WHOLE ARMY ASIONISHED.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14712, 18 September 1918, Page 9

WHOLE ARMY ASIONISHED.

FRITZ IN GRJftAT CONFITSIOX.

(Sydney Sun Special.) ' LON'IJON, Sept. Mr Basch Thomas (J>;uly Mail correspondent) says that the Cent by which the Australians 'Oaptured Mount. St. Q uen tiii astonished the remainder of the a-nny almost as much as the enemy. • The. first int aim tion that something in.credible had ha-p-pened was th« early morning spec-tac.e ol a large group of. (ac-i-mans, inclacling a= bafta.':icfe\ .eatraiwn-' tier, marching' ;ih ' the" diraction. of tlie: reiri : '* The ini|)os.~;bie had .happened — a thing beyond the enemy's .worst fears. ifoHowhig hot, 1 on the retreat- of the. cneaiy, tli^ Aus'tialiaris secretly slipped! across the. river at night, throwing axj -i e-iastic wedge of troops north of Mount »Sl. .Quejiliii.... ■ . - -; " ■. At 5 o'clock a mixed 1 , bar rage of field guns aid- howitzers, with heavy Jongrangers behind,- .smashed - ; the- acres of wiva and tYenchos on the sloped ■ : . The remainder "uf the Australians fol'owed m -broadi daylight, and working .almost iiidivKluallr, stinashed the elaborate network of trenches. \ Once there, the plafcoon-leaders had the tinri'O of their lives. By little rus.hes; with quickness and cunning, they took wha,fc ti-enchcs they wanted and cut- off the remainder! •"','' ' • By 8 o'clock two battalions had taken 10C0 prisoners, and 'had- won the ■mount, which was .'considered' so nearly impregnable during "the- first', battle of the Somme 'that a special .gun of the biggest calibre, was .specia-Uy manufaftiired to deal with it alone: When Mr Thomas traversed the hill m 1917 it took him half ah, hour to get l!ninij,4i. J)hV wire ofxthe mount then ssr-med ,. to^ him ahsolutely unstbrriiable. ■yet -the Australiaiis captured it wifliiii nn hour, with, a total loss 'of 25 casualties. Tliy mount. stands head and shoulders above' Peronne.' It , praeticailly is .Perciuie, but the. Australiiaiis, not content with.. making* the town, untenable, swung eastward across- -f.hfc : PerbnTi-e-B'fiipa.umu> road, cutting off a:!l is treat' for the garrison. *■*■ '•-.- ■■■■'■-. THE DEADLY DIGGER. ' j The Evening "stand a r-d,- referring to the capture ■ .'of Mount SC Quentin and l'eronne. says that, according to- competent military authorities,' the Austraj linns, man for. man, have tins greatest I killing : Capacity. -; amongst the' Allied troops. '...-, ,-. ..-.' . I U«utei-'s correspondent B.aysi : The j story 01. tho Aristralvan success' around i Peronne _iis spleiKiid. Between August [29 and 31 the' troops covered 3% miles Jon a front of 'three injles. Thd frontial j ciorfng of tJie river Jiad "to be abaiidbrted owing to the strength of the enemy arid the ma-rshy -nature--'of- the ground. The Germans fully e'xpepted an attack upon Peronne. froih the river. All dis, positions were nwide .with a view tp a l'ronital resistance. . '■"-■ A cleverly-executed turning- movement completleily surjprised the Germa<ns and threw them ( into confusion. Our casualties were amazingly gmalU, working out at one-tenth- 'of the number of the pi'isonet's taken. .''". ' «i The policy of these incamparaible h'ghters is to let the Boches dig trenches and to give them every opportunity to do so, then " to go and take them, m cider to secure cover for themselves. German officers captured at Mount St. Quentin sulkily complained of the lack of .sportsmanship- on the part of the Australians m creeping around their flanks. "I'LL DEAL WITH- IT.' * .Mv Perry .Robinson,, the Times correspondent, telegraphs ': — An Australian, corporal who participated m the taking of Mount. St. Quentin won the Victoria Cross m tlie following manner: Overhearing- the ' staff discussing how best to deal with a knotty post, he - seized a- single bomb, and exclaiming 'Til .deal with it." crept out to tlie post, knocked down the sentry, and coTn'.f)'<jlled' an : officer and 13 inmates to 'aprrender under the threat of ' the bomb.