THE HORRORS OF WAR.

Otago Witness, Issue 3344, 17 April 1918, Page 14

THE HORRORS OF WAR.

TRIBUTE TO BRITISH QUALITIES. Mr Philip Gibbs writes:—Sir Douglas' Haig's order of tho day should reveai to the world what is happening out here. Tho enemy's objectives were to seize the Channel ports and destroy the British army, and they brought frightful forces to achieve tho plan, making a call upon our troops to hold every position to the last man. Many of our men have been fighting day and night for weeks. They do so because the spirit wakes again above bodily fatigue. Some have fought continuously since March 21. They have fought many rearguard actions, with tho enemy on both flanks—truly fightin with their backs against the wall. England and Scotland must steel their hearts to this sacrifice. The enemy still storm against us with fresh men and more fresh men in overwhelming numbers. Only little groups are left out of gallant companies. But these bands of brothers belonging to the English and iScottish regiments have "no surrender" in their souls. If they yield it will bo to death. There is a dreadful scene as the war draws near to places long outside the war zone, where our soldiers lived on familiar terms amongthe people. At night the scene is infernal. On a clear starlight night the horizon is lit for miles with the flames of burning stores and ammunition dumps, combined with bonfires of farms, houses, and villages, and the flashes of guns. Yesterday the weather changed. There was no sunlight in the sky. It was a strange, terrible thing to stand behind the line, one's ears tingling with the noise of the greatest battle in history, but unable to see the shellbursts there. The tumult of gun-fire' was greatest south of Bailleul. I saw guns coming up, the gunners dusty and white. The men were saying little, but getting immediately into action. Little < bodies of ihfantr" were marching up with heavy packs, slung rifles, grey eyes, and tightened lips. It is courage, not lightheartedness, that keeps these men cheerful, because they know the truth in all its nakedness. The worst tragedy, apart from the ordeal of our fighting, is the plight of the people, who are now compelled to flee-from the advancing flarnr; of war. These old women and young girls are enormously brave, departing from their farms in carts, on bicycles, afoot, with wheelbarows and perambulators, riding British gun waggons and lorries, tho girls calling " Good luck" to our soldiers. Many villagers stand about among our steel-hatted men untfl the last moment, when they must go or die. Our fighters have exceeded all records for valour, although they have already filled three years with their acts of courage. Wren the centre was broken at Laventie by a colossal thrust against the Portuguese defence, and Estaires was placed in the hands of the Northumberlands, East Yorkshires, and Durhams, it was too late to form a strong defensive line. They met attack after attack in unceasing waves, and held the crossing over the Lys until the enemy struck into Bach St. Maur. There was a race for tho river. The Durhams got there first and faced the enemy on the other side, raking them with rifle fire. A party of Durhams held the salient at Lestrem for a long time until compelled bv a trench mortar bombardment to fall back across tho river. The enemy crossed between bridgeheads and stormed into the western part of Estaires, which was filled with shell-fire. The Durhams and Northumberlands charged down the street, clearing the enemy out and making a No Man's Land 50 yards beyond the bridgehead, which was covered with machine guns. Their line was turned by the enemy breaking through close to Armentieres, compelling them to withdraw. A party of East Yorkshires received a message saying that the enemy was behind them, but thoy refused to retire until they were surrounded and overpowered. A brigade major defending Mervillo telephoned that tho enemy was surrounding the house. The general replied : " You had better hop it.' The major said: "Thanks, I will," and strolled coolly out of the back door while tho Germans were entering the front door. There was fierce street fightino: at Mcrville. The Germans, repeatedly attacking," were shot down like rabbits. A great battle continues from Wytschaete to Neuve Eglise. Tho South Africans' charge at Messines was one of the finest things ever done, because they had not rested after the battle of the Somme. PLOEGSTEERT WOOD. Mr Percival Phillips states:—Two German divisions on Wednesday morning (10th inst.) made a desperate thrust for the Messines Ridge. Wo held the line between Plocgsteert and_ Hollebeke with " ample strength, including famous Scottish and English battalions. After a bombardment, including many trench mortars, the attackers advanced along the flats towards Ploegsteert, the movement very gradually spreading northward and the attack developing at Hollebeke and Gheluvelt in the afternoon. Small parties of machine gunners crept southward from Ploegsteert. entering Nieppe and endeavouring to junction with a force which, on tho 9th, pushed southward round Armentieres. Wo cleared NicDpe without difficulty. While Ploegsteert Wood was full of contending infantry the Germans rushed up the Messines slope against our destructive fire, and gained a foothold in tho ruins of tho village -upon tho crest. Our fire swept the ridge, and we gained the ruins at nightfall. Fresh Germans, rushing up from Warneton, sought to make good their first gains, but many were caught in their own barrage. They rushed Messines after nightfall, but hand-to-hand fighting among the ruins ended in our favour. The Germans attacked at Wytschaete with even greater frenzy, resulting in a ding-dong battle all night long for this higher ground. To-day

the Germans again had a lodging in fcho cellars at Messines, but they remained further down the slope on Wytsehaete, failing to <?ain the coveted view over the wesetrn plain. The enemy in tho afternoon held half of Ploegsteert Wood. While attacking on Tuesday eastward of Bethuna, the enemy artillery drenched tho town with mustard gas, the shells falling among helpless sleeping women and children. Our ambulances made rounds, gathering up the victims and ' taking them to the casualty station through a heavy bombardment. If any stimulus were needed to spuS our men on it was the sight of these poo* people, victims of a new terror. THE MESSINES RIDGE. Mr Robinson, after returning from the Messines Ridge area, wrote: — I think the advance is definitely held. There is fierce fighting on the southern seo« tor. The enemy, progressing westward bolow Estaires, crossed the Lawo, -and are now fighting between Lestrem and Merville. As the line in the vicinity of Givenchy is solid, and we still hold • tho Estaires line from the river to Stcenwarcke, the enemy 3 penetration at this point must be on a very 6mall front and in no strength. The situation is peculiar and confused. The attack on the northern section was made by three divisions on a live-mile front againsi Ploegsteert, near Hellebeke. Aided by a, thick mist tho enemy had penetrated Ploegsteert Wood by 7 o'clock, and thenco the attack spread northwards. Capturing Messines and Wytsehaete, and advancing at mid-day northwards of the White Chateau and the famous Mamstrasse, which further points were reached before night, the enemy*-were swept back from Wytsehaete, the highest parts of the ridge, and th 4 western portion of Ploegsteert Wood. la the morning we firmly held the line east of Wytsehaete, and the backbone of the ridge. The enemy tised 12 divisions to attack the Portuguese centre. Tho magnificent fight of the Fifty-fifth Divis ; on at Givenchy saved a rather serious disaster. The Germans attacked the Fifty-fifth in repeated masse?, but our rifles and machine guns did dreadful execution. As tho Portuguese retreated the Germans sought to fling great numbers into the breach, but a cyclists' battalion ana other troops gallantly stemmed the_ onrush against tremendous odds, till the lino was re-formed behind. Prisoners' documents reveal that the attacking forces comprised three groups, the northern being the weakest. Six divisions were to strike through Bailleul in the direction of Hazcbruck, protecting the centre operations, where 12 divisions were instructed to penetrate Merville to the Aire. The southernmost push was ordered to reach Bethune on the first day, and to go thence to Lillers, spreading southward over . the coal area west of Lens and Bruay. Only the central thrust has so far realised its objective, ' and that much less rapidly than the Germans expected! At Messines, on the 9th. the South Africans continued their magnificent defence, thrusting back the enemv repeatedly from the ridge to Messines-Wytschaete, and holding them against repeated counter-attacks. Equally fine fighting retook Ploegsteert Wood after a German penetration, though a southern /retreat subsequent to evacuation compelled the syallant troops to give up bitterly-con-tested ground. After the Germans had entered and been driven out of Estaires, they re-forced an entrance, and dense masses captured it, after fierce and bloody hand-to-hand fighting in the streets. Below, here troops brought up to hold the Laventie positions had an intense and incessant struggle against . great odds, under terrifio mach ; ne and field-gun fire. The Fifty-first Highlanders fought brilliantly on tho line of the Lawe till sheer weight of numbersforced the abandonment of the canal: . A party of Gordons, surrounded near Villa Chappelle, hung on for 24 hours. Another maenificcnt defence was that of the narrow rivulet, the old Lawe, below Lastrem. The' headquarters staffs of both brigades held the forward b'nes with rifles, and when last seen one brieade commander was rallying a small party of headquarters, orderlies, and others in a counter-attack against the. attacking HI3.SSGS. A third brigade of the same division at noon on the 13th was holding the enemy in the redon just behind the Fifty-first. The § field gunners continued firing till the enemy were close up, then, falling back, and leaving one aim to cover and keep the enemy at bay till all got away. # They renewed the same mme in new positions. Further details of the Lancashire*' defence of Givenchy show that the < battle waS the fiercest possible, successive waves breaking- against unceasing attacks and frequent hand fighting.