NEW ZEALAND HEROES

Evening Post, Volume XCII, Issue 75, 26 September 1916, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND HEROES

CANTERBURY'S GREAT

CHARGE

VALOUR OF THE AMBULENCE MEN.. '

(AUSTRALIAN-HEW ZEALAND CABLE ASSOCIATION.) LONDON, 25th September... Mr. Philip Gibbs continues his despatch relating to the fighting of the New Zealanders at Flers. Describing the German counter-attack at the point of junction of the New Zealanders and the British, the report goes on: — A New Zealand officer, a very splendid and heroic man, was the life and soul of the defence against the counterattack. There were moments when his men became disheartened because in the line of their back thrust the wounded lay thick upon the ground, but the officer put new fire into them by the flame of his spirit, and rallied the gloomy ones. _ He was so careless of his own life, so eager for the honour of New Zealand, that they followed him under a kind of spell, because of the magic in liim; and so the enemy was put to flight down the valley, and the New Zealanders were masters of the ground. When dawn broke,it revealed horrible carnage. The enemy returned iv strong force in the afternoon, under orders received by telephone from the German General Staff. The assaulters were practically sentenced to'^death.

They were doomed men when the captain of the Canterbury Battalion again led his lads in a great bayonet charge, right across tlie 'open. The Germans stood and received the charge with-1 blanched faces. Tlflf New Zealanders came on at a trot, then sprang forward with their bayonets moving quickly as_ knitting-needles. The -1 Germans' cried out in terror. Those who could escape ran down the hillside, falling as the.y ran. /*

This rout ended the counter-attacks. The New Zealanders knew they were masters of the position. Seeing the terror of the Germans they muttered "Poor devils !'**

The heroism of the bayonet-fighters was. splendid, but the valour of the stretcher-bearers was perhaps finer. Their duty was to go into the open country iv cool blood and pick up the injured- men. They had to pass through salvoes of 5.9 shells which tore up the ground, buried many of the stretch-er-bearers, and mangled many others. The stretcher-bearers went on steadily and quietly hour after hour, until over 60 of their number had fallen. They carried on their work of rescue careless of their own safety. An officer of the New Zealanders said: "I'm not a sentimentalist, but the work of those men seemed to mo very noble and good."

Mr. Gibbs concludes: "This story will be read gladly in New Zealand townships and up-country farmsteads. I. any words of mine can give a little extra share of glory to these colonial boys who have ' come so far over the seas, 1 shall be glad and proud. My heart is very full o£ admiration for the valour of these men who fought in these great battles as well as any troops who shared the day .ii-ith thunaj!