NEW ZEALAND DIVISION.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 February 1919, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND DIVISION.

AWARDS FOR HEROISM,

SOME INTERESTING NARRATIVES. (From Captain Malcolm Ross, Official Correspondent with the Aew Zealand forces in the Field). January 30. There is published this morning what will probably be the final lighting list of honors and awards made by JJ'ieldMarshal llsiig to tin, -New Zealandera' Division. Colonel o.i.uuib, commanding tile Second Battalion i;>llcb, gets' a bar to the D.S.O. ior l.is resource and skill in fighting at Quesnoy. On November 4th, the enemy, who was holding the railway cmbaukment in front of the city, brought such a heavy machinegun lire to bear that our attack was temporarily held up. Colonel Jardine used his re' serves with such success, promptitude, and skill that the advance could be continued. The enemy also held strong commanding positions on the ramparts, using field guns, minnenwerfer, machineguns, and rifles on our attacking troops, but Colonel Jardine went under lire from company to company directing the operations and pushing his men from position to position until he out-man-oeuvred tlie enemy and subdued the enemy's fire, thereby materially helping to bring about the fall of the townThree bars to the Military Cross arc awarded, pna to Lieutenant McMinn, of the Rifles, who, oil October 31st, did fine work with a patrol in locating enemy positions near Quesnoy. This small patrol of six all told found forty Germans occupying a railwav fitting, fired on them with rifles, and also enfiladed them with Lewis guns. McMinn, realising the seriousness of the position should the enemy attack, rushed along the railway for 200 yards and, singlebanded, fell upon the enemy, killing several and thoroughly disorganising the others. By this sudden and gallant action his little party effected the surrender of one officer and thirty-seven of other ranks. Captain Greenish, of the* Third Battalion Rifles, while pressing forward with his company to a second objective on November 4th, came into country devoid of cover and swept by enemy ma-chine-guns in commanding positions. Fearlessly lis led his men forward, putting some of the enemy to flight and capturing others, whereby the second objective was gained. The third bar to the Cross was gained by Lieutenant Hugh Johnston, First Canterburys, for his gallant leadership near Mormal Forest. On November st!i he led a rush forward, and captured a machine-gun; and at one time when his company was surrounded fought his way out and drove the enemy off. He th<>» reorganised and led his company forward, capturing his objective in the face i of heavy machine-gun and shell-fire- Like many others, he showed in this determined fighting absolute disregard for his own safety. The Military Cross has been awarded to twenty-two men. One is to Padre Eob;oii. of the First Canterbury Regiment, for work under heavy shell-fire amongst the wounded in the vicinity of Mormal l''ore9t. "After the battalion had beei: relieved, he remained behind the whole day, under very heavy shellfive, to bury its dead, a task that was not completed til! darkness fell-Machine-gunners are amongst those who have gained the Military Cross. One of Uif most conspicuous is Lieutenant A. R-' Cuitis, who did Sns woik with his Vickers gun In Moimai Forest. When approaching a forester's house hia section came into a force with a barrage of gas and high explosives, and, finding the road blown up in several places, and the ground in a bogey condition, man-handled their limbers off the road through scrub to a sound position. Curtis, with fine initiative, later made good, and silenced the enemy machine-guns that wer« shooting at our consolidating troops. Auckland, Canterbury, Wellington, and Otago infantry officers figure in this list for acts of gallantry, skill, and initiative that led to tlie (tenth of many Germans and the capture of prisoners and field and machine-guns.. The list will reach you in due course from the High Commissioner's office. One of the recipients is Lieutenant Harold Domigan, of the First Otagos, who was in command of a companyRe advanced 1000 yards in the dusk over unknown ground, crossed the Evnillon river, east of Ueaudignies, established bridgeheads, and made goodthe high ground a thousand yards beyond. At one stage he turned an enemy position, capturiilg three officers and seventy-five men of other ranks, ( and seven machine-guns. Having made good the high ground, he pushed patrols forward another 1000 yards, and, receiving no news of his patrols for some time, his runners unknown to him having been killed, he himself Went forward to them, and established touch wit!; a unit on his flank. All through the two days of this advance this young officer, with the heavy: responsibility of a company command, displayed intrepidity and leadership of a high orderFifteen n.c.o's and men have won the D CM. Among those who gained the bar to the DjS.O. for courage and leadership in the resent fighting was LieutenantColonel Robert Allen, of the Auckland Regiment, who was attached to the First Battalion Rifle Brigade. In an attack at Grcveeoeur early in October he displayed remarkable courage under fire, and groat skill in command of his battalion. During the attack his headquarters wao heavily shelled, and all his officers save one became casualties. T-To himself was wounded, yet remained to superintend the evacuation of the other wounded. At Le Quesnoy, on November 4th. although constantly under heav)y artillery amd machine-gun fire, he moved from company to commnv throughout the attack, personally directing operations, He was wounded in the log, hut, carried on till all his objectives were taken. He and his brother are well-known throughout the division for their great daring and able leadership Each has been wounded four times, and by all ordinary laws of chance each should have been killed before the end of the campaign. Lientenant-Cr-lonel McQuarrie, who from the flnliinnli days onward has had a distinguished career in artillery, has been awarded the fi.S.O. RETIREMENT OF GENERAL RUSSELL. London. Feb. 3. To-day General Russell severed his long nnd bvilliant connection with the New Zealand Division. We have known him ns a soldier of keen initiative, nuiek decision, and tireless energy, and above all, n- ■■ ctnlknt leader. He himself has f-' ■ n)l the chances of war, in order ' ho welfare of his men should never be left to chance. He was known to almost every officer and w in the

front line, and there i® scarcely a yard of it over which he has not travelled. Frequently his visits to the lina were mora than exciting, and he had many, lucky escapes, his closest call being just after the Battle of Messines, when an enemy sniper grazed his nkull with a bullet that went clean through his steel helmet. Somewhat of an idealist, General Russell yet managed, even in the most strenuous times, to give his schemes for recreation and the education of the men a practical tu'rn. The honors which came to him unsought be wore with becoming modesty, regarding them largely in the nature of a tribute to the initiative and dauntless courage of the' splendid officers and men it was his good, fortune to command. As one who has watched his military career from the Gallipoli days onward and has seen him in every battle the New Zealanders fought, from Sari Bair to Le Quesnoy, I may, now that he has left us, exprgss this tribute which 1 know is fully concurred in by everyone in the division. All who are left regret his going, and all who have served under him will wish him continued success in whatever sphere of life he may now engage in Like many who have borne the continuous stress and strain of four years of war, his heart has suffered somewhat, and it is his intention, after spending a brief holiday in Southern France, to return to New Zealand at the .earliest opportunity.