TAKING OF GRAVENSTAFEL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume L, Issue 175, 25 October 1917, Page 8

TAKING OF GRAVENSTAFEL

INCIDENTS OF THE 'BATTLE

NEW ZEALANDERS IN. ACTION,

LONDON, Get. 9

••■Describing the advance in which the New Zealanders took Gravenstafel and Abraham Heights, Mr Philip Gibbs -writes:—Rain fell heavily during the day and night, and the shell craters are --already ponds. brimming over into swamps of" mud. Through the mist the (British artillery continues its drum fire, -making it-hideous for the German haul--ihg back their guns behind Passchen- | daele " Ridge. 'Winter conditions have come upon us. Along the roads Australiahvand New Zealand horsemen go ridibcr hard; with the horses' flanks heavsplashed with mud. Gun waggons and transports' pass, flinging up mud. . , Ambulances bring wounded men, cold andw et, -from the line, but within a few hours they are warm inside the dressing stations, between sand-bagged walls built-up inside the ruined houses. They are still within the range of shell fire, but are safer than in the open fields. Among the wounded .men in a forward dressing station were a tall New Zealander and a wounded German with a .bandage round his head. A friendly •yoice, speaking in German, said : "How are. you getting on?" The German looked- up and said: "It is better here than on the .battlefield." Th e New Zealander interjected: ".Fritz fought all right." Chatting together, the New Zealander and the dther wounded men recalled how a number of German soldiers ■ lying in shell holes after the barrage had passed sniped our officers and men as they swarmed forward j fhpnsrh' thev knew that by not surrendering they were bound to die. It -was tne last courage of the human beast at bay. -In one case two such men confronted a divisional general, who was .walking ahead of his staff. An aide-de-camp whipped out his revolver, expecting to see the general shot, but the general quietly informed, the Germans, who'were slightly wounded, that the English hid won a very great victory, and if they were good boys he would send up stretcher-bearers, who would carry them to the dressing station. There ■ were many numan ; episodes during the battle. After the Austrrjans had marched many miles through the night over appalling ground they only reached the place of attack half-an-hour before the battle started. The story of the night march was in itself a little epic. - When the Australians reached 4he* Broodseinde cross roads, which f6rm»d the key of the position, a dozen men ,ran out from a blockhouse. The Australians shortened their bayonets. Suddenly, from the centre of the group, a voice shouted in English, "I am.a Middlesex man. Don't shoot." The caller had. his hand up like the rest of th e group. "It's a spv," shouted ah Australian. "Kill the blighter !" The voice replied in English. Fimllv at -was shown that the man belonged to. the Middlesex regiment, and had been captured on patrol some days earlier. The Germans took him to the "blockhouse, and .he could not get out "of it because o? our gun-fire. His captors treated him well, and shared their food'with him. but when the drum fire passed'the Middlesex man knew that Be had chance ~Dfr . being killed by bis own troops. _