CEASE FIRE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 3, 5 January 1944, Page 5

CEASE FIRE

ORDERED BY BLIZZARD (Official War Correspondent, N.Z.E.F.) DIVISIONAL HEADQUARTERS, January 3. Snow has added to the experiences the "festive season" has brought the New Zealand Division. Shortly after dark last night the wind increased to a gale from the north-west, screaming down through the passes and over ridges where the infantry is still dug in The gale strengthened until at midnight it was difficult to stand upright in exposed places. Fences and haystack covers commenced to tear loose, and the night was filled with noises over the howling of wind as tarpaulins, fuel vans, and other movable objects carried away. Then came the snow. Soon great drifts banked up against every solid object, and the temperature fell as the night advanced, bringing real blizzard conditions. It was a night of extreme hardship and suffering for those who had only bivouacs and bedrolls for protection. Throughout divisions tents and bivouacs collapsed. Those who could took shelter in barns and outhouses or huddled in vehicles, but there was little escape from the keen blast which drove snow, sleet, and rain through every crack. This morning brought many members of the division their first sight of snow. But there is little time or inclination to admire it when one realises that trucks are hopelessly stalled, lines are down and broken, and the white expanse hides the ruins of the mess tent. Many trucks were completely buried and others had thenengines and cabs packed with snow. To make matters worse, a keen wind still blows today, with heavy, continuous rain. HARD TIME FOR LINESMEN. I drove by jeep this morning towards forward areas over grounds which are nothing but deep watercourses covered with sludge and piled high with drifts. The first thing I noticed was the activity of the signal linesmen, who had been at it since the blizzard started and will be on the job until the last signal line is in again. Poles and trees have collapsed under weight of laden wires and hang over the covered roads, on which passing vehicles have cut the lines and carried off the broken ends of cable. The linesmen move on foot along the roads and across country, stoically performing their task, soaked to the skin. I stood by one as he reported the line through. The first message was "complete lack of enemy activity." Apparently he is having his troubles too. Scenes in fields along the roadside are bleak enough with bogged and snowpiled trucks. Further forward I passed lonely and disconsolate figures digging in the drifts, looking for personal gear, and even for lost bivouacs and blankets. Here and there the black muzzle of a field-gun protruded from the waste of white, marking the location of a regiment. Here and there were hives of activity, about weird structures of treetrunks and canvas, or about gunpits, rapidly being cleared for action. ESCAPES FROM TRAGEDY. During the night tragedy had been avoided narrowly in a number of cases. One artilleryman, apparently a heavy sleeper, awoke with a feeling of suffocation to find himself buried in a bivouac beneath many feet of snow. Despite calls for help he was not rescued until after he had been missed at breakfast. I was present when an Italian refugee regained consciousness under the care of New Zealand troops after having collapsed and lain senseless all night in the snow by the roadside. I found a New Zealander diligently plunging a spade into a slope by the roadside. "Have you lost your bivvy too?" I asked. "No," said he. "But I left a truck here last night." The truck was there all right, in a twelvefoot drift. Further up, the road was blocked by a monster snowdrift over fifteen feet deep. It was cleared as I left and traffic moved again. For the forward troops, however, mules are the only solution. As I returned to headquarters, rain was still falling and the sky threatened more snow. The only bright spot was the presence of myriads of robin redbreasts. They had come with the snow, and were the only ones who were enjoying it.