WITH THE NEW ZEALANDERS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume L, Issue 175, 5 October 1917, Page 1

WITH THE NEW ZEALANDERS

(I'rom Malcolm Ross, Official Correspondent with the- New Zealand Forces in the Field). THE GUNS. The vhooting of our artillery, both in regard to volume and accuracy, con- ■ tinues to excite the admiration of our infantry, while for many a long day now it has been tfie envy ot the German armies in the field. In the titanic conquest up here in the nortrf'tlie enemy has improved upon what he did on the Somme and at Arras arid Messines, but the weight of metal and the palm in shooting still rest with the British and the French. On the particular sector of the battlefield in ""^"liich. the New Zealand Force is operating, however, the German gunners have not been idle. Throughout July he has continuously shelled our front line and supports, while at the same time he has" devoted more than usual attention to our back area, attempting to stop the traffic on our roads, and to knock out our guns. Mixed with his ordinary high explosives and shrapnel, lie has used thousands of gas shells, but we know now pretty well how to deal with these. In the shelling of towns, both near the lines and far behind, he occasionally claims a considerable number of civilian victims. At Poperingho,,a nun in the hospital there had both legs blown off and died; In a little village near where I am now, the priest and several of his congregation were killed. But tne most pitiable exploit was the gas shelling of Armentiers, during which civilians —men, women, and little children—were killed. iMany of them died in our military hospitals, to which. they had to be taken for treatment. From a military point of view the enemy may be justified in such shelling. He has .taken the war into other countries, where the innocent must suffer. His own villages are free from such diabolical experiences. The sight of women and little Doys and girls, some of them almost babies, suffering from, shell wounds, is pitiable in the extreme. Of the_ results of our own shelling we fiear a good deal from German prisoners and we ourselves see a grecit deal of *its effect. On the 26th July in the course bfr'oue afternoon's shelling three of the enemy's ammunition dumps behind the Warneton line were blown.up'.'' From"- day to day others went -up fn the same manner. On that line our shelling drove him out of his comfortablo billets in farmhouses, and he has since then had to live uncomfortably in shell holes. Over these-holes he has made-rough shelter with corrugated iron from the- roofs of some of \ his own hutments destroyed by our ' shelling. On top of the iron he has put earth and grass and, thistles, and green boughs, so that the eyes", of bur army might not note his habitation. The only " entrance is an aperture at the back just big enough for a man to crawl through. Existence in these shell holes day and night is said to be very 'trying, and the inhabitants always run the risk of being buried in their own homes. In his back areas , the ehe"my has to endure a much more galling fire than he treats us to. In. ■ one village in three days a single German company had eight men killed and 16 wounded. Prisoners still speak of the terrific effect of our shelling iri the Battle of Messines. So many of their batteries were knocked out that the Bavarians blamed the Saxons for betraying their positions. At the,, same time the German infantry: complain bitterly of their own artillery shooting short. This has caused many casualties in their ranks. We cannot claim entire immunity from this feature of modern warfare," biit generally one hears from our own men only unbounded praise of our own' artillery, however much they may curse that of the enemy. In thi» Battle of Messines the German infantry uecTared, that their own artillery wa* inadequate, owing to the destructive nature of our counter-battery work, and certainly the enemy's reply on the morning after the battle, and for a.day or two afterwards, left much to b» desired. Either hf» was somewhat short of guns or ammunition. In th'» present battle he has, made a much, better showing with ' his artillery, though it is still not neai-ly the equal of that of the Allies. Finally a word must be said in praise of our trenchmortar batteries. The personnel and the moral of the New Zealand trenchmortar batteries from their inception has been splendid, and officers and men have done" magnificent work.