Gas Attack At Levante

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 69, 22 March 1941, Page 6 (Supplement)

Gas Attack At Levante

\I7TC occupied a very quiet' spot in this sector, with trees scattered here ;iiul there, close to the front line, ami the very lirst evening we discovered the usual evidence that it had been «o for some cowide.rable period, for the rat* almost required kicking oIT the duck hoards in front of us as the evening Approached, writes .T. 11., l'anui. Indeed, on more than one occasion we were awakened in our '"bivvy" by tliem trying to collect our hair for their nest-. However, it wasn't going to he for long, for the heads had decided that it was the ideal spot for slipping the gas over. Up came the. British engineers with the dope, aryl a« they fixed the eylin- , ders against the parapet, they assured us it. was good stuff. It was; and as l'.iddy says, '"Everything is in order; the pig's bucket, is on the. diningroom , table." My cobber says: "l.et her go!" i We did. This promised to be exciting, •o we jumped on to the firestep and watched it go forward, killing the grass as it went. It was good stntf all right. Suddenly it hesitated and started drifting back, and with it came one of the most wonderful assortment of bombs " and shells possible. We took one of the biggest hidings over, and we ha<l taken '> a few along that front, believe me. The spot became a shambles —three out of n every four men being e.itlier severely wounded 01 killed, because tlie Germans

lirul concentrated their fire on the exact spot where the gas had emanated from and where tlie me.n had. unwittingly mustered. A pineapple homb exploded almost on top of my helmet and 1 went staggering 11[j against the parapet. Just as I re.covere<l myself 1 witnessed my "cobber" slump down to the ground, his arm hanging limp at his side and gas coming away from a (.Yrman shell close alongside him. I managed to ge.t to his side and place his helmet on for him, but ho hist, his arm. poor fellow. However, he lived to thank rue. He was a line sample " of Colonial Scotsman. 1 However, this was no time, for quot- " ing Bobby Hums' ".Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn," ' etc., or such sentimental stuff, so we set > to work fixing up our wounded, setting 1 broken legs and arms as best we could, for we. had no Red Cross men with us. In the wonderful stillness of the beauti- ' fill French evening and twilight that fols lowed, when even the rats had departed. • one. had time to reflect and decide that 1 putting the gas over was "pas bon pour f moi" for me. I would sooner have been s back in old Cairo watching the can-can, e a kind of strip tease dance (more strip n than tease), for if there, wasn't much c satisfaction in it, it was safer. It would f be interesting to learn if ariy other New v Zealand company had a similar experiis ence of "putting tha gas over."