Battle of the Ancre.

Manawatu Times, Volume XL, Issue 1372904, 26 October 1917, Page 4

Battle of the Ancre.

SHOWN AT THE OPERA HOUSE. This picture, which is being exhibited under the auspices of the Y.M.C.A., was shown in the Opera House last night, when a three-night season began. Starting with tho forging of the great guns at the munition works in England, the film showed with great clearness and exactness of detail the preparation being made for the battle of the Ancre. The loading of fodder, for me if and guns, the transport difficulties, which were encountered, and overcome, the ingenious devices used, and the wisdom and forethought brought to bear, were exhibited in the magnitude of this undertaking, and the minute working out of every detail. Every arm of tho service was shown, each small unit following its allotted course and fitting into the whole comprehensive plan of campaign. The great din and Sin howitzers, screened from aerial observers under a llimsy, cover of wire netting and foliage, belched forth their messengers of death. Motor machine guns were hurried into position over rough roads; long lines of horses brought up their packs of food and water for tho men, and ammunition for the guns.

It was in this battle that, the tanks

wore first used. These lumbering giants crawled over trenches, flattened down fences, and slowly but surely pursued their mission of death. Regiments of soldiers —English, Irish, Scotch, and Colonial —were seen, on horse and foot, moving steadily forward to their alloted place. Knee deep in mud, they struggled bravely on, always cheerful. Column after columnm went by, big bravo men. Next day, stretcher-bear-ers, dressing stations, and ambulance vans, the sad aftermath of ihv battle. The picture does not run to harrowing details, nor does it purport to show the troops in actual battle. It is not faked, it shows what actually happened before and after tho big fight, and its realism gets home, its story rings true for the very reason that it does not attempt the impossible. After seeing this picture, one reads the pen pictures of the war corresopndcnts with keener perception of what war really is. and a better realisation of the vast undertaking which preparations for a big offensive entail. The famous “tanks" are seen at close range, and their usefulness in an infantry advance can well be imagined. They have proved a formidable ally in many a tight corner. The final scene shows tho surviving soldiers retiring to rest billets, covered with trophies, glory, and mud. Iml mostly mud. Ruined heaps, the remains of onc-timd villages, and the scarred landscape, pockmarked with shell lodes, were clearly shown in the devastating track of war. Some views of the -New Zralami troops in Egypt, concluded the programme.