ATTEMPTED RAID ON CHRISTCHURCH.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13094, 20 April 1908, Page 4

ATTEMPTED RAID ON CHRISTCHURCH.

A STIFF NIGHT'S WORK

i Thero was little excitement in Christchurch on Saturday at the pros-

pect that an enemy -was hovering on tho borders of the town. Business

was carried on aa usual and the fact

that military operations j were in progress was only signified .by tho appear-

ance at Addington of a number of

tnen in uniform and bodies of tired troops marching on their head-

quartore

But, notwithstanding all this, Christchurch bad been in dire straits during the night, and it was only by the noble efforts of its defenders that it had been preserved from a raid by an

enomy.' At 5 p.m. on Friday information arrived that the enemy, who wa* under the command of

i Lieutenant-Colonel .. Mackenzie, had moved out of his os-mp at Motuksrara, and Colonel Chaffey lost no time in pushing forward a force to meet him and dnre him off. Immediately orders were" received in the camp at Addington, that the enemy had moved, a mobile foroe of mounted men, under Lieut. Overton, was despatched by tray of Lincoln to obstruct him, should he come there, whilo a mounted force, with a Maxim eun, under Cant. Johnstone, was sent to Dyer's Pass and Get-bio's Pass to prevent communication between the enemy and his.ships, and thus divide his forces. It was known that ships were waiting out- \ side Lyttelton to co-operate with the ' land forces, and, of course, as soon • aa th-e eawany \ had advanofxl for the attack on Fort Jervois, the ships would make their attack by sea. A strong party wss located under Colonel Cooper at the Fort, whilo an.entrenched position had been taken up by a number of the d.fenders at the junction of the Port Levy and Purau * roads, so that it was hardly likely he could ventnr* in. that direction; but still the whole of the road .from: Motukarara to Fort tTerrc-s ~m open to him, and unVss the defenders could stop him, ' io seemed ' certain he mignt . attack

along this point. However, Colonel Mackenzie, who -was in charge of the attacking foroe, was a wily soldier, and it might be that he would, at least for a time, allow his ships to act independently, but this was hardly likely. With the" object of cutting off his chance of connection with his chips at Lyttelton, Colonel Chaffoy decided to make a-rush for. Dyer's Pass, practically the key of the situation, if the junction was decided upon. With -this object, Captain Johnstone, with his detachment of Amuri Mounted Riflo-i and a galloping Maxim gun, a_d tho City Rifles, under Oapt. Farthing, wore detailed to take the road from Christchurch to Governor's Bay, -where the infantry -were to hold Dyer's Pass, whilo the mounted men under Capt. Johnstone had a roving commission to go and harara the enemy on his flank, whether he moved in the direction of Fort Jervois or on to Christchuroh.

The No. 1 infaaitry battalion, under Major Jlichardson, wero detailed -to form a chain of outposts holding the road from Fendalton road to Hornby, thus effectually preventing any advance in this direction. Oa-ptain Jlacartnev, with a detaohment of mounted men, had been sent out in the direction of Tai Tapu, with the idea of compHetnig the line of communication, which by this time extended across to Lincoln.

As matte-re turned out, Colonel Cbaffeyte ideas of operations in the direction of Lincoln were correct, as Colonel Mackenzie evidently decided to leave bis ships to thetnselves fcr a time and make his attack direct on Chrir-rtch-uroh. This would h_yo the effect, if successful, of preventing any assistance being rendered to the forts, which might t_e_ be pressed by has ships and probably beaten.

Colonel Chaffev established his head3u«rters at the Show Grounds, and irected movement- from there by means ct" gallopers and telephones. It was not till half-_»aßt seven that any information, arrived, and then a _____•£« was received from Lieut. Andrews, who was located with a .-.ig-n-nl station on the Su£ar-loaf Peak, that the forts had been attacked. This showed that the attackers were fully alive to the necessity farg>us_ing matters with'despatch. The attack was evidently carried out from the sea, as the land side at Purau and Port Levy Saddle was deemed impreenabl-e. In the meantime the ioroo under Captain Mac*rt-

nev had located the .enemy., with 200 infantry in the direction of Lincoln. They were supported by one field gun, and bad with them a traction-engine and baggage train. ' Shortly afterwards a partyor the attackers advanced, in the direction of Tai Tapu, and these also wi_i them a gmu the evident intention being to strengthen the position at Tai.Tapu. It was not part of Ca.pt. Macartney's duty,to engage-the enemy, as his party wa6 mainly for observation purposes. At 9 p.m. Lieutenant Overton had so far forced his way that he was face to face with a number of the enemy. At this point the first capture of the manoeuvres was made., viz., a number of Cyclists. It was, however, found on examination that these were members of the Red. force to which Lieut. Overton belonged. Later on, however, this was made up for, as Lieut. Overton, while advancing up the Ladbrooks Road, cautiously, sighted 18 Blue Cyclists, and theso were cleverly captured. It was now raining hard, and matters were decidedly uncomfortable for all hands, but these discomforts wore borne with fortitude, although the men had to spend tho time in the open. The different lines were kept closely in communication, and the headquarters wero kept notified ef each operation as it went on. The main portion of the interest centred around Lieut. Overton, who, although his force was not strong enough to engage the enemy, was enabled to head tlieni eff from their direct road to Christchurch. ■ Again and again the Engineers who were located in small parties with several of tho mounted detachments proved their usefulness, as they were afcle to tap the telephone wires, arid tho Squadron commanders and umpires wore able to keep headquarters fully cognizant of their movements, without the aid of gallopers. Tlie Cyclists were another valuable adjunct, as by the aid of their silent steeds they did excellent scouting work.

When it was 6een the enemy had decided to neglect the Gobbie's Pass advance, Colonel Chaffoy decided to strengthen his position on the approaches via Lincoln. Tho outpost line was withdrawn from the country near Fendalton Road, and concentrated on a position at Hornby, thus offectually blocking any chance of coming through tlie centro, which was also held by a mounted detachment under Captain Macartney. The field guns, under Lieut. Climie, and a detachment of the C.V.C. under Captain Rhodes, wero detailed to a position near Leadley'- Road, with instructions to hold that against all comers. These wore supported by tho No. 2 Battalion of Infantry. Lieut. Overton got again into touch with tho enemy, and this time he was supported by the Cantorbury Mounted Rifles and Malvern Mounted Rifles under Captain Macartney. As the force in front of him was moro than he could tackle, Lieut. Overton retired to Sockburn, the enemy edging off on the road to Rolleston, Tlie enemy was still advancing steadily with, his guns and baggage train. The darkness, while it favouTed the advance, made it very difficult for the defenders to defeat them. Colonel Chaffey, with Major Millton, his Chiof of Staff, visited the whole line, and assured himself as to the work being done. Captain Johnstone with his detachment and Maxim guns had in th© meantime got around to Motukarara, while Captain Farthing, with tho City Rifles still held Dyer's Pass. Captain Johnstone was prepared to hover on the flank of the enemy, and edge him off should he decide to retreat. By this time the enonv' had steadily forced his way forward in the direction of Templeton, where he had evidently decided to make his first restintg-place. With matters in this position at 4.30 a.m., Colonel Hawkins, Director of Manoeuvres, decided to call a cessation of hostilities, in order to receive the •umpires' reports obtained during the night in the scene of operations; " •;- Onv Saturday the Hon. R. McNab, Minister of Defence, accompanied by Colonel Hawkins, visited tho scene of. the nfcjht cporations, the -position of .the two forces during the manoeuvres being pointed out to him. Ho took the keenest interest in the situation," studying the map as he proceeded in a motor car. placed at the disposal of the Director of Manoeuvres by Surgeon-Captain R. W. Anderson. At the Blue camp the officer commanding "(Colonel Mackenzie), with his staff, was introduced to the-Minister and accompanied the Director of Manoeuvres at an inspection of troops, horses and transport. AH tbo men and horses were fit and serviceable.