ENEMY STAGGERING.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14445, 3 November 1917, Page 10

ENEMY STAGGERING.

KEELS UNDER REPEATED BLOWS. QUESTION OF MAX POWER. ASTOUNDING DEEDS OF AUSTBSUANS. . (Special Cable.— -From Keith Murdoch.) War Correspondents' Headquarters, Oct 15. The recent strung and rapid British blb^s '.jare i * having a • cumulative- effect, Avhfch-'is/daily more obvious.- . „*'• .■ V '■. >.\UstvAiia»v^fu»lU-iug"---camiMtid« , s^x*ilaJ3m' that parts of "the Huns' infantry becoming almost disorganised. The ceaseless air, artillery, and infantry pressure are making the life of the German soldiers intolerable. Even rations are difficult to get m the front line, whilst tho back areas are always being searched by the heavy guns. 'The Australian staffs have now a vast collection of letters, documents, and official orders, which have been captured m battle, showing tho depth of the German infantry's depression. Prisoners from three fresh, divisions from Russia were captured here, and even these troops are similarly affected. "We are m a terrible sector," writes -one "t am nearly crazy from the enemy's fire. It is worse than the Somme. The whole battlefield is covered with our dead." Other letters refer to the boundless desolation and the waste of craters. Divisions are being thrown into the lnie, and come out wrecks m a few days. One referred to the impossibility of lifting his head out of the shellhole owing to the accuracy of our snipers. „,„,„ DISMAL LETTERS FROM FRITZ. "I do not hope to get out of this hell '- alive," writes an officei*. Another says that Germany has as little chance of a victorious peace as he ha« of escaping the next British blow. Captured orders are full of instructions for the holding of the line till death, and counter-attacking with all available men, before the enemy could organise his new line. These show a despairing weakness, for a noticeable feature of the battles has been the failure of the Germans to get their men through the barrages for counter-attacks. It is unwise to build on an early German collapse, but blows which we are now raining upon him are undoubtedly making him stagger. _ ' I have spent a day with the men from New South Wales whe had distant objectives on Tuesday. Their fighting makes a glorious page of Australian gallantry. Though small m numbers and physically tired, they drove the Huns from copses, redoubts, and a railway cutting, and m the end reached all their ° J SONGS AFTER THE FIGHT. To-day they sing merrily, polish their weapons' and get the dirt and stubble, atray, but for a week they have been fighting bitterly amid pounding shells under conditions which strained to the limit their strength and cunning. Their first wave "hopped it" at dawn on Tuesday across a marsh to sandy soil. The Huns mostly ran. A few fought, and the officers chose a new line far ahead of the old. . . . Owing to the check Vdministered to the British on the flank, the enemy concentrated many machine guns against the Australians, and their lines were thinned, but a second wave passed through. „!.. Most of the Huns fought until the attackers were within 20 yards of them. Then they rari. Hundreds of Germans • -fled down-hill like a stampeded mob. On the right we stormed a house, where later we were compelled to leave . a wounded officer. ■ It *was simply a question of manpower whether we were al>le to hold on. Astonishing things were done m mopping up. A young officer with a shovel, far ahead of the others, took a redoubt and two machine-guns. A sergeant, 400 yards ahead of the wave, entered a pillbox and took six prisoners., Not satisfied, /he returned and found sis more with' two machine-guns. An officer and a man cleaned up a wood with a bomb m one hand and a spade m the- other. In every pill-box had gathered together a number of scared snipers. NERVE SEEMED GONE. ' The Huns' nerve seemed gone. His ..shell-fire was worse than at Pozieres, but many of the infantry refused to fight. , Some Huns waited and even pulled their rifle* back for a bayonet thrust; then they dropped to their knees. Very bad sniping came from a wood, which was not captured until four o'clock m the afternoon. One party of New South Wales men crept upon several machine-gun crews, and killed them with hombs. Another ordered to clear out a cutting bombed their way along, destroying dug-outs with the inmates until they reached the highest point, •where the cutting emerged down a slope. Here thp Huns began rallying. ' Our men were surprised to see a whole ■ line of deep trenches with many machineguns. Perhaps they intended to surrender, but finding that, our line was bo thin they attacked with bomlis and •bayonets. . * FIGHTING IN A CUTTING.

-Five machine-guns had been captured m the cutting, two of which had been sweeping along the Australian line from the rear. But a retirement was essential Maohine-guns were firing from «ach flank, from the front, and from the wood behind. Some m concealed places were difficult to locate. The Germans came on gallantly enough m front, apparently led by a* diminutive man, who, with bayonet fixed, rushed at a tali South Australian sergeant, who, when the? officers had been killed or wounded, took charge of this section. Our sergeant did not like to kill "Uie youth, so adjft-stepped,) and clouted, him on the head. Then, finding the other Germans were coming on the left, he was compelled to shoot. One officer at a redoubt was particularly gallant. He organised his men m order to meet the Huns bayonet to bayonet. Ha was twice wounded before the counter-attack was launched, butleaping ahead, he cried out, "Come on. boys F' and charged. Then he was wounded again m the moment of success. The men dwg m about a hundred yards behind this redoubt for some hours, then, as the position became isolated, they retired. Some New South Welshmen remained for 45 minutes on the whole of the final • objective before thev -retired. When pi-ganised n long the line finally held New South Welshmen saw the Huns assembling for a great oonnfer-attack. They came ijn Jgreat numbers, the ground being covered with. field grey_ We used Lewis guns and rifles, but it was when our barrage arrived that the attackers disappeared m broken fragments. Synchronously an attack 'developed 6n the 'right, where the Brjtiah had a bitter fight.