ANZAC RAIDERS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14236, 2 March 1917, Page 3

ANZAC RAIDERS.

HOW THEY.- ARE ORGANISED.

FULL DRESS REHEARSALS.

(The Times.)

■'•■_.-___». , ,LONDON, February 20. Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig recently visited the- Australians. His natural sternnes s broke down, and he uttered a few rare words of great praise —it was impossible that any section of the troops should get higher. , Th , e Australians axe certainly taking the fullest share of all that is going m (Trench work, raiding and building and 1 transport. 'They are greatly advantaged by the erection of the townships of huts, which, with . the,. -..sunny and frosty weather, have brought, them back, according to the latest- medical reports, to full health.

Sir Douglas. Haig wias specially interested m their recent, successful raid, when several score ; df- " prisoners were taken and valuable, information gained. Like- all Australian "raids', this had been specially prepared. . The' battalion commander. ;decid<jdi'.the '.'point of the raid, guided by the j-eports, of <his night patrols, upon _t_fe condition of No Man's Land,; and location, of.;, the enemy's machine-guns. ■ ".- - -

The officer selected to command tho raid selects ' two -juniors, who command the right and-' left:- ■" Before the last raid the coloWel: invited vdltiftteers. (It was a Sydney battalion.)' Every man stepped out. The selected party included six-non-commisqsioned officers and 60 men, who had. returned -to .their billets for a fortnight,- trained f: likftl)pxers, with running, ■ gymnastios, bombing, and bayoneting, practising over ground similar to No Man's Land. According to the. distances judged by the -aeroplanes'; the commander apportioned duties. " Some were bayoneters, some, bombers-, some carriers, arid telephonists, find runners. Each was trained to exact duty:- A full dress rehearsal . had _ been held last night. A 'Sydney colonel, describing the raid, states : "The preliminary drumfire was wonderful;' 'cbvering "tTie exact location desired. The Germans opened a hellish bombardment.. 'but ft is ' remarkable how the men m the. Australian trenches can escape the shells by- lying low and evacuating the dangerous sp_Qts. "After. ,10 ,minutes, of drumfire, the men crawled; forth.' 'The artillery lifted, and provided a box-barrage, covering the rear and both sides of the invaded area. Everything depended 911 the speed and the observance of the time-table. TTie men got across.thtf wrecked dugouts with bombs collected -at their belts, gunshields, and. haversacks. There was a little, hand-to-hand fighting, m which 14 BodhW were "kiffed and three of our men wounded. The German guns were still pounding the' -front* line, and made the return difficult. 'The "prisoners, however, were all safely brought back, hiding together m shell-holes.„until the final dash to the sallv-rposts. - to which they were guided by luminous tape. "The party- had ' three killed. They motored back ,to the resj camp. Amongst them they were awarded, military crosses and three military medals." _jIM*M-_M_a_B_M____aa__!! .