N.Z. WAR CORRESPONDENT'S NARRATIVE

Nelson Evening Mail, 6 July 1916, Page 5

N.Z. WAR CORRESPONDENT'S NARRATIVE

PROBABLY ONLY THE FIRST PHASE. (Special from the N.Z. Official War Correspondent.) July 2nd. Tile bombardment in' the great battle commenced yesterday morning, along an extended section of the British and French front. It reached its highest intensity shortly before the launching of the infantry attack. The bombardments at_ Gallipoli, especially when the-war-ships chimed in with their heavy guns and secondary armament) were occasonally more spectacular, 'but this one far excelled them in intensity and extent For hours the air trembled with the throbbing sound of many hundreds of guns ofr varied calibre, and trench mortars. _ The explosions per second wer.e so quick that they were absolutely uncountable at any point of the line. At first, owing to. the morning haze, and the smoke from the nreliminary bombardments throughout the week, there was low. visibility, but the registration had' been so excellent that this i did not interfere with the accuracy and destructiveness of the fire. As the day wore on the visibility gradually improved. and our shells could be clearly seen playjncr havic with the enemy's trenches. Wounded Germans, whom* I I subsequently interviewed, spoke of the terrible destructiveness of our ' -bom bardment, and German prisoners con firmed their statements. Many of the latter, though not wounded, were hap gard and greatly shaken. Sooijf after the launching of the in fantry attack the whole German fronttrenches were in our hands, -and as the day advanced the second lines • wers I pierced in several places. As our men went over >lie parapet an ominous crackle of machine-gun and rifle-fire was clearly distinguishable. Many of our wounded bore testimony to the fact that a considerable number of our casualties were duetto machine-gun fire. This was especially the case where the guns had been concealed in the villages through which we 'had to tight. These guns had been saved from destruction through being kept, during the shelling, in deep dug-outs. * While a large British force was making this attack the French were success- j ful along a less extensive front north ! and south-of the" Somme. So far as one i could see, we had throughout the day j almost a complete mastery of the ai>Few German 'planes came over, while their" captive balloons had been largely destroyed by our new method. We, on the other hand, had many fballoons Tip along the whole line. Near the Somme there was a constellation of twenty, calmly observing . for our batteries. This .is only the beginning of whnt will probably be known as the Battle of the Rom me, There may be weeks of heavy fighting before our main purpose has 'been gained.

July 3. - For some days now I have been privileged to witness the British offensive against very strong German positions north-west of Amiens. For several hours to-day I watched at dose range some of the fiercest fighting a non-com-batant could hope to see in this war. Well, within a complete circle of gunfire one saw the concluding phases of the fight for the woods behind the battered village of Frieourt, whicb had been absolutely razed by our marvellous initial bombardment, while close at hand on the left at the same time T saw agallant attack by the English troops up.on La Boiselle. For superb gallantry I have seen nothing to equal this since the attack on Chunuk Bair. For hours our bombardment of the German trenches and the ruins of La Boiselle made the place a veritable in,feriio. What was the front of the German trench had become an almost level

road. Our guns must not only have killed and wounded the Germans, but buried them as well. Hillsides that a few days ago were green meadows were now innocent of any blade of grass They were bare brown, earth. A small wood was no longer a wood—it was a rubble heap. Our guns having deluded the German area at La Boiselle with heavy high explosive and added as a finishing touch many rounds of wicked shrapnel, the infantry with great gallantry advanced to the attack. As they dehouched from the trench machineguns opened on them, and German barrage and shrapnel followed, Wit in spite of all this their attack was not stopped. Unfalteringly they made their wav amidst a storm of shot and shell. From the direction of Fricourt \ye sa-iv a whole company of German prisoners brought down by half a dozen Tommies. Others were bringing in n twos and threes. We actually saw Germans put up their hands in token of surrender. With amazing sang froid our men were in places walking about -n the open. Stretcher-bearers did noble work with a thrilling unconcern .for their own saftey. When I left the "battlefield our position had made a considerable advance, but having to return to Anzac Camp 1 I did not see the final result. About half-past six this morning the 'bombardment, which for the best part of the week had been heavy upon the German lines north and south of the Somme, increased to tremendous intensity. For an liour the French and Bri- ' tish guns drenched the German trenches i with shell, the uproar becoming greater during the last quarter of an hour, when the trench mortars joined in. Ahout half-past 'seven the British infantry attacked along some twenty miles of front. At the time of writing we know the whole German front line has been carried by the British along the portion attacked. Many German prisoners have been captmted. The casualties amongst the .British troops are as yet not severe. The An7,ac troops, who are not in thisportion of the line, carried out during the last few days three successful raids in addition to those mentioned- in previous telegrams. In the last raid, which involved some fierce fighting, eighty Germans were killed, and our losses were small.