FOILING THE GERMAN RAIDERS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3094, 26 May 1917, Page 8

FOILING THE GERMAN RAIDERS

HOW THE NEW ZEALANDERS STEMMED . . "■ A RUSH ■ IMMEDIATE AWARDS FOR VALOUR (From Malcolm lloss, War Correspondent . .with the N.Z. Forces in tho Field.) , Northern France, March J. ...About a week ago, shortly, betoro dawn, ] the enemy suddenly opeueu a tierce bum-. bardment upon tiio trout mid support ' lines of some trenches Unit'the New 2ea-' landers happened at the moment to be holding, a tew machine-gunners, some ' lkeii'with Lewis guns, and a few infantry were,in that particular sector. The boiubardnieut lasted for. au hour, and tliero ■ '.'could be no doubt that it presaged a raid. It was 'just after 5, o'clock i" the morning when tho straining eyes of our luokputs saw between ninety and a hundred Germans following their bombardment' across No-Man's Land. But out of that lot only six ever reached our front liue, and of those six, one mortally wounded by our fire, was taken prisoner. The enemy had come over for identifications, which- ho probably got. But tho New Zealanders stoon their ground with a gallantry/endurance, and devotion to duty worthy' of.'the- highest praise, and while the Germans got their identification we also succeeded in getting ours. > ■ r : Among those who stuck.'it out during the severe bombardment and showed the .'. greatest gallantry was Private Leonard Itoss Dickinson. He was with a Lewis- ; gun detachment on tho left, and it was ■his lot that suffered most from the bom- : bardinent, Out, of five men three w>re killed and bno wounded by a iuinnenwer-

, : fer that exploded near tho gun position. Dickinson, who was the remaining man •left, stuck to his position throughout, and .was largely instrumental in driving the enemy back. . With the utmost disregard of.danger ho continued firing until his magazines ran out. , . William Elliot Gordon, a Lewis gunner;; : -was the first to see the enemy approaoh- . ing across No-Man's Land in the dim light. Immediately ho gave the alarm, and at once turned his gun on the '.. enemy.- Throughout the whole bombard:jnent and.attack ho . displayed great courage, initiative, .and devotion to duty; John T. Clearwater, who was in command of a night jiost during the raid, showed great bravery and coolness. When a few of the enemy entered tho trench he checked their progress and drove them hack, showing an utter contempt of ■ danger and setting a fine example to his men'. Pte. Frederick Andrew Brill kept his machine-gun in action throughout the raid, and, after two of the men, had been .wounded, repelled a bombing attack from the rear. He it was who shot the German who was taken prisoner, by means : of which' the identification of the attacking regiment was obtained; All these ' men were recommended for immediate ..'" reward, and each of them has received the military medal. •' The other day, during a visit to the ■.: front, I saw some of the men who were ~ in' this encounter. "The General was having a look at their' dug-outs, and, •learning, that'they were the men who had behaved so gallantly, he called up a corporal who was standing by. "You are the 'men who ; we uitthe raid tho other night," he said. "Yes, sir," replied the corporal. "Well,' you' did splendidly," added the General. "We're ' very proud of our machine-gunners, ■ sir,'' was all tho corporal said. "You're a damned fine lot," remarked the General, as he turned on his heel and went his ways. As the corporal saluted I could see his eyes Decome moist at the compliment he had received from his General, and, as I followed along the trenoh, I could hear the corporal proudly repeating to the men of his platoon the General's last remarks, with, / if'anything,' a little more emphasis on . the adjective; It was but a little in- : cident in a three hours' walk at the ■front on a pleasant day,.but there.was something'intensely human in it, and the, compliment rang so true that it .' fixed-itself in the memory of those who ' -were privileged-to witness it. '''

._ Other.Awards.. " : The .• system, oi immediate awards, which, of late, our army has instituted, is, without doubt, an excellent one, and one that will'help, us on to victory. Not only is it. an incentive to further gallant deeds and devotion to duty- on the part of the-recipients, of the.. awards, but it is an incentive and an inspiration to the whole, of the unit concerned. Three other instances of similar awards may well be. mentioned. Corporal John M'Quillan, during a heavy bombardment, and in spite of minnenwerfer; bombs and shrapnel fire that was bursting ■ about him, kept his trench mortar in' action for 45 minutes, and fired over a hundred rounds into No-Man's land .'on an advancing enemy attempting a raid, thus assisting materially in their defeat. This corporal,' in the words of the official recognition, has 6hown great courage and fine powers of leadership. Sergeant "Walter James Murray, with a rifleman, who was afterwards killed in the bombardment, opened fire on an advancing raiding party that was on- the point of, coming over tho parapet/ and, at great\ personal risk, continued till they turned and fled. Ho had already done- gallant work in a raid on the Somme, in -September, and his courage has always been an inspiration to his men. '. . Sergeant Adrian,-' John, Mason, when the battery to which he is attached was ', under -; heavy - fire;- did a heroic th tag. Three men were wounded, two of them seriously, in,a billet close by. iRe went alone to tho billet, bandaged the wounds of the tbree men, amj got two of them away. The third man he carried on his back,-a distance of three hundred yards to safety. ' He undoubtedly saved their lives. He has been conspicuous for acts of gallantry on other occasions as well'. ,