NEW ZEALANDERS IN ACTION

Southland Times, Issue 17876, 4 September 1918, Page 5

NEW ZEALANDERS IN ACTION

APPROACHING BAPAUME. A DASHING BIT OF WORK. SPLENDID LEADERSHIP AND INITIATIVE. (Special from the Official War Correspondent.) N.Z. Divisional Headquarters, Aug. 29. The capture of Loupart Wood and enemy positions in that vicinity by the New Zealanders was a most dashing bit of work. It was accomplished by North Island troops. The Wellington troops attacked this wood, and the Auckland men marched on Grevillers, other Wellington troops being in close support ready to fill up any gaps that might occur. The troops were on the move by 2 a.m. in pitch darkness, and, proceeded toward an assembly point that none of them had ever previously seen. From there they had to go forward to an objective that had not been reconnoitred. The troops made no error in getting to the assembly point, and at 4.15 a.m. still in pitch darkness, they had taken three parts of Grevillers and were in Loupart Wood. By the afternoon they were on their final objectives. For some time there was trouble from the neighbouring village of Biefvillers. One company of a Wellington battalion with a few Aucklanders was therefore diverted to the attack and capture of Biefvillers. Another New Zealand unit also co-operated splendidly in the capture of this village, which enabled our troops to continue their advance through the rest of Grevillers. In this brilliant enterprise the New Zealanders captured a large number of prisoners, a battery of 5.9 guns, a number of other guns, and many machine-guns. The remarkable feature of the operation was the celerity with which it was planned and carried out. There was not time to put a single order on paper, and the positions were stormed in darkness without the firing of a single round from the artillery. Both leadership and initiative must" have been splendid to enable our troops to get there. OCCUPATION OF BAPAUME. PRESSING ON BEYOND. THE WAR OF MOVEMENT. August 29 (II a.m.) The New Zealanders have taken Bapaume. Early this morning our patrols entered the outskirts of the town. North Island troops are now right through the town, and pushing on apparently with little resistance from the enemy, who, having been so "severely handled in the previous lighting, eventually had to get out. August 29 (noon). The Rifles share with the North Island troops the honour of getting through Bapaume this morning. The former went through on the north side and the latter on the south, the two units meeting at the brickworks on the eastern side. Both brigades are now marching forward in great heart on Fremicourt and Bancourt. The day is fine, with sunshine and a drying wind. August 29 (8 p.m.l Pressing beyond Bapaume, our troops went on till they found the enemy holding a trench line on the high ground northwest of Beugny. They are now close to the villages of Bcugnatre, Ormiscourt, and Bancourt, which are more than a mile beyond Bapaume, on its eastern side. To-day on the battlefield one saw something of the war of movement. A gallop across country unfolded exhilarating scenes. Our transport was already pouring up into the new territory we had occupied, and the various headquarters had moved up to the advanced positions. These are dry, but have scant accommodation, and one finds major-generals sleeping at night in their valises on the bare ground. The officers are established in dugouts in which there is scarcely room to turn. But everyone is working cheerfully and tirelessly to maintain the initiative we now possess. Riding to-day well north of Bapaume we saw our howitzers being rushed along a road. They were being towed by motor lorries. Some enemy planes came flying low over us, and immediately there was a fusillade of machine-gun and rifle bullets. German shells were now bursting in Bapaume and along the old parts, but our men are beyond the town. Near our new headquarters was a group of prisoners captured in advance by the Rifle Brigade. They were Saxons. A company officer said they had been cut off by our machine-gun fire. His corporal and others had been killed, and they had to surrender to the New Zealanders. He himself was a Dresden man, and had learned English from an English friend who used to play tennis with him. He thought that the German intention was to retire to the Hindenhurg line. Among the booty raptured by us this morning were two 15-centimctrc guns and five horses. ANOTHER ATTACK. ADDITIONAL VILLAGES CAPTURED. August. 30. At an early hour this morning wc were awakened by the continuous thunder of artillery. It was the signal for a renewal of the' attack by the New Zealanders. With their almost irresistible dash and undaunted courage they followed the heavy barrage, heading straight for two more villages Fremicourt and Bancourt, well beyond Bapaume. There had been rain in the night, and at 5 a.m., when they advanced, it was cold and raw. It was not long before Fremicourt, though it was well garrisoned, had fallen to the Rifles, with an excellent bag of 240 prisoners. On their left English troops co-operated in the attack. To the south was the smaller village of Bancourt. The capture of this was allotted to the North Island troops, on whose right were other English troops protecting their flanks. This attack also succeeded. and both attacking forces at once began to rush to objectives further ahead. ’The enemy hud, however, established themselves in 'inch ground beyond the village, and had prepared strongly to contest the position. They still have their artillery in strength beyond the crest of the ridge, as so far they have lost few guns in the fighting here.

ATTACK EAST OF BAPAUME. CREST SUCCESSFULLY RUSHED. INDICATIONS OF FURTHER RETREAT. August 30. Another flay has gone well for us. All the men I have seen who were in this morning’s attack speak well of tlm barrage, but the rifles advancing on Fremicourt met with considerable machine-gun fire and suffered some casualties. Bancourt, like its sister village, was stoutly defended, but the New Zealanders were not to be denied. Bavarian prisoners who were in the attack told me that they had orders to hold on there. Their defences, they said, were mainly outside the village. Four companies were disposed in front and on the flanks of the village, each with four machineguns. They had retired from Bapaume, where their strength in six days’ fighting had been reduced, mainly by shellfire and sickness, to thirty per company. The nervous strain was beginning to tell on them. Their food in the trenches was better than when they were behind the line. For some time now they, had been EATING THE FLESH OF HORSES killed in battle, but they made no com plaint on that score. Horseflesh made good soup, they said. There were civilians in Cambrai, but none on this side of it. Their men had heard from their comrades of the German defeat on the Marne. At one of our advanced dressing stations I found several prisoners, Red Cross men who had helped with the wounded. These were enjoying a meal of bread and butter and bully beef, and seemed very surprised to get such good food. Bapaume is in very much the same condition as Yprcs was about six months ago. The Germans have left

little in the town, even a statue of Faidherbe who defended the town in the 1870 war, has gone. At the railway station, however, the enemy left a large store of coal and a large quantity of metal and crushed stone. It seemed as if he had decided to settle down in this country, and was about to build concrete pill boxes for its defence. However he has had no time to do that, and the metal will come in useful for our roads. The town was STILL BEING SHELLED this morning, some New Zealand walking wounded, and four of our infantrymen bearing wounded comrades on their shoulders, came down the main street as shells were bursting. At the same moment there was a regular fusilade of fire from the ‘‘ Archies” and machine-guns as the Boches’ airmen daringly attacked one of our balloons. On part of our attacking line this morning there was heavy machine-gun fire, and scattered but not very heavy shelling. The

TANKS GAVE VALUABLE AID, and one of them captured a field battery which it cut off. The German machinegunners fought till our men were right on them, and then “Kameraded.” Others with the infantrymen ran before the barrage to the crest of the ridge, where they proceeded to make a stand.. From there they attempt-counter-attack but our artillery got on to them and they quickly faded away. One of our machine-gunners who had gone forward expecting to find one of our units in some trenches, found only Germans there, and got a rifle bullet through his wrist. He, however, got back with a companion to his own lines. The New Zealand machinegunners got a lot of shooting at the retreating and defending enemy, not only with their own but also with German machineguns. They found German machine-guns in almost every shellhole, and before long every single man in our crews was firing a gun. There has been plenty of abandoned ammunition and our men arc becoming expert in the use of the German gun. Our TOLL OF PRISONERS is daily mounting up. The Wellington and Auckland men who captured Bancourt today added considerably to the number. The weather has again cleared. September 1, Our tireless troops arc still pushing on this morning. With a brilliant dash they captured the remainder of the ridge north of the Bapaume-Cambrai road near Fremicourt. It was a minor operation, but it relieved an awkward position for us, and in addition to quite a fair toll of German killed and wounded, it gave us a haul of prisoners out of all proportion to the number of troops we employed. Before dawn our artillery barrage suddenly burst on the enemy’s position, and our advancing waves were quickly on the crest of the ridge. It was AUCKLAND AND WELLINGTON UNITS that were engaged. Our casualties were mainly from machine-gun fire. The crest of the hill once gained our men found no shelter there. It was quite open country, and they proceeded to dig in in very hard ground. The enemy was equally without cover, and such as could get away from the barrage at once commenced to retreat according to orders. At these our gunners and infantry shot with good effect. Early in the morning I saw a batch of over 100 prisoners being marched down, but this did not by any means complete the toll. Their shoulder-straps showed them to be a mixed lot from several regipients. One new division, a Prussian one, had come down from Flanders, and some of these were in the fight. Wc captured Prussians, Saxons, and Bavarians. As I write it sounds as if the enemy was exploding dumps hj long way behind his present line. If this is so it is probably the preliminary to a further retreat. MESSAGES FROM MR MASSEY AND SIR J. G. WARD. N.Z. TROOPS CONGRATULATED. LONDON, September 2. Received September 3, 8.15 p.m. Mr Massey and Sir J. G. Ward have issued messages to the New Zealand troops. Mr Massey says he trusts the victories will continue until liberty triumphs. May it come quickly, but until it comes let soldiers and civilians do their duty in order to make the peace honourable and permanent. Sir J. G. Ward congratulates the troops specially on the capture of Bapaume, which confirms the New Zealanders’ highest reputation. He found them spoken of in the very highest terms as men as well as soldiers. He regrets that the exigencies of the service prevented all long service men visiting the dominion, but leave will be granted in future as far as possible. Sir .1. G. Ward pays a tribute to the services of the nursing staff and the women and others assisting at the clubs, canteens, etc.