NEW ZEALANDERS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 10064, 31 August 1918, Page 8

NEW ZEALANDERS

SOQUIT THEMSELVES WELL i NOTABDE WORK DONE NEAR BAPAUME. (From Captain Malcolm Ross, Official War Correspondent with the New Zealand Forces in the Field.) August 25. Troops from all parts of New Zea. lan<l have now been in the great battle raging along the British front, and all have acquitted themselves well. In the attack on Grevillers yesterday, the Otago and Waikato men were on the left. Tha Auckland troops went right Tfcrongh the village, whilo yet other / '.'•":! it! and Wellington troops were on thy right. TMie enemy fought at 1 to.- s' rt with rifles and machine-guns. • On company moving along a fledge at : fir.;; v.ot with.no resistance, but at the, end cf tsiv hedge sis machine-guns from a wood on the right opened on them. i Several of the enemy, sheltering in I dug-outs were captured. For a time a hot fire was poured on the advancing ; New Zealandersj and they had to take '/ what thsy could hastily find. ' Opportunely s tank came up, and the German machine-gunners, who know too well the habits of these thickskinned monsters, took _to their heels, the Aucklandera and others shooting at them as they ran. GREAT HESISTANCJE* BY ENEMY: Then our men managed to get across the ridge. They were, however, still held up by machine-guns ahead. Several men -Jtvent forward to endeavour to locate theso guns, but without success, and further casualties were suffered by a German trench-mortar barrage. The Germans r'.so E»imf?d at the tanks with their anti-tank guns and shells, and from theso inflicted further casualties among tho infantry out our men held gallantly, on. One man's head waß blown clean off. Some of the tanks were damaged, but our men still held tho line they had gained. An Aucklander. who was in this fight, told me tha spirit of the men and their cheerfulness wa3 really wonderful. Yesterday afternoon we were holding a line .from Loupart Wood past Grevillers, both of whioh we had taken, to the east and north outskirts of Biefvillers, which was also in our hands. To the east was Bapaume, about two thousand -yards away, and north of it the little , village of Favreuil. From both of these places we were concentrated at 1 o'clock in the afternoon under cover of the artillery and heavy machine-gun fire, which drove hack our posts about five hundred yards. For the rest of ' the day our line remained unchanged, and the right was fairly quiet. AROUND BAPAUME. The Wellington troops last night in patrol encounters south of Loupart Wood captured six machine-guns and twenty-three prisoners. It was decided to renew the attack this morning with an artillery barrage. During the night the attacking troop 3 formed ap on their assembly lines, and at 5 o'clock a heavy barrage burst upon , ground held by the enemy in front of our troops, who advanced and captured Avesnes Bapaume, a village on the outskirts of Bapaume, and the ridge on tho left as far as the commemorative monument on the Bapaume-Arras road. This brought our troops within a thousand yards and well abreast of Bapaume. When they had reached the monument they were held up by heavy machine-gun fire from a narrow curving strip of wood iust south of the monument, and from the west outskirts of Favreuil village, and were unable to proceed further. , The enemy was now fighting determinedly, and it was evident that he meant to hang on as long as possible in the hope, perhaps, of staving off the capture of Bapaume itself- Meantimo an English division on our left had taken Sapignies, further north, on the Arras-Bapaume road, and wo were in touch with these troops. Our left battalion suffered rather heavy casualties, but on tho remainder of the front our casualties were small and mainlv from machine-gun fire. On our right "flank North Island troops conformed to the advance of the Bnghab. Division on our right. They were merely marking time, and had no fighting to speak of.

"ENEMY FOUGHT EVERY YARD." I saw some of the wounded who had been in this fight-Otago and Canterbury men. They were quite cheerful. One had a broken leg, another, with * nasty wound on tho cheek, was yet able to get solace from his pipe. A third, asked what his wound was like, replied. "Oh, just a bit ot a shell in the back and a bullet wound. Tres bien the Whizbang. I might get a Blighty out of it. Anyhow, 1 ve chased enough Huns to last mo for a couple of months." Several Southerners who were in the thick of the fight admitted that the enemy fought well this morning, "They fought every yard of the way," aaid one. "There was no 'hands up about it this morning." Certainly, nearly, all the prisoners I saw were a healthy-looking lot. There were a great number of wounded Germans. One saw them being carried in by our and their own stretcher-bearers and infantry, while German stretcher-bearers also were carrying in our wounded. We must have not between three and four hundred prisoners. The majority of them seemed to be only too glad to be done with the war. To-day there was hot sunshine, and tho traffic poured along the country roads in clouds of dust, sometimes as thick as a London fog. To-night there is a • thunderstorm. 'proof OF DISORGANISATION. Away in the direction of Longueval tho enemy was blowing up his ammunition dumps. Great columns of smoke rose from behind tho crest of the ridgo a thousand feet in the air. Six dumps went up one after another. From an airman who came down with a bullet through his petrol tank ire gathered that the enemy transport, going back along hi 3 roads, was in a state of congestion and disorganisation. It was being constantly harassed ~by our longrango guns and aircraft. His method of staying our advance also gives proof of disorganisation, as unit 3 are being pushed in here and there irrespective of their regiments. To-morrow the New Zealanders should be able to walk into Bapaumo, and a strategic success will have boon accomplished. How far beyond the attack will go it is impos-

[siblo to say, but there may still be somo surprises in store for tho enemy. August 26.

Heavy rain in the night turned tho dusty roads into rivers of mud. and in tho darkness the transport with tho English troops had a hard time, but triumphed over the difficulties. Tho Now Ze-alanders atracked again last evening with English troops, and the village of Favreuil fell to die New Zealanders pushing on tho right; This brings our men well beyond the Ba-paume-Arras road. German maohiiiogunners are still in Bapaume, but the town cannot last much longer. Last night we captured a naval staff surgeon, ivho was visiting the regimental staff surgeon, also tho latter and a battalion medical officer. The latter is quito a, good fellow, and is now working cheerfully with our medical service. BAVARIANS FIGHT TENACIOUSLY August 26. At G p.m. the weather haxl cleared, and the battle is proceeding under satisfactory conditions for us. -\ew Zealand operations last night wero completely successful. iiaiglish troops, advancing on our left, took the northern part of I'lavreuil, the South Islanders going through tho southern part. The latter also took Monument Wood, and then pushed on to the Ba'paume-Beugnatre road. Progress towards Bapaume was difficult owing to the heavy machine-gun firo. '±he Bavarian troops opposite us fought tenaciously. The North Island .brigade, on the right, were holding a line, and did not havo sorious fighting. This morning the Rifles, who had come up, pushed out patrols, and got into touch with the enemy. Our troops also cleared up the Bapaume railwaysiding. ,For the main operation there was heavy bombardment from our artillery. HUN TASTES HIS. OWN POWDER. Since the battle began we have captured between J.COO and o(X)0 prisoners. In the territory from which the enemy has been driven much ammunition and material has been left behind, but not any guns. Wo have, however, captured some guns. One of our batteries turned some guns round, and for a considerable part of the day have been firing the enemy' s own ammunition on his position and - his retreating troops. Yesterday the enemy htavily shelled Grevillers and other positions wo had taken. Ho also fired gas shells, but owing to our dispositions, all this shelling had but little effect. To-day his stores on the Bapaume-Albert-Peronne line are burning. Numerotis fires can bo seen behind his lings. Dead men and horse s lie .along the reads at Miraumont and Irles, and the enemy's dug-outs, to which he set iire at Miraumont, arc still smouldering.

MUCH DISORGANISATION. Identifications show that his - units are jumbled up, and that there is much disorganisation. Late in tho afternoon we watched the fligKt or eighteen 'planes going over to add to this in the region or Bapaume. A naval division has been in action against us. A battalion medical officer, whom we captured, has been taken, into one of our medical messes, and. is doing good work attending to w-ounded German prisoners. ,The Bavarian division that 1 fought so well is-the one that was lieved at Ypres in July. As I writo our guns are bombarding, in preparation for a further advance by tho Rifles.

FIERCE FIGHTING AT BAPAUME. August 27. Fierce fighting continues in. the vicinity of Bapaume, which is proving onj or the toughest nuts to crack on all this front. In a commanding position and admirably suited for defence, with its dug-outs and cellars, it enables the enemy to make a stubborn defence. Both tho ruined town and its environs are crammed with machine-guns that spit furiously at our advancing troops. From the first there has been no attempt to take the town by a frontal attack. The enemy is employing some of his best troops in its defence, and has advanced positions etrongly defended by infantry and machineguns.

At 6 o'clock last evening one battalion of the Rifle Brigade continued the attack from a position south of Favreul. towards the Bapaurae-Cam-brai road. Our men advanced gallantly behind an artillery barrage. But before thev had gone far they came up against a perfect hail of machine-gun bpllets. No troops could-stand up against such furious fire and they had to fall back to their former positions. Nevertheless the battalion took heavy toll of the enemy during his counterattack, which was delivered by sixteen Bavarian regiments, who are sturdy fighters. The enemy knows only too well the value of the position he holds in and about Bapaume, and apparently he "means to hold it to the last extremity. A DETERMINED RESISTANCE.

To-day there has been strong ma-chine-gun resistance from beyond Bapaume, but the New Zealanders havo not for the present continued their attack. At 11 a.m., however, wc watched from Grevillers an attack towards Ligny Thiolly, south of Bapaiime, by other troops. Our guns well forward were pouring in a terrific fire and one continuous line of smoke arose from the shells". While this attack was proceeding tho enemy angrily replied, and with his guns and limbers dashed past us under shell lire at a hard gallop along tho road to Grevillers. This afternoon there was a destructive bombardment by heavies on trenchos and positions held by the enemy in front of the New Zealandors. . . , ~ ...,. GOOD WORK BY ENGINEERS AND TUNNELLEES.

Water in all this country is scarce, but a good supply has been found, and the New Zealand Field Engineers are doing magnificent Tvork orecting troughs and pumping plant and making roads to -relieve the congestion. This work they voluntarily undertook, not only for our own troops, but for others as well. There, thousands of animals are watered dailv and motor tanks carry supplies forward and to the rear. Our ammunition and supply columns continue at their" best, while our medical services have attended to and cleared our own .and.Qthgr pounded with remarkable celerity. Our tunnollers are working in a manner that should make their friends, tho West Coast miners, very proud of them. Men from tho entrenching group are ako doing good work with the pick and shovel behind tho lines. In forward areas, where but very few days ago there were enemy guns, camps havo sprung up in a most marvellous manner. Every day thousands of tons of ammunition aro fired, from tho guns of, our corps front. Wo have captured a secret order issued to tho German army rojjnrdinpr the serious food shortage in Germany. Troops are urged to make every effort

to hnvo food, and horses, when killed, are to be promptly bled and disembowelled and the carcases takeu to a named depot.