The Kiwis’ Last Action – Liberating Le Quesnoy
On 4 November 1918 the New Zealand Rifle Brigade was camped outside the walled medieval French town of Le Quesnoy, which was occupied by the Germans and had been for several years. The town had a moat and very high walls which were hundreds of years old. New Zealand artillery couldn’t be used to bomb the Germans into submission, because about 5,000 French civilians were still living in the occupied town.
The Germans refused to surrender and a party from the 4th Battalion was detailed to try and work out how to scale the 13-metre-high inner brick wall.
Intelligence Officer, Second Lieutenant Leslie Averill – a medical student from Christchurch – used a long, fairly rickety ladder and led a small party of men up the wall. He courageously chased off two German guards with his revolver, which allowed more New Zealanders to then follow him and take the town – without a single civilian casualty.
In 1958, Leslie Averill recorded a talk for radio, describing how he got into the town. (Notice that in this excerpt, in a classic piece of Kiwi understatement, he manages to completely avoid saying that he was the first man up the wall.)
Year:1918 (Recorded in 1958)
Location:Le Quesnoy, France
The Kiwis’ Last Action – Liberating Le Quesnoy
On 4 November 1918 the New Zealand Rifle Brigade was camped outside the walled medieval French town of Le Quesnoy, which was occupied by the Germans and had been for several years. The town had a moat and very high walls which were hundreds of years old. New Zealand artillery couldn’t be used to bomb the Germans into submission, because about 5,000 French civilians were still living in the occupied town.
The Germans refused to surrender and a party from the 4th Battalion was detailed to try and work out how to scale the 13-metre-high inner brick wall.
Intelligence Officer, Second Lieutenant Leslie Averill – a medical student from Christchurch – used a long, fairly rickety ladder and led a small party of men up the wall. He courageously chased off two German guards with his revolver, which allowed more New Zealanders to then follow him and take the town – without a single civilian casualty.
In 1958, Leslie Averill recorded a talk for radio, describing how he got into the town. (Notice that in this excerpt, in a classic piece of Kiwi understatement, he manages to completely avoid saying that he was the first man up the wall.)
Year: 1918 (Recorded in 1958)
Length: 0:02:00
Production Company: Radio New Zealand
Source: Radio New Zealand Collection, Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
Catalogue Reference: 27627 Great War Experiences. Leslie Averill talks about the taking of Le Quesnoy in WWI
People: Leslie Averill
Location: Le Quesnoy, France
Tags: 1918, WWI, World War One, Leslie Averill, Le Quesnoy, France, liberation of Le Quesnoy, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, 4th Battalion, New Zealand, New Zealanders
Subject: 1918, WWI, World War One, Leslie Averill, Le Quesnoy, France, liberation of Le Quesnoy
Image Title: The scaling of the walls of Le Quesnoy by George Edmund Butler.
Image Source: http://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE12043579 (Archives New Zealand R122498150)
The successful liberation of Le Quesnoy by the New Zealanders, without any civilian casualties, has been remembered ever since by the people of the town.
New Zealand is always officially represented at Armistice commemorations Le Quesnoy on 11 November, each year. And politicians and other groups, including the All Blacks, have often visited. A New Zealand War Memorial Museum has been established in Le Quesnoy as a permanent reminder of the New Zealand connection and the Kiwis’ heroic role in liberating the town from the Germans.
The town’s primary school and several streets are named after New Zealanders, and a monument commemorating their feat is set into the wall, close to where it was scaled by Leslie Averill.