THE BATTLE OF ZONNEBEKE DAY OF FIERCE CONFLICT ARGYLLS AND AUSTRALIANS

From Philip Gibbs. War Correspondents’ Headquarters. France, Thursday.

The battle which began yesterday morning after a whole day of counter-attacking by the enemy in great numbers, and by great gunfire, lasted until nightfall, and did not pass without anxious hours for those in command, and trying hours for some of our fighting men. From the left, above Zonnebeke down to the Australian front on the heights of the Polygon Wood racecourse, the advance was made with fair ease through the blockhouse system, and without severe losses, as they are reckoned in modern warfare, in spite of difficult bits of ground and the usual snags, as our men call them, in the way of unexpected machinegun fire, odd bits of trench to which small groups of Germans clung stubbornly, dirty swamps which some of our men could not cross quickly enough to keep up with the barrage, and danger zones upon which the enemy heaped his explosives. There were incidents enough for individual men to be remembered for a lifetime; hairbreadth escapes, tight corners in which men died after acts of fine heroism, and strong points like Hill 40, on the left of the ruins of Zonnebeke, around which some of our troops struggled with local ups and downs of fortune. It became clear by midday, or before, that from the extreme left of the attack down to the vicinity of Cameron House on the right of the Australians, the general success of the day was complete. It had gone as well as anyone could have hoped or wished. The critical situation was on the right of the Australians, and involving their right, because of the enemy’s violent pressure on the British troops there during the previous day, and again when our new attack started, so that their line had been slightly forced back and the Australian right flank was somewhat exposed. Hour after hour reports coming from this part of the field were read with some anxiety when it was known how heavily some of our battalions were engaged. This menace to our right wing was averted by the courage of our English and Scottish units fighting against it and by the quick, skilful, and generous help of the Australian troops on their left. It is an episode of the battle which will one day be an historic memory when all the details are told. I can only recount them briefly and in outline.

GALLANT COUNTER-THRUST

After a terrific shelling on Tuesday last the enemy launched an attack at six o’clock against our line by Carlisle Farm and Black Watch Corner, south of Polygon Wood, and forced some of our English troops to fall back towards Lone House and the dirty little swamp of the Routelbeek. These boys of Middlesex and other English counties suffered severely. For some time it was all they could do to hold out, and the enemy was still pressing. A body of fresh infantry was sent up to support them, and by a most brave counter-thrust under great gunfire restored part of the line, so that it was strong enough to keep back any advancing wave of Germans by rifle and machine gun fire. Another body of men, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, held out on exposed ground isolated from the main line and threatened with being cut off by the enemy’s assault troops. Sir Douglas Haig mentioned them specially in his message yesterday, and they deserve great honour for the heroic way in which they held on to this ground for many hours that day and night, under harassing fire.