LA BASSE VILLE BATTLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 October 1917, Page 7

LA BASSE VILLE BATTLE.

NORTH ISLAND TROOP'S IN ACTION.

DETERMINED FIGHTING.

(From Captain Malcolm Ross.. Official Correspondent with the New Zealand Forces in the Field.)

The second attack on La Basse Ville Was arranged for the night of the 31st July, at 3.50 a.m. Troops from Wellington and Auckland were employed. The operation was extended slightly northward, with a view to further strengthening the line in that direction. The attack included an artillery and machine-gun barrage. It was entirely successful. Though our casualties were not light the enemy suffered a severe defeat, losing 43 prisoners and many killed and wounded, while seven light machine-guns, two light trench mortars, and a considerable quantity of material were captured by us. This time the Germans were ready for us, and there was some severe hand-to-hand fighting. THE MAIN ATTACK. Not many of the enemy were met with in the southern end of the village, but they had concentrated in shell holes iii the northern end of the village, and also in the ditches and hedges on the eastern side, or the side farthest away from ouv line. The main attack Was made by men of the Wellington Company, and they -bore the brunt of the fighting. With, rifle, bomb, and bayonet the New Zealanders cleared the village- in half-an-hour.. Officers and non-commissioned) officers and men fell on both sides, but ' the Germans suffered severely, even though they were in the defending position. Machine gun after machine gun position was taken by sheer dash and gallantry, and such of the'crews as were not killed or bayonetted fled or were taken prisoner. One lot of Germans legged it along ,the road to the Inden Rooster Cabaret, a tavern,on the southwestern outskirts of Warneton, where they sought refuge in some dug-outs that had still survived our shelling. Our men- chased them right up 1 to this spot i and bombed the dug-outs. Others making off along the banks of the Lys were sniped, and the rifle, which in this fighting had come into its own again, sent many a bullet at such of the enemy as still held in the open ground between the Tiver and the railway. In the actual attack on the village the majority of the - men taking part were Wellington men. GALLANT LEADERSHIP. In all this fighting the two captains of the Wellingtons distinguished themselves by their fine leadership and gallant bearing. The one who was up against the village defences had previously won the Military Cross. He I again showed dash and initiative in attack, and tenacity in defence after the village had been taken. In the attempted counter-attacks, and during heavy shelling, he remained cheerful and set a splendid example to his men. The work of the other captain will be mentioned later in the narrative. Many stirring deeds on the part of the men and their leaders might be mentioned. I shall refer to, only a few. After the village had apparently been cleared up a German machine gun suddenly began to -.pit bullets from the cover of a building in the northern end of the huddle of broken houses. A lance-corporal led his Lewis gun section against the position, destroyed the crew, and captured the post. Then, taking the captured German gun forward to the front line, he promptly turned it on to some of the retreating enemy. In the early stages of the attack one of the platoon commanders was woundea. and a lance-sergeant promptly took charge. Though the platoon suffered severe casualties he persevered till he captured the position for which they were making, brought up a captured German machine gun and turned it on the enemy. Then there was a runner who, when his company had the misfortune to lose all its runners except himself, carried on with tireless energy and great bravery for twenty hours. A HEROIC CORPORAL. Of all the tales of magnificent heroism in this fighting, however, no more thTilling story can be told than that ot the cool daring and magnificent initiative displayed by a Wellington corporal. On that morning he was in charge of two sections of his company, and he was specially detailed to attack and capture an enemy machine-gun position that was supposed to be an isolated estammet on the Warneton side of the village. As goon a« our barrage had lifted he led hia men forward across the railway line west of La Basse Ville, only to unexpectedly nm up against another enemy machine (run that was sending out a stream of bullets and holding up the advance of another company operating on his left. Without hesitation, ho turned his attention to this position, which he attacked, killing several of the crew and putting the others to flight. After this adventure he was able to get together only three of his men, hut, undaunted still, he proceeded with them to attack the machine-gun position that was his real objective. To attempt to attack the post from the front meant clearly that he and his little remaining band would be wiped out altogether. The sun was firing continuously. The enemy shell fire was intense. Coolly mzin- up the situation,, he led his little party round through some thistles, and attacked the German position from the rear. As soon as they got close enough the intrepid quartette threw bombs at the crew, and immediately the bombs had exploded they rushed in, killing fou> of the enemy, put the rest to flight, and captured the gun and the position. One would have thought that this was a sufficient good morning's work, but it was not enough for this corporal. Leaving behind two of his men to clear the post and remove the gun, he took 'the other man with him and went on a reconnoitring expedition as far as our standing barrage would permit in the direction of Warneton. He afterwards came back to his company and reported with most valuable information. Throughout the whole of these operations the enemy shells were pounding into the position, and there was the continuous rattle of rifle and machine-gun fire. ATTEMPTED COUNTER ATTACKS. Our men lost little time in setting to work to consolidate the position they had so hardly won. The platoons dug ' in a Stokes gun was brought up, and '' forward company headquarters were established. Abottf 5 a.m. the enemy attempted a counter attack with his reserves from Warneton. Taking advantage of the cover there was, the attacking force came down between the ri-er a°nd the road, but they were seen , by our men; artillery fire descended on them in answer to our 5.0.5.. and they »v 1 maverelv. Some few came

iraVely on.' They were shot down by liflfe and' Lewis-gun fire before- they c uld reach our trench.

' Another party of the enemy, estimated at about 50, assembled under cover of the river bank with a view to an attack on our right flank. The officer in charge of our line opposite collected about ten men, and fought them off with bomb and bayonet. The struggle did not last long, for the German doe:: not. relish hand-to-fighting (hat brings him up against the thrust and parry of British bayonets. The encounter ended in our favour, and then those of the enemy tvho remained alive fled back to the cover of their own positions. Strewn in and about our trench they left between twenty and thirty of their dead. Once time about half-past seven in the morning—the enemy was seen massing. Our observers gave the warning, and our S.O.S. climbed into the air. bringing down the inevitable nrtillery barratre. But the enemy came on bravely and in the most determined manner through our bursting shells, and right on to within a hundred yards ol our line. Behind him he left a trail of dead and wounded. Those who got through were i'>'de,alt withl'—the cold words of the report—by Lewis gun and rifle Are before they could reach our lines.

The ranemy shelled the area all day with guns of all calibres. Two of his machine-guns continued to fire from the direction of h arneton, and two from a" trench across the River Lys. Thus, with the big guns, the .machine-guns, and with rifle, bomb, and- bayonet wo took and held the/village. Bombs were used in the dug-outs with great effect, and sniping went on all day. The morale of the men was excellent, even though a number of officers and senior n.c.o.'s had become casualties .early in the operation. At one stage four platoons were commanded by corporals. CLEARING THE HEDGE-ROWS. To one of the Wellington units was allotted the task of clearing the enemy out of the hedge-row position farther north], between what was known as Sunken Farm, and the railway to the south of Warneton. Having done this, they were to establish posts in front of the position. It was a strongly wired and well-organised system of defence, and for a timo it checked our advance. Indeed it is not too much to say that at one stage the position, in so far as our attack was concerned, was critical. The Wellington captain who was leader of this adventure displayed great bravery and initiative, with the result that he and his men carried the attack to a successful conclusion.

His leading party on making for the railway was stopped by machine-gun fire, and, after suffering casualties, were forced to withdraw to shell-holes. The lieutenant went back and reported the situation, and, later, when some of the men who had taken La Basse Ville began to move up the railway lino, the Germans wavered. The lieutenant, with some men under a corporal, and a few more under a sergeant, rushed the position and captured two machine-guns'. The plucky lieutenant was wounded in the charge, but remained on duty till the post was well on the way to consolidation and touch had been gained with the Wellington men on the right. He then made his way to the dressingstation, but first reported to his captain and to Battalion Headquarters, The sergeant assumed command of his platoon, and from that time carried on, though injured by some of the debris thrown up by a shell that burst near him.

The following platoon had a hot time. One section of it was fired on by machine gun 3 from the railway and from each flank and had to retire". Another party advancing against a wired hedge was almost wiped out by rifle fire, the lieutenant being wounded. A third party passed through the hedge and ran into a party of about forty of the enemy, and were forced to withdraw to shell holes on the north side of the hedge. The enemy followed, firing, and they had to endeavour to get back to their original position. Meantime the enemy had manned the lower hedge and fired at them as they passed. The party was reduced to three, its commander, a corporal, being killed. One of the three privates left reported to the Company. Commander, and the remnants of the parties wero collected and placed under command of a sergeant. Meantime another platoon had established its post on the railway, and the enemy were ob-. served retiring from their wired positions, so the sergeant sent a private round to the north of them while he himself made for their southern flank. These two, .firing rapidly, shot several of the enemy j whereupon the remainder, numbering twenty-four, surrendered. Four of the prisoners were detailed as a carrying party to take in a wounded Auckland officer. The other twenty were sent back to Battalion Headquarters. They were .Prussians, and had been housed in a concrete dug-out close at hand. Later, the New Zealanders found an officer's batman in this dugout from which the officer had fled on the commencement of our barrage.

Eventually, after stiff fighting, the positions sought for were captured and forward jurats established. Until they were relieved at 9 p.m. this company was subjected to a heavy shelling, and on two occasions, at 3 p.m. and 7.30 p.m., the enemy guns bombarded heavily. There was, however, no counter attack. OTHER OPERATIONS. At the same time the operation further north—the raiding of the railway and the establishing of posts west of Warneton—was carried out by Auckland troops. The attack was made by iont parties who had to deal principally with the enemy in their iron-roofed and camouflaged shell holes, which were very difficult to locate. The various parties killed quite a number of the enemy with rifle, bomb, and bayonet. They alsotook some prisoners. In one place the force did not succeed in driving its offensive right home, as it met with stubborn resistance, the enemy firing ma-chine-guns and using pine-apple bombs. Several posts were established. Many of the men displayed great bravery and fought with an absolute disregard of their own saftey. Amongst these was Private Charles Quinn —mentioned in my telegram of 9th instant—who was awarded a bar to the Military Medal lie had previously won. The telephono wires were broken, and Quinn, under heavy fire,' proceeded to the front to bring back a report of the situation. At the time, the enemy barrage on the support line and behind it was severe. It was of the utmost importance to get this report, otherwise none would have been sent through such a barrage. The chances of his coming through such an ordeal seemed rather small, but he succeeded in getting there and in coming back with valuable information.

Another private acting as a runner killed one man and captured another, and was the last man to return to our trenches, he having remained out for some considerable time searching for our wounded and dead. He subsequently went out again to bring in a stray man. Other men did similar work, One rushed an enemy machine-gun, though some of the crew fired at him with revolvers. He killed the crew and captured the gun. A member of Parliament serving as a captain greatly distinguished himself by his conspicuous gallantry and fine leadership on the night of the 28th July, iwhcn the enemy raided his lines. He was especially solicitous in getting hia men into safe positions, and by his action prevented several casualties. In the raid on the enemy position that followed two days la tor he again showed conspicuous energy and ability, and the success of the operation is said in large measure to be due to his fine leadership The work of the Medical Service was, as usual, excellent, and the stretcher bearers once more did gallant work. Of the work of o<«r gunners the infantry speak in terms of the highest praise.

Following upon this lighting there was a downpour of rain, arid the men m the front positions had a very trying time in wet shell holes and the bits of waterlogged trenehos they were able to use, They also had to bravely maintain the positions they had won under shelling that times, rose to a pitch of great intensity. ■ .