THE LAST BATTLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 January 1919, Page 6

THE LAST BATTLE.

OB LE QUESnOX.

BBKWJENERAL HARTINj COMMAND. , i<v _ ; •

When the news came through' that the ;Ne\v Zealanders had won the battle of Lc Quesnoy, and that it has been one of the most remarkable fights of the war, Wairarapa wondered whether the general commanding in the most successful, operation was the Carterton soldier, Brigadier-General Hart, CM.G., D.5.0., The cable message as usual suppressed all names, but it is now known that is was General Hart who commanded, and that many brave Wairarapa lads took part in the fight. It will be remembered that Le Quesnoy was taken in a. way reminding one of the old-time battles. The country outside the town was cleared of the enemy, and then the fortifications were assaulted and carried by means of scaling ladders, etc. Mrs Hart, of Khodes street, Carterton, has now received letters from her husband, General Hart, from which w« aga permitted to make some extracts.

CUTTERS FROM GENERAL BABX

! Writing on Sunday, November 3, 1918; General Hart says:—"Before the dawn, before I hand this into the censor, we wfll have been launched into another huge battle, one of the biggest, and it may be the most decisive of the autumn series of important engagements. The enemy is crumpling up like a pack of cards, and die end is absolutely assured; but there is not the slightest slackening ;«f effort, or indication -of jubilation. Everybody proceeds steadily and calmly with his allotted task. All day I have been very busy—conferences, seeing engineer, artillery, machine-gun, trench mortar and cavalry officers; arranging for supplies of ammunition and food, evacuation of wounded, and hundreds of details, including the construction and delivery of scaling ladders, to mount the ramparts of an ancient town, and cork mats on which to cross the moat. This is just a short one to let you known that all is well."

Writing to Mrs Hart on November 6, two days later, the general says: "Since I wrote last I have taken part in what I hope waa the decisive battle of the war. My brigade had a ?ery important task—the capture of Le Quesnoy, an ancient strongly fortified town in an important strategical position. The battle commenced half an hour before dawn on Monday last, November 4. I was using every battalion under my command, and each battalion used every company and every man. It was a supreme effort by all. We were nearly 1000 men below strength,, but even bo, held the whole divisional front and had taken over a little extra from the divisions from each flank to give ample room for an enveloping movement. The attack continued all day, and it was after four in th» afternoon before ,tc secured the surrender of the garrison, after japturing the commanding positions and the ramparts. The enemy was holding strong positions well in advance of the town, especially along the ailv/ay line, which crossed our whole frontage, i We had first of all to storm and capture these before we reached the town. The first effort yielded several hundred prisoners. The units then proceeded steadily and thoroughly to invest the town, manoeuvring forward from position to position behind trees, mounds, outbuilding—anything which .vould give concealment from which fire could be brought to bear on the garrison. Tiie ramparts presented a vertical face of brickwork, 60 feet high, having grassgrown mounds on top, and completely surrounded by a wide deep moat, which, fortunately, was empty, except for a small running stream. The enemy had field guns, minnenwerfers, and dozens of machine-guns oiounted in, on or t.-ound the ramparts, and these had to be put out of action before the assault could be made. 'The advance of our men m the morning was covejed by the usual art'Uery barrage, and »n addition, burning oil and amoke was also projected on to the ramparts. About mid-day the effect of our fira began to be felt, and several attempts were made to steal into the town. On* man tried to crawl up a tree which had alien against the wall, and a few others tried to rush the bridge, but failed. Shortly afterwards this bridge was blown up by the enemy to prevent any similar attempt being repeated-

"Later in the afternoon three of the prisoners captured that morning were sent in from various points to demand the surrender of the place, and a message making a similar demand was dropped from an aeroplane. Before any reply was received, however, one storming party succeeded fn getting a scaling ladder into position against one part of the ramparts, from which the enemy had been driven, and under cover of Lewis gun and light trench mortar fire, our men went up the ladder, one by one, until finally one whole battalion had effected an entrance in this manner. They quickly put several gun crew 3 out of action, whereupin the remainder threw in the sponge, shortly followed by the surrender of ihc whole garrison.

"About 1600 French civilians were in the town—women, children, and old men —and they gave a wonderful demonstration of welcome to our men. They cheered and clasped all and sundry around the necX kissing and hugging them with joy at being liberated. I entered the town shortly afterwards, and it was indeed a very stirring scene. One felt a great joy at having taken a part in the release of these poor people from the years of suffering they had endured at the hands of the Boche. Next morning, at the request of the Mayor, I attended, with two battalion commanders, at the Mairie, an impromptu but impressive ceremony to receive, on behalf of our men from the aged Mayor and his council, the formal thanks of the town for their deliverance.

"Later on I walked around the ramparts and saw from the enemy's viewpoint the country over which we had attacked. The position appeared so very strong, I marvelled at what had been accomplished. Owing to the wide extension adopted in the attack, and the Red In-dian-like skill and cunning shown by the men, our casualties were remarkably small—an average of 77 per battalion, most of them, I am thanlcful to nay. being machine-gun wounds, from which there will be, in most cases, complete recoverv.

"There wore manv enemy skin, nnd we captured 1482 prisoners, and in addition .took five field j?uns, eight minncnwerfers, 80 machine-guns, 19 horses, r.r.d other war material.. (r Durin? the day there were many amusimr incidents. 4. Maori, having become tired of bijinf a Pioneer, attached himself to one of the battalions for the ftifht. At one stage of the investment ike -mttk Mas >* nub Sato on*

archway entrances and shortly afterwards return. Upon (being asked what happened he replied: "I see him, the hole in the wall. I think I get in there. I forget him my rifle. I find him the Hun one. At first I not know him how to work. .1 pull the bolt. He work all right. I shoot one Hun; lie jump down. I think I made him the hit. I shoot another; I think I made him the miss. I shoot again. No pluvry bullet. That no good to mo. I come back again.' "r—: Daily News.