GERMAN TRENCHES RAIDED

Evening Star, Issue 16350, 16 February 1917, Page 2

GERMAN TRENCHES RAIDED

SPLENDID' WOES BY Tim. NEW ZEALAND RIFLES.

A MIDNIGHT FORAY.

[From Mr Malcolm Ross, War Correspondent with the Nc.w Zealand Forces.]

NORTHERN FRANCE, Christmas Eve. A blanket of grey mist shrouded the soduCii flat fields of French Flanders. And over that was spread in silence tho darker pall of a moonless night. At intervals (he. dull glow of flares lit the skies momentarily, iho crack of a sniper’s rifle opposite, llio gibber of a machine gnu from the jolo . c £ our own trench, alternately broke the. silence. Thus the dark hours passed. They puss slowly under such circumstances. At length the hands on luminous dials uoiiiU’d to 11 o’clock. Then 200 men, with shiume weapons and blackened faces, came, quieuv towards tho firing line out of the double blackness of tho mist and the night. They were checked as they passed all officer. 'This to see that they were all thc-ro, that there was not one, too many. In the support line each man got a cup ot hot coffee with a dash °* rum 111 it. The great majority carrud rifles and bayonets and revolvers. Some «rero armed with kno’okerrics. On to the point of exit in the front line they marched silently. There they received an issue of bombs. Certain of them carried also electric torches. These were to light up tho dim re- i cesses of deep German dugouts, where a cowering on;my might ba lurking. I For days now thesi men had been'trainin'* ' They were not picked men. Thcv W eie I platoons of companies from certain battalions i of the Rifle Brig.u_e. Thus they all knew each ! other, and each knew that he could trust 1 tho other. And there would perhaps bo v 1 certain rivalry between tho different platoon? which would also be so much to the good! ! Each platoon had a Maori name. Let us say that they were called Wamui, Mokoia, i Aroha, and Himitangi. Each man had -i I number. Thus, if in the gloom of the,' battered enemy trench, Aroho No. 2 and ! Mokoia No. 8 were to meet, they would j qui'Kly know that they wo- friends of the i same hapu, and not Allemands waitin'* to I spring. ° !

For some, time now all these men had been t)Hated together, they had engaged in brisk route marching, and they had placed strenuous football. In short, they were trained to the day. Of their Gaming and their organisation much m ght be stvid-apres le guerre, not now. There is no good object gained in presenting the enemy with information, even at a time when ho is arrogantly pipin'- - for a premature peace. 3 Until this day the raiders did not know tinday ot the raid That was kept a secret, tor’ it it is true that in peace time walls have ears, such truth, is of greatest importance in time, of war.

Just before midnight the raiders climbed over their own parapet and walked into Mo Wans Land. It was an anxious moment. Would they get across without being' scour A. flaro went up, and they stood slock still, crouching! Tho flaro gives its own warnimr. You hear its ascending hiss and note the thin streak of the lighted fuse that will “ ako * fc . burst into a bright glow at the apex ot its flight. Tnat is the wanting to stop all movement. The precaution may be snflicient, for there aro the trunks and stumps of war-worn tress that loom spectrally through tho mists, and a man with blackened hands and face who stands still might very well be tauten for one of these. But there, is always the danger that some specially alert or suspicious sentry may give the aiarm. Ou this night the German' sentries were somewhat sleepy, and oven the flaro that went up vhen our men were passing through the enemy's torn wire did not reveal their presence. The scouts had examined tho land thoroughly before the. day of tho raid. Ore sergeant in particular had done splendid work, going night after night right tip to the enemy's wire, and even "beyond it. Twice on these dangerous journeys he was shot at. He obtained most valuable information, and new, during the raid, he led his party with great bravery and flash. He took them right on to the enemy’s support line, and by his splendid exanmie both before and during the raid, he. cohtril buted largely to the success of the undertaking.

One section of the raiders was hampered by tho state of the enemy's front line trench. It was waist-deep in writer, and the ‘ duck boards ’ were afloat. Their progress was hindered, but they had the luck io meet some of tho enemy, and five of them were killed. Another lot reached a supposed fort, which was found to consist of dummy trenches mode of canvas and wood that had been very much battered by our trench mortars. In that matter the Germans had had the laugh on us N o t so -pm®, The wet trenches being impassable, our mcii marched boldly along tho parapet till they came upon a sentry group of four men, all of whom wore killed. By this time the enemy had got wind of our adventure, and one section of tiie party was met with a shower of bombs. Then the enemy opened fire with intense machine-gun tire ! Tora a strong point further along tho line. But our men were already in the trench, and So this did no harm. Tho machine-gunners met their fate at the hands of our bombers. One of their guns was knocked out,-but owing to water and barbed wire it could not be got away. There was a bombing fight between this party and tbo enemy, ; :id our men were easily the victors. U was estimated that they had killed and wounded some 20 Germans. Ou our side we threw 3CO bombs. At one spot a section of the. raiders formed i " stop ” in tho trench, and while this was held by a few men, others went along a trench tramway, where, in shelter, another sentry group was found. These raiders were now met with a shower of “ egg ” bombs. Two were slightly wounded. It" was found impossiole to move forward in tho face of this opposition, so the leader took his party along a communication trench to attack the position from tho rear. Tins also was found to be impossible, but a clngout .was discovered, aad in it were 10 men, five of whom were brought back as prisoners. This part/ silled in all 10 Germans, and they were net long about it. The front line was found at this spot to bo almost obliterated, but there was a good communication trench, 7ft deem duck-boarded and dry. ’ A fourth party pushed forward down the train communication trench and into the enemy’s support li nc. In tho communication broach three dugouts were found. Tv/o of them which were occupied were bombed Another dugouk was bombed in tho support hne, which was found to be in good order. Here seven men were killed and three taken prisoner. On the way back, when close Io our own wire, this party captured another prisoner. Ho was either a patrol or a man tvho had got away from one of the other parties. A pump in the communication trench was destroyed, as was also a section of a tramway, by nie-i from the Engineers. Tho raiders returned with nine prisoners after having killed at an estimate 50 of the enemy. They did this at a cost of one allied ana four wounded. The man who was killed was hit by a stray bullet soon after leaving his own trench Tho captain who *cted as lender of the raid did splendid work both m the training of the men and iu the raid itself. Ho also snowed "real bravery m personally conducting patrol operations" He is a young man, whose work had already attracted attention iu the Irhtin" at the Somme.