CLEARING-UP

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 57, 4 September 1918, Page 7

CLEARING-UP

NEW ZEALANDERS STILL

BUSY

WORKING BEYOND BAPAUME

VIEWS OF GERMAN PRISONERS

(Special Despatch from the New Zealand! Official War Correspondent.)

30th August, afternoon.

Another day has gone well for us. Men who were in this morning's attack apeak well of the barrage. The Rifles, advancing on Fremicourt, met with considerable machine-gun fire, and: suffered some casualties. Bancourt, like its sister village, was stoutly defended, but the New Zeakndere were not to be denied. Bavarian prisoners who were in the attack state that they had orders to hold on there. Their defences, they said, were mainly outside the village. Foiir companies were disposed in front and on the flanks of the village, each with four machine-guns. They had 1 retired from Bapaume, where their strongth, in six .days' fighting, had been reduced, mainty by shellfire and 1 sickness, to 30 per cent. The nervous strain was beginning to tell on them. Their food in the trenches was better

than when they were behind the lines. For some considerable time now they had been eating the flesh of horses killed in battte, but they made no complaint on that score. Horseflesh made good soup, they said. There were civilians in Catnbrai, but none on this side of it. Theiv men had heard from their comrades of the German defeat on the Marne. At one of our advanced dressing stations I found several prisoners, Red Cross men, who had helped 1 with the wounded. These were enjoying a .meal of bread and butter and bully beef, and seemed very surprised to get such good food.

Bapaume is in very much the sama condition as Ypres was about six months ago. The Garmans have left little*- in the town. Even tho statue of Harbe, who defended it in the war o£ 1870, has gone. At tho railway station, however, the enemy left a large store 'of "coal of a large quantity of metal and crushed stone. It seemed as if he had decided to settle down, in this country, and was about to builit concrete pill-boxes for its defence. How. ever, he has had no time to. do that, and the metal will come in useful for our roads. The town was still being shelled this morning. Some of the New Zealand "walking wounded" and

(The cable newa in this issue accredited to "The Times" has appeared lo that Journal, but only where expressly stated Is such news the editorial opinion of "The Times."]

four of our infantrymen, bearing a. wounded comrade on their shoulders, came down the main street as the shells were bursting. At the same moment there was a regular fusillade of fire from our "Archies" and; machine-guns as a, B'oohe airman daringly attacked one of our balloons. On parts of our attacking lino this morning there was heavy machine-gun fire, and scattered but not very heavy shelling. The tanks gave valuable aid, and one of them captured, a field battery which it had cut .off. The German machinegunners fought tjll our men were right on them, and then "kameraded." Others with the infantrymen ran before the barrage to the crest of the ridge, where they proceeded to make a stand. From there they attempted a counter-attack, but our artillery got on to them, and they quickly faded away.- One of our machine-gunners, who had gone forward expecting to find one of our units in some trenches, found only Germans there, and got . a rifle bullet through his wrist. He was able to get. back with a companion to our lines. The. New Zealand machinegunners got a lot of shooting at the retreating and defending enemy, not only with their own, but also with German machine-guns. They found German machine-guns in almost every shellhole, and before long every single man in our crews was firing a gun. ' There has been plenty of abandoned ammunition, and our men are. becoming quite expert in the use of the German gun, Our toll of prisoners is daily mounting up. The Wellington and Auckland men who captured Baricourt to-day added, a considerable number.. The weather lias again" cleared. ■ .