VISIT TO PASSCHENDAELE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLII, Issue 1017, 20 November 1917, Page 8

VISIT TO PASSCHENDAELE.

AXZACS' DARING VENTURE, (From Keith Murdoch. War Correspondents' Headquarters.) October 17. A sergeant-major and u sergeant, after extraordinary adventure*, regained the Australian linen at dawn, Th'oy confirm the statement? of prisoners that the township of Passehondaele is thickly studded with machine guns. They reached the finaJ slope of l'ass.chendaole, where, uitli the remnants of a party, they were compelled lo shelter in shellholes from intense machine pun fire. They worked their way back laboriously lo the. Australian lines. picking a way over deep, gluey mud. Tho journey occupied three nights. They slept during the day and lived on rations taken from dead men. Throughout the night the enemy ihrew a Ihousand gas shells and high explosives upon the Australian front .south of the Roulcrs railway. The activity reached a great intensity an hour before dawn, and tho men waited in the trenches and shellholes, momentarily expecting an attack. But later our patrols advanced, and found that the enemy hail retreated a slight distance down the ridge.. This retirement did not affect the general situation. ENEMY SAVES AUSTRALIAN WOUNDED. Along various parts of (he Australian front the I'.oehe to-day, under tlie Red Cross, was removing his wounded. Even where no fighting had occurred for many days he had scores of stretcher cases, showing how our combination of infantry and artillery tactics, even from the trenches, is inflicting' serious losses. We have sent. out further stretcher parties on Friday's battlefront, somo of which met Germans similarly engaged, It is believed that this battlefield is now wholly cleared. Company commanders report many eases in which the Bochc has fired on our wounded, but on tho whole ho has played the game. Each side is collecting the woundrd indiscriminately. One tough Australian asked Boche bearers not to remove him, and refused their proffered food, saying that his own countrymen wottid soon find him. Happily we did so. Thoie is an authenticated caso of a Boche sniper using duin-duni bullets, causing many terrible wounds. Messages wen- exchanged yesterday, offering to play the game with the wounded. A.-, a result- ilie Boche was distinctly seen to-dav carrying in Australians. WEST AUSTRALIANS GO FORWARD. I visited West Australian and South Australian Ironps, who are now resting from sonic of the most bitter of all Friday's lighting. They advanced most cheerfully first across *CO yards o? bog, in which ih' y sink frequently to the crutch in glutinous mud, and then along sandy ground. They completed ihe job in good iimc They met heavy machine gun lire on each flank, and from a spur across, the valley ahead, but wen not perturbed. Two Australian- each got splinters through their both legs from the same shell. Sniping became so bad that movement was difficult. A man volunteered to help a wounded caprain to the back lines, lie was hilled. A third was killed, bul a fourth brought the olliccr safely back. The greatest ordeal began when the men waited on the new lines in the scattered trenches and shell-holes. Tho Boche concentrated bairages, which veterans "describe as the greatest in their experience: There had been bitter fighting for a redoubt on Ihe right.—an old farm house, which was heavily concreted, and had a snipor'.s post above it, We stormed it, but

• were, never securely established thero. Meanwhile, on the left heavy bombing occurred where, the Roche was (tattering m dugouts A voting officer and three men emptied 100 Germans front two dug-outs. - Followin- barrages the Germans launched } a coumei ? -attack at a quarter-part lour. They came from tho half-left in throe wave* Our officer*; tind men praise the eteudinoitf of thew waves Which seemed to i come on in an inexorable *™m\*t*~ distances between tlm .men. I/ho Austra--1 V-nm called on our artillery, but the bar„go defended behind the enemy owing to a niisfippre.honsiou that we were holding a more distant lice. ~ ! MUCH FIGHTING AS IS SELDOM j '" , SEEN. • Thus there was nothing for it but a de*peiS 5 fight with rifles »nd which were partly choked with mud. The Roche waves far outnumbered our line,. The Lewis trims had been brought m waterproof covers. "These mowed down tho Boche first wave," an officer reapers mow corn/' but the swoml W* continued, and simultaneously a. Hank. attack developed in the rear ot the gallant line Ahead of our positions was an isolated body of 50, including Lewis-gunners. , Thev belonged to a race oi men who cannot ■lift their hands higher than their shoulders. Thev determined to fight thenway our-. The Germans enveloped them, and the survivors turned to fight through. Tho others could do nothing except support, them wish vine-fire, but they saw Mich .lighting as is seldom seen. One big West. ; Australian shot 13 Germans before he was I killed bv a shot from behind. Another sprang out with his bayonet and fell literally with the. Germans on top ol him. Only six reached our line 1 ;. ' The German attackers were now broker) ' into scattered parties, and after heavy lok.~c= under the Australian!.' fin- they retired. , An enemv attack from the north reached' . our line, faltered, and turned. Meanwhile another attack from the direct ' left came under our flank barrage and withered. .. :..- . j Believing our position to bo impossible tn 'hold, and, moreover, useless without a further advance on the north, the Australians ! then withdrew. They had stood in flooded , shellholes sometimes with water in their I shoulder-. j STORIES OF SACRIFICE. The heroic story includes countless individual sacrifice?.' A young corporal was j allowed, alter two refusals, to go with four to hunt for troublesome snipets ! who were hidden 400 voids on oar left. Ho displayed striking gallantry and sangfroid. j Movhnr about the sheHholes, the Australians ; outflanked the enemy party and killed two of the snipers, but only the coi]K>ial returned, and even he was wounded. Ha prayed for permission to remain in tho light, but was ordered to tho rear. When / ! lie put hi.s head above the. shellholc he was again hit, Ultimately he was saved. The runners' work was a wonderful, ungrudging sacrifice, ft. was all voluntary. One. officer seiit five nien out in uti hour. I Four were killed within the officer's sight. 'One man then did eight trips find asked ! for move. Such fighting would be, impo."i siblo but for the physique and .spirits of the men. At. one sji.it. a hundred Roches were seen. A signal brought our barrage on them. When the smoke cleared nothing was left of them. Across the railway an Australian and. a German were found dead together, thI bayonet of each in the other's ccdy. Must- , I of the. lighting in this sector wav Homeric. I ' .I ■ ■ . i