STEMMING THE TIDE.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 June 1918, Page 2

STEMMING THE TIDE.

- SOCTfI ISLANDERS ffl BATTLE. FDGHTEJG IN THE OPEN. (From Malcolm Boss, War Correspondent with the N.Z. ia the .Field.) 16thApriL The experiences, of the South Islanders in tTekklng to tho new 'battle zone were ■very similar to those of other units about which I have alread; 'written. The Southern men liad the fun.; variety in this respect as had their comrades. By 5.30 ajn., they were all detrained, and troops and transport moved into a field where preparations were made to give the men a meal. Ai few hours later the first lot had jembarked in motor lorries, and were off towards the new front. Next night most of them were 'billeted in French villages. All equipment surplus to fighting kit was withdrawn from the~h;en and stored under guard. At 1.16 a.m. they got their marching orders to advance towards the new front to take theirjpart in stemmingthe tide- They concentrated in a field under circumstances already described. "Having been equipped with shovels and ■picks and* small ammunition,, they marched up towards the liue. Canterbury units were tho first of the group to march out- They learnt that' the situation, at 'Beaumont-Hamel' was. obscure, so a protecting flank was thrown out. At 2. IS the first unit went forward in artilhny formation towards their objective, one unit getting only very slight shelling as they breasted the crests of certain ridges, but from this there were practically no casualties. Another Canterbury Unit, on reaching the outskirts of Auchonvillers, met with ma■chine gun opposition and slight shelling, and deployed in sections, suffering, slight casualties. On their further adVance to talke up a defensive line they did not meet with much opposition, and! it was' apparent that the enemy was not there in large force. Eventually touch was obtained with a post of an. Knglish division on the right. On the; left the situation was.not so secure, and thp line had to toe further advanced in.. Lhat direction. THE OLD FRONT LISPE. The New Zealandcrs here occupied, what was the old British front line before the Battle of the Somme in I'JIG, and there were even traces of the old wire remaining. The tired remnants oi an English division that had ibeen engaged in the retirement were found, in occupation of some of these trenches, bijj the New Zealanders had known nothing of this until they came, upon them. Our men had got up just in time, for the Germans were already across the Ancre. Indeed, if one of our units had been a little earlier on the scene we might have held Serre. The old trenches we oc-. cupied were in strangely good preservation and needed little done in the way of consolidation. Small parties of theenemy were seen. One was killed, one wounded, and one taken prisoner. In the evening some men from another New Zealand unit came up and established touch on the left, so that flank was now considered safe. The night passed quietly except for some shelling at interval?. Occasional hursts of machine-gun fire also disturbed the stillness. Fighting patrols were pushed out along the whole front, and the enemy was located in his old front, line system of trenches. Our patrols had a little fighting, but nothing of any consequence developed. During tlie night of the 2Cth and 27th the dnemy attacked the unit on the left of our troops and got into Aveluy Wood for some distance, but by dawn the fighting had died down. At 0 a.m. the enemy commenced shelling the Canterbury line with 77mm and 10.5 cm shells. This shelling gradually increased in intensity and spread back in the direction of Madlly-Maillet. By noon it was heavy | over the whole brigade area. Minenwerfer and pine apples were also hurled at our line. Soon after midday the enemy attacked the centre of the brigade front. He advanced in small groups through the open and up the old communication trenches, out our rifles and maehine-guns were not long in getting on to him. By the time he had got within forty yards of our trendies he had had enough of it. He then lost no time in getting hack to his former position, leaving thirty dead and two light machine-guns behind him in No Man's land. By two in the afternoon this little skirmish was at an end, the shelling died down, and quietness againreigned. ENEMY MOVEMENT. In the afternoon the enemy could be seen moving in parties 'of albout forty, and occasionally in the strength of a company, in a Westerly direction into> the Ancre Valley. Such of these as were within range came under tho firoof our infantry and machine gunners,, and they suffered severely, but others, were able to pursue their journey unmolested, far at this time we were practically without artillery to deal with such a situation. There were many good targets in those first days, but,, when there are no guns to shoot, targets a re at a discount- When the guns arrive' the enemy quickly goes to earth, and walks more* in time. That evening the captain of'a tank (battalion reported with nineteen Lewis guns to assist in the defence of their sector, but as ho could man only ten of thmn the others had to be sent into reserve. Still, tho ten guns were a welcome assistance- At this si age the. whole of the front of the Southerners was practically "in the air." and an adjustment of the line with other units had to b© made. On the 28th a good deal of enemy transport could be seen on the roads behind his lines. Troops were also seen. When dawn broke a brigade of our own artillery that had made a hurried march up. registered, and, lator in the day, did some excellent shooting. Our men were naturally driighted to know that their own artillery was once more behind them. The enemy became more cautious, for the rest of tho day. Gradually our ■position was improving. NEW GARMENTS FOR OLD. Rain made the trenehe3 muddy, and as our mea were without their great coats tliey had to put up with some discomfort This they did most cheerfully, for they had got away from trench warfare, if only for a while, and they could pet a chance to ehoot the enemy i" the open. The novelty of the situate ■ and of their irarroujtdhigs appealed to them, and invariafbly their sense of humor

triumphed over their discomforts. Moreover, on their "way into the line-they had salvaged oilskin jackets from some of the deserted camps, and these now proved of great value. As already stated, they clothed themselves in a weird variety of raiment once they had done their trick in the front line and got back to the supports. Gaa sartorial genius might have been seen wandering alsout clad in ieavy tntiddy boots, sandbag putties, the ordinary ftfcaki ttwiaers, but albove that a camisole, the toot ensenmble crowned with a silk hat! Ho looked very pleased with himself, for was he not the synoanre of all eyes, and had he not achieved a sartorial triumph in the midst of the greatest battleinthe = world's history Even a passing Bri- ; gadicr-~or perhaps even a Major-Gene-ra!—could scarce forbear to.smile under such circumstances. The humorists always has his place, even in.the grim tragedy of a great-(Battle. THE EOGffiT m THB'ENEMT. There was more rain on the 30th on the 31st. This was bad for an attacking enemy that had been (Bolstered up by lies. Tie German soldiers had been given a promissory Bote' that eoufi not be redeemed. They bad been told that the British soldiers ■were starring. In the canteens and the messes and the refilling- points hastily evacuated they found an a'turndance of good food. For some days hungry soldiers of the Garman Emperor wolfed these supplies. Tire newly-found food disappeared like snow on ground warmed by an. early sttnune» sun. Then the German soldier wenft hungry again. His hofses that had falleni by the wayside from our shell fire or from sheer exhaustion were skinned an<£ cut up, no doubt to find; their way into» the company cooking pots. It may nott be well for us to ibuild too much on. this,, for, after all, horse flesh is not an unappetising nor an unsatisfying diet. W« continually hear of the scarcity oft transport on the German side of the line. T&eir officers have few motorcars, and ride in dog-carts drawn by Russian ponies. The German horsea are half-starved and weak, and they are worked till they drop. It would really seem as if. the enemy were staking a great deal on this desperate thro*. Yet under all the circumstances we cannot gainsay the fact that he has accomplished a great deal, mainly perhaps through weight of guns and numbers) cleverly concentrated at one portion of the battle front. But all the time we are making the position more secure, and when the enemy makes his nest move forward towards the coveted Cathedral City, with troops neither in his first great thrust, his success, if any, mnsfc be more limited and more costly. THE FIGHT OS THE FIFTH. You already know how disastrously the enemy failed in his attack on the Rifles on "the sth. The -unit lam now writing about did not have ranch to do with that fight, bnt it had to submit to a continuous bombardment of its trenches for ten hours on end. AH things considered, the casualties to the Southerners were considered to toe-fairly light- This was no doribt owing to the fact that they were in ©ceopatJon <rf such excellent trenches. '