Old Digger's Diary

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 92, 19 April 1941, Page 5 (Supplement)

Old Digger's Diary

KIEPPE, July 22, 1917. For the past week Stratford and I nave been attending a school for officers of the 4th Brigade, conducted by Major Dron. The gathering was housed behind Nieppe in huts formerly used by the Aussie tunnellers, and we had. a great time. I suppose the idea wae to teaeh*B&.all the great "open warfare" idea. ' Bic heads seem to think that one of these days we will have the Hun on the run and we will then daeh after him with great vim and vigour. As a restilt, patrols and picket work was included in the curriculum. The week passed pleasantly enough with strennoue days and energetic nights in the local estaminet, just across the road.

Lancashire Support Farm, July 29. Wβ are again in dugouts just north of the Warnave, which in summer is just a trickle of water but in winter a quagmire. The 3rd Otagos are on our left anil they have had one or two exciting passages of arms recently. One of their patrols ran into an enemy patrol on the railway embankment but after a sharp encounter the latter retired. On another occasion the Otagos spotted three Bodies crossing the Lys in a small boat and promptly threw them a few Mills bombs. The boat was sunk and the. occupants killod. A couple of days after we came into the line I was sent for by the Colonel who explained that he h;id decided to place me in charge of the minor opera-

tions allotted to* the Canterbury Battalion. The 2nd Army was to earry out certain diversions concurrent with the major offensive at Ypree. The New Zealand Division would feint against L.ille and seemingly threaten the bridge heads on the Lys by constructing dummy trenches, but the main portion of the Dive Son's duty was the capture of La Bassee Ville and the villages to the north-east. The Otagoe were to dig four shallow trenche3 at given spots along the bank of the Lys and tape them to our front line trenehee. We had to dig three.

The idea of the tape was to show up in the aerial photographs and heighten the enemy's suspicions that an attempt was to be made to cross the river.

On the 25th I set out with my JT.C.O.'s to locate and site the trenches. It was a dull misty morning and Sergeant Hallem was in charge of the first party to the north, Sergeant Sinclair of the centre group, and myself with Sergeant Allen on the south post between the Lys and Doule.

We went out through the advance post and skirted Moat Farm. Aβ we passed that weird looking ruin a Boeho machine-gun registered on it and the tinkling of falling bricks made a ghostly sound in the general silence. Without any difficulty I found the position and placed a stick in the ground by which they could be picked up on the morrow. There were no enemy patrols out and we got back without further incident. (To be continued.)