NEW ZEALANDERS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 10063, 30 August 1918, Page 6

NEW ZEALANDERS

MOVE TOWARDS BiPiUIE

(From Captain Malcolm Ross, Official Corespondent with the New Zealand Forces in the Field.) - r August 24.

Shortly before 3 a.m.-there was a crescendo of artillery which-"at one time developed into a great roar in which you could not count the reports of guns. At tho same time tho hum of aeroplanes overhead .in,.moonlight indicated important operations on our part, and another busy day for Hindonbnrg.

Late in the evening wo heard that tho Now Zealand Force had been ordered to exploit the success towards Bapaurae aud that our troops were to concentrate at.pertain map, references. To-day’ the North.,., aud .South .Island troops were, to. do the fighting. Ahead of us beyond Achiet le Petit and Achiet le Grand, towards the south-west, were positions that would he likely to give trouble, Loupart Wood. Grevillers and Boefvillers. " Those were strong points in tho forefront of the Bapaume defences. The first attacking force- started at a quarter-pash four in the morning without a barrage. Indeed there was scracolv time to work out the intricate details of a barrage, and luckily , it was . not,, altogether,, .pssenitial, Tho enemy had been tremendously worn'-*! during the past,, three days, and he had been busy getting his guns back for fear of their capture. His infantry- fighting a rearguard action without tanks and with little artillery support .were., in. for bad times. Our own artillery were giving him no peace wherever a target could be found. The Now Zealand field guns had been well advanced. and-somc-of them were practically moving forward-with the- infantry.- - In- the-first' attacking -force Wellington troops were on tho right, and Aucklanders on the left. The first check came in front of Loupar.t Wood, -where lor a. time, there was, hot fighting, Several fell under Gorman ma-chine-gun fire, hut the irresistible New Zealanders, who could be seen to advance, as. calmly .as.it they were going for a morning stroll,, were not" to be denied, and before very long the wood was- ours.

Then the advancing, waves pushed on towards Grevillers. where- it, was thought there "were more machinegunsi' 'Mon from .an English''division that was forming rim defensive' flank on pur right, .assisted in 'the'capture of tho village. ,A_n ; ay ahead bn the left were the few ruiued houses of Boefvillers, and troops from both the North and' South Island units were soon enwith the enemy hero. Boefvillers met file same fate. as., its .sister village, and our troops pushed on towards Bapaume. Meantime they had killed and wopnded niaitv Germans. Indeed many, of the wounded that I saw onr bearers'and ambulance bringing back for some time were Germans. In addition we captured some hundreds of prisonors. ' ’ ’ ' Still pushing on, our men got- to within 1000 yards of Bapaumo itself, and' pcssiblyrthey' cbhld have taken it to-day, but the salient was becoming too narrow, and the direct'attack was ■ ■nof''f6r -'the 'time being- persisted in.- , But in my opinion it is as certain as anything can bo -that Bapaume will fall. Perhaps it will fall to-morrow. Soon after midday a forward observing oificer reported--that- tanks with. German infantry were seen--marching, toward • Bapaume,*- -so- that .-possibly the enemy will endeavour to make a stand there or attempt a counter-attack from the ruined town. As it is, ho has driven 6ui % oiitpostts in a Tew hundred yards'* to-day/’ but 'Wo do not tciir- his counter-attacks, as ' ' apparently tie cannot support it with anything like a heavy artillery barrage.. Meantime we arc- shelling Bapaume ..v.-itii• everything we can put on to it. Some of our observers alsj reported that-- tho Huns were massing in a square some distance hack. “Have you told tho heavies?” asked a Staff officer. ‘ Acs, replied the bearer of. the news. “Well, toll the heavies to knock the spots off them for an hour.” added tho Staff officer..' :.Ih a very brief space of time tho heavies were firing, and wo watched tho lino of smoko and dust rising in tho air. -■ -•-- • . Tanks assisted in to-day s fighting, and did excellent work. I saw two wounded monsters waddling back in the afternoon, hut notwithstanding this there ' were Tcw‘ casualties -among the personnel. ' ' , For this fight we advanced onr headquarters several miles to certain dugouts ' Bast night we established a report post—a sort of .advanced headquarters still farther on . , ' Wandering over, the, hattlofjpld this morning, I came npqn tbis somewhat unique establishment in tho shape of a hole in tho ground -in >snbroken-down trench that contained a" litter-of-odds and ends loft behind'by the-enemy. This dug-out, originally;.mado'.hy the Boche, was now. occupied by two members of tho New Zealand staff, and one clerk. A telephone leading out to_ tho various units was in action, tho insulated wires having been run out along the ground over tho trenches- and shellera tors.

I lunched, vyith .tbo'stqff, sitEnpc on tho ground in a little square hole dug in the side of a trench, the menu consisting of bread, tinned tongue, and whisky and soda. There was not enough water to make a cup of tea, hut perhaps wo preferred it that way. Anyhow, wo enjoyed our lunch. Wo watched tho smoke from our own and enemy shelling rising high in tho air, and saw a German dump go up in smoke, and all ’ the wondrous streams of battle’ traffic' pass us by. One of our, own un,its .that had been recently in action marched in column over a .rise through tho weedy, shelltorn country, and bivouacked on a slope opposite. They ' rixmo ’"soon’’ digging ’Themselves''possies, amD in" some hiarvoilous manlier; they had discovered a quantity of' corrugated iron for the roofing of them. A lino of diggers like ants, each with his burden, came from the place of supply across tho ridge to tho new colony they had established in what a day or two ago had been Ilocbeland. . Ahead was a wonderful view of tho rolling country, woods and villages, now famous’in history. Ibis was tho sork'of open warfare wo had dreaded. Wo had tho enemy on tho run. Would it ho the Hindenburg line, next, and possibly beyond. In any ease, tho New Zealanders had a largo credit balance on the days ,o£ their operations. In prisoners alpno wo had more than our own casualties. The German dead and wounded, added largely to our..credit figures. Tho spirit, of., onr . fighting men ■ was simply wonderful. Even the wounded, except those very severely, ..hit, wore gleeful and confident-