SOLESMES TO LE QUESNOY

Taranaki Daily News, 11 January 1919, Page 7

SOLESMES TO LE QUESNOY

BRILLIANT ADVANCE OF SOUTH ISLANDERS. STREAMS CROSSED AND BRIDGEHEADS SECUIUSD.

'* (Prom Malcolm Rosa.) 26th October, 191 S. The brilliant advance of the South Island Brigade from a line in front of Solesmes to the high ground west of Le ■ Quesnoy deserves a fuller report than I have been able to give by cable. The fighting in connection with this advance started early in the morning of the 23rd. An .English Division was in front of us. They had been in the line for a few "ays, and, starting oft under a barrage, they now secured the limited objective allotted to them in front of and to the north-east of Solesmes. One or the Ota-go battalions, which had a long day's fighting, went through them, an advance guard from this battalion went off with the English division, and, before the time of the attack by the battalion had arrived, saw about eighty of the enemy in a position ahead. Two lancecorporal;;, boldly advancing, got their Vickers guns round on the enemy ilank and captured the lot. This was a good beginning, for this party of Germans would undoubtedly have given trouble later on On the right the line swung south-weatward towards the village of Beaurain, .vhicli the 37th Division was attacking, and from which trouble might have been expected on the New Zealand right flank. To minimise this probable opposition an officer's patrol was sent towards the village at 5 a.m., and, getting on co the high ground, came up against a machine-gun post on top of the ridge. The patrol proceeded to deal with this post, and those that remained after a steady peppering put up their hands and surrendered, immediately afterwards one ol thect) prisoners shot an Otago lieutenant, wounding him in the leg, whereupon the subsequent proceedings interested this little party of Germans no further. The wounded lieutenant limped back, well content with the letributive action of his men, and they, not ill-pleased with this timely-incident, plu3 the apture of one machine-gun, remained to carry on the day's work.

THE ADVANCE BEGUN. These prelim inarias were but t'ua piulogue to the play that began with tl\e main advance when, at 8.40 a.m., the first battalion of the Otagoa hopped off from their line. Fronting the small village of Vertigneul, with its church spire rising above the red-tiled roofa of the houses, was a stream that had to be crossed. No sooner had the leading waves got over this obstacle than the) began to be sniped at from the rear, for, owing mainly to preliminary shelling by the enemy, the attack on the right had not gone so quickly. Two sections were detached to attack these snipers, who ahot jrum among the trees and the high grass on the other side. Trouble also came from the right between Vertigneul and the Crucifix, but this also was successfully overcome, and, in the process, a field gun that the enemy had not time to get away was captured. Later, at the Chapel of the Six Roads, more trouble developed from the vicinity of a crucifix. A German machinegun post blocked the way on the right of the New Zealand flank Here a fine incident occurred. One of the Otngo officers, the ground being unsuitable for a Lewis gun position, let the gunner use his body for a support while he "took on" the opposition. Standing up practically in the open, the officer got the gunner to place the machine on hia shoulder, and in that position the drums were rattled oiF The enemy in the post were all killed or captured and. we got the gun. There wer.i some thirty of the enemy endeavoring to hold us up from that position. Somewhere about noon this battalion reached its first objective without severe losses and still comparatively fresh.

ACROSS THE ST GEORGES. On the left, during the advance, was a Canterbury battalion. They had a shorter distance to go, and they were not so much affected by the opposition that came from the right, but they did their work well. The crest of the fiigh ground beyond the Harpies stream had now been passed. Ahead the bare fields sloped down to the St. Georges, a deeper stream with steep banks, and orchards and trees giving cover to the enemy in the valley and for some distance up the further slopes. It was an ideal position to defend, and we looked for stiff opposition from this region. Shortly after noon the Canterbury 3 and the Otagos advanced down the slope. Near tha centre of our advance the shattered j buildings of a large farm and a tall mill stood beside the roa<l that crossed the stream. Here the road was blocked by a huge crater that the enemy had blown. With the same charge the strong brick bridse had disappeared. Other bridges right and left had also been, blown. Machine-gun fire anJ the bullets from the snipers' rifles came from the trees on ilie commanding ground across the stream. The men dashed forward to the stream, plunging in, some of them ap to their necks, and, dripping wet, rushed forward to storm the slope above. Meantime the German machine-gunners were pouring in a hot fire. The Tillage 011 the right had not yet been taken, and fire continued to come f-oiii chat flank. Near Pont-a-Pierres, where tlia farm and the mill were, we recaptured one of our o;d tanks with the German black crosses new painted on it. Apparently the enemy had been twing it against ns, or gett'ng it ready for use in one of h;i3 attacks. In thi3 vicinity batteries of four-twos and. five-nines wero captured, and also an eighl'-inc'i gun. The teams and the personnel had vanished. There were dead horses along tho roads and in the valley. The feature of this fighting <va3 the fact that the men went forward so determinedly and so steadily behind a thin barrage and under very fierce machinegun fire. Two companies of the Qacter-bm-ys had all their officers .except two put" out of action, but still fought on with great determination One company officer v/fLS wounded m the face parly in the day, hut refused to leave his men. Later he wji3 wounded in the left arm, which became powerless, but he still carried on and v efused to be evaluated until the following day. By evening these Canterbury men had pushed forward to the outskirts of Beaudignies, They went through this pretty little Tillage on the St. Georges River in the moonlight. The Boche had evacuated the I yiUageu but w came trickling book. It

was at a bridgehead on this river that one of our V.C.'s was killed. He was ] shot in the head hy one of a Gemma patrol coming down the main street. In the gloom of night he mistook the patrol for some of our own men. There were no civilians found in the village though there were evidences that they had been in recent occupation. During the day our men had seen the enemy's limbered wagons clearing out of Besuidinies.

SOME DETERMINED FIGHTING. With the Canterburys in this part of the advance were some They came up to another Ofcago battalion at eight minutes past twelve, and four minutes later the second barrage came down and they started fighting their way ahead. They encountered machinegun fire from the direction of Salesches on their right rear. They took Le Mesnil Farm near the river with some prisoners. About five o'clock in the evening as the Battalion Commander's groom was riding forward with his rifle slung he came suddenly upon a German Battalion Commander with thirty men. The officer asked the groom to take them prisoners, and the latter obligingly complied, handing the bunch over later to an Otago corporal.

A line of wire ran from Salesches towards Pont a Pierres, and here a platoon sergeant did a plucky bit of work. He crawled ahead with his Lewis gun section behind the belt and found the Germans distributed in three main posts. The New Zealandcrs opened fire at fifty yards range, and soon there was a cluster of between fifteen and twenty German dead there. Following this destructive fire the New Zealanders rushed the posts and captured sixteen of the Germans who still remained alive. By this action the position was turned and another company enabled to get up. Passing through the wire these advanced along it and captured about a hundred and fifty prisoners. A fine bit of work was accomplished in swinging round bo quickly to this flank. The men dug in facing the flank. The objective on top of the ridge was gained at 12.45 p.m;— quick work under the circumstances.

ECAILLON BRIDGEHEADS STORMED. Away ahead Beaudignie3 and the Ecaillon River blocked our pathway and seemed, indeed, formidable, obstacles. The enemy had been blowing up roads and bridgeheads, and it was especially important to get some bridges across this river if full success was to crown the day's work. Looking at the position on the map, the task seemed difficult, but it was worth a venture, and late that evening the General Officer Commanding rang up the Brigadier and asked him, if the situation permitted, to make the attempt. The word was passed oil to the battalion commanders, who at once jumped at the ?hanco of rounding off the attack so successfully. Canterbury and Otago companies were told off to do che job. It was already dark, and so there was no opportunity to reconnoitre the ground, but map bearings were taken and the men went on. To get to the river they had still about a thousand yards to go, and their orders were not only to take the bridgeheads but also the high ground a thouser.il yards ahead across the river. AH this tiiey | did, meeting- with little opposition, for all but a few of the enemy had gon<\ Two Germans, strolling nonchalantly through the village, were surprised to find the New Zealanders there, and, not unwillingly, came back as prisoners. Other Bodies wera neon later advancing with wagon, evidently with the idea of blowing up the bridges, but they were quickly driven off.

ENEMY HOISTS THE WHITE FLAG. Xext morning, when the troops on the right came level with them, our men went forward once more, and, running across a party of about eighty of the enemy made most of the prisoners. On the left front were some Germans, holding what appeared to be practice trenches. With Lewia g\in3 the New Zealanders killed between twenty or thirty of these, and over seventy others, at the head of whom were three officers, who put up the white flag tc surrender. Their instructions had been to hold on to the last minute. Discretion rather than valour was the quality dictating the interpretation of the order as to what actually was "the last minute!" For these troops the remainder of the day was spent in pushing on through the iarnas du Fort Martin and Beart. Two French civilians were found hidiijg in one of the cellars. They came out and kissed their .New Zealand deliverers. Some time was spent in clearing out a copse and orchard. From these caine riiichinc-gun iire and sniping that killed three of our brave runnersi. Two were shot through the head and ope through the heart. On the left these Otago troops now linked up with Canterbury men, level with the outskirts oi le Quesnoy on the west.

ENEMY SHELLING. Of l".ia there have been clear evidences that the enemy is feeling the want hoth of guns and ammunition. It is possible that it is partly ill order to make up these defieienees that he wants so urgently an armistice. In the advance beyond the Hindenburg Line v.'e have not greatly suffered from his artillery fire. But in titi.-s day'a fighting lie had qi'ile fi number of guns defending a position that he knows full well i 3 vit;;.l to his further satisfactory retiramant in this locality. Our advancing troops therefore, suffered more than tha uev.ai amount of shelling.

ENGINEERS AND TUNNELLERS. At last the day of the engineers has arrived. They have for years been carrying about with them all the material for pontoon and other bridges, such as j would be necessary in any rapid advance. Recently the New Zealand En- ! ;;inecr3 have done fine work in bridging' streams and canals. The day we crossed the St. Georges they were already getting their material up, and next (lay I came upon a section in command of a lieutenant who in private life is a civil engineer in Canterbury, busy making ways across the stream for guns and limbered wagon:. They did \}\t\x work witli marvellous expedition. They are, however, proudest of their feat in building a tank bridge across the Selle. It was a bridge of 12 s 12 timber with 12in. steel joists and a 34ft. span. The reconnaissance for this bridge was made while the enemy was shelling the valley four or five hundred yards away. One man was killed during the reconnaissance. The bridge wa3 completed and ready for traffic in thirteen hours, wliiclj must be juxt about a record performance. I bear also that our tunnellers have beeu distinguishing themselves at bridge building, but they are so far away that I have not been able to visit them to get particulars of the!*' work,