THE STORY OF KEMMEL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14635, 19 June 1918, Page 4

THE STORY OF KEMMEL.

MOST STHUNG EPISODE

HEROISM OF DEFENDERS

An .outstanding feature!" of "the Germans' second, or Lys, offensive, ' which opened on April 9 and reached stability on April 29, was the heroic defence by the Frencli gai'risO^i . of Mont Kemmel, on the' 2stli. 'A' graphic story of this phase of the battle is told by the special correspondent of the London Times. He says':-— • ' * . ' '

. ' "The French were' exposed,' 1 with few : t reiiclies " and little ; shelter, and all the roads, scattered buildings, and positions ■of every kind for a wide ai'aa m tlie re^ar of the front were 'swept by a hail of projectiles' alV through the night of April At half -past three m. the morn- ' ing of the 25th a gas bombardment began, which lasted for two hours, hundreds ,oF thousands -yf ga<? shells being thrown 6yer, ; mixed with high explosives df-'all calibres'. The- French ''had to wear gas jnas'ks all night. Tliej" knew aii attack viras' comi«g/ at\d when it came at five o'clock they met it still wearing their masks.' Kemiriel Avas surrounded and lost ,-by nine o'clock m the morning. "* "An intense bombardment began be;t\veen midnight and one o'clock, and continued till between three and four, when the attack was delivered on a wide front from near Wytschaete, where British troops were 0 along the front/Kemmel to 'West of Dranoutre, -which lfrie was held by itha French. Penetration seems to have been, made; at' two points, approximately ._ simultaneously — namely, at the junction of the : ; Firaneh and the! British to the east of and through the French . on,, the\ . west— aild, pouring through on both sides, the enemy had Kemmel surrounded and the garrison cut off, as 1 1 said above, by . nine . o'clock. THE HEROIC GARRISON. "Some .day, we shall, perhaps, have a detailed account of tlie .heroic resistance of ithe' garrison after that^. Certainly fighting went on on the hill for seven or eight hours, or tilL mid-afternoon. I understand that the; French troops h|id sworn be"fore that they«?vould never leaVe Konimei to the Germans ' while they lived, and they did not, but we can oiity roughly picture the scene of which the airmen caught a glimpse as the Germans from all sides swarm sd up the hill, and 'the Frenchmen, taken on both flanks and m "the rear, fought on m lessening i numbers 'and m a gradually reducing area "until. at last only the hilltop, was crowned."with" blue as thadefendei'Sj, facing all ways,' made thear last. stand,' When all is known I Tbelieve that last fight of the "French troops on Kemmel Hill will stand as one of the most stiring episodes of, the war. ' '

"Around Kemmel itseQf the German! losses were, undoubtedly very heavy. Tha French on the hill were well supplied Wvith' machii\e-guns, and, as the German's came on m great numbers, the price by. the ; garrison '■■, for ths possession of thei hill must have been very/ high 'm the cburse of th© seven or 'eight hours, during ' which the GeE-. mans were ,forcin.g their way up ithej slopes. iScottlsli troops, . some Black' Watch among 1 them, .besides taking' good numbers of prisoners; > also inflicted extremely heavy casualties, especially at one point, where the Germans were for. a long time. exposed to machine-gun fire while struggling ifco find a way through the wire. - .-. ,- „ •, -. '.' '' .' i BRAVE RUNNERS AND BEARERS.

"If , m the later stages we had intelligence of tHe "surrounded' garrison only aeroplanes, "iVw-as because the. French . xunnei's ) were nearly- all killed, and, enemy "all round, it was impossible to send messages.- French officers spehk \iti 'the' highest possible terms of praise 'of their runners, some ,of.'yhom got through with messages 1 aftev hidinc up to their necks m water while the German' infantry went "by, arid all bahaved yei'y finely, eager to takemessages at whalevei' risk', ai>d refusing A-est.',' " ..'■'." ..'■'. " . ' •. : ; "Equally heroic were the stretcher bearers/ SVho had to bring the wounded .over two kilometres of exposed" road. 'Many.^fere' killed, "'and' it^ is 7 ' recorded 6f jone Frfeiicli ambulance crew that they #orked, for six' days arid nights without .rest. ''rtHlyfihaUyitV be killed. I"the; ' "the; Gerhiarisy attacking behind a barijagei got through on both sides of Kemmel; and iightinjr of the fiercest description went on between Dranoutre\ and Lbci ; e. ' The French, after the enemy once got round them iiitp v Draiiqutre^ refbrined m a wood juM Iseliind and nortliw.sst of the village, re-4ttaeked, drove ■the Germans out of the village, and held, it through the da^ One 1 battalion along the railway line charged with the bayonet five successive times, each time geti ting into the enemy AJid throwing theAi back until the, Germans got a machine gun round' the flank to sweep the railway with fenfilade fire; For twrtdays lt^wasa constant strugfrle • against the rising tide; 'Frehch units or fe'mall parties' were again • and again , surrounded ',> and fighting breatliXeSsslV; .fac^Jfig : m all,directions, then "sjomehoV filled the gaps, and held J p'n.'-"a'gSw7 a y '" "*-