BATTLE IN DARK

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 89, 11 October 1941, Page 10

BATTLE IN DARK

HOME GUARD SUFFERS

TWO MEMBERS KILLED

GRAHAM RETURNS TO

HOME

(P.A.). GREYMOUTH, October 10,

Shortly before 8 o'clock last night the Home Guards had a pitphed battle with .' Graham, which resulted in the deaths of two guards. Earlier in the evening volunteers were ■ put to guard the residences of Messrs. S. de Fillippi and A. Madsen, nearby settlers, and three were posted in the.kitchen of Graham's house. They were Gregory Hutchison, Leo Hagan, and ' Colin Howat. Ralph Victor Fi-ederic, platoon commander of the Hokitika.unit of the Home Guard, and Amuri Holland King, platoon commander of the Kanieri unit, were in charge of operations. Other members of the guard in Koiterangi were on the opposite side of the road. Those in a hall nearby heard shots. Two bullets struck the side of the hall. John Richard Maxton Coulson, aged j 26, married, with two children, a farmer of Koiterangi, along with Frederic, had taken positions in the doorway of the hall and had a narrow escape when a shot passed through the ■wall near the doorway. Coulson remarked as they both lay down: "That was a close shave." After about 20 minutes Coulson expressed the intention of making for the house to see if the guardsmen there had survived the Shooting. He called for volunteers to cover the approach, to the house. King volunteered and they prepared to make a dash for it. Other guardsmen took up positions with their rifles at the ready. ' Coulson and King rushed for a motor-car standing on the road between the hall and Graham's house. "HE HAS GOT ME." Five minutes later another fusillade was heard. Flashes from a rifle were visible to the guardsmen at the hall, apparently coming from the right-hand ~~»ner of the house. Frederic fired

at this flash, and another guardsman at the hall also fired. When the first shot was heard watchers at the hall heard Coulson call out: "He has got me." Nothing further was heard for 20 minutes. Then more shooting from the direction of Graham's house continued at intervals for half an hour. Following another silence, volunteers from the hall made a run to the Post Office some distance down the road for assistance. Police officers and guardsmen then approached the house covered by the rifles of their companions. The lights of a car were switched on, and it was found that one, man was dead and another wounded in Graham's place. The dead man was Coulson and the wounded man Gregory Hutchison.Hutchison was taken by car to the Westland Hospital. CLOSE SHOOTING. In their dash Coulson and King had almost reached Graham's house when there was a shot from the righthand, corner of the house only a few yards away, and • Coulson fell. King dived for the front doorway and crawled into the left-hand front room. From there he saw the form of a man, and, taking careful aim in the darkness, he fired. The figure then disappeared round the side of the house before King could get in more shots. Coulson, mortally wounded in the hip, managed to crawl into the house, but died before attention could be given. Hutchison was also shot in the hip in the earliest stage of the battle. He had been so placed to cover the front door and passage. He saw a figure pass the house. He challenged him with a pre-ar-ranged password, and as a reply received a bullet, apparently fired from the front of the house down the passageway. Those in the house were thus besieged by a foe who had the cover of darkness and continued firing at intervals until the arrival of the relief party from the Post Office. It is possible that King's shot from the front room window may have wounded the fugitive. Visibility was nil, but the range was extremely short. At any rate, two rifles previously believed to be in the possession of Graham were later found outside the house. STILL HEAVILY ARMED. ' However, he still has two rifles. One is believed to be a .404 deer-shooting rifle, a murderous weapon. According to an earlier report this evening, Graham's' dog, which yesterday returned to -the house, came back again today, and it is remaining in a nearby paddock. It was thought to be a clue to the wanted man's whereabouts, and under the direction of Inspector Calwell a cordon of police and volunteers was carefully placed round the locality. The cordon was tightened, but the,dog again proved a false clue, as not a trace was found of Graham. As a safety measure ail women and children of the Koiterangi district were evacuated to Kokatahi and Hokitika today. Fearing that shooting might break out at any time around the farms, the police issued an order for the evacuation. Mrs. Graham was present when the constables were shot on Wednesday, and»it is stated that she took great risks in an endeavour to prevent the tragedy. She is now residing in Hoki- ( tika. PLANE TAKES PART. A bomber plane arrived on the scene today under the authority of Colonel K. J. Walker and Brigadier O. H. Mead, Christchurch. Captain A. R. Curtis, sub-area officer, Greymouth, offered the assistance of the Army in bringing about the apprehension of the wanted man. With police officers arriving from various parts of the Dominion and new batches of volunteers conveyed to Koiterangi, the coverage of the district was reorganised today for the biggest man-hunt in the history of the West Coast.