THE SECOND ATTACK

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 30, 30 October 1917, Page 5

THE SECOND ATTACK

: NORTH ISLAND TROOPS IN ACTION. The Becond attaok on La Basse Villo , was arranged for the .night of July 31 at 8.50 a.m. Troops from Wellington and Auckland were employed. . Tho oporation was extended • slightly northward, with - view to further strengthening the. line in that direction. The attack included nn artillery and machine-gun barrage. It was entiroly successful. Though our casualties were not light tho enemy suffered a severe defeat, losing 13 prisoners and many killed and wounded, while 6even light maohincguns, two light trench mortars, and <i considerable quantity of material were captured bj; us. This "time tho Germans were ready'.for us, and there was somo severe hand-to-hand fighting. ' Not many of the enemy were met with in the southern end of the village, but they had ooncentrated in shell holes in the northern end of the village, and also in the ditches and hedges on the eastern side, or tile side farthest away from our line. The main attack was made by men of the Wellington Company, and they bore the brunt of the fighting. With rifle, bomb, and bayonet the New Zealanders cleared the village in half an hour. Officers and non-commissioned officers and men fell on both sides, but the Gormans suffered severely, even though they were in tho defending position. Machine-gun after machine-gun position was taken by styeer dash and gallantry, of the orews as were not killed or bayoneted fled or were taken prisoner. One lot of Germans legged it along the road 'to the In den Rooster Cabaret, a tavern on the southwestern outskirts of Warneton, where they sought refuse in some dug-ouls that had still survived our shelling. Our men chased them right Tip to this spot and bombed the dug-outs. Others making oft' along the banks of tho Lys were sniped, and the rifle, which in this fighting had come into its own again, sent many a bullet at such of the enemy as still held in tho open ground between the river and the railway. In the actual attack on the village the majority of the men taking patt were Wellington men., ' Gallant Leadership. < In all this fighting the two captains of the Wellingtons distinguished' themselves by their fine leadership and 1 gallant bearing. The one who was up against the village defences had previously ivon the Military Cross. Ho again showed dash and initiative in attack, and tenacity in defence after tho village had been taken. In the attempted counter-attacks, and during heavy shelling, he remained cheerful and set a splendid example to his mon. The work or the other captain will be mentioned later in the narrative. Many stirring deeds on the part of the men and their leaders might be mentioned. I shall refer to only a few. "After the village had apparently been cleared up, a German maohine-gun suddenly began to spit bullets from the cover of a building in the northern end of the huddle of broken houses. A' lance-corporal led his Lewisgun section against the position, destroyed the crew, and ; captured the post. Then, taking the captured German gun forward to the front line, he promptly turned it on to 1 some of the retreating onemy. In the early stijges of ' the attack one of the platoon commanders was wounded, and a, Innce-sergennt promptly took charge. Though the platoon suffered severe casualties, he persevered till he captured the position for' which they were making, brought up a captured German machine-gun, and turned it on the enemy. Then there was a runner who, when his company had tho misfortune to lose all its runners except himself, carried on with tireless energy and great bravery for twenty hours.

A Heroic Corporal. Of all the tales of magnificent heroism in this fighting however, no more thrilling story can bo told than that of tiie cool daring and' magnificent initiative displayed by a Wellington corporal. On that morniug he was in charge of two sections of his company, and he was specially detailed to attack and capture an enemy machine-gun position that was supposed to be an isolated estaminet on the Warneton side of the village. As soon as our barrage had lifted he led his men forward across the railway lino, west of La. Bassee Villo, only to unexpectedly run up-against another enemy machine-gun that was sending out a stream of bullets and holding up; the advance of another company operating 011 his left. Without hesitation he turned his attention to this position, which he attacked, killing; several 'of the crew and putting the others to flight. After this adventure he was able to get together only three of his men, but, undaunted still, he proceeded with them to attack the maohine-gun position that was his real objective. To attempt to attack the post from the front, meant clearly that he and his little remaining band would be wiped out altogether. The gun was firing continuously. The enemy, shell firo was intense. Coolly sizing up the situation, lie led his little party round through some thistles, and attacked the German position from the rear. As soon as they got close onough the intrepid quartet threw bombs at the crew, and immediately the bombs had oxploded they rushed it, killed four of tho enemy, put the rest to jlight, and captured the gun and the position. Olio would have thought that this was a sufEcently good morning's work, but it was not onough for this corporal. Leaving behind two of his men to clear the post and removo the gun, ; he took tho other man- with him and wont on a reconnoitring expedition, as far as our standing barrago would permit, in tho direction of Warneton. He afterwards came back to his company and reported, with most Trainable information. Throughout the whole of these operations the enemy shells were pounding into the position, and there was tho continuous rattle of rifle and machine-gun fire.

Attempted Counter-Attacks. Our men lost little time Tii setting to work to consolidate the position they had so hardly won. Tho platoons dug in, a Stokes gun was brought up, and iorward company headquarters wero established. About 5 a.m. tho enemy attempted a counter-attack with his reserves from "\Varneton. Taking advantage of tho covor thero was, tho attacking force came down between the river and the road, but thoy wero seen by our men; artillery lire descended oil them in answer to our 5.0.5., and they sujiered severely. Somo lew came bravely on.' They were shot down by ride anil Lewis-gun fire bel'oro they could reach our trench.

Another parly of the enemy, estimated at about SO, assembled under cover of tho rivor.ibank with a view to an attack on our right Hank. Tho officer in chargo of our line opposite collccted about ten men, and fought them oIT with bomb and bayonet. Tho strugglo did not last long, for tho German does not rolish hand-to-hand lighting that brings him up against the thrust and parry of British bayonets. Tho encounter ended in our favour, and then thoso of tho enemy who -remained alive fled back to tho cover of thoir own positions, Strewn in- t=nd about our trench they left between twenty and thirty of their dead. Once more—this time about half-past seven in tlie morning—the euomy was seen massing. Our observers gave the warning, and our S.O.S. climbed into the air, bringing down the inovitablo artillery barrage. But tho enemy eamo on bravoly, and in the most determined manner through our bursting shells, and right on to within a hundred yards of our line. Rohind him ho loft a trail of dead and wounded. ITiose who got through wero "dealt with" —the oold words of Hie report—by Lewis gun and ride fire before they' could reach otir lines.

The enemy shelled the area all day with guns of all calibres. Two of his, 1

machine-guns continued to fire from the direction of Warneton, and two from a trench across the River Lys. Thus, with tho big guns, tho machino-guns, and with rifle, bomb, and bayonet wo took and held the village. Bombs were used in tho dug-outs with (Treat effect, and sniping wont on all day.

The morale of the men was excellent, even though a number of officers and, senior _ n.c.o.'s hud become casualties early; in the oporation. At one 6tage four platoons were commanded by corporals. i

To one of the Wellington units was allotted tho task of cleaving tho enemy out of tho hedgerow position farther north, between what was known as Sunken Farm and the railway to tho south of Warneton. Having done this, they wero io establish posts in front of tho position. It was a strongly wired and well-organised system of defence, and for a time it checked our advance. Indeed, it is not too much to say that at one stage the position, in so far 03 our attack was concerned, was critical. The Wellington captain who was tho leader of this adventure displayed groat bravery and initiative, with the result that he and his men carried the attack to a successful conclusion.

His leading party, on making for the railway, was stopped by maohine-Eun fire, and, after suffering casualties, was forced to withdraw to shell-holes. The lieutenant went back and reported tho situation, and, later, when 6ome of the men who had taken La Basse Villa /began to move up, tho railway line, the Germans wavered. Tho lieutenant, with some mon under a corporal, and a few moro undor a sergeant, rushed the position: and captured two machine-guns. The plucky nontenant was wounded in the oliarge, but remained on duty till the post was well on the way to consolidation and touch had been gained with the Wellington nifn on the right. He then made his way' to the dressing-station, but first repored to his captain and to Battalion The sergeant assumed command of his platoon, and from that time carried on, though injured by some of the debris thrown up b.T a shell that burst near him., Tho following platoon had a hot time. One section of it was fired on by ma-chine-guns from the railway and from each flank, and had to retire. _ Another party advancing against a wired hedge was almost wiped out by rifle fire, the ; lieutenant being wounded. A third party i passed through the hedge and ran into a party of about forty of the enemy, and were forced to withdraw to shell holes on the north, side of the hedge. The enemy followed, firing, and they had to endeavour to get "back to their original position. Meantime the enemy liad manned the lower hedge, and fired at them as they passed. The party was reduced to three, its commander, a corporal, being killed. Ono of the three privates left -reported to the company coihmnnder, and the remnants of . tho parties, were collected and placed -under command of a sergeant. Meantime another platoon had established its post on the railway, and the enemy were observed retiring from their wired positions, ( so the 6ergcant sent' a private round to the north, of thom while he himself made for their southern flank. two, firing rapidly, 6hot several of the enemy, whereupon tho remainder, ' numbering twenty-four, surrendered. Four of the prisoners were detailed as a carryiuj; party to take in a wounded Auckland officer. Tho other twenty were sent back to Battalion Headquarters. Thoy_ were Prussians, and had been housed in a concrete dug-out oloso at hand. Later, tho New Zealanders found an officer's batmah in this dug-out from which tho officer had fled on the commencement of the barrage. Eventually, after stiff fighting, the positions sought for _ wero captured, and forward posts established. Until they wero relieved at 9 p.m., this company was subjected to heavy sholling, and on two occasions, at 3 p.m. and 7.30 p.m., the enemy guns bombarded heavily. There was, however, no counter-attack.

Other Operations. At the same time the operation further north—the raiding of the railway and the establishing of posts west of Warnetoii— was carried out by Auckland troops. The attack was made by four pai'ties, who had to deal principally with the enemy in their iron-roofed and camouflaged shell holes, which were very difficult to locate. The various parties killed quite a number of the enemy with rifled bomb, nncl bayonet. They also took some prisoners. In one place the force did not succeed in driving its offensive right home, as it met with stubborn resistance, the enemy firing machine-guns and using pine-apple bombs. Several posts were established. Many of the men displayed great bravery and fought with an absolute disregard of their own safety. Amongst these 'was Private ' Charles Quinn—mentioned in my telegram of 9th instant—who was awarded, a bar to the Military Medal he had previously won. The telephone wires were broken, and Quinn, under heavy fire, proceeded to the front to bring back a report of the situation. At the time, the onemy barrage on the support line and behind it wa6 severe. It was of the utmost importance to get this report, otherwise none would have been sent through such a barrage. The chances of his coming through such "an ordeal seemed rnthor small, but he succeeded in getting there and in coining back with valuable information.

Another privato acting as a, runner killed one man and captured another, and was the last man to return to our trenches, he having remained out for some considerable time searching fori our wounded and dead. He subsequently went out again to bring in a stray man. Other men did similar work. One rushed an enemy machhie-Run, though some of the crew fired at him with revolvers. Ho killed the crew find captured the gun. A member of Parliament serving as a captain greatly distinguished himself by his conspicuous gallantry and Sue leadership oi> the night of .Tuly '2S, when the enemy raided his lines. He was especially solicitous in getting his men into safe positions, and by his action prevented several, casualties. In the raid on the enemy position that followed two . days later ho again showed conspicuous energy and ability, and the success of the operation is said in largo measure to be due to his fino leadership. The work of the Medical Service was, ae usual, excellent, and the stretcherbearers once move did gallant work. Of the work of our gunners the infantry speak in terms of the highest praise. Following upon this fighting there was a downpour of rain, and the men in the front position had a very tryijig time in wet shell holes and the bits of waterlogged trenches they were able to use. They- also had to bravely maintain the positions they had won under shelling that at times roso to a pitch of great intonsity.