NEW ZEALAND ARTILLERY ON THE SOMME.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14283, 27 April 1917, Page 9

NEW ZEALAND ARTILLERY ON THE SOMME.

STREXTOrS WORK AND GOOD SHOOT! KG.

HALF A MILLION WtUiLLS,

(From Chpt. Malcolm Ross, war correspondent with X.Z. forces.) In battles suck a-s « the Somme. the first essential to successful attack . is] careful and elaborate artillery preparation, and the lire to be effective must be both accurate and intense. There must, also be co-operation as nearly perfect as can b© arranged with the infantry m the attack itself. In all these matters the British, have, made* great strides since tli.jji .beginning of the war. Our artillery is not' pei-liaps so brilliant* ;ns that of the French, but the French have a genuLs for . »\inner ( y, and they have had a' long start: <,f us.' The tiermans have been classed as second only to the French. It says a great dj?a'l^' therefore, for the' : Bi'itusli tffat "on the, vSommt', which may be-yeckoned as the' greatest battle . m history, they were able to obtain a mastery' over "'the iievi mans. The great majo^y of dtir gunners and gunnery, officers had to be trained since .the..: beginning of the Avar. The guns and. the -ammunition,.' had to be made m a very limifecL time.- . . New Zealand^ m its ' own ' small way, has for some time t n6\v. realised the importance . of i good glms aijd good guilv nery. English experts. were imported to tiai'.n, oui- men and officers, and at the start of the war. our .'country was the only one of. the oversea that was armed with th^e lip'-to-ilate.' modern howitzer. ' ' J ":'; ""'_ ■-" '?J "' : As everyone iW knows,* the expeditionary ' force took its guns with it to Kgypt and to Gajh'poli, and m. the latter campaign brilliaijt w6rk was done under the most difficult circumstances. Just before we" caine^tb France the stmngtli <if our artillery, was materially augmented, and a.fterw*ardV it was still further ihfci'.eased. It ; is ' inadvisable; . to give details about either, the strength, the dispositions, or the .work of the artillery in' the Somme battle, but some general .particulars, may prove interesting;..' V7> ;"'■.* ... Ine New Zealand artillery went by ti'aiii 'to the Sdmme, and it ti'eked back. It got there before the infantry; and ife left :■ after them. -Early m September the giiris were got into position, arid they were not" withdrawn -till towards the end of October. During nearly all of that period the officers and gunners and the supply columns worked strenuously and lieriocally. ' It wa^ the toughest job they Miad taken on, since, the beginning of the war. They had to suffer from enemy high-explosive, ... shrapnel, and gas and tear shells". They had guns and linibereU waggons' and officers arid men knocked out....an^l th?y Jiad to fldvanee to forward, positions over soft, unloaded, shell-torn ground, yet they were always ready when and where they were wanted. ' In the big attack; of 15th September I saw them shooting, at comparatively close range^ f^orii the slopes of a- valley that ran almost (parallel with the line between ' Bernaray and Caterpillar Woods, and as the waves of our infantry rolled on m the successful attack they got their \eams utpj and rushed the' guns to forward positions behind the crest of ;;,the i^dge between tlie battered Delville Wood and the equally shattered High Wood, m which, for so long the Germans had offered stubborn resistance. .-Still.. lately at the beginning of October, most of the, guns, were pushed forward to more exposed positions m th© vicinity of the villager of Flers, about which for' days the, ,JSTew 2ealand infantry fought heroically. [* The artillery was arranged m groups,' so that not all our guns were m support of our own line. We had the assistance of iKngQish guns, and an English, division had the assistance olsoihe of our guns. Our men were loud m their praises^ of lx>th the stationary arid the creeping barrages, and, when infantry praise their .own. artillery no .further attestation of its efficiency is require*!. One interests ing point that may be noted is that m the initial attack for the first time m the war, gaps liad to be left _m the j barrag© 'to enable our new engines of . warfare.; the "tanks," _ rto proceed. Tliis f fact, alone will give some idea of the '■ arrangements tiat had to be made, and ! the accuracy \ of fire that :^. r h^d to be /maintained. . _ . ' !•'■-. '•.;■.

THE n.AO.'"' Tin* ; ODivisional Amunition Column did magnificent work: O n }y one who saw tlie stat© tfr 9 roaols m late Sep.tember andf the,! nature of the. shelling .^ouldv forni an id,iea p£ the difficulties that had to be overcome. Bu,t day and night pur men toiled at }their almost! superhuman task, and— they got through. So. long as tlie. guns .remained south of liongueval the limipered . waggons did their \rork. One saw them occasionally, bogged and broken by the wayside, but always others got "through, and ttie greedy guns— as th'e : Gel'mans knew to then* cost— never hao! to. y remain idle for lack of shells. . The ,JB-pounders and | the field howitzers ( rained., 1 shelly m the j German terrain," th'S siege' howitzers heaved tlieii* bigger shells iri advance of tlje barrage, while still otner Big guns. . were busy with tJieir counter-battery work. '

I When the guns moved upj to Flers ifc .' was impossible to get the wieelkd , transport through the soft clay. Then the, shells were sent forward on pack animals. "We had already done this • on Gallipoli. Wie had even maji-handled the shells to the guns along the rriain saps for the August offensive. Xow the men took the baskets from the limbei'ed " waggons, and irt these, strapped to the pack-saddles, the 18-p6und:er shells were sent forward. Foi v ■ the, 4.5's the mm nvade Carriers oi canyias, slung on each side of the transport animals^ ■ .... BRAVE'JD^EiFJpS. ■ Many plucky deeds wefie done b} r officers, non-commissioried' officers, and men during the days' and nights of the Somme fighting. |As soon 'as the Switch Trench was captured- by', the second brigade three artillery - officers went forward with the signallers to obtain observation fronn;.tjiis trench. One of the lieutenants got separated from his party and was wounded ear\y. m the day. His sergeant" scent five hours, under heavy ■' firo searching for him. Eventually he found him and went r for sfei'etcher-bear-j ers. \ Carrying tjhe ■wounded officer 'to , the dressing station one of the ijearei'S • was killed. , The' sergeant, tliougli him--i self slightly^ wownded .took the place' of | the dead ' ' •stretcher-boarer, and the wounded officer was got 1 safely m to the. dressing station f; but lie isubsequentHy 4ied of. hi?-; wounds, a-nd ; the' New Zealand artilieVy lost owe of its most pro- , misjng officers. .1 .! " '■'.' , ; | Om- artillery generally inflicted ter- ' rible punishment on the enemy, and for some (time his artillery was so ' demoralised that we came to the conclusion that he was shifting back to a shorter line. H. 9 had as a matter of fact to, take some of his guns farther back, but early m October his fire improved, arid, natur- ; aJIy we had some' losses. A direct hit - ; on one gun destroyed the gun and killed j tho whole detachment. On the same day an Bin. shell killed Lieut. Watson, and four men. jSome ammunition, exI ploded, blew m one of the gun Spits'; and I pet fire to the. charges f stored 1 afongside the gun. Thefe >vere six men m the gun pit' at' the time, and immediately they proceeded to get out .as quickly as they could. When they were oiily a few

j, yards away cries were heard coming • horn inside tho pit. A sergeant and a. bombardier who had made good; their escape at once returned, and tried to enter the pit. from the back through the blazinsj; ammunition. Finding «it hopelefs^ to do fo.. th,ey to the fvoat of the pi!' and gained an I!risKl:e theV* ndw "found a glihnei 1 ' 'phm-ad. down by fallen beams ami debris. With the burning dininunition quite close to them, the sergeant and the bombardier worked at the wreckage, and, 'after afew minutes' strenuous effort, succeeded m reaching the gunner and getting him out m safety. The' name of the. -bom.ib.ardier is .Syme, and He has since received the" TiO.M. for his action. Scrperint Salmon, ,-who .was the leader of this rescue, was killed m action a., day <;r two later. . ' THE FALLEN.. • The Now Zealand Artillery had the misfortune to rjpwv .some of their best ■ ofticers m the ftoinme flsi'liliiig. Among •■these, as will haVo hp.cn noted from' the casualty lists, was Cuptnin' I^aniell, who leU'Ne-tv 'Zeailaml with the- Main; Exnedi--tionarv Force oh 16th' October, 1914, as captain of the 2nd 'Battery. In August, 1915, I weiriwmcmber him m command C-f a battery, of 18-|jound?rs that avss specially formed to support the attack on ■ OTiunul; .Bair ' a^Alnst" the strong TurRfsh positibiis. For his work on that occasion he was awarded .the Military Cross and was nien'tione'd m despatches. •Ho. .served throughout tbs whoj^ , of the Gallipoli campaign, gonig at one stage to Egypt to. take ;6ver command of "a 6-inch libwitzer battery . avHcU/ h^ brought to the Gallipoli Peinnsula and, commanded till .tlie evaluation. He "came vyith.,this battery to' France'; 1 sand was killed. in action near High Wood on the night of 3rd Octobei\'' by ah! : explosion .of ammunir tioh- M oiieof. tljie; gunr'pJtk- the same tinie'2p<t Lieut. Brpoks.'. arid four other .ratuvs were 1 killed. The gun was blown to.' biti. « ■■'■■■ ". '■'.'' "■ ."■•'■

Another battery commander whose loss was greatly' deplored by all who knew him, ..was Gapt. H..-A. 'Davies. :At the beginning of the war he, was m Ttlnglahd undergoing training '•. with the R.-F.A. He served m France with an R'.F.A. unit from September,. 1914, to January, IQIS. 'He -then left to join the New Zealand^ Expeditionary Force m Egypt, where^he was appointed to command a howitzer battery. He served" .throughout the Galiip^oli campaign, and. came on to France ' m command' of a

battery which took part -in all operations with which the New Zealand Force was concerned, including the Somme. He was killed on the night of tli3 15th September. The records show that during the time the Xew Zealand guns were on the iSomme they fired -close upon half a million shells. . .