FIGHT FOB HILL 60.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15932, 1 June 1915, Page 10

FIGHT FOB HILL 60.

BRITISH STORM POSITION.

COUNTERATTACKS FAIL.

ENEMY'S USE OF GAS.

Referring to the famous fight for Hill 60 Sir John French reported that "The statement in a recent German official com-; munique that we had been using asphyxi-j ating gases in the Ypres district is false, and was doubtless made to justify the use of these gases, wjiich have been freely employed by the enemy i" his attacks on Hill 60. Germany signed the clause in The Hague Convention eliminating the use of asphyxiating gas. \ graphic account of the rapture of the position is givtn by an - Eye-Witness-present with General Headquarters. On the evening of April 17, he says, an attack was made by :is on the enemy's trenches on Hill 60-- a* commanding point which lies on the north side of the Ypies-Comiiies Railway, about two and a-half miles southcast of Ypres. /J his spot has frequently been the scene of action, the last occasion being the heavy fighting which occurred some two'months ago. from February 14 to 17, during which the summit of the lull was throughout in the enenvj's hands. Our effort to gain the point began at 7 p.m. on Saturday, when we fired heavily charged mines under the Herman position, blowing up » length of trench with some 150 men manning it. who nearlyall perished. Then, within a few minutes, our infantry rushed the craters in the enemy's line, and gained possession of some 250 yards length ot the latter. Sudden Assault. So suddenly was the assault carried out that our troops me', with hardly any resistance, and sustained very few casualtics, securing 15 prisoners, amongst whom were two officers. The Germans shortly afterwards opened a heavy fire on the ■Action we had gained, and kept i. up through ml- the night, but our men held Aim. working hard to strengthen the .round they had won, and beating off i i several counter-attacks. i Shortly before seven on Sunday, morning the Germans made their real reply witfl a determined effort. They assaulted Ml force, coming on in dose formations, and hand-to-hand fighting continued for some time. A' this juncture invaluable service was rendered bv some .of our motor machine guns, which were rushed to the front and < .icuccl tire on the masses com- j ing forward, while our artillery raked their ranks -ith shrapnel. The counter-j attack was beaten off with very heavy loss *o the Germans, who. as usual, .showed no inclination to accent dcfoal. Hill Held in Strength. Throughout the «hole of Sunday, the j 18th. noon., continued to be hurled against our" Imirlie*. and owe, towards evening, some obtained » footing oil the southern edge of the nest. It was only a momentary advantage, howevc. for at 6 p.m. our infantry charged with the bayonet, dislodged the Germans from their footlu'.d. antl secured the whole position. An hour later the hill was held in strength by us. Our casualties, as may be cipec' d from the nature of the lighting, w:-re by this time heavy, but the German losses were far greater! We took some prisoners in the ~,1 1r. ., of the day. The especially stubborn resistance made by the enemy is due to the fad that the position was of value, for it commands a large portion of ground to the north as fai as Ziliebeke. Terrible Destruction.

■.:.<•!• ...nil M.v«:-Th» r/*t fearful .•oiM.-.'lfn.im of N?ture w equalled when the British began the buttle of Hi!; "o. 60 by exploding a series of mines eneath >. German portions on Iho eminence. Trcnche.-. parapets, ami sandbags dis appeared and niter demoralisation followed among Hie defenders of '.he bill. The. whole surface of the ground assumed strange shapes. Heie it was torn into Iui b -e craters. There forge mounds of fallen debns were to he seen. The report? of the explosions died away, and while dense columns of smoke and dust still bung in the nil- our men, led by their officers, sprang from, the trenches and dashed across the intervening spice of some forty to sixty yards lying between our line and the gaping craters before them, the trout covered by the attack being only some two hundred and fifty yards in length.

Where the mines had actually exploded j nothing was left of the occupants of the | hostile line, but m the neighbouring trenches our assaulting infantry witnessed an extraordinary scene- Many German soldiers, possibly owing to the fact that they were working, were surprised while in their shirt sleeves and without equipment. Stunned by the violence of tho i explosions, bewildered and suddenly sub-1 jected to a rain of hand-grenades thrown | by our bombing psrties, they gave way to Cursing and shouting, they were falling over one another ana fighting ill their hurry to gain the exits leading into tne communication trenches. Some of these in the rear, maddened by terror, were driving their bayonets into the bodies p< '.heir comrades in front of them. Of all ...lis our infantry had but a momentary glnnpi-c before they fell upon the enemy with the bayonet, buist through the mar.e of trenches, poured into the craters, .-'nd pressed on down the communicating fiercbet until at last they were stopped by •■ ?rricades icfended by bomb-throwers. We: 3g . "der Heavy Fire. ihe t> . line < I trenches was captured in a fev iiinutes with little difficulty, .Mid 15 prisoiu rs fell into our hands but it was then thai the real struggle began, for the Germans quickly recovered from their surprise. Fran our line the hill is a salient point which is exposed to fire from three sides, and it was only a few minutes before the German gunners took advantage of this fact and opened fire. Soon the whole position became obscure in the smoke of bursting shells. Meanwhile our batteries had begun to support the attack, and a terrific artillery fire was maintained far into the night. From many points along our line to the north and south of Hill No. 60 could be seen the flashes from the shells, while tho flashes from tho guns were so nearly continuous that they resembled the effect of musketry tire. Under this fire our men had to work, throwing up parapets toward the enemy, blocking their communications and generally rendering the position defensible. An Important Success. The special correspondent of the London Times in .Northern France wrote on April 21 as follows :—Although the brilliant and successful action south-east of Yprea, which has ended in the capture of Hill 60, was a minor affair compared with the great battle of Xeuve Chapelle, its results promise to be even more far-reaching and important, for, with Hill 60 in our hands, the way is laid open for a damaging blow at the enemy. Hill 60 is a lowlying ridge running between Zillebeke and Klein ZillebeUe, with its summit near Zwartelen. Strongly entrenched and held by infantry, it formed a screen and protection for a larger hill at Zandpoudre, some five kilometres further east of the Ypres-Menin Rootf, where the enemy's artillery is posted. Zandpoudre is, indeed, the highest hill in the district. It commands the whole country, and is, in fact, the key of the position in Belgian Flanders. This was realised in the early days of the fighting -which developed into the battle of Yprea.