CAPTURE OF LE QUESNOY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 263, 6 November 1931, Page 8

CAPTURE OF LE QUESNOY

NEW ZEALANDERS’ EXPLOIT THIRTEENTH ANNIVERSARY The capture of Le Quesnoy by the New Zealand Division, an operation which was part of the tremendous onslaught by the British, ending in the capture of Mons and the acceptance by the Germans of the armistice terms a week later, occurred 13 years ago on Wednesday last. Le Quesnoy, fortified by ancient ramparts, was stormed by the New Zealanders more after the manner of medieval than modern warfare, scaling ladders being used and breaches made in the walls. Only machine-gun fire prevented the attackers from storming the keep of the fortress. The German commander rejected the verbal summons to surrender. The New Zealanders therefore pressed forward on the flanks and broke through the enemy lines, capturing 100 guns. Later they forced the ramparts of the town and captured what was left of the garrison. It is recorded that the first of the New Zealanders to enter Le Quesnoy was Second-Lieutenant L. C. L. Averill, a son of Archbishop Averill, Primate of New Zealand, and Second-Lieutenant H. W. Kerr. They placed a scaling ladder against a knife-edged stone conduit, which spanned the water of the inner moat. Within a quarter of an hour of their daring exploit the town was in the hands of the New Zealanders.