The Hawaiian gazette., 1917-08-10
VIVID DESCRIPTION OF
BATTLE or MESSINES is
WRITTEN BY I'm MEEK.
ave Blasted Him Up and Drove Him Out" Says Sergeant From
Honolulu, VINO Declares That @The Day For the Hun Has
Come and That He Must Perish BY the Terrible Weapons To
Which He First Resored In His Cruel War On Humanity

" NAN NAVNu ~ DNtos
was moved. / could see miles Of new
railway lihes. II Is q fine experiences
for an old hand to note the vast diff.
ference in our British organization
compared with the conditions of the
old days. l.'. l.
The nay Approaches
AZ soon as the clear weather came
our airmen became busy, many flying
low over Messines and taking photos
of the enemy defenses. We Witnessed
many On air fight The number of our
observation balloons increased. And
the big guns began to move in and
to speak out. ',..' III.
"The artillery of the enemy in.
creased and for weeks we were work
ing in the center Of desperate artil-
lery duel. Batteries shelled batteries,
railways, villages, roads, billets, and
trenches were shelled on the retalia-
tion principle. There were shell holes
everywhere. Civilians in houses miles
away had to paste paper over their
windows to prevent the glass breaking
with coneussion. You could see us in
our spare time busy thickening the
walls and roof Of our dugouts.
satisfactory Cunning
"Howeyer, what the enemy knocked
down we built up again and we had
the satisfaction Of seeing the hin In
front of as with its defenses being
battered out of recognition. At times
we could witness practise Of our artfl.
lery aud trench mottars at barrage
Gre. Shrapnel, high explosives and gus
shells stnothered the ridge with smoke
and dust. We wondered with more I'm
crest than pity, must confess, how
he German troops endured such an
ordeal. Man is the cruelest OF all
,nimnls.' Even the cemeteries wherc
tbe dead had slept since the first fight
For Ypres we're Plowed up by shell
fire. .n.. .@. ~.. ".. D.. ts'
Detectives Pointed Out I'D.
"When the great day drew near we
were shown maps of the enemy lines
and our detectives pointed out. 1t was
great to think of places and to realize
that in a few days we would be in
them. We were absolutely certain of
victory. At two-ffty on the morning
Of the seventh the guard Weakened us
in our dugouts and gave warning. that
it was time r =~ .... Z
{, At three the great surprise of the at
tack was sprung. SO far we had fought
on the earth and in the air. But men
are the most wonderful of all crea-
lures. ~. 81
The Earth wobbled
s"For months we had been mining
right under the enemy. A million
pounds of high explosive were stored
under his strongest positions. When it
was fired, from Ypres to Romentieres
the earth 'wobbled'. l know of no
more descriptive word. 1 have felt a
few earthquake tremors in my travels
but none tenth so violent as the
shock that morning. II was the signal
and at it every gun blazed out. The
gunners toiled like demons, feeding
the machines that were flinging eur.
tains Of fire in front of our advancing
infantry and maelstroms Of fire on the
enemy batteries. Drum fire! 'Man
Is the fiercest of all brutes.'
Engineers In Advance
"The engineer work was practical.
~ done the night before the attack,
but the New Zealand Engineers always
go over with or at least behind the
infantry en- the morning of the ad-
vanrcs. 49,. |.'
"Whcn we had crossed No Man >
Land and entered Messines we could
see the terrible effects of our shell
fire. Our fifteen inch shells had mad C
huge craters. II was hard to find
traces Of some Of the enemy trenches
The whole Hill was mass of shell
holes. Even the deep dugouts were
useless to the enemy for his men were
trapped in them and glad to surrcn,
der
Fell to Ragtime Army
'The fortress that had taken two
and a half years TO build the New
Zealand 'ragtime army captured in ten
minutes. Our lads had dug new trenches
in the captured ground and to justify
our presence ON the field we dug few
strong points. The enemy showed his
annoyance of defeat by Smelling Mes
sines heavily with big long range guns
SO 1t was no picnic for us and marrow
escapes, and 'elose calls were the
order of the day.
Trusted 70 Australians
''The Australians passed through us
to advance further With them 10 front
we knew the enemy was not likely to
come back in a hurry. We therefore
took stock of our surroundings.
eve had a look at the villages down
In the low, country still held by the
enemy, We watched the tanks crawl
forward to assist the Australians. We
gazed at the daring British airmen
soaring above us in biplanes and new
triplanes. We looked on Hun prison
ers as they moved to the rear. We
saw. the pack mules move up under
heavy fire carrying water, and rations
and ammunition. We shouted good luck
to the wounded, who walked or were
carried back to safety. And We got
back to our own dugouts that night
very tired but very proud of the part
our New Zealand boys had played in
the big stunt.
Regards to all old friends"