"ANY-MAN'S-LAND" FIGHT.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14448, 7 November 1917, Page 4

"ANY-MAN'S-LAND" FIGHT.

GALLANT CAPTURE OF LA BASSE

; VELLE BY'NEW ZEALANDER/S. rr ii . •• .L^-DON/Aiig,.29V _ How. the New Zealanders .captured La Basse. Ville is worth telling m f detail, for thongh.the forces, engaged were,' not. very numei-ous, theriß was some, bitter fighting and many deeds of heroism.

Lt front oi the now position -taken up byj tlie force, to the south- of Messines, lay the. ruins of the. little .village of La BaiSse. "yille. On .this front neither .army had. now any continuous line of trendies in ' their /forward positions. .. The men holding tlie front line lived uncomfortably m "the open. Day" and night "the positions, were. heavily shelled ,by.guns of va-rious calibres. Gas shells were mixed with high .explosive sbolls r .. The machineguns m the. , night, .watp^es searched),- for victims m the "Any-man'svland" that, for the time being, had taken the place of ; "No-man's-land." •

The 'first teal defences of the Germans, vpesrehehihid' the- railway. Behind' 1 -that again was the -.barrier- bf the Lys, with, its, broken . bridges purposely destroyed by ( the -enemy i* to '.har , our : further progress. Wheal the enemy wished to come our way, he came m the night, crossing m iboats. . : -'. • m his camouflaged shell-holes', he; Jay "doggo.',' "No' man may show himself by day." So ran a German order. % night the .'plucky' pat/rols crept out, . •Sliobty^-; at,-each«pther,. in the m W*y.hjh^. on occasions whjpn. .tliey met.. The Jtrst attacks .on, La, Basse *Valie ( ,was made by meiy.of a*W.elldngton Regiment. N<>t many men were employed.,.. ."Jhe Germans fought. .e.tubbornly, but, they were driveii, from ,the ; .xHlage, . and the Now, Zealanders estabilj^hed'./our, adyajiced. posts on the outskirts of the broken houses. ...,..■

The *neniy. however, suddenly cotii#erafctacked, and, our men were\di ; iven back, fifehtinfc gallantly all..theti*W Bu| -tlio New , Zealanders came . . at ' .tliem againwon the. village and held it against ail further attacks. .