ADVANCE OF NEW ZEALANDERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1918, Page 7

ADVANCE OF NEW ZEALANDERS.

'ENEMY'S GRADUAL WITHDRAWAL BITTER FIGHTING ON THE TRESCAULT RIDGE.J (By Malcolm Rf As we swung forward towards tlis Hindenburg Line, past Havrincourt Wood with its large area of fine trees, and so on through Metz en Couture, we had the Boche once more on the run. North Island and South Island battalions, a3 well as the rifles, were hot upon the trail The enemy had established himself on another line of defence just outside the western edge of Havrincourt Wood. Each of his battalions had two companies holding the line. Each company had two platoons pushed out about two hundred .yards ahead of that. The orders to thesfe irorit companies were that jthe iine v had to* he held, and that, if. lost; it had to be retaken. Behind was the support battalion of the 239 th Reserve Infantry Regiment. At X p.m. on the 4th,' September, a German company had received orders to move forwa'rd and dig in on the crest of the ridge. This line was to be held until the 6th, when there was to be a withdrawal" to an old British trench system existing along the eastern slope of the wood of Havrincourt, which wa9 being wired and prepared for a stout defence.

ENEMY PLANS, The regiment had arrived in motorlorries through the town of Havrincourt. Prisoners said there were rumours that the ultimate withdrawal was to be to the Hindenburg line; but that these trenches were to be held for the present. But all the same the New Zealand line was being slowly but surely advanced under continuous pressure by active patrols, and we were in touch with both divisions on each flank. Prisoners continued to come in. They were sturdy fellows, many of them, but not sorry to be taken. We got them in batches of fifty and sixty, including several officers. By the 7th we had captured the village"of Metz en Couture and all the southern part oi Havrincourt Wood. Early on the morning of the Bth the enemy had withdrawn' his main front line from the western edge of the wood. Rearguards consisting of one platoon per company were left behind in the advanced posts, and these posts were to retire upon a rocket signal to be fired by a company commander. There was, however, at this time a considerable confusion in the German lines, and ono company was unaware of tho fact that a withdrawal was m progress. Tho signal was not fired, and most of tho rearguard were captured by the New Zealanders with but little opposition. The enemy was now holding strongly a good line ot defence along the ridge. It was to be held until another withdrawal was forced to the famous Hindenburg position, which by the officers and men appeared to be the last word in the capability of the German in the establishment of an Impregnable position. Our patrols again pushing out encountered the enemy in the neighbourhood of Gauzeaucourt Wood, which appeared to be held in strength; also in a locality Known as Sherwood-avenue, and in trenches in an adjacent spur. The enemy had blown craters in several of the roads leading towards his new positions, HARASSING THE ENEMY, The New Zealanders continued to harass the enemy rearguards along the whole front, and in spite of more stubborn opposition, and, on occasion, heavy machine-gun fire, .they forced back his outposts. The Germans had reinforced their front line with a new division—the 113ths, a good division that had come up from the Aisne. By this time we had captured 57 German officers, and 2500 other lanKs, several guns, and many machine-guns, and the total losses inflicted on the enemy by the New Zealanders was estimated at 5000. The German High Command was becoming anxious about the amount of information we were obtaining in regard to bis dispositions and probable intentions, and an order had been issued warning the troops about discussing matters that were meant to be strictly secret. "In view," wrote the commander of a German division, "of the enormous damage which is done to our Fatherland by such criminal chat, I order that all formations, especially units in back areas, shall carefully instruct all officials in this subject. Any individual who neglects to keep secret any such information, will be severely dealt with and will be removed from lis post, irrespective of his position. By transferring him to the front I will make him personally feel what it means to fight against an enemy who obtains accurate knowledge about our intentions through the means of careless talk of people far behind the front" This order, however,' does seem to have been very effective. .The prisoners still talked more freely than before. Indeed, some of them seemed quite anxious to give information for they were tired of war, and now, recognised that Germany could not win. One handsome young lad of nineteen who came from Frankfurt, thought it a great joke to be' captured just as he., had come into the line., "Only last nig Tit," he told me, "I came into the front line, and this niorning I was catched!" He laughed heartily at the idea. !■•' THE TRESCAULT RIDGE AT- .. :,.:._■ "TACKED: /''' , . At'9th gepiemljer, at 4 a.m., in conjunction with a division on their right, attacked the ridge head, and established themselves in what is well-known -in thisj.sector as African Trench, They captured an important position at somje cross roads, and took 1 the remainder'of gauzeaucourt Wood; but their advance on the; left was checked by heavy ma-' chine-gun fire. They had'bumped'.# against the fresh 113 th Division, «and met with determined opposition; ibut, nevertheless captured 57 unwounded prisoners belonging to the fonr divisions. Among them were sturdy Jagers and a number of dismounted cavalry. The Germans were holding the line strongly, to cause us as many casualties as • possible while the main body ot troops was withdrawn to the Hindenburg line for the winter. This latter line was to be further improved. We captured West Prussians and Jagers, who fought well, and whose morale seemed good. The "3th Div^on though severely dealt with on the Mam, had had its losses had been resting and taming M« weeks. Its training time had, been out short, m order to enable it to •5S W Celery > Chateau to endeavor to stop onr arr ?&***» towtrds the Hindenburg luxe. TheSTth Skua* trtuA Im bMfc'««W* <*

this front for ten days, had, on the other hand, suffered,.heavy.-losses, and -its battalions were now low in strength Indeed, the battalion strength 'was down to about 120 men, and the morale was poor. Prisoners stated that men ran away freely, without arms and equipment, while others remained witn the idea of being taken prisoners. Manv were so sick of the war themselves that they doubted if the Germans would stand another winter of it. They acknowledged that the officers had great difficulty in steadying their men. ATTACK AND COUNTER-ATTACK. Nevertheless, as I have stated, the New Zealanders came tip against stout troops in a strong position, held with superior numbers, and, the. Rifle Brisade especially had some very stiff lighting. The battles swayed to and fro, trenches were lost and retaken. The New Zealanders fought grimly. Once they were met with an attack with flame 'projectors and a post had to be withdrawn. But on the whole the fighting was in Our favor, for we inflicted severe losses upon the enemy. Ona particularly dashing attack by an n.c.o. and six men at a much disputed point, known as Dead Man's Corner, led to the capture of a machine-gun poßt and seventeen men. Shortly afterwards, however, the enemy appeared in strength down a sap fro» the. north, and our men were forced to withdraw; but they brought their prisoners back with them. The enemy continued to hold Dead Man's Corner and Africf.i Trench in strength, and we consolidated the positions we j had gained on the !)th and 10th.

On the 12th there was another attempt to gain new ground, and for some hours following attack and counter-attack, led to hard and confused fighting. The enemy fought stubbornly along the whole front, and particularly on the right, where he launched two vigorous attacks. Our men were met with intense machine-gun fire, and in spite of bombing attacks the enemy clung tenaciously to certain trenches that he held. The main result of the day's operations was the capture of 432 unbounded and 7 wounded prisoners, 5 and a slight advance in our line. On our left English divisions succeeded in capturing the villages of Trescault and Havrincourt; but on our right no progress was made, Local trench fighting* followed this attack, and soon afterwards the New Zealand Division, which had been fighting continuously since the battle began, . was withdrawn from the line. As would be seen from the progress of the battle, which I detailed from day to day in my cable messages, they put up a, remarkably fine performance—probably the finest in the history of the division.