WITH THE ATTACKERS.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13095, 21 April 1908, Page 5

WITH THE ATTACKERS.

! Th«- Rod force having discovered tho : position of the invaders, it was decido:l to attack them, and at 3.30 yestrrtlav morning they commenced to I surround the headquarters of tho Bluo ; force in Pound road. Colonel Mackeni zie was informed of the fact and tho ; infantry wexe placed in positions around the camp. One of the h Bat- ' Tory's guns was located in the road loading from tho Tear of the raceeour.*.*. while the other was statioiiicd 111 Pound road within measurable distance ofheadquarters Colonel Bond, who had : char"i- of the mounted columns, praetij as a free Janoe, and ho or-

Canterbury Mounted R.ifle®. with four : standing patrols, to proceed to tho | South Mam road, Marsh's ,oad, Factory road and the Hailswell read and repel tho eneinj'. Lieut. Millar, with a troop of tho South Canterbury Mounted Rifles, received] instructions j to patrol the Yaldlmrst road, School road and Sinclair's road. Lieut. Hardy, with tho Ashburton Mounted Rifles, took up a strong position on the road loading from the rear of tho racecourse, in close proximity to tho ;E Cattery's gun. In order to ensure communication between headquarters imd tho Battery guns tho Engineers laid a telephone wire between tho points mentioned' and' then acted as β-ipports to tho Battery, because the posit ion provided natural entrenchments and their services in this direction were not re- ; quired. Captain Wain, with the Stud- I holme Mounted Rifles, was ftiven a ' roving commission, and he proceeded , via Pound road and Sinclair's road to Kaiapoi Island. About 4.40 firing was heard in tho 1 vicinity of Yaldhurst, Lieut. Millar's | force and a party of scouts having come into contact with the offenders ; and a few minutes later more heavy volleys were heard from this point. The defenders at onoo commenced to make a detour, and by 6.5 iho firing was fairly general all round the camp. Captain Gresson held his ]x>int until ho was informed by aJi umpire that lie was outnumbered, and ho then re- j turned to the. cress roafls .'.ear tho : camp. Ho remained here till 7.-Jo, and a.s tbe firing became- too severe, he fell back on- his first ine of defence. Lieut. Millar was in a similir | predicament, and ho -al.so fe'l Lack on I the first line.of defence and Inter j Captain (irosson as a reserve. Lie-ir. • Hardy holtl out for some time., but ; ho tco was forced to oonio back to Ciimp.

Tho enemy now appeared in strong | numbers at both ends of Pound road, j iuid one of the Battery's guns was en- j dangered. Lieut. Hardy was called ; out and galloped, with his men , , to; render assistance, and the gun was J safeiy brought back to camp. The Nordenfcklt on l'ound road continued to do good work under the charge of Lieut. Bonttie, and frustrated the efforts of the Red force, which vms seen mobilising near Marsh's road. The infantry had a pretty severe time, but kept the enemy at bay splendidly. I Shortly before S o'clock a party of j mounted men were seen reconnoitring 1 near the Islington Freezing Works, j but the Timarn City Rifles soon check- | e<l their advance, end thfy were forced t to vacate that position.. Captain "Wain's j force was noticed by a party of the! ene-rav when near the "Waimakeriri ; river-bed, but he proceeded to tho island and. doubling back on his track. J escaped. On the homeward journey a j parry of thirty cyclists wexe captured by his column," and seven Mounted men were also .surrounded end tho bolts

gun which ventured too near camp was also put out of action. : ''Cease- fire" sounded at 9 o'clock, and the troops returned to camp. Lieut.-Colonel Mackenzie succeeded admirably in repelling the attack on his headquarters, and a good deal of his success, both on the march from Motukarara and at the manoeuvres yesterday morning was due to the ability Lieut.-Colonel Bond displayed in commanding tho mounted division. The men worked excellently throughout, and are also entitled to praise.