NEW ZEALANDERS AT THE FRONT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17092, 25 August 1917, Page 10

NEW ZEALANDERS AT THE FRONT.

SPLENDID WORK AT MESSINES. TRIBUTES BY COMMANDING OFFICERS. (Pee United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, August 24. liiG following- extract from a letter from Major-general itu&soii was read by the Minister ot Defence in the House tliis afternoon :— Mossines R-dge on that part which New Zealand had to attack is a fairly steep udge, on which the Germans were vtsry eomtorUDly entrenched .with an excellenl observation of everything that was going oii in our lines below tiliti. lie was, in tact, on tho lim of a saucer, while we were ai the bottom, and consequently all our preparations in the way of improving our communications and constructing assembly trenches had to be done at night. Naturally the work at night was never so expeditious or so easy as by day, and for four or five weeks prior to the attack practically every man :n the division had spent tho nights working, getting what sleep waa possiblo during the day. This in itself waa a scvero tax on the men's endurance, and I was very glad to find at the end that there were a few days to spare in which tc rest the men and give them a chance to pull themselves together for the effort. " The whole scheme of attack had been trade with very careful thought, and involved a vast amount of Staff work for those who were responsible for the plans. With the enormo is concentration of artillery, life on the slopes in front of ua had become, practically impossible. 4 Tho battle, in a few words, was won through the weight, of metal thrown on to the enemy position and the mettle of the men who advanced 1.0 attack them Everything we<lt like clockwork. The weather was in our favour, as a thunderstorm cleared the air i,nd cooled it during the night of assembly, while the clouds which still hung r-bout- the'sky prevented any observation on the part of the enemy. Cotsequently the assembly of troops was carried out with hardly any loss, .and you can realise what anxious moments, or rather hours, one passed when, , haviag assembled several thousand men within a few hundred yards oi the position, on? waited for the actual moment to advance. Had the (jermans been able to discover our movements and shelled our assembly trenches., no doubt wo. suouid lia.ve gone ttrough with the attack, but under very difficult conditions. As it was the men got, over the ■ parapet with, hardly any losses, and so excellent was tho ec unter battery work that his barrage, waen it fell, was too thin to break up the attack. Actual positions were carried ■at very slight expense.

" Our began to mount tup after we reached our different objectives. We were rithdrawn very shortly from the sector on which wo attacked, n-riH were put in rather lower down the line, where our friends from Australia made their start. We have since considerably extended our gains by small operations •vithout any great difficulty,' and are now in process of consolidating and improviLg the detence of. what we gained. The men were extraordinarily confident ; of success, and this, no doubt, helped tlieai a. iot. The battle was half won before it was begun, and I cannot speak too highly of the spirit displayed by every one Every clay, when I see wh-U the men have put up_ with in the way of danger and hardships, it astonishes me '■ with what cheerfulress and fortitude they put up with the very trying conditions they have met. \Ve have again received congratulations on all hands for the work done by the division, and I honestly think they are well deserved. I am glad to say that 6h» health of the meal and their spirits are as good as when I iuet wrote to you. The reinforcements are as good as ever, and there is not a division in' France but would welcome them into its ran la. I. send you these few lines to aesuro you that so ■ far as I can judge all is well With the division."

The following are extracts from a letter' received by Siir Jas. Allen from the late Brigadier-general Johnston, dated June 14: ' "The division did well, and maintained its high reputation. As far as the artillery waa concerned, I need only quote from a memo. , sent us the day after the battle: 'The Armj Commander-d.rects you to congratulate all ranks of the artillery of the 2nd Anzacs on. the success gained to-day. "He wishei to thank, them for the excellent work they have done during the past week, and adds that the success gained to-day with comEaratively little loss is entirely due to the ' ard work and good _ shooting of the artillery.' In addition, Sir Douglas Haig camo to see iis, patted me on the back, and said: 'Thank all your fellows for the splendid work they have .done.' Everything went off without a hitch. The barrage was good, the wire was all cut presenting no difficulties to' the infantry, and the trenches and strong points were well smashed in. I went over the battlefield next morning, and was much pleased to see how we had' done our work, for although for weeks v ahead one is busy locating and destroying' some wire points and any possible obstacle, still you cannot see things as you do. afterwards. On our front you couldn't de-' tect the German front and support lines. They were so smashed in, and - only here •and there could you find strands of wire, and I haven't been able to hear of a single place, where the infantry \vere held up. You will read much about mines and tanks, but we had only one mine, and our tanks '• were not much good. Theiy oouldn't easily cross the country on account of shell holes, and three of them were knooked out by gunfire. lam afraid they hardly justify their cost. The infantry and artillery won the fight, and nothing else had much to do with it.

"These battles were a great strain on' one, as once the infantry eain their, final objective and begin to consolidate, the Hun shells them severely, with the result that nil our communications get cut, and our forward observation officers who go up with the infantry cannot communicate with us. You can imagine one controlling some 230 guns from a central place. As soon as the infantry captured Messines and got beyond it we couldn't see the Hun counter-attacks —but if the wires are cut, as, they nearly ' always are by his shelling, there is no quick means of communication by which our forward observation officers can tell us exactly where to shoot. We have to shoot by maps. Barrages are sometimes most 'complicated, as a new line is..very seldom straight, and yet you must cover it all the way. One mistake, and you may wipe out a lot of your own mpn. '"vVhen I walked over the battlefield shells were still falling. Of course, you know, the artillery fire never ceases day or 'night for days, and a battle only means a barrage thrown in as an extra. The country was all ploughed up by shells, and hardly a square yard was intact. Bead . men were lying all over the place, and Huns were being extracted from dug-outs. (Jur tanks . were lying about where they were struck, or had been shot out, and exhausted soldiers were resting.. In one place I saw one of our men and a. German lying side by side, having apparently killed one another. The Germans were bejng taken to the rear to be put in cages. They mostly looked well-fed and of good physique, notwithstanding what the war correspondents say. "General Russell, our G.0.C., is reckless to a degree. "Up by Messines the day after the battle, which means only a ressation of the Maxim fire, an artillery officer came running to me, and saidl: The G..0.C. of the Ist 'Infantry Brigade has been killed.' ' ' This was true. He was walking with General. Rus- , sell, the latter's A.D.C.', and Pridham, C.R.E., when a shell burst near them, and killed Brown, and wounded Beetham, ! A.D.C., at the. 6amo time. On Sunday last when General Russell was looking over a parapet at the end of a wire, distant about 100 yards or less, a sniper had a shot at him, putting a bullet through hia steel helmet, and bruisine his head—a pretty close call. However, I thinlc he will bo better in the future. _ I have had fivo officers killed—one curiously enough by lightning. He was a very excellent fellow, who came away with the Main Body— Prnramer by name, and a veterinary officer. The ;samc flash paralysed seven * men. Brigadier-general Brown is a great loss. He was as brave as a - lion. Ho i never said much, but did a great deal."