NEW ZEALANDERS' DRIVE ON BAPAUME.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 207, 30 August 1918, Page 5

NEW ZEALANDERS' DRIVE ON BAPAUME.

WAIKATO AND OTAGO MEN MEET DEADLY FUSILLADE. VICTORY AFTER A TEMPORARY SET-BACK. • BRITISH HEADQUARTERS. August 25. Troops from all parts of Xcw Zealand Imve now been in the great battle raging along the British front, and al! have acquitted themselves well. In the attack on (iri'villers yesterday Otagu and Waikato men were on the left. The Auckland troops went right through the village, while yet other Auckland and Wellington- troops were on the right. The enemy fought at the start with rifles and machine guns; one company moving along a hedge. At lirst we met with no resistance, but at the end of the hedge six machine guns from a wood on the right opened on them. Several of the enemy, sheltering in dugouts, were captured. For a lime a hot lire was poured on the advancing Xew Zealanders, and they had to make what shelter they could hastily find. Opportunely a tank came up. and the German machine-gunners, who know too well the lialiits of these thick-skinned monsters, took to their heels, Aucklanders and others shooting at them a* they ran. HELD UP BY MACHINE-GUN FIRE. Then our men managed to get across the ridge. They were, however, still held up I>V machine guns ahead. Svveral men went forward to endeavour to locate these guns, hut without success, and further casualties were sufl'ered from tin- German trench mortar barrage. The Germans also aimed at the tanks with their anti-tank guns, and shells from these inflicted further casualties among the infantry, but our men held gallantly on. One man's head was 'blown clean off. Some of the tanks were damaged, but our men still held the line they had gained. An Aueklander who was in this light told mc that the spirit of the men ami their cheerfulness was really wonderful. Yesterday afternoon we w< re holding a line from Loupart Wood past Orevillers, both of which we had taken, to the east and north of the outskirts of Biefiillers, which v.-as also in our ban.ls. To tile east was liapaume, about two thousand yards away, and north of the little village of Favreuil. ENEMY REGAIN GROUND IN COUNTER ATTACK. From both of these places we were counter-attacked at one o'clock in the afternoon, under cover of artillery and heavy machine-gun lire, which drove back our posts about live hundred yards. For the rest of the day our lino remained unchanged, and the night was fairly quiet. Wellington troops last night, in patrol encounters south of Loupart Wood, captured six machinc-gnn-j and twenty-three prisoners. ilt was decided to renew the attack this morning with the aid of an artillery barrage. During the night the attacking troops formed up on their assembly line* and at S a.m. a heavy 'barrage from our artillery buret upon the ground held by the enemy in front of our troops, who advanced and captured Avcencs-liapaumc, a village cm the outskirts of Bapaurae, and the ridge on the left as far as the monument commemorative in the BapaumeArras Road. NEW ZEALANDERS AHEAD OF BAPAUME. This brought our troops within a thousand yards and well abreast of Bnpauine. When they had reached the monument they were held up by heavy machine-gun fire from a narrow curving strip of wood just south of the monument and from the west outskirts of Favreuil village, and were unable to proceed further. The enemy was now fighting determinedly, and it was evident that he meant to hang on as long as possible in hopes, perhaps, of staving otr the capture of Bapaume itself. Meantime, an English division on our left hail taken Sapignos, farther north on the Arras-Bapaume Koad.and we v.vre in touch with these troops. Our left battalion suffered rather heavy casualties, but on the remainder of the front our casualties were little, and mainly from machine-gun lire. On our right Hank the North Island troops conformed to the advance of the English division on our right. They were, merely marking time, and had no lighting to speak of. I saw some of the wounded who had been in this dash, Otago and Canterbury men. They were quite cheerful. One had a broken leg; another, with a nasty wound on one •check, was yet able to get solace from his pipe; a third, asked what his wound waX like, replied: "Oh. just a bit of a shell in the back and .bullet wound. Tres hien the wliizbang. 1 might get a Mighty out of it. Anyhow, I chased enough Huns to last mc for a couple of months."' Several Southerners who were in the tviick of the fight admitted that,the enemy fought well'this morning. GERMANS FOUGHT EVERY YARD OF THE WAY. "They fought every yard .of tiie way," said one. "There was no hands up about it this morning." Certainly nearly all the prisoners r saw were a liea'thy-looking lot. There were a great number of wounded Germans. One caw them being carried in by our and their own stretcher-bearers and infantry, while Oerman streMier-bearers aleo were carrying in our wounded.' We must have got between three and four hucdm] prisoners. A majority of them seenu-,1 to be only too glad to be done with the war. To-day was hot sunshine, and traffic poured along the country roads in clouds of dust, sometimes as thick as a London fog. To-night there is a siunderstorm .away in the direction of Longuevnl. The "enemy was blowing up his ammunition dumps, dreat columns of smoke rose from behind a crest of the ridge a thousand feet in the air. Six dumps went up one after another. From an airman who came down with a bullet through his petrol tank we gathered that the enemy transport going back alon- his roads was in a state of congestion and disorganisation. It was being continually harassed l.y our long-range guns and aircraft. His method of stavin- our advance also gives proof of disorganisation, as units are being pushed in here and there, irrespective of their regiments. To-morrow the New Zeilanders should he able to walk int.. Kapaume. and a strategic success will have been accomplished. How far beyond this the attack will go it is impossible to say but there may still be some surprises in store for the enemy. Heavy rail, in the night turned .lusty roads into rivers of muTamUn the darkness the transport with tin- English troops had a hard time, but triumphed over diuiculties. FKESH ATTACK GAINS FURTHER GROUND. The New glanders atiaeked again last evening with K,,g lisl , troops , am , the village o avreu.l ell. New Zealanders pushing on the right. This brings our men well beyond the BapuumcArras R*ad. German machine-gunners afe st.ll in Bapaume. but the town cannot last much longer. Last ni°ht we can tured a Gerjnan narai staff-surgeon who was visiting a regimental staff-suraeon also the latter and a battalion medical officer. The latter is quite - t f l! low. and is now working cheerfully with our medical service.-, Special from the Official War Correspondent.)