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Chapter XXX.
Gravenstafel.

FOR the attack on the 4th October, the II. Anzac Corps' final objective ran from near the intersection of the Ypres-Roulers railway along the eastern slopes of the Gravenstafel Spur to Kron Prinz Farm. The 3rd Australian Division, with whom the New Zealand Division had for long been associated, was to attack on the right and the New Zealand Division on the left, with a brigade from each of the 49th and With Divisions in Corps reserve. The New Zealand Division's frontage was about two thousand yards, and the enemy's defences were to be penetrated to a depth of about one thousand yards and no more, in pursuance of the policy of strictly limited objective which then obtained. The first objective was to be called the Red Line, and was to be just short of Gravenstafel village. The final objective was to be beyond Gravenstafel down towards the Stroombeek valley, and was to be known as the Blue Line, behind which there was to be a support line known as the Blue Dotted Line.

The First and Fourth Brigades of the New Zealand Division were to attack side by side, the latter being on the right. On our 4th Brigade's right was the 3rd Australian Division, and on the left of our 1st Brigade, the 48th page 214British Division of another Army Corps. The 4th Brigade's frontage was about eight hundred yards, its task being considered likely to be the more difficult one, including as it did, the village of Gravenstafel and Abraham Heights. The system of leapfrogging was to be adopted and, when 3rd Auckland and 3rd Otago had reached the first objective (the Red Line), 3rd Canterbury and 3rd Wellington were to pass through them on to the final objective, the Blue Line, 3rd Wellington, going through 3rd Otago. The latter's area embraced Wimbledon dugouts and Van Meulen Farm, while 3rd Wellington included Gravenstafel village, Berlin Pill Boxes, and Waterloo Farm.

As for the First Brigade, it was to advance on a 1200 yards frontage with 1st Wellington on the right and 1st Auckland on the left. They were to take the Red Line, and then 2nd Auckland was to pass through 1st Wellington, while 2nd Wellington went through 1st Auckland on to the final objective.

The 2nd Battalion was the first to move up into the line, for, on the 30th September, that battalion was taken by buses to Vlamertinghe, and from there marched to a position in the old German support, line, with battalion headquarters at Cal Farm. On the 1st October, both 1st and 3rd Battalions marched to Goldfish Chateau and bivouaced in the fields there, the men digging holes in the ground in which to sleep, so that, unless by direct hit, aeroplane bombs would be unlikely to injure them. Owing to the great amount of traffic on the dusty road, the march was much delayed, and very tedious. What a handsome residence Goldfish Chateau must once have been!

On the following day, final details for the attack were completed. That evening, the 1st Battalion relieved 2nd Canterbury in the front line system of posts of the right brigade sub-sector with headquarters at Kansas House. On the way up Capt. R. W. Wrightson and Lieut. G. H. Roach (Adjutant and Signalling Officer respectively) were wounded by shell fire near Wieltje Dugout. The same evening, half the companies and all the officers of the 3rd Battalion page 215marched up, via No. 5 track, to the old British Front Line, where they were joined, the following day, by the remainder of that battalion.

On the 3rd, in fine weather, detailed reconnaissances of forward areas were made by battalion and company commanders, and, as far as possible, by platoon and section commanders in daylight. Routes of approach to assembly positions were allotted and extra crossings over the Hanebeek Stream arranged for, and all details made for assembly and the preliminary move forward.

During the evening of the 3rd October, the companies of the 3rd Battalion, one by one, left the old trench and moved up to the point of assembly at Pommern Redoubt. The men lay in shell holes there, and made themselves as comfortable us possible for the night.

Shortly after midnight, our 2nd Battalion also began to assemble, Taranaki Company (Major Hamilton) and Ruahine Company (Capt. H. F. Boscawen) moved via St. Julien Road and assembled east of the Hanebeek, while the other two companies moved along the road past Spree Farm and assembled in rear of Schuler Galleries. All were in position by 4 o'clock a.m., with 2nd Battalion headquarters at Schuler Farm.

Zero hour was fixed for 6 o'clock in the morning. About midnight the weather had broken and light rain started to fall. It was a wet, bleak morning with a cold wind blowing from the Hun lines, and pitch dark, as we mustered for the attack.

Meantime, the 1st Battalion, already in the front line so as to be in the first wave of the assault, was making preparations, and, by 5 o'clock, that battalion was formed up ready, with Wellington-West Coast Company on the right and Taranaki (Capt. J. Keir) on the left across the Hanebeek. With Wellington-West Coast were six sections of Ruahine Company attached as moppers-up The rest of Ruahine Company was in support immediately behind Wellington-West Coast Company and Hawkes Bay was in reserve behind Ruahine Company. At about 5.20 a.m. the page 216enemy artillery opened a heavy fire on our forward areas and barraged the Hanebeek along the western slope of Hill 32; but we were lucky to escape with comparatively few casualties, although, among others from the 1st Battalion now wounded was Capt. Stratford.

At 6 o'clock, zero hour, our artillery barrage came down and the attack commenced. The whole of the 1st Battalion at once moved to the attack, following as closely as possible behind the barrage. There was no difficulty in keeping up with the barrage in spite of mud and, though the Hanebeek was very boggy, it did not present any serious obstacle. Owing to 1st Auckland drifting off to the left, when the first two companies of the 1st Battalion. Wellington-West Coast and Taranaki, arrived on their objective, they were the only troops on the whole brigade frontage. The right company of 1st Auckland, which should have passed through Boetleer, took Albatross Farm and there were no Auckland troops between that spot and Korek. Wellington-West Coast Company established itself with about two platoons in front of Korek, and Taranaki Company (Capt. J. Keir), which had drifted to the left to keep in touch with 1st Auckland, came up on the front which had been allotted to Auckland. Owing to this loss of direction, there was a considerable amount of ground uncovered and the support company (Ruahine) pushed itself into the gap and mopped up the ground between Taranaki and Wellington- West Coast. Some very stiff fighting was experienced whilst mopping up, particularly in the neighbourhood of Boetleer, and machine-gun fire from two dugouts on the crest of the ridge just in front of the village of Korek greatly annoyed Wellington-West Coast Company in its advance. Third Otago also was affected by these machineguns, and it, was necessary to silence them. Accordingly, parties from Wellington-West Coast Company under Sergt. F. E. Chappel, together with a party from 3rd Otago, rushed forward, venturing right into our own protective barrage, and threw bombs into the entrances of the pill boxes. One of these pill boxes was fairly large, and must have been of page 217some importance. Sergeant A. Paterson entered to find some thirty Germans dead or dying from the havoc our bombs had wrought. There seemed to be an inner recess in which was a German Major with some men. As soon as Sergeant Paterson entered, the German officer set fire to a mass of papers with some incendiary material. In a moment, the whole place was in flames, Sergeant Paterson came out: but the Germans were all incinerated. This dugout burned for hours afterwards.

Rapid progress was impossible. Fire from the German machine-guns was too heavy to permit that. Against one of these guns, whilst his men were engaging it with rifle grenades, Sergent K. A. Goldingham worked round to a flank and rushed the gun single-handed, killing the crew of four. When his company was checked by another machine- gun, Private D. Jones dashed forward alone under heavy shell-fire and single-handed killed the whole gun crew and such other Germans as came in his way, in all twelve men.

Another section of our men were held up by a machine- gun which could not be located. Private T. Geange, a Lewis Gunner, whose gun had early been put out of action, at last located it, and armed only with his revolver, rushed forward against the post. Geange's courage induced another man to follow his lead. Both were wounded (the second man dying later); but their gallantry diverted the enemy machine-gun and afforded the other men in the section the opportunity to push forward and capture the enemy gun, killing the crew.

By similar acts of individual gallantry and by the grim determination of all ranks, allied with skilful leadership of officers and non-commissioned officers, 1st Wellington pushed on to the Red Line, capturing the whole brigade frontage on schedule time.

The two leading companies at once began to dig in, and, later in the morning, a company from 1st Auckland moved over on to the First Brigade front and took over some two hundred yards of trench which had already been dug by Taranaki Company. As the work proceeded, it became evident that the two companies in front could not possibly complete page 218the work of consolidation, and the support company was pushed in to help with the digging.

Captain J. Keir led Taranaki Company with great ability in the attack. When 1st Auckland had lost direction during the advance, he had filled the serious gap in the line so occasioned in a most skilful manner and saved a dangerous situation. Now, after reaching the objective, Capt. Keir moved about under heavy shell-fire along the whole front of the battalion, organising the consolidation and setting a magnificient example. 2nd Lieut. L. M. Dixon had taken command of Ruahine Company when Captain Straford had been wounded at the opening of the attack. Whilst moving forward in support, Dixon led a small party of men into a gap in the line, where an enemy machine-gun and riflemen were causing heavy losses, killed the gun crew and captured the gun. On his own initiative, he filled a dangerous gap in the line and made good the position. Lieutenant E. L. Malone too led his platoon with great determination, and organised and took part in the mopping up of concrete dugouts under heavy shell and machine-gun fire.

While 1st Wellington was so advancing, similarly gallant work was being performed by the other battalions on their allotted parts of the Red Line.

Two hours were allotted for the capture of the Red Line. While the Red Line was being captured, the other battalions of the First and Fourth Brigades were moving forward and assembling in rear of the Red Line for the attack on the Blur Line. Hardly had our barrage opened in the first phase of the advance, than down had come the enemy barrage. The battalions now moving in columns abreast, each in single file, separated by about one hundred yards, would indeed have been lucky if they had altogether escaped casualties.

The 2nd Battalion had gone no distance before an enemy shell landed among Ruahine Company's headquarters and killed Capt. H. T. Boscawen, commanding that Company, and his two runners. A few minutes later, Lieut.-Col. C. H. Weston, commanding the 3rd Battalion, was struck by a piece page 219of shell and very seriously wounded, and, as had been arranged, Capt. F. S. Varnham (Hawkes Bay Company) at once took over command of that battalion, leaving Lieut. E. Morgan in command of Hawkes Bay. To the battalions now moving forward, it was noticeable that the enemy had organised a double line of shell hole defences about three hundred yards apart. Each shell hole contained from two to four dead Germans. The enemy losses must have been very severe. We were to learn afterwards that the enemy had himself been massing for an attack, and our barrage must have wrought havoc amongst his assembled troops.

Owing to the configuration of the ground, it was difficult to maintain direction, and it became necessary to use the compass. Advancing to the capture of the Blue Line with our 2nd Battalion, Taranaki Company (Major Hamilton) swung off well to the left of its prescribed objective although not nearly so much as 1st Auckland had done. That, however, was soon remedied, and it was not long before 2nd Wellington had captured the whole of the Blue Line allotted to it. Stout resistance was met with from a short line of trench near Kronz Prinz Farm; but this was captured, under the very gallant leadership of Sergeant S. C. Foot of Ruahine Company, who had only a few weeks before received his D.C.M. for gallantry at La Basse Ville.

Our men worked their way up to the German position, and then rushed in with the bayonet. Here we took seven machine-guns and thirty-nine prisoners and left the enemy trench full of German dead.

Great Gallantry was shown during the advance by Sergt. M. Ward of Ruahine Company. At the very outset, as we have noted, Captain H. T. Boscawen, commanding Ruahine Company, had been killed, while not long afterwards all the other officers of that company became casualties. Thereupon, Sergeant Ward took command of that company and led it forward with great courage and determination. He was shortly afterwards to receive his D.C.M. for his work that day, as also was Sergeant C. E. Menzies, Ruahine Company's Lewis Gun Sergeant. Menzies had been page 220wounded early in the advance; but stuck to his job. After the objectives had been reached, he frequently visited the posts of his guns under heavy machine-gun fire and encouraged his gunners, and himself kept in action one of the guns after its crew had been knocked out.

Captain G. H. Hume displayed excellent leadership in directing Hawkes Bay Company through a heavy barrage and reorganising them without a casually, and showed great courage and judgment throughout, while Lieut, J. K. E. Jackson at all times displayed all his accustomed coolness and good humour.

It turned out that Kron Prinz Farm had been an enemy battalion headquarters, and the plans and papers captured there were to yield much valuable information. It was near here that Lieut. D. A. Harle fell mortally wounded.

Immediately the Blue Line had been taken, consolidation was pushed on until all troops were well under cover. The 2nd Battalion now established its headquarters in a shell hole and small trench in Boetleer. Communication by visual was quickly established, and by 10.20 a.m. telephone communication was made with companies from battalion headquarters and was maintained almost uninterruptedly throughout the operation, a striking tribute to the work of Lieutenant T. L. R. King and his signallers.

In the assault upon the Blue Line, the 2nd Battalion had been on the left of the entire Corps front. On 2nd Wellington's right was 2nd Auckland, and on Auckland's right was 3rd Wellington.

With 3rd Canterbury on its right and 2nd Auckland on its left, 3rd Wellington pressed down the eastern face towards the Rayebeek.

At one point on the left of Berlin, the advance was held up for some twenty minutes; but, under cover of the Stokes mortars, the place was rushed. Just on the right of Van Meulen, in front of the Red Line, Ruahine Company was held up by three machine-guns firing from two pill boxes. Lieut. F. C. Cornwall rallied his men and, dividing them into two parties, worked round both flanks, and bombed the page 221enemy out from the back capturing twenty-five prisoners. Though wounded, Cornwall, continued on till the final objective was reached. Hawkes Bay Company already had had Lieut. K. J. Strack killed and some twenty others killed or wounded. A little later, Lieut. J. S. Marsden of the trench mortars was killed on his way back to battalion headquarters to report the position of his guns. Shortly after 9 o'clock, Wellington-West Coast Company and Taranaki Company had reached the Blue Line and were digging in with all speed. Both companies made Waterloo House their headquarters. They had both suffered heavy casualties: Lieut. II. O. F. Marden had been killed, while Captain A. E. M. Jones,^* commanding Taranaki Company, and Lieut. Little had been wounded, and all Sergeants with the exception of one had been either killed or wounded. With Wellington-West. Coast, Lieut. O. Magnusson had been killed and Lieut. H. H. Parkinson wounded. Ruahine Company (Capt. A. J. Williams) too had had many casualties. Wellington-West Coast Company captured a case of German map orders, etc., with which, during the afternoon, Capt. B. H. Morison sent Pte. Worthington back to battalion headquarters. Worthington had done good work during the day carrying messages under heavy shell-fire. He had also captured three prisoners and a machine-gun. Sergt. E. K. Blundell set a splendid example of courage and initiative throughout the operations. When his platoon commander was wounded, he took command of the platoon and led it to a successful attack on a machine-gun.

Capt. F. S. Varnham, both in command of the 3rd Battalion and of his own Company had shown conspicuous gallantry throughout. Later in the day, Major S. Mackay came up from reserve and took command of that battalion.

Shortly after mid-day, out 1st Battalion received a message giving warning of a counter-attack. Thereupon, Hawkes Bay Company, which had, up till now, been in reserve, was moved up to about 300 yards in rear of the gap which existed in the line between Taranaki page 222and Ruahine Companies. On the left of this gap immediately after the first objective had been taken, Lieut. Flanagan (No. 1 Machine-Gun Company) had established himself with two Vickers guns. No sooner had Hawkes Bay Company arrived there than it was ordered to go up to the Red Line and push into the gap in the line, which it did accordingly and at once began to dig in there.

At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, 2nd Wellington were ordered to push forward three posts to conform with a proposed attack and capture of Alder Farm by troops from the brigade on its immediate left. The 2nd Battalion carried out its task; but, owing to the advance upon Adler Farm not being made, was subjected to an intense machine- gun and rifle fire from Adler Farm, so that it was found necessary after the new posts had been established to withdraw to the original line.

Up till about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the weather had been moderately fine; but heavy rain had then set in and the battlefield quickly became a quagmire, making the work of carrying parties and stretcher-bearers extremely heavy. Nevertheless, our wounded were taken out as soon as could possibly be done, the stretcher-beavers working continuously and with the greatest bravery.

Just before dark, the enemy was seen massing about 500 yards in front of the 3rd Battalion; but through the prompt action of Captain B. H. Morison in sending up the S.O.S., our artillery barrage quickly dispersed them before they could launch an attack.

During the night of the 4th, rain was intermittent, and the weather bleak and cold. The following day, the captured positions were consolidated, and the rest of our wounded got in, and the dead buried. During the day, divisions on both flanks called for artillery assistance, but no counter-attack developed against the New Zealand Division's newly captured positions. Later in the day, orders were received that the three Wellington Battalions were to be relieved by the 5th, 6th and 7th battalions of the West Riding Regiment.

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The relief was complete shortly after midnight, and all three battalions then moved back to bivouaes near Goldfish Chateau. On the 6th, the 3rd Battalion marched to Vlamertinghe and proceeded from there by motor buses to Eecke, while the 2nd Battalion, late in the day, marched to another camp, which it reached at 11 p.m. There was no rest for the weary (and how weary are men after battle) for enemy aeroplanes bombed neighbouring camps during the night, some of the bombs dropping within seventy-five yards of the 2nd Battalion's camp. The following day, that Battalion moved to another camp near Poperinghe.

On the 7th, the 1st Battalion marched to the Brandhoek Area and camped in tents, near Poperinghe Railway Station, remaining there till the 15th. The weather was now very wet and all camps in a state of liquid mud. Things were very unpleasant, and it was quite impossible to keep dry.

The 1st and 2nd Battalions were to spend another day resting and re-organising and were then called upon to supply large working parties to bury cable in the forward area.