ST. QUENTIN AN IMPORTANT BASTION.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 October 1918, Page 5

ST. QUENTIN AN IMPORTANT BASTION.

Cambrai Believed Heavily Mined. Some Fine Fighting. Received Oct. 3, 7.30 p,m. I London, Oct. 2. The United Press correspondent dates that St. Quentin has bsen one of the real bastions of the super-defensive system. Its fall might have happened two days earlier, but for the unexpected strength of the Germans in the vicinity of Vendlieuille, enabling them to force a wedge between the Americans, who had gone ahead, and the Australians, requiring the latter to spend two days mopping up. This delayed the plan, but finally the Australians made a complete job of it, as shown by the occupation of the BeauTevoir line and the capture of Vendhuille.

Some of the finest fighting of the whole operation was that of the British 40th Division and part of the 9th. Corps, which, following the Americans' first rush, broke the Hindenburg line in the adjoining sector, maintained alignment, and prisonered four thousand. With fires burning at Cambrai, and as the city is believed to be heavily mined (three great underground chambers there offering the Germans an unexampled opportunity for mining), the Allies are still avoiding a direct assault.

There were 1700 Germans prisonered in the capture of Oeveeoeur and Rumilly, ■with all the heights north-westward of these.

EAST OF HINDENBURG LINE. Australians Cain all Objectives. Received Oct. 4, 1.50 a.m. London, Oct. 3. General Monash wired Mf. Hughes that the Australians have captured all their objectives to-day east of the Hindenburg line.—Aus. N.Z. Cable Assoc. GERMAN REPORTS. Received Oct. 3, 7.45 p.m. London, Oct. 2. Wireless German official: We withdrew from parts of the salient lines near St. Quentin, north-west of Rlieims and westward of Argonne. The enemy gained a footing at Ledeghem. Our counter-attacked regained the eastern part. On the fifth day of the Cambrai battle we repubed seven assaults northward of Sancourt, and further south the enemy advanced beyond Abancourt and Cantigny. An enemy assault broke down south of Cambrai. The enemy captured Rumilly and occupied St. Quentin. We withdrew from the Veale. —Aus. N.Z. Cable Assoc, and Reuter.

THE NEW ZEALANDERS. ST. QUENTIN FIGHTING. MANY SUCCESSES AND LIGHT CASUALTIES.

(From Captain 'Malcolm Ross, Official War Correspondent with the New Zealand Forces in the Field) By Cable, Sept, 29.

Yesterday we heard that the enemy had evacuated Welsh Ridge and Marcoiog, and that two English divisions were advancing with a view to securing Bonavis Ridge. The New Zealand Division was to push through these divisions and drive the enemy across the St. Quentin Canal. By nightfall, however, the Welsh and Bonavis ridges and La Vacquerie were still being held by tho enemy. It fell to the New Ztalandars to take them. A strong, cold wind, with rain-showers, prevailed all day, but cleared in the evening.

At 3.30 o'clock this morning the guns commenced their barrage, and Auckland, Wellington, Otago, and Canterbury troops advanced to the attack under the feeble light of a moon jinking near the horizon. The somewhat unusual hour selected successfully introduced the element of surprise, and the enemy was late with his counter-barrage. By 6.48 ajn. our light "battalion was reported as having crossed the sunken road, and were advancing on Bonavis Bidge- Their casualties were slight, and already they had captured 100 prisoners. At 8.25 the left battalion reported that Bonavla Bidge was captured. There had been a lot of machine-gun fire at tl>e start, but it eased off later, and our men continued to go forward in splendid style. At first there was very little enemy shelling, but later there came some artillery fire from the right battalion front.

It is a glorious day, calm and sunny, and everyone is in high featlier with our success and the splendid news from farther north. Already we appear to have ctptured between 800 and 1000 prisoner?. At the moment of_writing, Gonhelieu has not yet fallen, and our troops, who have made a fine advance, are being shot at from the right rear. The canal ahead is a formidable obstacle. We are in occupation of a ridge overlooking Vancells, a village beyond the canal, and have alre.jdy cut the Camibrai-St. Quentin Road. Probably the enemy will retire to the Masnieres-Beaurevoir line. ■WvBAD DAY FOB THE BOCHE. Later. The day lias end'd well for the New Zealanders and badly for the Boche. Our casualties are surprisingly light, many Germans have bitten the dust, and we have captured .several officers and 1100 men- To-day, beyond the Hiidenburg line, I have seen many dead Germans and many wounded Germans being treated *Zealand doctors at our dressing stations. The German officers seemed very disconsolate, and the men, who complained that recently they had not had enough food, certainly had a rather pinched look. Early in the day also we had captured two 6in naval guns and some smaller pieces. Machine-guns nowadays we scarcely, trouble to count. Our men were in splendid fnrm and i''pr<> never more keen to set into the f'-rnif linn. Tbr.y lipd pbsri.i*- po„<1denc* in superiority over the

j enemy, and they proved that confidence ! was more than justified. [ This morning when our troops advanced -behind the barrage, the sinking •noon shed 'but the feeblest Ijpht over the battlefield,-and as it dipped to the horizon it ibeeame quite dark, but all went well except for a slight check to a company of the Otagos, who came up against la barbed-wire and owing to that obstruction slightly lost direction. About 6 a.m., the North Island Brigade had established jtself on Bynavis Ridge, slightly over -WMt abov-'. sea level. The South Island Brigade got on to the same ridge on its left, but on its light, south-east of La Vacqimrie, was held up by machine-gun fire from the right rear of Gonnclieu. Later in the day other Auckland and Wellington battalions advanced toward the canal. Pushing the enemy before them and still kSling and Winding many, they established a line on commanding ground. Patrols from our left hoved right down to the canal itself. Some Aucklandors actually fought their way 8000 yards, but were subsequently withdrawn somewhat. Our casualties were still extremely light, except on dur right, where some Canterbury troops suffered from from the direction of Gonnelieu village to the, south-west. GERMAN'S SURRENDER FREELY. Generally speaking, the enemy, who was badly surprised in the darkness, did not fight gallantly, ibut surrendered freely. Though the barrage on this occasion was necessarily thin, it nevertheless killed and wounded many Germans. On the other hand, we lost some prisoners through their getting away in the darkness after surrendering. It says a groat deal for our men that they managed to gain one of their principal objectives in the darkness Our surprise caused the enemy artillery to be late in coming into action, and it was about 10 o'clock before he began to shell Bonavis Eidgs heavily and constantly. On our right other troops, who had had hard fightin". were delayed in their advance, and fliis in turn had the effect of retarding the progress of the South Island Brigade.

This afternoon our men were consolidating the position won, with a view to a further advance. Ahead to the northeast we iftw great smoke columns rising from Cambrai, and also what appeared to he enemy dumps going up in huge ptiffp- Enemv transit were seen moving away. The men from the Antipodes were gazing curiously at strong positions and cavernous dug-outs of the Hindehburg line. But a few months ago, when they were stemming the rush of the German horde on Amiens there was no one who even dreamt that In September he would have seen the forefront of that much-belauded system of defence. But to-day our men have marched across it and another dawn will find them willing, nay, eager, to go still farther afield.