With the Trench Mortars in France [1923, New Zealand Expeditionary Force]

7–14 June 1917

Battle of Messines (1917)

VARIOUS ACTIONS

A complete brigade was formed, including a Light Trench Mortar Battery under the com- mand of Captain W. H. S. Widdowson, M.C. This battery was composed of several N.C.O.’s and men from the Ist and 2nd Light Trench Mortar Batteries who had been wounded, and the remainder were drawn from the new bat- talions of the 4th Brigade when they com- ‘menced their training at Codford. This bat- tery did exceptionally good work in the trench warfare just previous to the Battle of Mes- sines, and also later during the period the 4th Brigade was holding the line in the Le Biset sector, when it co-operated with the battalions in the line when they moved for- ward into the Hun front and support lines, the enemy falling back across the River Lys, owing to their position having become unten- able as a result of the Messines Battle.

VARIOUS ACTIONS

The utter hopelessness of troops standing up against a concentrated fire from the Stokes was shown later at the Battle of Messines,

VARIOUS ACTIONS

Before the Battle of Messines we (4th Battery) were sent up to Le Biset for billets on the 8th May, taking over from an Australian Battery. Many will remember that at this particular time it was infinitely worse in this village for shell fire than being in the front line. Part of our battery was in the Villa de Roses, which was not what it sounded, as it was not long before they were shelled out of it, but luckily without any casualties. The reason for the concentrated fire on this village was the searching by the Hun batteries for a number of Australian batteries of 4.5 Howitzers and English 6in. Howitzers that were dug in behind the village and were annoying him with con- tinuous and heavy harrassing fire. In conse- quence of this, Le Biset came in for the biggest shelling it had all through the war, and was almost totally destroyed, and yet, in spite of

VARIOUS ACTIONS

This battery had a pretty rough time during its first tour of duty in the line as a new unit. Le Biset sector, which had been very quiet hitherto, was now becoming a pretty hot place to be in, for all the batteries of artillery pre- paring for the Messines Battle were moving up behind the line and beginning their regis- tration work.