HOMERIC ENCOUNTER

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 89, 14 April 1917, Page 9

HOMERIC ENCOUNTER

WINNING THE MILITARY MEDAL,

An interesting account is given of the incident, by which Captain Gordon Guthrie, of Havelock, Hawkes Bay, won for. himself the much-coveted distinction of the Military Cross. His company had cleared fifteen German trenches on the western froiA, they found' occupied by elderly men and quite young boys, and had returned to their own quarters, when Captain Guthrie, with an undefinabl© feeling that something remained to bo done, went back alone and found himself face to face ; with a big German officer, wearing the most gorgeous uniform he had ever 6een. Then eneuod a combat worthy of homerio days, between these two powerful men. Captain Guthrie is 6ft 2m and weighs 16st (having developed wonderfully on active service), and hia antagonist was_ of similar proportions. The German aimed a tremendous blow, which nearly' crumpled his opponent's helmet in two. Then they closed, and a terrific struggle for mastery began, each exerting, all his strength. Finally, however, the 6U{serior- strength of the New Zealander triumphed, and he was enabled to despatch his dangerous opponent, who, from the richness of his accoutrements, was evidently an officer of rant. „