NEW ZEALANDERS ON THE SOMME

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2973, 16 January 1917, Page 6

NEW ZEALANDERS ON THE SOMME

FURTHER DETAILS OF THE. FIGHTING GOOD WORK BY THE RIFLE BRIGADE (From Captain Malcolm Ross, Wai: Correspondent with the New Zealand Forces in the Field.) Northorn France, Nov. 10, 1916. Now that the New Zealanders have left the Soramo, and the ground they won there is well behind tho firing-line, which has been carried forward by other bravo troops, it is possibio to : ■ give some further details or the fight- > ing in which they.so successfully en- '.'■ gaged. In previous articles I have described '.-: the nature of the country across which they had to advance. It extended from tho crest between High and Delville Woods down a gently-sloping ridge-sido to a point heyond Flers Village, some 3000 yards distant. I have already explained in some detail how tho Switch Trench was capturerd and held by the Second Brigade. In this article I purpose dealing more with the work-of the Rifle Brigade. As soon as the Switch Trench was taken, the engineers commenced digging, under ' fire, . communication ' , trenches up to that point, and assisted the infantry in the construction of strong points in the portion of tho trench they had captured. As already stated, the "tanks" did not take part in the advance on the first objective. But it did not matter. Later, ' tho "tanks" justified their manufacture. The Main 'Advance. ■The men of tho Otago and Auckland Battalions, who commenced the adTancc, went forward in. company column of platoons in single rank, extended to a certain' number of paces, and at a distance between platoons prearranged. Our advance was on a front of between 900 and 1000 yards, and the men went forward in a certain number of waves. More .than this it is inadvisable to state in detail. As the ad- ... vance proceeded the English Brigade oh our left became involved in fierce fighting near High Wood, and some concentrated German shell fire. This '' delayed their advance, and so a gap was . - created between the two brigades. But -our men went steadily on, and in less than half an hour had taken Switch Trench —the first serious obstacle. '■■ Though this trench was strongly held .by German machine-gunners our artillery barrage was so~ieavy and our on- ■;•;. rush so: swift that they had little chance to use their guns. They were more concerned with .keeping their " heads below the parapet. But some machine-gun firo ditl come from the left and. bowled several of our men over. Others fell to the German shelling. The: Otagos, especially, suffered from shell and machine-gun fire during their advance. The situation on the left was for a time none too satisfactory, but a company of the Canterbury came forward and partially closed the gap. They busied themselves making strong points so as to form a defensive flank on our loft. ■ • ' In the meantime-, ten minutes after tho first advance, the 4th Battalion of tihe Rifle Brigade advanced! to attack tho second objective. Each company came on in waves at certain intervals as prearranged. At 7:50 a.m. the line was taken. The enemy artillery had been badly disorganised by our heavy ■bombardment of that nionning, and tho preceding days, and its Teply to our attack was not all that the German High Command could! have desired. . Therefore this trench was taken at comparatively little cost., Half an hour later reinforcoments came on to gain the next line. In front of this was the German defensive system known as the Flers Lino. It consisted of a fire trench, and a Bupport trench, both heavily protected by barb- -. cd wire entanglements. The battalion •'-"■ on the right succeeded in getting their ■■• section of the Flers Line without much . difficulty, hut on the right some of the • barbed wire remained- unbroken, and ; the .'German machine-gunners got to ' work and held up our men. It' was half-past 10 before a solution of the , problem was reached l . At this junc- .'. turo, most opportunely, three of the .... "tanks" arrived. Ono peppered hy rifle • and lnachine-gun fire, sidled stately off ■ to ,the left, the other crunched through • : tho wire and' sbpn silenced the machine "guns protecting Flers Trench. Some riflemen were then aWo to- get into the trench, where a hundred prisoners were quickly gathered In. Gallant Deeds. All this, told in plain language as ■ simple matter of fact and detail, may •not seem very enthralling, but if the reader has any imagmation and can for , a moment transport himself to the centre of a modern blasted ."a very; tornado of shot and shell, ;'/littered with tho wreckage of war, and .:• "gruesome and noisesome with its hor- •, • .rqrs, he may realise in part the great :'efforts, the splendid sacrifices that are made. • . '- ; In former articles I havo given some .instances of individual courage and devotion to duty on the part of the 2nd Brigade. The other brigades have also their splendid records. I will deal now ••'-■ only with the ltifle Brigade. Again I •''cannot mention names. These you will ••-'see in due course-In. the official re--vCords. ; '.-' .' ■. • '.•~ ln'.this fighting which I have been ;'; : " describing, a 2nd , lieutenan|, when his ,::company commander was killed, took '.<'' command and reorganised and led his men to the assault of tho Flers and Flers Suppport Trenches. His men were -falling under enfilading machine-gun .tire, but vhe inspired them to advance ''in face of the bullets, and when the l ■' objectivo was reached he at once com-';-menced forming a strong point on the ~/left flank and made "blocks" in tho trench to hold the enemy in check. By the judicious placing of his -guns and the manner in which he .cheerily encouraged his men he un■<ioubtedly helped greatly in maintaining the position,, and also probably 'saving other lives' During the advance of this same .. battalion when its left flank was under .-. direct lire from an enemy machinegun in Flers Trench a. lance-corporal organised a small bombing party, work,cd round tho flank in advance of our front line, and, though exposed to , severe fire, succeeded in killing the German machine-gun crew and putting the gun out of action. His initiative and .bravery enablcdl tho advance to pro- ■ ceed, and undoubtedly saved many lives. ■ _ After the brigade had gained its objective, with the exception of a bat- ' talion held up on tho left, a major, .though wounded, organised , a small .party to take a section of Flers trench. . It was this party that took the hundred prisouers, so his efforts were not . 'in vain. I The Attack on Flers, When tho brigade proceeded to attack tho corner of the village pro- -. gress for a time was slow, so an additional company was sent; to . assist. Tho second battalion had got considerably to tho right of tho divisional .. boundary, owing to the fact that the division on tho right had not got up. --■It found its flank "in the air." The of the right'leading company, '•».ftcr reaching his objective, finding 'temself heavily pressed, fell back ;£l§ht]y, dug in, reorganised the mon of various units who had got so far, and consolidated the lines north and north-

east of Flers. This line ho and 3ria men held successfully against counterattacks until tho battalion was relieved on the following night. Then there was a young 2nd lieutenant in command of a reserve of two platoons, who, when his battalion's flank was uncovered, and there was a gap hotween it and the unit on the right, on his own initiative moved forward 1 his command and engaged tho enemy, who were in superior forco. He not only succeeded in checking tho enemy advance, but he formed a defensive flank and held , the position against all attacks until reinforcements came up. Tho position shortly after 11 a.m., after five hours' hard fighting, was this: The Switch trench, or first objective, was held by tho Aucklands, Otagos, and Cantorburys. The Riflo Brigade held the Flers and Flers Support trenches, while tho village just' ahead was held by a. mixed lot of tho Rifle Brigade and English troops. The Rifle Brigade were consolidating a line a little in' rear of the third objective on the left front of Flers. The Position Uncertain. Our troops in parts had got somewhat mixed up, and there continued to "do some uncertainty about the position on the right, but by 11.30 a.m. the Rifle Brigade had commenced its assault on the final objective. Swinging round to the left one detachment did good work in a. spot known as Grovo Alloy, where two German field guns wore found in action. Nothing daunted, the men of this detachment advanced bravely under fire, and_ the teams of the battery were quickly bayoneted. At this stage of the fighting the enemy machine-gun fire was very heavy, and as the right flank was entirely "in the air" it was decided to withdraw slightly to a more prudent line. At 1 p.m. it was reported that_ a German counter-attack was developing north of High Wood. The situation in that sector—on our left—was still obscure. Fighting; had bo ■severo there, and our left was st'll "in the air." The position gave cause for somo , anxiety, so, to clear up the forward situation, a staff officer was sent out from Divisional Headquarters. He was a reliable man, who had done good work under similar situations during tho attack on Chunuk Bair and elsewhere on Gallipoli. The first part of the journey was hy car. Then the officer had to go across country that was all under shell fire, but by avoiding roads and batteries and trenches as much as possible lie gained his destination unscathed. On reaching Flers ho ascertained what the actual situation was, reorganised the troops there, and by his direction ensured tho defence of tho village against impending counter-attacks. There were deeds of great gallantry performed during this day. many of them ■ alas! unrecorded, some, no doubt, even unnoticed. A few that, arc authenticated may be briefly mentioned. North of Flers, while somp, of the Riflo Brigade, during a critical time, were losing officers and men through machine-pun fire, a 2nd lieutenant of one of the machine-gun companies cot his guns into action and did splendid work. He went along a trench in the making and chose, tho positions for his sections, which eventually silenced the enemy's fire. After a hard day' fighting he contiVu'd at work throughout tho nipht, till 2 o'clock in the morning, displaying remarkable bravery and cooliips% and spurring on his men to do their utmost. One company of tho Brigade in this advance had all its officers but one killed or wounded. Tho lieutenant left took charge. ..and _ led his men with great skill, capturing the objective allotted to the company. Ho then reorganised the remainder of Vis company, and, though he was slightly wounded, consolidated thp position wider heavy shell fire. Next morning; he was again, wounded while searching in front of the trenches for a wounded officer., Then there was a sergeant in one battalion, who, after nil the officers of his company wore either killed or wounded, rallied forty men and consolidated nart of a strong noint north of the village nf Flers. He hold on determinedly all that nieli't and until 4 o'clock the following afternoon, when he was relieved. The courage and coolness he disptoved was an inspiration to his pradually decreasing band nf mon. Fortv went into' the position. When the relief came only twenty-five were loft. . A rifWnnn bnhaved with crpet gallantry during the ottack on thp village. He constantly volunteerpd to fro out under heavv fire and bring i« wnund«l men. By liis own nnai'led pfforts he brouuht in no fewer 'than five badly wounded men. Wounded in the arm and leg, a sergeant of another battalion continued'to l»ad his plntnon and helped +o consolidate a captured position! Hp rinlv cpased wnA- -wlipn ae»in wounded in the knpp. This nn" hnrl already won the military- medpl s"id the medal of St. George (second clnis). New Zp-ilandfrs will now know th<\t the disunities i" this fiehtino; were considerable. They might... liowcr. verv well have hem heaver fhnn tlipv were. As a matter of fact- nur inon had 'uVwjn srt.iringlv used. Thp gnW, test of n successful nnp.T-ation is t'ip number of +ronps Wt at the purl of t>» 'lav. _ We hiul no fewpr than five fresh batalions rpady to go on.