LULL IN FIGHTING IN FRONT OF NEW ZEALANDERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16825, 16 April 1918, Page 5

LULL IN FIGHTING IN FRONT OF NEW ZEALANDERS.

TROOPS IN bULL READINESS FOR ANY ATTACK. N.Z. Wat Correspondent's Message. April 1L During the last few days there has been littlo fighting on our front, but the artillery on both sides has been active. Mist and rain have made observation difficult. Prisoners state that the German offensive will bo renewed when the weather improves. Meanwhile we are strengthening the position we hold. As the days pass and we gain more information the more certain it appears that we inflicted very heavy casualties on the enemy. In places his dead were thick in the trenches, and there are many strewn about the open country. The spirit of our men is simply splendid. Even when relief is duo many would prefer to remain in the front line. There are instances of men suffering from trench feet asking the doctors to give them whale oil to rub in so that they might hasten back to their comrades in the firing line. We may not be out of the wood yet, but the gallantry and determination of the New Zealanders is such as to justify the opinion that unless the enemy comes on in overwhelming force or under greatly superior gun power he will have a bad time in any attack on our lines. One continues to hear many instances of individual progress and gallantry. A Northern member of Parliament has again distinguished himself; after weary marches with little rest or sleep he led his company into action in splendid style, and when several of his men were killed and wounded by shell fire he went under heavy machine-gun fire to their assistance, and on his own broad shoulders carried one out to safety. A corporal who already wears a Military Medal, held, with six men, a difficult position under shell fire until assistance arrived, and though wounded refused to leave the battlefield until ordered away by his commander. A lieutenant directing an assault against a strong position held by six machine-guns and over 40 men organised three bombing attacks, and led his men with great dash to the final assault, capturing guns and 25 prisoners. He then directed the consolidation of the captured position. A private, who was leading man of the " mopping up" party killed ten Germans in as many minutes. These are only a few of many similar deeds of heroism and initiative. The Lewis gunners had a busy time from the commencement of the fighting, and when the enemy resistance was broken had a still busier time firing into tho retreating enemy. They went boldly into action, and some continued working the guns after they wero wounded. One fired until his gun was blown from his hands, then got another gun and resumed firing. All this was done in the face of very determined fighting on the part of the enemy. His officers showed greater bravery and initiative than usual. The officer, extracts from whose diarv I gave in a previous message, came on with seven of his men with his cane in one hand and a waterproof over his other right up to our wire. A youngster, a rifleman, climbed over the parapet, and pointing a revolver at him, claimed him as a prisoner. Tho German officer knocked the revolver aside with his cane. He was a big man over 6ft, but the young New Zealander got a shot in and wounded him in the arm. Still he refused to surrender, and Lewis gunners then got on to the party, killing the officer and several of "his men. Other German officers directed the bombing parties from the parapet, yet in spite of all this our men proved more than a match for them, and in the end prevailed against a greatly superior force.