THE GREAT ADVANCE.

o TAKING THE FIRST TRENCH. AUCKLANDERS IN THE LEAIk. SOME PERSONAL NOTES Pxr.so.kal accounts of experience* in \h* great advance of the British forces r>a th« Somme hare, so far been lacking, bat >» letter sent by an Auckland fndier to hit sister supplies interesting details, " The Auckland Battalion," the- write? says, " had the distinction of leading the New Zealand Division in th» ckarce on September 15. We w*-re told to ci ii'i*ad and take the first trench, and step there We took it all right, but it was onlv t!-oga who got a bullet that stopped. On thev went, with the Rifle Brigade, v.- 1 . h cares behind, as a reinforcement. They would have gone on if there had been a million Germans in their way. My mate was an old Thames bushman called Karrv Scctt, When we got within 50yds of th? Huns poor Harry was shot dead I wer.t on & few yards when a piece of shrapnel went through the sole of my boot and a bullet through my pay-book, which was in mv pocket. That must have turned it, for it never touched me elsewhere. Bv this time I was looking into the muzzles of several rifles and a machine-gun, and what was left of our company extended for about a chain on either side of me. 1 dropped into a big shell-hole. A Hun stuck ins big head over the parapet of h:s trench a bit too high and 1 promptly put a. bullet through it. Caught by a Bomb. "The enemy started then throwing their bombs into my little place of safety. Two of these 1 threw out, but the tflira caught me. i didn't feel it at the time, and 1 was able to drop two more as they weie run. ning away. The beys were crowding upon them from the sides by this time, and as they cannot stand a "Britisher *t close quarters unless they are tour cr five to one they decamped, but none of them got far. 1 said to Kenny Mckenzie, from Whangarei, 'We might as well go on, aj the rest seem to be doing.' lie said, 'You had better go back before you bleed to death.' I had a look at myself then, and I came to the conclusion it was sound advice. When I was making bacK to the dressing-station 1 caught up to another man plodding back. "After we had exchanged a few words we found out that we knew each other, he being no other than Jim Thornton, whom I hadn't seen for years. We aro now both in the same ward, where we get the very best of attention. I don't know how Butler Ryan is. I left him in the training camp in Franc*. Forty Left of One Company. " There were 17 of us picked out to go up ahead of the rest, I being one of the j 17. I don't know what happened to the j remainder of those that went up with me | with the exception of Harry Scott and I another man called Smith, who is here. Just before we went into the trenches the 17 of us were given the preference I to go into the different companies Twelve j went into the 3rd Aucklands and four j others and myself went into the 6th HanI rakis. There are supposed to be onlv 40 i left out of the company with a sound skin. j It is surprising how indifferent a man pets to shells, bullets, etc., once he is in it. It's lying in the trenches when old Fritz is bombarding you with his artillery that gets on one's nerves. You just have to ; sit tight there, and take your chance, without any means of defending yourself. I I had only two days and nights" of it, and j his guns were not very active, but it was ' enough. A Devastated Area. "It is useless to try to describe the appearance of the country where the Huns have been driven back. There are miles and miles of country rooted and torn about with —holes, anything from 2ft to 6ft deep, that you could bury a horse and cart in. A million Austrian gnmdiggers couldn't do it in a generation. Those'who have been through both reckon that GalliEoli was only a side-show compared t? the omme."