DEFENCE OF GIVENCHY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16879, 18 June 1918, Page 8

DEFENCE OF GIVENCHY.

■LANCASHI'RES' GALLANTRY. GERMANS HEAVILY REPULSED An epic 11'sistani o was that, offered by ihi- 55th Division, . omposcd of Lanoa-.-bin- territorials at Givemhy. where the Qtllll.lns .suii'ei.-d a severe check, writes Mi. H. Fyfe in the Daily Mail. The assault extended up northward pome dtstan- p ,i!f\,' l'i stubert. hill nowhere did the I.nncatdiuv men yield. They occupied what is klioun as the village lino, the main line i.{ our defer., o. and not only have tiny kept this intact, hut they ale also holding all then- forward posts ami ,JJ the saps which they had pushed out in tftni! of the line among the marshes winch border the duial. Into one post t lie ertcrny managed, to penetrate during: the irfterni-.m. and-'the gairiso.i, heavily "'.ititttmhered, v.et-r forced to withdraw for a moment, but ofi'y for a moment. They had no i.hi of letting the German..' lemaiu irr their fortress. Hy evening they had |itrp.ired .1 tierce and . uniting counteriiJJ.ii This they . arried out so skilfully thai of the f.v.i companies which the Cormans had put hit" the keep all were killed 1 xcept two, and they were made prisoners. •It was by men of the Kind's (Liverpool) lttgirrienl that this satisfactory coup war. put through, hut you mml not set, ore iCgimcnt he! -re . nother. I was told they ail" did splendidly. No troops could have ds-rne. better, many were quite young soldiers, hut they stood their ground with live steadiness and vigour of old seasoned hwltali'.iis. After the failure of the first day's oft-repented effort th- (Germans did nKt attack again with infantry. They had I found the Lancashire men .:uts too "tough Jor them to , rack. I -Instead of sending more ii fantry to be ' slaughtered they now turned on all their' available guns, and they made the line we : Held ami the areas hi hind it a hell of iiair.i\ An officer of great experience assured me that he had never seen country : itii up so quickly or more thoroughly. It ' seemed scarcely possible to hope that any I tpsops could endure such shelling, or if tfjtv endured it. that they could live, through it. Yet the north-countrymen 1 did both. Tale of a Periscope, "If there were any gradations of pride I : think the occupants of a certain sap much in- advance of the village line must he ! allowed to be fullest of' it. They were j keeping their usual vigilant watch"water- ' day afternoon when some distance "ahead ' of- them they spotted the tip of a periscope. Evidently the enemy was on the look-out also. They might 'have fired at, = fie periscope and perhaps hit. it. perhaps i nuss-ed. In any case the observer would : liSre got away and set up his observing ' apparatus somewhere else. The forward : post men determined to do better than j that. They crept out. and by circuitous ways they reached the spot' where the pSi'iscope showed itself. In two parties ; they rushed the spot, and found an Aus- '■ trian artillery officer observing for his battery with two orderlies. They showed right, but were overcome, and the binocu- ■ lar periscope was taken oa-ck in triumph, i ;ileve- is the report sent in about the tmi- ! dgrit:This afternoon the enemy at- > tempted to use a binocular periscope" oppo- i « Li. 3 '' - A P art -V went out and "an I AJfetflSP o'ffiger.aJTd two men were killed ' Ifle ppfiscojJe has been handed over to the i artllwx grptip to whom it will, be most ! useful?- - — ■■• i " '2_ Germans in a Maze. i •Many people must have wondered how ' tlw number of prisoners taken by this division! came to be so large. Thev took riot far short of 1000 and thev took them in this way. When the Germans attacked we fell back to the village line, this having been chosen beforehand. The Germans, then found'themselves in our trench system. This was a maze ■•'. - .ken roadways, all connected up .■■■■. ;ik e every maze, a puzzle to anyort- ,\,. did not . Know the way about. Th -(•-,» ans were in that case;" we, on the .v-, .and. had' j Gie ndyAutagfi .of knowing ~-, - turn and ' svyitcrr,">:vets- short cut"a>H roundabout I mite. This advantage the c",rb, turned to ' very! good purpose. They used the short ; cuts and roundabout routes and thev thus I either surprised or surrounded many part:es of trie enemy wandering hither and thither seeking a. way forward. In one round up they got as many as 300. Que officer, a major, brought in 50 himReTfcwith the aid of one orderly. He saw a German officer peering about'in a communication trench to see if it would be safe.Tor lam to send his men forward Jll» tinajor covered the officer, who put l his hands up, and at that moment some- I erne Bred at the major. "Tell that man to Surrender, ' he ,rit-d. -and any more ol them who are here. Now then quick! - ' ' Hie was still covered bv the major's revolve,-, you must recollect, and out came a whole long file of Germans with their haiids obediently held above their heads 'l.ha}» were shepherded hv the major and In.*-orderly into the. nearest prisoners" ! V*..' '&<> falling back of Portuguese troops ' mulet heavy Genu.m picture in the centre of;ttfl» village line left the British division "ii their Hark exposed, and it was neces-pJi-y to throw out an impromptu line. 'Plug was.clone iv.lh the very useful assistance of the troops from a neighbouring division, and with th" i.nl also ,',{ every man who had a. lit!,., whatever his job. A number of Portuguese temporarily separated frorri their, units put themselves' under the British offi-ers. Tunpellers, sisnallcrs. oiuiwers. orderlies were railed on, and all played their puts like men while the need of the moment lasted. •■; Not a Gun Lost. the regiments of the 55th o„ 0,, r right flank- stuck to their line with the most gallant resolution. They .had not fallen back anywhere more than a few hundred yards. Ihe machine-gunners performed wonders Sometimes their guns were knocked out and b.iried by the earth thrown up by i-hell explosions. The news dug them out a.-ain; grumbling and swearing, but never 1-s-ug. the,, calmness. Th<-y were bombed and.they threw bombs had.:. Several times : «hrra:v.e, P men working the guns audi mowing down Hermans in front while their - ornrrrdrs rived their revolvers and flung grei>arie to keep the enemy from rushing their, pos;t,ons from the flank. . Che artillery was no less devoted and invahiah... One gun was kept coin-, bv a. «:r.C?jri.l when tbo officers bad been" either killed or wounded. It had been hit bv an enemy shell l„fore it came into actio-, and-Jhi- 10e,.,,b10ck woiked very stifllv. Ihe sergeant had to open it every time w.Lh:jj pickaxe to keep the gun at work. Ib-;djd this quite coolly and methodically. I hundred times he did it. firing 200 round- into the Germans at point blank I ranges, from 600 down to 200 yards X,,t a. single one of the division's guns did "the enemy, gr_-t.