killed by a shell while talking to the Divisional Commander in front of Messines. He was greatly esteemed by his brigade, and his loss was mourned throughout the whole division. ACTS OF BRAVERY. As in the case of the other units, so, in this one, there were many acts of individual bravery, The machine gunners, stretcher-bearers, and runners did splendid work. The runners cairied messages under constant shell iire, and several times through heavy barrages There were always volunteers for the most dangerous work. A lance-sergeant of the Wellingtons, when his officer was wounded while attacking a number of the enemy, and when there were only n few men left in his platoon,- took charge and pushed back the attack with such boldness that over fifty were killed with rifle and grenade and the rest driven off. He continued to do good work during the rest of the operations. A private of the Wellingtons pn the morning of the attack captured a ma-.chine-gun and its entire crew- Throughout all the fighting he displayed cool \ courage of a very high order. A lancecorporal of the Wellingtons with eleven others advancing against a number of the enemy who had taken cover in shell lioles did a fine thing. When his platoon tommunder was wounded he covered him add tiitu rushed up and shot a party of three ok the enemy. Afterwards he gave his platoon sergeant valuable help in organising an attack that resulted in the killing of a number pf . the enemy and driving others from cov£r. lie was wounded on the second day, A captain of the Auckland did fine work in handling of his company on the 7th, Sth, and (Ml June. He displayed great coolncs* throughout the whole of the operations, and managed to keep his men well in hand. At one • rather erilicahstage when troops in front - were retiring and coming through his ■ company he rallied them and prevented many from going through to the rear. All the time he sent back valuable reports, which kept the,battalion well ad- ■ vinod of the position. When *J.o 2 post was being establishi ed on one ol *>,.« forward lines under ' heavy shell tire and Mfci, fire from enemy machine-guns, an Auckland lieutenant did fine work. He was twice driven out of Ote jiciition, hut each time returned to the work in hand until the position was finally made jt&cur'e. Tbjs officer jggg sJreadj jmowg' fox £1b 'pjrk on

■Gallipoli, on the Somme, and in two raids. A corporal of a machine-gun company acted with great gallantry on the morning of the attack in the capture of a machine-gun which was afterwards used with good effect against'the enemy. On the following day his o/licci- was "wounded, and he took charge of the sub-sec-tion, handling the gun with great skill, and keeping nis men under splendid control during some of the heaviest enemy shelling. stretcher-bearer performed most gallant work in getting out the wounded during the three successive days of tht Uottest fighting. He worked practically without rest, and with an obsolute disregard for his own safety. On several occasions he passed with wounded one tt-ay, and with empty stretchers another way, under heavy shell fire. Others did equally gallant work, some carrying on till they were killed or wounded, others till they almost dropped from fatigue. They earned the unbounded admiration of all who saw anything of their exertions and the dangers they ran. The Lewis gunners worked effectively and with the utmost disregard of danger. A lance-corporal, when troops in front were falling back, kept his gun in action all the time in spite of heavy shelling, and set a fine example to all in his vicinity. He is a man who is absolutely fearless, and who has, on other occasions, performed gallant work in the field. The runners, too, excelled themselves, going through darkness, smoke, gas fumes, and shell-fire with messages when all other means of communication had failed. In some instances communications developed upon them after the first two hours' fighting for a considerable time. One, a private in the Aucklands, displayed great bravery in carrying messages under heavy shell fire, going several times through the barrages. He remained cheerful and cpntented and continued on duty until utterly fatigued and footsore. INSPECTED BY THE CORPS COMMANDER. On the morning of 21st June the Corps Commander inspected a representative parade of officers and men of one of the brigades who took part in the Battle of Mesines. Addressing the troops, he said: Officers,, non-commissioned officers and men: I have come here to-day to thank you and to congratulate you on. whai j the brigade has done in the great victory which we have just won over the, Germans at the Battle of Messines. The brigade had a very difficult task to do. As you all know, it was on the left of the original assault, and you had to do what was in many ways as difficult a job as any other troops in the whole attack had to do. And if everybody had not known exactly what they had to do and how to do it, and had not thought a lot about it, and studied and worked hard, the success would not have been anything like what it was. It was to Ihose troops that went first over the parapet and on to Messines, of which this brigade wa3 in the van, that we really owe in a large nuasure the victory. After that the brigade was sent forward to a farther lice, and you had a verv difficult time and a very arduous time during the consolidation of that line. It must be a very great satisfaction to all concerned in it to know that that line is now firmly established, and a great many of you have seen for yourselves that the Germans have been" driven right back across the Lys, and that we are in close touch of Warneton and Frelinghein. To this brigade especially is due a very large amount of the credit for that. I remember well when the brigade was first formed, only about eighteen months ago. after the 'troops had come buck from the Peninsula. I was confident then that it would not be long before the brigade would prove its worth to rank with those who had covered themselves with glory at Gallipoli The anticipations then lonned have been more than justified. Not only on the Somme, where it has established itself as second to no other, but also now in this great Battle of Me-ines, its record is one of which any commander might be proud. For my part lam very proud to have the brigade in the corps, and in any future operations I hope 1 shall always have the good fortune to have it in my command. Once more I thank vou from mv heart for all you have done, and 1 feel sure that the people of New Zealand will be proud to hear of the deeds of this brigade, which they can look upon as second to no brigade in the forces of the Empire. The brigade afterwards marched past to the music of one of iti bands. It looked'remarkably well, the troops having made a wonderful recovery from the 'strenuous'ordeal through which, but ,i few days before, they had passed.