INCREASED ACTIVITY ON THE BRITISH FRONT

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 49, 26 February 1916, Page 6

INCREASED ACTIVITY ON THE BRITISH FRONT

AUSTRALIAN OFFICER'S STORY OF THE CAMPAIGN. FRENCH AITD BRITISH HEAVILY ENGAGES. (Received 10.20 a.m.) . LONDON, February 25. The highly-interesting diary of an officer of the 17th Australian Divisional Supply Column, attached to the British Force in the North of France, describing incidents of the past few days before February IS, has been published. The diary says: " After a period of comparative quietness great activity has developed along the line to the south. The incessant booming of artillery shows that the French are heavily engaged, while further north we are closer still in touch with the fighting, sending lorries on all sorts of dangerous missions taking supplies and ammunition. Big shells burst near the roads. Sometimes we see aeroplanes soaring overhead, and frequently marauders find themselves in very unpleasant places, for suddenly our anti-aircraft batteries Bent forth a dozen shrapnel shells, bursting all round the aeroplane. Almost invariably our own intrepid airmen soar up to engage them, and we hear the crackling of machine guns from the skies above the purring of the aeroplane engines."

"A couple of nights ago we, in a little town where our column was located, heard about eleven o'clock a buzzing of engines, indicating that a large fleet of aircraft was passing overhead. Shortly afterwards we heard eight explosions, and guessed that a pretty little town five miles away was being bombed. I ascertained later that the damage done was not extensive, although a young woman was buried in the debris of a building. This was only one of a series of raids that the Huns lately perpetrated. "Our lorries on detached duty have continually run the gauntlet of artillery fire, sometimes of asphyxiating gas. Two lorries were being loaded when shells burst. Everybody in the vicinity luckily escaped. A few days ago I was on the road, when a bomb fell some distance ahead, killing an Army Serviceman, and making a big hole in the road. One of our men reports having watched enemy aeroplanes. He distinctly saw a bomb leave a machine and fall ■without causing any damage. There was a complete absence of complaint from the motor men. The greater the wqrk the greater the pleasure of accomplishment. We receive grateful messages from the units, who have been assisted by our column. In addition to this work we have to keep in repair the column's transport vehicles, numbering over 150. "Our forces are delighted at our Allies' recent success in downing a Zeppelin and seven aeroplanes after a desperate struggle. "The division which we are serving is bearing the brunt of the attack, •which has already lasted ten days, and may last much longer. The Allies are fighting tenaciously, and the fact that the enemy is sustaining tremendous losses, will have demoralising effect, not only on the troops in the field, but on the.enemy generally. ;■-"•After a-spell of bitterly cold "weather snow commenced to fall yesterday. To the Australians it was a beautiful and novel sight, and soon the whole countryside was wrapped in a mantle of white. The men of the column found much amusement in snow-balling. As we pass the villages the children are skating on the ponds and in the gutters. The whole aspect of the country was changed in a day. Flocks of foodless birds are invading the camps. Our column achieved a record on February 5, loading supplies for a whole division from the railhead in 33 minutes."