Chapter X The Final Stages of the War

On the lst June, while the lst Battery was covering our front, at 3.30 a.m. the S.O.S. went up from our front line and was followed by intense gunfire for about forty minutes. The mortars tested the S.O.S. line, firing a considerable number of rounds, and this fire was beautifully distributed about forty yards in front of our position all along the line. At daybreak a dense cloud of smoke was seen rising from the enemy lines, rendered it probable that a dump of some description had been blown up by our fire. No attack was made by the enemy, however, and so, by way of a little reminder that we were still there, in the afternoon the Stokes fired a number of rounds at various Hun posts, and direct hits were obtained and the enemy were observed removing their wounded.

The continuous harassing fire of the Stokes Mortars day after day told very severely on the Huns opposed to us at this point and affected their morale considerably, as we learned from time to time from prisoners who were captured.

On the 2nd July the 3rd Battery relieved the 172nd Light Trench Mortar Battery in the centre sector of the 4th Corps' front near Hebuterne, and during this period of their tour in the line they conducted a number of very successful shoots on Fusilier Trench and on enemy dugouts and machine guns.

On the 20th July, during the night, Fritz evacuated Rossignol Wood, the position near Hebuterne above referred to, blowing up his pill-boxes and dug-outs before leaving. Our Trench Mortars (2nd Battery) followed behind our reconnoitring patrols, which were sent out, our orders being to give them covering fire if necessary until they obtained touch with the enemy. Twenty rounds were fired page 101on enemy machine guns, completely silencing them in each instance.

The following night—21st—and again on the following morning the Hun heavily shelled our new position, and while two guns and teams were returning after a shoot a stray shell landed amongst them, killing two men and wounding four others.

On the 24th, at 5 p.m., the 2nd Battery put over 500 rounds as a barrage for the Infantry advance, and the Hun retaliated heavily during the night, when two more members of this Battery were killed.

On the 25th the Hun directed an attack against our line just as our relief was taking place, and attempted to retake our previous day's captured positions. His attack was unsuccessful, and he had a bad time of it with the barrage put down in response to our s.o.s.

During the period just mentioned a number of Americans were attached to the various page 102batteries for training in the work of the trench mortars in the line, and showed considerable aptitude after a few days' experience.

On the 14th August, after a very quiet week in the line (at this period the 2nd Battery was covering our front) it was discovered that the enemy had evacuated his forward positions, and during the day our mortars moved forward with the Infantry, giving covering fire where necessary, and at about 6 p.m. twenty rounds were fired on an enemy post before it was rushed by the Infantry. The Infantry then consolidated their line of posts, and the mortars registered on an S.O.S. line covering the advanced outposts.

The following day was a busy one chasing Huns and getting shells forward to the guns. The 2nd Battery captured a machine gun. The advance was not going to be a walkover, however, as the following day, the 16th, a number of trench mortar gunners were wounded.

This preliminary advance, however, was only preparatory to the big Allied offensive, rumours of which had reached our ears, and on the 29th August the great offensive commenced, which was not to stop until the end of the War.

This offensive was the one we had all dreamed of and hoped for and talked about for years, but wondered how long it would be in coming and what a great one it was to be.

The next serious fighting the Stokes came in for was in the open fighting in the attack on Baupaume, and here a number of casualties were suffered.

On the 26th August the 3rd Battery set out from their brigade for Grevillers, arriving there about 11 p.m., and went into the line with six guns, and the following day went forward at zero with the Infantry, meeting with little opposition from the enemy. During the attack at Baupaume on lst September by the lst Battery N.Z.R.B. one gun of the page 1043rd Battery fired fifteen rounds on to an enemy machine gun and crew, killing the latter and putting the gun out of action.

In the succeeding operations in September the 3rd Battery had a severe task in the Havrincourt Wood operation on the 12th, when they fired 360 rounds during the opening bombardment to assist the advance of the 2nd and 4th Battalions N.Z.R.B.

The Infantry were now closely pursuing the Hun, and on the 14th the New Zealand Division were relieved and full advantage was taken of the rest. At the end of the month (27th) the news was very good, the advance was still going well and everyone was in good spirits and fit again after the spell.

The 2nd October found the 2nd Trench Mortar Battery in the old Hindenburg support line with its battery headquarters in one of the famous Hun concrete dugouts. This was the day that made us feel as if things were going exceptionally well with us, as we received page 105the news of Bulgaria's unconditional surrender to the Allies. The following day we heard St. Quentin had fallen and Cambrai was noticed to be on fire, and on the 5th the Bosche was reported to be retiring every where.

On the 8th October the 3rd and 4th Armies resumed the attack, and of the New Zealand Division the 2nd and 3rd Brigades attacked. Eight of the guns of the 2nd Light Trench Mortar Battery put down a barrage on the enemy's forward defences at zero hour, and on the Infantry moving forward the guns were loaded on limbers, moved forward, and consolidated with the Infantry on reaching the final objectives, and during the night some of the guns were moved further forward to assist the Brigade in the attack on the following morning, the task of the mortars being to barrage a ravine which favoured the enemy as a line of approach for counter-attacks.

When the attack was launched the following morning it was found that Fritz was re-page 106treating all along the line with us in close pursuit. On we went on the 10th in our pursuit, some of the batteries camping for the night in Beauvois in houses which had been well ransacked by the Huns before leaving. A number of French civilians were met who had been hiding in cellars for the last ten days, and they were truly delighted to see the "diggers" come along, as these unfortunate people had been without food for several days. They were invited to tea with our 2nd Battery, a kindness which they greatly appreciated, and our men were very happy to share their rations with these poor homeless French people, for whom we had a great regard and sympathy. What a wonderful race the French are! How tenacious! How buoyant! They never left their homes until they knew it was hopeless to remain, and often we found them still in their little homes in villages under very heavy shell fire.

What a contrast these days of open warfare were to the months of monotony in the Ypres Salient, which was rightly named the Graveyard of Flanders. The thoughts that ran through the minds of many were, "Oh, if our pals who went West in the earlier days of trench warfare could only be here now, how they would revel in this kind of war!"

In open warfare one got a run for one's money (to use a racing expression), but in trench warfare you did not, as you very seldom saw the Hun, and he very seldom saw you; and yet daily on both sides many were killed and wounded. The initiative of our diggers was brought out in the open warfare more than it had ever been brought out before, and gave the individual soldier a chance to prove his worth. The men realised this, and in consequence there are recorded in all the page 108works of the different branches of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force many of the brave deeds of our men, some of which were recognised by authority, and hundreds of which passed without any recognition.

On the 4th November the 1st and 4th Armies resumed the attack, the barrage from hundreds of guns of every calibre, machine guns and trench mortars opening up punctually at 5.30 a.m., the task of the 1st and 2nd Light Trench Mortar Batteries being to straafe some forward machine-gun positions of the Hun.

The New Zealand Division attacked in conjunction with the 37th Division on the right and the 62nd on the left. The 1st and 3rd Brigades were the assaulting brigades. The 3rd Brigade captured the fortified town of Le Quesnoy during the afternoon, and the 2nd Brigade advanced through the 1st Brigade. The capture of this important fortified town was a fitting end to the part New Zealand page break

Sketch of Mortar, set up.

page break page 109played on the battlefields of France and Belgium.

The 1st and 2nd Batteries remained at Le Quesnoy until the 11th November. On the 10th November the President of France, M. Poincarè, visited the town and congratulated the inhabitants on their deliverance. On the 11th a move was made to Beauvois, where word was received that the Armistice was signed. The feelings of the troops were those of joy, disappointment, and sorrow— joy for the knowledge that Europe was freed from the yoke of the Teuton Beast that sought "world power or downfall," disappointment that we had not gone on a short time longer and entered Germany to teach the Hun civilians that Germany had really been vanquished, and sorrow for those dear comrades who had not lived to see the day of our success, and who had fought and laid down their lives so nobly in the fight for "Right against Might." They gave their lives that we might live and that page 110our great Empire should still endure, and God in His Goodness has taken them into His Kingdom. Their names liveth for evermore.

This completes my imperfect narrative of the deeds of the men of the Trench Mortars in the War. A new adaptation of an age-old weapon, the mortars, as will he seen from the foregoing, rendered important services in the great conflict, which were not surpassed by those artillery weapons which were the last word in modern scientific achievement. In rapidity of movement, promptitude of fire, effectiveness in destroying obstacles to the advance, and the devastation they created in the Hun ranks and positions, those unpretentious engines of war deservedly earned the admiration and even the affection of the men by whom they were controlled.

Finis.