WAIKATO'S IN ACTION

Waikato Times, Volume 89, Issue 13850, 30 August 1918, Page 5

WAIKATO'S IN ACTION

HOT FIGHTING. ADVAM.i; UN MAI'AI'MK. GEHM \.\ liIS<»BiiAMSATION. '.Special from \./. nflicial War GorI • •I.' I! Ifi • • 111. > August 2. r ». 1 from .ill parts of New /<•;)- I in«l 11:i vi• now l-'-.n in tin' l>ultl»%. which is nigiiu' aloni: the British front, and ill have :<<-• 111j11••<I th<*nis.-lv«-s well, in the attack nil Grevilters yesterday tf]c Otago and Waikato Wen

were oil til l ' left. The Aljcl- laild troops Went right through the village, while yet fit her Auckland ;yid Wellington troops were on the right. The enemy foughl at the start with rilies and machine-?.'i ins. Un ■ company moving along a heilfrc at first nii'l with no resistance, but at the end of the hedge six machine-guns from a wood on the right opened fire on them. Several of the enemy sh«'lterin:r in dug-outs were captured.

Kor a time a hut lire was poured on the advancing New Zealanders, and they had to take what shelter they could hastily find. Opportunely a lank came up, and the German machinegunners, who know too well the habits id' these thick-skinned monsters, took to their heels, the Aucklanders and others shooting at. them as they ran. Then our men managed to get across the ridge. They were, however, still held up by machine-guns ahead. Several men went forward to endeavour to locate these guns, but without success, and further casualties were suffered by a German trench-mortar barrage. The Germans also aimed at the tanlcs with their anti-tank guns, and the shells from these inflicted further casualties among the infantry, bul Our Men held Gallantly On. One man's head was blown clean off. Some of the tanks were damaged, but our men still held the line they had gained.

An Aucklander who was in this tight told hie that the spirit of the men and their cheerfulness was really wonderful. Yesterday afternoon we were holdin? a line from Loupart Wood past Grevillers, both of which we had taken to the east and north of the outskirts of Riefvillers, which was also in our hands. To the east was Bapaume, about 2000 yards away, and north of the little village of Favreuil. From both of these places we were concentrated at 1 p.m., under cover of artillery and machine-gun fire to meet a counter-attack, which drove back our posls about T)00 yards. For the rest of the day our line remained unchanged and the night was fairly quiet. The Wellington troops last night in patrol encounters south of Loupart Wood captured six machine-guns and 2H prisoners. It was decided to renew the attack this morning with the aid of an artillery barrage. During the night the attacking troops formed up on their assembly lines, and at T> o'clock a heavy barrage from our'artillery burst upon the ground held by the enemy in front of our troops, who advanced and captured Avesnes le Bapaume, a village on the outskirts of Bapaume, and the ridge on the left as far as the Monument Gommenioralif, on the Bapaume-Arras road. This brought our troops within 1000 yards and Well Abreast of Bapaume. When tliev had reached the Monument they were held up by heavy machine-gun (ire from a narrow curving strip of the wood just south of the Monument and from the west outskirts of Favreuil village, and were unable to proceed further. The enemy was now fighting determinedly, and it was evident that he meant to hang on as long as possible in the hope of perhaps staving off the capture of Bapaume itself. Meantime an English division oil our left had taken Sapignies, farther north on the Arras-Bapaume road, and we were in touch with these troops. Our left battalion suffered rather heavy casualties, but on (tie remainder of the front our casualties were little, and mainly from machine-gun tire, (in the right Hank Iho North Island troops conformed to the advance of the English division on our right. Tliary were merely marking lime, and had no lighting to speak of. I saw some of the wounded who had been in tiiis light— Otago and Canterbury men. They were quite cheerful. One had a broken leg, and another with a naslv wound in his cheek was yet able to get solace from his pipe. A third, asked what his wound was like, replied: "Oh! just a bit of a shell in the back and bulletwound. Tres bien, the whizbang. I might get a Blighty out of it. Anyhow, I chased enough Huns to last me for a couple of months." Several Southerners who were in the thick of the tight admitted that

The Enemy Fought Well this morning. "They fought every yard of the \v;iy," said one. "There was no hands up about it this morning." Certainly nearly all the prisoners I saw were a healthy-looking lot. There were a treat number of wounded Hermans, and one saw them being carried in by our and their own stretcher-bearers and infantry, while Herman stretcherhearers also were carrying in our wounded. We must have got between "{OO and 'ioo prisoners. The majority of them seemed to be only too glalT to lie done with the war. To-day was hot and sunshiny. Traffic poured along the country roads in clouds of dust, sometimes as thick as a London fog. To-night there is a thunderstorm away in the direction of I-ongueval, where the enemy was blowing ii]) his ammunition dumps, (treat columns of smoke rose from behind the crest of the ridge 1000 feet in the air as six dumps went up one after another. From an airman who came down with a bullet through his petrol tank we gathered that the enemy transport going back along his roads was in a state in congestion and disorganisation. It was being continually harassed by our long-range guns and aircraft. His method of staying our advance also gives proof of disorganisation, as units are being pushed in hero and there irrespective of their regiments. Tomorrow 1 lie New /lealanders should he able to Walk into Bapaume, and a strategic success will have I n :KYo|ii!.|is||ed. lloW far beyond llie attack will go it is impossible to say, luit there may slill be some surprises in store for the enemy, August Heavy nin in the, night turned the dusl\ roads into rivers of mud, and in the darkness the transport with the Knglisli troops had a hard time, but triumphed over the dillicullies. The. X.'W /"alandiTS attacked again last evening with the Knglish troops, and the Milage of Fa vi'i". li I fell. The New Xea landi is are pushing i> r i I lie right. Tins brings our an-n well beyond the s*a 11 a u 11! t■ - Arras r tad. «i > * t'l ita 11 machini - gunnel's are slill in R ip;,nine, hut the hevn eannol 1..51 much longer. I.ast, night we captin ed a na\,i| stalT-surgeon who was \ isitmg a regaiental si iffsurgeon, also II:.• I liter and a battalion "iodic.|| oliieer. The latter is ipnle a -iimt fellow, and is now working cliei fuily wtili our medical servic.