NEW ZEALANDERS IN THE SOMME BATTLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3275, 20 December 1916, Page 20

NEW ZEALANDERS IN THE SOMME BATTLE.

TALES OF HEROISM AND DEATH. ENDURANCE AND FIGHTING SPIRIT BEYOND PRAISE. ALL THEIR OBJECTIVES GAINED. (From Malcolm Ross, War Correspondent with the N.Z. Forces.) France, October 8. Now Zealanders will by this time be in possession of the stirring message sent to their Government by Sir Douglas Haig, the Commander-in-Chief of the British armies in the field. That message from the High Command will be for ever treasured in the records of the dominion. To have fought for 23 consecutive days in the Somme battle, "carrying out with complete success every task set, and always doing even more than was asked," is indeed a record of which sur little country may well be proud. To anyone who knows what the Somme battlefield- is like in bad weather that one word "consecutive" conveys a world of moaning.

To-day another message comes in—from the general commanding the army with which we have been fighting. It expresses k) all ranks hearty congratulations on the excellent work done during the battle of the Somme. On three successive occasions, it adds, the New Zealanders attacked the hostile positions with the greatest gallantry and vigour, capturing in each attack every objective that had been allotted to thorn. More than this, they gained possession of, and hold, several strong points in advance of and beyond the farthest objectives they had boon asked to take. "The endurance and fine fighting spirit of the division," adds the general, "have been beyond praise, and their success in the Flers neighbourhood will rank high amongst the best achievements of the British army. The control and direction of the division during these operations 'have been conducted with skill and precision, whilst the artillery support _in establishing the barrages and defeating counter-attacks has been in every way most effective. It is a matter of regret to me that this fine division is leaving the army, and I trust that on some future occasion it may be my good fortune to find them tinder my command." STORMING THE FIRST LINE.

I have given some account of the lighting in which our men took part in this tremendous battle, but much still remains to be told. In comparison with our own land, it is a little difficult to give a New Zealander a clear idea of what the country in which we have fought is like. There is nothing quite the same in all New Zealand. Some English writers have mentioned hills, and even peaks. Well, there are r.o hills, as we would recognise a hill in New Zealand. And certainly, oven with the most imaginative eye, you cannot find a peak. The country is gently undulating, with villages and small woods dotted about it. Although we are 60 miles from the sea, the highest ground in the region in which wo have been rises to only some 500 ft. The land on the other side was a» gently sloping almost as on the side up which we had walked. Indeed, when you made your way along the splendid communication trench which our pioneers had dug you scarcely knew you were descending at all. And the view was limited. Beyond Flers the trees of Gueuclecourt and Lesboeufs, only a few hundred yards away, cut the horizon line. Yet in such country this 500 ft ridge gives us command of the observation, and blinded the enemy to all that was going on behind our lines on the reverse side of the slope. As we would define the term, the country _ is not well watered. There are no big rivers, no swiftrunning streams. The Somme itself is a mere meandering stream compared with the tributaries of our New Zealand rivers. The villages depend on wells for their water. It was into such country in the early morning of the memorable 15th of September that our men lottght their way across the German lines. The capture of the first obstacle —the switch trench on a front of a little less than 1000 yards—was entrusted to Auckland and Otago Battalions. After an intense barrage of field artillery had opened all along the line they went forward in waves under shelter of the barrage. Our gallant men wont forward as on parade. There was no hitch or hesitation, and the pace and general alignment were as nearly perfect as possible. On our left the troops were for a time held up, and the Otagos, who adjoined them, officers and men soon began to fall from machine gun fire that came from the left and front of High Wood, which was a strong point in the German defensive position. Our men fired at the machine gunner= during halts that were prearranged, and then continued their assault. Bv the time they got the Crest Trench—the first of the German lines—the brigade on pur left were some distance in the rear. Apparently they had been held up outside High Wood. There was thus at this early stage a considerable gap on the left, and the Germai. snipers and machine guns were able to enfilade our men as they went across. There were also some gaps in our own companies through men getting in through gaps in the barrage, but the right company of the Otago maintained connection with the Aucklanders, and the waves of men went steadily on, somewhat thinned now, especially on the right. In the Crest Trench the Otagos captured a German machine gun that was damaged by shell fire. This trench our men practically took in their stride. There were lew of the enemy found alive in it, and these few put up a poor fight. Some at once put up their hands and cried " Kamarad." Others threw bombs. Still others fired their rifles till the last moment, and then, throwing them down, bleated for mercy. This trench was more strongly held, but it had suffered terribly from the bombardment, and the wire in front of it—though our gunners had no observation on it —was well cut. Some short bursts in our barrage, or the keenness of the men, which took them right into it, accounted for some casualties in the leading wave of the Aucklanders as they were approaching and entering the Switch Trench. When the second wave joined the first wave the casualties were considerable. But that made no_ difference to the onrush of our men. In spite of shell and machine gun fire they came down upon the demoralised Germans. There was little bayonet work. It was mostly firing at point blank range and bombing in dug-outs. The Haurakis cleaned up their bit of the trench in about a minute. It was, said one of the combatants to me afterwards, a case

of " hands up " all the time. One man had a bomb in one hand and a white rag in the other, but he scarcely had time to cry "Kamarad." Some ran forward with their hands up; others ran away. They were utterly demoralised—their morale quite broken. In half an hour the trench was completely in our hands. GALLANT WORK UNDER FIRE.

Even thus early in the fighting gallant deeds were done—how many one will never know. Immediately the Switch Trench was captured officers and men sot about siting and consolidating a new line just in front of it. The trench itself was strewn with dead. A major and a captain in the Otagos, though both wounded, at once began to consolidate the new position. A major in the Aucklands did similar work. After an hour and a-half the enemy began to heavily bombard the position. They continued this shelling throughout the day and the following night. Men were continually being buried, and portions of the trench had to be re-dug. Others were, of course, killed and wounded, but by a subterfuge wo had deceived the enemy, and the losses were not so heavy as might, have been expected. Under the most trying circumstances the men worked with extraordinary coolness, and by evening; had dug down 6ft in their new position. Four machine guns were captured by tiie Aucklanders, and two others badly damaged were found. Our attack upon this trench was so sudden, and tho barrage so heavy, that the Germans had not much chance of working these guns, and, as a matter of fact, they were most concerned about keeping their own heads down. Meantime, the Canterburys and' Wellingtons had moved forward into the assembly trench, from which their comrades in arms had started The Auckland and the Otago O.C.'s went forward and supervised the construction of strong points in the lino we had captured. At this time both our right and our left were "in the air." The right did not matter, but there was anxiety about our left., as the enemy had not yet been cleared out of High Wood, and the Otagos had suffered heavy casualties from that quarter. One company that had lost all its officers was commanded by a sergeant, who showed great courage and skill in coping with the situation. As we were not in touch with the regiment on our left it became necessary to send up reinforcements, so some of the Canterburys, with their Vickers gun, were ordered forward. HEROISM OF OFFICERS AND MEN. In this initial fighting there were many deeds of heroic self-sacrifice and devotion to duty. The Otago major to whom I havo already referred, although wounded in the hand during the advance, refused to go to the dressing station, seeing that so many of his brother officers had fallen. He remained until relieved by another battalion, working with his men under heavy shellfire. A lieil-tenant-colonel of the Canterburys remained for four consecutive days holding tho Switch line under heavy shellfire. Later in the operation in the strenuous fighting in which his men were engaged in Goose Alley and Drop Alley, near Flers, on tho night of the 21st-22nd September, he further distingushed himself. Ho already wears the ribbon of the Military Cress and the Croix de Guerre. A regimental medical officer with tho Aucklands, under heavy bombardment on the 15th and 16th, earned the admiration of all who witnessed his work. He established and maintained his regimental aid post in a forward position, and as the result of his energy and bravery many lives were saved. A major of the Canterburys, who had already earned the Military Cross on Gallipoli, did splendid work on the left at a critical time. A captain of the Otagos, while leading his men, was severely wounded, in the leg, but refused to be evacuated, and stayed with his men. Under very heavy shell fire he remained, cheering on his men for hve hours in this wounded condition, until ordered by his commanding officer to go to the ambulance. A second lieutenant, also of the Otagos, took command when his superior officers were casualties, and remained all day under heavy shell fire, when the trench was being continually blown in and men were being buried by tho blasts of high explosive. Another Otago lieutenant, after all the other officers of his company had been either killed or wounded, took command. He cheered on his men, and by his fine example got good work out of them. They continued deepening their trench all clay, in spite of heavy casualties. He worked strenuously for three days and nights, until he in turn was wounded. In the Aucklands a second lietitenant, who courageously led his platoon behind the .barrage, displayed great courage and daring, and although himself wounded by a bomb, continued to use his revolver in tho face of a shower of enemy bombs. He had previously distinguished himself in a raid at Armentieres, where ho himself captured a machine gun and removed it from the enemy lines. A sergeant of the Otagos did fine work in command of a company "after all his officers had been killed or wounded. He showed great coolness and initiative in organising working parties and consolidating the trench under heavy fire. A Canterbury lance-corporal, after his officer and senior n.e.o.'s had been killed, took command, and held his men together under heavy shell fire. When tho Otagos were digging in on the new switch line one of their snipers gallantly went out into the open under heavy shell fire and effectively dealt with some German snipers who were making things unpleasant on tho left. For four months now this man has been doing good work as a sniper. He has shown exceptional courage and resource. There is a lance-sergeant in the Otagos who had earned the D.C.M. with the Legion of Frontiersmen in South Africa, who, when all the officers in his company were out of action in the Switch Line attack, at once took command of the company, and. though he was himself slightly wounded earlier in the day, he did not go off duty. These are only a few of the gallant deeds in the early stages of the fightinar that have come under my notice. They will serve to give New Zealanders who remain in their own country some idea of the undaunted courage and the initiative with which their fellow countrymen have fought in the great battl" of the Somme. When the whole tale is told it will make a stirring page in New Zealand history.