HARDEST FIGHT OF THE WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 May 1918, Page 2

HARDEST FIGHT OF THE WAR.

COLONIALS IN ACTIOS STRENUOUS DAY OE KILLING. London, April 18. Australian and New Zealand wounded soldiers agre that they never experienced harder lighting than during the (iorman oli'ensivu. Though few. who Mere in the recent battles have, yet arrived in England, there are some who, helped to stop the first rush on theSomme. A Queensland lance-corporal : declares Uiat his battalion, which had ..dpfte' proudly in many fights, received .a, port that the enemy had... broken through with armored cars.. His .'bat-' talion with others marched ...with. all speed and took up positions, on. the high ground in the .neighborhood of Arras. The report'proved incorrect, and inarched throughout the night, and un till four o'clock in the morning. They had the. best breakfast posstyc under the circumstances; then they were ready for a big day It was this day that things happened. The Australians, many of ..whom knew every inch of the country from the experience gained in 1916, were surprised to see shels bursting in unimaginable spots round Albert—the first direct untimation that the Germans had broken through. The battalion was ordered to do an approach march of two miles by daylight and relieve the Black Watch—their old friends —who had been heroically fighting rear-guard actions since the offensive opened. Although the advance was made in extended order, the battalion suffered considerable casualties from the heavy shell fire. The men lay hiding until dark, and then they took over the line, the lance-corporal and another non,com. commanding the platoon. There was a rousing welcome from the Scottish, who cheered the Australians like brothers.

DEALING WITH THE. SNIPERS. A Brisbane lad, describing the entry into the trenches, said: "I never saw our boys take it so well. They dug in as best they could under a railway embandment, knowing that a real chance for hot fighting was imminent. They had not to wait long. The German snipers, by daylight, were active. We sat up, and by ten o'clock there was not a German sniper left, and we were able to look over safely. It was an amazing sight. A few hundred yards ahead hundreds of Germans imarked the sky-line on a low rklge. ; They had been arriving in motor-cars and lorries, and were marching in solid bodies. We touched them up properly, but did not prevent them from assembling in the hollow. The attack, came an hour later from a point 400 yards distant. The Germans came over in waves, without much bombardment. Our boys never had any of this sort of fighting before. It was go hs you please with rifles and machine-guns. We stopped them. Our boys were tired of shooting. They were lying out in the open upon the railway firing rapidly, simply knocking down the Germans. It was the most strenuous day I ever had—such killing as the Germans will remember. Our casualties during the attack were mostly from machine-guns. After hours of tremendous work the attack failed. We had retained the positions." The battalion had a comparatively uneventful time during the next few days in the ragged line; but the men suffered on April 5 under intense bombardment. The Brisbane lad was then wounded, but he learned that a German mass attack broke the front line. Australian supports immediately went up and retook it.A Melbourne boy who was seriously gassed was reticent regarding his exploits, but he said that he would be content, if he only came through, if he could have the opportunity of tolling the parents of his mate in Australia how bravely their son died. One lad who was wounded at Passchendaele has a second wound in the same leg to testify to the severity of the fighting at DeDrnacourt.

NEW ZEALANDERS' PART. Other Australian units were ni9licd |in the line north of Albert. The New Zealanders took a splendid part in stemming the tide at a critical moment. :A Tasmanian tells of the heroism of ja young officer who had a bullet ; through the shoulder. When the wound had been bound up he refused to go back, saying that he must rejoin his platoon. He had not walked 200 yards before a bullet went through his head. The Tasmanians took up positions where cavalry had been patrolling the .previous day. They met the attacking Germans in the open. The enemy's masses wavered under the withering fire. The acting-commander of the battalion was wounded. At another point 12 successive German waves against a New South' Wales battalion crumpled up. The Australian Siege Battery, which was caught in the maelstrom of the Armentieres attack, upheld the highest traditions of the army. It fought desperately for 24 hours, amidst a terrible barrage, the Germans flooding the position with gas and high explosives. Ultimately masses came on and machinegunned the Australians, who were threatened with annihilation. Nevertheless, they extricated all their guns, and dragged them to prepared positions in the rear, where they recommenced shooting. Theirs was the last battery to leave the area. They refused to retiro until the enemy was out-flanking them. One officer who was wounded is in London. He states that the men worked like tigers, and with the utmost clieeriness.