[[ Mirrored from archive.org, with more info at http://www.314th.org/times-history-of-the-war/times-history-of-the-war.html ]] THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. W.&D. Downey The Times HISTORY OF THE WAR Vol. IV PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY "THE TIMES" PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE, LONDON. 1915 CONTENTS OF VOL. IV. PACK CHAPTER LXV. The Battle of Ypres (Second Phase) ... ... ... ... ... ... I CHAPTER LXVT. IMedical \A'ork in the Field and at Home ... ... ... ... ... 41 CHAPTER LXVII. The Submarine and its Work ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 8] CHAPTER LXVIII. Sir John French c. ... ... ... ... . . ... ... ... 121 CHAPTER LXIX. The Last Phases of the Russian Winter Campaign ... ... ... ... Ii>l CHAPTER LXX. Winter on the Western Front ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 201 CHAPTER LXXI. Women's Work in the War (I.) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 241 CHAPTER LXXII. The Feeding of the Army and Navy ... ... ... ... ... ... 281 CHAPTER LXXTII. The First "Invasion of Egypt" ... ... ... ... ... ... ... :J21 CHAPTER LXXIV. Trench Work and Trench Weapons ... ... ... ... ... ... 3G1 CHAPTER LXXV. Neuve Chapelle ... ,., ... ... ... .. ... ... ... ... 379 CHAPTER LXX\^. The Russian Offensive in the C.\rp.\thians ... ... ... ... ... 401 CHAPTER LXXVTT. Belgium Under the German Yoke : The Food Problem ... ... ... 441 CHAPTER LXXVIII. The Belgian Refugees ... ... ... ... ... .-■ -•• ... ... 467 CHAPTER LXXIX. Women's Work in the War (II.) ... ... ... ... . ... ... ... 481 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. Haines FIELD-MARSHAL SIR JOHN FRENCH CHAPTER LXV. THE BATTLE OF YPRES (SECOND PHASE). Perilous Position of the 7th Infantry Brigade on October 24 — Indian Troops Reinforce Smith -DoRRiEN — Battle of October 2b ; Brilliant Fighting of the 3rd Cavalry Division ; Fighting at Neuve Chapelle ; Gallant Conduct of West Kents — French Reinforcements Begin to Arrive — The IV. Corps Broken Up and Incorporated in I. Corps — Prince Maurice OF Battenberg Mortally Wounded — Germans Storm Neuve Chapelle — Its Recapture by THE Indians — Most of the II. Corps Brought Back into Reserve and Replaced by Indian Troops — Services of the III. Corps — The Germans Heavily Reinforced — The K.aiser's First Great Bid for Victory — The " Minenwerfer " — Battle of October 30 ; the I. Corps Driven Back Towards Ypres — Battle of October 31 ; Line of I. Corps Pierced at Gheluvelt ; " The Most Critical Moment " of the Battle of Ypres ; the Worcesters Retake Gheluvelt and Save the Day ; Loss of Wytschaete and Messines ; Ch.\rge of the London Scottish — Renewal of Battle on November 1 ; Germans Everywhere Repulsed — The French Offensive ; Advance from Nieuport and Dixmude — Two DixnsiONS of Prussian Guard Brought from Arras to Courtrai — Battle of November 10 and 11 — Dixmude Stormed by Germans ; Prussian Guard Routed by British — End of the Battle of Ypres. IN Chapter LXII. the narrative of the Battle of Ypres was brought down to the evening of October 23. A Division of the French 9th Corps had just entered Ypres and taken over that portion of the line round Langeumrck which had been occupied by Major-General Bulfin with a part of the 2nd Division of the I. Corps. It had been Bulfin's task on the 23rd to expel the Germans from the gap left by the defeat of the Cameron Highlanders between Bixschoote and Lango- marck, and brilliantly had he accomplished it. On Saturday, the 2'4th, when the Germans were across the Yser and the inundation of the fields on both sides of it was becoming more and more necessary to save the situation for the Allies, the Germans pushed hard against our line from Dixmude to La Bassee. The Vol. IV.— Part 40. German 27th Reserve Corps was flung against the left wing, but how unsuccessfully may be surmised from the letter of a man of the 246th Reserve Regiment, one of the rcguuents in that Corps : On October 24 wo were ordered to be ready for an assault before dawn. We had hardly advanced 500 yards when we were mot by a terrific shell fire from the British. When we were collected again I found what an awful disaster had overtaken us. Of our battalion scarcely 80 men were left. At 6 a.m. the 21st Brigade (part of the 7th Infantry Division), consisting of the 2nd Bed- fordsliire Regiment, 2nd Yorks Regiment, 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers and 2nd Wiltshire Regiment, was attacked in the neighbourhood of Gheluvelt withoat any preliminary shelling. "At 7 a.m.," says 3Ir. Underwood,* " Captain * An interpreter to the 21st Infantrj- Brigade. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. Drysdale came up to me and asked me to get out on to the road to hiury up two battalions which were expected every minute from the 1st Army Corps coming to our support." The position was most critical. There was "not one man left to svipport the firing line, which was being very hardly pressed, and might give way at any moment." It was an anxious moment, but in a short time the eagerly ex- pected reinforcements came up. " This," ob- serves Mr. Underwood, " was the seventh day since we first engaged the Germans, our one Division extending over an unheard-of front of eight miles, and holding up what I understood from one of our prisoners yesterday to be a hostile force of three Army Corps." This was an exaggeration, as not all three Corps engaged the 7th Division, but that the British in the woods from Zonnebeke to Zandvoorde had been enormously outnumbered and outgunned is beyond doubt. They had had scarcely any sleep for seven days ; they had never left the trenches, " fighting night and day, sticking to them until they were literally blown out of them or buried alive. They were now," Mr. Underwood adds, " becoming pieces of wood, sleeping standing up, and firing almost mechani- cally, with the very slightest support of our gxins, which were now outclassed, as we had no howitzers with the Division." On the road Mr. Underwood foimd Terri- torials and Northiimberland Yeomanry in readiness to go into the trenches should the expected portion of the I. Corps not appear. Ten minvites later he sighted the head of a column swinging up the road. The Highland Light Infantry and King's Own Scottish Bor- derers were marching to relieve their worn-out comrades. They were doubled round the wood to the trenches, and the danger of the line being pierced at this point, as it had been pierced on the 23rd between Bixschoote and Lange- marck, \\ as averted. South of Zandvoorde the 3rd Cavalry Division (Byng's), shelled, sniped, and attacked at close quarters, continued to hold the gap between Zandvoorde and the Coraines-Ypres Canal at the Chateau de Hollebeke. Thence to St. Yves and the wood of Ploegsteert the line was held by the Cavalry Corps, supported by the two battaUons of the Lahore Division of the Indian Expeditionary Force in Voormezeele and Wyt- schaete, with the remainder of the Ferozepvu* Brigade (less one battalion) in Wulverghem. Together these troops beat off the attacks of the Germans who had crossed the I^ys between Warneton and Pont Rouge and were seeking to capture the ridge of the Mont-des-Cats and to- advance on Ypres through St. Eloi. From the wood of Ploegsteert to the Lys the position on the 24th remained unchanged, but south of the Lys, roiind Armentieres, several attacks were made on the III. Corps, each,, thanks chiefly to otir artillery, being repulsed with heavy loss. The brmit of the fighting on the 24th, as on the two preceding days, was borne by the 16th Brigade. At La Boutillerie, on the road which from Fromelles on the Radinghem-Givenchy ridge descends to Fleurbaix, there was a brisk encounter. On the right of the III. Corps French Cavalry and the II. Corps were shelled all day. Towards evening a heavy attack developed against the 7th Infantry Brigade ; it was repulsed by the Wiltshires and Royal West Kents with very heavy loss to the enemy. Later the Germans, moving on the 18th Infantry Brigade, drove the Gordon Highlanders out of their trenches, which were, however, recaptured by the Middlesex Regiment, gallantly led by Lieutenant -Colonel Hull. The 8th Infantry Brigade, which had been • sent to prolong the left wing of the II. Corps, resting on Fauquissart, was also engaged. In all these cases the enemy was driven back, leaving large numbers of dead, woimded and unwounded prisoners behind hizn. Sergeant R. Willington, of the 2nd Yorkshire Light Infantry, in the coi,u"se of the day performed an action by which he gained the INIedal for Distinguished Conduct. At Richebourg L'Avoue, on the road from La Bassee past Neuve Chapelle to the Lys, the telephone line to the Brigade Headquarters had been broken by a biirsting shell. It could not be repaired, and a message had at any cost to be got through to Head- quarters. This brave man voliuiteered at once to cycle imder heavy fire with the message along a road on which high explosive shells were biu-sting. But good as were the men fighting here they could not resist indefinitely double or treble their numbers. In the first eight days of the fighting, as described in Chapter XL VI., which had followed their advance through villages wliich were miniature fortresses, across streams- and ditches raked by machine guns, until they attained the Givenchy-Radinghem ridge, which commanded Lille and the Lille-La Bassee Canal, they had been opposed by considerably THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. -superior forces. Now, when they had been driven back from it to the Hne Faiiquissart- Neuve Chapelle-Givenchy, they had to witli- stand the assault of a body whicli, by the 31st, consisted of the 14tli Corps, one or more divisions of the 7th Corps, a brigade of the 3rd Corps, several battalions of Jaegers, and four Cavalry Divisions. A vastly superior force, for the German 14th Corps alone, not reckoning the others, exceeded in numbers •the II. Corps. It is not, then, to be wondered at that by October 24, Smith-Dorrien's troops, after almost a fortnight's ceaseless marching, trenching, and continued actual engagement, were, as Sir Jolin French expressed it, " becoming exhausted." Keassured by the arrival of the head of the French 9th Corps, which placed his centre and left temporarily out of danger, Sir John French sent to Smith-Dorrien's support the remainder of the Lahore Division under Major-General Watkis. It was stationed at Locon on the Betlume-Armentieres railway, behind the centre of the II. Corps and west of the canal of the Lawe, which connects the Aire-Lille Canal with the Lys. The Ferozepiu* Infantry Brigade was, it will be remembered, romid, or on, the eastern end of the ridge of the Mont-des-Cats. The Kaiser was soon to dis- cover the value of the judgment of those of his officers who, when fighting by the side of the Indian troops in the Poking Expedition, had thought fit to speak of thorn as coolies. Eastern troops had indeed been seen before in Europe, but they had come as destroyers. As late as 1G83 the Turks had been before the walls of Vienna, which but for John Sobieski, King of that Iceland dismembered in the eigh- teenth century by the rulers of Prussia and Austria and by the German woman then ruling Russia, on whom perhaps Byron pronounced the soundest judgment, would have fallen into their hands. But now, to save and not to destroy European civilization, came the soldier- representatives of that densely populated peninsula, where — two hvmdred and more years before Alexander; crossed the Indas — Buddha had Uved and taught. On the 25th the remainder of the Lahore Division marched from Locon to the trenches round Neuve Chapelle, hitherto defended by the 7th Brigade of the II. Corps, and about the same time another Indian Brigade, Sir Jolin French tells us, " took over some ground pre- \'iously held by the French 1st Cavalry Corps." Thus reinforced, the II. Corps diu"ing Sunday the 25th, the day when the immdations on the Yser started, hung on to the position from Givenchy down across the plain behind the stream of the Loyes to Fauquissart. At AN UNDERGROUND BEDROOM IN THE TRENCHES. THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAT7. Givenchy there was stubborn fighting, in which Sergeant H. Webb, of the 1st Devonshire Regiment, displayed great gallantry and won the Distinguished Service Medal. After the officers of his company had been killed cr wounded he kept his men together for two or three hoiu-s and held his post in spite of the fact that his right flank was exposed to a severe fire. Among the officers wounded here was Lieutenant G. B. Ferguson Smyth, cf the 17th Company Royal Engineers, who had his arm destroyed by a bursting shell. He was rewarded with a D.S.O. for consistent skill, daring, and hard work in recon- naissance and defensive preparations by night and day throughout the campaign. And surely never was this distinction better earned. The battle this day on the right of the Allies was mainly an artillery duel. In the centre, however, there were several hand-to-hand combats, and after dark, when the wind rose and the rain fell in torrents, the Leicestershire Regiment was driven from its trenches by shells which blew in the pits in which the men were covered, and the line was here pressed some- what back. On the left wing, north of the Lys and east of the Comines-Ypres Canal, the 2nd Division of the I. Corps, with the French 9th Corps on its left and the 7th Infantry Division on its right, took the offensive from the arc Bixschoote-Zonnebeke-Zandvoorde, gained some groimd, and captured a few TESTING THE WIRE. INSIDE THE MOVING TELEPHONE STATION. prisoners and gvms. At 6.30 p.m. the Germans counter-attacked at one point, where a detach- ment of the Guards was stationed. The hostile troops were mistaken for British soldiers. Nor was the mistake discovered till they were within range of the bayonet. Then with a shout our men closed and thrust them back with the British soldier's pre-eminent weapon. Some two hundred, indeed, got through at a point where the trenches had been blown in, but betrayed by the light of burning houses they were soon disposed of. The 26th was another critical day in this terrific struggle. In the night the Germans had tried to capture Dixmude by surprise, and during the day they made repeated efforts to seize the Dixmude-Nieuport railway embank- ment and Nieuport itself. The Belgian Staff had, indeed, retired from Fumes to Poperinghe. But at Nieuport the Belgian engineers were engaged on the work of inimdating the area between the canal and the railway, destined so soon to have a decisive elfect on the issue of the battle of the Yser. Although the French and the British advanced north and north-east of Ypres, where the 1st Irish Guards were in action on the Reutel ridge, and south of Ypres the Cavalry CorjDs pushed back the enemy towards the Lys, still the balance on the day's fighting was in favour of the Germans, The 7th Infantry Division, which was to have supported the Cavalry Corps in its forward movement, could only by the most continued gallantry resist the violent attacks of the Germans, prepared by the shell -fire of a great mass of artillery. The 20th Infantry Brigade (1st Grenadier Guards, 2nd Scots Guards, 2nd Border Regiment, and 2nd Gordon Highlanders) was withdrawing north of Zandvoorde. To relieve the pressure THE TIME:^ HISTORY OF THE WAR. A FORTIFIED BLOCKHOUSE. Germans with guns installed in a farmhouse. 40-2 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. on the 20th Brigade, the 7th Cavahy Brigade, in reserve beliind the 6th Cavalry Brigade, which was holding the Zandvoorde-HoUebeke trenches, was ordered in the afternoon to push towards Kruiseik, a village east of Zandvoorde. This operation was brilliantly carried out by the Royal Horse Guards, conamejided by Colonel Wilson. The leaduig squadron, imder Captam Lord A. Innes-Ker, particularly distinguished itself, Trooper Nevin, among other soldiers, exhibiting remarkable gallantry. North of the 20th Brigade the 21st Infantry Brigade was moved to Veldhoek in support. Meanwhile the Germans had forced their way ujd the Menin- Ypres road and were across the Becelaere- Hollebeke road. South of the Lys the enemy, moving in the Captain R. G. M. Tulloch, who was that day w-oimded, in a letter published by the Daily Telegraph : Beginning about 7 a.m., the Germans shelled slowly but methodically the area behind our supj^ort trenches, where reserves were thought to be, antl then soon after midday fire was concentrated on the area of fire and support trenches. Considering the small area shot at the fire was teri'ific ; no sooner was the debris from the explosion of one shell cleared when the next arrived, and at one time I reckoned they were falling at the rate of 100 an hour. Everything was wrecked ; the support trench was rendered impassable, as well as the communication trench, so that to reach the fire trench we had to double across 150 yards of open ground. Here the heavy fire helped us, as the smoke and debris from the bursting shells was so thick that men were often able to reach the fire trench unperceived by the machine-guns, which were trained into and fired at the area behind the fire trench in order to prevent supports coming up. About 2 p.m., owing to several 6 in. shells having evening through the woods, assaulted Neuve Chapelle and gained possession of a portion of the village, and the West Kents " gloriously upheld the traditions of the regiment."* It was not the first time that the 50th, the regi- ment in which Sir Charles Napier served, had distinguished itself in fighting against over- whelming odds. At Vuniera and in the conquest of the Punjab they had earned tmdying fame. It also received the warm praise ol the Army Corps commander. Sir Horace Smith- Dorrien. Two yoimg officers, Lieutenant H. T. H. White and Second-Lieutenant J. R. Russell, received the D.S.O. for their conduct in handling the battalion after all the other officers had fallen. The experiences of this regiment on the 26th are vividly depicted by * Quoted from a telegram to the Regiment from General Forestier-Walker, whose grandfather had com- manded it at Vimiera. actually burst in the fire trench, wrecking parts of the trench and burying men alive, it was necessary to send up extra men mth shovels to clear away the debris. Ten men volunteered for this job, and armed with two shovels each, raced for the fire trench. Luckily only one was hit, and then the work of digging out the en- tombed men began. No easy job was this, as owing to the parapet being wrecked and to a heavy machine- gun and rifle fire, to say nothing of f! in. shells which were falling within a few yards of the trench, it was im- possible to stand up to dig. As it was, three of the ten volunteer diggers were hit to my knowledge, and more may have been. Anyway, wo dug out two men alive, which was a great satisfaction. As the Germans were not yet coming on, the fire trench was left weakly held in order to avoid losses, but as soon as dusk fell extra men were pushed vip into it by twos and threes. The fire of the enemy, however, still THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. DISMOUNTED CAVALRY. swept the area from the support to the hre trench, and in spite of the darkness many were hit. At length the worst shrapnel shelling I have ever experienced was started. At one time shells were bursting at the rate of ten a minute, and dirt from the parapet was continually knocked all over the men. The only thing was to crouch imder cover, and trust that the shelling would stop and allow of our men to look out before the actual infantry attack took place, which is what indeed happened. For myself, thinking I ought to take a peep into the night to the front, I in- cautiously put my head above the parapet, when a shell burst almost in my face, knocked me over, and rendered me useless for the rest of the fight. With the centre of his II. Corps ahriost pierced, his III. Corps at points pressed back towards the Lys, and the 7th Infantry Division in the woods north of Zandvoorde rapidly becoming weak. Sir John French anxiously awaited the reinforcements which Foch and Joffre were sending to the Yser and Ypres. The French troops began to be motored and railed to the front as early as the 26th. The first instalments arrived on the 27th, and by November 11 there was available a total iirce of about "five army corps, a division of cavalry, a territorial division, and sixteen regiments of ca\alry, plus sixty pieces of heavy artillery."* The Germans were not reinforced till the 29th, so that to some extent the French leaders had anticipated the main effort of the Kaiser. Yet so vast was the force already opposed to the Allies that even with the new additions sent by Joffre and Foch there were none too many for the battle. On October 27 Sir John French went to the headquarters of the I. Corps at Hooge and there personally - investigated the condition of the 7th Infantry Division. The result of his inspection was that he broke up the IV. Corps, placed the 7 th Infantry Division and the 3rd Cavalry Division imder the command of Sir Douglas Haig and sent Sir Henry Rawlinson and his Staff back to England to supervise t!ie mobilization of the 8th Infantry Division. Sir Douglas now rearranged his troops. The * Semi-official accovmt conden.=ed by Reuter. A CAREFULLY CONCEALED HOWITZER SHELLING THE GERMANS. THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAE. THE LATE MAJOR THE HON. HUGH DAWNAY, D.S.O., 2nd LIFE GUARDS. 3rd Cavalry Division extended its left a little north of the Chateau east of Zandvoorde. Tie 7th Infantry Division was placed between it and the Menin-Ypres road. North of it to a point immediately west of Reutel was posted the 1st Division. The 2nd Division extended the line almost to the Moorslede-Zonnebeke road. The readjustment was acconipanied by a rearrangement of the three brigades of which the 7th Infantry Division was con:iposed. The 21st Brigade was at once ordered to advance u\) the Ypres-Menin road, retake Gheluvelt and from Gheluvelt move to the trenches round Kruiseik. to replace the 22nd Brigade. This they did vmder hetivj^ shell fire. During the night the Germans attempted to surprise some of the trenches, and Prince Maurice of Battenberg was mortally wounded. The Battenbergs were hereditary enemies of the HohenzoUerns and had been treated by Bis- marck and William II. with peculiar insolence. Prince Maurice was the grandson of Queen Victoria and the brother of the Qvieen of Spain. To his mother. Princess Henry of Battenberg, President Poincare, on the 29th, sent the following telegram : " I had C[uite recently tl e great pleasure of seeing Prince Maurice in the midst of the splendid British troops, and to-day I learn that he has fallen on the field of honour. I beg that your Highness in this great trial will accept my sincere and respectful sympathy." While the events described were occurrmg on the left wing, the German attack on Neuve Chapelle, where was the centre of the II. Corps, had been vigorously pushed. Against every salient point' in the long line south of the Lys other attacks were directed to prevent troops being sent to retake the northern part of the village. Nevertheless, with some assistance from the III. Corps, Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, during the morning and early afternoon, beat back the enemy and, after terrific hand-to-hand fighting in the houses, in which once more the British showed their superiority, drove the Germans to the edge of the village. The enemy would not however yield without a further effort, and sent heavy reinforcements forward. Descending from the ridge and crossing the streain of the Loyes, a whole division, in one huge column, regiment succeeding regiment, advanced once more against the brave defenders of Neuve Chapelle. But under the withering fire of the British rifles, and guns, the first three assaults failed. The fourth succeeded, and at night the entire village was once again in the possession of the foe. But not for long. If the Germans could hold Neuv^e Chapelle they would be astride the main line of com- munication between the II. and III. Corps. [Li<isiniiiu. THE LATE PRINCE MAURICE OF BATTENBERG. THE TIMES HISTORY (IE THE WAR. PRESIDENT POINCARE VISITS SENEGALESE WOUNDED. It was essentia], therefore, that Neuve Chapelle should be retaken, and on Wednesday, the 28th, Sniitli-Dorrien again assaulted it. The task was assigned to the 7th British Brigade, the 47th Sikhs, the 9th Bhopal In- fantry, and two companies of the 3rd Bombay Sappers and Miners. The moment had come for which Lord Kitchener had ])repared the Indian Army. The " armed might of the Empire was engaged in a life and death strug- gle." * The British Minister of War, when Conunander-in-Chief in India, had been " struck with the readiness with which native soldiers of all ranks acquire a soldier-like bearing and learn such details of drill and military training as can be acquired mechanically." But ^^■ould the Indians " when suddenly confronted with unexpected situations, become confused and helpless or what they themselves would term gabrao'ed ? " t To train the Indians to meet European troops armed with repeating rifles, and supported by machine guns, quick-firing field artillery and howitzers had been the aim of I^ord Kitchener and his successors. Their work was now to be tested. Shells burst over, among and round the Indians, and machine gims and rifles swept the road. " Unexpected situations," unlike * " Correspondence regarding the Administration of the Army in Jndia " (1905), p. 11. t Indian Army Order Xo."24fi, April 11, 1904, p. 7. any they had encountered in the border w arfare of India, arose every moment. Over their dead and dying comrades they gained Neuve Chapelle, and stormed most of the hoiLses in it. By nightfall the greater part of the village was again in the British possession, and, what was more important, Sir John French was con- vinced that the Indian contingent could replace British troops in the line of battle. In the next days, after the Meerut Division came up, the Indian Army Corps was substituted for the II. Corps. But two brigades and a large part of the artillery from the latter remained to assist the newly arri\ed troops. Two and a half l)attali()ns of these brigades were after- wards relieved by the Ferozepur Brigade with- drawn from \\'ul\ crghem, ^^'ytschaete, and Voormezeele, where, since the 22nd, they had been supporting the Cavalry Corps. The II. Corps had worthily maintained the record established by it at Mons, Le Cateau, and on the Marne and the Aisne. For eighteen days or so it had been engaged in tl riving the enemy from the network of villages between La Bassee and the Lys, in storming the Rading- hem-Civenchy ridge, and then, when it had retired to the plain, resisting the attack of vastly superior numbers endeavouring to thrust it back to the Lys. The success of the Allies in the battle of Flanders was, indeed, largely due to the 10 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. II. Corps and Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien. The services of the III. Corps and General Pulteney on the 27th, and on subsequent days, were no less meritorious. Heavily cannonaded, the III. Corps beat off several attacks with heavy loss to the enemy, but suffered severely itself. Well had it deserved the tribute paid to it in Sir John French's dispatch of November 20 : T am anxious to bring to special notice the excellent work done throughout this battle by the III. Corps "TAKE YPRES OR DIE!" under General Pulteney's command. Their position in the right central part of my line was of the utmost importance to the general success of the operations. Besides the very undue length of front which the Corps was called upon to cover (some 12 or 13 miles), the position presented many weak spots, and was also astride of the River Lys, the right bank of which from Frelinghien downwards was strongly held by the enemy. It was impossible to provide adequate reserves, and the constant work in the trenches tried the endurance of officers and men to the utmost. That the Corps was mvariably successful in repulsing the constant attacks, sometimes in great strength, made against them by day and bj' night is due entirely to the skilful manner in which the Corps was disposed by its Commander, who has told me of the able assistance he has received throughout from his Staff, and the ability and resource displayed by Divisional, Brigade and Regimental leaders in using the ground and the means of defence at their disposal to the very best advantage. The courage, tenacity, endurance and cheerfulness of the men in such unparalleled circumstances are beyond all praise. It was over a fortnight since the III. Corps from Hazebrouck had attacked the Germans defending the south-western end of the ridge of the Mont-des-Cats. Through Meteren and Bailleul it had moved to the north bank of the Lys, crossed the river, occupied Armentieres and ajDproached the suburbs of Lille. Yet though some j^rogress had been made. Haze- brouck \\'as still exposed to danger. On the 27th and 28th, Taubes flew over it and en- deavoured to destroy by bombs the railways back to Amiens and Calais along which rein- forcements and munitions for the Allies were being transported to the front. North of the LyS nothing of particular moment occurred on the 28th. The advance of the day before made by Sir Douglas Haig towards and along the Wervicq-Westroosebeke road had not been continued. About 2 p.m. one of the British aeroplanes came back from over the German lines, followed by a continuous fire of shrapnel. It was a grand sight to see the gallant pilot continue steadily onwards towards our lines through the niunerous balls of white smoke which showed where the shrapnel were bursting round him. The Germans had at this time gained some advantage, for Gheluvelt and Zandvoorde were set on fire by their shells, and Becelaere, notwithstanding our efforts, remained un- recovered. And now a wireless message was intercepted announcing that the British would be attacked the next morning. A graphic entry in the diary of Corporal A. J. Sproston, the motor-cyclist, will help the reader to realize the situation round Ynres a few hours before the Kaiser made the first of his two great bids for victorj- : October 28. Near Zonnebeke, a village occupied by the Germans a couple of days back, houses and farms on the road are converted to piles of blackened bricks and stones. The tower of the pretty village church is reduced to ruins and gaps are prominent in the roof as a result of shell fire. The fight is being watted furiously, not only by us but by the French on our left and right ; and frequently going forward I steer my machine carefully between the dead cattle and note the dead of the French and Germans in ditches at either side of the road. Towards the close of this beautiful autumn day we returned to Hooge and at almost midnight I ride to Vlamertinghe via Ypres over a clear road ilhiminated by .°. glorious and nearly full moon. Ypres, without the heavy rumbling of military wagons and the sharp clatter of horse's hoofs upon the pave, is a silent city seeminglv unconscious of the horrors surrounding. Hundreds of grey, travel -stained auto- mobiles are lined up in the quiet streets awaiting that THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAE. 11 GERMANS AT CHURCH SERVICE. 12 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. dawn that is to be the sign for them of the begi.nu.ig of another daj''s relentless activity. The hundreds of '"grey, travelled-stained automobiles" seen by Mr. Spros^ton formed part of that fleet of vehicles stretching back over 1 00 kilometres of road engaged in bringing up French reinforcements to the battle area. The French reinforcements did not arrive a moment too soon. The Kaiser was preparing to throw against the Allies north of the Lys the equivalent of another army. The 18th, 15th, 6th, and 13th, and a Bavarian Reserve Division under the command of General von Fabeck and General von Deimling were to help the Duke of Wurtemberg and the Crown Prince of Bavaria to storm the Allied trenches, capture Nieupori, Furnes, Dixmude, Poperinghe, Ypres, the ridge of the Mont-des- Cats, and the line of the Lys, and then, wedging in between Maud'huy's Army and the Anglo- Franco-Belgian Army to its north, sweep the latter into the sea and gain possession of the Channel ports. In the language of the Crown Prince of Bavaria addressing his troops, it was their business not to let the struggle with their most detested enemy drag on longer ; a decisive blow must be struck. Struck it certainly was, but the German sword on this occasion was sliattered on the steel wall which met it. To increase the psychological momentum of his hosts the Kaiser himself proceeded to the front. He intended to hurl over half a million men at a line measuring now about 60 miles long. The attack was to be supported by a huge mass of artillery and a large proportion of the 50,000 machine guns with which the Germans had entered on the war. On the 29th the Duke of Wvu-temberg had ten or eleven divisions of infantry across the Yser — one was on the western rim of the fast rising flood. The great struggle for Nieuport, Rams- cappelle, Pervyse and Dixmude was nearing its climax. South of Dixmude, to ease the pressure on Ronarc'h's Marines and the Belgians, the French in their turn crossed the Yperlee Canal at the Nordschoote bridge and advanced on Luyghem and Mercken. From Bixschoote eastward to Passchendaele they also made headway. On the other hand the Germans, as their intercepted wireless message had warned Sir Douglas Haig, delivered at dawn a terrific attack on the I. Corps. The day v.as beautiful ; the air crisp and clear, and the sun shone brightly. Among bodies of dead men and cattle, on ground pitted with the holes made by the howitzer shells, through the fallen trees and broken branches, and the shattered and burnt out buildings, the conflict raged from daybreak to nightfall. The Germans at- tempted to pierce the centre of the I. Corps and A HEAVY FRENCH FIELD GUN. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 18 A SOLDIER'S STRAW HUT IN THE FOREST. to capture the point — a mile east of Gheluvelt — where the Wervicq-Westroosebeke road crosses that from Menin to Ypres. The 2nd Yorks Regiment (21st Infantry Brigade), probably on orders from a German disguised as a British officer, suddenly retired from then* trenches in the woods towards the Gheluvelt -Menin road, just as the 2nd Gordon Highlanders nearer Gheluvelt were advancing. Finding that their flank was exposed by the retreat of the Yorks, the Gordons halted and then went back down the road towards Gheluvelt. It was one of those situations in war which might have ended in a panic. While he himself galloped off to stop the Gordons from retiring farther. General Watts sent Mr. Underwood to help rally the Yorks. Under terrible shrapnel fire the men were formed up along the Zandvoorde-Gheluvelt road. " We tvunbled them into the ditches alongside the road," says Mr, Underwood, " and it was a pitiable sight to see the poor fellows who were still in the open and badly hit trying to crawl along to take shelter from the hail of shrapnel bullets. They dragged themselves along, some with arm or leg shot off and others streaming with blood from head and face wounds." The shell fire died down and then the Yorks went forward again, accompanied by their machine gims, and speedily retook the trenches. The Gordons, led by Lieutenant J. A. O. Brook, had also recovered the ground they had lost. But this brave and able young oflficer did not live to receive the V.C. awarded him for his gallant conduct at this jimcture. By hts marked coolness and promptitude he had pre- vented the enemy from breaking through the British line at a time when a general counter- attack could not iiave been organized. Meantime Byng, with the 3rd Cavalry Division, directed his 7th Brigade to dismount and recover some trenches lost the night before between Kruiseik and the cross-roads. The 6th Cavalry Brigade, in like formation, sup- ported the attack, and in turn was assisted by covering fire from the 7th Cavalry Brigade trenches. Our massed machine giuis wrought terrible execution on the densely packed German battalions. About 2 p.m. the enemy began to give way ; by dark the hill at Ivruiseik liad been recaptured, and the 1st Brigade had re- estabUshed most of the line from the Menin- Yprcs road to Zonnebeke. Near Zandvoorde, Private F. Neville, of the 15th Hussars, had won liis medal for Distinguished Conduct. In obtaining valuable information regarding a German observation post, he and his horse were knocked over by a high exj^losive shell. Twice afterwards that day he carried messages over dangerous ground. About 6 p.m. the rain began to come down heavily, and during the night which was " black as ink," there was a terrific storm, which did not, however, put out the fires in Gheluvelt,^ or prevent a considerable amount of fighting. 14 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR, \ La jay cite [hlliott & Fiy. [Lafayette. 1. MAJOR-GENERAL C. T. McM. KAVANAGH, C.V.O., G.B., D.S.O. 2. BRIG.-GENERAL THE EARL OF GAVAN. 3. MAJOR-GENERAL GOUNT GLEIGHEN, K.C.V.O., G.B., G.M.G., D.S.O. on the Gheluvelt-Menin road. Taking advan- tage of the storm, the Germans came forward from the Pont Rouge -Warneton-Comines line, and assaulted Le Gheir and the Wood of Ploeg- steert, at the same time attacking the Cavaky Corps between St. Yves and HoUebeke. At all points they were driven back. South of the Lys the III. Corps had a new experience. Trench mortars {Minenwerfer) had been lavmching bombs loaded with high- explosive with a bursting charge of over 150 lbs, against the British trenches. Imagining that the nerves of the defenders had been shattered by these novel projectiles, the line was attacked, about midnight, in two places. The British shell fire kept off the enemy at one spot, at the other— south of Croix Marechal — the 19th Infantry Brigade had to defend itself with the bayonet. No less than twelve battahons were employed in this attack, which was intended to lead to the capture of Armentieres. A portion of the trenches held by the Middlesex Regi- ment was lost, and it was not till some hours later, when reinforced by a detachment from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders from Armentieres, that they regained their lost ground. All the enemy in the trenches were bayoneted or made prisoners. Away on the right wing the enemy, during t he day, had made several charges on the Indians and the brigades of the II. Corps left with them. A trench was lost, then recaptured. The intensity of the struggle may be gauged by the fact that in front of one battalion alone the Germans left over six hundred dead and wounded. Near Festubert, a village a mile and a half to the north-west of Givenchy, on the extreme right of the line, Lieutenant James Leach and Sergeant John Hogan, of the 2nd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment, of their own initiative recovered a trench after two attempts to retake it had failed. They both received the V.C. Any lingering doubt that may still have existed in the minds of Joffre and Foch as to the desperate nature of the struggle between La Bassee and the sea must have been aUayed by the fighting of the 29th. Orders had been given to General de Maud'huy and General de Castelnau to resume the offensive so as to retain as large a force as possible of the enemy south of the Bethune-La Bassee-Lille Canal. The attacks made by Maud'huy and Castelnau, the latter of whom stormed Quesnoy-en- Santerre the next day (October 30), prevented the Kaiser from swelling still further his enor- mous forces north of the Lys. This was in our favour. The battle of Ypres would not have been irretrievably lost until the Germans had taken the ridge of the Mont-des-Cats, but had the 2nd Corps and the Divisions of the Prussian Guard, which at a later date were sent to the Lys, arrived by October 30, the additional force might have turned the scale against us. During the 30th and the 31st a continuous stream of French troops poured through Ypres itself. It was time, for our men were exhausted by incessant fighting. The part played by the French in the Battle of Flanders \\ ill be better appreciated when the French War Office per- mits the publication of full particulars of the French fighting there. They lost, it is credibly believed, the prodigious number of 77,000 men. On the morning of the 30th, the British Army, with its left wing extended to Zonnebeke and its right to the west of Givenchy, faced south- east, and held a position of about 30 miles. From Zonnebeke the I. Corps was arranged THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. J 5 thiough tho woods to the Comines-Ypres Canal on tho Hne Zonnebeke-Gheluvelt-I^uiseik- Zandvoorde-HoUcbeke. The hill of Kruiseik, the ridge of Zandvoorde, and the high and dominating eminence of Zandpoudre on tho ^'pres-^Ienin highway were still in the possession of the British. From HoUebeke the Cavalry Corps, supported by the two battalions of Indian troops, lined the woods to ^^'ytschaete at the north-eastern end of the ridge of the ;Mont-des-Cats. Its right wing guarded Mes- sines and extended across the stream of the Douve, and over the low ridge south of the Douvo to St. Yves and the Wood of Ploegsteert. On the wood 1-ested the left wing of the III. Corps, ■which also held Le Gheir and the road through Le Gheir and Ploegsteert to Bailleul, then crossed the Lys west of Frelinghien, and, curving round Armentieres, joined hands with the left of the Indian Exi^editionary Corps and the two and a half brigades of the II. Corps ■defending the line from Fauquissart through Neuve Chapelle to Festubert. The French Army of Belgiiun, commanded by General d'Urbal, was disposed partly between Zoimebeke and the crossing of the Yperlee Canal south of Bixschoote, and partly along the Yperlee and Yser Canal to Dixmude and from Dixmude south of the railway embankment to Nieuport. From Zonnebeke to the sea at Nieuport Bains as the crow flies is nearly 25. but tho sinuous course of the French trenches must have made them nearly 30 miles in extent. The French reserves were on the ridge of the Mont-des-Cats and round Ypres, Poperinghe, Oostvleteren and Furnes. D'Urbal himself was under the orders of General Foch, and over Foch wa.s Joffre. So important did the situation seem to them that both Foch and Joffro were on the spot to super- intend the movements of their lieutenants. President Poincaro wtvs also at hand to .stimulate his compatriots. Nor was the result of tiie battle of less moment to the KaLser. Tho prestige of the German Army was shaken, and to restore it an overwhelming victory was needed. On the 30th the Kaiser told his troops that they must break through the line to Ypres and that he considered " tho attack to be of vital importance to the successful issue of the War." Every mechanical and moral means of gaining the battle were resorted to, and it is significant that the Crown Prince of Bavaria, in the course of the struggle, served out to his soldiers the " Hymn of Hate." The plan of the German leaders was a simple one. They proposed to contain the Allied forces on the Yser and south of the Lys and to concentrate the mass of their troops for an attack on the centre. The tactics were those employed by Napoleon to%\ards the end of his A RUINED FRENCH HOME. Z o H K O Q Z < •6 H Q Z bj U es >» JO 13 U o u u E o e u E v "Oil CO c •OX) s u a u ■OC .s '3 B OS > O c o . "a C u c 1) E u ca E c «> .2 u ■oe pa a j: E - 4) -O •= E - 5 c E lU u ■oe c c lU H B 10 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAli. 17 career when, instead of manoeuvring against his enemy's flanks, he took, as Davout said, " the bull by the horns." There were two alternati\'&s open to the Kaiser. One was to strike his hardest at the IIT. Corps, the Indian Expeditionary Corps, and the II. Corps, the other to pierce the centre. The latter appeared to be the more promising. If Ypres and Poperinghe could be taken and the ridge of the ]\Iont-des- Cats stormed, the right of the Franco- Belgian Army on the Yser ^\•ould have been turned and out off from the left wing of the Allies. Then, with the motor-traction at his disposal and over the railway Roulers-Don- La Bassee, a large portion of the victorious army might be rushed south of the Lys against the III. Corps, the Indian Expeditionary Force, and the II. Corps. Grantmg success, the Ger- mans might push westwards towards Boulogne and cut the land communications of the whole of the Allied Army engaged in the Battle of Flanders. The network of canals and the exposed character of the country between the Yser and Dunkirk made it objectionable to deliver the main attack against the Allied left. The centre of the AlUes, on the other hand, had neither the Lys nor innumerable dykes and ditches in front of it, while the Forest of Houthvdst and the belt of woods to the south and east of Ypres afforded cover for the advancing columns. The Forest was entirely in the possession of the Germans, and they had already penetrated into the outskirts of the Wytschaete-Hollebeke- Zonnebeke woods, and both sides of the Comines-Ypres Canal up to and beyond Houthem were occupied by them. The line of the Lys from Pont Rouge to ]\Ienin and east- wards was theirs, and there was, therefore, no serious obstacle between them and Ypres. The belt of woods to the east of Ypres and between the Ypres-Comines Canal and the Menin-Ypres highroad is thickest between HoUebeke and Gheluvelt. To approach those woods, from which the final assault might be launched on Ypres, it was necessary to dis- lodge the 3rd Cavalry Division from the ridge of Zandvoorde. If this could be accompUshed the position of the portion of the I. Corps posted on the hill of Kruiseik would become tmt enable, while the Germans from Zand- voorde and Becelaere might attack Gheluvelt by the Becelaere-Ghekivelt -Zandvoorde road. Accordingly at daybreak the German artillery deluged the Zandvoorde trenches with high- explosive shells and shrapnel. The fire is described by even our cool-headed soldiers, who never err on the side of exaggeration, as " terri- fic." The 7th Cavalry Brigade, which that morning were in the front line, despite tlio fact that many of the trenches were blown in, clung desperately to the position. But the whole German Active loth Corps had been added to the already very superior forces facing the thin string of dismounted horsemen, and even with the support of the 6th Cavalry Brigade and the artillery it was impossible for them to hold on with such odds against them. Eventually the 7th Brigade withdrew through the reserve trenches, occupied by the 6th Brigade, to the Klein-Zillebeke ridge and the woods along it. To Byng's assistance General Allenby sent the Scots Greys, the 3rd and 4th Hussars. The enemy, who hoped to be in Ypres that very evening, pressed on. Supported by their powerful artillerj', they attacked Byng's Division again and again. The Chateau de HoUebeke on the east side of the canal, in the defence of which Sergeant P. H. ^VIcLellan and Private D. ]\Ioir, both of the 1st Royal Dragoons, showed conspicuous coolness and courage, had to be abandoned The 6th Cavalry Brigade with the Greys and the 3rd Hussars on their left and the 4th Hussars on their right, however, held firm. Three men of the 3rd Hussars and a trooper of the 4th Hussars that day won the Medal for Dis- tinguished Conduct. These were Corporal A. A. Page, Lance-Corporal J. Enticott and Bandsmen A. R. Hodson and T. Frere. They had shown great gallantry under a haU of howitzer shells. At dusk Byng's Cavalry, the Greys and Hussars were reUeved by the 4th Infantry Brigade under Lord Cavan. It con- sisted of the 2nd Grenadier Guards, the 2nd and 3rd Coldstream Guards and the Irish Guards. Meanwhile west of the Comines-Ypres Canal the 2nd CavaLrj^ Division had been attacked with equal fury, especially in the trenches roimd HoUebeke defended by the 3rd Cavalry Brigade. There Sergeant A. J. Cobb and Lance-Corporals A. H. Smart and J. Colgrave, of the 5th Lancers, fought heroically. Smart, shot tlirough the mouth and shoulder, con- tinued to work his machine gun, and Colgrave rallied several bodies of Indians who had lost their oflftcers. It was at this point that Khuda- dad Khan, a Panjabi Musuknan of the Mehr 18 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. class, from Chakwal in the Jheluni district of the Punjab, won the Victoria Cross. He was the first Indian to gain that distinction. He belonged to the 129th Duke of Connaught's Own Baluchis, one of the two reguxients of the Ferozepur Brigade (the other was the 57th, the well-known Wilde's Rifles) which had been sent by Sir John French to the support of the Cavalry Corps. He was in the machine-gun section. The British officer, Captain R. F. Dill, in command of it, had been badly wounded, but, under Colour-Havaldar Ghulam Mahamad, it kept on firing. Finally a cohmin of the Ger- mans, regardless of loss, rushed the gun and the entire detachment was bayoneted except Khudadad Khan, who, although severely injured, managed to escape. He did not quit the gun till he had rendered it useless. At 1.30 p.m. the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, over- borne by the weight of men and guns, was forced back. AUenby was obliged to weaken the 1st Cavalry Division defending the all-important line from the Wood of Ploegsteert to Messines by withdrawing from it the 2nd Cavalry Brigade less one regiment. It was placed at a point between Oostaverne and St. Eloi on the Warneton-St. Eloi-Ypres road in support of the 2nd Cavalry Division. As a heavy infantry column was advancing on Messines, and the two Indian battalions with Allenby were now very exhausted. Sir John French directed General Shaw with four battalions of the II. Corps to cross from the south to the north bank of the Lys and proceed with the London Scottish to Neuve Eglise, south-west of Wuh^erghem. From Neuve Eglise these reinforcements might also be sent to defend the banlis of the Douve or the Wood of Ploegsteert. That evening the line of the 11 th Infantry Brigade (III. Corps; near St. Yves, at the north-eastern edge of the Ploegsteert Wood, was actually broken, but fortunately Major Prowse with the Somerset Light Infantry by a counter-attack restored the situation. On the night of the 30th a strong German attack on Messines was beaten off. At one point, indeed, they succeeded by sheer force of nimibers in penetrating the line, but a lively comiter-attack with the bayonet drove them headlong back. The enemy advancing up the canal had reached a point less than three miles from Ypres, and was preparing to attack the end of the Mont-des-Cats ridge at Messines and Wytschaete, turn the ridge on the south by the Ploegsteert Wood and the Neuve Eglise- St. Yv^es ridge, which would afford a position or screen for his artillery, whence it could shell Messines and the high ground to the west of it. The main road connecting Ypres with Armen- tieres, where was the centre of the III. Corps, passes through Messines. The Germans had already gained the edge of the last line of trenches holding together the Allied forces from the sea to La Bassee. The fire of their artillery came nearer and nearer. The night before a shell from a German battery had fallen into Ypres itself. During the evening of the 30th more shells descended on the city. One ripped to shreds the interior of a motor-car and mangled the chauffeur, who was sleeping inside it, another fell among French troops resting in a building, and killed and wounded many of them. The attack from the south and south-east had, therefore, fulfilled the Kaiser's expecta- tions. The Germans on the Zandvoorde ridge in front of the Klein Zillebeke ridge threatened ON THE TRAIL OF WAR. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. 19 A PROTECTED MOTOR GROSSING A RIVER. the right flank and rear of Sir Douglas Haig's position. \^'Jien the British commander heard of the retreat of Byng's Division he had ordered that the line from Gheluvelt to the Comines-Ypres Canal should be held at all costs. The 2nd Brigade was placed in rear of it, one battalion being posted in the woods a mile south of Hooge as a reserve. At night General d'Urbal sent three battalions and ti Cavalry Brigade of the French 9th Corps to the neighbourhood of Klein Zillebeke. " Orders were issued," says Sir John French, " for everj' effort to be made to secure the line then held and, when this had been thoroughh' done, to resume the offensive." From Zandvoorde through Gheluvelt to Zonnebeke there had been no intermittence in the struggle. The 1st Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, commanded by Lieutenant- Colonel H. O. S. Cadogan, between Zandvoorde and Gheluvelt, had lost two-thirds of its effectives, bvit two attacks on other parts of the trenches of the I. Corps were brought up by the entanglements in front of the trenches and by the infantry fire of the troops stationed in them. The French from Zonnebeke to the Yperlee Canal west of Bixschoote fought all day with varying fortune, and by nightfall they had recovered Bixschoote and pushed towards Passchendaele. They also crossed the Yl)cr]ee Canal and moved towarils the western 1) order of the Forest of Houthulst. On the Yser the Germans, however, captured Ramscappelle and were in places beyond the raih\ay embanlcment. Fumes as well as Ypres seemed within the Kaiser's reach. South of the Lys the enemy heavily bom- barded the 111. Corps, and so many shells fell in the Armentieres region that tlie telephone wires were frequently cut. There was a re- newal, too, of the efforts of the enemy against the Indian Expeditionary Corps and the supporting detachment of the II. Corps. Beyond La Bassee the Army of General de IVIaud'huy advanced on Vermelles, soutli-west of La Bassee, while General de Castelnau's forces stonned Quesnoy-en-Santerre between the Somme and the Oise. Saturday, October :>1, will be for ever niciuor- able in the annals of the British Army and Empire. It was, perhaps, the most critical of all the days of the Battle of Flanders. Under the murky grey sky the Gennans on the Yser and round Ypres niade an extraordinary- effort to end to their advantage the frightful struggle which had been going on for over a fortnight. On the left wing the morning was signalized by our victor>^ of Ramscappelle described in Chapter LXIIL, p. 480. The French and Bel- 21 22 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. % en Z o < o o Q z < Z a: Z < 3 z gians by a nnagnificent charge expelled the Gennans from the Dixmude-Nieuport railway embankment, recovered Ramscappelle and drove the broken, flying enemy into the flooded area between the railway and the Yser. Henceforward to the end of the Battle of Flanders the operations on the lower Yser consisted only of half-hearted engagements round Nieuport and Dixmude, and the battle of the Yser becomes definitely merged in the more serious fighting Icnown as the battle of Ypres. South of Dixmude, between Luyghem and Passchendaele, the French continued their offensive of the day before, and by evening they were approaching the Forest of Houthulst and were around Poelcappelle. From the sea to Zonnebeke the day had gone very favourably for the Allies. Their extreme left on the Yser was at last safe and it seemed possible that the powerful French offensive south of Dixmude might end in the reoccupation of Roulers. But, while these movements were in progress, the Kaiser made a most violent effort to crumple up the British line in the trenches between Zonnebeke across the Comines- Ypres Canal to the ridge of the Mont-des-Cats, and to take Ypres, which put a somewhat different complexion on the contest. Sir Douglas Haig had disposed his 2nd Division from Zonnebeke through Reutel to Gheluvelt. Behind its centre was a mass of woods — the Polygone de Zonnebeke— some 2,000 yards long west to east by 1,000 yards wide north to south. A wood 500 yards west to east by 1,000 yards north to south extended the Polygone de Zonnebeke southwards almost to Gheluvelt. The 1st Division (General Lomax's) held Gheluvelt and the Menin -Ypres road. South- west of the 1st Division was what remained of the 7th Division (General Capper's) defending the long, narrow wood, 3,000 yards north to south from Veldhoek, which is west of Gheluvelt, to the neighboiu-hood of Zandvoorde. Behind the Veldhoek end other woods on both sides of the Menin- Ypres road stretched back to Hooge, \\hich is about two miles east of Ypres. From the southern end of the woods the country to Ypres was wooded as far back west as the neighbourhood of the village of Zillebeke, which is a little nearer to Ypres than Hooge. South and west of Klein Zillebeke, \^'hich is on the road from Zillebeke to Zandvoorde, were woods to the north of the THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAB. 23 GURKHAS TO THE FRONT ! canal.* West of the line Verbranden Molen- Zillebeke-Hooge it was ojDen country right up to the old dismantled ramparts of Ypres. The 22nd Infantry Brigade (General Law- ford's) was on the right of the 7th Division, and to its right was General Bulfin's Brigade (the 2nd), with a battalion posted m the Hooge Woods. The Klein Zillebeke trenches as far as the north bank of the canal were held by Lord Cavan with the 4th Infantry Brigade and by General Moussy with three French battalions and a Cavalry Brigade.! At 8 a.m., Bj-ng, with the 3rd Cavalry Division, was sent to the vicinity of Hooge to form a mobile reserve for the I. Corps. Shortly after 9 a.m. Allenby informed Byng, whose transport had been heavily shelled while passing through Zillebeke, that the Cavalry Corps west of the canal was being violently attacked, and Byng at once sent off the 7th Cavalry Brigade to liis assistance. This reduced the available reserve for the I. Corps to the 6th Cavalry Brigade only. Thus the five or six miles of trenches from Zonnebeke to the canal were protected only by three sorelj- tried and depleted British Divisions, * The woods were mostly Spanish chestnuts, beeches, and Austrian nines. t It will be remembered (see ante, vol. I., p. 449) that the 2nd Division consisted of the 4th, 5th and 6th Bri^iades. three battalions of French infantry, two brigades of Cavalry, and an artillery very inferior in number to that of the Gsrmans. Since the loss of the Zandvoorde ridge and the Chateau de Hollebeke on the preceding day had exposed Gheluvelt to an attack from the south as well as from the east, General ^Moussy advanced early in the morning with the French troops along the east bank of the Ypres- Comines Canal to recover the Chateau and the lost trenches on the Zandvoorde ridge. The Germans, however, wero in such force that Motissy was soon reduced to the defensive. Reassured as to his left wing, Greneral von Deimling. the German Commander entrusted with the attack on Haig's Corps, sent colunon after column against Gheluvelt. Each attack was prepared by a liailstorm of high-explosive and shrapnel shells. At the s?me time to prevent Sir Douglas reinforcing the 2nd Welsh Regunent in Gheluvelt, the trenches north and south of them were battered with shells and charged by infantry. All through the morning attack and counter-attack succeeded one another in npid succession. Von Deimling re- placing the defeated coltmans by masses of fresh troops, whereas Haig had to use over and over again the same units. Gheluvelt became a heap of blazinc ruins. The British trenches, searched 24 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. I/) a .2 ■•3) "u CQ ja > u Oh 4> O -S w (A O 81 U -Si U " a .5 as S a o THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 25 from end to end by howit-cer fire, fell in and buried many of the men defending them. Shells were directed on ev^ery point behind the Allies' line as far back as Hooge and Zillebeke wherever the German aeroplanes signalled the presence of supporting troops. Thicker and thicker m front of the trenches became the carpet of grey-clad German dead and wounded, mown dowTi by rifle or machine gun fire. 0\er it advanced time after time fresh German masses, only to be crushed in their turn by the steady fire of the unflinching British. The gi'ound in front became a mere shambles piled up with the dying or dead. The Allies recognized the issue at stake. If the I. Corps gave way the flank and rear of their gallant French comrades fighting between Zonnebeke and Bixschoote would be exposed. On their right the thunder of the Gennan guns and the incessant crackle of their musketrj' told Haig's and Moussy's men that the Kaiser's infantry was gradually closing on Ypres west of the canal. Maddened by the resistance they met with from plainly inferior nximbers, and eager to add to the laurels which their fathers had gained in the Franco -Prussian War, the Bavarians pressed onward. ^Vhat Kluck's troops had failed to do at Mons and Le Cateau they would accomplish ; to the Bavarians should belong the honour of being the first troops to rout the world-renowned British infantry ! Indeed for a time it seemed as if the Bavarians, their Crown Prince, and the Kaiser were to have their way, and that, borne down by numbers, devastated by superior fire, the I. Corps would literally be blown away. The 2nd Welsh Regiment, after performing prodigies of valour roimd Gheluvelt, fell back. The Queen's Own (1st Royal West Surrey Regiment), on their right, were surrounded on both flanks and raked by machine guns. Yet few retreated, and none siu-rendered : the majority died fighting at then- posts. The 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers of the 21st Brigade, part of the 7th Infantry Division holding trenches south of the Queen's Oun, were cut off, surrovuided, and almost anni- hilated. At 1.30 p.m. a violent attack was made on General La'niford's Brigade, on the right of the 7th Infantry Division, and the headquarters of the 1st and 2nd Divisions were discovered and shelled by the Germans. General Lomax (commanding the 1st Division) was wounded, and his place taken by General Land on. The commander of the 2nd Division received a severe contusion and was uncon- scious. Six Staff ofticers of the two Divisions were killed on the spot. It was, indeed, a soldiers' battle, and one which was only pre- vented from becoming a disaster by the superb fighting qualities of our men. On the road near the Chateau de Hooge was Sir Douglas Haig. In the woods before him where the battle raged it was impossible to see what was happening. About 2 p.m. Sir John French joined him. The two leaders paced up and down anxiously awaiting news. Suddenly a horseman appeared in the distance galloping up the road at full speed. Percei\iiig Sir John and Sir Douglas, he drew up, dismounted, and told thera that Gheluvelt was taken. A few minutes later, at 2.30 p.m., General Lomax reported that the 1st Division was retreating, pursued by the* enemy. " It was," as Sir John French says, " the most critical moment in the whole ot this great battle." The 1st Division was collapsing ; the left of the 7th Division was beaten ; Lawford's Brigade (the 22nd) on its right was falling back ; Bulfin's Brigade (the 2nd), imperilled by Law- ford's retirement, was also compelled to give way. It seemed impossible that the fight could be re-established. On the roads behind the German lines, our aeronauts reported, long lines of auto-omnibuses were waiting to transport the German reinforcements to any point of the battlefield. The news of the defeat of the I. Corps would be communicated to the German Staff and overwhelming forces at once directed west of the canal to break through the Cavalry Corps and the two Indian regiments, to storm the ridge of the Mont-des-Cats and to cut the retreat of the Allies through Ypres on Poper- inghe. The victory of Ramscappelle that morning was rendered nugatorj', and the Allied Army would be fortunate if it coukl manage to draw ofi safely. Directions were sent to withdraw the artil- lery- through Ypres, whence the panic-stricken inliabitantswere flying back to Poperinghe.* To cover the retreat of the French to the left of Zonnebeke, the I. Corps received orders from Sir Douglas Haig to hold the line at all costs from Frezenberg through Klein ZUlebeke to the Comines-Ypres Canal. * 3 p.m. "AU the town were leaving for Poperinghe as the guns were coming through from the tront. . . . To our surprise, half an hour later, we saw all the guns returning and going out towards Gheluvelt again." — 3tr. Under- wood. 2G THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. Scarcely had these orders been sent off than they had to be countermanded. For, as at Albuera, the British infantry of their own mitiative had refused to know when they were beaten, and Moussy's troops, Hke the Young Guard at Plancenoit, Waterloo, had thrust back the German masses. The 1st Division had rallied in the woods west of Gheluvelt. The German advance up the road was brovight to a full stop, and the Division, supported by Byng's (5th Cavalry Brigade, moved back along the road towards Veldhoek. To the south, though the 22nd Infantry Brigade (General Lawford's) had retired, General Capper restored the combat by bringing up his reserv'es, and the trenches on the right of the 7th Division were held. Meanwhile the left of the 1st Division and the right of the 2nd Division to its north harl simultaneously organized a counter-attack. The 2nd Worcestershire Regiment (5th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Division), commanded by Major E. B. Hankey and supported by the 42nd Brigade of Royal Field Artillery, charged with the bayonet and carried in the most gallant manner the village of Gheluvelt and the grounds of its Chateau. The charge was made under a very heavy fire of gtuis, and will rank among the finest ever carried out by our infantry. " If any one unit," says Sir John French, " can be singled out for special praise it is the Wor- cesters. ... I have made repeated inquiries as to what ofificer was responsible for the con- duct of this counter-stroke, and have invariably received the reply that it was the Worcester- shire Regiment who carried out this attack." Once more this grand old regiment had shown what discipline, esprit de corps, and the perfect self-confidence engendered by it, were capable of. The recapture of Gheluvelt was followed by an advance of the left of the 7th Division almost to its original line, and connexion between the 7th and 1st Divisions was thus re-established. Two regiments of the (ith Ca\alry Brigade were sent into the woods south-east of Hooge to clear out the Germans who had penetrated there, and to close the gap in the line between the 7th Division and Bvilfin's Brigade (the 2nd). Partly moimted and partly dismounted, they advanced with an irresistible dash, and surprised and drove off the enemy, of whom they killed and -woiinded large numbers. About 5 p.m. INIoussy's Cavalry Brigade was moved to Hooge and a dismovmted detach- ment was sent to aid our 6th Cavalry Brigade in clearing the woods. Away to the west the svin was setting, tlirowing long shadows across the field of battle and scarcelv illuminatin'T; THE DOG FINDS A WOUNDED SOLDIER. Inset : The Soldier's Watch Dog. THE TIMES HISTOl-lY OF THE WAF. 27 UHLANS POSING FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHER. tlio interior of the woods. This favoured the counter-attack, as it served to cpver the small numbers of the Idiaki Hne driving them back, and took from the worn-out German soldiers any other desire but to reach a position of safety by continuing their retreat. Gradually their jjace increased as they felt more and more the pressure of the continued Allied advance. Between Zonnebeke and the canal the Germans were gradually hunted from the \\-oods imtil the lost groimd %\as once more won back. "By 10 p.m.," says Sir John French, " the line as held in the morning had practically been re-occupied." The extreme left of the I. Corps round Zorme- beke had been but slightly engaged ; but on the extreme right Lord Cavan's Brigade (the 4th) had near the canal repulsed some half-hearted infantry attacks. During the night the right of the 7th Division renewed contact with the left of Bulfin's Brigade, the services of Moussy's Cavalry were dispensed with, and Byng's 6th Cavalry Brigade was drawn back into reserve, and the bulk of the 7th Cavalry Brigade brought back across the canal to Verbranden Molen behind Klein Zillebeke. Perhaps the best comment on this " soldiers' battle," as the British Eye- witness called it, was made by a private soldier of the Warwicks, badly woimded on the 31st. " Well, sir," he said to Mr. Under^vood, " England can't say we did not stick it to the last ... I used to be afraid of hell, but hell can't f)ossibly be worse than what we have been through the last few daj-s." West of the Comines-Ypres Canal, between Hollebeke and the Lys, the day and night of the 31st had been signalised by feats equally glorious on the part of the British. " Two nearly fresh German Army Corps," remarks Sir John French, " were advancing against the 4,000 or so troopers of the Cavalry Corps, whoso only supports at that moment were two exhausted Indian battalion-s. General Shaw's four worn-out battalions of the II. Corps, the London Scottish Territorial Battalion at Xeuve Eglise, and the portion of the wearied 111. Corps in the trenches from the Wood of Ploeg- steert to the Lys. For forty-eight hours, at the price of heavy losses and siiperhiunan exertion.s, the Cavalry Corps kept the Germans out of St. Eloi and from mastering the crest of the ridge of the Mont-des-Cats." This was, indeed, glorious fighting. From the bend of the canal at Hollebeke to Wytschaete is a distance of about o,000 yards. The coimtry between is wooded, especially round Hollebeke. During the day part of the 2nd Cavalry Division imder General Gough, with the help of the 7th Cavalry Brigade, had defended the trenches from Hollebeke to Wyt- schaete against enormous odds. There it was that Acting-Sergeant W. Siddons of the 4th Hussars won his medal for Distinguished Con- duct in defence of the canal bridge. He had also carried messages under heavy fire, and had made a useful reconnaissance. If the (iermans had broken the line between Hollebeke and Wytschaete they would have reached Ypres, and the I. Corps and part of the French 9th Corps would have been cut off. From this disaster the Cavalry Corps saved the Allies. No language can adequately express the debt which the Empire owes to AUenby's heroic men. At 2 a.m. (November 1) the Bavarians A GERMAN MACHINE GUN IN ACTION. 28 THE TIMES HISTORY OF* THE WAB. attacked Wytschaete, the point where the trenches from west turned south along the eastern edge of the ridge of the Mont-des- Cats. The moon had risen, and the Germans, undeterred by the murderous fire from tlie trenches ahnost fianldng their advance, came on in the most gallant way, shouting at the top of their voices and in such nmnbers as made them seem like a swarm of locusts. Sixteen infantry battalions, line after line, their light uniforms and bayonets gleaming in the pale moonlight, made easy marks for the British guns and rifles, but the woods afforded them some cover. " We stayed," says a British soldier present, " perfectly quiet for about ten minutes, listening to a perfect babel of voices, which sounded as if thousands of drunlien men were coming towards us, and then within the wood in front of us we saw line after line of German infantry advancing, the main body of which swung off left-handed in front of the 1st Life Guards trench." The trench fell into their hands for a moment, but was at once retaken by a counter-attack. To the right the Germans, their ranks thinning at every step, also broke through, captiired one end of the village of Wytschaete, and in the fight which A RUINED CHURCH AT YPRES. The eflFect of a single " Jack Johnson." YPRES CLOTH HALL. Fired by German shells. ensued some of the British troops who had retired through a tobacco plantation into Wytschaete had to fight their way out. Then, joining on to a company of the North Stafford- shires, they kept the enemy at bay and pre- vented him from debouching and ascending the ridge beyond. A pause took place in the combat, but at 6 a.m. a cohuxtn once more rushed forward against the small containing force. But by this time half a battalion of the North Staffordshires and a battalion of the Leicesters had come up in support, and the reinforcement was sufficient to force the Germans back. The British now attempted a counter-attack and a company entered Wytschaete, but was mowed down by a machine gun. ' ' I never want to see anything like it," says an officer describing this incident ; " they were killed like so many sheep, and the sight made one, even in the excitement of the moment, qviite sick." Wytschaete remained in the possession of the Germans, but they had suffered almost in- credible losses. " They came on so thickly, you simply could not miss them." The Germans had thus obtained one of the THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 29 SERGT. JOHN HOGAN, V.G., The Manchester Regiment. two villages on tlie edge of the Mont-des* Cats. A mile and a half to the south of Wytschaete they had also driven the British out of Messines, at the southern end of the ridge. The masonry of the church tower was so strong that parts of it defied the German high-explosive shells, but everything inside the chm-ch was burnt, with the exception of a crucifix. The British now retired to the ridge behind the village of Messines. At 2 a.m. — about the same time as Wytschaete was attacked — the Bavarians, who had been firing at and assaulting the trenches held by the Cavalry and the London Scottish, made a frontal and flank attack in great force. A i:)ortion of the enem\ inserted themselves between the first and second line of the London Scottish trenches, and set on fire a house behind the firing line, so as to throw up the forms of the troops in the trenches. A company which had been held in reserve made repeated bayonet charges to prevent an entire en\elo]3ment of their bat- talion, but could not prevent a considerable force working round both flanks with machine- guns. At dawn the troops were ordered to retire, which they did under a heavy cross-fire. They had lost heavily, but they had shown that oiu" Territorial troops were fully capable of dealing with their German opponents, even when out- numbered and outraana?uvred. \\'\tscliaete and Messines were indeed lost, hut the Germans had failed to gain the summit of the ridge of the Mont-des-Cats. .Meanwhile the extreme right of the 1st Cavalry Division'."? trenches and St. Yves had been taken over by the 4th Division, " although this measure neces-sitated," says Sir John French, " a still further extension of the line held by the III. Corps." Against the greater part of the position held by that Corps, however, the enemy had not advanced on the 31st, though they had attackerl from the Givenchy- Jladinghcm ridge the Indians and Hriti.sh on the right wing with considerable energy. Had the Kaiser met with more succe.ss round Ypres it is to be presumed that reinforcements would have been transferred by rail and niotor to the region of La Bassee and that the next morning a determmed effort would have been made to sev^er Sir John French's riglit from the left wing of General de Maudhiiy. Thus the net outcome of tiiis bloody battle was that, except for the capture of Messines and Wytschaete, the Germans every- where from the sea to La Ba.ssee had been repulsed by the Allies with heavy loss, a poor result to be pvucha.sed by such hecatombs of 2nd LIEUT, J. LEACH, V.C.. The Manchester Regiment. Luja:.ettc. 30 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. slain. In the inundation east of the Nieuport- Dixmude railway floated the corpses of thou- sands of the Duke of Wurtemberg's soldiers. The fields from Dixmude to Zonnebeke, the woods from Zonnebeke to Wytschaete, the slopes of the ridge of the Mont-des-Cats, were strewn with dead and dying Germans. The flooding of the Yser district proceeded ; heavy howitzers were brought up ; naval gims placed between Dixmude and Bixschoote. The Cavalry Corps was reinforced and, soon after- wards, the 2nd Cavalry Division was replaced by the French 16th Ai-my Corps and by Con- neau's Cavalry Corps, which had been previously transferred from the south to the north bank of the Lys. During the remainder of the battle it was to the French troops that the taslc was allotted of parrying the thrusts of the Germans at Ypres between Wytschaete and Klein Zillebeke. On Sunday, November 1, there was no ces- sation of the bloody contest. The Kaiser had arrived at Courtrai. The captiu-e of Wytschaete and Messines had doubtless filled his mind with hope, which, however, was not shared by the Saxon professor who, taken prisoner that day, stated as his opinion that Germany realized that she had failed in her object, and was only fighting in order to obtain good terms. Once more the German masses were thrown on the Allies round Ypres. The French troops who had been passed into the Polygone de Zonnebeke woods, and were trying to break the German line at Becelaere (between Zonne- beke and Gheluvelt), were brought to a stand- still, and General Moussy's three regiments and cavalry brigade, holding the trenches froin Klein Zillebeke to the Comines-Ypres Canal, were obliged to fight on the defensive, while the I. Corps in the intervening space under- went another ordeal of the most terrible kind. During the night Lord Cavan's Infantry Brigade (the 4th) had been moved up to the support of the already overtaxed and sorely tried 7th Infantry Division. On its left was General Bulfin with the 2nd Brigade, soon to be reinforced by the 6th Cavalrv Brigade. Later the 7th Cavalry Brigade was dispatched to the assistance of Lord Cavan. About 7.30 a.m. the Germans began firing salvos of high-explosive shells intermittently with what they call " universal." The latter is a combination of common shell and shrapnel, and can be fired with a time fuse, when it acts as shrapnel shell, or with the fuse set for percussion, when it biu'sts on impact. In the first case the head which forms the common shell moves on and biirsts when it strikes the object. This projectile is used by the German howitzers. Soon after 2 p.m. the 2nd Gordon High- landers (20th Infantry Brigade, 7th Division) gave way, after suffering severe loss. They had resisted the terrific strain so long that further efTort was impossible. In pursuit of the Gordons came a torrent of Germans eager to bayonet the worn-out men. This retirement involved that of the Oxfords, placed between the Gordons GERMANS ERECTING SHELTERS. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. 31 GENERAL JOFFRE GIVING THE LEGION OF HONOUR TO FRENCH OFFICERS. and the 1st Irish Guards. The Earl of Kingston, a Heutenant in the last-named regiment, describes the scene : Suddenly I saw the Gordons retiring, followed by thou- sands of Germans. ^\ e could do nothing. If we shot there was as much chance of killinn; our own men as the onemj', as they seemed all mixed up — Gordons, Oxfords, and Germans. Again there was a gap in the line, but again it was filled. The 7th Cavalry Brigade and Moussy's French troops stemmed the German advance. By nightfall the Allied position in this quarter was the same as it had been on the evening of the 31st. In the meantime, at 11 a.m., the British Cav^alry and the French reinforcements, by a brilliant bayonet charge, drove the Germans out of Wytschaete, but the village was after- wards abandoned. So long as the ridge of the Mont-des-Cats behind Wytschaete and Messines was held there was no object in exposing troops in the advanced positions of these two villages to the fire of the German artillery. The attempts of the enemy to storm the ridge were everywhere repulsed with terrible loss to him, and the Bavarians moving along the British front towards St. Eloi, suffered most heavily from the massed fire of the guns of the British Horse Artillery, which, like Senarmont's guns at Friedland, were brought to within a short distance of the enemy's columns. November 1 will be long remembered by the British artillery. Their howitzers demolished two of the enemy's 8-in. guns, and every accotmt showed that they had taken a fearful toll of the enemy. In the night of the same day the 1st East Lancashire Regiment received (probably from a disguised German) the order to evacuate their trenches near Le Gheir. The men had obeyed, « but an officer, helped by Drummer Spencer John Bent, had the presence of mind to caU them back. In the early morning of the next day the Gennans again attacked, but were mowed down by machine gun and rifle fire. Bent, who had distinguished himself on Octo- ber 22 and 23 and was again to do so on November 3rd, was awarded the V.C. South of the Lys some trenches lost the previous night were recaptured. The enemy confined himself to a heavy bombardment. " Cannot move two yards for shells and bullets," writes a non-commissioned officer. " I got over the blood-tub trenches by walking over German dead four and five deep." Though the Kaiser seemed delivering his main attack north and not south of the Lys, as a pre- cautionary measure the Secunderabad Cavalry Brigade and the Jodhpur Lancers, which detrained on November 1 and 2, were sent to join the Indian Expeditionary Force. The German leaders had shown that they regarded the lives of their men as of no value, and the costly assaults round Ypres might be merely feints preliminary to a blow against the British right wing. It was time, in any case, that the British right wing was supported. On Monday, Novem- ber 2, several assaults were made on the Indians, and the Germans carried Neuve Chapelle. An attack on Armentieres and the trenches to its north and south, however, failed. " Hell let loose," says a soldier. " Lost 30 men in less than 30 minutes by shells, eight or nine men being buried alive. ... I was blown from my rifle by a shell." North of the Lys the Germans who had been reinforced by the 2nd Army Corps, 'persisted in their efforts to capture the ridge of the Mont- des-Cats and Ypres. They sapped up to within a hundred paces of the trenches round Le Gheir and along the edge of the Ploegsteert Wood, and at 4 a.m. pneumatic mortars began throwing 32 THE TIMES FIISTORY OF THE WAR. A GERMAN DUG-OUT. heavy shells which on explosion made huge holes. Many times the Germans charged ; many times they were beaten off. From the Ploegs- teert Wood to Wytschaete and from Wytschaete to HoUebeke the battle raged fiercely, and near Messines the Germans for a brief period were successful. The French in turn attacked ^^' yts- chaete, which remained disputed grovmd, " the village fiercely blazing amidst a hail of shells from both sides." To the German artillery the British and French guns replied successfully by a concen- trated fire, and so long as the Ploegsteert Wood, and the Neuve Eglise and the Mont-des-Cats ridges remained in the possession of the Allies, it was madness for the Germans to advance in this direction on Ypres, for the country, except between Wytschaete and Hollebeke, was of an open character and afforded no cover to the attacking troops. Everywhere it could be covered by a devastating fire from the dreaded " Soixante quinzes," and from howit- zers directed by observers on the ridges or from aircraft. There was consequently ample justification for the criticisms on the German leadership contained in the following entry in the diary of a German soldier : November 2. — Before noon sent out in a regular storm of bullets by order of the major. These gentle- men, the officers, send their men forward in the most ridiculous way. They themselves remain far behind safely under cover. Our leadership is really scandalous. Enormous losses on our side, partly from the fire of our own people, for our leaders neither know where the enemy lies nor where our own troops are, so that we are often fired on by our own men. It is a marvel to me that we have got on as far as we have done. Our captain fell, also all our section leaders and a large number of our men. Moreover, no pin-pose was served by this advance, for we remained the rest of the day under cover and could go neither forward nor back, nor even shoot. A trench we had taken was not occupied by us, and the British naturally took it back at night. That was the sole result. Then when the enemy had again entrenched themselves, another attack was made costing us many lives and fifty prisoners. It is simply ridiculous, this leadership. If only I had known it before ! My opinion of the German officers has chanced. An adjutant shouted to us from a trench far to the rear to cut down a hedge which was in front of us. Bullets were whistling round from in front and from behind. The gentleman himself, of course, re- mained behind. The 4th Company has now- no leaders but a couple of non-commissioned officers. When will my turn come ? I hope to goodness I shall get home again ! Still in the trenches. Shells and shrapnel burst with- out ceasing. In the evening a cup of rice and one-third of an apple per man. Let us hope peace will soon come. Such a war is really too awful. The English shoot like mad. If no reinforcements come up, especially heavy artillery, we shall have a poor look-out and must retire. The first day I went quietly into the fight with an indifference which astonished me. To-day, for the first time in advancing, when my comrades right and left fell, felt rather nervous, but lost that feeling again soon. One becomes horribly indifferent. Picked up a piece of bread by chance. Thank God ! at least something to eat. There are about 70,000 English who must be attacked from all four sides and destroyed. They defend them- selves, liowever, obstinately. East of the canal the Germans were more fortunate. Once more the line of the I. Corps had been pierced and Ypres thrown into a panic. " For an hoiu*," writes a French officer, " we thought the final catastrophe had arrived." But two battalions of Zouaves were sent to Sir Douglas Haig ; and at 1.30 p.m. the 7th Cavalry Brigade galloped up imder shell fire to support the troops near Veldlioek. The French on both flanks of the T. Corps counter-attacked, and though they, as well as the Zouaves and the British, lost heavily and General Bulfin was severely woimded, the enemy could advance no farther. From Zonnebeke to Bixschoote and from Bixschoote to Dixmude he had made no headway, and his progress northward to the sea had been definitely checked by the inunda- tions. He had had to abandon in the mud two heavy howitzers and some field artillery^ and the whole of the Duke of Wurtemberg's right wing was being withdrawn and directed on Ypres. The next day (November 3) Sir John French called on his men to hold out at all costs, and informed them that French reinforcements THE TIMES HISTOEY OF THE WAE. 33 were approaching. The tension had been so great that tlie soldiers required encourage- ment. Ypres wa-s being savagely boniliardctl, and the inhabitants were flying to Poperinghe, but so exhausted were the Germans that, though Gheluvelt liad been evacuated by the British, the enemy did not press his attack on 'i'pres from the north and the north-east. On the other hand, the French simultaneously took the offensive from their bridge heads at Dixmude, Fort de Ivnocke and Nordschoote — as Joffre intended to establish his line east of the Yser Canal on the high road which runs south of Dixmude through Woumen, and from it to dislodge the enemy from the Forest of Houthulst, in which were hidden a large number of the German giuis. Grossetti and Ronarc'h, therefore, attacked from Dixmude the Chateau de Woumen with four battalions of the French 42nd Division and a battalion of the French Marine?. During November 3 the French were imabh^ to make any progress. On the 4th, in a dense fog, they crossed the canal south of Dixmude, and brought 50 gims to open fire on the park and buildings of the Chateau, which was attacked by the whole of the 42nd Division. At nightfall the infantry were within 400 yards of it. The Germans replied by threatening Dixmude from Beerst, and a detachment of Ronarc'h's Marines w^as sent to the support of Meyser's Belgians holding the trenches at this jaoint. On the 5th in beautiful weather the French at daybreak assaulted the Chateau and captvu*ed the park and farm. But all their efforts to take the Chateau itself, which bristled with machine-guns, were unavailing. The 42nd Division, leaving two batteries of " 75 " guns with Ronarc'h, withdrew through Dix- mude. Although this offensi\e and those from Fort de Knocke and Noordschoote had not been succes.sful, they had had the effect of con- taining a large number of the Duke of Wurtem- borg's troops, who could otherwise have moved on Bixschoote and Zonnebeke. To return to the events of the 3rd ; on that day the Gth Bavarian Corps and the 25th Division of the 13th Army Corps luxd endea- voiu-ed to advance on Ypres from the line Wytschaete-Hollebeke, but had been beaten back by the French and British. Between \\'ytschaete and the Lys there was severe fighting, and the enemy pushed forward north of the Ploegsteert Wood towards Wulverghem. There were also some minor attacks south of the Lys and far off beyond the right wing shells were thrown into B^thune. Three French Divisions had now reached the trenches, and on November 4 a reconnais- sance was made from Nieuport towards Lom- bartzyde, and German artillery was located near Westende. On the Yser front it was discovered that weak rearguards held the bridges at St. Georges, Schoorbakke and Tervaete, and also certain farms on the left bank of the canal round Oud Stuyvekenskerke. The German Staff the day before had admitted their repulse on the Yser. " Our operations south of Nieuport," they said, "are rendered impossible owing to thei floods, the water in parts being deeper than a man's height. Our troops," they added with characteristic men- dacity, " have retreated from the submerged district without suffering any loss either in men, horses, cannon or wagons." As a practical fact, they had lost all foiu-. On the morning of the 4th an almost continuous column of all arms, extending from Leke through Thourout, was passing ea.stwards and several trains from Thourout were .steaming to Roulers andDeynze, TRENCHES BEFORE YPRES. 34 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. WATCHING THE ENEMY THROUGH A LOOPHOLE. which is a town on the Lys between Ghent and Courtrai. Round Dixniude, as already narrated, Gros- setti attacked the Chateau de Woumen, but, to the south, the Germans stormed Bixschoote. That their spirit was still unshaken was shown by a cavalry charge delivered at dusk on the French trenches. Like the Polish Lancers launched by Napoleon against the Spanish entrenchments at Somosierra, these brave horsemen galloped forward. Every horse was shot, but some of the riders continued the charge on foot until the last survivor was slain on the very parapet of the trench. It was one of the few occasions on which the German Cavalry had distinguished itself in the war. Some attacks against the I. Corps were easily beaten off, and west of the Comines- Ypres Canal the French, under cover of the Allied guns, attacked and, in spite of the fire of the enemy's massed artillery, gained some groimd. South of the Lys the III. Corps was not attacked, and on the right, after dark, the Indian troops captured and filled in some of the German trenches. Carnot and Englos, two of the old forts of Lille, were partially destroyed by French and British aeronauts on this and the succeeding day. \Ye here pause to insert a moving description of the havoc wrought in the region of the battlefield. A captain in the Royal Field Artillery writes as follows : The wreolv of the country is indescribable, towns in ruins, churches razed to the ground and burnt, farm after farm smashed to bits, the people fled or lying terrified in their farms, some wounded with no one to succour them. We fovmd an old man of 80 with a piece of steel shell festering in his arm ; we managed to get him into a convent, but as he had been like that for four days I'm afraid there was but little that could be done for him. 1 tell you this war is the most appalling crime thai was ever committed, and if only English people, living in their unharmed luxury at home, could catch a glimpse of the utter misery that exists where fightins is and has been, they would be absolutely horrified. I sit as I write in a lovely house, in the kiddies' schoolroom, deserted by all save a faithful concierge. There is an immense shell hole in the upper storey, where everything is wrecked and the rain pours in pitilessly on the beautiful rooms. The whole house has been ransacked, hundreds and hundreds of empty bottles everywhere, every cup- board, every drawer, everything private burst open a,nd all worth taking removed. What was not worth taking is piled up in the middle of the rooms on the lovely carpets. This letter was dated Thursday, November 5. On that day the Belgians pushed eastwards from Nieuport and a detachment of Ronarc'h's Marines reoccupied Oud Stuyvekenskerke. South of Dixmude, though the Chateau de Womnen remained untaken, the French scored a success. They drove the enemy from Bix- schoote. The fighting near this place was of a most desperate character. The French resisted stubbornly, but enormous losses did not stop. the German attack. Up to Thm^sday evening they came on repeatedly, with fresh troops. One trench was lost and retaken seven times diu-ing the day. To the east of Ypres there was a lull in the storm, and Sir John French replaced part of the I. Corps by eleven battalions of the II. Corps These battalions were very depleted, but not to such an extent as the 21st and 22nd Brigades of the 7thInfantryDivision, which were at last given a rest. Of the 21st Brigade only eight officers out of 120 and 750 men out of 4,000 were left. The 22nd Brigade mustered no more than four officers and 700 privates. The 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers — to instance one of the regiments in the 21st Brigade — had disembarked at Zee- brugge on October 6 over 1,000 strong. Now it was reduced to 70 men with the junior subal- tern in command. These figures are eloquent indications of the price which had been paid by Capper's Division during a month of marching, entrenching and fighting. South of Ypres, which now began to be bombarded in earnest, the French advanced some distance, and Wytschaete, INIessines and German trenches on the side of the eastern end of the Mont-des-Cats ridge were carmonaded by the Allied artillery. After a day's comparative inaction the Germans renewed the offensive. They attacked Bixschoote and tried to penetrate to Ypres between the Menin-Y'pres road and the Comines- Ypres Canal. At Bixschoote they were repulsed, but the French troops holding the space from Klein Zillebeke to the canal fell back. General THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 35 Kavanagh, with the 7th Cavalry Brigade, hurried up to their support. The 1st and 2nd Life Guards, with the Blues in reserve behind the centre, were deployed north of the Zillebeke- Klein Zillebeke road. The French halted and counter-attacked, Ijut near Klein Zillebeke the Germans, who liad been reinforced, returned to the charge. The French broke, and General Kavanagh, to stem the rush, doubled a couple of dismounted squadrons across the road. There was a melee of English, French and Germans, and the 7 th Cavalry Brigade \\as obliged to retire to the reserve trenches. The position was very critical, but Lord Cavan, with the 4th Infantry Brigade, which was to the left of the French, descended on the German flank and re-established the line. It was not till 2 a.m. that the action ceased. Colonel Gordon Wilson, cormnanding the Blues, and Major the Hon. Hugh Dawnay, D.S.O., had been killed, and the 7th Cavalry Brigade had suffered heavy casualties. For his services in this engagement General Kavanagh was specially thanked by Sir John French. While the Klein Zillebeke action was pro- ceeding, the French again advanced and assaulted Wytschaete and ]\lessines. Sovith of the Lys at night the Germans made two unsuccessful attacks. Far away on tlie right a British armoured train from Bethune shelled the German trenches romid La Bassee. On Saturday (November 7) there was more fighting near Bixschoote. For forty hours (says a French soldier) we fought foot by foot. It is impossible to describe such a hell, but I witnessed the following incident. A German regiment advanced with flag flying. At 300 yards from our own trenches it was met by a fire so deadly that it fell back. After being re-formed in the rear it returned in markedly- diminished numbers, and this time it got within about 100 yards of our lines. Our guns poured a torrent of fire upon it, and again it retreated. A tliird time it attempted the assault. This time the order was given to hold fire till they had come up. At 20 yards every gun and rifle blazed away. Ten minutes later the regiment was wiped out. In less than an hour 3,000 men had been slain. The I. Corps was also engaged along the Menin-Ypres road and the British line was temporarily driven back, and south of the road the enemy penetrated as far as Zillebeke. A counter-attack by tlie 1st South Stafford - shires, gallantly led by Captain J. F. Valient in, who was killed, ended in the capture of the enemy's trenches. The Irish Guards, obhged to retire dm'ing the night owing to the French having left their trenches on the right, regained by a bayonet charge their position of the day before. South of Yi^res from the canal near Klein Zillebeke, round Wytschaete to the Wood of Ploegsteert, the fighting continued with unabated fury, the French defeat mg every advance of the Germans, who were subjected to a hail of shells from positions on the ridgi' of the Mont-des-Cats. The trendies on the edge of the Wood of Ploegsteert had during the night been captured by Saxon infantry. A counter-attack by the East Lancashires ended in the recovery of most of the lost ground. It is well described by an oHicer of the regiment : On November 7 firing broke out at dawn at ."> a.m., when it was very misty. We were standing to arm.s when at 8 a.m. orders came to march the regiment to Headquarters and wait for orders. We wore kept there till 3 p.m., when we were told the (Ifrnians had broken throngli our line of trenches and had occupied them, and we had to retake them and restore the broken line : exactly the same job as on the 21st ult. So away we plunged into the woods, and by following the rides arrived, after much slipping about in the greasy clay and with water over our boots, about 600 yards short of the edge of the wood the Germans were holding. Soon after a tornado of fire broke out, and the bullets and shells crackled and sparkled through the trees. You never heard such a row. We all threw ourselves on our faces. When that was over we slithered along the greasy path \mtil we came out on our old road to our trenches. Here D and A Companies were sent to rush the trenches in front and reoccupy them, the bayonet only to be used. As soon as they rushed a tremendous fire broke out, but gallantly led by Captain Cane, who was killed, they took the trench. To support the troops in IIk' Ploegsteert \\'ood the 22nd Infantry Brigade, which W8is enjoying a well-earned rest in Bailleul, wad GAPT. J. H. S. DLMMER, V.C. King's Royal Rifle Corps. 36 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. e 0) J •ofi B NN j: < u U u j: hJ u ^^ u >M OS j: C/3 UJ K o H o cr c o t: c o J t) H moved the next day up to Ploegsteert. * At the same time the 3rd Cavalry Division (Byng's) took over the right section of Lord Cavan's trenche?. The fact that the 22nd Infantry Brigade and the even more sorely tried 3rfl Cavalry Division had still to be used as rein- forcements shows the difficulties against which Sir John French had to contend with the few troops at his disposal. The Kaiser had far more and fresh troops av^ailable ; but all their efforts were foiled by the gallantry of the Allies. The Kaiser was now preparing for his second great attempt in 1914 to take Ypres and win a decisive victory north of the Lys. On Novem- ber 8 the Duke of Wurtembergrecommencedhis attack on Dixmude. Violent fighting continued round Bixschoote. At 2.30 p.m. the enemy teni- porarily pierced Sir Douglas Haig's line north of the Menin- Ypres road. After another severe struggle lasting almost to nightfall the Germans were driven back south of Ypres, the French pressed forward, and the Allied artillery stopped reinforcements reacliing the enemy who were still in the Wood of Ploegsteert. Between the Lys and the left of Maud'huy's Army two attacks were repulsed and a German assault beaten off. All along the line there were engage- ments. Tlie German plan was before their last reserves were engaged to wear down the fast- weakening British soldiers, whom they judged to be nearing the end of their tether. Indeed, the only reinforcements immediately available were small in number, consisting only of the North Somersetshire, Leicestershire, Northamp- tonshire and Oxfordshire Regiments of Yeo manry (Territorial) Cavalry and the Hertford- shire Regiment of Infantry, the Honourable Artillery Company and the Queen's West- minster Battalions of Territorial Infantrj'. The London Scottish and Hertfordshire Territorials and the Somerset and Leicester- shire Regiments of Yeomanry, with three more of the depleted battalions of the II. Corps, were placed under Sir Douglas Haig's command. The London Scottish were in the Klein Zillebeke trenches. November 9 (Monday) was a comparatively quiet day. The last arrangements were being made by the Kaiser for his final blow. Two divisions of the Prussian Guard were being transferred irom the region of Ari'as through * In this village a British howitzer, cleverly ensconced in the garden of the INIayor, had been daily shelling the Germans. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WJB, 37 Coiirtrai to the neighbourhood of Ghehivelt. These picked troops were intended, hke Napo- leon's Guard, to deal a knock-out blow. It was the last desperate effort of the Germans to crush the British by weight of numbers. Lord Kitchener was explaining that night at the Lord Mayor's banquet that " armies cannot be called together as with a magician's wand," but his powerful personality had already drawn from the peaceful masses of the United Kingdom a "million and a quarter" of brave and detennined volunteers whom he was fast converting into soldiers. With a clearer view of facts than Bemhardi French comrades for nearly three months, and every day increases the admiration which our forces feel for the glorious French Army," while " what the Belgians have suffered and achieved has aroused unstinted and unbounded admiration." These were the sober words of the most experienced soldier of the age, " Under the direction of General Jofire, who is not only a great military leader, but a great man," said Lord Kitchener, " we may confi- dently rely on the ultimate success of the Allied forces in the western theatre of war." Almost everywhere except in Turkey, which had just declared war on the Allies, the Kaiser A CAPTURED GERMAN SPY. He was found dressed as a French peasant. and his school, who despised our Colonial troops, the British Minister of War reminded his hearers that " the enemy have to reckon with the forces of the great Dominions, the vanguard of which we have already welcomed in the very fine body of men forming the con- tingents from Canada and Newfoimdland ; while from Australia and New Zealand and other parts are coming in quick succession soldiers to fight for the Imperial cause." The Indian troops " have gone into the field with the utmost enthusiasm." As for the French : " we have now been fighting side by side with our and his councillors had seen their ciuuiing plans thwarted. " In the east the Russian Armies, under the brilliant leadership of the Grand Duke Nicholas, have achieved victories of the utmost value and of vast strategical importance." Never can the Kaiser have felt more acutely the necessity for an overwhelming victory in the west. The weather was favourable for his plans. Heavy mist and fog co%'ered the flat soil, and the observers on the Allied aeroplanes were imable to detect the movements of the enemy's troops. 03 u: X H u < n Z < m CD Q < D O z en D THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. 3i> The new phase of the battle began with a success for the Germans. At 2 a.m. on November 10 they opened a bombardment of Dixmude more terrific than any yet experienced by its garrison. The French trenches were blown in, and at 11 a.m. a mass of 40,000 Germans precipitated themselves on Ronarc'h's handful of ^Marines and Belgians. The three lines of trenches across the road from Eessen were carried. Attacked on all sides, the heroic defenders were driven back into the ruins of the town. Placing French i^risoners in front of their columns, the Germans rushed on. Ronarc'h poured his last reserves over the Yser, and in the streets, among the gutted houses, a frightful hand-to-hand combat ensued. Horn- by hour the fighting continued, and Admiral Ronarc'h at 5 p.m. withdrew the remains of his troops to the west of the Yser. The canal bridges were destroyed, and the Duke of Wurtemberg, who had lost 10,000 men, was left with a heap of bloodstained niins and a few prisoners as the trophies of his bloody victory. The floods spreading in front of Dixmude and between Dixmude and Bix- schoote, and behind the floods the French howitzers, naval guns, " 75 " guns, and mitrail- leuses with the indomitable French and Belgian infantry, still barred the way to Calais and precluded the Duke from assisting the Kaiser in his assaults on Ypres by a flanking movement from the north. Ronarc'h's INIarines and ^leyser's Belgians had proved themselves worthy rivals of tlie finest British troops. From October 16 to November 10 they had maintained themselves in an exposed position against enormous num- bers supported by an immense artillery. The defence of Dixmude forms a brilliant page in military history. Meanwhile south of Dixmude the French line as far as Zonnebeke had been subjected to a series of the most violent attacks. At Bixschoote and Langemarck masses of newly joined German youths had been flung at the French trenches. They had fought with stubborn courage, but had been repulsed with appalling losses. The rest of the Allied front was battered by artillery, and in places the Germans sapped towards the Allied line, which on the right had been reinforced by a battalion of the Honour- able Artillery Company. A night attack under cover of the darkness, rain and mist near Givenchy was repulsed with heavy slaughter. So soon as day broke on Wednesday, Novem- ber 11, the German batteries north and south of the ]Menin- Ypres road opened " the most furious artillery fire that they have yet," says the British " Eye-Witne.ss," writing on Novem- ber i;j, "employed against us." For tliree hours a hurricane of high-explosive and shrapnel shells beat against the British line. Imme- diately afterwards, through the fog, a column of fifteen battalions of the Prussian Guard advanced on the trenches in the Nonne Bosche \\ood, west of the Polygone de Zonneljeke, while simultaneously, between the Menin- Ypres road and the Comines- Ypres Canal, a massed charge attempted by other troops was stopped by artillery fire. The Germans had been wrought up by the Kaiser's impa.s.sioned harangues into a state of feverish exaltation. Away to the left as far as the sea at Nieuport the Germans were continuing their offensives^ and some of them had even crossed the Yser and waded through the floods. South-westwards,, across the Comines-Ypres Canal to the ridge of the Mont-des-Cats, columns moved forward to- drix'e the French through St. Eloi into Ypres. The ridge of the Mont-des-Cats, the valley of the Douve and the Ploegsteert Wood were also attacked, but south of the Lj-s the battle languished. Of all the attacks that of the Prussian Guard alone met with any succe.ss. Riddled by frontal fire, taken in flank by artillery, rifles and machine-guns, the elite of the German Army still pressed onward, as they had done at St. Privat forty-four years before. Their progre-ss was, indeed, very similar — slow but steady. " Vorwiirts Preussen, immer vorwiirts " was the- ory, and although at Ypres, as at St. Privat, the losses were terrible, there was on neither occasion any thouglit of turning back. To- oppose them, beyond the men already in the trenches, there were only two field companies of Royal Engineers, mustering perhaps some four hundred, and on the right front of the German attack was a British heavy battery and a field battery. The Prussians were within 100 yards of the guns. Unless a firing line of sufficient strength to stop a further advance could be established, the day was lost. Every available man was called up to help — gunners, regimental cooks and details of every descrip- tion answered to the cry, and seizing their rifles were sent to open fire on the foe. Calmly waiting till the range was so short that every shot must teU with fourfold deadli- 40 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. ness, the British stood grimly and silently ready. At the word of command a sheet of fire leapt from their muskets and a crashing volley tore through the German host. Again and again did the rifles ring out, mowing dowTi rank after rank of the Prussian Guards. They hesitated, wavered, and then, leaving thousands of dead and wounded behind them, sullenly retreated. It had been a second battle of Inkerman and, like Inkerman, it had ended in a British victory. The next day Sir Douglas Haig circulated among the troops the following order : To the 1st Division, 2nd Division, 3rd Division, 1st Cavalry Division, and 3rd Cavalry Division. G. 983, November 12, 1914. The Commander-in-Chief has asked me to convey to the troops vinder my command his congratulations and thanks for the splendid resistance to the German attack yesterday. This attack was delivered by some 15 fresh battahons of the German Guard Corps which had been specially brought up to carry out the task in which so many other corps had failed — viz., to crush the British and force a way through to Ypres. Since its arrival in this neighbourhood the 1st Corps, assisted by the 3rd Cavalry Division, 7th Di\-ision, and troops from the 2nd Corps, has met and defeated the 23r(l, 26th, and 27th German Reserve Corps, the 13th Active Corps, and finally a strong force from the Guard Corps. It is doubtful whether the annals of the British Army contain any finer record than this. Never has praise been more justly earned. At every other point the enemy was repulsed, and the next day by a night attack the French destroyed the Germans who had crossed the Yser. With the rout of the Prussian Guard, who made one or two futile efforts on the 12th to retrieve their defeat, the Battle of Ypres may be said to have ended. The Kaiser, it has been calculated by competent authorities, had lost in the past month's fighting close on 300,000 men, and had nothing to show for this vast expenditure of human life. He had failed to break through to Calais ; the Allied Army in Flanders remained thinned but unconquerable, and still held the barrier of trenches from Compiegne round Ypres to Nieuport wliich they had so gallantly defended. The British Army hal emerged trimnphant from one of the severest tests to which it had ever been subjected, the French and Belgians had once more shown their superiority over the Germans on the field of battle. DRUMMER SPENCER JOHN BENT, V.C. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. THE KING OF SERBIA CHAPTER LXVI. MEDICAL WORK IN THE FIELD AND AT HOME. The Akmy Medical Service — Its Readiness fob Euhopean \\ar — New Problems of Modern Warfare — The Royal Army Medical Corps in France — Base Hospitals — The Retreat FROM ^loNS — The Battle of the Marne — Paris as a Hospital Centre — American Help — The Battle of the Aisne — Boulogne — Work of Specialists — Hospital Work in England — A Description of Netley — Other Hospitals — The Supply- of Doctors and Nurses — The Red Cross Organization. BY the morning of Wednesday, August 5, 1914, the morrow of Britain's declara- tion of war upon Germany, the whole British Army and Navy, including the Medical Services, had sprung to attention, and every measure which reason could then suggest as necessary for efficient care of the wounded had been taken. The public took, no doubt, some time to realize the nature of the corning war, and at first vaguely supposed that the struggle with Germany would begin with a shock of naval battle in the North Sea. Preparations were, indeed, made to receive wounded sailors at the East Coast ports— at Yarmouth, for instance, 200 beds were ordered to be readj"- by 2 p.m. on the 6th— but it soon appeared that the medical history of at any rate the first phases of the struggle would be the testing of oiu* preparedness for a great European land war. The work of reorganization begim after the South African War followed subsequently the lines of general military organization, of which the great feature was the prei^aration of an Expeditionary Force. Everything pivoted upon that, and the great war found the organi- Vol. IV.— Part 41. zation ready. The nucleus was the Army ^ledical Service. Around it wa.s grouped an organization of the medical profession. When, as very soon happened, Lord Ivitchener began the raising of new armies, the task before the War Office was to form a reflection of the system already applied to the existing armies. There was a time in the history of nations when the work of caring for wounded men at the front and for the health of armies in the field was regarded as of small or secondary importance. At that period armies were not of great size, nor wa.s the profession of arms the liighlj' technical business which it has become in these latter days. If a man was woimdtd he ceased to be of use for the imdertaking on which the army was engaged, and the chances were that before his recovery was complete a de- cision would have been reached. In any case, a sufficiency of fresh recruits could usually be obtained without difficulty. ^Moreover, if pesti- lence broke out the troops could be moved away to fresh ground, and the infection in this manner eluded to a certain extent. As armies increased in size, however, and as weapons became more deadly, a new situation 41 42 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. w ^'f ^ 'f^rffff hm n^c f cf tlirtWTc^' W^IT^'^"'' I arose. The nvimber of men who were injured increased, and the ratio between the killed and the wotuided underwent a change. Wounded men began to have a potential value when new recruits were difficult to obtain in adequate numbers, and pestilences became a serious danger when it was no longer possible to escape from them, and when the campaign was likely to be of prolonged duration. Napoleon certainly appreciated the new situation during the latter portion of his career, for on one occasion he ordered that no doctors were to be allowed in the firing Une, and de- clared that " one doctor was worth 15 ordinary men." But in Napoleon's day military surgery was so primitive that the number of wounded men returned to the firing line was not at any time great. The discovery of the antiseptic method and the evolution of modern surgery were needful to endow the medical corps of an armj' with real military significance. ROYAUMONT ABBEY CONVERTED INTO A HOSPITAL. Patients taking a sun-bath in the old gardens. Inset : Women surgeons performing an operation in the hospital theatre. This new significance found its first recog nition on what may be called a national scale in the Russo-Japanese War. The Japanese, as a scientific people, had noted the fact that in most earlier struggles, and especially in their own struggle with China, the proportion of men rendered hors de combat by bullets and shells was about 20 per cent, of the total casualties. The remaining 80 per cent, were driven from the figliting line by disease. Moreover, of the woxinded many were rendered permanently incapable because their wounds became infected. The Japanese saw that if disease could be pre- vented and all wounds could receive immediate and thorough surgical care the number of men constantly available for the firing line would be immensely increased. As a small nation with few reserves, they naturally regarded this discovery as being of the greatest importance, more especially since political events suggested that their opponent in war would be a people immensely superior to them in point of numbers. Japan, therefore, organized her Army Medical Corps on a new basis ; she gave great power to her medical officers and demanded great things of them. She equipped lier forces with men of science, bacteriologists, and expert analysts, whose duty it was to examine wells, report upon drainage systems, select the sites. THE TIMES HISTOJiY OF THE WAR. 43 for cainps, and discover infected persons and isolate them. As a result of these precautions taken before war broke out, she reduced her casualties in the most remarkable manner. Her final results showed that instead of 80 per cent, of the number of men rendered hors de combat being victims of disease, only 20 per cent, were so affected, while of the wounded a much smaller number than usual suffered from blood poisoning and other similar conditions. The experience of Japan had not passed unnoticed by other nations. In Britain, how- ever, there is little room for doubt that the process of improvement had not been carried far enough. She went into the war with a medical service which lacked nothing so far as personnel was concerned, bvit which lacked many things in respect of the demands which were soon to be made upon its equipment. To some extent this was inevitable. So long a time had elapsed since the last great European war that the conditions of war in a temperate climate and upon a highly cultivated soil were not fully appreciated. Moreover, in the interval between 1870 and 1914 .surgery and preventive medicine had become new sciences. It was scarcely possible to foresee exactly what the relationship between war and medicine would be or what new demands the new conditions might make. Xo one, for example, foresaw the important role which the soil of Europe was to play in the infection of wounds ; the need fur the rapid evacuation of immense numbers of wounded men whicli arose early in the cam- paign was. not fully provided for ; nor ^vns SIR JOHN FRENCH'S SISTER AS A NURSE IN FRANCE. Mrs. Harley talking to some of her patients at Royaumont Abbey. General French's sister is In charge of the staff, which is composed of women. 44 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. WOUNDED HORSES. The Ambulance Van. it thought probable that every branch of medicine from dentistry to massage would be requisitioned before the war had lasted eight months. There was a tendency — no doubt the result of experience in South Africa — to regard war surgery as a straightforward busi- ness concerned chiefly with the dressing of wounds. This tendency was apparent to initiated observers who happened to witness the dis- embarcation of the Expeditionary Force at Boulogne in August. Boulogne at that time was designated a hospital base. Large quan- tities of R.A.M.C. stores and equiiDment were brought to the town, and a hospital was estabUshed in the grounds of the ruined reli- gious house on the hill above the walled city. In addition ambulance wagons of the old horse-drawn type were to be seen passing through the street.s — wagons which earlier experience had sanctioned, but which even at this period looked somewhat out of date. It would probably be unfair to regard the hospital on the hill as representing the con- sidered requirements of the authorities. It was not known at that moment whether or not it would be possible to hold Boulogne permanently, and in the circumstances it was obviously impossible to make elaborate pre- parations. But the preparations which were actually made were on so small a scale as to .suggest a tentative rather than an assured attitude. The evolution of the modern war hospital had scarcely begun. The first hospital at Boulogne enjoyed a very short term of existence. Within a fe'sv days of its opening the battle of Mons was fovight, and the retreat through Northern France had begun. It became clear that Boulogne could no longer be used as a base for the treatment of the wounded or for their transhipnnent to England, and consequently orders were given to evacuate the town and proceed to Havre. During two days and nights a stream of wagons conveyed the stores and equipment back to the docks, the medical officers and orderUes went on board ship, and the development of hospital work received a sharp check. Meanwhile at the front itself the Royal Army Medical Corps was face to face with the most tremendous problem which it had ever encountered. Mons had been a cruel awaken- ing ; the retreat from Mons, in blazing sunlight through stifling August days, was of the char- acter of an inferno. The soldiers described it tersely as " Hell on earth," and the medical officers had good reason to endorse that opinion. From the doctor's point of view a retreat, no matter how orderly, is calamitous. The retreat from Mons left large nimibers of British and French wounded in the hands of the enemy. The medical men attending the British were exposed to very great danger. They per- formed their work imder fire during many successive days and nights. Almost super- human exertions were required to get men removed tlirough the retreating ranks to the THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE TTM7?. 45 THE HORSE IN WAR. Army Veterinary Surgeons attending to a wounded horse behind the fighting-line. ambulance trains. The roads were congested with refugees and transport wagons, with the fragments of regiments, and with men who had lost their regiments ; the railways were also disorganized and crowded with trains of every description. It will stand to the everlasting credit of the Royal Army ^Medical Corps that in this terrible emergency it proved itself worthy of the trust reposed in it. The story of the heroism of individual officers diu-ing the retreat and subsequently at the battles of the Marne and Aisne is one of the brightest in the annals of the war. Many of these officers were after- wards decorated for their services ; the Victoria Cross and the French Legion of Honour being in some instances bestowed. It is a safe statement that no man ever won the Victoria Cross more nobly than did Captain Harry Sherwood Ranken, R.A.M.C. Captain Ranken was severely wounded in the leg whilst attending to his duties on the battlefield. He arrested the bleeding from this and bound it up and then continued to dress the woiuids of his men, sacrificing his chances of salvation to their needs. When finally he pennitted himself to be carried to the rear his case had become almost desperate. He died within a short period. His act of heroism was thus laconi- cally described in an official statement made at the tune when the V.C. was conferred : " For tending wounded in the trenches under rifle and shrapnel fire at Hautvesnes on September 19 and on September 20, con- tinuing to attend to wounded after hi.s thigli and leg had been shattered." Dvu-ing the fighting on the Aisne the Anny doctors showed in many cases most heroic courage. The following accoimt is tyjjical of many received about this time : It became necessary for the doctor to pass across a narrow ravine separating two trendies. The ravine was swept by the enemy's fire and tliose in tlie trenches were lying close. The doctor did not hesitate a moment, but made the hazardous journey. Not only so, but on five different occasions he recrossed from trench to trench, it having been signalled to him that his services were required. It was during the period of the retreat that the first impression of the effects of modern shell fire was obtained. That impression astonished the medical world. It was found that the tremendous blast of air w hich followed the bursting of a shell produced severe injury to the lungs of the men standing near and also that men in the neighbourhood suffered from concussion, which in many instances Icilled them outright. This shell concussion produced such extraordinary effects indeed that after an engagement dead soldiers were found standing in the trenches or sitting in the most natural attitudes. Amongst the lesser effects of shell concussion observed were sudden blindness without injury to the eyes, deafness, and nervous prostration. In a few instances men seemed to become dazed and to pass into the sub-conscious state described by James and other psychologists. The line of evacuation for men wounded during the retreat from Mons was, in the first 41-2. 46 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. instance, through Ainiens and Rouen. The scene at Amiens was one of confusion and tragedy. The platforms of the station were thronged with refugees from the Pas de Calais and the Lille district, peasants with their wives and children; and their small belongings tied up in bed-sheets or any other receptacle which could be obtained, well-to-do people with their servants and boxes, some of them distracted with anxiety, a few officials, and a goodly number of Americans. The station was also thronged with the soldiers of three nations, and every few minutes huge troop trains rushed through, the men leaning from the carriage windows and cheering. The [Gale i£- Pdlden. CAPT. H. S. RANKEN, R.A.M.C. Who, at Hautvesnes, attended the wounded in the trenches after his thigh and leg had been shattered. He was awarded the V.C. trains of British wounded rolled into the station all night long without intennission. These were the men who had sung their way so lightheartedly through the streets of Bou- logne only a week earlier. They bore the evidences of the fearful ordeal through which they had passed. The trains consisted of trucks, on the floors of which straw had been spread. The trucks lacked proper braking arrangements, and when the engine stopped they bumped together with a clanliing sound that was punctuated by the groans of the wounded men. The less severely wounded thronged the doorways of the trucks. They seemed, most of them, slightly dazed, but tlie dogged cheerfulness of the British soldier had not deserted them. They made light of their wounds, but the slow discomfort of the train was very hard to bear, and the jolting was terrible. At Rouen the same scenes were being enacted. At the great terminus there many of the wounded were taken from the trains and conveyed by motor and horse ambulance to the hospital ships. All day and all night the trains arrived and the stretcher-bearers moved backwards and forwards across the narrow platforms. The orderlies behaved splen- didly, but it was quite clear to everybody that vast changes of organization were needful. The modern battle, with its huge casualty lists, demanded a new conception of ambulance work. The hospital ships lay alongside the quays. They were vessels taken from the Irish pas- senger service, and had been painted a dull slate grey. They were comfortably fitted up and represented luxury after the ordeal of the trucks. Nevertheless, for wounded men who had spent several days and nights in a goods train the prospect of a sea voyage was not without its terrors. Many of the broken bones had been but hastily set ; the dressings were of a temporar;y character. There is reason to thinlc that some of the wounds had not been dressed since the first battlefield bandage was applied to them. It was the best which could be accomplished in the circumstances, but it was very far from being a satisfactory state of affairs. Havre, meanwhile, had been turned into a hospital base. The stores and equipment which had been sent in the first instance to Boulogne had now arrived at the port. The huge dock-shed on the quay wall where the boats froin Southampton were usually berthed was taken over for R.A.M.C. use, and the hospital trains which were directed upon this place arrived here. Hospital ships lay also at Havre, and embarcations sunilar to those witnessed at Rouen were carried on day and night. At Havre, as at Rouen, there was ample evidence that changes of a radical character were needful. The inost hoj^eful sign for the future was the splendid devotion and tireless self-sacrifice of the doctors, nurses, and orderlies. HOT FOOD FOR THE WOUNDED. The Motor Field Kitchen : Serving out soup to the wounded. 47 48 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. Just as the retreat from Mons had furnished evidence of the effects of modern shell fire, so the long journey to the coast revealed the com- plications which the soil of France had intro- duced into war surgery. These complications were of a bacteriological natvire. The soil of France has been highly cultivated during him- dreds of years. The soil is richly manured. In this maniu-ed soil the germs of tetanus (lockjaw) THE RED CROSS IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM. Removing the wounded to a hospital on the Seine — Lowering a wounded soldier into a barge used as a temporary open-air hospital (centre) and bring- ing in the wounded to Ostend (bottom). and of gaseous gangrene find their most suitable breeding ground. The wounds received on this soil were poisoned in almost every instance and within a few days symptoms of poisoning became apparent. On the way down from the front, and in the hospital ships, cases of tetanus began to be met with and severe gangrene often set in. Because it was impossible during a joiu-ney to handle the latter condition in a thorough manner many soldiers lost their lives, in other cases limbs were lost as the result of amputation. It became abundantly clear that a long railway journey tuidertaken in circmnstances which precluded proper sur- gical attention was fatal to the wellbeing of the soldiers ; it became clear also that some measures would have to be taken to guard against the peril of tetanus. Unliappily, the military situation at that moment rendered drastic changes in the medical service almost impossible. The Allied Armies were still falling back towards Paris, and there was a distinct threat on the part of the enemy to cut off the peninsula of land at the most westerly point of which Havre is situated. It was not known from day to day whether this threat would or wovild not be translated into action. In consequence, the medical authori- ties, both at Havre and at Rouen, had orders THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 49 Reading to a Wounded Soldier. Afternoon Tea. THE ASTORIA, PARIS, CONVERTED INTO A HOSPITAL. to be ready for an immediate evacuation. The y could not hope to enlarge their organization or complete their arrangements so long as the uncertainty remained. The event proved that this readiness to move was very necessary. As the German Army approached Paris, Havre became impossible as a hospital base. Orders were given for its evacuation, and within a few days the hospital equipment had been put on board ship for St. Nazaire. This second move had the immediate effect of lengthening considerably the line of evacuation for the wounded. It had thus the effect of accentuating all the difficulties and all the dangers already encountered. Wounded men had now to spend several days and nights in the trains, and what may be described as the bacteriological problem became more acute. But a change for the better was at hand. Already a great deal of attention had been attracted to the condition of the woimded, and efforts were being made both at home and abroad to cope with the problem. The first fruit of these efforts was the estab- blishing of dressing stations on the railways. These stations were conducted by nurses and other charitably-minded person.s. They con- sisted of small booths placed in wayside sta- tions. AVhen the ambulance trains arrived fresh dressings were applied to severe wounds and wine and chocolate distributed. The British Red Cross Society played its part in initiating this good work. The Times Fund had just been opened (August 31), and appeals were being made daily to the people of England for help. " The British Red Cross Society," one of these signed by the late Lord Rothschild, Sir Frederick Treves, and ]Mr. Ridsdale, ran " sujiplements the aid pro- vided by the State for our sick and wounded. Auxiliarj' hospital accommodation, auxiliary medical and nursing service, and all the little luxuries and comforts which mean so much to the invalid on his bed of pain the society organizes and supplies." It is no exaggeration to say that that appeal and those which fol- lowed it inaugurated the greatest private work of mercy which has ever been undertaken. The Times Fund was begim exactly at the critical moment. Within a few weeks, as will be seen, it had grown to vast dimensions. It plaved a great and worthy part in the com- plete change of situation which was soon to take place. 50 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. Before leaving this part of the history, a description of the removal of a wounded soldier from the battlefield to the base hospital which was contributed to The Times by a medical correspondent may be quoted : The wound was caused by a bursting shell, a piece of which was driven into the flesh of the thigh, inflicting a severe gash. The soldier collapsed at once and lay at the bottom of the trench, bleeding freely. He was dazed by the concussion. Happily a doctor was at hand creeping along the trench at his hazardous work. AVith the help of a man of the Royal Army Medical Corps he raised the injured limb, cut away the trouser le.ii and applied a temporary antiseptic dressing and bandage. . . . The wounded soldier, left to himself, gradually recovered full consciousness. At first his wound did not hurt him very much because the blow had deadened the sensitiveness of the nerves, but after a little time the pain became severe — a dull persistent throbbing, growing more and more acute. This stay in the trenches reduced vitality and shattered resistance. Loss of blood, pain, shock, hunger, cold, and damp all exacted their toll of strength, so that when night fell and the enemy's fire abated a little it was a very weak and broken man who was " collected " by on the floor. Four doctors and a body of ambulance men accompanied the train. A period of several hours was required in which to entrain the full complement of wounded. This was a very weary time, for, of course, dressings could not be attended to, nor could pain be alleviated except in a perfunctory way. The rate of travel when the train at last began to move was very slow and there were frequent delays. These stoppages were usually abrupt, there being no system of air-brakes. Many of the patients complained bitterly of the shocks and joltings, but t was recognized that these were unavoidable. At intervals the doctors accompanying the train made visits of inspection. They did all that was possible to alleviate distress and discomfort. Also there were occasional rests at stations by the wayside, where nurses and helpers of various kinds waited to bestow wines and warm drinks, chocolates and cigarettes. Dressings could also be attended to here in case of great need. . . . The journey lasted about a day and a night. (Many of the journeys lasted much longer than this.) At certain places wounded were removed from the train to be taken by motor ambulance to hospitals. These men were to be envied, because life in the train was very trying for men who had already been subjected to the fierce penalty of the trendies and in many cases were the victims of inflammations of their wounds. These inflamed wounds are exquisitely tender. The weariness TWO FRENCH METHODS OF CARRYING THE WOUNDED. On the back of the soldier, and on horseback. This form of stretcher, owing to its zig-zag nature, prevents jolting. the stretcher-bearers and carried back through the dark woods to the " regimental aid post " and thence to the " Clearing Station." This station was a village church, which had been improvised as a hospital. The floor of the building was covered with straw, on which the stretchers were laid side by side. Doctors attended to the wounded here ; food was served and treatment given as far as was possible. But the number of men requiring help was very great. The doctors were tired out and overworked, and fresh cases were arriving every moment, many of them demanding immediate and long attention. Our wounded soldier was covered with a blanket and left to go to sleep. He could not sleep, and spent an uneasy night. The groans of his fellow -sufferers were harrowing, for there were some terribly shattered men in that hospital. Next day he felt feverish and ill. It was, however, necessary to remove him from the Clearing Station as there were more cases coming down and the accommo- dation was limited. His dressing was attended to, and he was placed in an ambulance along with other cases and conveyed over a rather rough road to a place where an ambulance train had been drawn up in readiness. Arrangements had been made for swinging stretchers inside the trucks of the train. The stretcher cases were accommodated, some on swinging places, others and exhaustion were profound. A man lived in a kind of feverish nightmare through which rumbled un- ceasingly innumerable wheels moving by jars and jolts. During this period work at the Front itself was carried on with the greatest energy and self-sacrifice, and this often in face of grave difficulties. The organization was good and the enthusiasm of the personnel suffered no diminution. Each unit had its own regimental doctor, who accompanied it, in most instances, into the trenches, sharing all its hardships and dangers. It was the doctor's duty to creep along the trench during an engagement and give help to any man who might be wounded. The work was of a very hazardous character indeed, as the casualty lists plainly showed. In addition to the doctor there were the bearer parties of the field ambulances, whose duty it was to carry wounded men back from THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 51 THE RED CROSS ON THE BATTLEFIELD. Going out to collect the wounded. the trenches to the tent sections of the field ambulances. These tent sections were in reality small hospitals fitted up in such a manner that it was possible to perform urgent opera- tions in them. Thanks to this fact many very severe cases received a measure of immediate attention. The development of these m-gent case hospitals was destined to prove one of the most important features of the new epoch in war surgery. From the tent sections patients passed to the Clearing Stations, as has already been described, and thence to the trains. Upon the state of affairs already outlined the battle of the Marne and the retreat of the German Army under General von Kluck which followed it exercised a profound effect. The battle of the JVIarne delivered Paris. It rendered Havre and Rouen possible as hospital bases ; and it also gave the Allies a breathing space m which to set their house in order. On the other hand, it threw upon the Royal Army Medical Corps an immense amovmt of work and rendered the conge.stion wliicli had followed the Great Retreat still more difficult a problem. Paris had now again become the great centre alike of supply and of relief. French and British wounded were pouring into Paris. The need for hospital accommodation in tlie capital became acute. THE RED CROSS ON THE BATTLEFIELD. Carrying the wounded to the motor-ambulance. 52 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. NURSES AT WORK. Carrying a wounded Belgian. Several agencies set to work to satisfy that need. The Royal Army Medical Corps opened a hospital in the Hotel Petit Trianon at Ver- sailles. In Paris itself a magnificent hospital was opened under the auspices of the British Red Cross Society, and raen and women doctors freely lent their aid. In addition, the British Hospital in Paris opened its doors to the woiuided soldiers. jMeantime several prominent Americans in Paris had decided to undertake work for the wounded. Amongst these was the American Ambassador, Mr. Herrick. They constituted themselves a committee and set to work with great energy, and the story of their labours furnishes one of the romances of hospital work. The first step was the securing of a suitable building. This was obtained as early as August 12 from the French Government. The Lycee Pasteur, at Neuilly, was a large school in coiu-se of being built ; it was not expected that it could be opened until the late autumn. The American Committee took the Lycee Pasteur in hand without a moment's delay. Windows were fitted to empty frames, doors adjusted, the dust-covered floors were swept clean, and the walls whitewashed ; electric light and baths were installed and immense classrooms partitioned off to fonn snug wards ; a beautifully equipped operating theatre, an anaesthetic rooni, a sterilizing room, an X-ray department, and a dental clinic were provided. The American Committee described this hospital as a " gift to humanity." A most pleasing feature was the amount of work accomplished in the hospital by Americans themselves, and that without distinction of class. At the hospital doors acting as con- cierges were two eminent painters ; distin- guished engineers, professional men, business men, scholars, and artists worked in the various departments. Many illustrious physicians and SLU"geons gave their services, while among the nursing and auxiliary staffs there were names which were known throughout Europe. A rigid silence was preserved as to the identity of these workers, it being felt that each was giving according to his or her capacity and without desire for the reward of publicity. The organization of the hospital was remark- able. It was so good that it deserves descrip- tion in detail ; u[)on this plan all the great war hospitals were afterwards conducted. Indeed, it is true to a great extent that the Americans led the way in the great new move- ment towards the perfect military hospital which the war initiated. When the hospital was opened it was felt that there was an urgent need of means of quick conveyance from the battlefield to the wards. The railways, as has already been pointed out, were congested with traffic of all sorts. Delays there were inevitable. But the roads were much less congested, and the possibility of using ambulance cars to a greater extent than had hitherto been contemplated presented itself to the minds of those in authority, particularly as the distance from Paris to the firing line was at that period comparatively short. Some dozen " Ford " cars had been pre- sented to the hospital. These cars were very light and could climb very steep banks on their low gear. Thanlcs to a happy inspiration, it was foiuid possible to construct for each car an ambulance body out of the packing case in which the vehicle had been shipped. This work was performed gratuitously. These am- bulance bodies cost very little and accom- modated two wounded men lying dowTi and four seated. The effect of a bath and a suit of warm clean THE TIMES IILSTOL'Y OE THE WAH. 'j;SL^ ON THE WAY TO SERBIA. Sir Thomas Lipton and Nurses on board the " Erin." clothes upon arrival was remarkable. It was a psychological effect. The soldiers, feeling that they were being cared for, resumed their self-confidence and gradually returned to a normal state of mind. The wards of the hos- pital were very bright and cheerfvil, while the operatin'g theatre was eqviipped in the most modern style. Full use was made of X-rays in the locaUzation of bullets and pieces of shrapnel, and speciaUsts were in attendance to deal with woimds involving special senses. Moreover, every patient admitted to the Lycee Pasteur had his mouth examined by a dentist. In very many cases the teeth were found to be decayed or defective and to require cleansing. Every mouth %\as immediately put in a healthy state. Injuries of the jaws, too, received treatment at the hands of a dentist, and thus inanj^ remarkable results were obtained. Plastic surgery was practised at the American Hospital, and in cases where severe injury of the face had taken place proved to be a valuable means of healing. All manner of patients were admitted to the wards : tliese included Frenclimen, Algerians, Moroccans, Englishmen and German prisoners. The As- toria Hospital was also a very fine institution. The patients lay in palatial surroundings and lacked for nothing. As time went on every manner of modern comfort was supplied. The period of the greatest activity of the British hospitals in Paris coincided with that during which the battle of the Aisne was being fought, that is to say during the last three weeks of September. Several important les- sons were learned during this period. In the first place it was seen that measures must be taken to cope with the dangers of soil-infected wounds. It was clearly impossible to prevent soil-infection ; on the other hand there was reason to think that early injections of anti- tetanic serum influenced these ca.«;es favourably. Efforts were made to administer the serum to all patients sviffering from wounds which had been badly contaminated, and in this way the tetanus danger was certainly minimised. Dr. Delorme, Principal Medical Inspector of the French Forces in the field, addressed the Academy of Science at Paris on September 28, and discussed this question. He said that if men could not be picked up until long after they had been woimded the responsibility rested with those who were making vise of barbarous methods of warfare. The moral of the wounded RED CROSS IN SERBIA. The American Hospital at Belgrade. 41—3. H THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. MISS JESSIE BORTHWICK AND MR. H. WHITWORTH. Miss Borthwick, together with the Dowager Lady Suffolk, Lord Methuen, and Sir Robert Anderson, organised the Little Allies' Ambulance Corps which did good work in Belgium. was perfect. In cases of shell wounds which had been inflicted some hours previously, anti- septic treatment, and if necessary amputation, should be carried out at the front in order to prevent the possibility of gangrene and tetanus. Bullets should be extracted as soon as possible and the wound cleansed with oxygenized water. Should symptoms of gangrene show themselves, in addition to ordinary incision a double row of injections consisting of a 25 per cent, solution of sulphate of magnesia to minimise convulsions might be made and anti-tetanus serum also injected. Dr. Delorme advised that this sermii should in any case be given as a prophylactic, and stated that Dr. Roux, of the Pasteur Institute, had already prepared 160,000 doses of the serum in case of need. The serum should be carried by ambulances at the front, and the wounded should be injected with it before being sent down to base hospitals. Dr. Delorme's advice was taken. In addition surgeons began to find that their peace-time methods required revision in view of the altered conditions. The aseptic form of surgery was no longer adhered to. Aseptic surgery aims at keeping a wound scrupulously clean. This, in cases where wounds were already poisoned with dirt and earth, was manifestly impossible. It was found necessary to resort to antiseptic methods and to introduce into wounds sub- stances capable of killing the organisms which had begun to multiply there. As most of these organisms belonged to what is known as the anaerobic type — that is to say, the type which is inliibited by the presence of air — oxygen and oxidisers were the best antiseptic agents. AVounds, too, were kept open, and opened up freely so that as much air as possible might ))e admitted and free drainage provided for. A second lesson was that specialists were required in every military hospital. There were injuries of the eye to be attended to, and injuries of the ear, teeth, joints, and other members and organs. If the wounded men were to have justice it was needful to refer these cases to men w ho had made life-long study of them. Writing to The Times, a medical correspondent said : The need for absolutely first-class surgery may be illustrated by three cases which I saw in Paris. The first of these was a young officer, one of the most mag- nificently well-built, handsome inen I have ever set eyes upon. He had been wounded in the head by a piece of shrapnel, with the result that he lost the power of one arm, the ability to hear anything and to speak a single word. When I saw him he was able to hear and to understand and could also articulate, though with difficulty. The operation in this case was performed by a very distinguished surgeon ; it was completely successful ; the patient is recovering, and will, it may be hoped, complete his recovery. Another case similar to this one was that of an officer who developed enteritis and then appendicitis as the result of long exposure in the trenches at the River Aisne. Here again operative measures of a special kind were necessary. The third case was one of gangrene of the leg, where operation under good con- ditions saved life. A third lesson was the need for immediate case hospitals near the front. The use of chiu'ches and other bmldings was of course the only solution of this difficulty during the early days of the campaign, but during the " Paris DUTCH RED CROSS. A nurse tending a wounded Belgian in the old Augustinian nunnery which was turned into a hospital. THE TIMES IIISTUIIY Of-' THE WAR. 55 FRENCH AMBULANCE WORK. An X-Ray apparatus. period " it was possible to improve vipon this state of affairs by opening \inits at various towns and villages behind the lines. There was, for example, a hos23ital at Villiers Cotterets behind Soissons. These hospitals were very well equipped and were staffed by surgeons of experience. They served as centres to which grave cases could be taken and where they could be treated forthwith. In this way the ordeal of a journey to Paris ^^■as avoided, and no doubt many lives were saved which w ould have been lost had this j ourney been necessary. Finally it was seen how great a need existed for a large number of ambulance cars. The Red Cross Society and Order of St. John per- formed in this respect a work of the greatest value. Through the medimn of The Times newspaper an apjieal was made for ambulance cars and owners of private cars were invited to give their vehicles. The response to the appeal was immediate, and very soon a large number of cars had been placed at the disposal of the military authori- ties. These were used to bring the woiuided from the Aisne to Paris and Versailles. Towards the end of the first week in October the ambu- lance part of the Army INIedical Service was working as smoothly as were other departments. Indeed it looked as though the problems which had arisen in such profusion during the retreat irom Mons had been solved. The evolution of the new war surgery seemed to be on the way to completion. The situation, too, was improved by the reopening of Rouen and Havre as points of evacuation for wounded men returning by hospital ship to England. Even the ambulance trains were better, good corridor carriages with beds in them having been substituted for tliu improvised trucks. Unfortunately, the medical is always det( r- mined by the military situation. With the opening of hospitals in Paris and south of Paris, a great improvement took place. But, unhappily, a new test awaited the Royal Anny IMedical Corps, a test even more severe than that experienced during the weeks of August. This was the sudden lengthening of the line from the Aisne to the North Sea. That military operation took place with great rapidity, and in face of severe opposition. While it may have been possible to foresee it, it was certainly not possible to provide against it in a medical sense, because any extensive hospital preparations at Boulogne would have acted as a signal of alarm to the enemy. Our doctors had, therefore, to begin over again. They were faced during the great battle of Ypres with an enormous number of wounded men who were rushed down from the Front, as it were, "all together." There was no time to bring up hospitals from Paris or elsewhere even had this been possible. (It was not [jossible because these hospitals were full of patients and working at high pressure.) It was, there- fore, necessary to set to work and e\olve a new solution of a new problem. But the lessons of the past had been taken to heart. ]\Iotor ambulances were now avail- able ; a large number of them had arrived in Paris ; they were immediately dispatched to " an unknown de.stination." In other words, thev went up to Flanders and were arrixing 60 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. A MOTOR-CYCLE AMBULANCE day by day in Boulogne. Moreover. The Times Fund for the Sick and Wounded was in existence and large sums of money were, therefore, immediately available. The money was called for and spent, and immense quan- tities of stores were sent across to Boulogne to equip the new hospitals being opened out. The situation in Boulogne was, indeed, a difficult one. The new ambulance trains which were now available, and which caruiot be praised too highly, rolled into the station all day and all night. Severely wounded men were disembarked in hundreds, and the hun- dreds soon moimted to thousands. Where were these cases to be housed ? How were they to be dealt with ? Many of them were in dire need of help ; operations were called for immediately ; tetanus and gas gangrene were still being met with. The hospital ships could scarcely overtake the work thrown upon them and it was rightly felt that the policy of sending all cases on board ship without previous treatment was a bad one. The Royal Army Medical Corps rose splen- didly to the occasion and was well supported by the Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. One after another hospitals were opened and equipped. The great casino at Boulogne became a hospital ; so also did many of the hotels ; a clearing hospital was opened on the Gare Maritime Ijeside the hospital ships. At first the stretchers were laid upon the floors ; soon, however, beds became available. The staff worked day and night, denying themselves respite of any sort. W^ithin an incredibly short space of time operating theatres had been improvised, stocked and opened. X-ray rooms sprang into being so soon as the apparatus was landed from England ; distinguished surgeons, bacteriolo- gists and radiographers, to say nothing of dentists and specialists, were welcomed into th(i service and hurried to the scene of action. Laboratories were opened and the study of wounds and the means for dealing with them began forthwith. In ten days the crisis had been met and was passed. A picture of the old town during these days is worth reproducing : " The streets were full of anxious faces. Along the streets, across the swing bridge over the harbour and down the quays moved a perpetual line of ambulance cars, those coming from the station going very slowly because of the sorely woimded men they carried, those returning passing at full speed. At night the procession of sorrow had not stopped. The headlights of the cars moved backwards and forwards in theautiunn dark- ness, recalling the lights seen on the field of battle after a heavy engagement. Hospitals seemed to spring up by magic ; the town became a hospital city within a few days, and this character was extended to the adjacent villages, so that Wimereux to the north and Etaples, Le Touquet, and Abbeville to the south shared in the good work. The ambulances from the Australian hospital at Wimereux became a familiar sight in the streets. Finally an Indian hospital was opened in the old religious house on the hill above the town, the same which had been used for this purpose by the British on their first landing in August." It is a safe estimate that 25,000 wounded men were dealt with in fifteen days. These fifteen days saw Boulogne develop into the greatest hospital base in our history, and the most perfect. It is worthy of note that the officers of the Indian ^Medical Service co- operated with those of the R.A.INI.C. in Boulogne and gave new proof of their splendid organiza- tion and abilities. Their work was done in the Indian hospitals. In order to understand the perfection now reached, it is necessary to view the French port as the centre of an immense system comparable in its complexity to a spider's web. Boulogne stood between England and the front ; to Boulogne came the hospital trains from Haze- broucke and Poperinghe and the hospital ships from the British ports. In Boulogne were the means of handling the severe cases which could not with safety be embarked at once. Boulogne was also a sorting-house in which cases were THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 57 referred to various departments, light cases to convalescent camps for return to the front, severe cases to hospital for operation, cases to England, and so forth. It was also a base for hospital supplies. The ambulance trains were victualled here and supplied with bandages, antiseptics, and dressings ; messages were re- ceived here for additional supplies required at the front, for stretchers and blankets and sur- gical necessities, and for the whole equipment of new hospitals. Tn this great work the Red Cross Society and 2'he Times Fund played an important part, as the following description of that work from the Special Correspondent of The Times in Northern France shows : Altliougli ill these strenuous days of October and November the organization of the Red Cross was liurriedly formed and incomplete, it responded to every call made upon it. Not only were the Commissioners able to meet the urgent demand for doctors, nurses, and orderlies for both the military and voluntary hospitals, but they were able to render to the Army medical authorities other services of primary importance for which no other organization was at the moment available, notably the supply of ambulance transport for the base and the front and the issue of vast quantities of medical and other stores. . . . The Red Cross undertook the whole of the work of clearing the trains and convejdng the wounded to the hospitals. . . . Similarly excellent work is being done at Rouen and at Le Havre. There are also two convoys serving \%-ith the British Army at the front. The first was formed in September, under Major Evans, and was the first regular British Red Cross convoy established under military conditions and under military command to be attached officially to the Army in war. The second convoy, which was sent out at the request of the military authorities during the Ypres period, was under the command of Major L'Es- t range. These convovs each consist of 50 ambulances, besides other units. In addition to staffing their own hospitals at Rouen and Abbeville, the Red Cross Society are supplying doctors and nurses to the voluntary hospitals at Le Touquet and Wimereux. There are in addition 40 SIR ALFRED KEOCH, K.C.B. Director-General Army Medical Service- Red Cross nurses working in the infectious disease hospital at the British Army Headquarters. The approximate value of stores issued from October 10, 1914, to April 10, 191.5, was £31,782. . . . This account of British Red Cross work in France would bo incomplete without a brief reference to the services rendered to the wounded by the Voluntary Aid Detach- ment, who did much towards helping the wounded in transit. Other branches of the Red Cross work include the convalescent homes ; the organization for inquiries as to wounded and missing and the identification of graves ; the bringing over of relatives at the expense of the Red Cross to visit the dangerously wounded. It will thus be seen that the work of the Red Cross Society was of a supremely important char- acter, and that it was carried out on a scale which can only be described a-s gigantic. This work was made possible by The Times Fund, and tin- value of that fund is to be gauged in terms of the work accomplished. YACHT AS HOSPITAL SHIP. The Duke of Sutherland's Steam Yacht "Catania." Q ►J W b a «■> J H F 1- u < •OC 03 ■oo c u W E u H 4> > 1> o CO b a CD <t! 0< ts o J3 u a u J <( u c ^^ o Q <i: a S u u T5 C >- S 3 O < lU J5 *^ •Oil o PS •on u v E u H u (£< o u ^ ^ oi O < ^ X H E H 58 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAH. 59 The credit belongs not to one worker, but to all. Yet eertain names must be mentioned. The first Commission which \\ ent to Belgium, and afterwards visited Paris, Nantes and Rouen, was presided over by Sir Alfn-d Keogh, wlio later became Director-General of tlie Anny INledieal Service at the War Oiliee. After Sir Alfred Kcogh had been translated to his new- post, the Commission was reconstituted and expanded, and Sir Arthur Sloggett because Chief Commissioner. Later Surgeon-General Sir -4rthur Sloggett went to Headquarters and Sir Courtauld Thomson went out as Commis- sioner to Boulogne, where he performed splendid work. He was compelled by ill-health to retire, and Sir Arthur Law ley succeeded him. During the crisis caused by the first battle of Ypres Colonel E. H. Lynden Bell, C.B., was A.D.M.S. at Boulogne, and to him belongs much of the credit of having solved the great difficulties presented. In order to appreciate the great progress achieved, it will be well to follow a wounded man from the front at Ypres in, say, the month of January, 1915: He was wounded in the trenches and from there conveyed at night by stretcher-bearers of the Royal Army Medical Corps to a first-aid post. Here a medical man dealt with his immediate needs. He was then placed in a horse ambulance and taken to a field anibulance. These field ambulances were no rough-and-ready contrivances, but hospitals, well equipped and staffed and capable of dealing in a satisfactory manner with cases of great urgency. At the field ambulance he received perhaps a dose of anti -tetanic serum as a pre- ventive measure. If capable of being moved he was then loaded upon a motor ambiilance, and brought down either as a " lying " or a " sitting-up " case to the clearing hospital used by the Army as a base. Treatment awaited him again here. Then, still in the motor ambulance, he was conveyed to the rail -head and placed in a hospital train. This was not the hospital train of Mons or even of the Aisne. It was a splendid hospital on wheels, specially designed and built in England for the transport of wounded men. The coaches were long and heavy ; they were painted a "khaki" colour. Each coach had a central corridor flanked by real hospital beds supjDorted on racks The beds could be lifted out of position and carried outside the coach, so that being lifted from the stretcher and placed on the bed was an easy and painless business. Each coach had its own water supijly, and hot drinks were available night and day ; there wa.s also an o[)erating theatre on tiie train and a dispensary ; and there were kitchens and staff rooms, a large store and complete washing arrangements. In their clean and comfortable vehicles the wounded man and liis companions lay at ea.se ; doctors and nurses were in attendance on them day and night, and the length of j(jurney by rail mattered very little. Thanks to the excel- lent springing of the carriages and to their powerful brakes, there was no jolting or shaking, and the journey was robbed of all terror. At Boulogne the train was met by parties of stretcher-bearers, infantry details specially trained for the work, who conveyed the wounded quickly to waiting motor ambulances, WATER ON THE MOTOR. A contrivance by which water can be carried in a tank and can be heated when required. and in these they were removed to one or other of the great hospitals. The hospitals were no longer merely houses full of wounded. They had become places of healing. Each hospital had its X-ray room in charge of a skilled radiographer. When the bullet or piece of slirapnel had been located it was removed in an operating theatre as well fiunished and equipped as any in London. Trained sisters and nurses attended the opera- tion, and the ana-sthetic was administered by a qualified anaesthetist. The wards were airv nnd well lit. and scrupulously clean ; they con- tained good beds with fine bed linen. Each man had his own locker and table. There w as special cooking for the sick, and the food generally w as of the best quality ; those able a E u JS ■^ a o •w c u *^ 4-1 33 • 1> ca .S u u Irt 3 o v« K u u •Oil ^^ c C3 Q c U hJ U U 1) \u J5 W J c o H ■^ H ^^ "S < > 03 en O ■ofl fc U c E ce H U u Q Z 1) o j= *-• C/3 4-1 0. OS 03 O > u u Vi < << u 1-4 Q < C J E <; u >- J= o a: Q. 3 u E 12 H o Qi b U O c u: •«« a: c O ■4= '^ ^ U c ^ >. u t-M K o H u « 1> u U J3 w .a ■yj 60 / lA u u u c = c .r c a J= X S C " I '/! Q. 3 •- - ~Z ■a •u. c T3 73 z •y. y 5 < "5 c V3 = ^ - ^ 2 ■ ■Q le s c 's a X a ^ ^ S. a o — o Is -so s 3 62 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. to smoke had cigarettes, and workers attended to write letters home to friends. Chaplains, too, visited the sick regularly. All manner of special treatments were avail- able. If it was a jaw injury which had to be dealt with, a dentist was at hand to make jjlates and fixtures ; if an injury of the eye or other special sense, a specialist eminent in that particular work saw the case. And in the laboratory attached to the hospital any special work connected with the wound was carried out and, if necessary, a vaccine prepared against infection. The case, too, was sorted out from other cases according to its character. If it was a light case it might remain till cxu"ed and then either go back to the Front or go to a convales- cent hoine ; if a case likely to take a long tune to heal it was dispatched by ambulance car and hospital ship to England ; if a very grave case all action was deferred. No man was moved until his condition warranted the step, and so no man suffered the least aggravation of his condition. And this great work moved as on oiled wheels, without apparent difficulty. To its accomplishment the most distinguished medical men lent their assistance. It would be in- vidious to mention names, but as an instance the work of Sir Alrm-oth Wright may be referred to. Sir Almroth set himself in his laboratory in the Casino Hospital (No. l.'i^ General) to investigate the nature of the modem wound, and his work was of the greatest importance. It was soon recognised to be important by his professional brethren. Sir Abnroth isolated and cultivated the microbes of the various poisonous conditions met with in wounds. In a contribution to the medical Press he stated his belief that it was impossible completely to disinfect projectile woimds by means of antiseptics. The first stage of a pro- jectile wound was often one of " imprisone(i discharges." That stage came before efficient surgical treatment had been instituted. Sir Almroth showed how surgery may assist the natural efforts of the body and suggested certain means to be employed ; for example, dressings which stimulate thc^ flow of lymph in a wound and so bring the antagonistic qualities of the blood fluid into play : 5 per cent, solution of common salt with a little citrate of soda added. Vaccine treatment of wounds was advocated chiefly as a prophylactic, as, for example, typhoid inoculation might have been advocated ; it THE AMERICAN HOSPITAL IN PAKIS. The room In which the bandages are prepared. The top picture shows Miss Vera ArkwrJght, and Mrs. E. Whitney of New York. THE TIMES HISTOIiY OF THE WAB. 63 DUCHESS OF WESTMINSTER'S HOSPITAL AT LE TOUQUET. The operating tlieatre inside the Casino, which was turned into a hospital ; view from the grounds (centre). Baking the bedding and clothes of typhus- stricken soldiers (bottom picture). was also advocated in cases where inflammation, like erysipelas, had sprung up near a wound, and finally in the treatment of a well-drained w ound. In other cases the results Sir Almrotli had met with were disappointing. He spoke also of " antisepsis vaccine " of which he had a store available. Amongst other well-known specialists at work with the Force were Sir G. H. Makins, Sir John Rose Bradford, Sir Bert rand Dawson, Sir A. MacCormick, Sir Victor Horsley, Sir A. Bowlby, and Sir W. Herringham. To tills historical survey must be added a short note regarding the first great test of the newly-evolved hospital system. That test came in the spring of 1915, first with the battle of Nouve Chapelle and later with the second battle of Ypres^-for it is to be understood that during the first battle of Ypres the system wa-s still bsing evolved. The second battle of Ypres will serve of itself as an illustration of all tliat it is important to understand. The battle began on Thursday, April 22, and lasted, roughly, for about five days, and in that time a very severe strain was placed upon the whole Royal Army Medical 64 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAIL SURGEON-GENERAL T. P. WOODHOUSE, Director of Medical Service British Expeditionary i Force. Service. As in the case of the first battle, wovinded poured down to the base in a sudden stream, and unlUie the first battle this one showed also a percentage of cases suffering from the effects of asphyxiating gas. These cases were of a very severe character. The organization stood the strain placed upon it in the most remarkable manner. There was not the slightest hitch. Orders for stretchers and blanlcets for the front and orders for beds were met in the same calm and speedy manner. Delay did not occiu". A rush lasting five days was dealt with in five days. There was no overcrowding, no excitement, no unnecessary or avoidable suffering. Back- wards and forwards between France and Eng- land plied the swift hospital ships ; to and from the Front rolled the splendid trains (the number of these providentially augmented by a generous gift of two new ones from the British Flour Millers' Association) ; the ambulances moved in an unending procession from the station to the hospitals. As the trains came down they were revictualled and re-equipped from the store maintained for that purpose ; the work was carried out day and night with the ut- most speed, so that as soon as possible the trains might return to the Front. This work in connexion with the trains and steamers was regulated and controlled from a little office in the Boulogne Central Station. The office was a railway truck improvised for the purpose, and the movements of the trains were worked out upon a small blackboard bearing the three headings : Here, At the Front, DUCHESS OF SUTHERLAND'S HOSPITAL AT ST. MALO. The Operating Theatre, THE rUJES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 65 WOUNDED AT THE LONDON HOSPITAL. A gramophone concert. Centre picture : A sergeant of the R.F. A. recuperating. Bottom picture : Read- ing war news. At Other Bases. Trains which could not be dealt with in Boulogne were sent on to Rouen, Havre, Versailles, Le Treport, Etretat, or Etaples, at all of which places British General Hospitals were in operation. This work was under the control of Colonel Gallic, to whom its efficient character was largely due, and who deserved the greatest credit for his energy and forethought and also for the spirit of enthusiasm which he infused into all those working luider his direction. The complete control of tJie base had by this time passed out of the hands of Colonel L^mden Bell, C.B., to those of Surgeon-General Sawyer, D.D.M.S. (Deputy Director of Medical Services), who displayed the qualities of a fine adminis- trator and earned for himself the thanks and respect of all who came into contact with him. By tliis time, too, the terrible scourge of tetanus had been removed. The simple pre- caution of injecting every wounded man with antitetanic seriun brought about a splendid result and rid the war of one of its worst terrors. On the other hand, there had appeared the cases of gas poisoning resulting from the bar- barous methods of warfare employed by the enemy. The gas vised was of the heavier than air variety and belonged to the chlorine group. The patients were asphj-xiated by it and deaths occurred in many cases on the field of battle. The victim became plum-coloured all over his body and developed a violent bronchitic con- 66 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. A WARD IN ST. THOMAS'S HOSPITAL. Some of the Scots Greys. dition. Later, if life was prolonged, the lung condition cleared up, leaving a subtle type of blood-poisoning of the character of the acidosis met with in the late stages of diabetes. Deaths occurred in this stage also, and were attended by fearful suffering. It would be impossible to close this section of the history of the medical work in France without a reference to the hospitals supplied and staffed by British Colonials. There were several such units, but the most important were the Australian Hospital at Wimereux and the Canadian Hospital at Le Touquet. The Australian Hospital v.as opened very shortly after Boulogne became a hospital base. It was equipped entirely by oiir fellow-country- men from across the seas and was organized for work in an exceedingly short period of time. Very great ingenuity was shown by the staff in converting means to hand to their uses. The hospital was a gift in a very real sense, because it represented a national sympathy ; and its record of work was as honourable as its object. Tlie medical men were all Australians, and they gave their time and skilled services with the clieerfulness which characterized our Colonial fellow-subjects throughout the war. The Canadian Hospital at Le Touquet was established at a much later period and its opening was followed within a short period by the heroic and memorable stand of the Canadian regiments at Ypres on Thursday, April 22, whereby a very dangerous situation was saved. At the head of this hospital was Colonel Shillington, a very eminent Canadian surgeon, and the hospital itself represented the last word in modern equipment. Many of the wounded Canadian soldiers were conveyed to it after the battle at Ypres, and they lay side by side with Britons from all other quarters of the Empire. The hospital had thus a peculiar and memorable significance. The \A ork performed by Colonel Shillington and his associates from Canada represented an act of great self-sacrifice on their part ; but the service was rendered in a devoted and unseKir^h spirit which discounted material loss. The Indian hospitals, of which there were three in and near Boulogne, were under the care of the Indian Medical Service. They were conducted upon the lines generally favoured in other institutions, but they had a special interest on account of their patients. Their presence justified fully the description of Boulogne at this period as " The- hospital city of the British En:ipire." The good health enjoyed by the armies in the Western theatre of conflict was a very remark- able feature of the first nine months of war. This was the more surprising because the number of dead bodies befouling the fields of France and Flanders was enormous ; in the inundated area on the Yser alone some 120,000 corpses lay submerged, and the taint produced in tlie atmosphere was very pronovmced at a distance of a mile. Unbui-ied bodies lay for weeks together between the trenches, and the nature of the fighting — " fortress ^\'arfare " — rendered the grornid exceedingly foul. Nor was there any opportunity of cleansing the groiuid. In spite of all these adverse circumstances, the health of the British, French, and Belgian armies remained excellent. Typhoid fever was met with, but not in sufficient measure to warrant the use of the word epidemic as that THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 67 word is understood in the [)arlance of war. A minor outbreak which occurred among Belgian soldiers in Calais in December, 1914, was met promptly by the inoculation of tlie troops and was thus stamped out. From The Times Fund a grant of £10,000 was made towards the expenses of dealing with the out- break. The money was expended in founding a luit h()sj)ital in connexion witli the Sophie Berthelot hospital in Calais, under the charge of Major Stedman. A few cases of typhoid fever occurred in. the British Army, and some of these were dealt with in huts at Wimereux. The French also had some cases. But in con- nexion with typhoid fever there can be no doubt that inoculation and good sanitary arrangements, both at the Front and behuid it, preserved the health of the troops. The Royal Army Medical Corps acted in a verj' able manner in thus respect, and sent out specialists to take every proper prophylactic measure. Entomologists were also emploj^ed to deal with the question of parasites, especially lice, \vhich swarmed in the trenches. After a short voyage by hospital ship. the wounded from France and Flanders reached England so quickly that the men from Neuve Chapelle — to take one case — were cotnfortably installed in British hospitals on the following daj-, 187 British and 581 Indians arriving at Brighton alone on March 1(3, lUl;j. The mere distribution of the suffering cargoes among the institu- tions waiting to receive them called for the highest talent in organization. Fortimately both the Army and Xa\ y Mtdical Services worked witli clockwork elltciency and were so ably backed by the British Red Cross Society and the various voluntary organizations co- ordinated with it for the war that the com- plicated work went more smoothly and swiftly than might have been thought possible. A naere enumeration of all the hospitals that were made available would occupy too much space, but a few may be mentioned as types of the various classes, and we will describe in some detail the famous establishment at Xetley. The town of Xetley is situated on the cai-t side of Southampton \A'ater, three miles from Southampton, and connected by a direct railway journey of thirty minutes with Ports- mouth, where the militarv invalids were MUSIC IN THE HOSPITAL. Singing to the wounded patients in Charing Cross Hospital. (>S THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. disembarked. The Royal Victoria Hospital was always a superb building, of which the foundation-stone had been laid by Queen Victoria in 1850. Before 1914 it had nominal accommodation for 878 patients ; but durmg the trooping season each year over 1,000 were always taken in. Very soon after the beginning of the war it was foreseen, however, that even this nimiber of beds would be hope- lessly inadequate for the demands which would be made upon the hospital, no matter how generous might be the provision of emergency hospitals in other parts of the country or how methodical the system of drafting new arrivals thereto : and one of the ways in which the War Oftice prepared at once to meet the difficulty was by inviting the British Red Cross Society to build and equip at Netley a base field- hospital of wooden huts to accommodate 500 extra beds. Not only was this task promptly undertaken and .splendidly carried out, but also, through the public-spirited generosity of Lord Iveagh, a further addition of huts for 200 beds, making 700 in all, was provided, thus bringing the new adjunct of Netley to dimen- sions not far short of the Royal Victoria Hospital itself. Exclusive of the additional accommodation given by Lord Tveagh, the main Red Cross Hospital at Netley consisted of twenty-five huts, each to accommodate twenty patients, in addition to the necessary administrative buildings, kitchens, stores, etc. Each hut was a narrow parallelogram in outline, (iO ft. long and 17i ft. in width, built of wood with double walls. It had nine windows, which could be opened when weather permitted, with an ingenious hopper window above each, which could be opened in all weathers. In addition there were fanlights over each door and three revolving ventilators in the roof. Thus, that first essential of hospital work, a plentiful supply of pure air, was assiu-ed at all times. Each hut was warmed by two large slow- combustion stoves, biu-ning coke, one at each end ; and there was an annexe to each, in which cleaning materials, etc., for the ward were kept. There were three perfectly equipped kit- chens, whose spotless cleanliness made the WOUNDED SOLDIERS AT BLENHEIM PALACE. Group in the grounds of the Duke of Marlborough's Palace. Inset : Soldiers playing cards in the Long Library. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAIL 69 WOUNDED INDIANS IN ENGLAND. The Camp at Brockenhurst and inside the Pavilion, Brighton. mere visitor feel hungry — a large one for the patients and two smaller ones for sick officers and the nursing staff respectively. In the large kitchen the most conspicuous article was the long hot-plate on which or in whicli all the patients' meat and vegetables were kept hot during the operation of carving. There was a stores department, including (1) quartermasters store, containing all the equipment for the hospital ; (2) steward's store for the dieting and extras for patients ; (3) store for the clothing of patients on ad- mission ; (4) linen store containing the supplies of linen equipment for the wards ; (5) "pack store," in which all the patients' kits, after disinfection, were kept until their discharge ; and (6) the Red Cross store. The last, presided over by Lady Crooke-Lawless, with several assistants, was an immense magazine of useful things, whicli was kept always replenished by the public with such things as underclothing, arm-pillows, socks, gloves, mittens, fruit, books, magazines, etc. The sanitary department was, of course, a most important part of the machinery, being under the registrar, to whom the staff, consisting of the labourers, under a sanitary corporal, was directly responsible. To everj^ three wards there was a sanitary annexe, with a constant sujjply of hot water and a bathroom, while a special system of trench drainage had been carefully thought out for the wards occupied by Indians. In the quarters for the nursing staff the sisters were accommodated in cubicles, some 70 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. WOUNDED AT HOWICK HALL. Howick Castle, Northumberland, turned into a hospitaL A wounded Belgian is showing his wounds and relating his experiences to other wounded and some of the lady helpers at the castle. huts having nine of these and others fifteen. The matron had a private sitting-room and with the home nursing sister occupied a separate hut, while ladies from the various Voluntary Aid Detachments occupied cubicles in a special hut of their own. There was also a separate ward with kitchen and bathroom for sick nurses, and four huts for the medical staff, one for the senior svirgeon and senior physician, and the three others, each with six cubicles, for the rest of the staff. In addition there was a large dining-hall for the sisters, and separate bath-houses for the patients, nursing -stafS, and oflficers. There was also a very fine operating theatre, the generous gift of the well-known American actress, Miss Maxine Elliott, which was replete with every modern appliance, and a fully equipped pathological laboratory and a dispensary on the same complete scale. There were, in addition, three fine recreation hvits for the patients, nurses, and officers respectively, and a spacious and cheerful dining-hall for those patients who were able to move without assistance. A very efficient fire department and a variety of in-valid vehicles and chairs, with materials for all sorts of games, gramophones, etc., completed the equipment. Externally the camp resembled an orderly town of uniform grey buildings, having a restful appearance behind the pines and evergreens through which it was approached, and within which seats and shelters were sprinkled for patients able to make use of them. Before the month of the declaration of war had closed there were already 520 war-patients at Netley, of whom 342 were wounded. At the same early date the Herbert Hospital at Woolwich, which ranks with Netley as a general hospital of the Services in peace time, had about 300 woimded. Of the great London hospitals, within a month of the begin- ning of war the London Hospital had about 300 wounded and received a cheque for £5,000 from a generous supporter in consequence. St. Thomas's Hospital had taken in about 100. A little later King's College Hospital reached the figiire of 400, of whom 270 were Territorials. St. Bartholomew's, Charing Cross, THE TIMK.^ HISTOIIY OF THE WAR. 71 and others also took in war patients according to their capacity. Jiut of all the London hos- pitals, King CJeorge's, established in the new- buildings for the Stationery Oflfice, near ^Vater- loo Station, toolc the Icail. Many suburban institutions, such as the Richmond Hospital, no means could the existing hospitals of the comitry be stretched to take in all the flow of sick and wounded ; and following the example of King George's Hospital, large buildings of many kinds, which were suitably constructed for the purpose had to be utilized. Tlie Pavilion and Dome at Brighton, with their appropriate Oriental architecture, became a home rtf healing for large numbers of Indian tro(j[>s ; while niany schools, wcjrkhouses, and infirmaries were adapted for use. Thus at Reading an important hospital centre was created out of the workhouse and several large schools ; at Newport tin- uorkhoase. QUEEN ALEXANDRA'S HOSPITAL FOR OFFICERS AT HIGHGATE. The exterior of one of the wings. Top picture : One of the single wards allowed to each officer. Bottom picture : A corner of the officers' sitting-room. received their proportion f)f patients ; and further afield all conveniently situated hospital M-ere utilized. These included, of course, such Service institutions as the Royal Xaval Hospital and Fort Pitt Military Hospital at Chatham, and also many provincial hospitals of note, such as the Norfolk and Norwich, \\hich took in wounded soldiers at the rate of 100 every ten or fourteen daj'S from the com- mencement of the war, and built a large tem- porary annexe to accommodate sixty of the number. It was realized very earlj-, however, that bv whicli had accommodated 800 inmates, and Fulham workhouse and infirmary, 900, were cleared for wounded warriors. In London alone about fifty workhouses, infirmaries, and asylums were fitted out as hospitals, and at ^Manchester the Council Schools shared the same distinction. From the Horton Asylimi at Epsom 2,000 lunatics were removed to make 72 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. IN THE CANADIAN HOSPITAL. Canadian Highlander telling a story of a battle by the fireside at Sir Arthur Markham's residence, Beachborough Park, ShorncliflFe. room for sick and wounded soldiers ; and by March 17, 1915, no fewer than 800 hospitals were in order, staffed very largely by vokintary aid workers, while many more new ones were being formed. Among this large number many, of course, were set apart for special classes of patients. Thus, by the spring of 1915, there were no fewer than twenty hospitals, including Brighton, earmarked for Indian soldiers. Of these the best-known and most pictviresque was the Lady Hardinge Hospital in Brockenhurst Park, maintained by the Indian Soldiers' Fmid Sub-Committee of Ladies of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Here 300 woimded Indians were collected as early as the end of February, 1915, imder the suitable charge of .4nglo- Indian surgeons who understood their castes and had the sympathy of old friendship for them. In addition to the public and municipal buildings taken over as hospitals by the ^^"ar Office, grand stands on racecourses, light and airy structures admirably adaptable in many cases for hospital work, were borrowed in various places such as Epsom, Ascot, and Cheltenham. In the two latter instances care was sympathetically taken by the racing autho- rities not to interfere with the accommodation of the wounded during- race-meetings ; but at Epsom the Grand Stand Association claimed the right to disturb them for the convenience of racegoers. In the end a compromise was arranged ; but the incident went some way to strengthen the protest which had been raised against the continuance of horse-racing during the war. Private individuals were so generous in offering their houses for the use of the wounded that one of the most onerous tasks which fell upon the British Red Cross Society at home consisted in examining and sifting these offers, so that only those might be recommended to the War Office which were suitable in every way. Even after this process there almost remained an embarrassment of riches ; and there was hardly a class of society unrepresented among the generous benefactors. To take a few instances : Queen Maud of Norway offered the entire range of outbuildings at her British home of Appleton, in Norfolk ; the offer of Highbury, the late Mr. Joseph Chamberlain's famous home, was accepted ; so was the Duke of Marlborough's offer of the splendid library buildings, at Blenheim Palace, where amid delightful and magnificent surroundings many a grateful soldier found recovery made easy ; while the number of well-known private country mansions, such as Piccard's Rough, near Guildford, offered by their owners and accepted by the War Office, was immense. Often, of course, these private offers were made for special purposes. Thus Maj or Waldorf Astor's famous place at Cliveden on the Thames became the site of the Duke of Connaught's Canadian Red Cross Hospital. Here there were 100 wounded Canadians bv the end of March, GOLF FOR THE CONVALESCENT. Wounded soldiers on St. George's Hill Golf Course. THE TIMERS HISTORY OF THE WAR. 73 1915, and tho number was increased to 500 later. The medical staff was entirely Canadian ; and by the generosity of the donors of the site and the Canadian Red Cross the hospital was made in every detail as perfect as a military hospital could be. Many minor hospitals were, of course, set apart for wounded and sick officers. Prominent among these were King Edward VII. 's Hospital for officers in Belgrave Square, London, and Queen Alexandra's Hospital for Officers at Highgate. Here, under the personal super- vision of its Queen-Patron, all the best results of war experience were embodied and no detail of comfort was overlooked. A typical instance of the way in which the sudden need for more doctors immediately affected the whole military machine was seen in the shortage of officers of the Royal Army Medical Corps for the medical examination of recruits. It was easy for the public to think that the duty of examining recruits might be carried out by any civil doctors, in the same way that they examine candidates for insurance, etc. ; but the homogeneity and uniformity of a fighting force are the measures of its strength, and the experienced Army examiner alone is really capable of summing up the qualities of one recruit after another into a single total figure representing in his mind the man's capacity or incapacity for service. On account of this important fact the military authorities strained every nerve at the ovitset to provide only experienced R.A.IM.C. officers for the examina tion of recruits for the Regular Army, even at the cost of delay, misunderstanding, and some temporary discouragement of recruiting ; while the volunteered aid of civil medical men was only used for examining Territorial recruits, though very soon the addition of Territorial battalions to the army at the front destroyed the reason for thLs discrimination. Enough has been said to illustrate the great strain which the beginning of the war threw upon the Army Medical Service ; and un- fortunately it coincided with a corresponding strain upon the civil medical profession. This had partly been caused by recent legislation, into the merits of which there is no need to enter here, but in greater measure by the direct and indirect demands already made by war. It was manifest also that these demands would increase greatly with the progress of the war. Not only would medical attendance be necessary for the ever-multiplying battalions and hospitals, but the losses of the R.A.^NI.C. on active service must be heavy, yet must be made good at all costs. And the other side of the account revealed an alarming deficit also. So many medical students had enlisted that there was a total falling off of about 1,000 in the number qualifying for degrees, representing a loss of 200 to 300 doctors per annum, about one- quarter of the whole supply. To a very small extent only could this deficiency be made good by the emplojniient of women doctors in certain capacities, but this scarcely affected the difficulty of the position in which the War AUSTRALIAN WOUNDED IN EGYPT. Troops wounded in the Gallipoli Peninsula: On the terrace of the Heliopolis Hotel, near Cairo, used as the Australian General Hospital. 74 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. COMPLETE TRAVELLING WORKSHOP. Included in a convoy of motor ambulances which was organised by the British Ambulance Com- mittee and presented to the French Red Cross Society. Office was placed, being compelled to make heavy and insistent demands upon the civil medical profession at a time when the latter was itself seriously depleted and was threatened with increasing losses in the immediate future. The British Medical Association, however, met the demands of the War Office in a patriotic spirit, and, after consultation with Sir Alfred Keogh, the indefatigable Director- Oeneral of the Army Medical Service, recommended to the profession various ways, such as the imiting of light practices under one doctor and so on, in which the needs of the Army might be met. Those needs had been formulated imder five heads : ( 1 ) Medical men under forty for service with the troops ; (2) men over forty for the hospitals ; (3) men who would be able to give part of their time daily to military work ; (4) men who could undertake to attend officers' and soldiers' relatives in addition to their ordinary j^ractiee ; and (5) men who could undertake part of the civil work of neighbour- ing practitioners engaged in military work. There was an immediate response to this appeal from some centres, such as Aberdeen, and the British Medical Association pressed the matter upon the attention of its members in all localities with good results. Yet after the war had lasted nine months the War Office was still in iirgent need of 2,000 more doctors. By lowering the standard of qualification it would have been possible of course to obtain a larger supply, but it was felt to be better to import men from the Dominions and even the United States, because the lowering of the standard would not only have given the service an inferior type, but would also have created a great plethora of doctors after the war. Equally serious with the shortage of doctors was the need of trained nurses. Thousands were wanted for the new hospitals, and the appeal which the War Office issued only brought in hundreds, because the number actually available was strictly limited. The nursing ASSISTING THE ARMY IN FRANCE. The Oueen Alexandra Contingent worked by the Salvation Army. THE TIMES HISTOnr HE THE W.iL'. 75 QUEEN MARY'S HOSPITAL AT QUEENSFERRY. A group, outside the hospital, including Princess Christian, Sir Arthur May (Medical Director-General), Marchioness of Linlithgow, and Naval officers. staffs of many public institutions, such as the Edinbvirgh Royal Infirmary — which received the special thanks of Queen Alexandra for the ♦ patriotic spirit displayed — came forward nobly, and contingents came in from the Dominions, about seventy from Australia, thirty from South Africa, and sixty from Canada. But these only went a small way to fill the gap ; and the invitation to retired ex-nurses to return to the service did not satisfactorDy meet the case, because they were not very nimnerous and their training was not up to date, nor could instructors easily be spared from more urgent duties for the purpose of teaching theru- In these circumstances the War Qflfice was reluctanth' compelled to abandon the tradition tliat wounded and sick soldiers could only be attended by fully trained and certificated nm-ses ; but, in view of the fact that civilians in hospitals had never had such special nursing, it must not therefore be supposed that the wounded warriors from France and Flanders were entrusted to unskilled hands. In all voluntary hospitals the system had always been for untrained probationers to work imder trained nurses ; and this coimtry was fortunate in having had for many years large numbers of zealous women under the Red Cross and other kindred associations, or more especially in the LABORATORY ON WHEELS. Princess Christian's bacteriological laboratory, which is fully equipped with the latest appliances. 76 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. A RED CROSS TRAIN. An ambulance train constructed by the Great Eastern Railway Company. It was the gift of the United Kingdom Flour Millers' Association and consists of eight coaches, including five for wounded soldiers, two for kitchens, and one for the medical and nursing staff. Voluntary Aid Detachments all over the country, working quietly and earnestly to fit themselves for the work of nursing the sick and wounded. Their opportunity had now come and a good response was made to the invitation of the War Office that they should come forward to work under military discipline, in spite of the natural repugnance with which many of them and their friends and parents regarded some of the con- ditions. It was one thing for them to sacrifice their leisure- for the purpose of training them- selves for a good work in the vicinity of their homes, but a different matter to leave their homes for the whole period of the war and become imnates of a distant hospital under military discipline. The difficulty of the whole problem was greatly diminished by a simple reform of procedure, all cases of wounds or sickness bping classified as " serious " or " slight " by the inspecting officers at the port of arrival and dispatched to different hospitals, only the serious cases going to institutions which had staffs of trained nurses, the shght cases being looked after in hospitals staffed by ex-nurses, probationers, and V.A.D. members. In this way adequate arrangements were made for the reception of the constantly increasing flow of sick and-woimded from the Continent to England, and it was satisfactory to all concerned to know that warm gratitude for the kind and skilful treatment received was the unvarying feeling expressed by officers and men on leaving the hospital to which they had been consigned. A minor but sufficiently serious difficulty which made itself felt at once in hospital work, and threatened to increase unless measures could be taken to deal with it, was the scarcity of many miportant drugs, chiefly because before the war Britain had been accustomed to rely upon German manufacturers for them. The well-known German drug aspirin was especially scarce, and though medical substitutes for carbolic acid itself were easily obtained, this was not at first the case with aspirin. Another German drug, thymol, was also very scarce, and so was lanolin, which was made from the purified fat of sheep's w-ool, and so was Ehrlich's great drug, Salvarsan or " 606." Many other drugs — not all made in Germany, as, for instance, atropine— were also dear and scarce on accoimt of the war. But the crisis and the opportunitj'- aroused the spirit of British enterprise and research, and much leeway in drug production was quickly made up. St. Andrews University and other agen- cies were quickly at work making the synthetic chemicals which had before been exclusively German, and an enterprising London firm, soon followed by others, were able to supply the War Office with the much-needed salicylate of soda. With plenty of bromides from America and ergot from Russia, and British laboratories all over the country daily recording new successes, the Pharmaceutical Society was soon able to an- nounce that if the Government would allow alcohol to be used for this purpose duty-free the spectre of German competition in the liritish drug market might be finally laid. Besides the provision of adequate hospital acconimodation, with a full personnel of doctors, nurses, etc., and a sufficient supply of drugs and other materials, one of the greatest difficulties of dealing with the sick and wounded from the front lay in the matter of transport. The means by which they were conveyed from the fighting line to the French coast opposite England has been already fully described. In this Avork the military authorities obtained immense assistance from voluntary agencies in Britain, some of which had sprung into exis- tence in consequence of the war, while others THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 11 which had existed previously had enormously extended the scope of tlieir operations. Nor were these solely concerned in attending to British wounded, for the Britisli Ambulance Committee, under the presidency of the Duke of Portland, and with headquarters at Wim- borno House, had already by mid-April, 1915, sent out three convoys of 25 cars each, with drivers complete, for the use of French wounded alone, and others followed. This Ambulance Committee was one of the agencies which had come into existence after the outbreak of war. The British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John were both quick to undertake the important task of raising ambulance fleets, and when their organization })ecame amalgamated fitted for smooth running on the French rail- ways. All the lessons learned from the ex- perience of the train sent to the South African War had been fully utilized, and even the famous "khaki train" l)uilt by the L. & N.W. and G.E. Railways wius easily t^clipsed. Indeed, making allowance for limited space, in com- paring the Princess Cliristian train to a first- class hospital of the day, one needed to insist that tlie hospital must have been very first- class to be worthy of it. But the sea coast of France was the limit of the train's homeward utility, and here the hospital ships came into use. In creating these, of course, the work had all been done by the Covernment, and in every case HOTEL AS The Golf Hotel at Le Touquet. Attending to an seen the dentist att for all war piu-poses and both received the support of The Times Ftmd, they were able to secure the necessary cars in very large nimibers. The Prince&s Christian hospital train may V)e mentioned here on account of the palatial contrast which it presented with the mere trucks which had been used for the wounded in the early period of the war, when even the first makeshift train seemed a godsend. Princess Christian had herself conceived the idea and raised all the money for it, and in her thanks to tlie subscribers she specially mentioned the " splendid gift " of the Canadian Red Cross and another of £10,000 " from one with a grateful heart for mercies received." The train when complete was 700 ft. long and consisted of 14: vehicles replete with every convenience imaginable and specially HOSPITAL. ear of a German wounded soldier. On the right is ending to a patient. the ship was a converted liner, into which the patients on removal from the ambulance train were slung in shallow cots by cranes, which deposited them gently upon the deck. Here the infectious cvses were removed to a special ward built right aft. tlie other sick and the wounded being conveyed to what had been the dining saloon or to the long wards on the lower decks nmning the length of the sliip on both sides. In lacli ward the double rows of cots were all so liung that the patients should not feel the movement of the ship, and this necessitated ample swinging-room on all sides for each cot, the whole arrangement resulting in an apparent lavisliness of space which is rare in hospitals. The operating theatre and other essentials of an up-to-date hospital were all splendidly equipped, and it 78 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. is safe to say that the short sea journey marked in all but the hopeless cases another milestone on the road to recovery. On arrival in England disembarcation was carried out by the same strong and gentle machinery which had taken the wounded on board : and here cars, ambulances, and trains were always waiting in readiness to convey the sufferers as swiftly as might be to the hospitals whither after a brief diagnosis of each case they were consigned. At this point, and more especially at the various destinations to which the trains con- veyed their shattered cargoes, the opportunity of the voluntary agencies came again, and it would be impossible to enumerate all those who followed the example of the members of A WOUNDED BELGIAN. Examining a wounded soldier's eye at the hospital, Brussels. the Royal Automobile Club in lending or giving ■cars for the soldiers' use, and all these, of course, were entirely subsidiary to the great work which was done by the recognized agencies. Taking one instance of the latter, the ambulance coltmm of the London District of the Red Cross alone during the earlier period of the war was using 130 cars and 25 motor ambulances in taking the sick and wounded from the London railway termini to hospital. About 20,000 cases had been moved by this local Red Cross agency alone before the end of February, 1915, and 400 more cars were asked for in mid-March, and were prompth^ forthcoming. The remarkable efficiency of this voluntary agency was also shown by the fact that they had 200 fully-trained stretcher- bearers, all volunteers, and that all their drivers, volunteers also, had had five years' training, and were so keen on the work that when an unexpected call came at any hour of the night there was competition among them for the privilege of responding to it. Minor evidence of the splendid Red Cross organization was shown in such facts as that all the blankets used in the cars and ambulances were washed free by laundries, while the pillow cases were gladly washed and ironed without charge by the servants in private houses near the depot. By treatment of the wounded in the hospitals several lessons were quickly learned by the medical officers. One, and the most important, was that much too little was known about antiseptics. No system had been worked out, and there were no rules which could be followed at all stages in the long journey from the trenches to the hospital at home by all medical officers into whose hands a patient came, and this lack of uniformity in treatment was the cause of many delays in recovery and some failures. One consequence of severe wounds which proved very hard to deal with was the " after stiffness," which threatened to become perma- nent and to deprive the patient of the use of his healed limbs. Fortunately a method of dealing with this ailment, which was more a matter of nerves than of muscles, was discovered in a combination of muscular and mental treat- ment. This was very successfully practised at the Edgar Allan Poe Institute, at Sheffield, and elsewhere, and, as it belonged rather to the period of convalescence, the treatment could be deferred until the patient had left hospital. Of other war ailments, properly so-called, the Great War stands rather in history as an example of how disease may be prevented, even where large numbers of men are exposed to imprecedented hardships. The prevalence of " frost-bite " in the feet was, indeed, the direct result of standing for long hours, even days, in the freezing water of the trenches in winter, but the disease was not really frost-bite, wliich causes gangrene of the tissues. It was rather a condition in which the parts affected had been starved owing to the prolonged chill of the nerves, and unlike true frost-bite it speedily gave way to suitable treatment. In anticipatory fear of pestilence that might spread to Britain as the result of carnage else- where a crusade against flies was vigorously preached in many quarters. Alarm was also THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAE. 79 ^Sluart. HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN. expressed lest an epidemic of " spotted fever " — cerebro-spinal meningitis — might spread from the crowded military centres, while there were some complaints that men discharged from the Army as tuberculous could not get proper treatment afterwards. The chief cause of this was lack of publication of the existing facilities, although undoubtedly much then remained to be done for the comprehensive treatment of cases of tuberculosis. In dealing with the provision of hospital accommodation, the supply of nvirses, and the transport of the wounded and sick, mention has necessarily been made more than once of the \\-ork of the British Red Cross Society. The avowed object of the Society was to ease the strain inevitably put upon the Army Medical Service bv the sudden change from Dc'Vney^ HER MAJESTY QUEEN ALEXANDRA. peace to war, and as that change gradually involved the increase of the Army to dimen- sions of which none had even dreamed, it fol- lowed that the strain and consequently the effort demanded of the Society to ease it was many times greater than the most far-sighted organizers could have foreseen. Yet the British Red Cross Society — with which the St. John Ambulance Association soon' came t» a working agreement by means of a joint committee on which also the War Oflice was represented — rose grandly to the occasion. The movement was essentially a women's movement. By the end of 1914, in addition to the hospital of 700 beds at Xetley, described in detail earlier, it had established and staffed private hospitals containing over 17,000 beds and was also taking care of over 25,000 con- Speai%lit LADY JELLICOE. H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES. Speatght. Stua.t. QUEEN AMELIE OF PORTUGAL. 80 THE TIMES HISTOEY OF THE WAR. valescents. The work grew from day to day onwards after then, but if the Red Cross could have claimed no more than this first instalment of " easing the strain " its name would have deservedly been wreathed with the gratitude of posterity. And if the credit given tj the Red Cross and kindred associations for the worlcmanlike methods by which they organized success in a great crisis of the Army's need be the greater because the workers were mainly women, as- suredly also in the essentially womanly work of caring for the wounded and the sick their sex gave a certain thoughtful tenderness to many minute details for which one might look vainly in a masculine, especially a military organization. A subtle spirit of sweet gentleness seemed to permeate the strict discipline of the Red Cross work among the wounded and the sick. The men themselves appreciated it, and in many a touching farewell message on leaving hospital they tried to express their special gratitude. And, of course, in the golden opinions won by the Red Cross Society the sister institutions which worked with it, such as the Order of St. John of Jeru- salem, the great organization of Voluntary Aid Detachments — originally inaugurated by ]\Iiss Haldane in June, 1910, to supply nursing service for the Territorial Army — and others all equally shared, for the grace of charity and the tenderness of womanhood were the mainspring of them all. To the practical observer neither these vir- tues, nor even the strictness of the discipline and the difficulty of the work which this host of women willingly underwent, gave more cause for wonder than the ceaseless flow of money from the public that maintained the vast organization in full working order and pro- vided means for the ample equipment of all its imdertakings. Enough has been written to show that in the Great War not only was the Army Medical Service found to be in a state of complete pre- paredness and efficiency to meet the maximum demand which, according to previous estimates, could be made upon it, but also that when the reality was fomid to exceed that estimated maximum many times over there was enough patriotic energy to make the huge deficiency entirely good. Never was there a war in which British soldiers suffered so greatly, nor one in which they were so well tended from the very fighting line — after the first shock of war commenced — to the field hospital, the clearing hospital, the hospital train, the base hospital, the hospital ship, the hospital at home, the convalescent home, and at last, to the real " home," whence j^erhaps after a brief stay they were fit and willing for the Front again. NETLEY HOSPITAL. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. Russell & Sons ADMIRAL SIR JOHN JELLICOE CHAPTER LXVII. THE SUBMARINE AND ITS WORK Influence on Naval Work of Surface Ships — The German Submarine Blockade — The Sinking of the Lusitania — The Evolution of the Submarine Boat — Underwater Boats IN Eighteenth-Century Wars — The Development of the Submarine Fleets of Great Britain, Germany, Austria, France, and Italy — Relative Strength of Combatant Flotillas — The Armament of Submarine Boats, Torpedoes and Guns — Repair Shxps for Underwater Boats — The Tactical Work of the Submarine as Influenced by Design — Oil or Tt:rbine Machinery — Increased Speed — How a Boat Dives — How the Periscope is Used — Radius OF Action of German Boats. BEFORE the Great War the general public of all countries had learned little of the performances of submarine boats, and less of their design and construction. That such craft were shaped like a cigar, could dive, and be propelled under water while the officer in command was able to view objects on the surface through some- thing called a periscope, and that a torpedo could be fired at any ship or object afloat, was about all that the ordinary reader knew. He occasionally heard of breakdowns, of sub- marines being run down by surface ships, and even of boats, when diving, digging their noses into the bed of the ocean. It is not wonderful, then, that when war came, involving the nations most earnest in the pursuit of scientific methods, there should be imcertainty and doubt as to the value of under-water craft. Even among naval tacticians of all nations there was a wide divergence of opinion. Most of them knew something of the mechanism ; a few had knowledge of the part played by the new vessels in recent naval manoeuvres. Yet there was still wide variance in views as to the value of the ships and as to whether they were best suited for the strategy and tactics to be Vol. IV.— Part 42. pursued in w£ir by the great, or by the secondary. Powers. It was soon made clear by the test of war that the submarine boat justified her place among the ships of all nations, great and small, and that the mightiest of the ships of the line must not despise these lurking yet watchful foes. The acceptance of the evidence as establishing the right of the submarine boat to a place in every fleet must not be stretched to mean that this type of vessel at once did all that was predicted for it. The chief successes of our enemies' submarines during the earlier phases at any rate of the war were against imarmed merchant vessels ; but these were generally achieved by violation of accepted rules of war- fare. It remains to be seen to what extent laws and customs affecting non-belligerent ships, which carry no contraband of war, are to be abrogated, or how they are to be enforced. As regards the purely military achievements of underwater craft, it was inevitable that they should be measured by the standard set up by Admiral Sir Percy Scott, Bart., as war broke out within two months of the publication in The Times of his famous pronouncement that the submarine boat superseded all other craft except hght cruisers and aeroplanes. The main 81 82 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. [Lafayette. ADMIRAL SIR PERCY SCOTT, Bart. points in Sir Percy Scott's argument were as follows : The introduction of the vessels that swim under water has, in my opinion, entirely done away with the utility of the ships that swim on the top of the water. The submarine caubes to disappear three out of five of the functions, defensive and offensive, of a vessel of war — i.e., port bombardment, blockade, and convoy of a landing party; or the prevention of all three — as no man of-war will dare to come even within sight of ix coast that is adequately protected by submarines. The fourth function of a battleship is to attack an enemy's fleet, but there will be no fleet to attack, as it will not be safe for a fleet to put to sea. The fifth function is to attack enemy's commerce or to prevent attack on our own. If by submarines we close egress from the North Sea and Mediterranean, it is difficult to see how our com- merce can be much interfered with. Submarines and aeroplanes have entirely revolu- tionized naval warfare, no fleet can hide itself from the aeroplane eye, and the submarine can deliver a deadly attack even in broad daylight. Naval officers of the future will therefore live either above the sea or under it. It will be a Navy of youth, for we shall require nothing but boldness and daring. Not only is the open sea unsafe. . . . With a flotilla of submarines ... I would undertake to get . . . into any harbour, and sink or materially damage all the ships in that harbour. What we require is an enormous fleet of submarines, airships and aeroplanes, and a few fast cruisers, provided we can find a place to keep them in safety during war time. In my opinion, as the motor-vehicle has driven the horse from the road, so has the submarine driven the battlesliip from the sea. Let us examine Sir Percy's enunciation of the offensive fimctions of a vessel of war as practised by the British stu-face ships to ascer- tain how these were influenced by the enemies' submarine boats. But observation on these points should be prefaced with the remark that the personal equation in submarine war- fare is as important as, if not more so than, in any naval operations. [Elliott & Prf. CAPT." S. S. HALL, C.B., Chief of the Submarine Department at the Admiralty. The offensive functions of a fleet as stated by Sir Percy are: (1) To bombard an enemy's ports : we had the repeated bombardment of the coast of Flanders in German occupation and of the Dardanelles ; (2) to blockade an enemy : we contained the enemies' main fleets in the North and Adriatic Seas, although beset by their submarines ; (3) to convoy a landing party : we sent across all the oceans greater convoys than in any previous war in the world's history ; (4) to attack the enemy's fleet : that was done whenever the enemies' fleets put to sea, even when they sought to decoy us into the submarine and mine zones ; and (5) to attack the enemy's commerce : early in the war we swept all seas clear of the enemies' merchant shipping and prevented the entrance of ships into the enemies' ports. All this was achieved despite the fact that Germany used her submarines to the best of her ability. Conversely let us consider how the enemies' submarines in the first months of war affected the work of om* svu-face ships, whose safety on the open sea was to be endangered, and even whose retention in harbour was to be hazardous because of submarines. (1) To attack ships that come to bombard ports : submarines were repeatedly used by Germans diu-ing th« bombardment of the coast of Flanders, and the most notable, if not the only achievement, was the sinking on October 31, 1914, of the old miprotected cruiser Hermes when acting as a seaplane -carrying ship. (2) To render blockade impossible: Germany THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 83 wa,s unable to get direct supplies, and although some of our older ships on patrol were sunlc, the limitation of imports to Germany continued effectively. (3) To attack ships convoying a landing party : no success attended German sub- marines, although the opportunities were great, as our transports and convoys were unsurpassed in history in their numbers and the length of their voyages. On the other hand, our E14 and Ell did good service against trans- ports and supply ships in the Sea of Marmara. (4) To attack the enemy's fleet : Sir Percy's view was that there would be no fleet to attack as it would not be safe for a fleet to put to sea. Our Grand Fleet — the greatest ever gathered together — remained on watch and guard in the open sea without molestation,' the rare attacks on the fleet by submarines resulting in the destruction of such vessels. It is true that many of our warships were sunk when patrolling separately, and that the Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue were sunk when together ; but the great majority, practically all the warships, thus simk were steaming at low speeds and luider circim^i- stances favourable for the German submarines. The British submariiae boats, on the other hand, played a different part, but they have scarcely met Sir Percy's ideal : " With a flotilla of submarines ... I could undertake to get . . . into any harbour and sink or materially damage all the ships in that harbour." The nearest approach to this was the " scoop- ing " movement which resulted in the battle of the Bight of HeUgoland on August 28, 1914. The submarine's part was most interesting. Success was duo in the first instance to the information brought to the Admiral by the submarine oflicer, who showed — to quote the First Lord of the Admiralty — " extraordinary daring and enterprise in penetrating the enemy's waters." In addition to this the submarines behaved splendidly in tlie action itself and were afterwards instrumental in saving life. According to Commodore Keyes,* in his dispatch of October 17. 1914, EG, E7 and E8 " exposed themselves witli the object of inducing the enemy to chase them to the west- ward." On approaching Heligoland the visibiUty, which had been very good to seaward, reduced to 5,000 to G.OOO yards, and this prevented the submarines from closing with the enemy's cruisers to within torpedo range, especially owing to the anxieties and responsi- bilities of the commanding officers of sub- marines, who handled their vessels with coolness and judgment in an area which was necessarily occupied by friends as well as foes. The Commodore added that " low visibility and cahn seas are the most unfavourable conditions * Commodore Keyes' portrait appears in Vol. II., page 12. COMMANDER SIR TREVOR DAWSON, Who 14 years ago predicted use of submarines against British merchantmen. ENGINEER VICE-ADMIRAL SIR HENRY J. ORAM, K.C.B., Engineer-in-Chief of the Navy. 84 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. THE GERMAN "PIRATES" AT WORK. The "U28" holding up the Dutch Liner " Battavier 5" in the North Sea. The ship was seized and taken as a prize to Zeebrugge. tinder which submarines can operate." They did their work satisfactorily as " decoys " and the end was satisfactory, as reviewed in Vol. II., page 8. Our submarine Ell pene- trated into Constantinople and torpedoed a troop ship in May, 1915. And this brings us to the fifth function of the warship as enumerated by Sir Percy Scott — commerce destruction. He did not seem to anticipate that submarines would attack mer- chant ships. Submarines " in being " were to render impossible the existence on the high seas of warships to attack commerce : that was a weakness in his " thesis " which Lord Sydenham exposed. And yet the idea of a submarine attack on conamerce was not new. Commander Sir Trevor Dawson, who has done BO much for the development of the British submarine boat as for all oxu* mimitions of war, predicted as long ago as 1901 the use of sub- marine boats against merchant vessels. In a lecture to the Institution of Mechanical Engi- neers in that year he said : " Attacks would be made on our fleet in much the same way as the bands of Boers are making guerilla attacks on our regular army in the Transvaal. Of the continuous stream of ships passing' up and down the English Channel — the busiest steamship track on the globe — quite 90 per cent, are British vessels and upon them our mercantile greatness depends. . . . Submarine boats have sufficient speed and radius of action to place themselves in the trade routes before the darkness gives place to day, and they would be capable of doing almost incalculable destruction against unsuspecting and defenceless victims. The same applies to the Mediter- ranean and other of our ocean highways within the danger zone of the submarine. The submarine boat has thus increased the value of the mechanical torpedo tenfold." This is a true picture of what actually hap- pened, although drawn thirteen years before the Great War. From the commencement of hostilities the Germans used their submarine boats with the view of reducing as far as possible the preponderance of our naval force. First contact was on August 9, when one of our cruiser squadrons met with German submarines, and one — U15 — was sunk by H.M.S. Birming- ham without any damage being done to our ships. But it is not proposed in this chapter to review in chronological order the operations of submarines in the war ; it is preferable to take the incidents as illustrations of the efficiency, limitations and probable develop- ments of this type of war craft. That the Germans were dissatisfied with the extent of their success in reducing our naval superiority in contrast with the increase in the " silent pressure " of our Grand Fleet upon importations into Germany of the necessaries of life and warfare is established, first by the new poUcy begun in October, 1914, when German submarines were ordered to sink British mer- chant ships, and second by the declaration of the so-called submarine blockade of Britain from February 28, 1915. The submarine blockade, characterised by the Prime Minister as a " campaign of piracy and pillage," violated international law in several respects. Ships were sunk irrespective of their nationality or destination or cargo — contraband or otherwise. International law as well as usage ordains that any merchant ship may be searched, her papers examined, and, provided she has no contraband on board, she must be liberated. Otherwise she can be captured and brought into port, and her assumed infringement of law adjudicated upon by a prize court. While Britain and her Allies scrupulously followed this course, German submarines sank at sight, when able^ any ship which crossed their way, sometimes without warning. Occasionally the courtesies of war were shown, to the credit of the officers but not of the system. Under the more himiane circumstances ten minutes' grace was given to allow passengers and crew to take to the boats. Only in rare cases were neutral vessels allowed to escape, and equally seldom were the lifeboats towed to port or to within rowing distance of land. On the other hand, there were proved cases of shells being fired at men in the boats trying to THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 85 [Russell. .Kussell. [Russdt. LIEUT. W. R. SGHOFIELD LIEUT. B. A. BEAL COM. C. p. TALBOT ("G29"). ("Bl"). ("E6"J. rescue their comrades struggling in the water. One of several such cases was associated with the sinking on the Dogger Bank of the trawler St. Lawrence on April 22, 1915. The German Navy's career of lawlessness culminated on May 7, 1915, in the sinking of the Cunard Liner Lusitania some miles south-west of the Old Head of Kinsale. She was one of the largest and finest of the world's liners — 785 feet long and of 32,500 tons gross. She was certainly the fastest of merchant ships, her speed being 26 knots. She left New York an unarmed Uner in the ordinary routine of her mail and passenger service, having on board 292 first, 602 second, and 361 third-class passengers, many of them citizens of the United States of America and of other neutral countries, and 651 of a crew — 1,906 persons all told, men, women, and children. Warnings by advertisement and commLmica- tions to individual passengers had been given, in some cases by German officials, that it was the intention of the Germans to waylay the ship by submarines and sink her by torpedoes. The ship sailed as usual, the view entertained being that the realization of the aim would be too great a crime even for the Germans to commit. But the enemy carried out their purpose in all its wickedness, and of the great population on board 1,134 were killed by the explosion or were drowned, notwithstanding every possible effort to save them : the submarine boat was not seen after the disaster. At the coroner's inquest on some of the victims, Captain Turner of the Aquitania, who was in. command of the Lusitania on this voyage, gave evidence which enabled a clear idea to be formed of the sequence of events. On approaching the Irish coast he received, by wireless message from the Admiralty, warning of the presence of German submarines of? the Irish coast, and of the sinking of the schooner Earl of Lathom on Thursday, May 6, along with certain instructions, which he said he carried out " to the best of my ability." There were double look-outs keeping special watch for submarines. No submarine was seen. A zig- zag course was not steered. The speed had been reduced to eighteen, knots so that the Russell. LIEUT. R. K. C. POPE ("C38"). Russell. -Russell. LIEUT. D. M. FELL LIEUT-COM. R. R. TURNER r'A12"). {"D3"). ^ ^^'^ '• 42—2 86 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. vessel would not arrive at the Mersey Bar before the tide permitted her to cross. No warning whatever was given by the submarine. At about a quarter past two, when he was on the port side of the lower bridge, the second officer called from the starboard side of the bridge, " There is a torpedo." Captain Tiu-ner ran to the side and saw the wake of it. The torpedo was almost on the svu-face. When it struck he heard the explosion, and " smoke and steam went up between the third and foiu-th fimnels, and there was a slight shock to the ship." Immediately after the explosion there was another report, but possibly that may have been an indirect explosion. The torpedo probably struck at either No. 3 or 4 boiler-room ; it may be that the explosion rent the bulkliead between them, causing havoc to the twelve boilers and the steam-pipes. The second indirect explosion was probably the bursting of the main steam-pipe. The turbines, whether affected or not, were " out of commis- sion " ; there was no steam to reverse them, so that the ship had still her momentmn up to the time she sank, which, according to the stopping of the captain's watch, was at 2 hours 26 J minutes, or less than fifteen minutes from the explosion. The way on the sliip, and the list to starboard prevented the crew from getting all boats promptly launched ; but according to the captain, all was calm and all his orders were carried out. The ship sank luider him when he was on the bridge ; he was picked up two or three hours afterwards. The cruel and treacherous procedure of the German submarine warfare on many occasions " gives furiously to think " respecting the predictions of the inhumanity of this system of waging war. Admiral Mahan, at The Hague Conference of 1899, called the submarine boats " inhuman and cruel." When Fulton, an American artist who developed the engineering faculty, about the year 1800 achieved a suf- ficient measure of practical success with a boat manually propelled under water on the River Seine and in Brest Harbour, the Maritime Prefect of the port refused to allow it to be used in an attack upon English frigates lying off Brest because this mamier of making war on the enemy would be visited with such reprobation that the persons who should have waged it and should have failed would be hanged. The French Minister of Marine of the day — Admiral Pleville le Belly — declared that his conscience would not allow him to have recourse to so terrible an invention. "Cold-shouldered " by all, Fulton came to London in 1804, and Pitt, then Prime Minister, appointed a Commission to consider the proposals. The First Lord of the Adn^iralty — Admiral Earl St. Vincent — recog- nized the " tremendous possibilities of these inventions, but openly opposed them in em- phatic language." He criticised Pitt for his encoiu-agement of this new method of conduct- ing warfare, " which those who commanded the seas did not want, and which, if successful, would deprive them of it." The Evolution of the Submarine Boat. The submarine boat is the product of cen- turies of experiment. Its principles were evolved as the result of trial and error. The early workers established the governing princi- ples, but they failed in attaining reliabihty be- cause they had not the advantage of those advances in collateral branches of science which so greatly assisted the modern workers. The submarine boat was not a practical success until the oil internal combustion engine was per- fected, the storage of electricity made practicable within reasonable limits of weight, the Wliite- head torpedo improved in power and range, the hydroplane introduced for diving and for keeping the vessel on an even keel under the surface, and lastly, constructional materials evolved to give strength of hull with lightness. And yet underwater craft were used in three wars of the past century — against the British fleet in the American War of Independence in 1812, against the Danish blockading fleet off the German coast in 1850, and against the Federal ships in the American Civil War in 1862-4. In this last alone was there any pronounced success — one ship was sunk and three others injured. The first known invention of a submarine boat was by William Bourne and was described m a publication of date 1578. As in the modern boat, water ballast was used for ensur- THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 87 ing immersion. The vessel was practically a covered-in barge, the outer shell was pierced with small holes, and parallel to each side there was an interior division-wall working in leather- lined grooves. This latter was moved towards, or from, the outer shell by screws and a capstan, exactly in the same way as the top part of a letter-copying press is worked against the bottom part. As the inner wall moved from the outer shell, water entered through the small holes, and as the division-wall was forced back, the water was expelled through the apertures. Thus the boat sank or rose. Air supply was admitted through a hollow- mast. A sketch to illustrate this boat is given on page 86. The first known underwater boat actually tried was by a Dutch physician, Cornelius van Drebbele. His boat in 1620 made the voyage just awash from Westminster to Greenwich along with the current. The vessel was weighted down with ballast and propelled by twelve oars projected through holes in the side and kept watertight by leather lining. It was said that he had a " quintessence " for renewing the air. The first mechanically propelled boat vas that of a Frenchman named de Son, which he built at Rotterdam in 16.53. It vas 72 feet long and was tapered towards a point at both ends. Centrally placed, internally, but open to the sea at the bottom, was a paddle-wheel, which, driven by clockwork, was to propel the boat from Rotterdam to London in a dnv. '>-^ ^ '"*'"*^^l'!^i^4 :ii '^ •^|^g^.yp-~, . " GERMANY'S POLICY OF PIRACY AND PILLAGE." The sinking of a British merchant vessel which was torpedoed off Beachy Head by a German submarine, February, 1915. The crew were all saved by the " Osceola." 88 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. The wheel is shown in the sketch on page 87, with the side cover removed. Unfortunately, although the wheel worked well in air, it was not powerful enough to move the vessel in the water. The next interesting test was on the Thames. One Symons covered in an ordinary open, wooden, oar-propelled boat, and fitted it with a number of leather bottles having openings through the bottom of the boat. When the necks were untied water filled the bottles and sank the boat to the " awash " position ; to cause the vessel to rise the water was squeezed out of the bottles and the necks retied. This arrangement has its counterpart in the modern submarine boat ; tanks replace bottles, valves are substituted for the tying of the necks, and compressed air drives out the water when the vessel is to rise. The War of Independence, quickening the ingenuity of the Americans, brought a sub- marine into action for the first time. It was a most ingenious invention by David Buslmell, who had been educated at Yale College (now University). A sketch through the centre is reproduced above. It was strongly built, egg-shaped in section, with a conning tower in the form of a brass cover like a top hat with a brim, to assist towards stability and to allow a view of the surface when the vessel was awash — two anticipations of later designs. A third was the use of a gimpowder charge to explode imder water. For descent there was a water-ballast tank in the bottom, with controlling valves, and for ascent two foot- operated pvmips for ejecting the water. For ahead or astern, and vertical or diving, move- ments there were separate hand -turned screws. With scuttles to admit Ught, compass, instru- ment to indicate depth of immersion, and ventilator, the ship w^as well "foimd." Again, there was a rudder, the stock of which the operator, while seated, worked with the sway of his body. Indeed, the operator required all his wits to accomplish movements by each hand, each foot, and the sway of his body. The magazine, containing 150 lb. of gunpowder, was saddled to the side and connected to a screw at the side of the conning tower. When the boat got alongside the vessel to be simk the operator drove the screw into the bottom of the enemy's ship, released the magazine, which, with the travel of the current, got alongside the ship, and then by clock mechanism operating hammer and perciission cap the explosion was effected. The first attempt was made in a preliminary encounter prior to the war in 1776 against H.M.S. Eagle — a 64 -gun frigate — off Plateau Island. All went well imtil the attempt to drive the screw into the hull, but as the latter was copper-sheathed two tries failed, and the submarine had to return to safety. In the dawn the conning tower exposed the boat, and the occupant vmsaddled his magazine in order to increase the speed of escape. The pursuers, fearing disaster from this move, discontinued the pursuit. The magazine exploded. The submarine safely returned. Two further attempts with this submarine failed and Bushnell desisted from further experiment, receiving a commission. In 1812 another attempt was made by a similar boat against H.M.S. Ramillies, but in this case the screw for attaching the explosive to the hull broke. That ended submarine attack dm-ing the war. Fulton, to whose work general reference has been made, was a pacifist. He desired to make the existence of navies impossible, and to this end entered upon the invention of explo- sives. Britain's naval strength encoiu-aged him to look to Napoleon for encouragement, and his submarine boat Nautilus, illustrated on the opposite page, may be said to have marked the beginning of the practicable submarine boat. Lavmched in 1801, she was first worked on the Seine. She was 21 feet 4 inches long, 7 feet in diameter, designed with a strength to enable her to dive to a depth of 25 feet, being con- structed of copper with iron frames. Sub- mergence was achieved by the admission of water into tanks through Kingston valves ; THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 89 she had pumps for expelling it in order to rise again in the water. Aft she had inclined planes to control the vessel when being submerged or raised. She carried a mast and sails, which were collapsible like an umbrella, so that the mast could be folded down on the deck like those of present-day submarines for Marconi wireless telegraphy and signalling. She had a two-bladed propeller, rotated by a hand-wheel, gearing being interposed to ensure high revolu- hour. She covered oOO yards in seven minutes when under water, and returned to the point of starting. As a test an old schooner was bloun up by a " magazine " with 20 lbs. of gimpowder towed by the Nautilus. This was the first case of a ship being blown up in Europe by a submarine explosion. Fulton got no encouragement either in France or England, and returned to America in 1806, where he did good service in developing steam navigation. PRsPeLLEE tions for propulsion on the surface or submerged. A vertical rudder served for the steering of the boat. Projecting through a spherical conning tower, with a thick glass scuttle for observation, was a spike for driving into the bottom of the hull of a ship. This spike had a hole in it for the pm-pose of secxiring the line to the copper powder-magazine, somewhat after the style of the Bushnell system. There was also a large glass scuttle on the top of the boat to admit light to the interior. The vessel was easily submerged, and the Seine current enabled her to j^roceed a con- siderable distance during eight minutes' sub- mergence. More trials were made at Brest, where she remained below the \Aater for an Germany's first essay was witli a boat 26^ ft. long and of 38^ tons displacement, built in 1850 from the designs of a Bavarian artillerjnnan — Corporal William Bauer — and intended to act secretly against the Danish blockading fleet. This vessel. Le Plongeiu- ^Nlarin, was like the ship-shaped caissons now used at docks, with a hand-worked propeller and rudder at one end. While water was used for immersion, as by Fulton, with the necessarj' ejection piunps, Bauer had a weight movable fore and aft to alter the inclination or longi- tudinal trim and thus facilitate diving or emergence. This weight was moved by worm gearing actuated by a hand wheel. On the hatchway, through which the crew entered 90 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. and left the boat, there were " gloves " to enable the explosive to be attached to the enemy's ship, and the explosion was effected by a primary battery. A successful feint was made from Iviel, and the moral effect on the Danish warships' crews caused them to with- draw ; but structural weakness ultimately caused the water to enter the boat. The air in the interior, being compressed, caused the hatch to blow out, and fortunately Bauer and his two of a crew were shot up to the surface. The sunken vessel was discovered in 1887, and is now, or was until lately, in one of the Berlin miiseums. Bauer lost jorestige in Germany, tried experiments in St. Petersburg, London, and elsewhere, building many boats ; he con- tributed much towards knowledge of submarine boats, but did not achieve final success. He was pensioned by Germany, and has a monu- ment to his perseverance and resource at Mimich. When the American Civil War broke out the Northerners had powerful warships, and against these " Goliaths " the Southern States built submersible boats, which they called " Davids." Some of these were mechanically propelled, having a boiler and a single cylinder horizontal engine driving a i:)ropeller through gearing: in others men worked the crank shaft. They were sunlc iintil the top was awash, the funnel only showing, but even this could be telescoped so that little of it could be seen. The 54 ft. long boats, of cylindrical form amidships with conical ends, carried at the bow a spar having a copper case containing 134 lbs. of gunpowder with chemical fuse. This is one of the earliest instances, if not the first, of a spar torpedo. Off Charlestown one of these submarine boats attacked the Ironside, and the quartermaster hailed the unrecognisable object ; the reply was a volley of musketry from the submarine hatch, a Federal officer being killed. The submarine kept on its way ; its gunpowder exploded, but as it was too near the surface little damage was done to the Ironside. The David was swamped, and the lieutenant and the two members of the crew were picked up by a schooner. In future boats the spar was given a down- ward inclination to ensiu-e greater immersion to the " torpedo." Such a boat, with the screw propelled or rotated by eight men working cranks on the screw shaft, succeeded in Feb- ruary, 1864, in sinking in shallow water the new wooden ship Houstanic, the propeller of wliich, fouling the spar caused the explosion of the charge. The submarine was lost with all hands. This boat had hydroplanes on each side forward to assist in immersion and to keep the bow low. In April of the same year the Mirme- sota was injiired off Newport News by a steam David, and in j\Iarch the Memphis was attacked in North Elisto River. The measure of " live- liness " due to the Davids kept the Federal fleet on the move, especially at night. Nearly fifty years elapsed before a submarine boat was again used in war. In the intervening years great changes were made, not only to improve the mobility of the ships and the faciUty in diving imder, and emergence to, the sxu"face, but especially in the weapons of de- struction they carried. The noted gtin expert, Nordenfelt, took up the proposals and ex- perience of a Liverpool curate, Garrett, who achieved much success with a 14 ft. steam boat. In the next ten years Nordenfelt built several steam vessels — one of 125 ft. in length, of 230 tons displacement submerged, and with steam machinery of 1,300 indicated horse power to give a speed of 14 knots, made a great sensa- tion at the 1887 Jubilee Naval Review at Spithead. From this time forward the British adopted a waiting and watching attitude. France was stimulated by Nordenfelt's success and continued experiments almost unceasingly. Spain worked at the problem for a time from SINKING OF THE GERMAN DESTROYER " S126. " Submarine " E9 " (Lieutenant Max K. Horton Inset) torpedoes the German destroyer in the mouth of the Ems, October, 1914. 91 92 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. I860, Russia began again in 1876 and America in 1893, but it is not proposed here to review all the stages in the process of evolution ; that is completely and admirably done in the book on Submarine Boats, Mines and Torpedoes, by Captain M. F. Sueter, R.N., who himself did much towards perfecting such weapons, and has done even more in bringing aircraft to their present high state of utility. France was most consistent and confident in adherence to the idea of miderwater warfare. Most of the early notable boats were pure submarines and were electrically propelled. Others had steam machinery. Then separate machinery was introduced for surface and for submerged propulsion, steam engines being used on the surface and electric motors under the surface, run by electric storage batteries, the motor being also an electric generator, which, when driven by the steam engine on the surface, recharged the batteries at will. Holland, in the United States, proved the efficiency of gasolene or petrol engines, which took the place of steam engines in later boats. This use of the oil engine was probably the departure having the most far-reaching effect during the past fifty years. Steam machinery BRITISH DESTROYER RAMS A GERMAN SUBMARINE. A German submarine rammed and sunk by the destroyer "Badger" (Commander Charles Fremantle) Commander Fremantle. off the Dutch Coast, October, 1914. Inset THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 93 Russell. Russell. Russell LIEUT.-COM. R. G. HALAHAN LIEUT. C. H. VARLEY LIEUT. A. POLAND ("D67"}. ("AlO"). ("C30"}. was found in early years not only heavy, but in some cases involved almost insufferable temperatures and increased the time required for diving. The oil engine, when petrol was used, involved danger owing to the possibiUty of ignition, and when paraflfin or petroleum was used in the ordinary system requiring ignition there was still danger and irregularity. The Diesel engine changed all this, and was adopted for submarines first by the French soon after the 1900 Paris Exhibition, where the Diesel oil system was shown at work. The influences of these changes we shall review when we come to consider the tactical work of the submarine as influenced by design. The British Admiralty ordered their finst submarine boat in 1900. After careful con- sideration of the results of all types they decided to adopt the Holland design of vessel then in use in the L'.S. Xavy. The American company, which had supported Mr. J. P. Holland, of Paterson, New Jersey, in all his experiments, dating from those with a man- propelled boat in 1875, entered into an agree- ment with the Vickers company, with Admiralty consent, for the construction of five boats, and from that time, until shorth* before the war all British submarines were built at Vickers' works at Barrow-in-Furness, under the direction of Mr. James ^IcKechnie. The result has been most satisfactory, this firm having a great reputation for the ingenuity and enterprise exercised for the improvement of all munitions. Great developments have been made in British vessels of the class alike in form, offensive power, safety, speed and endurance. Inven- tions by which these improvements have been effected have been kept secret, and Messrs. Vickers were precluded from building for any un- allied navy. An important contributory cause was the great range and variety of experiments carried out by the company, not only in respect of machinery, but in models at their experi- mental tank at St. Albans. Mr. T. G. Owens Thurston, the naval con-structor of the company, has contributed largely to the valuable work by the company for the development not only of the submarine boat and every type of warship, but of means for combating the attack by the newer weapons and craft. The five boats first built for the British Navy embodied Holland's latest idea-s. He had for years adopted the gasolene or petrol engine for propelhng the vessel on the surface and for drivdng an electric motor generator for re- charging, when necessary, electric storage batteries whifh supplied fMirront to the motor MR. JAMES McKEGHNIE, Director of \'ickers Works, where nearly 100 submarines have been built. 42-3 94 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. generator for propulsion when the boat was submerged. This was the tj^e of machinery fitted in the first British vessels. They were 63 ft. 10 in. long over all, 11 ft. 9 in. beam, and of 120 tons displacement submerged, and A'ere constructed to stand the external water pressure due to submergence to a depth of 100 ft. The torpedo firing tube was at the bow, and three torpedoes were carried. The 160 horse-power engines gave a speed of 7*4 knots on the surface, and the 75 horse-power electric motor 5 knots when the boat was submerged. The vessels had a radius of action of about 250 miles and could work for f oiu" horn's submerged. They dived like a porpoise, not on an even keel, and each vessel had two horizontal rudders to effect this purpose, as well as two vertical rudders for steering the boat. The conning tower was 32 in. in diameter, and there was a deck 31 ft. long. The view of one of these boats on the beach, on page 101, suggests the whale- like form. The trials and working of the five boats separately, and in manoeuvres with svu-face craft, yielded valuable data for guidance in designs of future craft, the building of which was justified by the success of these pioneers. The next vessels, known as the " A " class, were 100 ft. long and of 200 tons displacement. At this time foreign Governments had serious difficulties with the submergence of such large vessels, and the ready and complete success of the " A " boats was particularly gratifying to all concerned. Although the Al was sunk when diving imder the Berwick Castle on March 18, 1904, owing probably to a mistake in taking " bearings," that was " an act of God " and not due to mechanical deficiencies. The early " A " boats had Wolseley 16-cylinder engines of 400 h.p. for surface propulsion, giving 11 knots speed ; while submerged the rate was 6 knots. The particulars of successive boats, so far as published, are tabulated on this page. Apart altogether from the increase in size. power and speed, improvements were made in successive vessels. In the " D " Class twin engines and propellers were introduced, adding to reliability and speed. Two periscopes were adopted — one for the captain's use for navi- gation, the other for that of a look-out to sweep the ocean continuously. Electric gear, too, was adopted for operating the rudders. In the " E " boats not only was the number of torpedo tubes increased, but guns were fitted on disappearing mountings. The number of spare torpedoes carried was greater. The radius of action was greatly augmented. It was not until 1911 that Germany in trod viced guns. But perhaps the improvement of greatest significance was the introduction of the Vickers' heavy-oil engine. The use of the petrol engine in motor cars has made the public familiar with the element of danger from fire with petrol. An outbreak would be more serious in its con- sequences in a boat, especially where there are only comparatively narrow openings for egress, as in a submarine boat. The heavy-oil engine enabled fuel oil of a higher flash-point to be used, so that there was less liability to ignition of the supply. Later, when considering the influence of design on tactics, we shall explain the significance of these and other engine developments. The success of the British submarine was, in a great measure, due to engineering, and in this connexion a reference ought to be made to the ingenuity and enter- prise which was displayed not only directly in all naval work, but by the stimulation of his staff, by Engineer Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Oram, K.C.B., the Engineer-in-Chief of the Navy. For something like thirty years at the Admiralty, he exercised a powerful influence in the prosecution of the enormous advances made in naval engineering for surface vessels, which disclosed itself not only in the enormous speed realized by large ships and torpedo boat destroyers, but by the remarkable immunity from breakdowns in peace service and during Pabticulaks of British Submakine Boats. Early Later 1-5 A. A. B. C. D. E. Date laid down 1901 1902 1904 1905 1906 1908 1910 Length over all fi.'ift. 10 in. 100 ft. 100 ft. 142 ft. 142 ft. 160 ft. 176 ft. Beam 11 ft. 9 in. 11 ft. 9 in. 12ft. Sin. 13 ft. Bin. 13ft. Gin. 20 ft. 6 in. 22 ft. 6 in. Displacement (submerged) 120 tons 200 tons 200 tons 313 tons 313 tons 600 tons 800 tons H.P. for surface navigation 160 H.P. 400 H.P. 600 H.P. 600 H.P. 600 H.P. 1200 H.P. 1600 H.P. Surface speed 7-4 knots 1 1 knots 11-5 knots 12 knots 12 knots 14 knots 15 knots Submerged S])eed ... 5 knots 6 knots 6 knots 6h knots 8 knots 9 knots 10 knots (The particulars are partly from the Navy Estimates ; partly from the Navy Annual.) THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAH. 95 LIEUT.-COM. E. G. BOYLE (Submarine "E14"). the war. Sir Henrj' was for long Deptity Engineer-in-Chief and became Engineer-in- Cliief in 190G. We may now similarly review the progress of contemporaneous submarine building in Ger- many. At the time Xordeixfelt was working with submarines in England, Germany ordered two boats of the class to be built respectively at Kiel and Dantzig. These, built in 1890, were 114 ft. 4 in. long and of 215 tons displacement on the surface. They had steam machinery. The speed was 11 knots on the surface and 4^ knots submerged. Germany's next boat followed French lines ; this craft, 47 ft. long, depended exclusively on electric storage accu- mulators and a motor for propulsion. The J. P. HOLLAND, The inventor of the Holland sub narine. speed was 6 knots on the surface and 4 knots submerged and the radius of action and reliability were low. They next purchased plans from a French officer, whose proposals had been declined by the authorities at Paris. The boat which resulted, built by Krupp at Kiel, wa.s 116 ft. 8 in. long and of 180 tons dLsplacement on the surface. Tht^ petrol engine for propulsion Mas of 200 h.p. and gave a speed of 1 1 knots on the surface, and the electric motor gave 8 knots submerged. The storage batteries sufficed for three hours' running. Five minutes were required to dive. The two periscopes fitted had each a field of 50 degrees and could be trained in azimuth by electric motors ; they had a special erector fitted for Particulars of Gekmax Submarine Bo.\ts. "Ul '• " U2 " to " U9 " to "U13"to "U21"to " 1-33 " to " U8 " '• U12" " U20 " " U32 " " i;38 " Date of commencement 1903 1006-1907 1908 1900-1910 1911-1912 1913 Lenpth ... 182ft. Sin. 141 ft. Sin. \ — 213 ft. 3 in. 214 ft. B?eadth U ft. 10 in. 12 ft. 4 in. — 20 ft. 20 ft. Draught ... 9 ft. 2 in. 9 ft. 8 in. "3 — lift. 10 in. 14 ft. Displacement on the surface ... 185 tons 237 tons ^ 4">0 tons fi.=>0 tons f>~5 tons Displacement when submerged 240 tons 300 tons - 0.50 tons 800 tons 83.5 tons Power of oil-fuel surface engines 400 h.p. GOO h.p. ■z «• 1,200 h.p. 1,800 h.p. 4,000 h.p. Power of electric under-water motors 240 h.p. 320 h.p. 610 h.p. SOO h.p. — j\Iaximum speed on surface 1 ! knots 12 knots >.■=> 15 knot.« 16 knots 18 knots Maximum speed submerged ... S knots 8-5 knots 9 knots 10 knots 10 knots Radius of action on surface ... — 1,200 miles ■^ — 1,500 miles 2,000 at fuU at 9 knots 02 at 12 knots speed, 6,000 10 knots Radius of action submerged ... — 50 nules at — 70 mile.' at 95 miles at 9 knots knots 4 knots One torpedo Two tubes Two tubes Two or thr^e Four tubes Four tubes tube • tubes Armament Three 17-7 Four 17-7 Four 17-7 Four or si.'c Eight 19-6 Eight 19-6 in. torpe- in. torpe- in. torpe- torpedoes, in. torpe- in. torpe- does does does one" P456 in. gun does, two 3-464 in. guns does, two 3-464 in. guns 90 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. GERMAN SUBMARINES OF THE "U" TYPE AT WILHELMSHAVEN. giving the observer an upright image during rotation. From these beginnings date Germany's submarine poHcy. Krupp built the first boat in 1906. Like all Germany's boats it was designated by a U, meaning " Unterseebote,"' and a number — thus, Ul. In its characteristics it resembled our " A " boats, Germany being a close student of ovir naval shipbuilding. M. Laubeuf, the well-known French designer of submarine boats, at a meeting of the French Society of Civil Engineers on March 26, gave particulars of German submarine boats, and a table comparable with that of the British boats, already given, is reproduced on page 95 ; the particulars of U33 to U38 are from another equally reliable source. Germany, entering upon submarine boat building late in the day, profited by the ex- perience of others ; boats were ordered from some Continental builders outside Germany in order to find out what was being done else- where. But once she had evolved her policy, the " f rightfulness " of which has been revealed to all during the war, she pursued her pre- parations with the same calculated haste as characterized her in all other departments of war-material construction. In the summer of 1907 she had only one submarine in service and seven in course of construction. The sum set apart for submarine construction in the 1907 Budget was £250,000. It increased rapidly, amounting to £350,000 in the Budget for 1908 ; to £500,000 in that for 1909 ; to £750,000 in each of those for 1910, 1911 and 1912; to £1,000,000 in that for 1913; and to £950,000 in that for 1914 ; but there can be no doubt that after the war began an immensely greater sum was devoted to submarine boats. Sketches of one of the latest German sub- marine boats are reproduced opposite, one — the u^Dper sketch — shows the arrangement of the interior from the bow to the stern, the other is a plan. In the bow of the boat there are installed two torjDedo tubes, so that double torpedo discharge can be effected at an oppor- tune moment. The tanks in the way of these tubes are appropriated for either water ballast or comjaensating tanks. Strong transverse bulkheads enclose all the forward part of the torpedo tubes and provide an amount of protection in the event of collision. The compartment abaft the collision bulkhead serves for working the torpedoes, loading or adjusting them, and this space is also available for carrying spare torpedoes. The anchor and windlass gear are usually fitted in this room. Below the deck the space is utilized for diving tanks. In the next conapartment are the living quarters for officers, comprising cabins, with the usual arrangements of beds, etc., for the comfort of those who may be required to © ■cc: F. m. y ^^ L f#:t^ /i^^^n^ rw z 22 Z Z 97 98 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. ^f.^,^ ' I i iii». w >» " — !.^ j» » ON DUTY. A British submarine, which is cleared of deck hamper, is ready to dive at a moment's notice. remain at sea for long periods. The next space is allotted to the crew, each member of which is" provided with a folding bed, lockers, etc. Below the deck the electric storage accumu- lators are stowed, and the space below this again is used for oil fviel. The next division of the boat may be termed the Control Compartment, and in it are placed all the principal elements of control, such as periscopes, conning tower, diving and steering wheel gears, recorders, indicators, communica- tions, etc. The objects projected by the peri- scopes are observable from inside the boat, so that, when the access hatch to the conning tower is closed down, operations while sub- merged are carried on from inside the boat proper. Below the deck ballast water tanks are arranged. In this division, too, avixiliary machinery, comprising pumps and compressors with their driving motors, are situated. In the next compartment the main propelling engines of the heavy-oil type are installed. They work twin screws. Oil fuel and lubricating oil are carried in the tanks underneath the engine seating. Immediately abaft the engine room is the main electric motor compartment, in which space are the electric motors for propelling the boat when submerged. At the extreme aft end two torpedo tubes are installed of the same pattern as those at the bow. Two I2-pounder guns are placed on the top, having practically an all-round fire. These guns fold down within the superstructure, as will be described later. For diving or svibmerged running there are control-diving rudders ; those at the bow fold inboard when not required. A vessel of this type may safely submerge to a depth of 150 ft. and come to surface in a few seconds by air-blowing arrangements for expel- ling the water ballast, or by her pumping gear. The bulk of the water ballast is carried between the inner and outer hulls. The Austrian submarine boats, few in number and of small dimensions, are for the most part of Krupp origin, and one of these — U5 — it will be remembered, sank the old French cruiser Leon Gambetta in full moonlight early in the morning of April 27, 1915, when she was BY SEA AND AIR. British warships, submarine and seaplane ; sea gulls on one occasion revealed the presence of a German submarine boat. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAE. 99 PROGRESS OF SUBMARINE GRAl T : HOLLAND TO " E." patrolling at low speed at the entrance to the Otranto Straits. The sea was calm, but there was great loss of life. The French contributed more than other belli- gerents to the solution of submarine propulsion, especially in the early days. They have tried every lcno^\Ti system of machinery. In a 420-ton boat, Le Plongeiu", built in 1858, with a spar torpedo explosive charge, like that used in the American Davids, they adopted compressed air, which was stored in steel reservoirs, for driving the propelling engines. This boat failed because an even keel, when submerged, could not be maintained. The next notable boat was the Goubet I., only 16^ ft. long and of 11 tons weight ; she could thus be lifted upon a war- ship. She depended solely on electric motors for propulsion and had a speed of 4 to 5 knots 100 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. > pq J3 a o .CI >. T3 e a in S2 S£ - o -i- U - - JJ Qi ^ W « ^^ '^ I Q « u ■A" u O CA u pa •a u &- u o C3 4-1 w •0X1 '<i c ■H 1) 1^ pC z u en e 3 in C « E a o u •e* C 3 u H on the surface. Slie carried two locomotive torpedoes in " collars " on the outside. This boat was purchased by Brazil for £10,000, and a larger vessel of the same class was built for France. The experiments made with her yielded valuable data for guidance in later boats, and Goubet himself, by his experiments, gave a great impetus to other workers. The French authorities continued to encourage scientists, and many types were produced. An invitation in 1896 for competitive designs for a boat not exceeding 200 tons displacement brought designs from twenty-nine persons, one of the most prominent being probably M. Laubeuf, and his vessel, the Narval, marked a great advance. She was 111 J ft. long and of 168 tons displacement submerged. The hull had a double skin, and water freely circulated between the two skins, increasing protection against gun attack. The space, too, was used for water ballast to decrease the buoyancy before submergence and to compensate for the weight lost owing to the consumption of fuel, etc. Laubeuf, adopting Holland's practice, used a different system of machinery for surface and submerged propulsion, but had not the courage of the American designer to use petrol or gasolene engines for the former. Instead the boat had an oil-fired tubular boiler and 250 h.p. triple-expansion engines. A new departure was made in having hydroplanes to increase control in diving, in order that the sulphuric acid would not be spilled from the electric accmiiulators — which w as for long a source of trouble in nearly all boats. Latterly the batteries were entirely closed in. The Morse and the Gustave Zede were the other com- peting boats and were electrically propelled. The chief disadvantage of the Laubeuf boat was that, owing to the steam machinery, 20 minutes were occupied in submerging her. Then came full recognition in France of the idea that in view of the collective naval power of the then Triple Alliance, as compared with the French fleet, a submarine navy could alone regain the balance. Le Matin raised a sum of £12,000 by public subscriptions, and two electric submarines were built. From this time forward there was great activity, and twenty boats were provided for in the Budget of 1901 — the year when Britain began submarine building. These were all practically alike, designed by Romazatti, and were known as the Naiade class. They were 77 ft. long, and of 68 tons displacement on the surface. Most THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAl^. 101 of these boats were modified during construc- tion, and many were fitted with benzoline engines, but these did not prove successful. There was later a return to \aried tjpes of craft, and it is not possible, within reasonable liiiiits of space, to give particulars of all, but a Kkpkeskntative Types uf firms at the 1900 Paris Exliibition. France hadto purchase six sets before they could get drawings. This class of ship only took from four to five minutes to dive, a great improvement on the twenty minutes of the earlier boats. Some of the later vessels have water-tube " express " Frexch Submarine Vessels. Year. moi. mn. 1907-J912. 1913. Name Naiade Aigrette I'luviosc Cla.s.s Gustnve Zi-de Class Length 77 ft. 117 It. 6 in. 160 ft. 239 ft. G in Breadth 7 ft. 6 in. 1:.' ft. 9 in. 10 ft. 4 in. 10 ft. 8 in. Depth 7 ft. 11 in. 8 ft. 4 in. 13 ft. 6 in. 14 ft. 4 in. Displacement surface (i8 tons 17.5 tons 398 tons 787 tons Displacement submerged — 220 tons — 1,000 tons H.l' CO 200 700 4,000 Speed on surface 8 lO-o 12-.5 20 Speed submerged 5 7"5 7-75 10 table may here be given showing representative types for comparison with the main features of the British and German vessels. The Aigrette, of which several were built, re- sembled the Laubeuf type, but instead of having a double hull, they had an inner longitudinal bulkhead along the sides only. The absence of the double skin over the top, it was considered, redviced the draught and improved the sea- worthiness. Moreover, they had Diesel heavy oil engines, which had been exhibited by German ABOVE AND BELOW THE SUKFAGE. Full speed on the surface of the water; wake effect on the water of a torpedo fired from a sub- merged submarine ; and a vessel out of water. boilers and steam turbines, working through gearing on twin screws. ^lessrs. Schneider have done valuable work, not only in building French submarines, but in the improving of all features of design. The Laubeuf type of sub- marine is constructed in this country by Sir W. G. Armstrong, Wliitwort h & Co., Ltd Elswick. 102 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. m^^^^^^~~Jimm THE FRENCH SUBMARINE "DELPHIN." The Russians were eager to try submarines in the war against Japan, but although several, including some of the Lake type, were sent to the Far East, there is no record of war service. An electrically propelled boat of 60 tons was sent across the Siberian Railway. Her arma- ment consisted of two 18-in. locomotive tor- pedoes suspended in droj3 collars, a system invented by Drzewiecki, who designed many of Russia's earliest boats. This boat, however, was not completed at Vladivostok in time to take j)art in the war. There was another vessel sent to Port Arthur, but she took no part in the war. This vessel, built in 1905, was of 200 tons displacement submerged, and had petrol engines, which gave her a surface speed of 11 knots. When being tested at Cronstadt, the Kingston valves fitted to admit water for submergence were opened when the conning-tower hatch was not closed. As the boat sank, water flowed into the hull, with the result that an ofificer and 23 men were lost. Many of the latter were on board for instructional purposes. This was the earliest disaster of great magnitude, and perhaps raised doubts as to whether such boats would ever be safe. In 1904 the Ritssians adopted the Holland type, which in Russia is known as the Biriliff type, from the Holland works there. Ships of other designs were also built, and, as with the other European nations, there was a steady advance in size and power, a few of the later ships being of 500 tons displacement, with oil engines to give a surface speed of 13 knots. The Laurenti type of submarine boats was adopted by Italy, and many nations had one or more vessels of the same class. It has many valuable qualities. Signor Laurenti introduced the principle of two hulls, the outer of a form to give the highest propulsive efficiency and reserve buoyancy on the surface, with the minimiun of draught, and the inner to minimize the internal cubic capacity while ensuring satisfactory conditions when submerged. The double skin, which is braced with stays to ensure the maximum of structural strength, M. LAUBEUF, The Designer of French Submarine Boats. CAESAR LAURENTI, Designer of Italian Submarine Boats. THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAB. 103 a 'a e o u o — -3 c M ■^" ^ j= r 4 ^ ■Ul '^m/ "Ci a ^ u r* 'u u < ■C£ u ^. ^ C • u E •«> X as* > X U > <" X p» 3 o u ^* U 2; z _o J X ^ x a > a "2 rf (A C 5 ~ "" ■^M ^ ^ V2 E X - 7^ J^ ■■^ f 1 ;> 5J M W ^ 3 -tl* ' *> 'krf ^" ^ ^ r v_ •< C ^ > "• ■S t^ c. ^ cn >" U X •^ ■^^ «s *u u ■T^ U^ , a >*^ Z ^ u u 2^ < ^ ■" (0 < z ^H 3> *J C/3 _C •cfl ^ 'u 'u y. ;;^ ^ U pd i< X C < -V* >■ u a X _- MM ^ J3 ^ > ? &> z X J3 "^ •H ^ G. rf'. C P -v^ T3 U M>4 -3 c r K il ^ u 'W^ Q. C <; E c i^ i^ X > J3 --v •^ is •S •0 fm •-« u 'W' u z ^ ■*■ !2 is u z * *^ MH f^j >. r) J3 u^ a >■ »*■ MH u H -3 u X C ^ ■^ 3 X "x C ^ Vm E 01 u ^~ w r'^ u w U j: c H 104 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. THE FRENCH SUBMARINE "OPALE." is confined largely to the central part, and the space between the two skins, up to the water- line on surface displacement, is utilized to foDn water-ballast tanks for subn^ergence. Kingston valves are fitted at the turn of bilge on each side for the flooding of the compartments, and the structure is made sufficiently strong to enable the water to be pumped out without danger of collapse due to the pressure of the sea water on the outer skin. Compressed air can be, and normally is, used for expelling the water when the boat is to return to the surface. Hydroplanes are fitted for diving. Over the central part of the ship there is a double decking, with lattice bracing, and valves are fitted on each side above the water-line, through which water enters and leaves respectively for the submergence or emergence of the vessel, which is effected on an even keel. This double decking extends practically from bow to stem. Vertical bulkheads divide the hull into several compartments. While the German boats have generally a sheer at the forward end, and the French boat a downward curve, the Laurenti boat has the top level right to the stem. Beginning with vessels of 120 ft. long in 1906, the size of Italian boats had advanced to 148 ft. in length, with a speed of 16 knots on the surface, and 9 knots when submerged ; but it is understood that a Laurenti type of boat being built in Italy for Germany was com- pleted after the outbreak of the war, and added to the Italian Navy. This was of U33 class, 835 tons displacement submerged, while the Fiat engines of 4,000 h.p. gave a speed on the surface of 20 knots. The Fiat San Georgio companies contributed greatly to the success of submarine boats. The Laiu^enti type is built in this covmtry by the Scotts' Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., Ltd., Greenock. As to the strength of the submarine fleets of the Powers, we give in the table on p. 106 the numbers of the principal Powers as given in a British Governnaent report, issued a few months before the war. We have arranged these according to the year of completion, as this affords some indication of the size, speed, radius of action, and power. There is also showTi the number of boats building in April, 1914. There is room for doubt as to whether the figure given for Ger- many — 14 — is not greatly understated. In any case, it is known that many new boats were completed after the outbreak of war, and many more were laid down. The manufactiu-e of the machinery takes the AN ITALIAN SUBMARINE. Ready to dive. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAE. 105 C€klSC0P£5 MtTAL .'A . i A SUBMARINE SHOWN IN SECTION. The above illustrates the interior of a submarine, showing under the water the oil and ballast tanks, the deck tanks for compressed air, two 18-in. Whitehead torpedoes, compressed air chambers, and air pump ; and above the water-line the periscopes, the torpedo hitch, conning tower, main hatch, ventilation shafts, and wheel for steering when on the surface. longe.st time, not only because of its intricacy, but because of its construction, and experienced workers must be employed for this work, as well as for the building of the hull. Germany had an advantage, as the Diesel engine was more favoured in Gennany than elsewhere, probably because of the relative scarcity of good steam coal and its higher price. More firms were engaged upon its construction, and thus it was easier to increase suddenly the output. 106 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. But even so, it is doubtful if a submarine could be completed in Germany under seven or eight months, and thus the " Submarine blockade " may have been timed to begin on February 18 because there were then becoming available submarine boats laid down before and at the commencement of the war. The Germans probably laid down a great many boats at once, and from April, 1915, onward there was a steadily increasing augmentation of the sub- marine fleet. A greater difficulty was the train- ing of officers and men for a great accession to numbers of boats. The Armament of Submarines. The principal weapon of all submarine boats is the torpedo. There are many types, but Submarines of Belligerent Fleets shortl being entirely independent of outside aid after being sent on its trip, and he was fortunate in securing the cooperation of such an ingenious engineer as Whitehead to devise the mechanism not only for self-propulsion and steering, but ultimately also for the maintenance of the depth within predetermined limits, and for securing safety before the torpedo entered the water, and certainty of explosion only when the object to be destroyed was strvick. The first Whitehead torpedo was a pronounced success. It was of steel, was 14 in. in diameter, and weighed 300 lbs. It carried a charge of 18 lbs. of dynamite, and the engine was driven by air, stored at a pressure of 700 lbs. in a chamber made of ordinary boiler jalate. The Y BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE WaR. Year of Completion. Great Britain. France. Russia. Italy. Germany. Austria. 1905 or earlier ... 9 7 2 1906 12 2 11 1 1 — 1907 7 6 3 1 . — . 1908 6 10 4 3 1 4 1909 16 6 1 — 2 9 1910 8 2 5 — 4 1911 3 7 — 2 4 1912 3 10 — 3 6 191.3 5 — 1 6 6 Building April, 1914 ... 27* 26 18 2 Itt 9 96* 76 43 20 38t 15 2S 5 53 * Exclusive of two Australian boats. t Exclusive of one Norwegian boat building in Germanj- here we are only concerned with those used in submarine boats. The generic type is that invented by the English engineer, Mr. Robert Whitehead, when engaged as the manager of a factory at Fiume. The Germans adopt the Schwartzkopf, and the Americans have the Bliss-Leavitt, in which an important difference is the use of turbines of the Curtis type for propelling the torpedo, but with compressed air instead of steam, as in surface craft. The Whitehead torpedo originated in the mind of an Austrian naval officer, Cajitain Lupuis, who, as the result of a series of experi- ments, evolved a floating weapon which had, at the forward end, a charge of gunpowder, to be automaticaLy fired by a piston detonator on contact with the enemy's ship. The propulsion of the weapon was to be achieved by the use of clockwork, while the vessel was guided along or near the surface of the water from a fixed base by means of lines or ropes. The idea was acceptable, but the method of propulsion and guidance precluded complete success from the practical point of view. Captain Lupuis recog- nized that success depended upon the torpedo , absorbed into the German Fleet. speed was six knots, Vjut the range was very small. In this first instrument there was no attempt to introdvice mechanism for maintaining the depth of the torpedo below the surface at a pre- determined level. That came in 1868, as the result of very careful experiments. By this time, too, it was discovered that guncotton was preferable to dynamite, and the power of the propelling motor was increased so that the speed was maintained at 8i knots for 200 yards or at 7-J knots for 600 yards. It was a torpedo 14 in. in diameter, with these characteristics, which demonstrated in tests before a British Admiralty Committee the potentialities of the Whitehead torpedo, the secret and right of manufacture of which were then bought for £1,500. From this time forward many improve- ments were made. By 1876 the speed had been increased to 18 knots for a distance of 600 yards, and tlie charge of guncotton in the war- head was advanced to 26 lbs. In 1884 the speed had gone up to 24 knots at 1,000 yards range, and by 1889 to 29 knots for the same range, while the charge was 200 lbs. of gim- THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 107 cotton. The groater speed was largely a result not only of the increase in size (the torpedoes having become of 18 in. diameter) but of augmentation in the power of the pro- pelling engines — manufactured to work with compressed air — and also of the introduction of twin three-bladed propellers. The most recent advance has been a consequence of heating the air used in the propelling engine. Now the torpedoes of 21 m. diameter are capable of achievmg a speed of almost 4.5 knots for the first 1,000 yards of the course, reduced to 40 knots at 1,500 yards, and 38 knots at 2,000 yards, while the range has gone vxp to over 4,000 yards, the sjoeed at that distance from the point of discharge being 28 knots. It will be understood that the reduction in speed is consequent on the use of the compressed air causmg a reduction in the pressure, which, when the torpedo first leaves the submarine, is as high as 2,250 lbs. per sq. in. The normal explosive charge is about 330 lbs. of guncotton The torpedo of the present day has a diameter of 21 in. Its form has been evolved from Nature. The earlier torpedoes were made with a fine entry, but tests showed that a bluff head followmg the lines of the fish, reduced the resistance to passage through the water. The torpedo, however, at the after end tapers away to a hne point, round which a tail-piece carries the propellers, etc. The shell is built up in sec- tions, and non-corrosive metal is used not only for the outer skin, but, as far as possible, for the internal mechanism, so that there may be little or no deterioration during storage. There are five main sections from bow to stern. First, that containing the charge and the mechanism for exploding it on contact with the ship ; second, the chamber for the storage of the compressed air for driving the propelling machinery ; third, the chamber in which is enclosed the balancing gear, to ensure that the torpedo will travel without variation at a given distance from the surface of the water ; fourth, the engine room ; and fifth, the buoy- ancy chamber. There are variations in the length of the air chamber, in order to increase the explosive warhead. It is possible that the great damage done to some of our larger ships by German submarines, and tlie short period which elapsed before they sank, were due to the use in this way of an excessively large volume of explosive compound, as well as to its par- ticular composition. This increase of ex- plosive charge is, it is true, at the expense of the range, as the reduction in the size of the air chamber lessens the time which the pro- peller engine can be run. This shortening of the range, however, carries little disadvantage when the vessels to be attacked are unarmed merchantmen, as the submarine boat can ri>k much against an unarmed vessel by getting close to her. It is possible, further, that the German suVjinarines use two different types of torpedoes, one for short range, to attack defenceless vessels, and the other for long range, to attack warships. In connexion with the warhead it will be understood that it is of the highest importance that there should be no detonation of the charge until the torpedo has actually struck the object to be destroyed. Thus safety has to be en- sured during the loading of the torpedo into the tube, out of whicli it has to be fired from the submarine, and, further, it must be provided that contact with any light object during its transit should not cause detonation. Where tubes are fired from the decks of vessels, as in the case of torpedo-boat destroyers, there is a further precautionary measure to ensure that there will be no possi- bility of the explosion of the charge when the torpedo first strikes the water. The striker TORPEDO BEING LOWERED ON BOARD A SUBMARINE. 108 THE TIMES HISTORl OF THE WAR. AN ITALIAN TORPEDO BOAT DIVING. serves as a simple hammer, usually igniting fulminate of mercury, which in its turn acts on a primer charge of dry gimcotton enclosed in a tube to the rear of the striker, and this in turn explodes the main charge. The striker, to begin with, has a pin which keeps it in position until the torpedo is conxfortably placed in the tube from which it is to be ejected ; this pin is then removed. Next the striker is gently moved to a position where it is free to be driven into the detonating tube by the working of a fan rotating by the movement of the tor- pedo through the water. In order that the blow on the ship raay be a direct and not a glancing one, there are mounted " projections " or " whiskers " on the point, so that should the torpedo strike the vessel at an acute angle it will incline almost to right angles at the moment of impact. The precaution against explosion due to contact with a light object floating in the water is the provision of a pin through the primer, which, however, is broken or sheared when a heavy object, such as a ship, is struck. This last shearing is done by the primer receding with the great force of impact into its tube to detonate the fulminate of mercury. The balancing of the torpedo horizontally at a predetermined depth under the water surface was long maintained as a great secret, but this is no longer the case. It is a simple con- trivance, consisting of a valve on the outer sur- face of the torpedo. This recedes into the interior when too great a depth is attained, this action of the valve being consequent upon the increase in the hydrostatic pressure, due to the increased depth at which the torpedo is run- ning. Conversely, if the torpedo rises above the predetermined level, the reduction in the hydrostatic pressure causes the valve to lift. The depth under the surface at which the tor- pedo is to travel is fixed by the setting of a spring on the valve spindle ; the degree of com- pression of the spring determines the increase or decrease of hydrostatic pressure necessary to operate the balancing mechanism. The valve is comiected to a vertical lever held in a truly vertical position by a pendulum weight, which is free to rock. To this is pivoted a bell-cranlc lever, the outer end of which is con- nected to the horizontal rudder, while at an intermediate position there is a connexion to the hydrostatic valve. When the valve moves, due to the torpedo running deeper in the water and consequent increase in hydrostatic pressure, the bell-cranl?: lever is thrown with its top end towards the stem, and thus it operates the horizontal rudders vised for deflecting the vessel downwards. If, on the other hand, the torpedo tends to rise to the surface, the valve moves outwards, the lever is drawn towards the bow, moving the bell-crank lever and the horizontal rudders in the opposite direction, to ensure that the torpedo will take a down- ward course until the required level of pro- gression is reached again. The propelling engines were, luitil recently, always of the piston type, the cylinders being set radially, and these worked most satisfactorily and at exceptionally high speed — over 2,000 revolutions per minute. Great suc- cess has been achieved in reducing the weight for a given power, the later torpedoes having engines giving more than 1 h.p. per lb. of weight. The Americans in their air turbines claim to get 1 h.p. per i lb. Provision, of coiirse, is made to ensure the minimum of leakage from the air chamber to the engine. The air is charged into the air chamber before the torpedo is placed in the tube, from air- compressing plant. As it is not desirable that the engine within the torpedo should start run- ning before the torpedo has got some distance away from the ship, arrangements are made to delay the admission of air to the pro- pelling engine. As the torpedo leaves the tube a projection on it acts automatically to lift the valve admitting air to the engine, but there is an ingenious obstruction, a " delay action " valve, to the passage of the air. This obstruction is removed by the action of a tripper, which is thrown over by the torpedo striking the water. Then only can the engine begin running, and thus there is obviated all possibility of the torpedo when not in the water being injured by the immense speed of the propellers — 2,000 revolutions per minute in water, but enor- mously greater in air. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 109 The Servo motor was introduced in 1876 to in- crease the power of the rudders. The Servo motor acts in the same way as the steering engine in magnifying the power of the hehiisman on siu-- face craft. In 1899 there was introduced a fur- ther improvement in connexion with the auto- matic steering apparatus, consisting of the appHcation of a gyroscope, by means of which the causes of erratic running — deflection of the torpedo on entering the water, dents {par- ticularly in the tail), variation in the speed of the propellers, or imperfect balancing — are nullified. The gyroscope is simply a heavy flywheel supported on ginibals with very fine points, giving it a very delicate suspension, so that friction is practically non-existent. The wheel is set spinning by a powerful spring as the torpedo leaves the tube, and it -continues rotating at 20,000 revolutions per minute. Thus it is given a directive force maintaining in a true line the axis of the wheel, which is coin- cident with the longitudinal axis of the torpedo. Xotwithstanding any change in the direction of the torpedo the axis on which the gjTOScope revolves remains constant by reason of the velocity of the wheel. At the point of sus- pension of the gimbals there is a vertical rod connected to the valve working the air cylin- ders actuating the vertical steering rudders. Thus any change in the relative axes of the gyroscope and the torpedo causes the air motor to move the vertical rudders until both axes again coincide. The buoyancy chamber, which is the stem- most of all the compartments, serves the purpose of giving the ne-essary buoj'ancy to the torpedo. The propeller.-; are mounted on what is termed the '" tail piece," which fonns a continuation of the buoyancy chamber. This tail supports two propellers, the vertical rudders, the horizontal rudders worked by the balancing mechanism, and the fin-s worked by the gyroscope. The whole of the units arc protected by a framing. The propellers and rudders are well shown in the view of a torpedo on page 107. It may be added that mechanism is fitted so that the torpedo can be brought to rest at a predetermined distance in practice firing, and that arrangements are made so that if the torpedo fails to reach its billet it will sink. As regards the guns fitted on board sub- marine boats, Britain was the first to apply this form of armament, and the Germans, immedi- ately on hearing of this procedure, took steps to arm their later vessels. Their guns, which are of 2"95-in. bore, are mounted so that they can be lowered into a recess in the deck of the vessel — as shown in the longitudinal section of a typical Gennan submarine boat on page 97 — between the uppor deck and the inner hull. The gun arrangement is illustrated in six views on page 110. Fig. 1 shows the cavity for the gun entirely closed, while Fig. 2 shows it open, and the first movement in connexion with the raising of the gun. For the raising and lowering of the gun the lower part of the moimting turns in a bearing contained in the THE EYE OF THE SUBMARINE. Removing the oerlscope. ON SUBMARINE " D4." Quick-firing guns. no THE TIMES HISTOEY OF THE WAR. ' :\ ■WSSSBBm^sj.. i^.^ ^ ^^ j^i,-s.7i^/?* ^*.^ = ON A GERMAN SUBMARINE. A 3'7-cm. (l"456-in.) gun fitted on a fixed pivot mounting, having a total weight of 365 kg. (584 lb.). It is carried on top of the fixed mounting in a cylindrical cradle, in which it slides backwards and forwards when in action. (By courtesy of " Engineering.") forward part of the fixed foundation seen in Fig. 2. A spring buffer raises the gun auto- matically into a vertical position. Fig. 3 shows the gun in the process of rising. When the gun has been brought to the vertical position, it is held fast by spring catches, which come into play immediately it reaches the position shown in Fig. 4. These spring catches have to be disengaged when it is desired to rehovise the gun for subinarine navigation. When raised to the highest position, sights and shoulder rests have to be fitted, and with these the gun is rotated and elevated. It is stated that the gvin may be raised and got into position for training in twenty seconds, and that it can be stowed away in a corresponding tune. As to the gun itself, it is fitted with a wedge breech block, which moves vertically instead of laterally — as with most of the Krupp guns for other purposes. The cradle is cylindrical, surrounding the gun tube itself, and having the usual trimnions in the brackets of the gun supports. The recoil cylinder and the run-out springs are showoa in several of the views. The pedestal carries on the top a pivot bearing. The various views show the range through which the gun can be elevated. It will be seen that it can be used against air craft. The total weight of the gun, as illustrated, is 1,895 lbs., and it fires a projec- tile of 12f lbs. The penetrating power cannot be great, so that success can have been achieved THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. Ill in attack even on merchant ships only at vei y close range. In nearly every fleet there are parent ships auxiliary to the submarine fleet and to serve as floating bases, having spare parts and stores, including torpedoes and machine tools for the carrying out of small repairs. Several navies have combined a salvage and docking ship in one, and such a vessel is self-propelled and forms itself the parent ship to the fleet. One of these salvage ships is illustrated on page 112. The hull itself is formed with two side walls, having an entrance at the bow, while the extensive upper works are fitted with lifting gear, so as to raise by tackle the submarine from the bottom of the sea, in order that the vessel may be slung between the two walls of the ship, and con- veyed to a port of repair. Alternatively, a floating submarine may be hauled through the bow opening between the side walls for the purpose of having the outer hull fittings repaired or painted. It will be seen that the ship is in every respect a sea-going craft, fitted with wireless telegraphy. The submarine is shown being drawn between the two side walls. There is a double bottom, so that when the water is pumped out of the two side walls of the ship, the bottom is above water level, the whole of the hull of the submarine being exposed. The Germans have adopted many systeii s of meeting possible disaster. In order to enable the vessel to remain submerged for a prolonged period, either between the surface of the water and the bottom of the sea, or at the bottom of the sea, they have introduced a system of pvirifying the air. The vitiated air is circulated by fans through a row of cart- ridges filled with potash, to absorb the carbonic acid and the moisture, etc. The purified air leaving the cartridges has oxygen added to it from special reservoirs. Separate small cart- ridges of the same character are supplied to each man, so that in emergency — for instance, when fumes arise through the overturning or spilling of the contents of the accumulator batteries — the men may put the cartridges before their mouths and inhale purified air. Air -purifying vessels with tubes are also supplied to the men, so that they may exhale or inhale tlirough the tubes. Corresponding means are adopted in practically all submarines in order to overcome the effects to which we have referred, but in the British practice it has been found that by isolating the accumu- lators in separate compartments there is little chance of such fumes finding their way into the inlirtbited compartments of the ship, so that here, as in other respects, the principle has been adopted of meeting contingencies before they arise, rather than of devising means for counteracting the dangerous effects of such contingencies. The Tactical, Work of ti^e Submarine AS Influenced by Design. Such success as the submarine boat has achieved is due to the quality of invisibility which it possesses rather than to what might be termed the capacity for direct frontal attack. The handicaps imposed on the sub- marine are its vulnerability to attack by ramming or by gun power, its low speed relative to that of torpedo-boat destroyers and cruisers, the insufficiency of its gun power and the relatively short range of the torpedo, its inability to fire the torpedoes at all arcs of training, and its comparatively wide tvxming circle. The fact that BritLsh merchant ships of comparatively low speed have been able to escape from German submarines, and that at least one merchant ship rammed a sub- marine, is proof of these latter two disabilities. The case of the Thordis, which rammed a submarine on March 4 — for which the captain and crew were honoured, the former being made a lieutenant of the Naval Reserve, and, along with his crew, getting a large monetary reward — should be encouraging for others. There are many other cases which show that difficulties due to slow manoeuvring beset submarines. The submarine has often been regarded as an under-sea torpedo-boat, but its deficiency in speed is much against its utility for attacking warships on the surface. !Many destroyers during the war attained speeds of over thirty knots, some of them as much as thirty - five knots. They manoeuvred very easily, and proved in many cases capable of ranuning svib- inarines. A notable instance was that of the liadger, which on October 25 accounted for one of the German submarines, whilst the Garrj-, on the 23rd, rammed the U18 off the north coast of Scotland, saving all the crew except one, who remained on board to open the Kingston valve, in order to ensure that the vessel would sink. H.M. Destroyer Ariel also bagged U12 on March 10, all officers and crew being taken prisoners. A 112 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. destroyer steaming at 32 knots approaches a submarine at 54 ft. per second, and should the submarine be travelling on the surface, with her masts and other gear in position for surface navigation, the time taken to dive cannot be short of a minute, even presuming that no attempt is made to lower the mast and make everything on deck secure. It is therefore obvious that the submarine is at a great disadvantage. As regards comparison with light cruisers, the case is nearly as pronounced as with tor- pedo-boat destroyers, and the success of the Biniiingham in sinking U15 on August 8 was due to the difference in speed. As regards the range of the torpedo, the war has shown that the gun, by reason of the efficiency of control and aiming, is capable of accurate hitting at a much greater range, so that the submarine, even when present, has had little chance of being effective in fleet actions. The velocity of the present-day tor- pedo enables it to reach an object at 6,500 yards in about four minutes, but a projectile from a 12-in. 50-calibre gun can travel that distance in nine seconds. In an open fight it would be possible to aim and fire a 12-in. gun at a submarine after her torpedo had been discharged and before it reached its billet. Vice-Admiral Beattj'-, in his dispatch on the fight in the Bight of Heligoland, stated : I did not lose sight of the risks of submarines and a possible sortie in force from the enemy's base, especially in view of the mist to the south-east. Our high speed, howeVer, made submarine attack difficult, and the smoothness of the sea made their detection compara- tively easy. I considered that wo were powerful enougli to deal with any sortie except by battle squadron, which was unlikely to come out in time, provided our stroke was sufficiently rapid. In this connexion the photograph which we reproduce on page 101, showing the wake of a torpedo, due to the exhaust of air after it has operated the propeller, indicates that under certain conditions the presence of a submarine and the advance of a torpedo can be detected. In the actual fight in the Bight of Heligoland a German submarine attacked the Queen Mary, but this mighty cruiser managed by rapid steering to elude the torpedo. The question VA'hether a submarine can be built to achieve a high speed involves the form of hull and the type of machinery. Dealing first with the former, the subject of the titles "submarine" and "submersible" at or.ce comes to the fore. There is a wide difference of practice in connexion with the usage of the two terms. " Submarine " was at one time applied to vessels which were fitted exclusively with elec- tric motors for propelling the vessel, and as the principal work was to be done under the water, the vessel was so designed as to possess a small reserve of buoyancy. As a rule she was designed for running under the water, and her form was A REPAIR SHIP FOR SUBMARINES. This vessel, which is used for carrying submarines across the seas, can also be used as a floating dock for repairs. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 113 arranged to comply with this condition. Thus, the section was circular, and she had a straight line axis. The tenn " submersible " may be applied to a vessel possessing a large reserve of buoyancy, and designed for improved surface conditions, for fairly high speed, and for keeping the sea. Thus the form appertained more to that of the torpedo boat or surface vessel, so far as the outside lines were con- cerned. But there was introduced an inner hull, not only to increase the resistance to hydrostatic pressvu-e when immersed at a great depth, but to provide between the two hulls water-ballast tanks for. the introduction of water in order to reduce the high reserve of buoyancy to enable the ship to dive. The dif- ference is pretty much one as to the amount of surface reserve buoyancy, and with this pro- viso the terra " submarine " may be accepted as covering all types of under-water craft. The tendency, however, must be towards the adoption of the same lines as surface craft, if high speed on the svirface is to be realized, but this form is not conducive to a great speed when submerged. Modification, however, has to be made at the bow and stem in order to acconunodate the torpedo launching tubes, and in this way there is introduced something very bluff and roimd-ended, quite opposite to the knife-like edge of the high-speed surface vessel. The torpedo armament provisions thus limit the speed to some extent. The desideratum is towards high speed on the surface even at the expense of speed submerged, and for the latter 8 to 10 knots may be regarded as reason- ably satisfactory, with a fairly good radius of action ; that is to say, with batteries suf- ficient for four or five hours' propulsion under the water. The acceptance of this condition is encoiu-aged by the great weight of the electrical installation for propvilsion imder water. Nor- mally the electric power in a submarine boat is only from half to a quarter that of the oil engines used for surface propulsion, but the weight of the electric motors, batteries, cables, switches, and other gear is practically t\Aice that of the oil engines, exclusive of fuel, which necessarily varies "according to the radius of action on the siu-face desired. If it were desired to get 18 knots under the surface as well as on the surface, the vessels wovild require to be quite 20 per cent, larger in displacement tonnage. For surface propulsion the oil engine holds the field for the present. In some of the earlier power-propelled boats a steam boiler and reciprocating engines were adopted, but they were not favourably looked upon. Electricity and compressed air were also used for small craft. The introduction of the internal com- bustion engine in the Holland boat gave a great impetus to the use of oil engines. At first petrol or gasoline were used, pretty much as in the motor-car, but the petrol gives off inflammable vapours at atmospheric tempera- ture, and was thus very dangerous. Paraffin engines superseded the petrol, but there was the disadvantage that while petrol, if it fell into the bilges, evaporated, paraffin lay about, and, as it ignited at a very low temperature, it also w£is a source of danger if naked Lights were anywhere near. Engines using heavy oil were next introduced, and proved most acceptable, the heavy oil having a flash point three times that of paraffin (or from 200 to 250 deg. F.), so that the danger of fire and explosions was almost eliminated. The oil engine is preferable to steam because there is less loss in the conversion of heat into work. In the case of the steam machinery only 13 per cent, of the heat stored in the fuel is converted into work, whereas in the case of the oil engine the percentage is between 35 per cent, and 40 per cent. The impulse given within an oil engine cylinder is due to the explosion or combustion of oil vapoiu* above the piston, which is thus driven dowTiwards, and by suit- able mechanism the motion is converted from reciprocating to rotary on tlie jirdijellcr shaft. MR. T. G. OWENS THURSTON, Naval Constructor of the Vickers Company. 114 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. In earlier heavy oil engines the ignition of the oil was effected by flash or other separate agency. A noted German chemist, the late Dr. Diesel, modified this, and it was largely as a consequence that the use of heavy oil became possible in engines of suitable power and weight for submarine propulsion. When air is compressed it becomes heated, as can easily be tested by the use of a tj^re pvimp. He therefore introduced the principle of com- pressing the air for the cylinder to a pressure of about 500 lbs. per sq. in.; this raised its temperature to about 1,500 deg. F. It is only necessary then to spray oil into the cylinder with highly-compressed air in order to ensure combustion ;. there is no need for separate ignition with its attendant disadvantages. As only air is contained above the piston at the full height of its stroke, there can be no prema- ture ignition with serious troubles accruing. The impulse to the piston is more gradual because of the gradual combustion of the charge, and consequently there is less variation in stress on the working parts and bearings. The oil engine, as at present designed, is un- doubtedly heavier than steam turbine instal- lations in high-speed vessels. A fair figure for the oil engine would be 90 lbs. per horse-power, and for corresponding machinery of the steam ti^u-bine type 45 lbs. per horse-power. One pound of oil, however, used in the oil engine gives more than double the power developed by the steam turbine, the consvunption of oil being about ^-Ib. per horse-power in the oil engine, while for the steam turbine installation at full power the consximption of oil in the boiler is about 1"4 lb. per horse-power, and more at small power. To ensure the same radius of action, it follows that there must be carried in the steam-propelled boat nearly thrice the fuel necessary in an oil-engine propelled ship. An interesting departure was made, prior to the outbreak of the war, in the adoption of turbines instead of oil engines for driving sub- marine boats on the surface, the turbines being used when desired, as in the case of the oil engine, for generating electricity to recharge storage batteries. This change, because of its potentialities is regarded as of great importance. Four turbine-driven submarine boats have been built for the French Navy. Two are of about 900 tons displacement, and the turbine engines, driving twin-screws through gearing, are to be collectively of 4,000 s.h.p. ; the two others are slightly larger, and of 5,000 s.h.p. The weight of the turbine installation is said to be 60 per cent, of that of the oil engine. The difficulty experienced in the early steam- driven submarines was that the closing down of the boiler occupied a comparatively long time; but with the modern "express" water- tube boilers of rapid evaporative quality, using oil fuel, the voliune of steam or water in the boiler at any time is very small, and the sujjply of fuel to the furnace can be instantly cut off, so that the time taken to damp down may not be much greater than that taken at present to change over from oil-engine drive to electric drive, and otherwise to prepare the vessel for diving. The question, too, of heat may be overcome by insulation. There may, however, be greater difficulty in raising full pressure of steam in the boilers when the sub- marine boat returns to the surface. Steam machinery may require more numerous and larger hull openings, and more top hamper, such as funnels, air-intakes, etc., will be neces- sitated, since a larger volume of air is required. Special gear will have to be devised for closing these aperttires rapidly and effectively. The subject of closing down and diving is one requiring the greatest experience in order to secure safety and rapidity. In ordinary practice submarines dive with a reserve of buoyancy, varying according to the design of the particular boat. This change in buoyancy from the surface to the submerged condition is effected by the filling with water of certain compartments. When the boat has reached a predetermined stage, so far as the degree of buoyancy is concerned, if she is not under way the electric motors are set in operation to give a forward movement, when, by the use of hori- zontal planes, the ship dives, the angle varying with the length of the ship, its speed and the area and angle of the planes. These planes, which are well seen in the illustration on page 117 and are controlled from inside the boat, may be placed at an angle with the direction of flow of the water, the result being a perpendicular thrvist sufficient to overcome the pre-arranged reserve buoyancy. So long as the boat travels with the planes set at an angle to the hori- zontal the downward thrust remains eft'ective, and the boat is able, under submerged control, to dive or rise as the angle of the planes is in- creased or decreased, the whole being a balance of forces at all times. For the same reason it is necessary for the vessel, even when sub- merged on an even keel, to keep moving, in THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. 115 INTERIOR OF A GERMAN SUBMARINE Showing the two internal combustion engines for driving the twin propellers on the surface, and the motor-generators for submerged propulsion. order that the planes may operate to bring about the balancing of forces, and thus prevent the vessel rising to the surface. The stabilitj' is a matter of great importance, but there exists a wide difference of opinion among authorities as to what amount should be given. A submarine can have too much as well as too little, and the most successful design is that which gives best results at sea in all weathers on the siirface, and at the same time is quite satisfactory in a submerged condition. As to the seaworthiness of British boats there can be no two opinions. In one of his official dispatches Commodore Keyes wrote : During the exceptionally heavy westerly gales which prevailed between September 14 and 21, 1914, the position of the submarines on a lee shore within a few miles of the enemy's coast was an unpleasant one. The short steep seas which accompanied the westerly gales in the Heligoland Bight made it difficult to keep the conning tower hatches open. There was no rest to be obtained, and even when cruising at a depth of 60 ft. the submarines were rolling considerably and pumping, i.e., vertically moving, about 20 ft. Perhaps the best method of describing the mechanism for submerging the ship will be to 116 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. SUBMARINE ACCUMULATOR. The electric storage battery leaving charging vat. The sailor is wearing india-rubber gloves. follow the successive operations, beginning when the ship is cruising on the siu-face of the water with her deck and bridge showing, all hatches being open, wireless masts up, venti- lators in place, etc. All gear wovild have to be stowed before diving. In war the chances are that the minimvun amoiuit of work would be left to be done. In the danger zone only tl. e conning tower would be left open, allowing air to enter for the engines, all other arrangements being made for instant diving. Then three warning bells are sounded, one for the closing down of the conning tower, another for the stopping of the main propelling engines, and the third for all hands to proceed to their respective definite stations, where, as a rule, they remain during the complete watch, there being the minummi of movement while running submerged. Even when everything has to be stowed, two minutes suffice for the diving. If the vessel were ruiming awash, with only the eonning-tower hatch visible, the boat would dive, with the help of the hydroplanes, in half a minute. If running on the motors the vessel Avould disappear almost instantly. Various stages in diving are illustrated on pages 118 and 119. Then all movement and action is controlled with the help of the periscope, which is a tvibe, varying from 3 in. to 6 in. in diameter, which can be telescoped to a height of from 15 ft. to 17 ft., and even in some cases 20 ft. At the top there are prismatic lenses or prisms, throvigh which the rays of light enter, and are reflected dovmwards to a corresponding lens at the base. In some cases the tube contains magnifying lenses, the degree of magnification being in some cases five to six times the actual size. The periscope can be turned through a complete circle without the captain taking his eye from the eye -piece. In order also to enable him to concentrate his visual faculties, the periscope is usually telescoped upwards or downwards by a small motor at will. To ensure freedom from moisture, and therefore cloudy vision, the air in the periscope tube can be passed through a drying medium, such as calcium chloride, returning again to the periscope automatically. The periscope lens seen by the captain is usually graded so that the captain can estimate approxi- mately the range. In nearly all boats now there are two periscopes, one used by the captain for guiding the ship and discharging the torpedo ahead or astern, and the other for the look out, to sweep the horizon continually in search of enemy craft. This instrument has undoubtedly proved of enormous advan- tage, but the task of observation imposed has been fitly and graphically described by Admiral Bacon, who in a letter to The Times said : If any of your readers wishes to appreciate some of the difficulties of submarine work, let him sit dov^n imder a chart of the Channel suspended from the ceiling let him punch a ho'e through it, and above the hole place a piece of looking glass inclined at 45 degrees. Let him further imagine his chair and glass moving sideways as the effect of tide. Let him occasionally fill the room with steam to represent mist. Lot him finally crumple the chart in ridges to represent the waves, and then try to carry out some of the manoeuvres which look so simple when the chart is spread out on a table and looked down upon in the quiet solitude of a well- lit studj\ With the periscope splendid work was done by the commanding officers of submarine boats. Commander Max Kennedy Horton gained his promotion by sinking the German torpedo boat destroyer SI 26 rimning at a high speed off the Ems River on October 6, and with the same submarine, E9, he had on September 13 sunk the Hela, so that it will be obvious that, with smart officers, the periscope fulfils the requirements. As to the depth and length of time of sub- mergence, most of the vessels are designed to THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 117 withstand a hydrostatic pressure due to immersion to a depth of 200 ft. below the surface, which is equal to about 90 lb. per sq. in. Indeed, in some cases the vessels have actually sunk on an even keel when suddenly approached by ithe enemy, without even using the divmg rudders. On one occasion an officer who had achieved this feat when asked how he got on when resting on the bottom replied : " I did fine ; we played auction bridge all the time, and I made 4s. ll^d." Contrast this with statements in a semi-pfficially pub- lished interview with the captain of one of the German submarines, Conamander Hansen. He is reported to have said : It is fearfully trying on the nerves. Every man does not stand it. . . . MTien running under sea there is a death-like silence in the boats as the electric machinery is noiseles'i. It is not unusual to hear the propeller of a ship passing over or near us. We steer entirely by chart and compass. As the air heats it gets poor, and mixed with the odour of oil from the machinery. The atmosphere becomes fearful. An overpowering sleepi- ness often attacks new men, and one requires the utmost will power to remain awake. I have had men who did not eat during the first three days out because they did not want to lose that amount of time from sleep. Day after day spent in such cramped quarters, where tliere is hardly any room to streteli your legs, and constantly on the alert, is a tremendous strain on the nerves. I have sat or stood eight hours on end with my eyes glued on the periscope, and peered into the brilliant glass until my eyes and head ached. WTien the crew is worn out we see a good sleep and rest under the water. The boat often is rocking gently with a movement some- thing like a cradle. Before ascending, I always order silence for several minutes in order to determine by THE PLANES OF THE SUBMARINE. Horizontal rudders which regulate the angle of descent and ascent. hearing, through the shell-like sides of the «<ibinaiine, whether there are any propellers in the vicinity. Steering may be done by the gyroscopic compass, the wheel of which runs at something ON A TORPEDOED PASSENGER STEAMER. While on a passage on October 26, 1914, from Ostend to Havre, the passenger steamer " Amiral Ganteaume," with 2,000 unarmed Belgian refugees on board, including a large proportion of women and children, was torpedoed by the Germans without warning. The above illustration shows a portion of a German torpedo found on the steamer after she was struck, which proves the German method of attack. 118 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. i ""T^ '■^ £iJtjSoaBKiJ«=3S!SaHeia.sas»iesiti!SEsa First stage : Angle J degree. Third stage : Angle 2 degrees. approaching 20,000 revolutions per minute. One of the finest performances submerged was that of Bll (Lieutenant Holbrook), who penetrated the Dardanelles, diving under the mines, and seriously injured the Turkish battleship Mes- sudijeh early in February. He succeeded in •escaping in the same way. In the same waters the exploit of E14 (Lieutenant Commander E. Courtney Boyle) in the sinking of the Turldsh gunboats and a Turkish transport in the Dardanelles is notable. But the most interesting work when sub- merged is the firing of the torpedoes. In the submarine the cap or shutter which. forms the outboard closure for the tubes is protected by a heavy steel stem. The cap is hinged to rise upwards by mechanism within the ship. The Completion of the dive. SUBMARINE BOAT breech block is rotated and swung to right or left, the torpedo being supported while being run into the tube on tackle over- head. The breech is closed, and then the torpedo is discharged by the captain in the central control station at the required inoment by compressed air. As soon as the torpedo has left the tube, water rushes into it and compensates for any loss of weight at the bow which might affect the trim of the boat. The cap is closed, by turning one or other lever at the top, and the water is forced by air into compensating tanks until the tube is quite empty. The next torpedo is then loaded into the tube. The later German submarines have a radivis of action of close upon 2,000 miles at 16 to 18 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 119 Second stage : Angle Ij degrees. Fourth stage: Angle IJ degrees. STAGES IN DIVING knots speed. But the tactics of the submarine rarely demand this radius at this speed, because if danger besets them they have only to dis- appear to a sufficient depth in order to elude the enemy, at all events for the time being. Consequently their cruising is probably done at a low speed, and some of the vessels are quite capable of doing 4,000 or 5,000 miles at such low speeds. JNIoreover, the nominal radius of action can be increased if, as is probable, the ships leave their base in the awash condition, showing only their conning towers. This is an advantage from the point of view of invisi- bility and safety, and is, fvirther, conducive to rapid disappearance tinder the surface. In such condition their ballast tanks require to be partially filled, and when operations are to be Running submerged. {By courtesy of " Engineering ", carried out in waters distant from the German base, there is no reason why fuel oil should not be used in these ballast compartments instead of water, the fuel oil for the first part of a pro- longed cruise being pumped from these tanks for use in the engine. \Vhen the oil in such tanks has been used, water can be piunped in to ensure the required degree of immersion. The vessel, having reached her station, to await the passage of her prey, need use little fuel oil, as she may remain in any condition,, with the deck above water, or in the awash state in a stationary position, or with only a sufficient way on to ensure rapid submergence if on the surface, while if submerged she need only keep way on to make the diving rudder overcome the influences of the reserve of 120 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR, ON BOARD A FRENCH SUBMARINE. A petrol motor of 360 horse-power. buoyancy. The electric storage batteries in the later ships are supposed to give a radius submerged of about 100 miles at 4 knots, which would be quite sufficient to enable the boat to get out of the visible range of attack by tor- pedo-boat destroyers or other craft. But, when convenient, the main propelling Diesel engines are used to re-charge the storage batteries by the working of the motor generator. In the case of all German boats, particularly those of the earlier and smaller class, the effective radius down the Channel was increased by the capture in November of Zeebrugge, which was subsequently used as a base. A glance at the map will show that Zeebrugge is much nearer the track of ships in the Channel than the bases within Heligoland. Calais would be still more effective. [Russell. LIEUT.-COM. M. E. NASMITH r'Ell"). THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. Russell GENERAL SIR HORACE SMITH-DORRIEN CHAPTER LXVIII. SIR JOHN FRENCH The Dispatch of the British ExrEDiTioNARV Force to France — Sir John French's Appoint- ment AS Commander-in-Chief- — His Experience and Public Reputation — His Sense of the German Peril — The Ulster Crisis — Sir John French and the Curi»agh Resignations — Sir John French's Early Life — Four Years in the Navy— Leaves the Navy and Joins the Army — Life in the British Cavalry — Service in Egypt^ — The Nile Expedition — Battie OF Abu Klea — Service in India — Return to England — Office Work in London — Brkjadier at Canterbury — Sir John French as an Authority on Cavalry- — The South African War — Battle of Elandslaagte — The Colesberg Operations — Relief of Kimberley — Occupation OF Bloemfontein — Operations in Cape Colony — Return to Work in England — Sir .Iohn French in Command at Aldershot- — His Part in the Haldane Reforms — Appointment as Inspector-General of the Forces — The Years before the Great War — Sir John French IN France — His Character — Life at the British Headquarters— The 1'kince of Wai.es ox the Staff. THERE could be no finer tribute to the character and abihty of the man who in the outcome was destined to hold the supreme command over the greatest Army which Britain ever put into the field than the unanimity wherewith Govern- ment and public opinion in England selected Sir John French to be Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force vvhich sailed for the Continent in the third week of August, 1914. Tiie least military nation in Europe, we were called upon to produce, at a moment's notice, a General of European standing. He must be the equal of the highly trained leaders of our Allies ; he must show himself the superior of the finest products of the Potsdam School. Vol. IV.— Part 43. The responsibilitj- attaching to the choice of the British leader was very great. We stood on the brink of n struggle which, even to the most optimistic, appeared long and arduous. Before the va.st undertaking confronting us oiir last wars shrank into insignificant proportions. Our last great European E.xpedition, that .sent out lo the Crimea sixtj- years before, assumed the dimensions of a ]5unitive force. Indeed, the blunders of that grim adventure were present in the mind.s of all : the dilatoriness cf our Generals, their tactlessness in their dealings witli our French Allies, the gross inefficiency of the Army administration. There was not a moment's hesitation about the appointment of Sir John French. There was no painful canvassing of candidates, no 121 122 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. acriiauiiious discussion in the Press, no odious comparison of the merits of respective generals, no hint of favouritism, of party intrigue. Government, Army, people, found themselves without debate unanimous in their choice. French had never been a popular idol save for a brief spell during the Soutii African War. In this world-war— most businesslike of wars, as far as absence of display is concerned — he went off to the Continent to assimie command of the Expeditionary Force by the boat-train from Charing Cross like any other traveller. [Lambeii U'cslo ■. GENERAL FRENCH. From a portrait taken just before the Boer War. If a fonual send-off had been arranged it would have been cordial, certainly ; it would hardly have been a tremendous public demonstration. For John French was little known to the crowd, save as a name. Since the distressing political crisis of March, 1914, which led to his resigna- tion from the post of Chief of the Imperial General Staff, he had lived in retirement altogether away from the public eye. But' his name sjjelt efficiency. It inspired confidence. England ren:iembered the man whose sudden emerging into brilliance had been the sole relief in the black days which marked the opening period of the South African ^\^^r. Lamentably ignorant as the British public was of its Army and its leaders, the people seemingly divined that the trimly built cavalrj^ leader incorporated the highly scientific training of the modern General, that within him lay a vast store of military learning accumulated during long years of steady application to his profession. As Lord ITaldane publicly testified in a speech delivered on March 20, 1915, Sir John French had been studying the possibilities of a conflict for five years or more. The Lord Chancellor admitted that Sir John's interest had been that he might have to conmiand the Expeditionary Force, and with this in mind he had given the closest study to the ])OSsibilities of the future. Even before the violent international crisis precipitated by (iJermany's action in sending the Panther to Agadir had foreshadowed the Morld-war of r.tlt, Sir John French had prepared himself for the Franco-German conflict in which he Ivuew Great Britain must bo involved. Particu- larly did he familiarize himself m ith Belgium, where he knew that the ine\itable struggle would be contested, just as ^Marshal von Hindenburg spent years of his life in studying the bare plains and lonely swamj)s of Poland to which his name will for ever be attached. Always a believer in following out o i the ground the lessons taught in the military text and liistory books, Sir John had made annual pilgrimages to Belgium for a number of years in succession, accompanied by one or two of his staff, visiting the battlefields of Marl- borough's and Napoleon's campaigns, bi t always studying the ground with an eye to a ])Ossibilit\^ which he knew could not long be delayed. Among the Field-Marshal's friends the name of " The Travelling Party " was given to him and his companions on these tours. At a crucial moment of his life his keen perception of the ever-present German danger had led Sir John French to take a step whi(;h at the time was much discussed and little understood. He countersign! d a guarantee given by Colonel (afterwards Br.gadier-General) Seely, the then Secretary of State for War, to General Hubert Gough, conunanding the Cavalry Brigade at the Curragh, to the effe(!t that the Goverimaent had no intention of using the armed forces of the Crown to crush political opposition to the policy or principles of the Home Pvule Bill. The guarantee was the outcome of wholesale resignations ainong the oflficers of the Curragh Cavalry Brigade, who had been given the choice of acquiescing in the military coercion of Ulster [to accept the Home FIELD-MARSHAL SIR JOHN FRENCH, Commander of the British Expeditionary Force in France. 1:23 [Russell & Sons. 124 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. Rule Bill] or of sending in their papers. The Cabinet disavowed the guarantee and Colonel Seely and Sir John French resigned. It is now known that he signed the guarantee in order to avert a profound split in the Army and because he knew that the German Govermiient was following the crisis with the keenest attention. How accurately Sir John's intuitive sense had gauged the situation is proved by the fact that throutihout the crisis the German GENERAL FRENCH IN FRANCE. Emperor was sending cuttings about the Ciu-ragh affair from two English newspapers, suitably garnished with marginal notes in the sprawling Imperial hand, to the Prussian Minister of War. The world now knows why the Kaiser was so interested a spectator of the spectacle of strife in our Army. It knows how largely the German General Staff staked on the state of vmrest in Ireland in its calculations that the British Government would not venture to abandon its neutrality even in face of a German \\ar of aggression against France and Russia. The Command-in-Chief of the British Expe- ditionary Force came to Sir John French as the fruition of a long life well spent in constantly applying the lessons of incessant study and of active service in different parts of the world to the training of the British Army. The Soutli African ^^'ar had been the turning point of his career. It was his chance. He availed himself of it brilliantly. But the best, the most lasting, service he had rendered to the Army was the silent, efficient spade-work he did at Aldershot, first as Commander of the I. Army Corps, afterwards, from 1901 to 1907, as Chief of the AldersJiot Command, and subsequentlj^ as Inspector-General of the Forces and Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Of his work during thes3 years one cannot do better than quote the opinion of a distinguished military critic, penned when Sir John left Aldershot to become Inspector-General of the Forces : ... In the last five years Sir John Frencli's influence and example have spread from Aldershot to wherever British troops are found. He has reearded Aldershot. first and always as a school — an advanced school — of war, and he has looked upon everything done there that was not exactly of the nature of direct preparation for war as time wasted. He has aimed at the creation of a compact fighting unit instead of a collection of more or less minor ones, and those who did not at first see eye to eye with him are now agreed that he has succeeded in realizing that perfection. He recently announced that when he became Cominander-in-Chief at Aldeishol he laid down a standard to which he expected the troops to attain before he surrendered them to another. This was that they should be able to meet with success an enemy in numbers half as strong again as themselves. . . . Seven years after these words were written the British Army, at Mons and at Ypres, showed under the eye of its professor and leader that it had attained the ideal strained after by Sir John French during those long years of endeavour at Aldershot. Von Kluek's legions, who found the " contemptible little army " unbreakable in adversity, and the Prussian Guard, which vainly hurled itself against the British line at Ypres, realized to their cost what scientific training had done for this army : "an army of non-commissioned officers," as one of the German v\ar correspondents called it. It was with the feelings of a man setting out to carrj' into efiect all the lessons of his life, all the concentrated thinking of his waking hours, to fulfil the promise of his whole career, that Sir John French set foot in France on August 16, 1914. Sped by the heartfelt prayers and good THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. 125 SIR JOHN FRENCH IN ENGLAND. At the inspection of the Officers Training Corps of Christ's Hospital School, Horsham, March 25. On the General's left is the Rev. A. W. Upcott, D.D., the headmaster. wishes of his own people, he was acclaimed with frenzied enthusiasm by the French, wliu seized the opportunity of the brief visit he ):)aid to Paris before proceeding to the Front to give vent to the feelings of jient-up relief from the strain under which they had laboured during those fateful days when the wliole w orkl awaited England's decision. The future was big with events of world- shaking importance. The moment claimed the man. Of a truth, none was more fitted, by character, by personality, and by the record of his career, to assume the immense responsibility of conducting our land operations against a powerful and dangerous foe. There had been those in his life who called him "Lucky French." In realitj-, all the luck that had come his way was of his own seeking. He had left nothing to chance. He liad always wooed Fortune. He had laboured all through his life to fit himself for the great opportunity he was determined to seize as soon as it pre- sented itself. Many of his friends imagined that tlie Boer \^'ar would ha\'e been the apotheosis of Ijis fighting career. They were wrong. Only John French knew it, however. A\'ith that strange strain of intuition a\ hich he inherited from his Irish ancestry he seemingly divined that Fate was reserving for him a sterner, a greater task than the circumventing of a tough band of skilful mounted peasantry'. So that when peace had been signed in South Africa, mil a grateful countrj' had conferred high liDUours and public grants on i.iOrd Roberts and 1,111(1 KitclHiMT. .lohn French went back with a knighthood to the old military grind, ready for I lie long, stern tiusk which even then he dimly discerned to be before him. His duty wa.s to fit liimself, to fit the Briti-sh Army, for the inevit- al)li- i\nsb of arms in Europe, to give our forces, recruited rather ha[jha/.ard on our haphazard voluntary system, a training similar and e(iiial to the highly perfected conscript armies of the Continent. His life was a record of hard work. 'i"h<aigh lie came of a lighting stock, his was not a family (if .soldiers. He had neither great influence nor great riches to help him on in his profession, in fact, it might be said that, right up to the South African \\'ar, his career uas not more distinguished than that of any other keen and interested .\iiii\ olli'-er. He wa-s not looking lor fame : he was not looking for proinotion. He was looking for efficiency. He meant to make himself the best soldier in England, commanding the best Army that England had e\ er had. All his life he had waited for oppor- tunities to come to liim ; only the opportuniti(»s that came were opportunities he had created TWO FIELD-MARSHALS. The late Lord Roberts, who died in France November 14, 1914, and Sir John I*>ench. 43—2 126 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. by sheer merit based on solid hard work. All his life he built himself castles in the air — but before he went to live in them he laid the foundations. The blood of England, Scotland and Ireland mingled in his veins. He came of an ancient Irish line, the Frenches of Galway and Ros- common, and was fifth in descent from John French, M.P., of French Park, Roscommon, who fought in the army of Wilham III. and commanded a troop of Enniskillen Dragoons at Aughrim in 1689. The Frenches are one of the most ancient families in Ireland, one of the " Tribes " of Galwaj^ Uke the Skerretts and the O'Gormans, and still flourish, with both Roman Catholic and Protestant branches in different parts of Ireland. Lord de Freyne, of French Park, Roscommon, is the head of the family. tenacity of purpose ; while the English environ- ment in which two generations of his family had lived gave him solidity and balance and that soimd business sense which always seemed to his intimates to contrast so strongly with his passionate Irish qualities. Sir John French was bom at Ripple Vale on September 28, 1852. The year before, Lord Kitchener, with whom he was destined to be so closely associated at different periods of his life, had first seen the light of day at Tralee, and the same year that gave John French to the world witnessed the birth of General Joffre in the Dordogne. There was nothing about the boyhood of the high-spirited lad, tenderly brought up by his sisters, to suggest that his was to be a military career. His father had destined him for the ii SIR JOHN FRENCH'S BIRTHPLACE AND RESIDENCE. Ripple Vale, near Deal. Sir John French's grandfather left Co. Ros- common early in the nineteenth century and settled down in Kent on the beautiful little estate of Ripple Vale, near Walmer, where the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in the Great War was destined to see the light. Sir John French never knew his father, Captain John French, R.N., who, having retired from the Navy with the rank of Post Captain, died when Sir John, his only son, was two years old, and left him and five sisters to the care of their mother, a Scottish lady, a Miss Eccles, from the neighbourhood of Glasgow. Thus the boy was a blend of Irish, Scottish and English stock, and the characteristics of the three races, the finest fighting peoples in the world, were strongly marked in his personality. From his ancient Irish lineage he derived his quick intelligence, his hot temper, his great intuitive faculty, his high courage, his optimism ; from his Scottish mother a dash of the fighting quality of her people and probably his grim Manor House, Waltham Cross. sea. Most of young Jack French's boyhood was spent in North London, where his mother had a house after the family had removed from Ripple Vale. Those who knew him as a boy speak of him as a strikingly handsome lad, full of spirits and remarkably self-possessed. For a time he had a governess, but was eventually sent to a preparatory school at Harrow with a view to entering Harrow School. Harrow left but a fleeting impression on Sir Jolui French's mind. Pie was there for only a brief pfcriod. He was soon moved to East- inan's School at Portsmouth to prepare for the Navy. The boy had no special vocation for the profession. It was the family choice. In addition to his father, two great-grand-uncles had served with distinction in the Royal Navy and had risen to the rank of Admiral. In his fifteenth year — in 1867 — he entered the famous old training ship the Britannia. After a short stage he passed out into the Navy as midship- F1ELD-MAR55HAL SIR JOHN D. P. FRENCH, G.G.B., G.G.V.O., K.G.M.G. (Front (lie painting by J. St. Helier Lander.) 127 128 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. man, and a most attractive cadet he was, according to friends of his family, with very fair hair and a merry face with grey-bkie eyes. His first ship was the frigate Bristol. Sir John French spent foiu* years in tlie senior service. The Navy of those days, before the era of steam had fully set in, was a very different school from the highly trained, scien- tific service into which the Fleet had developed when Sir John Jellicoe was guiding on the sea the destinies which Sir John French controlled on land. But Sir John French never regretted the experience. In after years he always spoke gratefully of the value of his four years at sea in showing him something of the world at an impressionable age and in teaching him self- reliance. His longest cruise was in the Warrior, which, accompanied by the Black Prince and the Terrible, escorted the floating dock to Bermuda — rather a sensational performance for those days. Even in his boyhood, however, the Army was calling him. In after life he seldom referred to his naval days. One of his most intimate friends who was with him in South Africa and through the Great War and who spent many a pleasant holiday visiting the European battlefields with the Field -Marshal relates that once, in the coiu'se of a trip over Sir John Moore's battlefields in Spain, they landed at Corunna. " I haven't been here since I was a midshipman," was Sir John's remark on landing. It was the first time, his friend says, that he had ever spoken to him of his service in the Navy. I learnt most from being in charge of boats when I was at sea," the Field Marshal said when going over in his mind incidents of his earlj^ life. "As a midshipman I was first put in charge of a jolly-boat, then of a cutter, and lastly of a steam-launch. There is a good deal of responsibility attaching to the handling of a boat and it did me good as a yoimgster and taught me the habit of self-reliance, a habit I have tried to cultivate all my life. It is, indeed, the one quality that everybody ought to cultivate." It was primarily a love of horses that attracted Sir John French to the Army. He was not imhappy in the Navy, but it was not the profession he wovild have chosen for himself. He admitted once that his ambition to make his mark as a soldier had not been stirred at this early stage of his career. It was the love of the open air, of himting, and all field sports connected with horses, that drew him away from the sea. The young officer — he was only 18 — consulted an old friend of his father's and decided to make the change which was destined to alter the whole course of his life. At the age of 19 he entered the Militia. Like Napoleon, the military leader for whom he entertained the greatest admiration, he began with the artillery, spending two years — from 1871 to 1873 — with the Garrison Artillery at Ipswich. Then, at the age of 21, he passed into the Army, being first gazetted to the 8th Hussars, with whom he stayed only a very short stage, being transferred after a few weeks to the 19th, the regiment with which his name will be connected for all time. I.,ifo in the British Cavalry in those days of pillbox caps was vastlj^ different from the strenuous existence of the cavalry officer in the era introduced by Sir John French. Sir John French confessed to the writer on one occasion that the idea of the cavalry subaltern was to get away from work as much as j^jossible. There were two parades a week — the Com- manding Officer's parade, at which all the officers had to be present, and the Adjutant's Parade, which only subalterns junior to the Adjutant were obliged to attend — and they mostly stayed away. Polo, himting, steeple- chasing were the order of the day, and young Jack French entered into them with the zest, recklessness and dash which lurk in the breast of every true Irishman. Aldershot was his first garrison. Then he went to Ireland. Layford, Limerick, Cork, knew him in turn. He was wont to dwell with pleasvire in after years on those happy days in " the finest hunting country in the world." He rode in steeplechases, he hvuited, he proved himself a first-class whip on the box of a four-in-hand, and he did a great deal of shooting, mainly woodcock. An idle life, it would seem on the [surface. But beneath the captivating exterior of the dashing yoimg subaltern lay a studiovis nature which, with all the hunting and steeplechasing and adventures of the road, was already con- scious of the call to greater things. John French was even then grounding himself in the rudi- ments of his profession as taught by the great military writers. To get time for reading he would snatch hours from sleep, before a long day with the hounds or the gims. All his life he was accustomed to read. In the authors of his choice he was better read ^\ ^ GENERAL JOFFRE AND GENERAL FRENCH. The two leaders of the Allies : the French Generalissimo and the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force in France. 129 130 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. BEHIND THE FIRING-LINE. The peasants on the right have just made a presentation of fruit to a British General and Staff in Northern France. than most soldiers and many Englishmen. He loved Dickens and Thackeray. Full of human vmderstanding himself, and blessed with a sound sense of himiour, he revelled in the sheer humanity of the creator of Sam Weller, Mark Tapley, Mr. Pecksniff and Wilkins Micawber. He often quoted Dickens with the happiest effect, even in the most serious dealings with his generals. But this reading was his recreation. Side by side with it, it was his custom all through his life to read seriously the classics of his profession. He was never tired of insisting on the necessity for the officer who would advance in his profes- sion of thoroughly mastering militarj'^ literature. Sir John once expressed himself on this subject with his customary vigour and lucidity. " I have never read authors, really," he said, in reply to a question about his reading, " as much as the histories of campaigns, such as Ropes's ' History of the American Civil War ' and the German General Staff ' History of the Franco-Prussian War.' I am a firm believer in the truth of Napoleon's wise counsel : ' Read and re-read the campaigns of the world's great generals.' One must read them all, even to the writings of Julius Caesar, for. however the history' of wars may change, one may be able to draw from each one, when properly digested, the pearl of great price to be stored away in the treasury" of the mind. " Military works from which I have derived great benefit are some of the German military writers like General Verdy du Vernois and Field-Marshal von der Goltz ('A Nation in Arms '), but also Hamley's ' History of Military Operations,' which, although out of date in many respects, I still regard as the best military text-book ever written. " I am no believer in what people call omnivorous reading. I pin my faith to what Lord Wolseley was fond of telling me : ' A soldier ought to read little and think much.* So many soldiers follow the other plan and read much superficially and think not at all. Terrible, these military pedants are ! Personally I have always striven to read books that give me new ideas which I can imbibe and test by my own experience of war, assimilating what is worth keeping and discarding the rest." Sir John French summed up his whole opinion as to the value of thus acquiring knowledge in a message he sent by request to Jewish boys in 1901 after the South African War. " I would urge upon them," he wrote, " to make full use of the opportunities afforded them of gathering in knowledge and digesting it thoroughly : to aim at the attainment of real knowledge, which is power, and not superficial craixi, which is useless. A boy's ambition should extend to his sports and pastimes. He should try to be the best cricketer, the best rider, and the best cyclist among his comrades ; and lastly I would recommend yoiu" boys to cultivate character and self-reliance as the most valuable J THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 131 qualities to ensure their success in life." This message epitomizes the whole direction of Sir John French's life, starting in those far-off days when, a boy himself, he first learnt his lessons in self-reliance in charge of the jolly-boat of H.M. frigate Bristol. The year 1880 saw John French a Captain and brought him his bride. In that year he married Miss Eleonora Selby-Lowndes, daughter of Mr. R. W. Selby-Lowndes, of Bletchley, Bucks, a very graceful, charming woman, a most devoted mother to the tliree children ol the marriage — two sons and a daughter. The adjutancy of the Northumberland Yeo- manry, which Captain French accepted soon after his marriage, was responsible for his missing the first chance of active service which came his way. In 1882 the 19th Hussars were ordered out to Egypt to join the Nile and Eastern Sudan Expedition, but Captain French, to his acute regret, was left behind at Norwich to look after his Yeomanry duties. He had to wait two years more before he was free to join the 19th in Egypt on that luckless expedition of 1884-1885 despatched on the forlorn hope of relieving General Gordon, shut up in Khartiun. The Nile F^xpedition of 1884 was John French's first opportunity. For the first tinie, he was able to apply the t«8t of actual warfare to the theories of war he had acejuired for him- self by his unremitting labour at his books. He often said that his reading proved of in- estimable service to hiui in this, his first experience of active service. The truth of his assertion in shown by the fact that, going out to Egypt a Major, he was there mentioned in dispatches by Sir Redverb Buller for his excellent reconnaussance work, and returned to England a Lieutenant-Colonel. It was not an encouraging experience of war. But men imdoubtedly learn more from adversity than from fair fortune in warfare. It might well be that Jolin b'rench, who derived useful knowledge from every single experience of his life, stored away in his capacious brain on the ill-fated attempt of Sir Herbert Stewart to reach Khartum and on the sad retirement that followed an idea or two which stood him in good stead on a sterner and vaster retreat — the retreat from Mons. Lord Wolseley, who was in charge of the operations, detached a flying column under General Sir Herbert Stewart to make a dash y Xl/ !^m NEAR THE FIRING-LINE. A Divisional General and his Staff watch a battle in Northern France. H Z w . < -2 CD s •= as pQ W -a E I H -g XI Z X. U as I w I u « o .a 3 CD as 33 H ■a u o o c X < 132 THE TIME::> HISTORY OF THE WML V6-6 across the desert by way uf Metaininch to reach Khartum, uliich was then surrounded by the INhihdi's dervishes. Part of the 19th Hussars under Colonel Barrow, with Major French as the second in command, were attached to the coliunn lor scouting work. Colonel Barrow wa-s a remarkably fine soldier, and, besides doing wonders for the regiment, exercised a profound influence on John French. Under Barrow the l!)th developed splendid dash and resourceful- ness in the reconnaissance work they did for the little column as it pursued its slow and painful ()ath across the; desert. Korti was left on December .'50, and by the middle of Januar\- the force wa.s in touch with the enemy at Abu Klea. On January 16 the Hussars, whose mission it was to hover for ever on tlie flanks of the little force and head ofT the-enemj'^ from making a sudden dash, reported the dervishes in strength between the British camp and the wells. Stewart laiew that he had to roach the wells, and imhesitatingly advanced, his troops formed into a square. The enemy attacked with the fearful violence of the fanatic who believes that death at the liand of the infidel secures him eternal bliss. The square broke; more than once before the irresistible onrush, but the British force managed to hold firm all through the afternoon, until the guns were able to jnit the Mahdi's legions to flight. The cavalry pursued them across the desert and captured the wells, and the next day the column pushed on again on its errand of mercy towards the beleaguered city, on uliich the eyes of an entire nation were fixed. At Abu Klea French w as not in the square. He and the rest of the cavalry were on the outside hovering about waiting for their opportunity to pounce on the foe. Hardly had the advance on ]\Ietaninieh been resumed, 1 1 lan again the enemy was discovered in force. The nien were exhausted, and particularly the eavalry horses were absolutely " cooked." The Hussars were put in a zareeba, while the i(;st of the force, forming square again, once more awaited one of those fearful dervish rushes. It broke on the British square with terrific losses. Our casualties were trifling, bvit we lost the gallant Stew art, who sustained wounds from which he died a few days later. It was near INletammeh that the awful blow- fell on the little force, the news that Khartum had fallen, that Gordon was dead, and their mission in vain. John French was actuallv the first man in the force to hear the tidings. He was watering his horses in the Nile when, hearing the sound of a boat, he looked up and saw a white man padtlling towards him. It wtis Stuart Wortley, who had been sent with the friendhes to reconnoitre as far as Khartiun, and had acquitted himself with extraordinary gallantry of his hazardous ttisk. Sir John French used to say that that meeting with Stuart AWirtley was one of the most extra- ordinary experiences of his life. It was from Stuart \Vortley's hps that he learned with deep emotion of the fall of Khartum and the murder of Cordon. From that moment the object of the expe- dition was gone. It now became a question of how it could be withdrawn without falling a victim to the hordes of dervishes hastening down from Khartum. Sir Redvers Buller was in command, and skilfully led the retreat. Sir Evelyn Wood, sent out from Korti with reinforcements, gave ^Ir. Cecil Chisholm, author of a biography of Sir John French, an account of his first meeting with French. " I saw him," Sir Evelyn Wood relates, " w lu'u our people were coming back ticross the desert after our failure, the whole force depressed by the death of Gordon. I came on him about a hundred miles from the river — the last man of the last section of the rearguard ! " His good work on the retreat from Abu Klea brought French his first Mention in Dispatches. Buller wrote about him : '" 1 wish expressly to remark on the excellent work tluit has been done by a small detachment of the 19th Hussai-s both during our occupation at Abu Klea and during our retirement. And it is not too nuich to say that the force oues nuich to Mojor French and his thirteen troopers." As has been said. Sir John French was made Lieutenant-Colonel in Egypt. On his return to England, five years of garrison routine followed, during which Lieut. -Colonel French, now second in command of his regiment, threw himself wholeheartedly into the training of his men. He introduced the .squadron system and took infinite pains with testing new theories of instruction. It was about this time that he began to attract attention by the admirable work he was doing. French was wont to say there is no time so happy in a soldier's career as when he is Colonel of his regiment, because it enables him to take a personal interest in his men individually. The young Colonel of the 19th — he was only 43-3 134 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. in the early thirties — showed the width of his hvunan understanding for that most contra- dictory of creatures, the British soldier. Serious - minded as he always was, he sought to elevate the soldier at a time when the bad old prejudice against the redcoat still flourished in many circles in England. In 1891 came service in India, opening up further chances of cultivating that self-reliance which, as we have seen, was always an ideal of John French. He took the 19th out to India as their Colonel, being stationed first at Secunderabad and afterwards at Bangalore. He made several trips to the North for manoeuvres. He dividetl his time between hard work and polo. In 1893 he returned to England. John French had now reached a critical point in his career. Was he to remain a Colonel all his life, retiring after years of fruit less grind in dull garrisons, perhaps with the rank of Brigadier ? Had he reached what they call in the German Army die Majorsecke, that cape in the military career that is so difificvilt to negotiate ? The fact remains that shortly after his return from India in 1893 Colonel French went on half-jaay. But he did not vegetate. His intense mental energy, his irrepressible vitality, never let him rest all through his life. He continued to read wp his profession, and notably played a useful part dm-ing the cavalry manoeuvres in Berkshire in 1894. It was the Cavalry Drill- Book that won back to the Army the man who was destined to become Field -Marshal and our Commander-in-Chief in the Great War. The cavalry was to be reorganized and a revised drill -book was essential. In the opinion of Sir George Luck, Sir John's old chief in India, who was entrusted with the work of reorgani- zation, no man was more capable of compiling the book than John French. John French was back again in harness. 1895 found him installed at the old War Office in Pall Mall as Deputy Adjutant -General to Sir Redvers BuUer, the Adjutant-General, getting insight into the administration of the Army, a department that was to play a great part in his subsequent campaigns. All this time, in Egypt, in India, dm-ing his two years in retirement, at the War Office, he was slowly but surely qualifying himself as our leading cavalry general, and in 1897 he was given command of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade at Canterbury. It was not long before his revolutionary ideas on the functions of cavalry brought him into violent conflict with his superiors. He took an eminently sane view of the role of cavalry in war, believing that the " cavalry spirit," of which we hear so much in Continental armies, suffers not at all from the men receiving a training which teaches them to fight also on foot. " As regards the British Cavalry," he wrote in his preface to General von Bernhardi's '' Cavalry in Futvire Wars," " I am absolutely convinced that the cavalry spirit is and may be encoiu"aged to the utmost without in the least degree prejudicing either training in dismounted dvities or the acquirement of such tactical knowledge on the part of leaders as will enable them to discern when and where to resort to dismoimted methods. How, I ask, can cavalry perform its role in war until the enemy's cavalry is defeated and paralysed t . . . Cavalry soldiers must, of course, learn to be expert rifle shots, but the attainment of this desirable object will be brought no nearer by ignoring the horse, the sword or the lance. On the contrary, the elan and dash which perfection in cavalry manoeuvres imparts to large bodies of horsemen will be of inestimable value in their employment as mounted riflemen when the field is laid open to their enterprise in this role by the defeat of the hostile cavalry." Sir John French held that cavalry had a tlireefold role — namely, to reconnoitre, to deceive, and to support. He frankly admitted, with regard to the first of these functions, that in modern war the aeroplane had taken the place of the cavalry for reconnaissance work. It speaks highly for Sir John French's intensely adaptable mind that under hini the Air Wing of the Army developed until in the Great War our Flying Corps became undovibtedly the most effective of its kind of all the armies in the field. In the role of deception, he pointed out, the cavalry must mislead the enemy as to where the main strength lies, and also as to the real point of attack. The new Brigadier at Canterbiu*y, thei-efore, set himself the task of combining in the British cavalry the functions of cavalry as already vmderstood and accepted and of mounted infantry as he had already successfully tested it in Egypt. Tremendously independent in character, Sir John French never boggled at taking risks with the cavalry, and more than once his enterprise in this direction at manoeuvres, even though crowned with success, i GERMANS CHARGING THE BRITISH NEAR YPRES. The King's Liverpools in their trenches waiting for the Germans (on the left), who are advancing in close formation towards the British trenches. 135 136 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. called down upon his head the thunderbolts of the umpires. His justification, however, was to come later. The history of warfare has seen few feats more daring than French's famous rash at the head of the cavalry to the relief of Kimberley. His bold initiative on that occasion was crowned with complete success, and set the hall-mark of great military talent on his work in South Africa. Despite the convincing success of his theories in Soutli Africa, Sir John French, ^^ho is essentially a well-balanced man, stoutly declined to be inducted into erroneous ideas as to the role of cavalry in other wars. " All wars are abnormal," he was wont to declare. For himself, he was content to mould his tactics on the situation as it presented itself to him, but to apply to every occasion the experience he had already gleaned from active service in the field and from his books. A year at Canterbury and then promotion to the rank of Major-General to command the First Cavalry Brigade at Aldershot gave Sir Jolin French a free hand to develop his own theories about cavalry training. The time was approaching when he was to bvu-st with meteoric brilliance upon the world at large as England's main hope in Sovith Africa. The secret of his success lay in his great independence of thought and his adaptability of temperament, which enabled him to realize more quickly than the obtuse military authorities at home that figliting in this land of vast distances, of rolling, boulder-strewn plains and innimierable barren hills against a mobile and resourceful enemy was not the warfare of the text -book and manoeuvre-ground. His long years of patient study brought their reward : his maxim of " reading little and thinking much " proved its \'alue. On his triumphant retm'n from South Africa the Times war correspondent wrote of him : — It was not on the manoeuvre-grounds of Europe and India, it was not on the successful field of Elandslaagte, or the disastrous morning of October 30, 1899, that French learned the lessons of modern war. But it was during the months of activity in facing Schoeman, Delarey and de Wet in turn before Colesborg that he acquired the art of South African warfare and the vahie of time and dash and calculated audacity in war. . . . His career has been one long series of successes and he lias proved himself to possess those peculiar faculties in the field winch are essential for the successful handling of cavalry and which have been found hi no other cavalry officer of senior rank in this war. In action he has proved self-reliant, resourceful and determined : possessed of an instantaneous grasp — almost intviitive perception — of the right cour.se to pursue, even in the most complicated circumstances and unexpected di- nouements. Unperturbed by success or danger, far- sighted and, what is more valuable, clear-minded, he has never been known to compromise his subordinates even in the most delicate situations. . . . He returns to England to be welcomed as the most loved and most successful of the direct commanders in the field who have fought the nation's battles in the recent struggle on the South African veld. The warmth of this fine tribute is the measure of the nation's relief at the appearance of a man W'ho was able, to a great extent, to make good the lamentable miscalculations of the Govern- ment with regard to the Boers' strength. Though the danger of war was acute for months before President Kruger's ultimatum brought matters to a head, not even the most elementary preparations for \\ ar had been made. We had no survej-s even of the districts obviously marked out for invasion : we had no niaps. We were wholly misinformed as to the strength of the Boers : we allowed ourselves to be deluded into the easy expectation that the enemy would be swiftly reduced to impotence by the mere display of England's might. The people in Natal and the Cape Colony knew the real danger of the situation. Their repeated and earnest warnings were met by the despatch of a few troops to South Africa from the Mediterranean, from India, and from Egypt. They only reached their destination a few days before the outbreak of war. We were utterly at the mercy of the enemy. In Natal, where Sir George White from Gibraltar was in command, there were four cavalry regi- ments, eleven battalions of infantry, and six batteries of field artillery, with a mountain battery and about 2,000 irregular horse raised in the Colony. In Cape Colony only a handful of troops guarded the long frontier of the Transvaal ; there was half a battalion of infantry at Kimberley ; we were short of modern artil- lery ; we were wholly unprepared. For the first few months of the war the Cape Colony lay at the mercy of the enemy if the Boers had possessed the energy to sweep down to the south, leaving a small force to hold General White in Natal. After some hesitation, John French was given command of tlie cavalry in Natal. It is characteristic of the general incompetence of the military atithorities that there was some opposition on the part of certain senior officers to the appointment, on the grounds of John French's " inefificiency to command in the field." This was an echo of the opposition ta his revolutionary ideas on the usage of cavalry. However that may be, the objectors were, happily, overruled, and French landed in South THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 137 THE BOER WAR. The first of Sir John French's victories in South Africa : charge of the 5th Lancers at Elandslaagte, October 21, 1899. Africa on the day after the declaration of war. October 12, 1899. Eight days later he reached Ladysmitli. a great military store depot and a railway junction of considerable strategic importance, where Sir George Wliite found himself in an exposed position with his little force. Sir George was prevented by political coiLsidera- tions from retiring across the Tugela, while he was loth to withdraw General Symons. who was iji a dangerous position a\ ith a small force at Dundee, thrust forward into the Boer position, as this would have meant the abandonment of stores. White therefore remained at Lady- smith, hoping to be able to destroy the Boers as they advanced against Ladysmith through the Drakensberg passes. The night before French's arrival the Boers seized the railway station at Elandslaagte. Within six hours of reaching Ladysmith French was on his way to drive the Boers out. He found the Boers strongly posted with artillery 138 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF IN FRANCE. General JoflFre (saluting) reviews British troops. General French is on the left of the French Commander-in-Chief. on the neighbouring hills, and had to retnm to l^adysmith for reinforcements. The next day Sjnnons's success at Talana gave White his chance, and he despatched French to return to the attack. Elandslaagte, French's first success in South Africa, was a most spectacular affair. The Boers were posted on a series of high plateaux surmounting a gloomy, barren plain. It was almost impossible to locate the enemy front. So French, revealing the resourcefulness which was destined to stand him in good stead all through the war, ordered a simultaneous frontal and fiaiik attack, trusting that the situation of the enemy would disclose itself as the assault developed. This is precisely what happened. The flank attack turned out to be the frontal attack. Our infantry \\ent forward with tremendous, dasli in the midst of a fearful tropical thunder- storm and captured the Boer position on the kopjes. A stirring cavalry charge finally routed the enemy. To General French, reporting hin - self for instructions during the battle. Sir GeorLc White repUed : "' Go on, French. This is your show!" It was his first big "show," and it was a brilliant success, though our bad dis- positions in South Africa did not allow him to follow up his advantage. We had won the day, but it was a Pyrrhic vactory, and the force returned to Ladysmith. By this time the position at Dimdee had become untenable. General Penn Symons had been mortally wounded, and General Yule, who succeeded him, fell back on Ladysmith, assisted by a vigorour demonstration carried out by French and hi- cavalry. They found the enemy holding a range of hills al)()ut seven miles from Ladysmith. Our infantry gained a ridge from which the Boers were vigorously shelled. Our losses were heavy, tlie forces were not very skilfully handled, and. on learning that Yule was nearing Ladysinith, White withdrew the troops under cover of French's cavalry. Our forces were now concentrated at Lady- smith. Sir George White's idea was to take the offensive and prevent the Boer forces in the Orange Free State and Transvaal from effecting a j miction. This was the idea imderlying the unsuccessful action at Lombard's Kop of October 30. The stampede of a mule battery at Nicholson's Nek led to the surrender of two battalions on the left, leaving this wing un- protected ; while an en^'eloping movement by the Boers on the right forced our whole body to retire on Ladysmith. The effective use of our field and naval guns prevented a greater disaster, but in the ujDshot the investment of the Natal Field Force was complete. On November 1 General French received by tele- THE TIMERS HISTORY OF THE WAR. 139 graph news of his appointment to command the cavah-y in the army of Sir Red vers Buller, who had jiLst arrived at Cape Town to assiuue the supreme command. French persuaded the station-master to send him down the hne to Pietermaritzburg. It was the last train to get down to the south tlirough the cordon of Boers drawing round Ladysmith. His escape was a piece of providential good luck destined to prove of incalculable advantage to our arms in South Africa. The outlook confronting Sir Redvers Buller on his arrival, with a tremendous rejjutation, to take charge of the operations in South Africa was disquieting in the extreme. Kimberley was clamouring for help : the Cape Colony was already invaded and in imminent danger of being overrun by commandos already concen- trating at Norval's Point and Colesberg. General French, who went straight to Cape Town, found his Chief resolved that the safety of Natal and of Sir George White's force in\ested in Ladysmith was the first consideration. Lord Methuen's Division was going to the relief of Kimberley, General Gatacre was proceeding towards Stormberg to guard the eastern dis- tricts, while to French was assigned the com- mand of the troops detailed to hold the coimtry between the important railway j miction of De Aar on the west and General Gatacre' s Di\'ision on the east. His task was to protect the expo.sed flank of Methuen's communications in the Cape Colony from the Free State commandos, which, after violating the Cape Colony border, had concentrated and established themselves in strength at Colesberg, The operations about Colesberg represented tlie grand achievement of John Frencli's life up to the Great War. For three months, by judicious and skilful finesse, with a skeleton command spread out over a front of twentj' miles, he was able to keep in check a force that was never less than three times as strong numerically as his own, and often four or fi\e times as strong, liy constant moxement. sometimes by way of reconnai.ssance and some- times by bluff, he so mystified his enemy tliat he reduced liim to something like mental paralysis. It was at times a desperate expe- dient to keep up the character of the bluff, but it succeeded, and it trained French and his Staff in a manner which was not long in bearing good fruit as soon as tlio tide began to turn and the General was called upon to act otherwise than upon the defensive. The Boers had occupied Colesberg on .\'ov- ember 14, proclaiming the town as Free State territory. As the enemy was menacing the main line of railway from the north by threatening Philipstown from Colesberg. French decided to make Colesberg his first objective, with Naauwport as his base. His cnva1r>' came GENERAL FRENCH IN FRANCE. The British Commander and a smiling French General. 140 THE TIMES HISTOEY OF THE WAR. within eight miles of Colesberg without sighting the enemy on a preliminary reconnaissance, and this decided French to attempt to seize the place. Endless reconnaissances, necessi- tated by the difficult country, the extreme mobility of the enemy, his own insufficient force and the guarding of the long lines of communications, occupied the first weeks of November and brought the little force as far as Arundel Station, whence French hoped to be able to seize the hills to the north of that place. But the enemy was found to be in force on these hQls, and we were not able to oceujiy them until December 7, by which time they had been evacuated. Establishing himself firmly at Arundel, French continued his harassing tactics against the enemy. His main idea was so to confuse and puzzle him that, whilst frustrating the Boer plans, he might quietly continue his own advance. So siiccessfuUy did ho realize his scheme that by the end of the month (and the end of the year) the Boers were everywhere falling back on Colesberg. In the early morning of December 30 French, whose custom it was to make daily reconnaissances in person, accompanied by some cavalry and artillery. SIR JOHN FRENCH ON A VISIT found that Rensburg had been evacuated and that Colesberg was still in the hands of the enemy. Tt was his next immediate objective. Sur- rounded by high kopjes affording abundant shelter to the enemy, its captiu-e would only be possible by an actual display of force. Careful reconnaissance indicated a point five miles to the south-west of Colesberg, Maeder's Farm, as a suitable spot from which to deliver a night attack on two of the hills looking down on the place. The possession of these hills would jeopardize the enemy's line of retreat. The attack was brilliantly carried out. The attacking column advanced in dead silence, even the baggage carts being dispensed with to avoid a betrayal of the movement through the creaking of their wheels. The first hill, subsequently known as McCracken's Hill, was rushed and taken. The first part of the operations had been successfully realized, but subsequent progress was found to be impossible. As on so many other occasions in the South African War, which proved the triumph of the modern rifle, the Boers, well sheltered on the barren THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 141 TO FRANCE BEFORE THE WAR. liill-tops, were able to allow the British to come quite close before opening a withering fire on them. There was nothing for it but to fall back, and though General Schoeinan, the Boer leader, failed in an attempt to outflank our (Colonel Porter's) force, we were unable to realize fiu"ther progress. It was in this region that General French sustained practically the only reverse he en- countered at the hands of th(^ Boers. Desultory fighting and continued reconnaissances had shown that a kopje, known as Grassy Hill, which dominated the railway station of Coles- berg, was the key of the situation, and that its capture would give us the town. The oppor- tune arrival of reinforcements decided French to use his entire column for the attack on the hill. However, before the final dispositions for the attack had been made, word arrived frona Colonel Watson, the commander of the Suffolk Regiment, to say that he had carefully reconnoitred Grassy Hill and that he was <"onfident he could take it that night with four companies of his regiment. The chance of seizing this important position without firing a shot apparently led the British Commander to give Watson a free hand, but he instructed him to keep him informed as to any operations he should undertake. Half an hour after midnight \^'atson led his regiment forth, and noiselessly the crest of the hill was occupied. But in a few swift moments destruction fell on the expedition. It api:)eared that \\'atson had ju.st called his officers together on the hill-top to explain his future moveinents, when a terrific fire was opened on them, killing the Colonel and three officers and twenty-three men and wounding and officer and twenty men. Six officers and 107 men were afterwards found to be missing. The latter body surrendered wlien they saw that further resistance was useless. Part of the regiment, on the orders of some one unknown, retired. \\ hat had happened was that Delarey had arrived on the scene the previous day. and had decided to occupy this very hill, .sending forward 100 Johannesburg Police without supports for the purpose. If the Suffolks had held their ground and allowed our men time to come up Grassy Hill would probably have remained in our hands. The quality of Sir John French's human vmderstanding is finely illustrated by the speech he delivered months afterwards to the jE ^ E o u. C w c u *^ 4* 1 >- o C3 >^ X < o o D uo z c < ;« '-> o •OC ai u Ui — m ce cr U o. ►J o o u n u ui U ^ X <: O "o UJ ai U H E c U E a: 3 u C CD 0= >- «^ t> S o Z IK o c 'jj ■o a, c 3 O Ti X u C O ID c T3 U o c •oi; ^m* E _c C o U 3 u z V M u as J= ^ u, " X F^ < a OS c Z a a (i^ E C3 u •• c en <: C3 O ^ < OS X u 3 O O 03 1> tti ■4-» E o IB E u cr O E 142 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. US Suffolk Regiment on meeting with them again. "It has come to my knowledge," he said, ■that there has been spread about an idea that that event (Grassy Hill) cast discredit of some sort upon this gallant regiment. I want you to banish any such thoughts from your minds as utterh- untrue. You took part . . . in a night operation of extreme difliculty on a pitch-dark night and did all in your power to make it a success. . . . Such night opera- tions can never be a certain success, and because they sometimes fail does not therefore bring discredit on those who attempted to carry them out. You must remember that, if we always waited for an oj^portunity of certain success. we should do nothing at all, and that in war, fighting a brave enemy, it is absolutely ini- possible to be always sure of success : all we can do is to try onr very best to secure success — and that you did on the occasion I am speaking of." Stout words such as these are calculated to put strength into the most doubting hearts. French's force was now 4,500 strong, and by the third w^eek of January it had been increased by 3,784 infantr5^ French continued to keep the Boers, now commanded by de Wet and Delarey, on the move. Major Butcher, R.F.A., executed the seemingly impossible feat of hauling a 15-pounder gun to the summit of the Coleskop, a sheer and almost inaccessible height rising 800 feet from the plain, from w^hich shells were continually dropped into the Boers in Colesberg, keeping them constantly on the strain. But General French's everlasting reconnaissances showed that the Boers were receiving large reinforcements preparatory to taking the offensive. In the meantune Lord Roberts had arrived and taken over the supreme command, with Lord Kitchener as Chief of Staff. General Kelly -Kenny w as given command of Naauwport and the line south, while General French w-as left in command of the line north of Naauwport. On January 15 the Boers attacked our advanced positions at Slingersfontein, but, after an initial success, met with a severe reverse and were driven back again. So the tide of victory ebbed and flowed. \\'atchful night and day, French showed himself always equal to the ruses and enterprises of the enemy. Dashing on occasion, as a real cavalrj' leader should be, he was cautious as well, and on more than one occasion he showed a circumspection which wa-s sadly lacking in others among our generals in South Africa. One such occasion was the affair at Plessis Poort. This was a defile through which the main road to Colesberg passed. The captiu-e of the heights doniinating the defile would cut off the enemy's main line of communications and his retreat. General French planned the main attack to take place on the Boers' right, but at the same time ordered their front and left to be as.sailed whilst oiu" troops were working their way round at the back. .Ml u<iU well until the niain attack had reached to witlun 1,500 yards of Plessis Poort. The W'iltshires were sent forward in extended order across the plain. The Colonel commanding the column asked for penni.ssion to drive the attack home, but the silence of the surrounding hills rendered French suspicious, and he ordered a retirement. Hardly had the Wiltshires turned round than the enemy opened a hot fire on them from the heights, but our men, thanks to the General's fore- sight, were able to fall back with very small casualties. General French's work round Colesberg had now come to an end. On January 29 Lord Roberts summoned him to Cape Town and entrusted him with the responsible task of relieving Kimberley. Up to that time French had been the sole British General in South Africa who had made the Boers respect him. Upon him had devolved the enormous burden of keeping in check an enemy elated by their victories at Stormberg and M agersf ontein and watched with sympathetic interest by prac- tically every foreign Power in Europe. French's splendid tenacity, inexhaustible resource and undaunted optunisni had served England well. By checking a Boer rush into the Cape Colony, not by weight of numbers, but by skilful manoeuvring and bluff, he imdoubtedly staved off further disasters, which, in the state of feeling then existing in Europe against Great Britain, would almost certainly have led to the formation of a powerful coalition against us. Those who know how admirably the Intelli- gence of the British Anny in the field worked under Sir John French in the Great War will not be siu-prised to know that a large measure of his success in the operations round Colesberg was due to his excellent system of signalling, his free use of scouting patrols, and, last but not least, to the personal reconnais.sances he was wont to undertake almost daily. To the 144 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. general public Sir John French's success in the South African War was for ever identified with his great dash for Kimberley ; to military students, however, his greatest service to the Empire and his most valuable contribution to the history of strategy and tactics are un- doubtedly the ten weeks' operations rovmd Colesberg. " I promise faithfully to relieve Kimberley at six on the evening of the 15th if I am alive." This was the solemn vindertaking given by General French to Lord Kitchener at Modder River, and history shows how exactly, how brilliantly, he kept his word. Lord Roberts was planning the march on Bloemfontein and Pretoria, and had designated French to relieve Kimberley in order to clear his flank and protect his communications against Cronje, who, since his success at Magers- fontein, had been held on the Modder River by Lord Methuen. To mislead the enemy, a demonstration was made as if to advance against Bloemfontein by way of Fauresmith, while by skilful handling it was found possible to withdraw a considerable part of the force designated for the relief of Kimberley from the Colesberg area without the Boers being any the wiser. General French's cavalry division consisted of three brigades and a division of mounted in- fantry in two brigades, " the largest mounted British division that had ever worked together," as Lord Roberts said in his address to the force before it started. ' ' You must relieve Kimberley if it costs you half your forces," was the veteran leader's parting injunction to General French, and it was with these words ringing in his ears that he set out over the moonlit veld at 3 a.m. on the morning of February 1 1 . French's cavalry division was still far from complete. Of the 8,500 men he had been promised, it had been found possible to concen- trate only about 4,800 men with seven batteries of Horse Artillery at the camp on the Modder River. Facing him was Cronje, misled, per- haps, as to the British intentions, but with a force numerically superior to that of General French. The weather was tropical : the country arid and waterless. It was a prospect calculated to appal the stoutest heart. Advantage was taken of the early start to cover as much ground as possible before the heat of the day set in. At Ramdam, which was reached at 10 a.m., part of the force joined ap with the main body, but the movmted infantrv did not catch up the division until the 13th. On February 12 the force crossed the Riet River by a clever ruse. It was originally intended to cross the stream at Water val Drift, but French, knowing that the Boers had a proclivity for taking cover in river-beds, ordered Colonel Gordon to cross the river at Waterval Drift if no Boers were encountered, otherwise to feign a crossing to the north. When our advance patrols approached the banks the Boers opened a heavy artillery fire from kopjes above the Drift, some shells falling vmpleasantly near General French and his Staff. While our Horse Artillery set about the work of silencing the Boer gvms here, Gordon, as ordered, feinted a crossing at Waterval Drift, whereupon the Boers withdrew to the right of the river to await the coming of the enemy. The trick had succeeded. Without losing a moment General French set off for De Kiel's Drift, as he had planned from the start, with the 1st Brigade, Roberts' Horse and the mounted infantry, and a ford having been discovered, managed to get across despite the high and slippery banks. The Boers dis-" covered the ruse, and made a rush for De Kiel's Drift to dispute our crossing. They were too late. The lack of water, coupled with the awful heat and stifling dust, was telling terribly on both men and horses. To prevent delay in the further advance, the transport was left behind on the other side of the river, and on the morn- ing of the 13th the force started off again in a game attempt to reach the Modder River before nightfall. Klip Drift, on the Modder, was the goal, but on nearing it a large force of Boers was met with. The guns drove them off, but they clung to our right flank, compelling General French, as they thought, to change his direction towards Klipdraal Drift. This, how- ever, was but another ruse on the part of the British commander. Hardly had the Boers swung away to check him at Klipdraal Drift, than French, changing direction once niore, headed for the Klip and Roodewal Drifts as fast as the exhausted condition of his horses would permit him. " Five miles off," writes Major Goldman in his history of General French's work in South Africa, " a green fringe of bvish, standing out in dark relief against the sun-scorched sand, told the wearied men of the water for which they and their thirsty horses had so eagerly panted. An hour later they were there, looking eagerly back on those numerous brown heaps, each a dead or ex- THE riMKS HTSiTORY OF THE WAE. 145 •SOMEWHERE IN 1-KANCE." Sir John French and some members of his Staff. hausted horse, lying ovit along that wearisome desert waste, under the pitiless sim — all for the want of a little water." The rapid change of movement surprised the Boers. Through tlie shimmering haze above the yellow Modder they were seen in hasty retreat. Colonel Gordon on the left and Colonel Broadwood on the right pursued them across the river, and the tliree Boer laagers, with supplies of all kinds, fell into our hands. This was February 13. The passage of the Modder was ours. French iiad yet two days in which to realize the promise given to Lord Kitchener to relieve Kimbcrley by the loth. Through the night of the 13th and imtil the afternoon of the 14tli French remained by the river bank waiting for tlic baggage and the infantry to come up to enable liim to push forward with the cavalry to his goal. We held the main line of the Boer retreat to Bloem- fontein, and to have advanced before oiu" sup- ports had come up would have given Cronje a free line of retreat again. So French waited. c o a E a o o OS S 1—1 ID Pi u z-i E E o U THI-: TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 147 with uliat patience those wlio know liis mer- cui'ial temperament may imagine. At 4 o'clocU on the afternoon of llic 14tli the baggage arrived, and after niglittall the appear- ance of deneral Kelly-Kenny's infantry re- leased the caxalry for the final stage of the great, effort. The ca\'alrv went otf at It.. "JO in llii' nioi-ning. carrying supj)lies on the saddle and on led liors(\s. Resolxcd to the last to conccnl fn>iii the enemy his rt^il intentions. General French still made ns though hound fen- Bloemfontein. But, only a few miles out, the three brigades and the mounted infantry met with an unexpected check which threatened the failure of the whole enterprise. A hot fire coming from a low ridge betrayed the presenc(> of Boers in force l>lo('king the road to Bloemfontein, while the road to Kimberley was covered by the fire from their right and left positions, the one a ridge miming from north to south, the other a hill, a plain two and a half miles wide between. The ridge was held by skirmishers ; on the hill guns were posted. It was a situation demanding just such a temperament as that of the stout little man in the sun-helmet who commanded the British forces. All niilitary teaching urged retirement, though retreat would have proved disastrous for the whole of Lord Roberts's plan, in which tlie relief of Kimberley played so large a part. French's intuition, which enabled him to cal- culate better than any man in his command the exact ratio between the chances of success and failure in the daring enterjmse which instantly occurred to his mind, served him well that daj-. He knew that the road to Kim- berley lay open on the other side of the open plain before him, and a glance at the weary horses convinced him that to win his way tiirough he must dare now or never. He dared— and hv dared greatly. He decided to charge the enemy's main position. The 9th and Kith Lancers, afterwards destined to cull immortal laurels at Mons and Ypres, were sent forw ard imder Colonel Gordon, the guns remaining behind to kee[) the Boers in check. French, with Douglas Haig, his Chief of Staff, afterwards to be his lieutenant in the European war, placed 'himself right in the front of the charge. An eye-witness wrote of this memorable charge : *' At a thundering gallop the leading brigade swept forward ahnost lest to view in a w hirling cloud of dust, which rose still higher and thicker as Broadwood's brigade galloped after it. ba.nJN half a mile lulrnd. in breathless susjiense tli(> rest of till- British force watched the mag- nificent spectacle, dreading every moment to ^ .seethe front line waver and fail un(i< i tlie stream of fire ; but the long lint^s swept on unwaver- ingly, and only h<'re and there could a fallen trooper or riderless horse be seen. The speed of the charge, the open order, the cloud of dust — all contributed to render the Boer fire in- effective. Before the irresistible wave of horsemen the Boers scattered and fled." An oil painting of this famous charge, showing French and Douglas Haig in the van liung in the dining-room of the Field-Marshal's town house. Our casualties were a.stoni.shingly small, amounting to only fotir men wounded and tw o horses killed. i'lie liorses were now cjuite worn out, and could not e\en be watered at Abon's Dam, where the cavalry proceeded on re-forming after the charge, as the scanty spring only gave enough for the men and water-carts. An attempt made under the personal super- vision of the General to get into heliographic communication with Kimberley from a ridge by the roadside failed, a.- the garrison apparently thought the signals came from the enemy. The Boers reappeared and shelled us, but unr guns quickly silenced them, and they beat a hasty retreat, abandoning their laager, which fell into our hands. The utter exhaustion of our horses made a pursuit impossible. General French kept his promise. It wa.s not lightly given : it was not lightly fulfill d. On the evening of the loth he rode into Kim- berley from the east, acclaimed by the garrison, and congratulated Colonel Kekewich, the gallant defender of the place, on the way he liad kept the flag flying. That same night the news of the relief of Kmiberley flashed out to all parts of the British Empire, and John French had added another laurel to his crown. Yet he did not rest on his laurels. Before his wearied troopers had lain down to rest that night they received the follow ing order : "Troops to stand to, ready to march with guns, horses hooked in, at ."> a.m. to-morrt)w (]6 Februan,) and await orders." It was necessary to follow up the retreating Boers, and, but for the total exhaustion of both men and horses and the terrific heat, French might have scored another success. At 9 in the morning 2,000 Boers were en- countered on the rising ground east of the rail- 148 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. THE BOER WAR. General French's meeting with Mr. Cecil Rhodes at the Sanatorium Hotel, Kimberley, on the night Kimberley was relieved, February 15, 1900. way, covering a Boer laager and a number of wagons waiting to cross the Vaal River. The advanced positions of the Boers were driven in, but when the moment came to call upon Gordon's cavalry to go forward again, that gallant commander replied that it was impossi- ble. No water was to be had anywhere, the men were parched with thirst, and the horses were well-nigh dead. Nothing further could be done, so French returned to Kimberley. At eleven o'clock at night great news was received. Cronje with 10,000 men was retreat- ing eastwards from Magersfontein before the advance of the British main army, and General French was to intercept him. The horses were so fagged out that it was decided to detach only one brigade to move out to head off Cronje, so Broadwood was sent, the rest of the division being left to protect Kinaberley until Methuen's infantry should arrive. It is necessary to cast a glance at the position of Cronje, in whose surrender General French played so prominent a part. Cronje had been quick to realize how seriously the relief of Kim- berley menaced his safety, and made a dash to break through the converging British columns. He reached the plain stretching down to the Modder at Klip Drift soon enough after the passage of French's Division to note its spoor still fresh in the sand. Lord Kit- chener was at Klip Drift. Cronje's passage was noted, and " K." sent his mounted infantry to seize Klipkraal Drift, the next fordable spot beyond Klip Drift, whilst he himself went off in pursuit, at the same time despatching to French at Kimberley the message of which we know to head off the flying Boer. Two fords were now blocked to Cronje. Three remained open to him : Paardeberg, Koedoesrand and Makauw's Drift, which assured him the road to Bloemfcntein. He made for Koedoesrand. He calculated shrewdly — but not shrewdly enough — that French's cavalry which was operating north of Kimberley would seek to intercept him in that direction, and that his safest plan was the most daring — namely, to march east between the British columns. Once again French's military genius revealed itself, his extraordinary faculty of looking into the enemy's mind, " of seeing what uas on the other side of the hill," as Wellington once put it. The General guessed that Cronje would make for Koedoesrand Drift, as the main road led to it, and it was situated closest to Bloemfontein. Accordingly he made for it too, as swiftly and as directly as the wretched condition of his horses would allow him. Cronje was completely surprised. The {pre- vious evening, he knew, French's cavalry had been 12 miles north of Kimberley, yet on his approaching the Koedoesrand Drift he found his tenacious foe in front of him again, 35 miles to the southward of the relieved garrison. French struck at once. He intended to deal the enemy a blow before he had recovered from his surprise, so as to prevent him at all hazards from pushing past the British, even at the cost of his wagons and guns. At a quarter to eleven in the morning our first gun spoke, bringing the Boer up short in his tracks. In a moment French saw the salient, a high ridge overlooking the river, which it was imperative to hold, and a sqviadron of the 10th Hussars, racing the enemy for it, snatched it away from under his verj^ nose. The end came slowly, but came at last, for it was inevitable. For days we watched the wagon-train lying lifeless on the river bank, \\hilst every hour brought the infantry nearer. Captured Boers described the alarm wrought by the unexpected appearance of the British force, and expressed incredulity when told it was French's. French, they said, was miles THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 149 xway, north of Kimberley. On the arrival of our main body French went off to elicfk the Boers, who were pouring in from all sides in the iiopo of being able to relieve Oom Cronje. lie succeeded in entirely clearing the country between Koedoesrand and Paardeberg of the enemy, and it was during these operations that the news came by heliograph of the surrender of Cronje and 4,000 men to Lord Roberts at Paardeberg. It was the turning of the tide, the first great British success after months of reverses and vicissitudes. Lord Roberts resolved to press the enemy before he had had time to recover from the shock of Cronje' s surrender. The Boers were strongly entrenched in force at Poplar Grove on the Modder River, and it was the British Com- mander-in-Chief's plan to attack them from the front with infantry while the cavalry under the indefatigable French took them on the left flanlc. L'nfortunately our plans were not care- fully enough prepared. Had the Boers de- fended their positions against the infantry it is morally certain that French would have sur- roimded them and captured the whole fone under his old opponents, de Wet and Delarey, together with its guns. But the Boers had learnt their lesson at Paardeberg and did not wait for the encircling movement to be com- pleted. They slipped away under cover of night, and General French, crippled by broken- down horses, had the mortification of seeing the Boers only three miles ahead fleeing in dis- organized retreat without being able to close with them. General French went after the enemy, who fell back on Abraham's Kraal and Driefontein, and after some hot fighting drove them out again. At 3 p.m. on March 12 French, who was at Steyn's Farm, sent in a smiimons to the people of Bloemfontein to surrender or evacuate the town within 24 hours. This was in the old days of war when combatants obeyed the rules of the Hague Convention to give civ^ilians notice of an intended bombardment. The next afternoon a deputation of citizens came out and surrendered the city to Lord Roberts, who forthwith made his entry. It will henceforth be necessary to simimarize very succinctly the large part wliich General French played in the protracted operations of the war following on the occupation of Bloem- fontein, Johannesburg and Pretoria. He remained in South Africa right through to the bitter end, though his health was none too good, and his appointment to succeed Sir Redvers Buller in the command of the First Army Corps at Aldershot in October. 1901, would have afforded him a perfectly jiLStifiable reason to return home. After the occupation of Bloemfontein he again came into prominence in the attempt which was made to cut off the Boer army which had invested Wepener, and had been subsequently held by Sir Leslie Rundle before Dewetsdorp. But French's reputation was so high with the Boers that the news of his de- [jarture from Bloemfonti'in was the signal for their retreat, and he could not come to grips with them. Dewetsdorjj was followed by hard fighting round Thaba 'Nchu, in which French was called upon to prepare an opening to allow of the advance of the right flank of our main Army marching on the V^aal on its way to Johannesburg. Hurriedly recalled to Bloemlontem on May 3 the Division was rapidly refitted to take part in Lord Roberts's advance. The brunt of the fighting on the march fell on the cavalry. French, watchful and resourceful as ever, pushed the Boers back from one defended position after another. On May 24, with Birthday, in honour of the Queen's birthday, as the countersigh, French crossed the \'aal and received signalled congratulations from our forces on the Free State side on his entry into Transvaal territory. Four days later General French's advance posts were looking down on the tall smoke-stacks of the Johannes- burg mines. General French's movement to enveloii Johannesburg from the west brought him uj) against General Louis Botha's whole force. He refused battle, however, and iuld the enemy imtil General Ian Hamilton's Division could advance to the attack. On May 31 Lord Roberts's two Divisions marched almost unop- posed into the subiu-bs of the gold city, and the Conunander-in-Chief received its surrender. The occui)ation of Pretoria followed, this falling to the infantry, much to the chagrin of French's men. The capture of the capital seemed to hold out a fair chance of peace. Negotiations were actually begun with Louis Botha, but they were eventually broken off, and once more General French was in the saddle driving the Boers eastward. The Boers were found in position on a long ridge known as Diamond Hih. Operating on the flank of Lord Roberts's Army, e «> E «^ a a ;«> o o u a I E o Q Z D O Pi a: e /is *> Q e Pi « ^ = <: ^ Q - <( « £ o 0) 1 150 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 151 French, reduced to one weak Ijrigade, found his small force, which was fighting dismounted, called upon to sustain the full force of the Boers' counter-attacks on our flanks. General French's experience gained in the fighting round Colesberg stood him in good stead. His unerring judgment showed him the best natural position in which to make his stand, and by extending his front, as he had learnt to do in checking the masses of Boers round Colesberg, he was able to resist for 48 hours until Sir Ian Hamilton had pierced the enemy's line. In command of the forces in the Eastern Transvaal French took part in the advance on Komati Poort, and made a successful dash through a hazardous bridle path across the moimtains to capture Barberton. .When Lord Kitchener was appointed to the supreme com- mand in South Africa, French (who had been knighted in May) was given command of tlie Southern Transvaal with headquarters in Johannesburg. He now began those inter- minable " sweeping " movements aiming at crushing the last sparks of rebellion in the Transvaal. The campaign was conducted under circumstances of exceptional difficulty, in terrific thunderstorms with torrential rain, with jaded horses and insufficient supplies. After two months of trekking on the Natal border the net results were some hundred prisoners and large quantities of arms, ammu- nition and supplies. The incessant strain of the war had told on General French. He might w^ell have returned home on leave. But he was not the inan to leave a job half-done. He declined to leave South Africa, and comprom.ised with iiis medical advisers, who insisted on a change, by taking a sea trip from Durban to Cape Town. At the end of June, 1901, he undertook, at Lord Kitchener's request, the direction of military operations in the Cape Colony. The Cape Colony was in a bad way, being over-run with detached groups of desperadoes who, wherever they happened to be, raised the country against the British. General French made the best of a very bad job by rounding up the rebel leaders into their mountain fastnesses as far as he could (for complete success was not to be achieved with the naaterial at his command). The conclusion of peace in June, 1902, released Sir John French from his long task, and on July 12 he landed in England after a continuous absence of three years. In that time from an obscure cavah-y leader he had emerged into a blaze of prominence as our most consistently successful general in South Africa. He had become in some sort a popular hero in England : he had endeared himself to all ranks under his conunand (some of the affectionate friendshij)s he made with members of his staff in South Africa were sealed afresh in France during the Great War) : he had won for himself, notably in the opinion of Continental military critics, a foremost place amongst the cavalry leaders of Europe. Setting himself free as soon «is he might from the ovations which awaited him on hLs return to England, Sir John French, after a mucli- needed though brief rest, went back to work. As successor of Sir Redvers Buller in the com- mand of the 1st Army Corps at Aldershot, afterwards the Aldershot Conunand, he forth- with set himself to dev'elop the importance of the position imtil, in the words of a military critic, the Aldershot Command furnished " the highest development of the culture and the t3aching pursued in the British Army. What Aldershot does, approves, and practises to-day the rest of the Army, dotted about the earth's surface, accepts and develops to-morrow." During the five years he commanded at Aldershot Sir John French worked the troops under him at topmost pressure. His mana>uvres and field operations attracted widesjiread notice. In 1904 he tested for the first time^always in preparation for the great conflict w^hich he regarded as inevitable — the experiment of embarking an Army Corps at Southampton and landing it on the Essex coast. The following year witnessed the largest demonstration of the laying out of field entrenchments seen in England. On the slopes of the Chiltem hills the Army practised the construction of the trenches and earth- works which, ten years later, it was destined to lay out on the desolate plains of Flanders. In 1906 the "battle drills," as they w^ere called, tested our sy.stem of field signalling, wireless, field telegraph and telephones, etc. The next year there was an experiment in entraining and conveying large bodies of troops by rail. Thus the work of the Army became alive. It was continually galvanized by the inex- haustible vitality and the unremitting attention of Sir John French. His genius prepared and conducted every phase of the operations : his lucid brain afterwards summed up in a telling u 73 C '* 2 S'S Z « •01 U l/i U H) (/} 1 ^ V c -c OJ u <u ^. « *• 1^ •w OJ — «3 • — ^ -^1 •-H Ov w 3 1-^ ** C H ■a 3 CD c *. o 3 2 « o ^Z D < 13 J= •" . „ _=»-«> w ougl Id escu u z JS 1» k. <3; •^ Ic u as <; ^ •« u. Z <«" •" C 13 ■" ^"^ C u ^-^ E pi) « CS J ^ ^ H " -a H ^ 3 S ^ 03 •«« >• H i " ^ C/) E 1. '2. Su.s b ^>^ CD U of the d the airy a z fire arde cav u ^ w ♦^ K U j ■^ S " ^ •s ^ ^ Z silenc hom rong u C ^ « o z TZ^ ^ ^ t; >. ?- z -^ tu Q Ko U 1^ Z p^ .i. 7- '^Q ^ < 4-1 4-> a 4> 03 .!3 j= r m u 1) >-. Q k. en u h c .!§ eo 3 ,. (C F— Three Dorre 152 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 153 and concise critique his opinion of the com- manders and their acconiphshnients. In 1907, after five strenuous years at Alder- shot, Sir John French was apjjointed Inspector- (jJeneral of the Forces. In the previous year Lord Haldane had gone to the War Office, and after " a period of gestation," as he put it him- self, was prepared to launch his Army reforms : first and foremost of which was the establisli- ment of the General Staff, the creation of the Expeditionary Force, and the organization of the Territorial Force. In looking about him for the best man to help him in the realization of his reforms Lord Haldane decided in his mind that Sir John French was the man whose mind had the necessary flexibility, whose character possessed the requisite energy to carry his schemes to frviitful accoiiiplishment. As Inspector-General of the Forces — a position which in the hands of a strong man like John French was one of real influence — the General laid the bases of the little Expeditionary Force which he was destined to take across to France, and of the Territorial Army which was to form the backbone of the great National Army which sprang from the Expeditionary Force. Sir John French occupied the post of In- spector-General of the Forces for four years. Diu-ing this period he made a number of trips abroad to study Continental armies and to inspect the defences of the Empire. He visited Russia for the ariny manoeuvres in 1907, and Canada in 1910, taking occasion in the course of this trip to go to Ceylon, Singapore and Hongkong. He paid several visits to France for the French manoeuvres, and in 1911, at the height of the Franco-German Morocco crisis was present as the guest of the Emperor William at the German cavalry manoeuvres at Alt-Grabow. In 1911 Sir John French appeared to have reached the summit of his career. In that year he was appointed to be Chief of the In^perial General Staff, the highest position in the British Army. He was called upon to supervise the whole field of army administration, the military defence of the Empire, operations of war and intelligence, training, discipline and military law, medical and sanitary matters, and the administration of the army credits. He was appointed to the post in February, and by the summer the war clouds w^ere gathering thick on the horizon of Europe. Germany's action in despatching the small cruiser Panther to Agadir, ostensibly to " protect German in- terests," in reality to blackmail the French Government into "compensating" Germany for her renunciation of Morocco, provoked a grave Eiuupean crisis which at one moment seemed certain to develop into war. When the history of that anxious summer comes to ])(• written it w ill be seen how much the country was indebted to Sir Jolin French's far-seeing and all-embracing preparations for supporting France against what \\ould have been a frivolous and altogether imjustifiable attack. In March, 1914, as the result of the Curragh crisis, to which allusion has already been made, Sir John French resigned and went into pri\ate life to enjoy a rest for the first time in many years. From his retirement he was sum- moned in August, 1914, in a crisis which he had foreseen and prepared against for years, to take over the supreme conunand of our Aniiy hi the field. The life of John French is a mirror of the man. In it you may see him clearly portrayed — calm, covirageous, honest, resolute, direct, a man of action, a man of impulses, quick to anger, slow to lasting enmity. The crushing responsibility of the supreme command of our forces in the field left a lasting mark on his exterior. When he went to France in August, 1914, he was still the John French of South Africa, a little whiter in hair and moustache perhaps, florid and fresh in complexion, in- clining to stoutness. The John French who unflinchingly watched the breaking of our line by the Prussian Guard at Ypres in October and as imper- turbably heard the ne^vs of its readjustment, who conducted the fight at Neuve Chapelle, who calmly held the Germans in their second great Ypres effort in April-Maj-, 191"), \\a.« a sterner mar. His figure liad grown much slighter. His face was tanned with exposure. His hair and moustache were a purer white. The furrow between his eyes was deeper. His square chin liad even a more aggressive thrust than before. But his spirit was the same. There was the same laughter of youth in his curiously re- flective blue eyes, the same quick reaction to a hmnorous sally, the same amazing cheerfulness, the same eternal j-outhfulness which made one of his friends declare him to be " a strange inixture of a schoolboy and a great general." The constant strain of the campaign never led 154 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. GENERAL FRENCH Leaving the War Office on the eve of his departure for the seat of war, August, 1914, him to neglect his personal appearance. All through the harrowing days and nights of the great retreat from Mons, when he and his staff worked far into the night, when headquarters were frequently changed, he took the same pride in his personal appearance as the last- joined subaltern of a crack cavalry corps, wearing his gold-braided Field-Marshal's cap at the same jaunty angle as of yore. What Julian Ralph, the war correspondent, wrote of him in South Africa was as true then as it is at the moment that these words are written : He is quiet, undemonstrative, easy and gentle. When you are with his command, you don't notice him, you don't think about him unless you are a soldier, and then you are glad you are there. . . . He is perfectly acces- sible to anyone, but speaks very little when addressed. He must be a fine judge ot men for he has a splendid staff around him — splendid in the sense that they are all soldiers like himself and all active and useful. They called him " Silent French " in South Africa, not so much because he was inclined to taciturnity, but because of the curiously- detached air which always distingviished him. Even when engaged in the most animated con- versation he would seem to be carrying on a dual mental process, as indeed was often the case. Much reading and deep thinking in his leisure hours all through his life had given him the habit of mental conceatration so that his subconscious self might grapple with the problems arising out of his day's work whilst outwardly he was indulging in the current conversation in the direct and forcible manner that was his wont. Only later would those about him discover, on being siu-prised by one of his lightning decisions, that he had been qviietly and methodically sifting the whole situation in his head whilst seemingly engaged with other things. His memory was great and retentive. He had the map-mind of a great general always accustomed to look at landscape from the standpoint of military operations. He had an extraordinary acquaintance with the battle- fields of Europe, and had visited in person the country in which most of the campaigns of Marlborough, Napoleon and Wellington had been fought as well as the battlefields of the Franco-Prussian war. He invariably arrived on the ground with the whole plan of the battle so clear in his head that he could find his way from point to point on the grovmd without a guide. An intimate personal friend of the Field-Marshal, who accompanied Sir John on many of these expeditions, relates that, being at Reims on one occasion with half an hour to spare, he purposely led him on to the site of one of Napoleon's battles in the vicinity. Sir John recognized it at once. " There shoxild be a river here," he said, although there was no trace of one in the neighbourhood. They addressed themselves to a peasant who declared there was no river. On the Field-Marshal insisting that there must be a river somewhere in the vicinity the man replied, " II n'y a pas de riviere maintenant mais il y a un ruisseau ! " The Field-Marshal's memory had not played him false. The Irishman in Sir John French came out very strongly in his quick temper. He was always a just man, and anytftiing like injustice or intrigue or pettiness goaded him to the quick. He was death on inefficiency. All his life he had striven to make himself and the men imder his command efficient. He was ruth- less in weeding out elements which in his opinion seemed likely to prejudice his work. If he had given a man his chance and he failed, that man would have to go though he were John French's greatest friend. Above all things he valued the commander who knew his own mind, and who had the courage of his convictions. Anything like want of energy or irresolution exasperated him. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAE. 155 Though he demandod of his generals that, like himself, they should not shrink from sacrificing human life if needs be, he would call mercilessly to account that oflicer who should waste wantonly but a single man of his army over which he watched with the tender solicitude of a father. He admired more than anything else the man who makes a good fight under adverse circum- stances. Highly chivalrous himselr and the very incorporation of the cavalry spirit, he entertained the highest opinion of the gallantry and dash of the French troops. It was the chivalrous trait in his character, derived from his Irish blood, which was a quality in him strongly appealing to the French, helping to maintain, often in most difficult circumstances, equable relations between the British and French supreme commands. Sir John French did not know French fluently but he knew and adniired the French Army. General Jof^re and ho mutually admired one another, utterly dissimilar in character as they were — both great thinkers, but the one mathe- matical, methodical, stolid, the other intuitive, quick, impulsive. In character Sir John rather resembled the brilliant and mercurial Foch, who commanded the group of the Allied armies from Compiegne to the sea, with whom, throughout the war, he was in constant contact, and with whom he always entertained the most cordial relations. A signed photograph of General Foch, which he presented to Sir John French at Christmas, 1914, with a cordial dedication, perpetuated their comradeship of arms on the field of battle. Sir John French was always hotly intolerant of ignorance. Nothing exasperated him more SIR JOHN FRENCH, GENERAL JOFFRE, AND STAFF OFFICERS. I'k'A". 5. a A. 156 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. than the meddling with the Army by poUticians. He often expatiated on this theme. Walking with a friend from a House of Commons debate on the Army on one occasion he said he thought he would turn politician. " But you know nothing about politics ! " expostulated the other. " I know as much about 'em as those fellows do about the Army ! " was the reply. " It never occurred to me," he would say, "to go to St. Paul's and preach a sermon. That is the Archbishop of Canterbury's job. Nor should I think of asking Mr. Justice Darling to let me dispense justice for him. But every- body thinks he can run my show ; everybody thinks he knows something about soldiering." He was a soldier first and last, a soldier in the British sense. Like every decent -minded man he had a horror of war, but, convinced that the era of imiversal peace had not arrived, he was always penetrated with the necessity of being prepared for war. He foresaw the great European conflagration. He knew that the Germans would wage the war ruthlessly. Therefore he never wasted his breath in dis- coursing indignantly about German " fright' fulness." His attitude of mind was that the Germans would be " frightful " as long as we allowed them to be. Like every soldier, he was convinced of the necessity of some form of obligatory military training for the youth of Britain. " The first duty of every good man," he said to some boys in Glasgow on one occasion, "is to be patriotic and loyal and to serve his country : to be vinselfish and to remember that his country and all concerning the good of his country should come first in estimation. Ther<^- fore, it is the duty of every good man to take a fair share in his country's defence." Nothing delighted Sir John more than to be able to pay a tribute in his dispatches to the soldierly bearing, smart appearance, and splendid gallantry of the Territorial and Canadian troops, the first representatives of Britain's Citizen Army to see service overseas in this war. He always took the first occasion available to go out and visit Territorial divisions newly arrived at the Front. Even in the course of the most cvirsory inspection it was amazing how much his experienced eye contrived to take in of the appearance and general military fitness of the men. But naturally his great affection went out to the British Regulars, the stolid and lion- hearted soldiers from the towns and hamlets of the four kingdoms, who had fought with him in Egypt and South Africa, on whose training his whole life had been spent. The direct personal influence which military leaders in the past were able to exercise on their troops, even as recently as in the Boer war, is no longer possible owing to the vast scale on which modern wars are conducted. War has become so niuch a matter of highly organized depart- mentalization that the supreme command, nowadays, must perforce delegate much more of its powers than formerly in order to be able to handle, unembarrassed by a host of details, vast masses of troops operating on a gigantic scale. The Commander-in-Chief must have his Headquarters far removed from the firing line, at a distance which enables him to survey adequately the operations as a whole, and re- moves him from all danger of being captured by the enemy. Thus his influence must always be indirect rather than direct. Opportunities for personal contact with the troops are fewer, and unless he is a man like Sir John French, who was always strongly imbued with the desirability of keeping in personal touch with the men in the field, he will content himself with communicating with the bulk of the Army through the intervening commands alone. The influence of Sir John French was always immensely steadying for our Army in France. His perfect calm, his unflinching courage, his never-failing optimism were a strong sheet anchor for our men all through the wet winter of 1914 in the trenches in Flanders. The Field -Marshal never lost a chance of motoring or riding out personally to inspect a regiment which had done well in a fight, and of conveying his grateful congratulations to the men in a simply worded, felicitous little speech. In the stern ordeal of the retreat from Mons, when the situation of the British Army was highly critical for days on end. Sir John P^ench might have been seen sitting on the roadside speaking words of encouragement to troops so tired that they literally did not care what became of them. No man laiows better than Sir John French the value of praise to weary men. The few kindlj^ words he spoke to the men on these occasions got theiu on their feet again, forgetful of their fatigue, proud of the record of the British Army, proud of their race, proud of their Commander, Both in writing and in speaking Sir John possessed a most vivid dramatic touch. What THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAU. 157 AN ENGAGEMENT EARLY IN THE WAR. British Cavalry charging the Germans in Northern France. could have been more loftily expressed than his telegram to Lady Roberts on the death of her liusband, the veteran Field -Marshal, which took place at Sir John French's Headqviarters in France ? In the name of Hi.^ ^Majesty's Army serving in France, I wish to be allowed to convey to you and your family our heartfelt sympathy- Your grief is shared by us who mourn the loss of the much-loved chief- As he was called, it was a fitter ending to the life of so great a soldier that he should have passed away in the midst of the troops he loved so well, and within sound of the guns. The touch '" in the midst of the troojos he loved so well and within sound of the gimb " recalls the passage from Napoleon's will in- scribed on the walls of his mausoleiun at the Invalides : " Parmi ce peuple francais que j'ai tant aime." The same vivid hand is seen in Sir John French's dispatches from the Front, at once the most sober and the most inspiriting of narratives. Concise, accurate and picturesque, they are the reflection of the mind of the writer {Sir John wrote every word of his dis- patches himself). Forming, as it were, the framework upon which the extraordinarily 158 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAF, KING GEORGE IN FRANCE: HIS MAJESTY DEGORATINCi dramatic incidents of our battles in Belgium and France might be bviilt up, they are amaz- ingly restrained. It required the great nai- rative powers of the Field INIarshal himself, on the rare occasions when he could be prevailed upon to discourse at length on the more pic- turesque side of the war, to clothe the skeleton with flesh and give in full the story of the incidents to which his dispatches only refer in general ternas. Tn his dispatch dealing with the first battle of Ypres the following passage occurs : I was present with Sir Douglas Haiu at Hooge between 2 and 3 o'clock on this day, when the 1st Division was retiring. I regard it as the most critical moment in the whole of this great battle. The rally of the 1st Division and the recapture of the village of Ghcluvelt at such a time was fraught with momentous consequences. If any unit can be singled out for especial praise it is the Wor- cesters. Tliis brief statement gives no hint of the tremendous ordeal which the Commander-in- Chief himself underwent on that fateful 31st of October. The hour he spent with Sir Douglas Haig on the roadside by the shattered ruins of the Chateau de Hooge was a period in an ordinary man's life. At 2 o'clock, the hour Sir John mentions in his dispatch, a galloper arrived to annoimce to the Cormnander-in- Chief and Sir Douglas Haig, comrade of arms in South Africa, the disastrous news of the retirement of the 1st Division. This signified the breaking of our line, the opening to the German hordes of the road to the Channel ports. It was a rvide blow, but Sir John French made no sign. He remained impassivesby the roadside, as impassive as on the retreat from Mons when he was looking for a place where the British Army might inake its last stand. On that October afternoon the peril to Britain was dire. If the Germans had come through then we could not have held them from Dunkirk and Calais, and the arrival of the enemy on the Charmel would have put an entirely dif- ferent complexion on the war. For an hour the suspense endtu-ed. At 3 o'clock it was broken by the welcome tidings that the gallant Worcesters had retaken Gheluvelt at the point of the bayonet, and that our line had been re-established. Sir John was in:ipassive to the end. Yet he did not overlook the \\'orcesters. After the battle he made enquiry as to the author of the order to the regiment to charge at a crucial moment, thus saving the day. The order did not emanate from the divisional or brigade headquarters, and the ofificer who gave it was never found, but the ^\'orcesters enjoyed the signal privilege' of a mention all to themselves in Sir John's dispatch. Sir John French's great faculty for attaching to himself those serving under him was well THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAU. 159 BRITISH SOLDIERS DURING HIS TOUR AT THE FRONT. illustrated by his life at the General Head- quarters of the Army in France. The atmo- sphere of the Commander-in-Chief's residence was- that of an English country house, uncon- strained, and informal. The members of his Personal Staff were all old friends of his and of one another. Most of them had served with Sir John in South Africa. He had a paternal way with them all, and called them by their Christian names. For their part, each vied with the other in his devoted loyalty to " The Chief," as Sir John was invariably called. In working hours work went forward strenu- ously in the Commander-in-Chief's house. Sir John French himself was accustomed to spend the greater part of the day in his work-room at a great table surrounded by maps. In an adjoining room was the Orderly Officer of the day dealing with the constant stream of visitors, the never-ending deluge of dispatches and reports and messages coming in all day and night. Sir John's day was a long one. Always an early riser, he was one of the first in the house astir, and might be found long before breakfast in his study going through the re- ports from the different aT'mies and corps which hart 'come in during the night. Immediately after breakfast the Commander-in-Chief had a conference daily with the heads of the Head- quarters Staff, the Chief of the General Staff, the Adjutant-General, the Quartermaster- General, the Chief of Intelligence. At this conference tlie orders for the day were issued, the situation as regards wastage of men, ammunition, and supplies taken imder review, plans for the futui'e discussed. Visits to the different army commanders in the field, the inspection of troops, new guns or recent innovations in the war of the trenches, and work with his private secretary filled in the remainder of Sir John's day, filled it in to such good pur- pose that he was as often as not the last in to dinner — the hour of which was 8.15 — and the first to leave the company assembled over coffee and cigars. Even in quiet times Sir John was a late worker, curtailing his hours of sleep, and often his meals, in order to finish a dispatch or complete some report. The genial, courtly presence of the man jjcr- vaded his whole enviromnent. "Was the situa- tion never so desperate, the fighting never sp severe, there was no fuss or flurry in the Com- mander-in-Chief's housel Even during the retreat, when Headquarters was frequently moved, when for days at a time neither the Commander-in-Chief nor his Staff could even take their boots off, Sir John diffused about him the same cabn, pleasant atmosphere. At meals the talk was of pleasant English topics, the personal side of the war, the latest good 160 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. stories from the trenches, club gossip from town, the progress of our half-a-dozen different wars. The Times leader, the latest number of Punch. And always Sir John, most deHghtful of talkers, would take an active part in the conversation, illustrating his remarks with cjuotations from his great memory stored with the gleanings of a well -filled, studious life. It was in this clean and healthy atmosphere that the Prince of Wales first came into contact Avith the great war. The young Prince's heart was set from the start on playing a part in our great struggle for existence, and it was due to his own initiative entirely that State and family objections were overcome so that he might go to the Front with a commission in the Grenadiers. Attached to the Personal Staff of the Com- mander-in-Chief he slipped quite easily into his place in Sir John French's 'household, grateful' to .find that all questions of precedence and rank were waived. Perfectly natural' young man that he was, the Prince established himself firmly in the affection of everybody at the Commander-in-Chief's from Sir John French downwards. Delighted himself to be' v.ith our Army in the field, his only regret was that he was not suffered to take his place permanently with his brother officers in the magnificent Guards' Brigade of Lord Cavan, " the brigade that never lost a trench "' as it proudly boasted. After the Prince had served for some months on the Commander-in-Chief's Staff at Head- quarters, he was permitted to go to the trenches from time to time, and there is reason to believe that this concession was secured for him bv the Coinmander-in-Chief himself. THE PRINCE OF WALES AT THE FRONT. Sec.-Lt. H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, Grenadier Guards, Aide-de-Camp to Field-Marshal Sir John D. P. French, November, 1914. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. THE TSAR OF RUSSIA CHAPTFR LXIX. THE LAST PHASES OF THE RUSSIAN WINTER CAMPAIGN. Strategic Results of the First Pive Months of Fighting on the Eastern Front — Russian Position about the Xew Year in the Polish Zone — In the Carpathian Zone — In the East Prussian Zone — The Strategic Scheme of the Second German Winter Campaign — The Battle of Borzymow — The Austro -German Offensive in the Carpathians — Their Advancic TO THE Dniester — Failure and Retreat — The Advance towards Niemen — The Fkjhting IN the Forest of Augustovo — The Advance against the Narev I^ine — The Battle of Prasnysz — The Siege and Fall of Przemysl — The Place of Przemysl in the Austrian Scheme of Defence. ONE might say. without being para- doxical, that most of the fighting in the Eastern theatre during the fir.st five months of the war wa,«, on the German side and to some extent also on the Russian, an offensive undertaken in order to acquire a firm defensive line ; and indeed, the alternative offensive movements of the two armies resulted in the establish- ment of a certain " balance," which forms the basis of the fighting during the following three months (January -March). The failure of the Austrian campaign between the San and the Bug (August 1914), and Russia's powerful counter-offensive * in Galicia had deprived the Germanic Powers of the initial chance of turning, from their advanced position in Eastern Galicia, the Russian defen.<iv(> line of the Vistula, and of compelling our Allies to fall back beyond the Bug. Hindenburg's failiu-es in Poland deprived them of the hope of breaking through the Vistula line by means of a frontal attack through Western Poland. On the other hand, the Russian defeat at Tannenberg, in August 1914, proved the existence of almost insuperable difficulties in the way of a Russian offensive through East Prussia and across the Lower Vistula, so long Vol. IV.— Part 44. as Germany disposed of considerable l<in<s. It was further proved by the events of Decem- ber 1914 that a march agaiiist Cracow would necessarily be an extremely risky, and there- fore an impracticable undertaking, so long as ^^'estem Poland remained in German hands or open to German attacks, and Hungary fonned an easy field for the concentration of Austro- German armies ; for imder these circumstances a RvLssian move against the Czenstocho^^ a- Cracow line would be equivalent to an advance along a narrow road open both from the north and the south to flank attacks by the enemy. At least one flank must be seciu-ed before an attack against the west could be imdertaken. Western Poland could never be held by Russia, still less could it be reconquered until the col- lapse of the German armies was brought about by a decisive and final victory in some other war zone. An advance from Warsaw through Western Poland, along the three widely diver- gent railway lines, against the " close forma- tion " of the railways on the Prussian side of the border, was hardly feasible. The Russian offensive, once the line of the Dunajec had been secured, had to proceed across the Carpathians, especially as political reasons promised still further advantages from an offensive against 161 162 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. Hungary. Thus by tVie end of December the position of the Rassian army from the Baltic to the foot-hills on the upper reaches of the Dimajec and of the Biala had become in the main defensive, and Htmgary became the chief goal of the offensive of our Allies. The frontier drawn in 1815 between the three Powers which had partitioned Poland had always been a strategical absurdity ; it was in- finitely more so in oiu- own days when " the straight line " has assumed such j^rominence in strategy as well as in tactics. The frontier of Rvissian Poland forms a gigantic curve ; its length, measured from the point at which the river Bug cuts the Austro-Russian frontier to that at which the Osowiec-Lyck line cros.ses from Russia into Germany, is more than three times that of a straight line drawn between these two points. It could never form the basis of strategic operations, bvit whilst the straight line of the Oder remained a distant dream of Russian strategists, just as that of the Bobr-Bug remained the goal of all pious wishes on the German side, a new line had to be found in the Polish plain, the plain that stretches from the forests and marshes between the Lower Vistula and the Niemen in the north and the Carpathian mountains in the south. The main featvires of that line were traced by the failiu-es and the successes of the five months of warfare in 1914 ; we might call it the line of the Polish rivers. It extends from the Vistula below Warsaw to the hills south of Tarnow. Beginning in the north from the mouth of the Bzura, it follows the course of that river and of its tributary the Rawka, and further to the south that of the Upper Pilica, and that of the Nida to its confluence with the Vistula, thus extending like the chord of an arc within the huge curve of the Vistida ; to the south of the Upper Vistula it follows the line of the Dunajec and its tributary Biala. till it reaches tlie foot-hills of the Carpathians in the region between Zakliczyn and Gorlice. This line, which forms the centre of the Eastern battle front, emerged, as was stated above, from the confused strategical position which had prevailed in the first ten days of December ; its strength was proved in the battles which raged around it during the remaining three weeks of the month. The reader will remember the description of these battles given in Chapter LIX., the last that dealt with the Eastern Campaign. They marked the final failure of Hindenburg's attack against Warsaw. After the occupation of Lovicz and Skiernievice (about December 19, 1914), the Germans con- tinued their attacks on the Bzura-Rawka line, but to no avail. They tried to outflank it from the south by a thrust between the Raw ka and the Pilica, in the region between Inovlodz, Opoczno and Novemiasto, but were repulsed with heavy losses (December 17-24). In the last days of December they tried to cross the Nida near its confluence with the Vistula, and again failed.. The period between December 10 and New Year similarly marks the failure of the flanli-attacks from the direction of Mlava against Warsaw, and from the south across the Carpathians against Przemysl, which accom- panied the last stages of the second German invasion of Poland. With the forces set free by the retreat in the centre, the Grand Duke cleared the flanks of his army The defeat suffered in the first battle of Prasnysz (about December 15) forced the Germans to fall back on their own frontier ; by a vigorous Russian counter-offensive south of the Tarnow-Przemysl line the Austro-German armies were driven out from all the passes in the Western Car- pathians which they had regained in the first half of December. Let us now consider, in its main outlines, the Russian position at the beginning of 1915, which is also the starting point of the narrative of this chapter of oui* war history. We niight begin, in the time-honoured style of Caesar, by saying that the wliole Eastern area of war is divided into three parts. Its three divisions we might call, for short, the East-Prussian zone, the Polish zone, and the zone of the Carpathians. Each of them pos- sesses marked geographical peculiarities which impart a distinctive character to the warfare within its limits, and each of them has its own meaning within the whole scheme of the war in the East. The battle-line in the Polish zone extends at the New Year along a practically straight line rimning from north to south. The positions in the other two zones cover its flanks : they form concave curves, within which the Germanic Powers hold the interior positions. Practically the whole of the Polish zone is a flat plain. The banks of the rivers are mostly- marshy, and thus offer good lines for defence. The ground is not unlike that of Flanders. Moreover, though this zone lacks any such decisive termination as that given to the battle- THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 163 THE TSAR AND THE GRAND DUKE NICHOLAS VISIT THE TRENCHES. lino in Flanders by the North Sea, it is yet to some extent seekided and secured from the north. The Vistula between Warsaw and Thorn has an average widtli of half a mile, and is not fordable. There are no bridges across it from the fortress of Novo-Georgievpk in the east till Plock in the west. The work of build- ing a new bridge across it could hardly be under- taken unless one possessed a firm and extensi\e hold on both })anks. Moreover, the total absence of railways in the coimtry bet\\een the Novo-Georgievsk-MIava line in the east, the Prussian frontier in the north-\^est, and the Vistula in the south-west necessarilj' restricts the fighting within this area to merely secondary operations, and thereby tends to mark .still more strongly the northern limit of the central Polish war zone. Similar conditions naturally produce similar effects. In that zone, which of this Eastern theatre of warfare resembles Flanders most closely, siege warfare along practically con- tinuous and almost stationary lines of trenches came into marked prominence in December. The new tj-pe of warfare from the West spread to that part of the Eastern battle-front. It appeared in its most perfect form at the two extremities opposite Warsaw and opposite 164 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. H Z o OS b w X H O H !^ OS E H Z o u < o u pa Q H ai O u 1^ p Z o u CD CD o OS u Q W OS Tarnow. Trenches cannot change from a temporary expedient into a permanent strong Jine unless the mean? of commiuiication in thoir rear facihtate the upkeep of a continuous supply of ammunition and men, and also the execution of quick concentrations in case of an attack by the enemy. Of course, a good system of communications is at least equally indispensable for the execution of such attacks. In the West the railway net is more or less equally well developed along the en- tire front. In Russian Poland the system of communications practically limits the German offensive to the northern section of the line. The three main railway lines Thorn- Lovicz, Kalisz-Slciernievice and Czenstochova- Skiernievice, of which the Germans obtained the entire mastery by the middle of December, form, as it were, a spear-head, though a blunt one, against the Bzui-a-Rawka line. But, on the other hand, that line, in the close neighbourhood of Warsaw, is no less well provided with means of communica- tion. Further down to the south, the advan- tage of communications lay with the Russians, and, after the German attempt at breaking tlirough round Inovlodz had failed, this central part of the Polish zone is but seldom heard of. In the extreme south, on both sides of the Vistula, the Nida and the Dunajec form a more continuous and more marked line of division than the rivers fiu"ther north, being in themselves a more serious obstacle than either the Bzura or Ravka. The position in the entire Polish zone at the New Year may be described as extremely favourable for our Allies. They hold an advanced position in front of the Vistula, and they are now usmg as an additional artery of comimuiication that great river, which during Hindenburg's first invasion of Poland had served as a defence for their armies. Should the line of their trenches be pierced, they can again fall back upon the line of tlie Vistula, and such a, retreat would in that zone merely strengthen their position. Their chief railway jiuictions lie east of the Vistula, and a railway line parallel to the river-front runs on its eastern side, well out of the reach of any gims which might be placed on its western bank. The line approaches closer to the river only between Ivangorod and Novo-Alexandria and south of Warsaw. But rovmd these two pomts, before which the first German offensive had broken down in October, practically impreg- THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 165 nable positions had been constructed since then. Round Warsaw tliese fortifications, stretching in a semicircle based on the Vistula, have the additional advantage of a short railway line along the western bank of the river, the War- saw-Gora-Kalvaria line. Our Allies might have abandoned the advanced position along the chord of the arc without any strategic loss, so far as the Polish zone was concerned. If nevertheless they held to it, they probably did so out of regard to the position south of the Vistula, where the line of the rivers meets the Carpathians. Had the position in the curve of the Vistula been abandoned, it would have been practically impossible to maintain the advanced [)03ition on the Dunajec or even a new line further east on the Wisloka. As the events of October had shown, a complete retreat on the line of the Vistula, retaining on the left bank merely the bridge-heads of Warsaw and Ivangorod, would have rendered unavoidable a retreat in Galicia on to the line of the San, and would thus have also led a second time to the raising of the siege of Przeraysl. Had Przemysl remained in the hands of the Germanic Powers without ever having been captured by our Allies, it would have given the Austro-German armies a power ful hold on the San line, such as Warsaw and Ivangorod give the Russians on that of the Vistula ; a river is not like a sea, and when it intervenes between armies, the side which holds the passages really holds the line of the ri\'er. Przemysl, once conquered, can never be again a stronghold of first-class importance, when both sides know every detail of its fortifications and the range of every position aiound it. A retreat of the Russians on to the San line would have necessitated in turn their retire- ment from the Carpathian passes, and an abandonment of their offensive position threatening Hungary. Thus it appears from the long chain of strategic evidence that the position on the Bzura-Rawka line in front of the much stronger position around Rlonie was indirectly connected with the offensive in the Carpathians, and the German attacks against it were perhaps meant to lead ulti- mately to the relief of Przemysl. Th\is again along the Galician front and in the Carpathian zone the position of the Russian Armies about the New Year may be described as one of overwhelming advantage. The line of the San and the Dniester, or even a line in the rear of it, would have been perfectly sufficient for mere defence, or for a war which aimed primarily at the attrition of the German forces, a kind of policy which can always be fallen back upon by our .A^IIies with excellent chances of success. Instead of that, they were holding in Galicia about the New Year all the passes into Hungary, and an advanced position on the Dunajec which was probably meant more as a cover for the operations in the Carpathian mountains than as a threat against Cracow. We can distinguish from the strategic point of view two zones in the Carpathian moun- MISS BUCHANAN, Daughter of the British Ambassador at Petrograd, who is nursing the wounded in the British Hospital. tains. The one extends from a line due south of Tarnow and the valley of the Riala to the Beskid Pass, the other from the Beskid Paas to the Runrianian frontier The western sector presents the greater facilities for a Russian invasion of Himgary. The mountain chain and the passes are much lower than they are either in the eastern sector or to the west around the High-Tatra group. Hardly any of the peaks hero rise above 3,000 ft., whilst both in the Tatra moimtains and east of the Beskid Pass they exceed even 6,000 ft. Between the Biala line and the Beskid Pass, on a front stretching over more than one hundred miles, ten roads and three railway lines cross the Carjjathian range (the Sanok- 44—2 166 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. Homona railway over the Lupkow Pass, the Lwow-Sambor-Ungvar over the Uzsok Pass, and the Lwow-Stryj -Miinkacz over the Beskid Pass). Between the Beskid Pass and the Austro-Rmnanian frontier, on a front shghtly longer than that of the western sector, only four roads and a single railway line (Stanis- lawow - Mannaros - Sziget over the Jablonica Pass) lead from Eastern Galicia and the Bakovina into Hiingary. An invasion of Hungary through the passes of the eastfeni sector of the Caroathians could separate position can be turned, most of them can be enfiladed from some other position on a higher level. Hence all the fighting in the Carpathians was bound to assume a totally different character from that in the west or in the Polish zone. Artillery proved of less importance, connected action over a wide front proved well-nigh impossible. Hence the frequent captures of big nuinbers of pri- soners by either side, and tlie low proportion of the numbers of captured guns to those of prisoners. A RED GROSS DETACHMENT WAITING BEHIND THE FIRING LINE. only be contemplated if it was to be carried out in cooperation with Rumania. For a purely Russian invasion the natural road is the same as that chosen in 1849, when the dominion of the young Emperor Francis Joseph I. over Hungary was saved by Russian intervention. That road led tlirough the passes around Dukla. Tt is self-evident that prolonged siege- warfare is impossible in the Carpathian moun- tains. Trenches can be used for the protection of particular positions, but there can be no continuous lines of trenches over wooded mountains thousands of feet high. Each I Before we pass to a consideration of the East Prussian zone — i.e., the right flank of the Russian battle-front — we wish to draw the attention of our readers to one significant fact. Many of the most important Austro- German attacks in this region aimed at the corner between Tarnow and Jaslo — i.e., at the joint of the two zones, the zone of the Polish plain and the zone of the Carpathian mountains. Here defence by means of con- nected trenches is rendered difficvilt by the rising height of the hills, which, however, do not form suflficiently high barriers to prevent the development of a connected offensive THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 167 action. It will be here that the Austro- Germans will break through in Maj-, 191"). Let us now turn to the third zone — i.e., that which we call the East-Prussian zone. It might seem as if in that region nature herself was playing the ganae of siege-warfare. Each side has its own line fortified by natural ob- stacles. The Prussian front runs from Tilsit on the Xiemen through forests and marshes to Insterburg, from there along the line of the Angerapp and of the Great INIasurian lakes to .Toliannisburg, and from there amidst smaller lakes, morasses, and forests to the fortress of Thorn on the Vistula. The distance from Tilsit to Thorn amoimts to about two hundred miles. Sixteen railway lines rimning towards the Russian frontier cross the liiie which connects these two towns ; these sixteen line^* branch out into a network on both sides of the Tilsit-Thorn railway. Xo two of them are connected by less than three latitudinal lines. The Prussian railway net east of the Vistula is as good as that of Silesia. But whilst in Silesia it serves also the requii-ements of a highly developed industry and a rich mining district, east of the Vistula it covers a poor, thinly populated country in which the marshes have been preserved as %aluable strategic assets. The Russian line of defence starts with the Xiemen above Kovno. Xorth of it the country is of no strategic importance. The Germans would have to advance in it for a ver^^ con- siderable distance througli regions practicalh'^ devoid of roads and railways before they could reach a vulnerable point. From Grodno vip to a point about ten miles east of Kovtio the Xiemen runs in a northern direction. That part of the Niemen on a front of about fifty miles, covers the Petrograd-Vilna- Warsaw rail- way line, which lies at the Troki junction at a distance of about thirty-five miles from the Xiemen, but farther south draws nearer and nearer to the river till it crosses it at Grodno. .Some ten miles above Grodno the river Bobr approaches closely to the line of the Xiemen. In front and south-east of Grodno, to the con- fluence of the Bobr and Xarev, it is the Bobr line which protects the Petrograd-Warsaw railway and the flank of the Vistula front in the Polish zone. Farther on to the south- east the defensive line follows the Xarev to its confluence with the Bug, and finally the Bug to its confluence with the Vistula. At the mouth of the Xarev stands the powerful GENERAL VON EICHHOKN. fortress of Sierock, near the mouth of the Bug that of Novo-Georgievsk. The banks of these rivers are for the most part marshy. In front of the Xiemen and the upper Bobr lie the marshes and forests of Suvaiki and Augus- tovo ; the lower Bobr and the Xarev are surrounded by broken, hilly country, presenting favourable ground for defence. Behind these lines our Allies dispose of good lateral com- munications, whilst the Germans (once they cross the frontier) have none in front of the Xarev. Only tliree railway lines connect the Petrograd-Warsaw hne with tJie Prussian railways. Farthest to the north a railway line crosses the Niemen at Kovno, and runs by Vilkovyshki to Stalluponcn ; the next from Bielostok by Osoviec and Grajevo to Lyck ; the third from Warsaw by Xovo-Georgievsk, Ciechaaow and ^ria\a to Soldau. There are, moreover, two grou^js of strategic railways based on the Pptrnl^n1d-^^■arsa\v lino whlrh GERMAN TRACTION MOTOR. These powerful motors have been largely used for transport purposes over the difficult roads in Poland. 1G8 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. a B . 'Sd H «J Z ^ 2 - OS ^ ^ J ^^ a V ° H OS "o Om o ■ V4 Z 10 C a do not touch Prussian territory. A semi- circolar line runs from Orany by Olita, Suvalki, and Augustovo to Grodno. Three railway lines branch oft" from the main railway between Bielostok and Warsaw, and meet behind the fortress of Ostrolenka ; two of them run parallel to the Narev, which flows there in a big curve; the third practically halves the triangle which the other two lines form with the Petrograd-Warsaw line. Of the country between the Mlava-Warsaw railway line, the Vistula, and the Prussian frontier wo have spoken above. Thus in the East-Prussian zone we are faced by a different situation from that which arises ^'here rivers and mountains form the dividing line. Such rivers or mountains are usually held by one side or the other. But here each side has its own natural barrier on its own territory, and hitherto all the fighting in it resulted mainly in the passing of the strategical " no-man's-land " between the barriers from one side to the other. After the defeat of Tannenberg the Russians fell back on to their own barrier, and the Germans experienced for the first time its intrinsic strength. Since October the Russians had gradually recovered their hold on the land between the barriers, and about the middle of December they repulsed in the first battle of Prasnysz a German advance to the south. About the New Year we find them standing on the eastern edge of East Prussia along the line of the Angerapp and of the Great Masurian lakes, on the southern edge more or less along the frontier up to Mlava. In the country to the west of Mlava the position is uncertain and in the main unimportant. The only part of the right bank of the Vistula between Novo-Georgievsk and Thorn which is of some importance for the Russians — namely, opposite the trenches on the Bzura — is in the hands of our Allies. The only part which is of importance to the Germans is that between Vloclavek and Thorn, as on that stretch the Thorn-Lovicz railway rttns so close to the left bank of the Vistula that it could be shelled from the opposite bank of the river. That part of the right bank is held by the Germans. With regard to the East -Prussian zone it ought to be marked that frost is of special importance for all military operations within it, as water forms the chief obstacles on both sides. With the exception of the Vistula and the Great Masurian lakes, which are of con- THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAH. loy THE RUSSIAN RED CROSS. Sleighs used in Poland for conveying wounded to the bases. Inset : Trucks covered with straw to protect the wounded from cold. siderable depth, practically all the watei' obstacles in that region are affected even by moderate frost, and had the cold of the past winter been severer and of longer duration it would most certainly have exercised con- siderable influence on the warfare in these regions. Let us now consider brieflj^ the main strate gical outlines of the second winter campaign. The lull in the fighting which prevailed in the Eastern theatre of war during the first thiee weeks of January was only partially due to the " bad weather," in which it is our national habit to see the origin of all evils. It is true the weather of those weeks was a serious obstacle to the development of any wide strategical schemes. In a covuitry where the scarcity of railways enhances the impor tance of roads, it would seem inadvisable to embark on vast enterprises whilst the conditions of transport are changing ahnost daily. In the first days of January the weather was so mild that even small streams — as, e.g., the Rawka — were free of ice ; the whole of Poland was one vast quagmire. Before the middle of January begins a succession of alternate spells of cold weather and thavr. It is only after January 20 that, prolonged cold weather sets in throughout the \\ hole Eastern theatre of war, and that for the first time a winter campaign " based on ice and snow " can be contemplated. Yet the weather was not the only cause of the im.eventful character of these first weeks of .January. The end of December saw the last flickers of Hindenburg's gigantic Eastern campaign, with its two invasions of Poland, and the great number of satellite operations extending over the entire Eastern front. Before a new scheme of equal greatness could be launched, both armies required at least a short period in which to re-form and recuperate. The operations which ensued on the resump- tion of the offensi\e by the Germanic Powcr-s give the casual observer the impression of being disconnected and almost aimless. Simi]arl\-, the fundamental features of the whole scheme tend to escape the observation of the man whose close attention is concentrated chiefly on one sector or zone of the vast Ea.>rtem theatre of war. A careful examination shows, however, an inner coherence and a leading idea, which runs like a red thread through all the different operations carried on over a front exceeding 500 miles. Warsaw, in it;- central geographical position, still .seems to be the centre also of all military activities. And yet the contention that even now the capture of Warsaw remained for Hindenburg the main objective of the ensuing campaitm seems to us not to be borne out by the facts, at least not in its exclusive, sweeping form. It w.ns perhaps rather the Xiemen - Bobr - Xarev - Vistula-San-Dniester line which was his goal : he seems to have aimed primarily at ^Testing from the Russians the outlvina territories 170 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. TRANSPORT IN THE CARPATHIANS. Unloading food and Red Cross supplies. between the line of the San and Dniester and that of the Dunajee, the Biala. and the Carpathians. These Galician districts are for the Russians the indispensable basis for their offensive against Hungary, and for a subsequent advance against Cracow and Silesia ; nor could the siege of Przemysl have been continued had they been reconquered by the Germanic armies. Had these armies reached the line of the Vistula, San and Dniester, the Russians would have lost all chance of taking tlie initiative in the two southern zones, even if they retained at Warsaw and at Ivan- gorod bridge-heads on the left bank of the Vistula. These gates to the west could have been easily masked by the Germans. More- over, in an unconquered and relieved Przemysl the Germanic armies would have gained a firm and valuable foothold beyond the line of the big rivers. A deadlock might have been reached in the East by the Germanic Powers such as would have enabled them to concentrate their whole attention on the Western cam- paign. In the East Prussian zone Hindenburg's offensive pursued also certain local aims, to which we shall return later on, but even that part of the second winter campaign stands in a close connexion with its primary objective, the wresting of the initiative from the Rus- sians ; and the main basis for tliat initiative lay in Galicia. The lull in the fighting during the first three weeks of Januarv was least marked on the Bzura-Rawka line, where the operations had assumed an almost entirely tactical import. The lines were facing one another, in some places at not more than a hundred yards' distance, everything was continually ready for action, and any advantageous moment could be used for carrying out minor operations. It was natiu'ally from here that in fact the entire second winter campaign was begun. We shall abstain for the present from entering into any details of the fighting in the different zones. Such description tends to divert the attention of the reader from the large, general outlines of the operations. We shall deal with their details further on, taking them zone by zone. Meantime we shall limit ourselves exclusively to the bare strategical outlines of the second winter campaign. About January 30 began the well-known German attack behind the Rawka on the Borzymow-Wola-Szydlowska line, which lasted a whole week. There was at the time, and has been ever since, much speculation concerning its meaning. Could Hindenburg have hoped to break through to Warsaw ? Did he not know of the second and even stronger defensive line round Blonie ? People have talked and written about the fighting of that week in front of Warsaw as if it had been imprecedented in its scale and intensity. As a matter of fact it was nothing of tlie sort. It seems very probable that practically the entire attack was carried out by what we might call local forces. The THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 171 current estimate puts the strength of the German army engaged on the Borzj-mow front in the first week of February at about 140,000 men and one hundred liatteries. During tlie fightinfi round the Barrows (IMogily) between January 5-1 1 two German corps are said to have been engaged ; one was always kept in action, the other in reserve. In February addition?! forces were obtained, probably by a cor- centration of reserves from the Bzura, and l^erliaps also from the south. The fact that towards tlie end of the week the Russians siic- ceeded with comparatively small forces in breaking tlu-ough the German lines near the mouth of the Bzura, seems to confirm the sup- position that troops had been withdrawn from that part of the front. One other, signifieant fact concerning the battle of Borzymow seenls to be fairly well established — namely, that the Germans did not keep behind their lines reserves in any waj' proportionate to the forces actually engaged. It is evident that Hindenburg could not expect three or four corps without reserves first to break tlirough the advanced Russian lines (a success which, considering the expe- rience of previous attempts on that part of the front, he could not have hoped them to achieve without serious losses), and then to storm a second line of fortifications and take a town such as Warsaw. Probably all that he wanted them to do was to hurl back the Russian forces on to the Blonie line. Their task was certainlv important. At Borzj-mow they were meant to drive the thin end of the wedge into the Russian line extended far in front of the big rivers, Vistula, San and Dniester; had they succeeded, dozens of blows would probably have followed along the entire line and the outer cover of the Russian position, shattered at one point, would have been broken in. We have plenty of e\idence at hand which shows that the Austro-German forces were at tliat time prejjaring to assume the offensive at a number of important points along the entire front. The supposition sometimes expressed, that considerable forces were at that time shifted by the Germans from one section of the Eastern front to another, seems unfounded. The Germanic army in the Eastern theatre of war was not a stage army which went out by one door and re-entered by another. We cannot hope to ascertain with any degree of exactitude its aggregate size. Estimates natu- rally differ ; yet most of them put its strength in the Eastern theatre of war in February at not less than 30 German and 20 Austrian army corps. We cannot see events in their proper perspective as long as we persist in thinking of the attack on Borzymow, carried out by three or four out of 50 army corps, as the battle royal of the second winter cam- paign in the Eastern theatre of war. The German forces in front of Warsaw cotdd never have amounted to much less than RUSSIANS AT PRAYER. Soldiers unable to obtain admission to a barn, where a service is being held, listen outside bareheaded. 172 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. \~ tB^^».j,^;j^^ifei<. "' A'J*5,_, ■'*^^^:|^^^£^,'. - ^'< r" ™ •--■»* ^,'-'V> GERMAN TRENCHES NEAR MLAVA. 100,000 men. They did not only attack War- saw/, they were also entrusted with the defence of Lovicz and Skiernievice, the two most important railway junctions of Western Poland. The attack on Borzj'^mow was not a new attempt against Warsaw, nor even an attempt '■ to distract the attention of the Russians." It was a blow at one point of the Russian front which covered like a shell the line of the big rivers. Had the Russians been pushed back to their second line round Blonie, they would, as we have already explained, have been obliged to give up the rest of the country on the left bank of the Vistula down to the bridge-head of Ivangorod. The line of the Nida would have collapsed, carrying with it the Russian front on th6 Dunajec and Biala. The Austro- Germans would have been able to advance right up to the San — the natural prolongation of the line of the middle Vistula — Przemysl would have been relieved. The first blow, which was meant to have such far-reaching con- sequences, failed miserably. No blows were delivered between the Pilioa and the Carpathians ; yet we have good reasons to suppose that at the time when the thrust was delivered at Borzymow, con- siderable Austro-German forces were concen- trated around Kielce and on the Tuchow- GorUee line. If after the failure of Borzymow increased activity can be marked in the Car- pathians, it is not from the exhausted corps on the Rawka that the victims were drawn for the daily holocausts of Koziowa. These reinforce- ments were probably derived from the points of concentration from which no blows could be delivered with any chance of success after the attack on the Rawka had ended in failure. The Austro-German offensive in the Car- pathians began before the week of the final attack on Borzymow. About January 23 the Germanic forces began to advance towards the mountain passes along the entire front of over 200 miles, from the Dukla to the Kirlibaba. After the failure in front of Warsaw, the direction of the main offensive becomes dis- cernible ; the attacks in the Western Carpa- thians round tlie Dukla and the Lupkow Pass lose consideraVjly in intensity, whilst the offensive in the East is being pressed with great vigour. The seriovisness of the move soon becomes evident. Should the Germanic arinies succeed in driving the Russians back to the Dniester, the latter would probably have to fall back on the San and Vistula along the whole line from Przemysl, up to and beyond Warsaw. Unconquered Przemysl, astride on theWoloczyska-Lwow-Tarnow line, prevents the Russians from deriving full advantage from the excellent double track of that railway, Przemysl has to be avoided by running the trains over the circuitous path of poor side- lines (Lwow - Rawa - Ruska - Jaroslaw). The greater, therefore, is the importance of the inferior single-line southern railway, the so- called " Transversal Line," leading from Husiatyn by Stanislawow to Sanok and Jaslo. No Russian raihvay line meets it at Husiatyn, but between Czortkow and Sambor five railway lines connect it with the Northern Woloczyska-Lwow line, and two meet it from the south ; it is thus coimected by side-lines with no less than four Russian railways. Its sector between Sambor and Sanok had formed for the last three months the basis for the operations against Przemysl in the north and Hungary in the south. Had the Germanic THE TIMES FIISTOUY OF THE WAR. 173 forces reached the transversal line between Sanibor and Stanislawow, the RiLSsian armies on the entire front from Sambor to Tarnov, and lip to the mouth of the Diinajec, would liave had to rely for supplies on the trains coming from Lwow round by Rawa-Ruska and Jaroslaw. The position would have been quite untenable. Even the permanent occu- pation of Stanislawow by the Austrians would hy itself have weakened very considerably the position of the Russians, though thej- would have been left with three lines connecting the northern with the southern railway. One Austro-German army began to advance towards the end of January through the Uszok Pass towards Sambor, another through the neighbouring passes of Vereczke and Beskid towards Stryj, a third across Wyszkow towards Dolina, a fourth (purely Austrian) army across the Jablonica Pass towards Delatyn and Nad- vorna, a fifth was invading the Bukovina across Kirlibaba and Dorna Vatra. Only the last two groups succeeded in reaching their objectives ; tlie other three, despite the most desperate efforts, failed to progress any con- siderable distance beyond the crest of the Carpathian ^Mountains. The eastern army- groups reached Stanislawow on February 21, and continvied their advance, following the transversal railway to the west, toAvards Kalusz ; moreover, they began to press in a northerly direction towards the Dniester between Jezupol and Halicz. Had at least the armv from Wyszkow broken through the Russian line, and then met from the west the eastern armies, the latter might have consolidated their strategic achievements, but they received no help from any of the tliree groups operating to the left of them Indeed, the Russians were not only able to contain the Germanic armj' which sliould have progressed from Wyszkow to Dolina, i)ut could even detach forces to threaten from the south-\\est the march of the Austrians between Stanislawow and Kalusz. Meantime another Russian army, having defeated the Austrian attempt to push it across the Dniester, began to menace Stanis- lawow from the north. The position of the Austrians on the entire Kalusz-Stanislawow lino was therebj' rendered exceedingly pre- carious. After suffering terrible losses they were compelled to fall back on Nadvoma and Kolomea, abandoning most of the results of a really fine military stroke, for which, moreover, the Germans cannot claim the credit. On the last day of February a new offen.sive began in the Western Carpathians. It became evident that the coup of Stanislawow ha<l failed, and that only a successful direct attack against the ring which surrounded Przemysl would save the starving fortress. This offen- sive failed to make headway, and Przemysl fell on Alarch 21. The German operations in East Pru.ssia com- menced on Februarv 7 : thev were, of coiu"=e. BIG GUNS OUTSIDE LODZ. German heavy howitzer in action. 44—3 174 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR, THE GRAND DUKE MICHAEL ALEXANDROVITGH IN THE CARPATHIANS. meant to synchronise broadly with the opera- tions, in the other two zones, but it would be very risky to try to establish any detailed connexion between their dates. The East Prussian campaign had aimed at preventing the Russians from taking advantage of the cold season, when the freezing of the marshes greatly reduces the strength of the East Prus- sian defensive line. As it has^the same effect ■on the barrier along the Xiemen, Bobr and Narev, it is also the one season during which the attack against the Russian line, which had failed in October, might be attempted with some chance of success. Finally, special cir- cumstances, which we shall discuss more fully when dealing in detail with the East Prussian campaign, seemed to offer good prospects for inflicting a serious defeat on the Russian army, spread at that time over a long front extending from Tilsit to Johannisburg. The first blow was delivered in the direction of Grodno. It was meant to annihilate the Russian army, which the Gern-ians outnumbered in the pro portion of two to one, and to carry the German offensive across the Petrograd-Warsaw railway line ; they would thereby have seriously im- peded the transport of reinforcements from Russia for the defence of the Narev-Bobr line. Against that line was to be directed the second blow ; its main attack was to proceed along the Mlava-Novo-Georgie\sk and the Lyck- Osowiee-Bielystok railways. Had the German scheme succeeded, Warsaw and the entire line of the Vistula would have been threatened with supreme danger. The true battle royal of the war would have been fought imder circum- stances most Linfavovu'able to the Russians. We know that the German forces in East Prussia amovuited at that time to fifteen army corps. Only eight were engaged in the attack on the Tilsit -Johannisburg line. It would bo absurd to suppose thtit the Germans would have concentrated such enormous reserves had they not contemplated a second stroke of supreme importance. The dispersal of the other thirty-five Germanic corps over many different parts of the front, which might have been held by considerably weaker annics, does not prove anything to the contrary. Either Russia had to follow suit and make siniilar dispositions of her forces, or she would have run the risk of suffering local defeats which might soon have develojied into a general debacle : for it was only against lines of prin^ary strategic importance that the Germanic forces were concentrated. As Germany possessed over Rtissia a marked superiority in commum'- cations, with her lay the initiative of concen- tration or of fighting simultaneously in several theatres. Had she wished to effect a con- centration of dispersed forces, she could still have done it at any moment m less time than it would have taken Russia to do the same. The plan of the East-Prussian campaign failed completely. Except for two divisions— J.P., one-eighth of their forces — the Russians effected their retreat from the East Prussian front with remarkably small losses. The Ger- mans reached the Niemen, and even crossed it at one point, but they never got to the Petro- THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAIi 175 RUSSIAN The Native Division, or, as grad-W'arsaw railway line, and thus were unable to interfere with the transport of rein- forcements, supplies and munitions to the Narev-Bobr line. Their offensive to the south failed even more miserably ; they were badly defeated in the one big battle fought on the southern front (the battle of Prasnysz), and the great move finally fizzled out in a series of battles of very secondary importance, most of which, in addition, went against the Germans. At the end of our period, after three months of frantic efforts, the position of the Germanic CAVALRY. it is called, the Wild Division. Allies was worse than it had been about the New Year. They had gained groimd in the " no-man's-land " in East Prussia, and re- conquered most of the quiet strategical back- water of the Pruth valley. They had lost Przemysl. For weeks the attention of the reading public of Eiurope and America was concentrated on the fighting line of the Bzura and Rawka. At last their strange names had acquired familiarity in the minds, perhaps even in the FORDING A RIVER. The Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovitch, with Count VorontsoflF DashkofF, in front. 176 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. speech, of West -European nations. We en- joyed special facilities with regard to news from that quarter. Warsaw is near, and newspaper correspondents again and again visited the battlefield. Who would know of Agamemnon, had there been no Homer ? W^e Icnow more about the nature of the fighting on these two small rivers than of the battles in the Carpathians or in the forests on the I.ithuanian border. In its main ovitlines it resembles that of Flanders. Plenty of mud ; more work with picks and spades than with rifles ; continuous shelling ; for diversion — sniping. At first the small rivers intervened between the German and the Russian lines. This, of course, was very advantageous for purposes of defence, as long as there was no frost. These rivers (more especially the Bzura, which is lined by marshes on either bank) offer a splendid field of fire, and make the rapid advance of an attack impossible. These advantages are lost as soon as the frost comes. The river ceases to be a serious obstacle, and the tactical situation is radically changed . In the beginning of January the Germans succeeded in establishing their trenches on the left — i.e., the eastern — bank of the Rawka on a front of two miles. We were never told how that was done, but it is quite possible that the Russians withdrew of their own free will. The banks of the Rawka are steep. Once it is frozen, and can be crossed with ease and speed, trenches on or near its banks cease to be in .a favourable position. The range of a river bank can be easily calculated from maps. A steep bank is likely to offer dead grovind to the attacking side. The Russians found much better positions some two miles east of the Rawka, round Borzymow, Humin and Vola- Szydlowska, which are situated on a higher level upon a ridge between the Rawka and the Sucha. The surrounding woods offered further advantages in the choice of ground. From the middle of January we hear little about fighting round Sochaczew, where battles had raged in December. It now centres fvu-ther to the south, first round the Barrows (Mogily), then round Borzymow. Since the trenches are no longer separated by a river, warfare here comes more and more to resemble the pattern with w hich we are so well acquainted in the instance of Flanders. A group of trees, the ruin of a lonely building, a small hillock, become the objectives of actions in which hundreds of lives are lost. In some places — e.g., in one sector near Mogily — artillery can no longer be brought freely into action because the two lines of trenches have drawn too close together. That, however, it mvist be remem- bered., is by no means the general rule. Where it does occur, for artillery must be substituted the mole-work typical of om- operations in Flanders. The Russian official communique of January 27 contains a phrase which sounds familiar to those who have followed the fighting in the west. " In the region of Borzymow our troops, supported by sappers, attacked last night the enemy's sap and dislodged the Germans by means of mines." Tout comm,e chez nous. At last we reach in the first days of February the culmination of the siege-warfare that had been carried on during the preceding six weeks. The weather had been improving for some time — on January 30 the ground is hard as rock. The moment for a general attack had come. On the front of not quite seven miles (10 versts) the Germans now deployed seven divisions, supported by the fire of one hundred batteries. Dviring a single hour these batteries dropped 24,000 shells on the Russian trenches. Several divisions deployed on a front of only one verst. They attacked in close formation, with a depth of from ten to twenty-two men. The Germans themselves gave these troops the nickname of " doomed divisions." They gained some ground on February 2, but only to lose it on the next day. On February 3, by means of bayonet attacks, our Allies reconquered the lost trenches near Borzymow, drove back the Germans from Hvimin, and regained possession of Vola-Szydlowska. The fighting continued on Feljruary 4, and on February 5 it again assvmicd an aspect of sheer frenzy on the part of the Germans. It lasted all night, and became severest at dawn. On February 7 begins the counter-stroke of the Russians. From the right bank of the Vistula they direct a cross- fire against the German positions on the left bank of the Bziu-a, near its confluence with the Vistula, and subsequently push home attacks round Kamien and Vitkovice. On the same day they in.ake progress in the angle between the Bznra and Rawka. The Germans have to detach forces from the Borzxmriow front for the defence of the threatened positions. The battle round Borzymow is losing its intensity. On February 8 the Russian artillery destroys THE TIMES HISTOIiY OF THE WATi. 1 1 THE KAISER AT THE POLISH FRONT. the distillery at Vola-Szydlowska, which the Germans had changed into a fort. By now the Germans have given up all hope of driving back the Russians on to the Blonie line., and they settle dow^l on the Bzura-Rawka front to a quieter routine. We hear no more of their daily sapping and nightly attacks which they had made "the custom of the land" during the previous weeks. Only once again, about February 27, we read of some livelier fighting between Mogily and Bolin^ow. During the week of their attacks on Borzy- mow they are said to have suffered no less than 40,000 casualties, but one can look through files of German or Austrian papers without finding even a hint or suggestion of the fierce fighting which was going on in front of ^\"arsaw in the first week of February. Only oeca.sion- ally, tlu'ough excerpts translated from Italian papers, could those who knew something of their Governments' policy in giving and with- holding news, glean some intimations of the battle that raged round Borzymow. The Death's-head Hussars are impressive in jieaee time, but in war silence i.s kept at home about " doomed divisions." We hear of hardly any serious fighting taking jjlace in the Carpathians until towards the end of January. No wonder ; whatever may be the difficulties and dangers of a winter 178 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. RUSSIAN SLEKi campaign in the nioimtainS; in deep snow and heavy frost, they are not nearly so serious as the obstacles which stand in the way of strategic operations during periods of alternate frost and thaw, or where the conditions of trans- port differ according to the elevation. We ha^ e before us the notes taken by an eye-wilness of the fighting in the Uzsok Pass abovxt January 25. In the passes, he writes, the snow lies several feet deep, while in the valleys the roads are covered ^ith mud and slush. However hard and continvious may be the labour spent on their maintenance, the heavy transport breaks them up almost beyond repair ; only severe frost can save them. Caterpillar wheels, which do their work along mvidd}'^ roads, cannot be used on snow. Sledges have to be fixed under the wheels. Guns have to be taken to H TRANSPORT. pieces and then transported on several sledges. But sometimes one gets on to a piece of groimd where neither sledge nor wheel can work, e.g., where on a steep slope the road loses itself under a crust of ice. Neither nailed boots nor " roughed " hoofs can obtain a foothold. Men have to crawl round these places leading their horses, and when they reach some higher level ground have to pull uj? with ropes what- ever transport is to be handled. It will be easily understood that under these circim^i- stances the transport even of the lightest gnns is an arduous matter, and shells cannot be fired off at the rate of thousands a daj'. Infantry attacks are in most cases exceed- ingly difficult ; it is almost impossible to remain unseen in the snow, and against the white background men offer excellent targets. AUSTRIAN TRANSPORT. Motor lorries with wheels adapted to travel on the Carpathian railways. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 179 whatever the colour of their uniforms may be. Nights, even when there is no moon, are clear with the ligiit reflected by the snow, WJiere there is no snow, entrenching is very difficult, because even if the surface is soft, the earth below is frozen. It nia\-, however, be noticed that in the matter of entrenching our Allies enjoyed a considerable advantage over the Austro-German forces ; they were much better provided witli entronching tools on long handles. The Austro-German campaign in the Car- pathians began towards the end of January. Each pass v.as at first a practically isolated theatre of war. Lateral connexions could not be established between the troops \\hich were operating in various passes. Yet there was some kind of interdependence between the bodies which were advancing or retreating along consecutive parallel roads or railways. Just because of the great danger of becomin" isolated and encircled, each separate corps seems to ha^•e followed the general trend of events in its neighbourhood. About Janu- ary 23 the Austro-German armies opened their attack against the Carpathian passes along the entire line of over two hundred miles. A week later we can distinguish three groups along tl)e Carpathian front. In the west up to the Lupkow Pass the attack fails com- pletely. In the Central group, between the Lufikow and the river Lomnica, the Austro-German armies succeed in crossing the passes, but this advance is permanently ar- rested at their northern mouths. Only in the extreme south-eastern section does this offensive reach its immediate objective. Between the Dulda and the Uzsok Pass the Germanic armies are thrown back into Hungary : on the Hungarian side of tlie Carpathians our Allies hold the important junctions of roads at Zboro (five miles norti) of Bartfeld) and at Swidnik — in other words, the southern ends of all the passes around Dukla. From the eastern branch of the Dukla the Russians are trying about February 7 to outflank the Austrian position in the Lupkow Pass by pushing forward past Czeremcha to Mezo- Laborcz. They succeed to a large extent in their tui'ning movement ; we are told that between January 20 and February 6 the Russian corps operating in the Lupkow lias made prisoners 170 officers and 10,000 of the rank and file of the Austrian Army. Yet the Austrians retain their hold on tlie heights east GENERAL \ OiN BELOW. of the pass. More than a month later we hear of severe fighting round \\o\h :\Iicho\\.ska, east of Lupkow, and it is not imtil March 1 1 tliat the Russians succeed in taking Smolnik and Lupkow itself. The westernmost of the passes carried by the Austrians after a three days' battle (January 23-26) is the Uzsok. The configuration of the ground round the Uzsok Pass is such that it cannot be held against a numerically superior enemy who is prepared to pay heavily in lives for the venture. I'ractically all the positions in the Uzsok Pass can be turned. The pass itself rises to a height of over 2,500 ft., and is closely surrounded on all sides by mountains, which stand between 3,000 to 4,500 ft. high. The mountain slopes are covered by thick woods, under cover of which it is possible to ad- \ance even in the snow, without being perceived by the enemy. Xor do the positions on the southern side of the pass offer a fa\-ourable field of fire. The road and railway follow a winding, narrow depression, which sinks steeply towards the Hungarian plain. In somewhat over twelve niiles the level of the road drops by almost 1,500 ft. It was only natural that at the end of January and beginning of Februaiy the Austro-German attack on the Uzsok should have been pressed with greater insistence than on any of the passes to the west of it ; from the Uzsok Pass they could have tlireatened the direct railway communication that runs by way of Sambor between Lwow and the Russian armies south of Przemysl. Even a successful of^'ensive from the extreme south-east corner of Galicia could hardly have rendered altogether 180 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. untenable the Russian position in the Western Carpathians., unless the Grermanic armies suc- ceeded in breaking tlTrough the Uzsok to Sambor, and tlirough the Vereczke and the Beskid Passes to Stryj. Before the superior forces of the enemy in this central sector our Allies withdrew from their positions in the passes to more favourable groimd, in each case about ten miles to the north- east. These new positions proved im- pregnable to frontal attacks, and not easily liable to outflanking movements. North of the Uzsok Pass the Russians withdrew on to high ground beyond the river Stryj, near the town of Turka ; from the Vereczke Pass on to the slopes round Koziowa, behind the river Orawa ; from the Beskid Pass to a position near Tuchla, protected on its wings by the FORTRESS OF PRZEMYSL. Austrian Officers directing artillery fire. gorges of mountain streams. In the Wyszkow Pass they checked the German advance quite close to the frontier on the line of Seneczow. On February 6 one of the most desperate battles ever fought iii the Galician zone developed in front of the Russian positions at Koziowa. The Munkaez-Skole-Stryj road crosses, south of Koziova, a bare mountain range, named liysa (rora (" the bald mountain "). The Lysa Gora rises to a height of over 3,300 ft., and then gradually sinlts down towards the Orava valley, facing the slopes above Koziova, and presenting an excellent field of fire. The Koziova slopes, on the other hand, are in their upper part covered with thick woods, which screened from the view, and partly also from the fire, of the enemy the Russian forces awaiting the Germans as they approached along the road that crosses the "Bald Mountain." The Germans at first tried to take the Russian positions by storm. On a single day (February 7) no fewer than twenty -two attacks were delivered by them, but whenever they gained a footing in the Russian lines, they were dislodged by furious counter- attacks with the bayonet. The assault failed, and the open slopes below the woods held by the Russians were strewn thick with German dead. From that day onwards the German attacks on the Russian position in that region continue to repeat themselves for the next five weeks with a regularity reminding one of the attacks against the Bzura-Rawka line. The last time we hear of the operations round Koziova, before the fatal day when the fall of Przemysl changed the whole character of the fighting in the Carpathians, is on March 16. The Russians have then captured Orawczyk, a point threatening the left flank of the German position in front of Koziova. By far the most interesting fighting developed meantime in the extreme south-eastern corner, which we might call the district of the Pruth, or the Pokucie-Bukovina sector. " Pokucie," the " Corner-District " of Galicia (kut= corner), is closely allied in geographical and strategical respects to the Bukovina, " the Country of the Beeches " (buk= beech). From the south it is cut off by the Carpathian " massif " of Tran- sylvania, from the north by the deep canon of the Lower Dniester, which with the forests surrounding its fantastic curves forms a " dead belt " between Austrian Podolia and the Bukovina. To the west its main artery of communication runs along the Pruth to Kolomea. From Kolomea the railway divides into two branches ; one of them leads over the low watershed of the Pruth and the Dniester to Stanislawow, and from there to Lwow. The other branch leads from Kolomea in a south-western direction across the Jablonica Pass by Marmaros-Sziget to Buda- pest. He who holds Kolomea holds all the connexions of this small Pruth district with the western world.* At the oppo- site end, in the south-east, its river valleys, * We md.y neglect the Luzany-Zaleszezyki-Czortkow line. It is a wretelied small branch line linking vip the Bukovinian railways with those of Podolia, The only point of importance about it is that below Nizniow its bridge at Zaleszczyki is the only one over the Dniester on Anstiian territory. Its existence does not in anj' way affect onr argument. The Russians never lost their hold on Zaleszczyki since they first occupied it in the last days of August. 1914. THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. 181 182 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. railways, and roads open into Rumania. Up to the New Year there was hardly any reason for paying attention to such a quiet backwater as was the valley of the Pruth from the exclu- sively strategical point of view. About the New Year this region began to acquire a new significance. The population of South-Eastern Bukovina and of Transylvania is mainly Rumanian by language and extrac- tion. The valleys of the Pruth, the Seret and the Moldava, which include practicallj'' the \\hole Bukovina, lead towards Riunania ; in the opposite direction, over the passes of Dorna Vatra and Kirlibaba. and farther west in the " Pokucie " across the Jablonica, lie the easiest roads into Transylvania. Towards the end of 1914 Rmnanian intervention was thought of as a naatter of the very near future. The advance of Russian troojDs into Transylvania, where they would have been greeted by the Himgarian Rmnanians as the liberators from Magyar oppression, niight have accelerated the entrance of Rumania into the European War. The Rmnanian nation could neither have left to strangers the entire work of bringing freedom to its compatriots, nor could it have allowed, in case of a local reverse of the Russian Army, liberated Rumanians to pass again under the hated Magyar yoke. About the New Year hardly any Austrian troops remained in the Bukovina. In the first days of January Russian troops began to advance in the farthest south-eastern corner of the Bukovina, and at the same time in the Pokucie, towards the Transylvanian frontier. From Gora Hiunora they marched in mid- winter towards Ivimpolung over passes rising to 2,000 ft., and between mountains ranging above 5,000 ft. They reached Kimpolung on January 6. " During the last week," says the Russian official communique of January 8, "' our troops, fighting continually, have covered a distance of 120 versts (about 75 miles), and have reached the mountain range constituting the frontier between the Bukovina and Tran- sylvania." From January 6 onwards the his- tory of their advance is lost to us in uncertainty. We have before us a few dates on which the Russians are said to have fought battles at AUSTRO-GERMAN OUTPOSTS. In a German trench on the Bzura. Inset : Austrian observation post. THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAB. 183 w RUSSIAN FIELD (JUN IN ACTION. certain places in tlicir advance . towards the Kirlibaba. Looking at the map we are unable to establish any order between them. Are we faced by a mere confusion of dates in the trans- mission of news, or do these bald, and in appearance confused, statements, which in their briefness recall the style of ancient in- scriptions, contain the story of a heroic expedi- tion of a kind rare during the present war of mass-fighting, of machines that mow do\\n a harvest of men, and of advances which arc measured by yards ? The facts are these : Wc are told that Russian troops occupied Ivirlibaba (3,000 ft. high) on January 16. There is only one road from Kimpohmg to Kirlibaba ; it follows the railway to Dorna Vatra by Vale Putna to the village of Jacobeni ; it then tiu-ns at a sharp angle to the north-east, following the valley of the Golden Bystryca,* and leads past Ciocanestie to Kirlibaba. Xow mark the order of dates and of places. Ivirhbaba was occupied on January 10, then fighting took place round Jacobeni on January 18, at Ciocanestie on the 19th, round Kirlibaba between January 21 and 23. Did the first Russian detachment reach Kirlibaba. across mountains almost 5,000 ft. high, whilst the glass was approacjhing zero and the snowdrifts were lying deep in the valleys ? And is now another detachment making its way along the beaten track fighting against the Austrians ? Indeed, the crossing of pathless mountains in mid-printer would have been a venture which only Caucasian moimtaineers could ha\e dared to undertake. Or has, perhaps, the Austrian * Not to be confounded with the two Bystrycas near the confluence of which lies Stanislawow. " Bystryca " is a ver\' common name for mountain river?, " bystry " signifying in Slav languages "' rapid." advance across the Borgo Pass by Dorna Vatra alreadj' begim, and are now the Austrians trying to trap the Russian vanguard which had proceeded to Kirlibaba by the previously deserted road past Jacobeni ? We had not heard of any fighting preceding their entrance into Kirlibaba on January 16. Whilst figliting is now going on at Kirlibaba (January 21-23), we suddenlj- hear on January 22 of another liattle fought at Vale Putna — i.e., between Kimpolung anil the parting of the two roads at Jacobeni. Is that another Russian force marching to the rescue of its comrades who are fighting a desperate battle on a secluded pass ? We cannot tell ; even the thin thread of dates and names of places suddenly breaks off, and from neither side does there come any further news of what happened when the World -War iiad reached the snowbound seclusion of a forlorn Rumanian pass bearing a strange Slav-onic naitie of legendary derivation. The World-War had reached it, and nations tliat never had heard of one another or of the strange laud in which they now met, joined in battle. Moimtaineers from the Caucasus, speaking languages imlcnown anywhere outside their wild Asiatic valleys, met German Alpine troops coming down on winged feet, on Norwegian skis, over the slopes of the Pass of Kirlibaba. About January 21 the Russian advance ceases : and now follow battles that are better recorded because they are of more importance to the strategy of the whole Carpathian front. An Austrian army, about 50,000 men strong, tmdcr the command of General Freiherr \on Pflanzer-Baltic (late Conunandant of Briinn and subsequently Inspector of Austrian military schools, one of the ablest strategists of Austria) was approaching the Pruth valley, moxdng s •01 c ea 4) JS ■00 *c 3 u u V s u E J3 o z H it a 0> ■on C ■> a W X H -= Z « u , c <; .2 •a 4) > ■an .s c 4> '■oi OS 3 184 THE TJMES HISTORY OF THE WAli. 185 along all tlic available roads tliat lead I'roni Transylvania into t!u> Bukovina and the Pokucie. By February 1."} the Austrians reached the Wizni-Kuty-Kosovv-Delat_\n line. On the same day, advancing from the west, they reached Starozyniec, on the Seret. Tiieir eastern colinnn in the Bukovina was making slow progress ; it seems to have been their intention to move rapidly from the west into the valley of the Seret, and thus to cut off the small column of Rvissians which had advanced into southern Bukovina. Their plan failed. The Russian garrison of ('zernow itz, thougli it could hardly have counted nK)re than a few thousand men, sent help to their retreating comrades, effected a junction with them on February 16, and on the next day the whole Russian Division withdrew from Czernowitz eastwards to the Russian town of Novosielica. It was by this time impossible for it to join the more westerly Russian forces, which were falling Ijack on Stanislawow. For on FebiMiar\- 14 the Austrians, issuing from the Jahlonica Pass, had reached Xadvorna ; during the next six days a desperate battle raged between Nadvorna and Kolomea, the Austrians having brought by railway across the Jablonica a powerful train of artillery. The Russians had at first looked upon that Austrian expedition towards the Bukovina as a political mano'uvre rather than as a strategical move. They were now fighting for the important railway junction of Stanislawow, only twenty miles to the north of Nadvorna. At last they have to give way. The Austrians enter Kolomea, which had re- mained in Russian occupation since Septem- ber 15, and on February 21 they reach Stanislawow. On the next day the Russians throw fresh troops into the town, but are not able to hold it for long. A gigantic battle begins in the broad valley between the two Bystrzycas and the Dniester. It lasts a week, but neither the Petrograd nor the \'ierma communiques say anything about the fluctuating course of the fighting. The Viennese papers do not even report that the Austrians have ever entered Stanislawow. Are the Austrians ex- pecting soon to be able to annoimce a coup which would surpass even the reconquest of Stanislawow, or do they foresee that the triumph will be short-lived and that they are fighting a costly but hopeless battle ? And yet they are pushing to the west for all they are worth, towards those railways which feed the Russian armies in the Car- pathians. Will tliey perish, caught between the Prussians advancing from the Dniester in till' north and from the Carpathians in the south, or will they be able to cut the com- municati(pn> of those Ru.s.sian armies which are barring the way to the Cermans and Austrians advancing from Hiuigary by the Wyszkow Pass against the heights of Tuchla and Koziowa ? Under date of February 25 we read that the Russians have captured the village i.uhy, south of Dolina, and half-way between Kalusz and the Carpathian mountains. We liad not heard of the Austrian advance in the rear of the Russian armies that are fighting in the Carpathians. We do not know at first whence these Au.strians are coming. But on the next day we hear of another battle a few miles farther to the north-east, and then again farther in the same direction, and we begin to realize that a counter-attack is being delivered by the army that holds the northern mouths of the Carpathian passes in support of their comrades who hold at Halicz and Jezupol the bridge-heads on the southern bank of the Dniester. Unless the Austrians succeed in reaching the bridges of Halicz, .Jezupol and Nizniow, and thus stopping the inflow of Russian reinforcements into the battle area between the Dniester and the Carpathians, they cannot hope to hold Stanislawow. They them- selves have only a single railw ay line — namely that which crosses the Jablonica, over which tliey can bring up fresh troops from Himgary. They are beaten in a pitched battle fought south of Halicz on March 1. On March 4 the Russians enter Stanislawow : tlie Austrians withdraw on Nadvorna and Kolomea. The Russians feel that a chapter has closed in the history of the war, in so far as that distant corner of Galicia is concerned, and publish the post- mortem oi the Stanislawow campaign. They have cajjtured in that region during the fighting which took place between February 21, the day on w hich they evacuated Stanislawow, and March 4, the day on which they re-entered it, 153 officers and 18,522 rank and file of the Austrian Army, 5 guns, G2 machine guns, etc., etc. After 3Iarch 5 a lull })cgiMs in the fighting south of Stanislawow . The next report which reaches us is dated March 16, and announces that the two armies are again in contact on the plateau along which leads the road froni Stanislawow to Ottynia. To tho.se who know that coimtry this dry piece of news suggests 186 THE TIMES HISTOEY OF THE WAU. a whole story of warfare. A long line of down rises to a wide plateau, on the level surface of which no cover is to be found. But the hollows of its slopes on either side offer magnificent opportunities for skilful approaches over dead groiuid, and for well-directed indirect fire from hidden batteries. But again we hear nothing more about the battle. A much bigger, a much more important, engagement is developing far away in the west. Przemysl can no longer be saved by distant victories and far-reaching effects of complicated strategy. It has to be reached by the shortest way if it is to be preserved for the Germanic Powers. On February 28 the Austro-German attacks recommence due south of Przemysl, between the Lupkow and the Uzsok Passes. They hammer their way up to Baligi-od and Lutoviska, some fifteen miles from the Hun- garian frontier. And from the west they knock fiercely against that corner between Gorlice and Ciezkowice, where the river-line of the Polish plain loses itself among the foothills of the Carpathians. Not a day passes without a battle. But not only do the Gei'manic forces fail to gain any grovtnd, they actually lose positions which they had held for many weeks in the Uzsok and in the Lunko\\-. On March 22 comes the news that Przemysl has fallen. For weeks and months the German and Russian armies had been facing one another on the outskirts of the East-Prussian forests and along the line of lalces and marshes. In the south, between Angerburg and Johan- nisburg, the German lines were practically impregnable ; all they had to guard w ere a few narrow passages between the big lakes. As the period of cold weather was drawing near the Russians began to pres.s forward on both flanks of the Masurian lakes. Towards the end of December they had again expelled the Germans from Mlava ; about the middle of January they continued their advance on both sides of the Warsaw-Mlava railway line. From Ostrolenka on the Narev they were now pressing forward towards the Prussian frontier ; west of Mlava they occupied Sierpiec (45 miles from Thorn) and reached the line of the River Skrwa. About January 20 we hear of further advance in that direction ; they reached Dobrzyn, and a few days later they began to threaten the German positions at Lipno. The restimption of the motor-car IN THE CARPATHIANS. Austrian Chasseurs with their skis passing over a primitive bridge. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAE. 187 service between Warsaw and Plock testifies to the growing feeling of security in the district. Yet we ought to be careful not to overrate the importance of the progress made in this region ; it was made by small forces in a zone of ver\ secondary importance. The movement was of value only in so far as it could form the basis for a further advance in force to the west or, which seemed n^ore likely, for a new advance against Osterode. North of the line of the ]\Iasurian lakes the progress of the Russian armies was most marked round Darkehmen, to the west of Pilkallen and south-east of Tilsit, in the valleys of the Szeszuppe and of the Inster. Along their upper course the banks of these rivers are wooded and marshy, farther west their banks rise and offer an easier field for a military advance. Towards the end of January the marshes which shelter the positions round Insterbiirg were frozen. Could the Russians, taking advantage of the season, have pushed across this barrier, a dangerous flank-attack might have been carried out against the German positions that extended along the line of the Angerapp and of the big lakes. In the first days of February the Germans began to offer vigorovis resistance to the Russian advance south-east of Tilsit and also along the southern edge of East Prussia, on the Myszyniec-Chorzele front. These movements were, however, not the beginning of a counter- ofTensive in these regions, but a screen for the concentration of troops towards the east, behind the great lakes. The German counter- offensive was to take their line for its base and strike in an easterly direction. Look at the ma.p and you can see clearly the scheme of the German offensive. The real objective of their offensive isthe line of the Narev and Bobr ; tlie attack on that line they precede, however, by an attempt at tlirowing back the Russian ariny, which faces them along the line of the lakes, on to the line of the Niemen ; the offensive which they direct against it, they mean to carry across the Niemen and the Petrograd-Vilna- Warsaw line ; if they succeed in doing this, they will cut off the connexion between the south and the Russian armies round Olita and Kovno. Thtis, before trying their thrust against the Narev line, they plan to cut off the arteries which connect it with its northern source of reinforcements and supplies. The field into which they try to drive the retreating Russian army offers several marked advantages to their offensive. Along the lakes the Russians A SNAPSHOT i)\- IHE GRAND DUKE NICHOLAS. hold a line parallel to that of the (iermans, but if they begin to retreat, their line naturally draws out in length, for their lines of retreat, as marked by the railways and roads of that region, are divergent. The attacking German army comprises eight or nine corps, the opposing Russian forces count but four. The Germans possess, moreover, a marked ad\antage in means of commimication. Heavy snow lias fallen in the last days of January and in the first days of February. The Russians stand between Johannisburg and Angerbiu-g at a considerable distance fron their ba.se ; they cannot easily and quickly readjust their means of transjiort to the changes of the season. What fate awaits an army far inferior in numbers, slower in movement, and retreating into a region of forests and marshes along divergent lines ? It was only the patient heroism of the Russian peasant -soldier and the resourcefulness and power of initiative of the Russian officer that saved the Tenth Army from the annihilation which the Germans had planned, and which, indeed, they afterwards announced as an accomplished fact. The Genuans had made elaborate prepara- tions to secure the lueans for a quick advance. A passage occurs in their official communique of February 20 which seems to suggest that they actually delayed taking the offensive 188 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAh\ Z o N z < C/3 H ?: o <d OS CU O a: z H THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 189 until snow had given them a decisive advantage in speed. That possibly explains why tlu-ir operations in East Prussia did not begin until three weeks after the advance in the Car- pathians, and over a week after the culminating period had been reached in the persistent German attempts on the Bziu-a-Rawka. " The whole country," says the German com- muniqnc, " was covered with extraordinarily deep snow ... a strong, icy wind had formed in many places tremendous snowdrifts, wliich hampered very much all communication by rail and road, and rendered perfectly impossible all motor traffic. But the German army command had made careful arrangements to meet these special difficulties of a winter campaign. . . . Thousands of sledges and hundreds of t housands of sledge -runners had been kept in readiness. . . ." The advance was to begin on February 9. On February 4 the Russians got wind of tlie extraordinary concentration of German forces, and speedily began to make preparations for retreat. It would have been a matter of absolute impossibility to bring forward from Russia across the snowbound coimtry rein- forcements sufficient for resisting the German onslaught along the Mallwischken-Angerburg- Johannisburg line. Hearing of the Russian preparations for retreat the Germans decided to strike at once. On February 7 they started their advance ivova. the southern end of their line, occupied Johannisbui'g, and pressed on to the west past Biala in the direction of Lyck. It is impossible as yet to gain a clear view of the strategic movements which took place m that region during the following few days, but from some remarks in the official communiques it would seem that the Germans tried to execute a sweeping flanking movement whereby they would have interposed their forces between the retreating Russian army and the line of the Bobr ; they also plamied to reach the Suvalki- Grodno railway hne between Augustovo and the Bobr. To counter this movement against the left flank of their retiring army, the Russians undertook from the direction of Kolno and Osowiec counter-attacks directed against the right flank of the enveloping German army. We do not know the details of these move- ments nor of the battles which ensued, but we know their result. The southern half of the Russian army in East Prussia — i.e., the 26th Russian and the :3rd Siberian Army Corps — reached the line of the Bobr with losses which did not exceed those suffered by the Germans, and their connexion with Grodno and the Niemen line remained intact. The campaign developed less favourably for our Allies in the northern portion of their hne. The German offensive between Kraupischken and the Niemen began on February 8, the northern wing advancing faster until its front stretched from west to east, and their line of advance ran from north to south. By execut- ing this wheeling movement they compelled the Russians to make their choice between the two possible lines of retreat, on Kovno and Suvalki. On the extreme right wing, the Rus- sian forces (the 3rd Rassian Army Corps) fell back in a north-westerly direction towards Kovno. By February 12 the Germans reached the Mariampol-Kalwarja-Wizajny line (mark the saUent at Kalwarja), interposing their forces between the 3rd Russian Army Corps and the 20th Army Corps which was retiring in a south-easterly direction towards Suvalki ; at the same time the German advance deprived the latter of the use of the Suvalki-Ohta railway line which the Germans were now approaching along a front extending over many miles. Had the German movement in the northern district proceeded due east the two Russian corps would have probably reached in safety their base on the Kovno-Grodno line, whereas now the 20th Army Corps imder General Bulgakoff found itself pinned on the top of the circular Olita-Grodno railway line, unable to profit from it in any way. It had to retreat into the forests and marshes that extend between Sejny and Augnstovo ; threatened from all directions by an enemy vastly superior in nmnbers, it retreated slowh% thus covering by its resistance the right flank of the two Southern Corps. Once the forests were reached which stretch north of Augustovo, the battle dissolved into hundreds of isolated encovmters, fought out in the marshy wilderness of the woods or in the secluded clearings round villages which had hardly hitherto realized that in their neighbourhood the greatest war of modem times had been raging for more than six months. There is nothing in Europe which could be compared with that Cf>untn,% where the virgin forests are called by a name formed from the root of the word " empty. " * The impene- * The Lithuanian Poles call these virgin forests " puszcza " (pronounce "pushtsha"). By the same name are called in Hungarj' the endless open fields. " Pusty " means " empty." 190 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. b en H oi O b w S3 CD CD u H oi O b £d K H Cd Q Z Oi J H OS z OS H en CD N OS trable thickets of forests are to them the empty world, the world as God had created it before the birth of man. In the land of forests and marshes east of the Vistula, the tribe of Lithuanians had settled in the fifth century of our era never to wander any farther. Then in the IMiddle Ages the Teutonic Knights, the first armed mis- sionaries of German civilisation, began to spread their dominion from the coasts of the Baltic Sea, the Lithuanian Balta Mare, and set out to carry to the heathens of the forests the blessings of their own type of enlightenment and Christianity. The Russian Lithuanians were exterminated, the Teutonic Knights appro- priated to themselves their land and their name : having stolen it. they and their descen- dants subsequently dishonoured it for all times. Marienbiu"g was their stronghold, it is now the favourite castle and spiritual home of the Kaiser ; from here he expounded to the world a few years before the war his conception of the divine mission of the House Hohenzollem. Seven centuries ago the Teutonic Knights conquered the lands along the sea, but thej'^ found the forests and marshes that surround the Niemen an impassable barrier to their farther advance. The same was to be the experience of their descendants in our own days. In pursuit of the retreating 2<'th Russian Army Corps the Germans entered the forests of Suvalki and Augustovo. There they stopped " to collect the rich booty.'" Many of these busy collectors hav^e never been heard of since, and the world is no poorer for it. On the other hand, maay battalions of that 20th Russian Army Corps, most of which was given up for lost, afterwards rejoined the Russian Army. When its counter-offensive rea(>hed the out- skirts of the big forests, these scattered detacli- ments began to emerge from them. On February 23 the advancing Russian Army was joined by the 29th Division, which had formed part of the 20th Army Corps. In twelve days it had crossed, through deep snow, sixty miles of pathless forests, fighting many battles During the following days smaller detaclunents from General Bulgakoff's corps met the advancing Russian forces at Sopockin. Jastr- zemba, Lipsk, and Shtabin. Whilst the Tentli iVrniy was falling back on to the line of the Niemen and Bobr, reinforce- ments were gathering behind these rivers. The Germans never accomplished the task which they had set themselves. Three-fourths of THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. 191 AUSTRIANS LEAVING PRZEMYSL. Baron Sievers's army reniained intact, and only between Swientojansk and Gozha (about 10 miles north of Grodno) did the Germans reach tiie Niemen ; one detachment of German infantry even succeeded in crossing the river (on February 24), but made no headway, and never got near its objective, the Vilna-Warsaw railway. On February 25 it was driven back to the left bank. About February 21 liegan the Russian counter-offensive along a line extending for more than a hundred miles, from Plonsk (north of Novo-Georgievsk). bj"^ Ostrolenka, Lomza, Osowiec to Grodno. Diu-ing the following week they advanced along the entire front a distance varjang from three to eleven miles. During this new phase of the East -Prussian campaign the northern district — i.e., the sector between Kovno and Grodno loses in importance. The German Army which had advanced against the Kovno-Olita line, finding operations in that district most " vmprofitable," retired in the first days of March throutrh the valley of the Shesluippa, by Pilvishki and Mariampol, towards the Prussian frontier. General von Eichhorn'p army ^^■as met by the Russian counter-offensive on the line Simno-Seree- Vietsieie-Koptsiovo-Sopotskin,and further south along the Bobr. On February 27 the Russians captured Hill 1,005 between Gozha and Sopot- skin ; that hill conamands practically the entire region of operations round Grodno. " In this affair," says the Russian official com- munique of March 8, "we captured 1,000 prisoners, 6 cannons, 8 machine guns. The hill was defended by the 21st German Army Corps, their best corps, which lost during the fight frona twelve to fifteen thousand killed, judging by the dead who were abandoned." This battle marked the final defeat of the German advance within the seinicircle of the Grodno-Suvalki-Olita railway line. Through- out March the Russians made steady progress. In the south they reached Augustovo on INIarch 9, further to the north they compelled the Gei'mans to evacuate Lodzie on March 19. Threatened by envelopment, the Germans had to fall back also in the centre. Before the end of INIarch the Russians had retaken Seyny. These operations were, however, by now merely of secondary importance. The Germans could no longer hope to break through towards the Niemen, still les^, then, to acquire a hold on any part of the Vilua-Warsaw railway line. The Russians, on the other hand, continued in that region a very profitable, slow war of attrition. From about February 24 the centre of gravity had shifted to the sector of the Russian ■'barrier" which faces the southern edge of East Prussia ; the chief fighting developed dvu-ing the next fortnight on the Bobr-Xarer line round and beyond Osowiec — i.e., in the region where the Germans had hoped to meet with their 'crowning mercy." 192 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAJR. PRZEMYSL: THE AUSTRIAN CHIEF OF STAFF (on left). Considering the enormoxis concentration of (German forces in East Prus.=ia, the Russians found it advisable in the beginning of February to fall back on to their line of defence along the entire front : they withdrew from {he advanced positions, even on the Lower Vistula. On February 15 they still hold Mochovo, between Sierpiec and Dobr/yn ; the next day they fall back on the Plock Raciaz line. Under date of February 18 we hear of fight'ing near Plonsk, only seventeen miles to the north-west from the fortress of Novo- Georgievsk. That region between the Lower X'istula. the East Prussian frontier, and the Mlava-Novo-Georgievsk railway is, as we have previously pointed out, of secondary strata gical importance. Its possession could be of no particular value to the Russians except for an attack against East Prussia from the south, otherwise its occupation would liave led merely to a dispersion of forces, and in case of a successful German offensive in the Prasnysz- Ciechanow region the advanced detachinents round Sierpiec might easily have foxuid them- selves cut off from the main forces round Novo-Georgievsk. Much less marked was the retreat to the east of Prasnysz. The country offers good ground for defence ; most of it is hilly, some points rising even above the 1,000 ft. contour-line. Its broken sand-hills are covered with patches of wood ; the rivers wind through marshy valleys. The general conformation of the ground, coupled with the complete absence of railways between the Nrtrev and the Prussian frontier and the scarcity of high roads, renders that region un favourable fur offensive movements on a great scale. That is the reason why we hardly ever hear of any German advance in force through the district between the river Orzec and the Grajevo-Osowiec railway line. They have always kept close to the two railway lines, whicli we might consider the eastern and the western border of the Pras^nysz-Lomza region — namely, the Mlava-Novo-Georgievsk and the Grajevo-Osowiec line. East of Osowiec the country resembles much more the district of' Augustovo ; it is flat and is covered with swamps and forests. During the general retreat which took place at the beginning of February the Russians were compelled to fall back on to the line of the Bobr. It was a moment of con- siderable danger. The chief defence of that line, the great marshes on the northern bank of the river, had vanished with the advent of cold weather. Would the fortress of Osowiec be able in these circumstances to offer effective resistance ? There are certain marked advantages which it possesses in all seasons. Along the left bank of the Bobr runs a long ridge covered with woods. The Russian artil- lery obtains from that elevation an excellent field of fire, the wood and the broken surface of the ridge offer it good cover, whilst it is most difficult to find any cover for artillery on the opposite bank. So much for Osowiec itself : yet all its natural advantages would have been of no avail, could the Germans have turned its position by crossing the Bobr to the north-east of Osowiec, where the marshes are practically its only defence. The Germans, before settling down to frontal attacks against the fortress, seem to have attempted that tm-ning move- ment. On February 18 — i.e., only four days after the evacuation of Lyck — we hear of fierce fighting on the Bobr, round Sucha Vola, abovit twelve miles above Osowiec. But it is here that the Russian concentration is strongest and that their counter-offensive begins earliest. They do not advance from Osowiec, but on both flanks of the fortress. Having been foiled in their attempt at turning Osowiec, the Germans draw together their forces on both sides of the railwav line and entrench themselves THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 193 in front of the fortress. The fighting in the sector of Osowiec loses in importance, and henceforth all interest centres round the artillery duel which proceeds between the iortress and the CJerman batteries. General von Below> the niuch-praised hero of Lyck, is in command of the German Army in this region. He has decided not to try any more fighting in the open country, but rather to force the chief road across the Bobr by bringing into action the German siege artillery which had achieved such extraordinary results before Namur, Maubeuge and Antwerp. We hear that on February 26 the Germans were bombarding Odowiec with 11-tnch and 12-inch mortars, and even with the huge 42 cm. howitzers. But their fire seems to have made no impression on the forts of Osowiec. " Russian concrete is very solid," says the Petrograd official com- munique of February 27. The remark sounds like a joke, and need not be taken too seriously. The most likely explanation why the " con- crete " of Osowiec proved by so much stronger than that of Antwerp or Maubeuge is that it probably never was hit by the German artil- lerv. Unless the Germans were able to make effective us-^ of aeroplanes — and we do not hear anything about their activity during the siege of Osowiec — they liad but very poor opportunities for finding the range of the forts or for exploring the positions of the temporary emplacements. The guns of Osowiec were able to silence several German batteries without suffering themselves from their fire. The Germans were compelled to move their positions fairly frequently, as none could remain hidden from the Russians very long ; these could easily survey the [)lain on the right bank of the Bobr from the ridge, which is several hundred feet high. In the case of the 42-cm. guns, moving is a most elaborate and lengthy process ; on one occasion it gave rise to rumours that these guns had been withdrawn. In reality, the bombardment by the 42-cm. howitzers was soon resumed, but with no better effect than before. German newspapers throughout the period have little to say about Osowiec. Only fighting of very secondary importance occiu-red during the second half of February in the district north of Lomza and Ostrolcnka. The chief German attempt to advance in that region was directed along the Kolno-Lomza PRZEMYSL: AUSTRIAN RED GROSS OFFICERS LEAVING THE TOWN. 194 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. PRZEMYSL: HALF-STARVED AUSTRIAN SOLDIERS. road, and it failed. Even, that movement does not seem to have been executed by any con- siderable forces ; as was explained aljove, the ground is unfavovirable to offensive action on a large scale. The attempted advance in the valleys of the Omulec and the Rozoga was probably svibsidiary to the chief advance against Prasnysz ; it was meant to covei- the eastern flank of the latter, to bind the Russian forces roimd Ostrolenka, and thus to divert attention from the main movement. It seems doubtful whether it ever aimed at any inde- pendent objective of its own. Prasnysz was now, as it had been in Decem- ber, the objective of the German advance towards the Narev. This region reseinbles in configuration the country round Plock and Sierpiec rather than the typical landscape about Lomza. It is fairly open and does not offer much cover. More roads cross it than are to be discovered anywhere further to the east. Prasnysz is the centre of these roads. One road leads from Prasnysz to Mlava, another to Ciechanow, a third by Makow and Pultusk to the fortress of Sierock. By taking Prasnysz the Germans would have acquired a considerable hold on the district west of the river Orzec, they would have carried their offensive to the gates of Novo-Georgievsk and Sierock, and they would have acquired a front line parallel to the railway which leads from Radimir to Ostrolenka. About the middle of February tv\o German army corps were concentrated on the Mlava- ^Villenberg line. Their adv^ance in force against Prasnysz began on February 20. The Russian forces in that region were very inconsiderable ; they consisted of only one brigade of infantry and of some small bodies of cavalry. By a wide turning movement, which passed east of Prasnysz, the Germans totally outflanked the Russian position until they had surrounded it practically from all sides. Meantime, the 36th German Division was detached to guard the passages of the river Orzec and thus to prevent any interference from the east with the German operations round Prasnysz. On February 25 the Russians were attacked simultaneously from the north and the south. They had to evacuate Prasnysz, and there seemed but little hope of their escaping complete destruction. But relief camei just in time. The German forces on the Orzec were unable to prevent the Russian reinforcements coming from Ostrolenka, from crossing the river ; they were practically annihilated in the battle of Krasnosielec. The Germans who had SLU-rounded Prasnysz from the south were in tiu-n envelojjed. A confused and most desperate battle ensued on February 26 and 27. On the 28th the Germans began to retreat towards Mlava and Chorzele, leaving about ten thousand prisoners in the hands of the Russians. Follow- ing up their victory, our Allies again reached Mlava. But soon they had to meet a new German offensive. Eight to ten German army corps are said to have been gathered on the WillenbergSoldau line for a new attack on Prasnysz. The figure seems, no doubt, to be a fantastic exaggeration. The Germans again advanced, this time securing their movement by parallel progress in the valleys of the Orzec and Omulec. We hear again of fighting along the entire front about the middle of March, but nothing happens during the next fortnight which would bear out the rumours which had previously gained credence about a new- German concentration against Prasnysz of unprecedented size. The German winter campaign in East Prussia, which at first seemed to offer unusuallj'- good chances of success, fizzled out, after the THE TIMES HISTOJRY OF THE WAB. 19i PRZEMYSL: THE DESTRUCTION OF THESE BRIDCJES PREVENTED FOOD FROM REACHING THE GARRISON. marked success of the first week, in incon- gruous and practically aimless fighting. The rally for the attack on Prasnysz — i.e., the second part of the original programme — ended in a German defeat. It seems very doubtful whether a comparison of the losses suffered during the entire campaign would give any advantage in favour of the Germans. The strength of the Russian " barrier " on the right bank of the Vistula ^vas tested once more and proved equal to its task, and Osowiec succeeded in withstanding attacks such as no Western fortress had as vet survived. On ]Monday, March 22, at nine o'clock in the morning, fell Przemysl, tJie chief fort- ress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and one of the greatest fortresses of Europe. Tt-: fall involved the surrender of a garrison consisting of nine generals, ninety-three sviperior officers, 2,r)00 subaltern officers and officials, and 117,000 of the rank and file. A whole army was lost to the Germanic Allies, an army equipped with a powerful train of artillery, including a considerable number of guns of the most modern type. The forces within Przemysl exceeded by far the number required for an effective defence of the fortress. Their original strength must have amounted to about four army corps, when after a siege of four months and after a series of nio.st desperate sorties, 120,000 men still remained in the fortress. A garrison of sixty thousand would have been amply sufficient for the defence of Przemysl ; the greater number merely hastened ' the evil day ' of surrender. The excessive size of the garrison and the deficiency PRZEMYSL: RUSSIAN INFANTRY ENTERING THE BAKR.\GKS. Notices in Russian will be seen on the gateposts. 196 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. A MOTOR SCOUT PATROL. of supplies were both due to the same cause — the unexpected tivrn in the covu-se of the war which set in towards the end of October, 1914. The first siege of Przemysl had begvm on September 16, and was raised on October 14. The Russian troops fell back before the Austro- German forces on to the line Medyka-Stary Sambor. Their retreat was effected in perfect order, and before retiring they blew up the bridges and destroyed large tracks of the rail- way and the roads. It was not until October 23 that the first train from the west entered Przemysl. Diu-ing that period the Austro- German armies operating on the San seem to have been supplementing their supplies by drawing on the stores of Przemysl. An eminent Austrian general explained, in a recent discus- sion on the different uses of fortresses in modern warfare, that in border-lands they form useful and safe depots of supplies, ammvinition, and rolling stock for the armies operating or gather- ing in their neighbourhood. That view seems to have been put into practice to the great detri- ment of the future staying powers of the fortress. The drafts on the stores had hardly been replaced when the Austro- German armies found themselves compelled to fall back to the west. That retreat seems to have taken place in such a hurry that considerable bodies of troops which did not belong to the garrison sought refuge in the fortress from envelopment by the Russians. This is the most likely explanation of the excessive size of the garrison during the second siege of Przemysl. The second siege of Przemysl began on November 1 2. Experience at Port Arthiu- had taught the Russians many a lesson concerning modern fortresses. They did not try to take GERMAN LANCERS RETURNING FROM OUTPOST DUTY. THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. 11»7 Przemysl by storm. \\'itli the inadequate siege-artillery which the Russians had at their disposal, any attempt on their part to rush the forts or trenches of Przemysl would have been infinitely difficult and expensive. For years the best Austrian engineers had been preparing the field of fire ; the Austrian artillery knew the exact range of every point round the fortress. No cover was left which would have favoured the advance of the enemy. At niglit powerful searclilights excluded all possibility of a siu"- prise attack. The Russian siege-array, com- manded by General Selivnnoff, proceeded first of all to construct a series of defence works of its own. Przemysl, a fortress with a circiim- ference of twenty-five miles, was surrounded by an outer ring of Russian counter- fortifica- tions. These positions were fortified so as to offer an effective resistance to any attempts on the part of the garrison to break through the surrounding Russian lines. The problems involved in the siege of a nxodern fortress, which cannot be shattered by artillery fire or taken by storm, resemble to some extent those of jjreventing an enemy from crossing a river. It is impossible to guard the entire line in sufficient force to defeat any attempts on the part of the enemy. The most that can be done is to hold in force the most important pomts and to fortify the rest of the line to such an extent that the local forces should be able to hold it until supports can be brought up from other parts of the line. Whilst the ring round Przemysl was being fortified all the time, the Russian troops were approaching its forts by means of saps ; that was slow and weary work, but it was sure to be more efficacious than any direct attacks could have been, and caused infinitely smaller losses of life among the besieging army. The garrison of Przemysl was excessive in «ize, the stores could not last long. These facts were loiown to the Russians, and thus they had no reason to waste men on storming a fortress which could be starved into surrender. The Austrians had to assume the initiative in attacking. They had enough men to sjmre, ^nd they freely sacrificed lives in desperate sorties. The commander-in-chief of Przemysl was General Hermann von Kusmanek, but a special " expeditionary force " was formed for sorties ; it was mainly composed of ^lagyars, and a Magyar, General Arpad von Tamassy, was placed at its head. A few sorties were undertaken in No%ember. Thev assiuned a really serious character aljout the middle of December, when the Austro-German armies were pouring across the Carpathians into Galioia, and had got as far as the transvei'sal railway line between Krosno and Sanok. Six sorties in considerable force issued from Przemysl between December 11 and December 22. On one occasion "their sortie detachments striking at one point of the lines of investment broke thi'ough and succeeded in marching 15 miles beyond the outer lines of the Przemysl forts." " Only those then present with the staff of the besieging army," says an officer of General RUSSIAN OFFIGEKS MAKING OBSERVATIONS. Selivanof^'s staff in an account of the siege, wi'itten for The Times at the request of its special correspondent with the Russian forces, " could realize what strenuous work devolved upon them during this trying period of the siege. The Austrians in the fortress were already conversing with the Austrians on the Carpathians by means of their searclilights. The gims of Przemysl could be heard by (he Austrian field ariillery. The situation \\a& serious, and General Selivanoff took promjit measures. He brought up fresh troops to the point of danger and drove the sortie detach- ments l)ack to the fortress. . . ." During January and February comparative 198 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. ADMISSION TO THE ENEMY'S LINES. A Russian soldier, bearing a message for Austrian Headquarters, being blindfolded. calm prevailed in the sector of Przemysl. The Germanic armies were trying to relieve Przemysl by attacks on the lines of communication of the besieging Russian forces. No Austro- German forces stood anywhere near Przemysl, and so there was little hope or scope for sorties ; meantime, the Prussian ring was drawing tighter and tighter round the fortress. The Austro-German chief command knew of the approaching exhaustion of supplies in Przemysl ; fairly regular communications wer& kept up between them and the besieged fortress by means of aeroplanes. In the beginning of March a new desperate Germanic offensive was undertaken across the Carpathians straight against Przemysl, but this time it did not get beyond BaUgrod and Lutoviska. Towards the middle of the month the garrison began to fire off anamunition simply on an offchance that it might hit some Russians. The hour of surrender was evidently near at hand. Says a dispatch from the Russian Great General Staff, received at Petrograd on March 18: "In the Przemysl sector the fortress guns continue to fire more than a thousand heavy projectiles daily, but our troops besieging the fortress lose only about ten men every day." On the same day General von Kusmanek issued an order to the troops of Przemysl,. calling on them to proceed to a last sortie. " Heroes, I announce to you my last summons. The honoiu" of our Army and our country demands it. I shall lead you to pierce with your points of steel the iron circles of the enemy, and then march on, ever further, without sparing your efforts, imtil we rejoin our army, which, after hard fighting, is now near us. . . ." It is not known with certainty how the SLunmons was received by the garrison, but well-founded rxmioui-s are current that the starved Slav regiments, wliich never had their hearts in fighting for the cause of their bitter enemies the Germans and the Magyars, re- UNDER THE FLAG OF TRUCE. A blindfolded Russian soldier being conveyed to Austrian Headquarters in a motor car under guard. THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAlt. 199 ^^f^ "* 't^ * ~j S^*««cJi v^ T ^B V # \JFj9 y>i8l ■* m '^fWilM lii IN THE CARPATHIANS. The Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovitch, only brother of the Tsar, is in the centre of the group, which includes some of the Caucasian princes. fused obedience. Anyhow, so much is certain that the sortie of March 18 was undertaken only by the Twenty-Third Hungarian Hon\ed Division, supported by a Landwehr Brigade and a regiment of Hussars ; further that it was not directed towards the distant Carpathian Mountains, where Austro-German armies were fighting, but to the east, towards Mosciska ; the Austrian commander thought that the Russians had there their stores of provisions. In other words, the Anabasis of the modern Xenophon assumed the character of a foraging raid, and it finished in complete disaster. During the night Sunday — Monday (March 21-22) the garrison blew up the main forts, and at nine o'clock in the morning the fortress formally surrendered to the Russian Army. The fall of Przemysl rendered available for further operations in the Carpathians a Russian army more than 100,000 men strong ; and what meant still more, it secured for the Russians full freedom in using the excellent system of rail- ways and roads which covers the quadrangle between Lwow, Stryj, Jaslo and Rzeszow. In reality Przemysl never fully performed the functions which its designers had expected it to fulfil. Conditions had changed considerably since the days when it was chosen for the site of the greatest Austrian fortress. The idea of building a fortress on the San was first discussed diu-ing the Crimean War. The first fortifica- tions round its bridge-head were constructed in 1865, the first forts were built in the years 1871-1873. The fortress was reconstructed and enlarged about 1887, when a war between Austria and Russia seemed imminent. It was again rebuilt in 1890. Then a long time of com- parative rest followed in the matter of Austrian preparations for war against Russia. In 1807 an agreement was concluded between the two States concerning Balkan affairs, and no matters of acute controversy arose between them until Count Aehrenthal, the Austrian Foreign Secre- tary, by his high-handed behaviour towards the Serbian nation, threw down a challenge to the Slav world. In 1909 began the last and most modem reconstruction of Przemysl. A look at the map easily explains the reasons why Przemysl was chosen for the site of the chief Austrian fortress against Russia. Here the great rampart of the foothills which stretch in front of the Western Carpathians approaches , nearest to the river-belt of the Dniester. The mountain wall is still further strengthened by the river San. Inside the great ciu^'e of the San, between Przemysl and Jaroslav, the hills rise to a height of 1,400 feet. They cover the western and southern flanks ot the fortress ; the San affords it protection from the north. To the east stretches a level plain ; Przemysl overlooks it from its heights. Further to the east the marshes along the Wisznia and still further the ponds and marshes round Jaworow and Grodek rcinl'orce the defensive lines in front of the fortress. Przemysl itself guards the gap between the hills and the San in the west and the upper Dniester in the east. To the east of Sambor the Dniester forms an enormous marsh. For about forty miles no roads nor railwaj's cross it ; they merely skirt its mighty triangle between Sambor, Lwow and Stryj. One part of it bears the name of " Big 200 THE TIMES HJSTOBY OF THE WAB. ^ TRUDGING THROUGH THE SNOW. Last line of Austrian reserves marching to join the advance armies. Mud " ; the names of the towns and villages scattered along its fringes hint at the presence of midges and different water-fowl. The marshes continue, though over a much narrower belt, between Mikolajow and Zuravno. Between Zuravno and Nizniow the Dniester can be crossed comparatively easily, and this was the one region which would have had to be held if Przemysl was to serve as buckle between the covering lines of the Vistula, the western hills, the San and the Dniester. For below Nizniow the Dniester again forms a good defensive line. The river winds in mighty ciu'ves tlirough a canon several hundred feet deep. Its steep sides are covered with forests ; these forests stretch across the broad belt formed by the curve of the river, and also across the lower reaches of its tributaries. The " vary " (canons) of Southern Podolia form the " dead belt " of the lower Dniester. When Przemj'^sl was first constructed, offen- sive warfare against "Russia was hardly thought of by anyone in Austria. In those days the plans were laid for defence. In case of war with Russia, everything to the north-east of the San-Dniester line was to be abandoned, the line of the rivers was to be held in force. The fortress of Cracow in the narrow gate between the Vistula and the mountains was meant to guard the road to the west ; Przemysl, between the two river-wings, was to act as first defence. Moreover, it was to cover the best roads and easiest passes leading into Hungary (the Uzsok, Lupkow and Dukla). In recent years Austrian strategic plans iinderwent considerable changes. Eastern Galicia was covered with a network of strategic railways, the offensive against Russia between the Vistula and the Bug became the absorbing idea of Austrian strategists. The defensive plan way practically abandoned. Przemysl remained an isolated fortress in these days, when only lines of fortresses can be of real use as supports to field armies. The first Russian offensive swept over the Dniester at Halicz and over the San at Jaroslav. Przemysl was never anything more than an inconvenience to the advancing Russian army. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. Manuel M. POINCARE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC CHAPTER LXX. WINTER ON THE WESTERN FRONT. The Fighttno from the Battle of Ypres Oxwaro. — The Town of Ypres, its Beauties and THEIR Destruction — The Combats of Vermet.i.es — On the Yser — At Wytschaete — Gi\ enc hy — Christmas in the Trenches — The Engagement at St. Georges — The Battle of Soissons — The Fighting Round I,a Bass^e and Near Bethune — Storming the Grande Dune — The Combats on the Ypres-Comines Canaj.. CHAPTER LXV. recorded the miglity struggle which will stand out for all time in the history of the Great War as one of the most important and deadly actions of the Western campaign — the first battle of Ypres. That battle ended with the complete repulse on November 11, 1914, of the famous Priissian Guard, fifteen of whose battalions had been brought up to batter the British and French Armies, destroy their thinned and tired remnants, and open the road to Calais. But the Kaiser's intended cul- minating stroke fell almost harmless ; for the valour and magnificent endurance of the " con- temptible little army," aided by the efforts of its gallant Allies, turned it aside. The end of this act of the bloody drama was, indeed, far different from that which its Royal author had intended. To be crowned King of the Belgians in the city of Ypres was impossible ; he could only show his baffled spite by a savage bom- bardment from a safe distance of its beautiful cathedral and the world -renowned Cloth Hall. The destruction of Dover from the cliffs of Calais had to be replaced by ineffective strokes against harmless coast towns, where a few bombs killed a number of innocent women and children, but produced little material and no moral effect on the inhabitants of England. Vol. IV.— Part 45. 201 Thereafter followed a laeriod for both sides of comparative quiescence— almost a time of rest so far as great and spectacular efforts were concerned ; but their winter quarters were far different from what they used to signify in former wars. Then there was practically a total cessation of hostilities ; now, though no supreme efforts were made, winter in the trenches signalized an epoch of almost un- interrupted fighting. There was perpetual vigilance against attack ; the daily rebuilding of trench works shattered by artillery fire, the replacement of wearied units by le.ss wearied, while new men took the place of the killed and wounded. It was a time of con- tinuous hardship and trial, and all in the trenche.s of France and Flanders through the Winter of 1914-5 hoped for the coming of Spring, even though the change from dark- ness and cold mud and numbing inacti\ity meant a renewal on a greater, and probably a bloodier, scale of the continued battles of the past autumn. But while the four months which elapsed between the first battle of Ypres in November and the battle of Neuve Chapelle in March marked a period which was barren of those note- worthy engagements which are the substance of military history, though thej' will fill but a 202 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. THE CLOTH HALL OF YPRES FIRED BY GERMAN SHELLS. short page in the school-book history of the future, they represent nevertheless an era in the War which is replete with profoundly interesting and important material for the military his- torian's study ; and they afford matter of no less interest to the general student of the different phases of this epic warfare. There was fighting — and heavy fighting — ^to record during this winter period, and interesting events which varied the daily and nightly round of watching in the mud of the trenches. It is this strange but often moving tale of winter life in the trenches which we have mainly to tell in this chapter. We have spoken of the first battle of Ypres as having ended with the defeat of the Prussian Guard on the night of November 11, for that was the end of the abortive German stroke. The definite abandonment for the time of the struggle to hack through to Calais is, however, more usually dated November 20, for the fighting only gradually died down after the 11th. By the 20th, however — the day when the weary British troops were relieved by the French — the indications that the attack had really spent itself were displayed with clearness sufficient to justify Sir John French in writing, in his despatch of that date (reviewing the fighting since the beginning of October), " As I close this despatch there are signs in evidence that we are possibly in the last stages of the battle of Ypres- Armentieres." Cautious in language, of course, but significant, and borne out by the even*. And, indeed, there was fighting enough during those intermadiate days to make a record of very real warfare. True, the Germans failed to push home their advance in front of Ypres, which they should have done on November 12 — a plain proof that for a time their troops were spent ; but in other parts of the line they were not idle ; north of Ypres they crossed the canal at two points (to be thrown back the next day), and they gained some ground to the south of Ypres, which was afterwards retaken. The afternoon of Friday, the 13th, witnessed a fierce bombardment of the section of the British line which ran south to the INIenin-Ypres road — which formed the prelude to an attack along the whole Une round Ypres. This attack, which at one point succeeded for a time in penetrating our trenches, resulted in heavy losses to both sides, excep- tionally so on the German side. On the night succeeding that day, too, the British took the offensive, captured a German trench, and THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. 203 bayoneted such of its occupants as did not surrender. A similar story of attack by the Germans south of the Ypres-Menin roa«.i, with penetration of our lines, marked Saturday, the 14th. This was a better day for the French, who attaclced successfully <and gained ground near ^^\vtschaete. Elsewhere the Germans were busy on this day, as on the previous day, in shelling towns, villages and roads behind our lines, evidently deeming it desirable to dis- courage the advent of reinforcements. Among the towns thus favoured was Ypres itseli", and in so far as the bombardment there was to check the reinforcement of our line it was legitimate warfare. But it soon became apparent that the wanton fury of disappoint- ment was the chief motive which pointed the German guns. So long as they saw a prospect of a dramatic triumph for the Kaiser among the mediaeval beauties of the Flemish city the Germans spared, as far as possible, the Cloth Hall and the Cathedral, and they did not send incendiary shells into it. As hope vanished incendiary shells began to be used, and they were especially directed upon the city's glorious monuments. This vandahsm (to anticipate a few days) was particularly noticeable on November 22 and 23, when the Ge^n^ans poiu'ed a stream of shell into the market square, having, it is .said, brought up for the purpose a train armed w ith heavy guns, used under the direction of a captive balloon. It was then that the Cloth Hall and the Cathedral were set ablaze, and when they were seen to be demolished the Ger- man artillery ceased shelling that quarter. In the thirteenth centiu-y Ypres had been the wealthiest town of Flandei-s ; its population was estimated at 200,000. Out of the profits acquired from the constant activity of 4,000 looms its citizens between 1200 and 1.304 had created the three-storied Cloth Hall, which wa.s the finest municipal })mlding of the Middle Ages in Belgium. The main facade was 433 feet long. From its centre sprang the square belfry 230 feet high, and one side of the veist building w'as flanked by the Nieuwerk, a beautiful Renaissance erection of the seven- teenth centiu-y. As Mr. Souttar has well remarked, the only building which we have at all comparable to the Cloth Hall is the Palace of Westminster. The interior of the Hall, whose upper storey consisted of three huge galleries with timber ceilings, was decorated in places by mural paintings, .some dating from the foiu-- teenth and fifteenth centuries. During the last fifty years the walls had been embellished with frescoes from the brush of distinguished A WINTER SCENE. 204 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. THE LAST PORTRAIT OF LORD ROBERTS. artists belonging to the modern Belgian school. These painters — Giiffens, Swerts. Paiiwels, Delbeke — had depicted the chief events in the rise and decline of Ypres, which by 1914 con- tained a population of under 20,000. The foundation of the Hospital of the Virgin in 1187, the ravages of the Black Death in 1347 which had led to the decay of the cloth industry of Ypres, the siege of the city by the Englisli under Henry Spencer, the fighting Bishop of Norwich, and by the burghers of Ghent and Bruges in 138.'}, the entry of Philip the Bold of Burgundy and his wife, the last C^oiuitess of Flanders, in 1384 were among the themes treated. Delbeke's allegorical paintings, repre- senting the manufacture of cloth, exhibited his personal and curious talent. Since their destruc- tion all that is left of this rare painter who held so high a place in the artistic annals of liis country are a iew sketches and small easel pictures. To the north of the Hall was the Church of St. jNIartin, built in the thirteenth century. The unfinished tower, 190 feet high, the rose window of tlie south transept with its magnifi- cent stained glass, the trivunphal arch between the pillars of the west porch, which had been constructed in 1600 by Urban Taillebert, the choir-stalls carved by the same Urban Taille- bert, the pulpit with its lavish carving, the late- Gothic monument erected to the memory of Louise de Laye, widow of Hugonet, Chancellor of Burgundy, the tomb of Antoine de Henin, the brazen screen in the soiith aisle with its alabaster statuettes of saints attracted visitors to this noble church. To students of religious history St. Martin's was especially noteworthy. Under a plain flat stone was buried in it Cornelius Jansenius, Bishop of Ypres. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the followers of Jansenius, of whom the most illustrious was Pascal, had disputed with the Jesuits for the souls of the French and their Bourbon rulers. From the Grand Place and the Hall ran southwards a wide street, the Rue de Lille. Some doors down on the west side was the Hospice Belle, an asylum for old women, founded by Christine de Guines, widow of Salomon Belle, about 1279. It was the shrine, as it were, of a triptych -painting by Melchoir Broederlam of Ypres, who had been employed by Philii? the Bold at the end of the fourteenth century. Broederlam was a predecessor of the Van Eycks, and he was one of the earliest painters north of the Alps of whom we possess any record. The crowned Virgin, clothed in the red and gold brocade of the period, and the St. George with a medieval lance in his hand, the portraits of Salomon Belle and his sons, of Christine de Guines and her daughters carried one back to the years which had followed the completion of the Hall and seen the gradual collapse of the city-state of Ypres. Further along the Rue de Lille was the Hotel THE TIMES HISTOEY OF THE WAR. 205 LEAVING FRANCE FOR HOME. Merghelynck, a Museum illustrating the taste of the eighteenth century in furniture, china and knick-knacks. Altnost opposite it was a Ciothic edifice, the Steenen, whicli had been converted into a post office. The Rue de Lille was but one of the numerous thoroughfares of Ypres which delighted the historian, artist and antiquary. The splendid houses, from the jNIaison de Bois with its tasteful Gothic timber front to the dwellings built durino the eighteenth centvu-y, exhibited the evolution of domestic areliitecture. The towers and gables reflected in the stagnant waters of the ditches and ponds fed bj' the sluggish Yperlee dominated the remains of the old ramparts, dismantled in 1855. Ypres was a city of the pa.st. The weavers, whose " red-coated " ancestors with the burghers of Bruges and Ghent had in 1302 — thirteen years before the Swiss at Morgarten inflicted their first defeat on the Hapsburg knights — routed the feudal chivalry of France THE PROCESSION TO THE PORT. 4.5—2 206 THE TIMES HISTOh'Y OF THE WAR. at the Battle of Courtrai, had migrated in the latter half of the fifteenth century. The town had been devastated bj^ religious iconoclasts in 1566; immediately afterwards it had been pillaged by the ferocious soldiers of Alva and Parma ; four times it had been taken by the French in the seventeenth century. This Win- chester of the Low Covmtries was now added to the list of cities the ruins of which will attest to posterity the character of the German people and its rulers. "Alexander the Great," said Voltaire, "founded more cities in Asia than the other conquerors of that continent have destroyed." William II. will be remembered, not for the towns which he fovmded in Europe, but for those which he reduced to ashes. To return to our narrative of these final days of the battle. Sunday, the 15th, saw a very distinct slackening in the enemy's efforts, though on OUT side it was marked by a retaking of the remainder of the positions lost the day before. A German prisoner declared that this day had been fixed for a renewed assault by the enemy, but that the heavy nature of the previous day's losses had determined them to await reinforcements ; and on Monday, the 16th, this section of the front relapsed into a peace it had not Icnown for a month. Then on the 17th there was another and last spurt, made chietiy by the XV. Corps. Three attacks were delivered to the east and south- east of Ypres, and the first attack met with such success as can be claimed for the occupation of trenches out of which our troops had been previously driven by shell fire. But the gain was a very short-lived one ; a brilliant counter- stroke with the bayonet sent the Germans scuttling out and back 500 yards to the rear. The second attempt ended in their leaving 1,200 dead outside a length of 500 yards of the British front ; and the third was soon repulsed by shell fire The^e abortive efforts may be regarded as the final flicker of the mighty attempt to push through to Calais ; though, a day or two later, German activity on our left wing seemed to indicate a further attempt to reach the desired goal by the coast road. But this, too, flickered out. The succeeding days passed vineventfully. But in using the word let us avoid any miscon- ception upon the reader's part as to its meaning, by quoting from one of " Eye Witness's " dispatches, dealing with the same period. " What is now considered uneventful," he writes, " is not so in the peace sense of the word. It merely signified that no active operation of any special vigour by either side has stood out from the background of artillery bombardment. This continues day and night ^ IN NORTHERN FRANCE. Members of the German Red Gross with rifles. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 207 QUEEN MARY'S BROTHERS. The Duke of Teck, and (inset) Prince Alexander of Teck (on left). Mith varying intensity, hardlv ever ceasino altogether. ... It implies also that luuidreds of shells are bursting and detonating along the length of each line, and that men are continu- ally being killed and wounded. And yet, comparatively, even from so small a standpomt of the whole war as that of the British Army alone, xmeventful is the only word to apply lo such days — days on every one of which scores of lives are being lost." Tliis gloss is worth bearing m mind throughout the reader's con- sideration of the " uneventful " days of the winter now beginning. For these final days of the Ypres battle marked the commencement of the icy winds and then of frost and snow which gave our troops a foretaste of the hard- ships in store for them. Another event marked these days. On November 14 Lord Roberts died. He had come to France to see the Indian troops of whom he \\as the Commander-in-Chief. His best days had been passed in their country, and he was known to them not only as their head, but almost as their father. Now fate willed it that when they were far away from their native land, exposed to the rigours of the European winter, he should die, as he would have wished to die, in their midst, himself a victim to the trying climate. Honovu-ed in life, happy in the occasion of his death, he wa.s borne from the hne of battle to his own country amid the sorrowful tokens of respect, not only of the Empire's soldiery, but also of the gallant Allies fighting with us. Tn St. Pauls, that unique cathedral of the Protestant faith, he lies appropriately at rest with others who, like him.self. lived their lives for their coimtry. His full story Jia.s been written elsewhere in this History. The inundation scheme by which a con- siderable area to the north-east of Dixnuide was rendered impassable to the Germans, and which was destined to arrest their march as effectually as gun fire, was completed by November 18.* At this stage— the definite commencement of the entrenchment operations, which were to characterize the coming months of winter— we * Previously alluded to in Vol. III. Chap. LXIII. 208 THE TIMES HISTOEY OF THE WAR 209 may glance at the map (page 219) and note the line of the opposing armies on the Western front. In the north the Franco-British line began on the Belgian coast at Nieuport and St. Georges, which they held. Here the Ysei- ran into the sea, and as far south as Dixmudo (which is divided by the river and wa.s between the contending armies) formed roughly the boundary between the ojfposing lines and covered the small corner of Belgium which alone remained free of German occupation. This section of the line was appropriately defended by the Belgifin army. From Dixmude the line continued in an irregular southward and south-ea'-terly course, the Ypres salient, still in British hands, marking one of the most noteworthy features of the irregularity. From Armentieres it bent away in a westward curve towards Bcthune, some- what straighter opposite La Bassee, where the British front ended. Thence the long line to the Swiss frontier was exclusively French. It ran at first nearly due south, past Arras and La Boiselle (in French hands), beginning its eastward curve at Quesnoy. Thence across the Oise, between Noyon and Compiegne (nearer tlie former), where the Germans got closest 1o Paris, and away to Soissons, following the Aisne to Berry-au-Bac. Thence it took a south-easterly curve past Reims, and away eastward through the Forest of Argonne to the Aleuse. Here there is a big curve around the fortress of Verdun, which ends in a German salient at St. ^lihiel. From this point the line stretched out towards the Lorraine frontier by Pont a Mousson, and skirted the frontier, .imtil, by the Col du Bonhomme, south of St. Die, it actually crossed into the enemy's country, and restored a slice of German territory in Alsace to France. The long line of 350 miles ended by the Sv\dss frontier, below Altkirch. The daily and nightly fighting, on one jjart or another of that line, swelling here and there into important engagements, shifted the de- markation by a few hiuidred yards from time to time, but, speaking broadly, it remained as we have just sketched it tliroughout the winter — as stationary as it was invisible, for it was a line of soldiers hidden in the earth. Tt was not a pleasing prospect before olu* soldiers in those November days. Miseries of the kind wliich they were destined to luidergo are not easily realised in advance, and the wonderfully cheerful men of the British Ai-my did not spend time in gloomy contemplation of what lay in store for them. But a foretaste came early. Even before the deafening echoes of the Yprf's l)attle had died down, snow had started to fall and melt into miserable slush ; and the road:-, already made bad enough by rain and licavy traffic, became avenues of depressing filth, only s\irpa.s.sed in wretchednes>3 by the trenches themselves. These were, as wo ore told, " wretched l)oyond description ; from having to sit or stand in a mixtures of licpiid nuid, the men had now to contend with half- frozen slush." Some relief to this gloom was afforded by a welcome visit to the Britu<h lines of the King, but before referring to this Royal visit we may briefly chronicle one or two intermediate matters. A SHELTER. It has been noted that on November 20 the British troops in the Ypres region were relieved by the French, and trenches which had been held so bravely and at such cost for a month previously were handed over to our Allies, This was not a temporarj' relief. Trie British line was definitelv and considerably shortened ; and the French and British troops, which during the fighting had become somewhat mixed up, with consequent difficulties .as to supply and unity of command, were sorted out. At the same time the British Army was rein- forced, and effective reserves were established. The thin khaki line had won glory for our Army, but it could not remain in the positions 210 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. so bravely held indefinitely, certainly not if valorous defence was to be turned into vigorous offence. These closing days of November were therefore vitilised for much-needed readjust- ment and consolidation. This was not only necessary in the general interests of the campaign ; there were from time to tune indications that there might be im- mediate need to withstand a renewed attempt by the Germans to push through to Calais. For instance, on November 23, near Festubert, the enemy, after sapping towards our position and bombarding it with trench mortars, advanced and rushed some of the British defences, and repeated efforts during that day and the suc- ceedinji' night were necessary before the enemy could be ejected. It was difficult and costly fighting, and was notable for the execution done by the Ghurkas at close quarters with their kukris, and for the effective use of grenades on oiu- side. A sniall incident of British doggedness diu'ing this fighting may be worth recording here. During the German attack a British officer in charge of a threatened trench of some importance received a telephone message telling hun to hold on at all costs. His reply was that he had never had any intention of doing anything else, and he would be obliged if he could be informed when his men's rations would be sent up ! On December 1 there was a pretty general expectation of a fresh big attack in the Yser region, and it is fair to assume that it was intended, for diu'ing the previous days large masses of German troops had been hurried forward in that direction, and the day itself was marked by heavy and incessant artillery fire o\'er a wide front. But the expectation, entertained by many near the spot, that the Germans intended a make a bigger effort even than before to rush the Yser defences and reach Calais by that route, were destined not to be fulfilled. The next day the artillery fire died down, and no infantr\'^ attack followed it. Reconnais ance and reports to Headqviarters also indicated about this time that some of the enemy's artillery was withdrawn, accompanied by his cavalry, with the exception of one Division of the Guard. Such was the position on the Western front — intermittent bombardment and attacks and counter-attacks by small bodies, with the con- solidation of trench work, upon both sides— when King George came out from England to visit his Army. The Kaiser had tliroughout the war been travelling backwards and forwards between tiie Eastern and Western fronts, sometimes himself directing operations ; the Czar had visited his troops near the fighting line ; tfie King of the Belgians had been continuously with his soldiers in the thick of the fighting ; WITH THE GERMAN ARMY. Portable filter and sterilizer. THE TIMES HJSTOBY OF THE WAB. 211 FESTUBERT AFTER BOMBARDMENT. the President of the French Republic had paid visits to the Front. ]t was therefore fittmg, though a break with long precedent (George II., who fought at Dettingen, was the last King of England to leave his country for the seat of war) that our King should for once leave England's shores and the multifarious activities in connexion with the war which occupied him, and see with his own eyes the progress of events in France and Flanders, and encourage by his presence his loyal and enthusiastic soldiers. The Prince of Wales was already in the field, working hard and unostentatiously as a junior officer at headquarters, where he had been appointed aide-de-camp to Sir John Frencli, and his presence and the manner in which he performed his duties were a stimulus to those with whom he was a comrade in arms. But the presence with them of the King's heir did not diminish the pride with which the soldiers of the Expeditionary Force received the King himself, nor the satisfaction which such a visit gave to his Allies. As matter of prudence, there was no public announcement in advance of the King's move- ments. It was just known that he did pro- ])ose to visit France, but the first actual inti- mation that this historic event had taken place was after he had reached the headquarters of his Army. Tlie King left Buckingham Palace on Sunday afternoon, November 30, and at night wa.'s conveyed in a \\ar>hi]) across the Channel. He went without pomp or ])ageant, as a soldier on active service, in liis liliaki imifonn. and the next morning landed without ceremony on the French coast, being met by the Prince of Wales. The visit lasted throughout the week, and \\as one of the hardest weeks that ever our hard-worked King spent diu^ing this strenuous 212 THE TIMES HISTOEY OF THE WAR. . V ^<v «•> A BELGIAN POST. war-time. He had come to see liis men and their work, and his desire for information and inspection appeared ahnost insatiable. He began with \4sits to hospitals at the base, and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were occupied with a tour of inspection of tlie various Army Corps forming the Expedi- tionary Force. Though pomp was absent, the tour of inspection was a triumphal pro- cession through long vistas of cavalry and infantry, often of worn men in ragged uniforms just back from their turn of duty in the trenches. And the triumphal note was accentuated, not only by the cheers of King George's own troops, but by the eager cries of " Vive le Roi " from the inhabitants of the towns and coimtryside, who, wdth generous display of bunting and flags, w-elcomed the King of England with almost as hearty an affection as did his own soldiers. And, indeed, the French people must have been impressed with such an inspection of troops. The pageantry and colour of a military parade were lacking ; the only glitter was that of stern steel ; the skies were sometimes dismal with rain and fog, yet the spectacle was, in its grand significance, one which will be vividly remembered by the spectators long after far more imposing pageants have sunk into oblivion. The impressiveness was heightened by the fact that no inconsiderable part of the inspec- tion was made within soimd of the thunder of the gvins, and within view of bursting shells. At one spot, and at a moment when luckily the air was especially clear, the King stood on a spot where before him rose the smoke of the factory chimneys of Lille and Roubaix within the enemy's lines, and where his eyes fell upon a ridge of land whence evidence of recent desperate fighting was furnished by the still smoking ruins of villages. And within his gaze, too, w^ere the ruinous outlines of the Cloth Hall and the Cathedral of Ypres, their shattered walls and towers standing out gauntly against the sky-line, amid which fell even as he watched the bursting shells of the Germans. As he turned eastward from this spectacle of bar- barism his eyes fell on the woods where had been waged one of the fiercest fights in the records of the British Army, and farther away the waters of the canal on the banks of which the struggle had been so terrific. Away to the north was that other famous battlegroimd, the valley of the Yser. On this occasion (though the week happened to be one of exceptional inactivity in the firing line) the King saw his own batteries at work, for while he was on the hill some of them opened fire, and the King was able to observe the effect of their shells upon the enemy's trenches. The King's inspection was not confined to the army on parade ; he visited the advanced THE TIMES HlSTOBY OF THE WAli. 213 hospitals and ambulances and the niuiierous departments of specialized work which make up the wonderfvil machine of modern war - the Army Signal Hpadf(uarter Office, well described as " the nerve-centre of the army in the field," a mass of air-line and cable, wireless and tele- phone apparatus ; the Intelligence Section oi tlie General Staff, ^vhich collates tlie informa- tion received by the Signal Service ; the Operations Section of the General Staff, the executive department where the knowledge gained is practically applied ; and the Quarter- master-General's Department, where are con- centrated the chief directions of the Supplies, Ordnance Transport, Railway Transport, Re- mounts, Veterinary and Postal Services ; and the map branch of the Intelligence Section, where the engineers compile and print literally hvindreds of maps and plans of all sorts daily. The King's final visit was to the Royal Flying Corps, whose members had so carefully assvrred his safety during the visit, where he was able not only to inspect British macb.ines and note tlie improvements made in tli ni since he had last inspected the nascent Flying Corps at Famborough, but had al.-o tlie satisfaction of examining an aeroplane captured from the enemy. Xor did owe King limit his visit to his own Army. As the Paris Temps wrote in its welcome. the presence of the Hritish Sovereign in the midst of tlie Allied troojis appeared as a solemn consecration of \\\>- indissoluble fraternity of arms which German aggression had created between l']ngland. France and IJelgimn. French- men saw in the vi^it equal homage to tlieir own Army. The Higher Command of that Army was received by the King, General Joffre fieing in\ested with tli.- Order of the Grand Cross of the Bath, and Generals de Maud'huy, d'Urbal, Conneau, de Mitry, .Maistre. Dubois and Grossetti receiving the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. Tho head of the French Republic itself, M. Pomcare, wa-s the King's guest at the British Head- ciuarters. There was another Army, too, which merited a visit from the King of England, for the tour of inspection was well rounded off when his -Majesty tlrove to the Headquarters of tho Belgian Army. There was a pathos in the meeting between King George and King .Albert, on the frontier of thc^ little comer of territory wiiich alone remained to King Albert un- desecrated by the enemy, when, as an observer said, the Belgian soldiers cheered for the first time in liis hearing .since the war began, and it wa.s a fitting occasion for the investiture of the heroic Belgian King at the hands of the British King of Britain's ancient decoration of the A DETERMINED DEFENCE. House held by the British in La Bassee. 45—3 •214 THE TIMES HISTOEY OF THE WAR. BRITISH SENTRY IN WINTER GARB. Order of the Garter. The inspection of Bel- gium's war-worn veterans was one of the most impressive incidents of the week. Tliere are many aspects in wliich this visit is notable, in addition to its break with the precedent of two hundred years. To the soldier it must have been pecuUarLy fitting that the King should have come to France just after the definite repulse of the enemy s terrific effort to break through to the port whence Britain itself was to be assailed. Another aspect of sig- nificance was noted by the French : " The journey of the King," wrote the Tempa, " affects us also by its serene tranquillity. With a fine gesture England thereby affirms her mastery of the sea. It is not because German submarines have succeeded in gliding under waters to the coast of France, and even Ireland, that the naval power of England is affected, any more than bombs thrown by a Taube can diminish the value of the French Army. Notwithstanding the stormy winds, the King of England crosses the sea with security, disdaining even to conceal his voyage, and scorning the attempts at treachery wiiich his visit might suggest to the enemy. ' British soldiers ne\er doubted the affection of King George tor his Army, before or after his ascent to the Throne. His labours as a practical officer when serving in the Navy in command of a torpedo boat showed that lie gloried in the risks of a sea life. But when he came among them on the battlefields of France, and watched their arduous work in this greatest war we have ever waged, they must have felt how truly he was their chief, and with what solicitude iie regarded their daily labours. In an order which he issued from General Head- quarters at the close of his visit the King said :• — " I am very glad to have been able to see my Army in the field. I much wished to do so in order to gain a slight experience of the life you are leading." With his gaining of this ex- perience his Army was cheered and encouraged to fight on, if possible, more determinedly than ever. As Sir John French (whom the King, while at Headquarters, had decorated with the Order of ]\Ierit) declared in his dispatch recording the visit, " At a time when the strength and endurance of the troops had been tried to the utmost throughout the long and arduous battle of Ypres-Armentieres, the presence of His Majesty in their midst was of the greatest possible help and encouragement." The fortnight which followed the return of King George to England was marked by one ON THE LOOK-OUT. THK TIMJ':S HISTOIIY OF THF \\'.\n. •llo or two actions of some importance which need to be recorded, although as the reader has been already apprised, vigorous campaigning was for a tune suspended. As the French Official Review of the first six months of the war pointed out, it is useless to engage in great operations in water, mud and fog, and in a season of short days. Sir John French en- forced this lesson in his disi:)atch covering the period now under review, pomting out that during these weeks the operations of the Army under his command were subject almost entirely to the limitations of weather. Those limitations, as he remarked, were no new thing in warfare ; such conaitions were alwaj's inimical to military operations ; but the most recent developments of armaments and the latest methods of conducting warfare had added greatly to the difficulties and drawbacks of a vigorous winter campaign, and had increased the susceptibility of armies and their work to weather conditions. To the amateur it might not, at first sight, seem that the work of artillery would be much hampered, apart from the difficulty of moving guns along heavy roads. Bvit there was another drawback. To avoid a pure waste of ammunition when artillery is firing at long ranges requires constant and accurate observation ; and that is just w hat it cannot get in the midst of continual fog and mist by the latest scientific development in warfare — aerial reconnaissance. Already in this war armies litld grown accustomed to rely largely upon aircraft reconnais.'<anc<'. not only for locating the enemy's position but also for information as to the effects derived fmin the fire directed on him. W iiid and fog hampei'ed such work most seriously. Tliere was yet anothei' diicd ion in whicii \\ii'itr\' conditions liindered operations. As Sir .lohii French pointed out, the fatal accura<y. long-range and quick-firing capabilities of the modern rifie and macliine gun require that a fire-swept zone be crossed in the shortest possible space of time Ijy attacking troops. But if men are detained under the enemy's fire by tlie difficulty of emerging from a water-logged trench, and by the necessity of pa.ssing over ground knee-deep in holding mud and slu.sh, such attacks become practically impossible. 216 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. The principal fighting on the British front between the week of the King's visit and Christmas was, first, a somewhat determined attack made on December 6 by the Germans between Dixmude and Ypres. It may be doubted, however, whether any seriovis inten- tion was behind it. At any rate it was un- successful. The capture by the French of \^ermelles, a village a few miles south-west of La Bassee, on December 7, may be recorded here, for Vermelles had been, for nearly two months, the scene of a determined struggle, and its capture was important, since it brought the French into a strong position commanding a considerable extent of country. The middle of the month saw another spurt of pretty severe fighting, extending along the front from the sea by Nieuport down to below Ypres. In the north it largely took the form of repeated assaults by the Germans, but there were attacks made also by the Belgian, British and French Arniies on the Yser, and particu- larly near Nieuport, which resulted in some small gains of territory to us. Not only were parts of the three armies thus engaged, but the British Fleet also took part in the attack near the coast ; the guns of the naval squadron firing from the sea reinforced the French heavy artillery. Indeed, the naval activity was carried even farther, as four barges with British naval machine guns entered the Yser river in order to cooperate in the fighting. This was one of the few occasions on which misty and rainy weather was an aid to the fighting. For, helped by it, our infantry carried the villages of Lombartzyde and St. Georges and a strongly fortified farmhouse. In this action some of the heaviest fighting fell to the French Marines, and a bayonet charge made by them over exposed ground and under heavy fire formed one of the finest exploits of the day. But the fighting all along, among both the British and French trooj3s, was distinguished by gallantry and the success- ful resistance of sviperior numbers. During this time also, some progress was made by the Allies in other places, such as the neighbourhood of Klein Zillebeke and St. Eloi. Perhaps it was owing to the general feeling of hopefulness at this time and to the belief at headquarters that the enemy was with- drawing part of his forces from the Front that the French and British Commanders decided upon an attack on December 14 upon the German lines west of Wytschaete, a village which, it will be remembered, the Germans had succeeded in retaining dviring OFFICERS' QUARTERS. Outside "Arcady" — "No organs by request." THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE ]VAR. ■in WATERING HORSES. AFTER BREAKING THE ICE, LADLED INTO TUBS. THE WATER WAS tlie great battle of Ypres. West of Wyt- schaete is a wood, the Petit Bois, and to the south-w( st of it, in the hilly ground, an eminence called the Maedelsteed Spur. At both these places German entrenchments pro- tected their hold upon the village. The former of these objectives was allocated to the Royal Scots, and the latter to the Gordon Highlanders. The Scots, under the command of Major F. J. Duncan, D.S.O.. in the face of a terrible machine gim and rifle fire, carried the trench on the western edge of the wood ; and the Gordon Highlanders, under the command of Major A. W. F. Baird, D.S.O., advancing gallantly up the ^Maedelsteed Spur, forced the enemy from his front trench. But there their luck ended. They were losing heavily, and could get no further, and at nightfall, the action having been in progress all day since the early morning, they were obliged to fall back to their original position. It was not from lack of gallantry that this effort failed. A few men succeeded in entering the enemy's leading trench, but they were all either killed or captured. On the left of these two Scottish regiments was the 32nd French Division, but it had been unable to make progress, and a further ad\'ance \\a8 therefore impracticable for the British also. The action illustrated the difticultj- of fighting in heavy winter ground devoid of cover, and so water-logged that rapidity in advance was impossible, for the men .sank deeply into the mud at every step they took. It cost our troops casualties ainounting to 17 oflficers and 407 of other ranks, and the net result wa.s the retention of the western end of the Petit Bois. This attack near ^^'\•tschaete was followed on December 18 by an attack farther south, in the neighbourhood of Givenchy, some five miles south-west of La Bassee, by the Indian troops. The General commanding the Indian corps had received instructions to demonstrate and occupy the enemy in order to assist and support certain French ojierations which were being conducted elsewhere, and it was in pur- suance of these instrvictions, and with a desire to respond to them energetically, that the attack now tf) be referred to was launched on the morning of the 19th. 'I'he Meefut and the Lahore Divisions both took part in it. It looked at first as though succe.ss would reward the effort of the former, for the enemy's advanced trenches were captured ; but, later, a counter-attack drove the Indians back, and their losses were heavy. The Lahore Division, comprising among other battalions the l^^t Highland Light Infantry-, as well as the 4th Gurkhas, under the command of Lt.-Col. R. \\'. H. Ronaldson, was also at first successful, two lines of the enemy's trenches being cap- tiu"ed before daylight with little loss. These were filled with as many men as they a c •s* .5 3 O _ Q '-i Z u C/} U. £ 12: QQ z z u c ca O -o O a X c t/3 O O. •00 c c o 218 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAIi. •211) could 1k)1c1. The front was very restricted, communication with tiie rear impossible, and at daybreak it was found that the position could not be lield. For botli flanks were in the air, and a supporting attack, which liad started late, and was therefore made in dayligiit, liad failed, in spite of gallantry and resolution. Some of the trenches had been mined, and were blown up by the Germans. One party of Indians was surrounded, without hojje of succour, and was forced to surrenaer. Colonel Ronald - son held on to his captured trencnes througli the day, but at dusk they . had all to be evacuated, and the troops retreated to their original line. The day's operations had there- fore proved disappointing. The enemy deemed the occasion. opportune for an attack from their side. As soon as day- light commencea on tne next day, the 20th, the Germans started a heavy fire along the whole front of the Indian Corps. This was the prelude to infantry attacks, which were directed in special force against Givenchy and the two- mile stretch of land between that village and I^a Quinque Rue, to the north of the former. Defending Givenchy was the Sirliind Brigade of the Lahore Division under General Brunker. At about 10 o'clock in the morning this Brigade gave way, enablmg the enemy to capture a considerable part of the village. Happily the .57th Rifles ana 9th Bhopals, who were stationed north of La Bassee canal east of the village, and the Connaught Rangers, who were south of the canal, stood firm. A fierce fight for Givenchy now ensued. The 47th Sikhs were sent uj) in further support of the Sirhind Brigade, while the 1st Manchesters, the 4tli Suffolks, and two battalions of French Territorials, the whole under General Camegy, essayed a vigorous counter-attack through Givenchy, in order to retake by a flank attack the trenches lost by the Sirhind Brigade. Subsequently they were diverted to Givenchy itself, in order to re-establish the situation there. The village, thanks to a gallant attack by the Zuancnesters and a company of the Suf- folks, was retaken about 5 o'clock in the after- noon, and the enemy was also cleared out of the two trenches to the north-east of it. Our trenches north of the village still, how- ever, remained in the enemy's possession, and it was not imtil one o'clock in the morning that it was possible to deliver a counter-attack, by the 47th Sikhs and the 7th Dragoon Guards under the command of Lt.-Col. H. A. Lem priere, D.S.O., against these trenches. The a^ssailants reached them, but were driven out again by enfilade fire, and Colonel Lempriere was killed. Some three hours later the main attack, by the remainder of the icjix-e, with the rallied remnants of Col. Lempriere's detaehuu'nt, mider General Macbean, wliich had been originally allocated for the work, was delivered, but it also failed. KEY MAP OF THE COUNTRY The retirement on the mommg of the 2(tth had had another untoward result. The retire- ment of the 2tid Gurkhas had left much exposed the flank of the 1st Seaforth High- landers, wiio were on the extreme right of the Meerut Division line, and when the Sirhind Brigade fell back the Seaforths were left com- pletely exposed. The 58th Rifles went to the support of their left, and throughout the after- 220 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. on z THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. 22i noon the Seaforths made strenuous efforts to clear the trenches to tlieir right and left. Fighting raged furiously along this section of the line, and though no advance in force was made by the enemy our troops were pinned to their groiuid by his artillery fire, and the Seaforths, in particular, suffered heavily. It was in these circumstances that orders were sent to the I. Army Corps, which was then in general reserve, to supjjly an infantry Brigade for the support of the Indian Corps. The 1st Brigade was detached for the purpose, and by midnight it had reached Bethune, about five miles west of Givencliy. But the serious- ness of the position demanded yet more reiiiforcements. Sir Douglas Haig was ordered to move the whole of the 1st Division in sup- port of the exhausted Indians. The 1st Brigade was directed on Givenchy, the 3rd on the lost trenches ; the 2nd was in support, and the Dehra Dim Brigade was placed at the disposal of the Commander for the ^Nleerut Division. These Brigades arrived, and began work, in the com".se of the 21st. In the early afternoon a. simultaneous attack was made by the 1st Brigade from the west of Gtivenchy, in a north- easterly direction, and by the 3rd Brigade from Festubert (a couple of miles north-west of Givenchy) in an east-north-easterly direction, the object being to pass the position originally held and to capture the German trenches 400 yards to the east of it. By night a considerable part of this object had been achieved. In the evening of the next day, the 22nd (when Sir Douglas Haig took over com- mand), the position at Givenchy was practically re-established, and the 3rd Brigade once more held the old line of trenches. It had been a hard, anxious, and costly fight, which eventuated in success, and the quiet behaviom- of the Germans on the 23rd indicated that for the time being they were incapable of further effort. It was an appropriate time for the slackening of hostile activities, for the armies were now on the eve of Christmas, and everyone was wonder- ing whether the season which is so especially- associated with peace would be marked by battle. Some kindly efforts, but efforts fore- doomed to failure, had been made by neutral parties to induce the belligerents to agree to a truce over Christmas. But no one was pre- pared for the extraordinary outbursts of good- will and good feeling towards enemies which actually took place on this strange Christmas Day. Descriptions of it do not figure in official dispatches ; yet even the military student will take account of the p.sychology exhibited 1)\ soldiers facing each other in combat on the field, and engaged for months past in constant fight- ing, actually fraternizing on this great anniver- sary simply on account of its Christian signifi- cance. To the general reader it will perhaps be the most interesting, certainly the most moving, feature of this winter campaign. The news of it was received by tin- public in Cn-al Britain, and presumably also in (jermany, with bewilderment. While with us it produced a feeling of satisfaction this was not tin- case with the German commanders, wIkj had various reasons for disapi^roving of the mani- festations, as will be seen later. The unofficial Christmas truce seems to have extended over a very considerable part of the BRITISH SOLDIERS IN THKIK HUNKS. These sleeping apartments are 12 feet beneatli the surface of the ground. line, but it was not universal ; for example, on the night of Christmas Eve the Germans made a fierce attack upon the Frencli and Belgian positions recently won to the north of Xieuport, and the Allies made a successful counter-attack, which resulted in the winning of a little more ground in the dunes. To the south of Dixmude, again, Christmas was marked by a bombard- ment, and there was occasional shelling on the British front in this region. Perhaps the recent los.ses of territory by the Germans at these places accounted for a special soreness which even the influence of the season could not allay. Else- where there was exhibited some hesitancy as to the correct attitude. At one point in the Aisne Valley the Germans left their trenches on Christmas Day shouting " Two days' truce ! " but the French, suspecting a ruse, shot them all •222 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. down. At another point, in the British lines, where a truce had been observed during Christ- mas Day and Boxing Day, something Uke treachery on the part of the Germans was dis- covered, for a deserter from the German side arrived in the British trenches at 9 o'clock in the evening of Boxing Day with the information that the enemy had taken advantage of the truce to mass large bodies of troops prepara- tory to an attack that night. A consequent artillery display by the British was of such a formidable character that the attack, if. indeed, intended, was abandoned. At one ulace. on the night of Christmas Eve, British and German soldiers in their respective trenches sang a hymn together — each in their own language. But no sooner had it ended than a shower of bullets came from the German trenches. However, this exhibition of cynicism was not general. The numerous other instances of mutual Christmas -keeping which were reported were as genuine on the German as on the British side ; indeed, it was from the German side that the overtures originated, though it is worth remarking that in the British lines orders were received on Christinas morning not to shoot unless it was absolutely necessary. But even before, on the night of Christmas A FRENCH AEROPLANE WHICH LANDED IN OUR LINES. The airman was unhurt. Inset — French troops firing at a Taube Eve, fraternization had begun. In the trenches, for instance, in which the North Staffordshire Regiment was located there had been an exchange of shouted Christmas wishes, and other remarks, which ajjparently after a time became altogether friendly. Then the British troops got out of their trenches and sat on the parapets, and their example was quickly fol- lowed by the Germans, and conversation began. Conversation afterwards changed into song. A suggestion for a German 'S^olkslied was made by a British officer, and was responded to. Soon the men on each side were singing, and applauding each other, and thus a regular concert was established, which appropriately ended in the British officer walking across to the German trenches, being there formally introduced to the officer m command. An agreement was then made that there should be no shooting before midnight on Christmas Day, permission to bury the dead lying between the trenches being the overt basis of the agreement. Yet even while this was going on, and men were exchanging cigars, etc., shots were being exchanged in neighbouring trenches. The night in the North Staffordshire trenches passed jovially, "with nice big fires blazing and occasional songs and conversation," and when Christmas morning dawned the Germans sent out parties to bury their dead. The Englishmen went out to help, and the men of both armies mingled, and exchanged gifts of tobacco, food, etc. So the whole morning passed in cheerful converse and singing of songs. The British officer in command went right over to the German trenches, and ex- changed greetings with a colonel and other officers, these gentlemen arranging that their THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WJU. men should remain midway between tlie trenches. In anotlier part of the line British soldiers actually went into the German trenches, and stayed some lime ! Tn order to obtain a peraianent record ot tliis extraordinary ren- contre photographs were taken of Cierman and British groui)s mixed. At one place the photographing became reminiscent of Hamp- stead Hes'Mi on Bank Holiday, for a picture taken by a German ofiticer showed British and German soldiers arm-in-arm, with exchanged caps and helmets (see page 227). The only sign of friendliness which apparently was not displayed was the eating of their Christmas dinner in common, but they went back again to enjoy each other's company afterwards, con- tinuing until p.m., when they retired to their respective trenches, and " war " began again. The emotions of the Saxons — it is worth noting they were Saxons, and not Prussians — so far carried them awav that thej'^ asked their Scotsmen do ncit think .so much of Chri.stmas Day as Engli.shmen and Gennans, and that wa.s perhaps wliy a Highland officer went out on Chri.stmas morning and told tlie Gennans w ho were coming over to wish them a " Happy Christmas " that tliey were at war with them, and really tiiey must play tlie game and jjretend to fight. 'J'his cold reminder, however, did not suttice to damp the ardour of fejlow- shijt. Tiie (iermans again came out of their trenches, and the Higli landers endeavoured to keep them in their places by firing o\'er their heads ; but the Germans could not understand anything short of actual fraternization. One of them said, " But you are of the same religion as us, and to-day is the Day of Peace." As a Highlander remarked, it was a great triumph for the Church. Opposite the trenches of the Rifle Brigade there were similar proceedings. As one of the officers wrote, describing the scene. '" W'lien I CHRISTMAS AT THE FRONT. A Sentry. British enemies to " fire in tlie air. and we will.-' This extremity of friendliness was not con- fined to the North Staffordshires and their Saxon opponents. Opposite a Highland regi- msnt a tale is told of German invitations on Christmas Eve to our men to go over and meet them, and of a subsequent exchange of cigar- ettes and cigars. Here, it appears, the rank and file took the inatter of a truce in hand, and a 'ranged with each other a 48 hours' armistice, which the Germans inaugurated by playing, during the early hours of the morning, " Home, Sweet Home " and " God Save the King " on the cornet by an exceptionally good piaj-er. A Snow .Man. got back to our trenches after dark on Christ- mas Eve I found the Bosches' trenches looking like the Thames on Henley Regatta night. Tliey had got little Ciiristma.s trees burning all along the parapet of their trenches."' This particular oflicer had one of his men killed that afternoon, and his memory was full of wounded men going mad and slowly dying outside the German trenches on the Aisne, so he was not in the mood even to allow the Germans to enjoy their Christmas by them- selves ; and when one of them fired he had his excuse to line up his platoon and fetch down the Christmas trees. ^leanwhile two of this officer's colleagues had got out of their trench 224 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. MUD! MUDl! MUD!!! The appearance of British troops after leaving the trenches. and walked half way to the Germans and met two German officers and shaken hands and chatted with them. The unforgiving lieu- tenant melted tne next day and went across to his opponents, his mind being easier when he found that tliey were Saxons. Of course, after this, the men on each side were soon enjoying animated conversation and mutual reminiscences of London. The Saxons retailed their war news, which apparently was to the effect that Russia had been completely wiped out, that the Germans were not going to bother the British until January 1, when their eastern army would have returned, and that then they were going to wipe the British and -French off the face of the earth. At anotner point on the front the Colonel of a British Infantry regiment met enemy ofticers (again apparently Saxons) and told them that if thejr would have an armistice on New Year's Day the British would play them at football. History does not record whether that interest - mg event ever eventuated — it is safe to opine that it did not. Still in another section of the line an mternational match would have been played, only the necessary football could not be found. Elsewhere one was borrowed, and the match was about to begin, but play was forbidden by the colonel of the British bat talion. ' But at one place at least the inter- national event was actually achieved ; a British regiment had a match with the Saxons opposite them, and were beaten, tliree to two ! It was here that a German chaplain, burying his dead in the presence of both sides, improved the occasion by reading his burial service in both German and English. In at least one spot the mutual Christmas- keeping began with British overtures, and a suggestion irom one ot our men to cease fighting, which was quickly answered by an invitation to come over to the German trenches. Of course all these exchanges of goodwill did not take place without traces of suspicion on both sides. For instance, when the men of the Kifle Brigade, after an exchange of Christmas presents, took the Germans some tea and cocoa, the Germans warily waited for the Englishmen to drink first before accepting their hospitality. Prudence also extended to forbidding, while permitting ordinary operations outside the trenches, the making of any improvements in the barbed-wire entanglements covering the front, a breach of this regulation being followed by a warning shot from the other side. One rather pleasing instance, which recall- a somewhat similar story from the Russo- Japanese war, was the handing by a German officer to a British officer of his photograph, with a request to him to forward it to his sister who lived in England. IH?: TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAli. •2'25 This wonderful Christmas outburst is a text from wliicli many morals miglit Ik- preached, and the reader will doubtless draw his own. Among the first which will occur to him is that, from the Cerman side, this exliibition of goodwill consorted badly with the enemy's avowed policy of " friglit fulness." It received, therefore, as may easily be imagined, no support from the German Higher Command. An Army Order of December 29 forbade any recrudescence of fraternizing, and especially any approach to the enemy in the trenches, and declared that any infraction of the order would be punished as treason. German newspaper writers, com- posing their lucubrations in the reposeful atmosphere of their offices, drew from it, doubtless by order, many lugubrious deduc- tions. In their safe places it was evident that making or comitenancing these Christmas overtures show-ed that the soldiers responsible for them mistook the seriousness of the situa- tiou. and these backsliders in the policy of ■ f rightfulness " were reminded that "the Highest authority of the Army " shared the opinion. But as both the " Highest authority " and the writers liad taken jiarticular care never to expose themselves to any personal danger, the \ alue of their views as to the desirability' of a little relaxation from the nerve-trying stress of a contimied residence in the tr?nche8, may Ijc disregarded, perlia]js with feelings not unmingled with a little contempt. The statement so far as the Emperor William is concerned was apparently true. For at a Christmas Eve party at Douai he is reported to have finished his words of greeting with the ((uotation, " To the du.st with all the enemies of Germany. Amen." In estuxiating the psychological value and meaning of these Christmas celebrations it must be remembered that, startling as they were, similar rapjiroachmonts are not unknown IN THE BRITISH TRENCHES. A Group of Dragoon Guards. 226 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. in the history of war. Wo may recall that duruig the Peninsular War the French and the English soldiers also fell to fraternizing, and that Wellington and the French commander took measures to stop it. It was not a sudden ebullition of sentiment produced by the wonder- ful influence of the Christmas Feast, but rather the gradual result of propinqviity. On several occasions the soldiers on both sides having to water at the same river which separated them, came to a mutual understanding not to fire on one another when doing so. Tliis procedure was repeated in 1914 in at least one place where the French and Germans found them- selves in close proximity to a common water supply. The peaceful behaviour at the water side of the French and English in the Peninsular eventually led, first to the exchange of gifts and BELGIANS AFTER SPENDING A NIGHT IN THE TRENCHES. then to the exchange of visits, and English and French soldiers were foimd sitting aroimd the same camp fires, sharing rations and playing cards with one another ! There arc many interesting and well attested anecdotes which prove this, and it became the custom in the French Army to speak of our men as " nos amis les ennemis." There was, indeed, a general understanding that neither side should fire on the outpost sentries of the other, and thus avoid viseless slaughter. Again, in the Rvisso -Japanese war, during the later stages of the siege of Port Arthm-, the soldiers of the opposing ariTiies entered into friendly communication with one another, and exchaneed cigars and cigarettes. And there is a story of the officers of the two armies picnicking together, and making one another friendlv speeches, on the occasion of an armistice for the burial of tb.e dead. Such approaches to friendliness between com- batants are not therefore unlvnown. They may indicate, as certainly was the case in the Peninsular War, the absence of any real hos- tility between the men of the contending armies, or they may show a dying down of the fiame of enmity ; and when this is the case they are a hopeful and fitting prelude to the coming peace, and an indication of its near approach. There were, indeed, some, chiefly among the soldiers themselves at the Front, who thought they saw in the Christmas celebrations of 1914 an intimation that the fury of the war had spent itself. But the subsequent e\'ents soon disappointed this hope. The Germans had been led to expect a short and glorious cam- paign, and those who had been enduring for some weeks the wretchedness of trench life in the winter had natvirally lost nuich, if not all, of the warlike enthusiasm which had excited them in the stunmer. Moreover, the Gennan is a sentimentalist, combined in warfare witli a good deal of the brute, and the advent in such circumstances of Christmas was just the sort of occasion to melt his martial ardour and awaken friendly feelings. On the British side there never had been any real hate of the Germans, only a firm resolve to win the fight that had been forced vipon them, and avenge the wrongs ^\■hich Germany had inflicted upon Belgium and Northern France. So the British soldier also had learned to forget enmitj^ at Christmas time, and naturally responded to the exhibition of German sentiment. But an interesting political qviestion arose out of it. The reader will have noted in our account of the festivities that stress was laid on the Saxon element in those parts of the line where the combatants exchanged signs of good- will. The matter has never been satisfactorily cleared up ; but there is reason to think that the friendly advances were not made where the Prussians were concerned. A story is told of fraternization between the British and Saxons at one part of the line, where the Saxons warned the British troops against the men on the Saxons' left. And it appeared that some men from a British regiment opposite the trenches indicated went out between the lines, as the others had done, but the enemy told them to go back, and fired on them before they had regained their trenches. And these unrelenting adversaries were said to be Prus- sians. Similarly, at another part of the line. THE TIMES HISTOliY OF THE WAE. 227 A CHRISTMAS TRUCE— BRITISH AND G Soldiers of the rival armies exchanged sweets, cigars Bavarians came out for friendly intercourse, but they particularly warned the British officer there that it would not be safe to go out opposite to the next trench on the right, as it was held bj- Prussians. At another place a board is said to have been put up, " Do not fire on us, we are Saxons ; wait till we are relieved by Prussians." From all this it was not unfair to draw the inference, which was supported at other tiines during the campaign by other facts, that the German hatred of ERMANS FRATERM/i:. UHCEMBHR 1914. , and cigarettes, and sang carols and songs in unison. England and desire to prosecute the war were a Prussian hatred and a Prussian desire, and that the Bavarians, and more particularly the Saxons, were only fighting because, as parts of the German Empire, they were forced to go where the Prussians led. It was an interesting and an important speculation, and yet, at the same tmie, it ^^•as easy to exaggerate it. At any rate, it was necessary to remember that, among brave men. fighting each other for their respective countries according to the rules 228 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. of war, there does, after, or between the out- bursts of martial fury, grow up a sense of mutual respect, which is apt to evolve even such friendliness as will at times make the combatants unconsciously regard themselves as almost com - rades in arms. Had the German Army carried on its invasion with less brutality, and its war- like operations with less unfairness and devilry, such feelings wovild have grown more luxuriantly among the soldiers of the Allies who fought to withstand the invasion. We may now revert to our record of the winter's happenings on the Western front. The last battle in our record was the fight at Givenchy on December 21 and 22. Within a few days of this engagement the Allies were busy both to the left and right of that sector. On the extreme left the combined French and Belgian forces took St. Georges, a village about a mile and a half east of Nieuport, the capture of which made a pleasing finish to the 1914 operations in Flanders more particularly since the operation at first looked doubtful. In December the Allies -were holding in front of Nieuport a very narrow bridgehead. Partly for the pm-pose of enlarging it they began attacks in the direction of the dunes on the right bank between Nieuport and the sea. These dunes, which were difficult to penetrate, are continued southward to Lombartzyde, a village which had been put into a state of defence. Farther to the south the inundated area began. Notwithstanding counter-attacks, varied by the bombardment of Nieuport and Nieuport Bains, the Allies gained grovmd, and by December 27 had reached St. Georges. Part of the village on that day was already in their hands, but another part, comprising a few houses between the Yser canal and the road, was in German possession. The floods (for it will be remembered that all this district was in the invuidated area) barred access to the place except by the road and the dyke on the south of the canal. The handful of houses had been transformed by the enemy into a regular fortress, quickfirers commanded the road, and the embankment was occupied and protected by barbed wire. The Allies made a zig-zag sap along the road and along the dyke, and in this way, on December 27, they reached and captured a ferryman's house to the north of St. Georges. The next day, supported by terrific artillery fire from Ramscapelle and from among the ruins of Wulpen and Boits- houcke, the assault was made. In spite of the enemy's violent fire, some French marines succeeded, with the help of a small boat; in putting a gun into position on the dyke, at a very short distance from the fortified houses, which were reduced to ruins. * Simultaneously,, from the south, Belgian troops advanced through the mud, and joined by a detachment of marines coming from the direction of Ramscapelle^ took up a position in two farms, whence they swept the enemy with a raking fire. Then the French marines and Algerian sharpshooters, in the zig-zag sap dashed forward, and the last of the German marines who had remained in St. Georges siurendered. They numbered only about forty, but in the ruins about 30O corpses were found, and the prisoners bore witness to the terrible effect of the French 75's. The cai)tors were not left in undisturbed possession. During the fight they had been shelled by the German guns at Mannekensere, Slype, and Schore, and on the 30th there was a renewed and violent bombardment from this artillery, which smashed up what remained of the village, as well as the Allies' trenches, after which the Germans advanced in four columns by the dj^ke and the road, across the mud-lianks, and even through the water. But their determination was barren of result. They were all stopped at point-blank range by the Allies' fire. The capture marked a success not to be estimated by the unimportance of the village or the small extent of the added territory. The points seized on December 28 were valuable positions for artillery, especially useful when the time should come to advance to Ostend. Another good result of the capture was the assistance it afforded to the building of bridges across the Yser east of Nieuport — a work essential for the passage of troops and gims. It was one of the bridges constructed at this time to which the troops, in recognition of its strength, gave the name of " General Joffre." It was a tempting prize to the Germans, and they did their best to destroy it; but their fire was, appropriately, quite ineffectual, and t le enemy had to console himself with a fresh furious and fvitile bombardment of Nieujiort and Nieuport Bains. The satisfactory exploit just recorded was * For an interesting illustration of this incident see ante. Vol. IV., p. 24 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 229 .ia\\vi' '''"'■■ .•:#''|*:vi^^ les ;^4=MlL;^|i^a g n e ux Ii= % t^^J AROUND SOISSONS. soon succeeded by another French success. Following upon several days' successful fighting (which the Germans at the time described as the most violent of the caiTipaign) the French troops in Alsace gained a substantial victory in the capture of Steinbach on the night of January 3-4, 1915 — a happy augury for the New Year. But the liapj)y omen was not destined to be fulfilled at once. About this time, too, there began a series of heavy engagements in the Soissons district. North of Soissons, across the river, between the villages of Braye and Crouy, is a plateau with fairly steep sIo])es, and among them is an eminence called Hill 132. Here the French had secured on January 8, by a Vjrilliant attack, following a heavy bom- bardment the previous day, a strong jjosition commanding the road and railway from Soissons (in the French lines) north-eastward to Laon (behind the German lines), though entire possession of the hill was not yet secured. To appreciate adequately the effort of the French it is needful to bear in mind that the German entrenchments at this point were stronger than at any other part of their align- ment on the Aisne. The French Army's position, when it was gained, was very dillicult to reach, yet the Germans thought it worth while to make the attempt. This they did on the following days, but w itli the result that a French counter-attack on Sunday, the Intli. sent the Germans flying beyond the trenches from which they had started, and placed the French in complete possession of the hill. The Germans showed their chagrin by a violent bombardment of Soissons, a form of activity which was without military object, and could only (as was the case) dan^age ci\il and eccle- siastical buildings. Seventy-five shells struck the Cathedral. But this senseless shelling of peaceable habitations was soon followed by a more rea- sonable form of fighting. \'on Kluck hurried 230 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. AN OLD MILL IN NORTHERN FRANCE, Which was used as a German Observation Post. up reinforcements by railway from his base at Laon — two army corps, it is said — and on January 12 bitter attacks by very large forces were made again on Hill 132, as well as on the Perriere spur (part of the Vregny plateau) across the valley, which had for some time past been in the possession of the French. Fighting lasted throughout the day, and at the end of it the French were still maintaining themselves at the top of the slopes west of the spur, but towards the east they had given ground, and the Germans claimed the capture ot 1,130 prisoners, besides artillery pieces and machine guns. It was clear that the Germans had gained a strong advantage. That night the French were driven from the Perriere plateau, and reinforcements in the village of Crouy were foiled in their efforts to give assistance. The battle waged fiercely through the next day, notwithstanding torrential rain and the con- sequent soddening of the clay which must have seriously embarrassed the operations on both sides. On this day, also, the French appear to have done badly. It is true that they maintained their positions around the village of Crouy, and at the foot of the eastern slope, but they gave way on the height before Vregny, and lost their hold on the hardly won Hill 132, on the other side of the valley. The Emperor William was present ; and the Germans appear to have cheered themselves with what they described officially as "a brilliant feat of arms for our troops vmder the very eyes of their supreme War Lord." It was the first time he had been privileged to witness a successful operation by his troops. The commanders who had the proud distinction of show'ing their Kaiser what a German victory looked like, were, besides von Kluck himself. Generals von Luchow and Wichiu-a, and they were decorated bj^ him, in an effusion of joyous gratitude, on the battlefield. The Emperor expected that the victory would open the way to Reims, where it was his hope to hold some kind of religious service in the Cathedral, to show the world that his guns had not really shattered the building. The rain, to which reference has been made, had an effect which worked disastrously upon the French. The Aisne, which flows by Soissons, and between that city and the hilly region now being fought over, rose about this time to such an extent that several bridges, including two large pontoon bridges which the French had thrown across the river, were carried away ; probably the German artillery fire was also concerned in ^he destruction. The French communications were thus rendered precarious. A new bridge was built in the night, but gave way in the morning after twenty minutes' use. The position north of tlie river could no longer be maintained, for urgently needed reinforce- ments and ammunition and food could not bo sent across. Moreover, the Germans, showing their accustomed ingenuity and resovircefulness, bored a tunnel through to the river banks, which they blew up, and the flood water of the swollen river poured down to the meadows, THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 231 where French troops were entrenched, and the trenches were washed out. Tlien the French retreated, with difficulty, along a line of several inil's to ihe south Ijaiilc over the pontoon bridgi-, wliich had again Ix'en reconstructed, leaving some of their guns behind them, owing to a part of the bridge breaking. These weapons, however, were ren- dered useless before abandonment. One battery. left on the northern bank at Alissy to cover the retreat, continued firing until its ammunition was exhausted and only s'ix men were left standing. These men then wrecked their giuis. Unfortunately the retreat was too luuried for the transfer of all the wovmded, many of whom fell into the (Germans' hands, to swell the nvunbers of the prisoners (declared by the Germans to niuiiber 5,200 all told) wliich caused the enemy nauch lively satisfaction. l^\^t the fighting had also given considerable numbers of prisoners to the French. In fact, both sides lost heavily in every way, and the battle right through, and particularly in its later stages, was the cause of prodigious slaughter. The French now took up a new line on the south bank of the Aisne to the east of Soissons, though still maintaining on the north bank a force to hold the outskirts of the town, and with the bridge heads still in their possession they were able to claim that although their line had been strained it had not been broken. They had suffered a distinct reverse, but not a serious one from the military point of view. As Soissons is only sixty miles from Paris, a real break m the French line at this point; would indeed have been unfortunate : but what happened only served as a cheek icj the French offensive, as the lost groimd was not easily to be recovered. In any case, the tlefeat reflected no discredit u[)()ii the French tirms. That they were able to cro.ss the river at all was a matter of congratiilation, for the enemy tried hard to cut them off. They suffered mainly from the difficulty f)f holding spurs, which are necessarily exposed to enfilade fire on the sides ; and only in a minor degree from Gennan \alour or generalship. It was the flooding of the river, with the consequent loss of the temporary bridges and inability to send up reinforcements against the superior Gennan forces, which determined the retreat of our Allies. The latter had at their back no treacherous river, but a railway running most conveniently to their base, besides two excellent main roads, along which reinforcements could be brought in any desired number.* * Soissons on this occasion served the Krencli better than it had done in 1814. Then its premature surrender by Moreau — name of ill-omen for Napoleon — had enabled CAMPING IN STYLE. British camp kitchen, which was named "Savoy Hotel," in Northern France. as ° ^ § z ^ E .S O S E - CD O w 2 3i - O X M 232 THE TIMES HISTORY OE THE WAR. 233 The Germans were not able to press their victory farther. On the 14th they rushed, with picked regiments of Prussians, the hamlet of St. Paul, only a mile and a cjuarter from Soissons, but were luckily driven out, for a hold there might have given them Soissons and the Aisne crossing. They did not succeed in passing the river to which they had retreated in such haste the previous September, either by Soissons or farther east, where French gunners swept the plain of Venizel from the heights south of the river. An excellent circumstance iri connexion with this reverse was the frankness with which the French authorities immediately armounced it to the public. They followed the opinion expressed by Colonel Rousset, a well-known military critic in France, that "it is always much better to steady public opinion on the actual extent of a reverse than to let it go astray in imaginary ways, where it might lose something of its endurance and stolidity." To know the worst at the moment fortifies ; to learn it bit by bit in alarmist and exaggerated rumours disquiets and de- presses. We now ha\'e to record another battle in which the Kaiser figured as a distinguished spectator, and to some extent, it is supposed, as a commander. The Aisne having proved an intractable barrier, and the celebrations in Reims Cathedral having been thereby inde- finitely postponed, the attentions of the German Army in France were turned to the La Bassee region in the north. There was good military reason for doing so, because the British not only had a strong position straddling the La Bassee canal between Givenchy on the north and Cuinchy on the sovith of it, but they had made movements pointing to the capture of La Bassee, where the Germans' position was a salient of great strategical importance which covered their line of communications to the Oise and the Aisne. Successful operations by the British at Festubert and Richebourg I'Avoue, north of Givenchy, and Vennelles, south of Cuinchy, must have suggested to the Germans the desirability of a counter-effort. At any rate they wanted to test the strength Blucher to join on to the Army of the North coiiuiig down from Belgium, and the junction of the two forces proved the turning point in the campaign. The Aisne is a difficult river to bridge with its high and treacherous banks, and the possession of the per- manent point of crossing in Soissons was important both in 1814 and a hundred years later. of the British position, and they collected large forces for the purpose. Rumours of a British success here on January 14 had curiously been sent across to England and allowed to appear in newspapers there. There was no truth in the riunours, and much speculation rose as to their origin, as well as to the reason why the Press Bureau passed them for publication ; for a flat semi-official con- tradiction quickly followed. But some forms of journalism have been described as intelligent anticipations of events, and this appears to have been one of them. It was undoubtedly a fact that a fortnight later there were engage- ments near La Bassee, and success attended the British side. The principal attack which had been care- fully prepared for some days before, imder the inspection of the Kaiser, was on Monday, January 25, on the morning of which day, in addition to a demonstration along the whole line from Festubert to Vennelles and as far north as Pervyse and Ypres, the Germans began to shell Bethune, the town in the British lines some nine miles west of La Bassee. Half an hour later, at nine o'clock, following upon another and heavy bombardment by the enemy with artillery and minenwerjcr,* a strong infantry attack led by the 56th Prussian infantry and the 7th Pioneers developed south of the canal \\ liich runs eastward from Bethune. At this point the British line formed a pro- noimced salient from the canal, rimning forward to the railway triangle near Cuinchy and back to the main La Bassee-Bethune road, where it joined the French forces. The salient was occupied by half a battalion of the Scots Guards and half a battalion of the Coldstream Guards, many of whom were new drafts from home. The German advance was made along the road, for the fields were a sea of mud, and the road itself little better, though it did at least give some foothold, and in picturing to himself the scene of this battle the reader must remember that the whole of the day's fighting took place in the midst of appalling- slush. The effect of the bombardment was the almost immediate blowing in of the trenches in the salient, and, as a result, the enemy's attack penetrated the unsupported British line. The Germans were also assisted by an armoured train which they brought along the railway from * These trench mortars have already been mentioned in Vol. I., p. 225. 234 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. COUNTRY FROM NEUVE CHAPELLE TO LA BASS^E. La Bassee, running it almost into Bethune, or near enough to fire some twenty shells into the town. The enemy's infantry advanced in compact masses with groat bravery, throwing hand grenades. They were met with the bayonet, but they came on in such numbers that in many cases there was no time to with- draw the bayonet after a thrust. Moreover, at some points of the Une the distance between the trenches was so short that it was impossible to stop the rush from one to the other. So the Germans swept on, and broke through the line. In some places the British troops fell back, to avoid being enfiladed. But the Germans did nor have matters all their own way. A heavy column which had debouched from Auchy (south-east of Cuinchy) was allowed to advance until it was in an exposed position in the fields, when it was caught by the French and English guns and ahnost THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 235 annihilated. Tlit- coluniu is said to have consisted of two entire regiments. After the bonil)ardiuent very few escaped ; the rest were taken prisoners, and numbered only about two companies. The Guards retreated to a partially prepared second line, nmning north and south from the canal to the La Bassee-Bethune road, about 500 yards west of the railway triangle, and strengthened by a keep, constructed midway along the line hi some lirickfields. At this second line the other two half battalions of the Scots and Coldstream Guards were in support. These held up tlie ad\ancing enemy, who managed; however, after a punishing from the machine guns, to establish himself among the brick-stacks and in some communication trenches running each side of the keep, parallel to our line, and e\en west of the keep — i.e., closer to our trenches. The situation obviously demanded rein- forcements, and the London Scottish were sent up in support, while a counter-attack by the 1st Royal Highlanders, part of the 1st Cameron Highlanders, and the 2nd King's Royal Rifle Corps, was organised for one o'clock. At that hour, and with the co-operation of the French on their right, the troo}is moved forward, and good jjrogress was made on the flanks, by the canal and tlie ruud respectively, but the centre was held u{). Late in the afternoon the 2nd Royal Sussex was sent up to support, with the result that the enemy was driven back far enough to enable a somewhat broken line to be taken up, which cleared the ground between the keep and our line of trenches. There was, therefore, a jiartial recovery of the ground lost in the morning. Meanwhile the French left, on the other side of the La Bassee-Bethune road, which here divided the Allies, had been attacked, and driven back somewhat, hut not so far as the British, so that the French left was in advance of the British right, and exposed to a flank attack from the north. But the enemy did not avail himself of the opportunity thus offered. During the night the British position was strengthened, and the 1st Guards Brigade, which had suffered severely, was withdrawn into reserve, and replaced by the 1st Infantry Brigade. The German strategical plan had been to tempt the British to concentrate their defence on the line between Gi^•enclly and Festubert, north of the canal, and then the British right was to be turned by the troops attacking south of the canal. Thus simultaneously with their attacks south of the canal, the FRENCH CYCLIST PATROL. •286 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. Germans were busy north of it. They delivered an eqvially severe attack upon the British j^osi- tion in the village of Givenchy, about a mile north of the canal which boiuided the scene of the other attack. Here, too, the early morning was marked by a heavy bombardment with high explosive shells, and after this pre- paration, at a quarter past eight, the German infantry advanced. The British artillery met them with an effective fire, which would have been more effective had it not been hampered by constant interruption of telephonic commu- nication between the observers and the bat- teries they were serving. Nevertheless, this fire, combined with that of the infantry in tlie trenches, drove the assailants from their original direction of advance, with the result that they crowded together in the north-east corner of the village of Givenchy, having jjassed over the front trenches of the British defenders. They also penetrated into the centre of the village, and as far as a keep which had been put into a state of defence. By this time they had lost heavily, over 100 being killed with the bayonet alone. The reserves, the 2nd Welsh Regiment and the 1st South Wales Borderers, with a company of the 1st Royal Highlanders, now delivered a completely successful counter- attack, sujiported by the fire of the French artillery. There was a period of vigorous street fighting, and all the Germans who had forced their way into the \'illage were either captured or killed. It was during this street fighting that occurred an incident worthy of record as an illustration of British pluck and coolness. A British soldier broke into a house held by eight Germans, bayoneted four, and cap- tiu-ed the other four, and during the whole of the ojDcrations continued to suck his clay pipe. By early afternoon the original British line round the village was re-established. Five times the Germans returned to the assault, and each time they were driven back, with many losses. South of the village, however, and near the canal, where the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers formed a connecting link between Givenchy and the action south of the canal, the troops, under the influence of the retirement on the south, themselves fell back in conformity with it, bvit their retirement was only temporary ; after dark they returned to their old positions. The next day a fresh attack was made on Givenchy and along the La Bassee-Bethune road. It was a minor affair relatively to Monday's battle, yet there was some warm fighting; as the presence of 300 German corpses on the road after the engagement testified. It was not successful and the counter-attack which it provoked gave the British back some of the positions lost the day before. Then followed a lull in the operations. But early in the morning of Friday, January 29, began a preparatory shelling from the Germans, the target chosen for the projectiles being the British line held by the I. Army Corps between the La Bassee canal and the La Bassee-Bethune road, near Cuinchy. After the shelling three battalions of the 14th German Corps made a violent attack on the keep (with scaling ladders) and to the north and south of it. On the keep and to the north of it was the Sussex Regiment, who held the Germans off, and inflicted seriovis losses upon them, inci- dentally killing every man of a party of Germans who had reached one of the British trenches. TRENCH MAKING. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. 237 AT A VILLAGE PUMP IN NORTHERN FRANCE. Soutli of th:> keep was the Northamptonshire Regmient, and the Germans succeeded in reaching their trenches, but they were imme- diately counter-attacked and all assailants were killed. The British casualties throughout the day were inconsiderable, but 200 of the enemy's dead lay along the British line. On this day also the French, on the south of the Bethune road were attacked, and this assault likewise was' repulsed. Had the Germans been successful in this attempt to break through near Bethime their prospects would at once have assumed a much more roseate complexion. They would have opened for themselves another road to Calais — a road along v/hicli they might easily have walked in the pre\ious autiuiin when only a handful of British soldiers held Bethune, but then the mind of the Gennan Command was obsessed by Ypres and the conquest of the last remaining corner of Belgium, and the oppor- tunity was missed. The rolling up of the British Une at Bethime would have had other substantial and more immediate advantages. The countryside itself was well worth posses- sion, for it comprised a district of extraordinary agricultural richness, in sharp contrast with the lean and marshy country round La Bass^e. And it was the headquarters and advanced base of the British Army, where were stationed the troops not immediately required in the hghting Ime. Such an exclusively British centre had Bethune and the neiglibouring towns and villages become that even the civil administration of them had virtually passed into the hands of the British Army authorities. A successful German thrust here would, tliere- fore, ha\e had serious and demoralizing results upon their opponents. The failure to capture this coveted terrain must have given the Kaiser some bitter thoughts to contrast with his birthday congratulations. On Monday, February 1, a fine piece of work was carried out by the 4tli Brigade in the neighbourliood of Cuinchy. At about 2.3U on that morning some of the 2nd Coldstream Guards had been driven from their trenches, but had made a stand some twenty yards away, and they held their positions until daylight. At 3. lo a coimter-attack was launched by a company of the Irish Guards and half a company of the 2nd Coldstreams, but was unsuccessful. Then, at 10 o'clock, the lost ground was subjected to a ten minutes heavy bombardment by the British Artillery, and it was immediately followed by a bayonet assault, conducted by some eighty men of the Coldstreams and Irish Guards, followed by a party of engineers with sandbags and wire. This little force brilliantly retook all the ground that had been lost, in addition to capturing a (ierman trench, two machine guns, and thirty-two prisoners. In view of the discussion whifli began about this time con- cerning the necessity for a big sujjply of liigh explosive shells, it is interesting to note, in connexion with this brilliant little episode, that the General Ofhcer commanding the 1st Division described the artillery preparation of our counter-attack as " splendid, the high explosive shells dropping in the exact spot with absolute precision." 238 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. A record of these days would not be complete without a glance northwards to the shore where the Belgians and the French with some Sepoys from the Indian Army were holding back the German advance to Calais along the sea road. In the closing days of January the Allies saw reason to suspect a fresh German attack on the Yser. and they determined to anticipate it. Between the village of Lombartzyde and the sea is a very large sand-hill called the Great Dune. It was in German occupation, and the Allies spent Thursday, January 28, in attacking it, and succeeded in getting a foothold. It was an admirable feat of arms, because of the diffi- culties in the way of an assault upon this position, and because of the strategic advan- tage its possession had given to the Gennans, as it commanded the road to Ostend. That side of the hill which, with its gvms, dominated the road and the village of Lombartzyde, still remained in the German possession. This attack upon the Grande Dune was, though of secondary importance in respect to the numbers engaged (they only amounted to four companies), a brilliant and tenacious piece of work, and was remarkable for the heroic covu-age of the Allies' troops. After the artillery preparation and infantry recon- naissances and a half-hour's rifle firing, the Allies' columns debouched and hurled them- selves to the assaiilt along the entire front. Tlie first line of trenches was full of water and unoccupied, but large numbers of the enemy were met cr )uching behind cover some distance farther on. Most of them were killed with the bayonet, bv;t before the attackers could estabhsh themselves in any vvay they were caught between enfilading fires and forced to return to their point of departure. This was on the right ; in the centre and on the left the Allies threw up some rudimentary cover, and held the groimd until the evening. Simul- taneously with the attack on the left just mentioned, two sections of tirailleiu-s reached to the top of tho Grande Dime, and one section actually began moving down the opposite slope, but there it came luider violent fire from a second crest situated behind the first. The section suffered heavy losses, and was reduced to one non-commissioned officer and five men. These dug themselves in and held their ground in a little redoubt built by the Germans on the south-western slope of the Grande Dime, and remained there until all six were killed, one after the other, dvu-ing the afternoon. Their comrades tried to get to their help by digging a communication trench from the Allies' old trench up to the redoubt, and suc- ceeded in reaching it, but a counter-attack from the Germans was successful, and placed it again in the enemy's hands. Thus it was only the outer portion of the Grande Dune which actually came into the Allies' possession, GERMAN CAVALRY ON THE MARCH. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 239 though they thereby gained a position from which they could send a damaging fire against the extreme right flank of the Germans estab- Ushed before Westende, besides rendering the Grande Dune itself a less comfortable defence for the enemy than it had been. It was a sanguinary fight, for not only did the Allies lose heavily, but 300 dead Germans were counted in the neighbourhood of the redoubt, and there were fifty prisoners. During the svicceeding weeks fighting in this coastal area was confined, tlirough the detest- able weather conditions, to artillery practice, but lower down the line, round the famous storm centre of Ypres, there was some heavy work about the niicUllc of the month of Feb- ruary. Owing to the intricate character of the covmtrj% with its maze of treni'hes and many enclosures and small woods, the fighting was of a very confused natvire, and it had no noteworthy results upon the campaign. Severe as it was at times, perhaps the best lesson gathered from it w-as the uselessness of throw ing masses of troops into collision under such conditions and in such weather. The main German attack was begvm on the morning of the 14th, and at first was marked by success for the enemy, the British counter-attacks being unsuccessful. But during the succeeding night almost the whole of the line was regained. J'ighting continued during the next day and during the night succeeding the 15th the rest of the line was retaken. The Germans had nothing to show for their effort but the corpses which strewed the scene of the combat. Nevertheless they returned to the fighting with even greater intensity on the 17th, both to the north and to the south of the Ypres- Comines Canal. South of it their attack w^as repulsed, but on the north two of the British trenches were stormed, after they had been blown in by mines, it was a short-lived success, however, for the British troops gallantly re- turned to the charge and recovered the trenches, which they found to be heaped with German corpses. Those of the enemy who were alive, waiting for the British bayonet, hiuried to the rear of their trenches on the approach of the assault. The preliminary bombardment had been so terrific that what was left of the enemy was demoralized. Yet the casualties were heavy on the British side also. This fighting south-east of Ypres, particu- larly that to the north of the Ypres-Coniines canal, was exceptionally difficult, because the groimd was such that the men charging would sometimes sink up to their knees in the mud. It was in such conditions that on the 15th the British were suddenly caught in the open by a tremendous fire from the enemy's gims. It wa-s enough to dismay the boldest troops ; but witliout a moment's hesitation they advanced. The line broke into the double, and, pounding through the mud, biu^t into th6 Germans' trench and (to illustrate the confined character of this fighting) both Germans and British remained in this trench GERMAN SENTRIES IN THE SNOW. together within a few yards of each other for some time. A gallant exhibition of dogged courage was also given during this fight which was worth recording. One of the British trenches had become more or less isolated in the course of the fighting. The forty men in it continued to hold firm until every one of them was either killed or w junded, and eventually only three were left who were capable of firing ; and they continued firing, holding the enemy at bay. The Britisii troops in the rear did not know how badlj- things were faring, but had been told that ammunition was nearly exhausted, and seven of the strongest men were sent up to the trench with as much ammunition as they could carry ; they found the three wounded survivors standing amid the bodies of their 240 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. dead and disabled comrades, steadily firing. The support of seven new men was not much against a new assault which the Germans were just launching, but these ten men between them managed to beat it off and saved the position. As we have said, this fighting around the Ypres-Comines canal was without tangible result, but during this same period the French in Champagne on the front extending between Souain and Beausejour had placed more defmite successes to their credit. In an action to the north of Beausejour, to the north of Mesnil and to the north-east and north-west of Perthes on Febrviary 16 the French took nearly two miles of German trenches occupying crests, with some 400 prisoners. These were trenches of the first line. Tlie next day^ encouraged by their success, the Frenchmen gained possession at different points of the Germans' second line and captured some hundreds of additional prisoners. These gains were extended in the closmg days of February, notwithstanding constant counter-attacks by the Germans. On the 28th, for example, to the north-west and north of Beausejour some 2,000 metres of trenches were taken. During all this fighting the French wei'e successful, and captvired about 1,000 prisoners, and the enemj^ did not score a point on any day. Steady and determined j^rogress in this dis- trict continued right along into March, almost every day recording some pushing back of the German line. In fact, this was the one part of the western front where during the winter the Allies made steady and appreciable progress. The months reviewed, although affording no great gains to the Allies, show some pro- gress. They had inore than held their own, and at great cost to the Germans — far larger than the losses suffered by themselves. There was now a comparative lull in the fighting, until the great attack on Xeuve Chapelle took place on ]\Iarch 10. WINTER GARMENTS— FRENCH AND ENGLISH. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. THE KING OF ITALY CHAPTER LXXI. WOMEN'S WORK IN THE WAR (I.). Women's Anxiety to Help on Oxtbreak of War — Mobilization of the Xxrsino Services - — Queen Alexandra's Imperial ^Military Nl^rsing Service, Territorial Nursing Service, Naval Nursing Service, and the British Red Cross — Women Doctors at the Front — Women's Military Hospital in London — Queen's " Work kir Women " Fund — Scheme of Central Committee on Women's Employment — Queen Mary's Needlework Guild — How THE Suffragists and Anti-Suffragists Helped— Formation of \\ar-Ri:(;ister of Women by the Board of Trade — Replacement of Men by Women. OF tlie luillions of British women only the military nurse could, like the soldier, look (jn war as lier business. So closely, we are told, does the work of the nurse follow the soldier, that the faintest whisper of discord amongst nations rouses her to interest and action. A quiet group of matrons of the nursing service spent the Sunday before the declaration of war waiting in the electric atmosphere of the ^^'a^ Office for the news that meant so much for them as well as for the Army. These women alone out of the seven millions of women " gainfully occvipied " in the British Isles were relieved from the diflficulty of wondering how they could help. The rest had no official lead in the matter of \^ork. In France on the outbreak of war the Govern- ment gave the women their call to take the Vol. IV.— Part 46. 241 ])lace of men everyw liere. They gathered in one harvest, and they prepared for the next ; when they and the refonnes were ])rej>aring to reap their second crop, then only did the clear and definite call for the service of English women come from the English Govern- ment. In the meantime half a million German u omen, in addition to those employed in farm, field and factory, were drawn into the German ammunition factories to make ammunition and set free half a million German men to fight tlie Allies. If the call did not come froin the Govern- ment from the beginning of the war it came from the women themselves. If they could not replace men, at least they could work for them. They knew that there would soon be wounded to look after ; one could work for them now — cut out " hopeless case " shirts, 242 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAB. OFF TO THE FRONT. [By courtesy of " The Nursin Times.' Bidding good-bye to Nurses at Waterloo Station. and women rushed to the propaganda and mobihzed for war work either make bandages — and women rushed to the miUtary hospitals and to the voluntary aid detachments to look for patterns, and form sewing parties amongst themselves. The Red Cross Society, as yet with only the voluntary aid detachments at its call, took up its quarters in Devonshire House and, while organizing its activities, supplied the newer patterns and clear directions. The Queen formed Queen Mary's Needlework Guild, and voluntary needlewomen mobilized themselves everywhere. Women could think and talk only of the war ; the shops were empty save in the new depart- ments that catered for soldiers' and sailors' comforts. Industrial wonien workers, mainly employed in luxury trades or in unskilled work, dropped out of employment in their thousands. In London alone, in those black daj's, there were 40,000 women thrown out of work. Here again the Queen, hitherto unassertive and little known to the working women of England, stepped into the breach and caused to be organized one of the greatest and most far- reaching schemes of economic relief ever attempted in any country. She called to her helja women who had spent their lives amongst the working women, and she brought her splendid common sense, united to the expert's advice, to bear on a problem that was at first sight appalling. The women's societies, the great Suffrage organizations that had fought the Government tooth and nail by militant and constitvitional means, the anti- Suffragists who, in turn, had organized in the opposite direction, and the women's political societies, all laid aside in relief measures or for work connected with the troops. A great war organization, the Women's Emergency Corps, appeared after the second day of war and made themselves the national "handy women." who would go any- where and do anything. New organizations and societies sprang up everywhere, many of them organized for Belgian relief, yet curiously enough, there was little overlapping amongst the women — the total percentage of overlapping war agencies is estimated at 10 per cent., and of that a very small joro- portion was due to women. Women doctors assmned a great and new importance partly due to the fact that there was a threatened shortage of medical inen and partly because they had not been properly appreciated in the past. Significant, too, was the action of the great Begum of Bhopal, the only woman ruler in India, who sent her son with a nvmiber of her own Imperial Service Troops to the service of the King Emperor, and gave a hospital ship besides. Offers of hospitals and hospital ships came in numbers from women in the o\-erseas and in the home countries. And there was great devotion in the gift of many of them. Lady Beatty, for instance, who fitted out her yacht, the Sheila, as a hospital ship the day Admiral Sir David Beatty went on active service, spent the whole winter on board. And there were many women like her at that tinie. In service for others was the greatest relief from anxiety. The women who held men back were few, and there were few selfish women in THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 243 the Britisli Isles or Greater Britain (luring' those anxious months. When at last the Government gave the call to replace men — not a clear call nor a repeated call— the women answered very quickly and very decisively. It was one of the imconscious ironies of the \\ ar that the Government specially asked its ancient enemies, the Suffrage societies, to make its scheme of war service known as widely as possible. Nothing could l)e the same for women after the war, that at least was the clearest fact that came out of the work and the sorrow of those times. If women's capacity was hrst discovered in the war the discovery was dearly bought, and women went about their many new offices with only the steward's pride who keeps the house in order for the return of the owner. One of the great feats of the \A'ar was the mobilization of the nursing services. It was as worthy of admiration in its way as the mobilization of the Expeditionary Force. To understand the swiftness and the promptness of the answer to the official call it is necessary to realize what were the nursing services available and how they were utilized. There were tliree branches of the military nursing service ; the senior service. Queen Alexandra's Imperial ]Military Niu-sing Service, which at the outbreak of war consisted of about 279 members — matrons, sisters and staff niu-ses, with a reserve which was presently largely increased. Of this service Miss Becher, R.R.C., was matron-in-chief, and Miss McCarthy, R.R.C., principal matron ; the latter was shortly after appointed principal matron with the Expeditionary Force. The second was the Territorial Force Nursing Service, nmnbering 3,000, of which Miss Sidney Browne, R.R.C, was matron-in-chief ; and there were also the civilian nurses, who could be called up to supplement the Imperial Nursing Service. The Military Nursing reserve was imme- diately called up, and a nuinljer botli of the regulars and reserve found themselves em- barked on one of the transports en route either for an unknown destination at some base hospital in France or drafted to Net ley, Aldershot, Woolwich, or London according as the need for them arose ; the wounded being sent as the medical service became organized a^ cjuickly as possible to the military and territorial general hospitals. These two military niu-sing services, the regular and the territorial, differ from each other in their origin and also in some matters of organization. Queen Alexandra's Impeiial ^Military Nursing Service was evolved after the Boer War out of the old army nursing service. The status of the military nurse was not satis- factory, and shortly after the accession of King Edward, Queen Alexandra called a small com- mittee to reorganize the service. The result was the appointment of a matron-in-chief directly responsible to the Director-General of the Royal Army Medical Corps-, w Ih rooms in the War Office and official recognition. This service was formed in April, 1902, and the first matron-in-chief was Miss Sidney Browne, R.R.C. All the large military hospitals in the United Kingdom were s^taffed l)y these military ntirses. [By courtesy of " The Nursing Twines. NURSES OF THE 4TH LONDON TERRITORIAL HOSPITAL. 244 THK TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAB. MISS FLETCHEK, The Matron-in-Chief of the British Red Cross Society in F"rance. and not the least part of their work was the training in nursing and ward worlc of the R.A.M.C. non-commissioned officers and pri- vates, whose splendid services imder fire won early recognition during the Mar. All questions arising ovit of the mussing service were submitted by the matron-in-chief to the Medical Director-General. She had the assistance of civil matrons on the nursing board, who, being the heads of large nurse- training schools, maintained definite con- nexion with civil hospitals, and ensured that the organization of the seventeen military hos- pitals was up-to-date. Most of the big civil hospitals and their nursing staff had a peace- time arrangement by which their .matrons and sisters could at the shortest notice be prepared for a large number of woimded. The "London" was the first to be called up, the Matron having to arrange at a few hours' notice. The largest number of nurses available at the oiitbreak of v,aY was that attached to the Territorial Forces ; there were 3,000 women who could be immediately mobilized, and when it is remembered that references cannot be taken up in a day or two and that the en- rolling and indexing of a vast number of Momen is a lengthy matter, this great nimiber of \\illing women was a magnificent asset. On August 4 war was declared ; on August 5 the first Expeditionary Force was mobilized, and, on the same day, mobilization orders were sent out to every Princii^al Matron with orders for every member of her staff. In ten days twenty-three Territorial General Hospitals in different parts of the covintry, in England., Wales, and Scotland, were ready to receive the woimded, and the 3.000 Territorial nurses throughout the country were ready too. When mobilized at the outbreak of war, each general hospital contained 520 beds and a nursing service of ninety-one members and a reserve of thirty. But this accommodation proved inadequate after nine months of war, and the accommodation in all the Territorial hospitals, except two, was increased from 1,000 to over 3,000 beds, and many auxiliary hospitals had to be organized. The following table gives some idea of how the Territorial General Hospitals stood in June, 1915. The imrsing staff at that time had had to be in- creased to 4,000 members. P]ni.argb;d Tebhitobial Hospitals. Approximate number of beds and number of trained and untrained 6taff which wiU be required. Redurlion one-third of trained staff. Two F..4.Z). members to replace each trained nurse taken away. Trained Un- Hospital. Phice. Beds. Staff. trained Staff. l.«t London. Camberwell . 1,040 122 90 2nd „ Chelsea 820 96 70 3rd „ Wandsworth . 950 111 82 4th Denmark Hill 970 114 84 1st Southern Birmingham. 3,210 375 280 2nd ., Bristol '". 2.300 268 201 3rd ., Oxford . 1,008 118 87 4th Plymouth 520 61 45 5th Portsmouth . 520 61 45 1st Eastern. Cambridge . 1,550 181 \ ®- ( 33 135 47 32 2nd „ Brighton 1,001* Ist AVestern Liverpool 1.800 210 157 2nd „ Manchester . 3,554 415 310 .3rd ,. Cardiff. 1,910 223 166 1st Noi'thorn Newcastle 739 86 64 2nd „ Leeds . 1,900 222 165 3nl Sheffield 1.750 204 153 4th I/Uicoln 1,004 118 87 6th Leicester 1,870 218 163 1st Scottish Aberdeen 1,180 118 102 2nd „ Edinburgh . 900 105 78 3rd „ Gla.=gow 1,290 151 102 4th Glasgow 780 91 67 — — 32.566 3,653 2,812 * Beds : Dyke Road, 533 ; Dyke Road, 98 (nursed by orderlies) ; Kemptown, 370. There were besides these nvirses over 400 Terri- torial niu-ses in France, Belgium, the clearing stations at the Front and in the floating flotilla. The Territorial nvirsing system was in 1914 eight years old. It was Miss Haldane's idea, THE TIMES HISTORY OE THE IT'.^T?. 245 and a draft sclictiic of an establishment of nurses willing to serve in general hospitals in the event of the mobilization of the Terri- torial Force was made at a meeting held at Miss Haldane's house in 1907, at which Sir Alfred Keogh and Miss Sidney Browne were [present, and was submitted to the Army Council. An Ad\isory Council was appointed at the War Office, of which Queen Alexandra signified her willingness to be president. Local committees were formed at each hospital centre by the County Association administering the unit, to receive the names of nurses wishing to join the service. One of the most im- portant parts of the scheme, and one which was of extraordinary \alue in the early days of the war, was the appomtnient as principal matrons (impaid) of the matrons of the largest and most important nurse-training schools in the Kingdom. To them the success of the service anfl the maintenance of the requisite number of nurses was dvie. It was they who, besides their advisory duties, re- ceived the upjilications of matrons, sisters, and niu-ses w ishmg to join the service, obtained the necessary references, and submitted them, after approval liy loeal committees, to the Advisory Council at the beginning of each quarter. To their splendid routine work was due the ease of the vast mobilization. Only fully qualified nurses were enrolled. Three thousand were enrolled before the war : the By courtesy of " Tin: Xiirstng Times. AROUND THE STATUE OF JOAN OF ARC. British Military Nurses at Le Havre. 46—2 246 THE TIMES HISTOEY OF THE WAR. number rose to 4,000 in nine months' time. Tlieir dress was, similar to tiiat of the other miUtary nurses, but of a darker colour — a blue- grey uniform with cape faced in scarlet. The Naval Nvirsing Service, though important, was not a large service, nor was it faced \\ith such demands upon its personnel as the other services. When war broke out Queen Alex- andra's Royal Naval Nursing Service had about seventy niemDers, with a reserve from the civil hospitals, the statement of the strength of which was to be renewed every six months. There was not, as in the other services, a matron-in-chief : instead there were three head sisters. Miss Evangeline Hart, R.R.C., at Plymouth, Miss Katharine Hickley, R.R.C., at Haslar, and Miss Margaret Keehan, R.R.t"., at Chatham. There were no innovations in the naAal service and no demands for large mmibers of nurses. The arrangements already made with the civil hospitals worked admirably, and the nurses quickly adapted themselves to naval routine. When the hospital ships and the hospital carriers mobilized the nurses weie ready for duty, and the naval hospitals were ready for every emergency. In the sick bay on battleships there were, of course, only male orderlies, who had been trained in the naval hospitals. The first reserve nurses called out were for the Admiralty — thirteen leaving the London Hospital for Haslar on the day war was declared, seven leaving St. Bartholomew's for Chatham, and one the Metropolitan for Ply- mouth. The War Office asked the London for fourteen nurses — two for Chatham and twelve for Preston. These were the first civil nurses to go on war duty. It may be added that the many nurses (not on the reserves) who offered their services at the outbreak of war at the War Ofifice or the Admiralty were referred to the British Red Cross Society. Later, when more military nurses were needed, they were referred to the Matron-in-Chief of the ^^'ar Office. The British Red Cross Society, of which Queen Alexandra is President, is the British representative of the great International Red Cross organization at Geneva, the object of IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM. Wounded British soldiers at the Hotel Bristol, Boulogne. Inset: Lady Lethbridge in Belgium. THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAB. 247 IN BELGIUM AND FRANCE. At the Hotel Flandria, Ghent, used as a Red Cross Hospital. In this picture are seen British Belgian, and German wounded. Inset : Attending to the wounded outside a *- hospital at Marseilles. which in every country is the relief of tlie sick and wounded. That was the idea of its fornna- tion. In times of peace it is in touch with the \\'ar Office and the Admiralty ; in time of war it is under their control. The ^^•ork of its voluntary aid detachments had been organized since 1909 to give voluntary aid to the sick and wounded in the event of war in the home territory. At the outbreak of war, up and down the country, there were 60,000 men and women partly trained in transport work, cooking, laimdrv, first aid and home nursing. Two days after the outbreak of war Queen Alexandra, as President of the Society, appealed to the public for funds. Almost the first action of the Red Cross Society was to secvire a trained matron, who was soon joined by other trained workers. Within a fortnight of the outbreak of war, between 2,000 and 3,000 fully qualified trained nurses were registered. Devonshire Hovise had been lent by the Duke of Devonsliire, and here the oflficials of the Red Cross Society battled with the zeal of anxious and unqualified ladies wiio wished to go immediately to the Front as Red Cross n\ir.ses. Gently but firmly they were restrained, and were told that only the best and the best trained were good enough for the men who were giving up so much. Some who had the means to go went on their own account, and endeavovu-ed to be useful, or to enjoy themselves, according as their desire to serve was real or imaginary. Presently they were rounded up and sent home again \ery smnmarily — no amateurs were wanted. Tliis clean sweep of the useless came when Miss Swift, the late matron of Guy's, was appointed as matron -in-chief by the joint Committee of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. She had returned from private life to which she had retired to see that the honour and credit of the nursing service was upheld, and that there was no repetition of much that had been unworthy in the Boer ^^'ar. In the beginning of the war, the Order of St. John of Jerusalem had only its ambulance and vohuitary aid detachments to call upon, but like the British Red Cross Society, it, too, presently organized a nursing service, carrying on its organization at St. John's Gate, while the Red Cross organized at Devonshire House. I5i)th before and after the fonnation of the joint committees of these societies, the pick of the nursing service offered themselves ; in all the civil hospitals the matrons made every possible effort to set free their best and most competent. When the joint committee was set up for the administration of the Times 248 THE TJME.'^ HISTOBY OF THE WAB. IN HYDE PARK. Enjoying the sunshine. Fund (which reached nearly a million and a half in ten months), the nursing staff was selected at St. .John's Gate, Clerkenwell, and doctors and orderlies at 83 Pall Mall, now the head- quarters of the British Red Cross Society. The board of selection of matrons included Miss Rogers, Miss Keir, R.R.C., Mrs. Corner, Mrs. Watson, R.R.C., Miss Roberts, and others from the first. They passed all trained niu-ses and all Voluntary Aid workers for military and other hospitals ; they also passed all workers for the Anglo-French Hospitals Committee. As the war proceeded, and it was found necessary to open V.A.D. hospitals in private houses, the nursing arrangements of these were i:)ut in charge of trained matrons and trained niu-ses passed for duty by the Advisory Board. After nine months of war there were 800 hospitals with personnel selected by this Board. On August 12 the first party left for Brussels, consisting of a matron and six sisters ; a second party went on August 15, consisting of a matron and 18 sisters — this party \^as detained by the Germans after the German occupation and forced to nurse Germans. Another party went to Brussels on the sanie day, consisting of a matron and 121 sisters. In all six nvirsing parties of trained women went to Brussels before August 20. The next four parties were sent to Antwerp, then to La Parme and Furnes with a British Field Hospital (October 17), where, during the bombardment, one of the nurses had her bed smashed by a shell. In France, the British Red Cross Sisters were working from August 29, and so it went on as the bases changed ; the list of rapid drafting of women to the places they were wanted most was almost monotonous in its? regularity ; telephone and telegram summoned them, and they appeared as if out of the earth. The great devotion of the British Red Cross nurses at the Front in Antwerp, where the nurses remained until the city fell, escaping then through Amsterdam ; in Dvmkirk and Calais, where they had harrowing experiences ; in Russia, where Miss Thurston was woiuided ; in Serbia, where two of them died of tyjihus ; in Brussels, where they remained during the bombardment ; and wherever they were sent, raised their prestige, if possible, even higher than before. Going and coming from military bases in this country and abroad, about 2,000 of these picked nurses spent themselves in the cause of their country. IVIany of them worked all day and all night ; they stood the nerve- racking experience of nursing dm-ing bombard- ment of their hospitals ; they remained calm with shot and shell falling round them ; they accepted the most uncomfortable conditions, and proved the great value of trained devotion in the grim battle with death. The number of men saved to the nation by the Military Nursing Service and by them will not be known until, after the war, stock is taken of the work done. It is too soon to appraise them now. It is interesting to note that the Queen in the early days of August suggested to the Directors - General at the Admiralty and the War Office that the sick soldiers and sailors should be sent as far as possible to convalescent homes nearest to their own localities. The Volimtary Aid Detachments suffered at first from a confusion with certain women who took first aid and nursing certificates, and, after ten lessons in each departed for Flanders or France. These ladies, as has already been said, were presently sent home. The Voluntary Aid worker, who did such magni- ficent and humble work in the civil and military hospitals, is a very different person. She was willing to work under a trained nurse, to help in tlie wards like a probationer, fetching and carrying and making beds. In one V.A.D. hospital she and her colleagues did the entire laiuidry work — washing, mangling and ironing — and made neat little kit-bags to hang at the foot of each bed ; in others they cooked and mended. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 240 On March 26, 1915, the Director-General of the Army Medical Service asked " all the civil hospitals with training schools to help the country still further by making every effort to train for three or six months as many pro- bationers as possible, so that they might be available for work later on under supervision in miUtary hospitals. This call followed an urgent intimation from the War Office, earUer in March, to all trained nurses holding certi- ficates for three years' training to apply without delay to the Matron-in-Chief at the War Ofifice. It was issued- at a time when the Dominions had sent or promised contingents (eighty from Australia, thirty from South Africa, and sixty from Canada). It was plain that every woman of nm-sing experience would be needed when the war changed from its sullen \\-inter aspect to the fiercer activities of spring. The regulation that candidates for the Army service must have a certificate of training from a hospital of 100 beds was presently suspended, and candidates from hospitals of fifty beds were accepted if sviitable in other respects. The age limit had been extended from thirty-five to forty -five. Accepted candidates were told they must serve for a year either at home or abroad as they might be required. For service in the home hospitals, nurses required by the joint War Committee as matrons, super- intendents, or sisters, if healthy and fit for work, were accepted up to the age of fifty. Under the new rules there was full opportunity for retired or married mu-ses and nurses who had not completed their training to offer their services. Besides these trained people it liail been suggested that about 3,000 V.A.D. members, carefully chosen and certificated, would be needed in the military hospitals, and a board of selection met at Devonshire House, where only those with certificates of three ycai-s' work in their detachments and nominated by their commandant and coimty director were looked at. Most of the hospitals had already been helping by taking in a V.A.D. member in each ward, but they met Sir Alfred Keogh's wishes as far as possible, though it meant a great deal of extra work for the Sisters. Bart's issued a scheme next day for a course of three months' training. Every possible woman trained or partially trained was mobilized and called up as the pressure on those already employed became greater. As soon as they were needed the V.A.D. members were sent to the various military and Red Cross hospitals ; they signed on in most cases for six months ; their discipline was excellent, and they won every- where the highest praise for their willing efficiency ; those who had liad three months' hospital training acted as a kind of nursing orderly. In the Territorial hospitals in par- ticular the scheme worked smoothlj- ; they were given the same privileges as trained nurses and had a sufficient time off duty. When chosen in this w-ay the V.A.D. mem- bers were subject to military discipline. Some were drafted to France under ^^'ar Ofiice orders. The work of the county branches of tiie British Red Cross Societv is one that would MEDICAL UNIT STARTING FOR SERBIA. 250 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. need a volume to itself. War tested the work that had been done during peace time and let it be seen that ridicule had had no effect in lessening eflficiency. The Duchess of Devon- shire exercised her great organizing capacities in Derbyshire ; Lady Falmouth stirred up unguessed activities in Cornwall ; Lady Win- chester in Hampshire ; the Duchess of Norfolk in Sussex ; the Dvichess of }3eaufort in Bristol ; the Duchess of Portland in Nottingham ; Lady Lansdowne in Wilts ; Lady Bell, Lady Herries, and Lady Harewood in Yorkshire ; Mrs. Bacon in Norfolk ; Lady Ampthill in Bedfordshire ; Mrs. Benyon in Berkshire ; Mrs. Pryse Rice in Carmarthen ; the Hon. Mrs. Arthvu" Sandbach in Montgomeryshire ; Lady Talbot de Malahide in County Dublin ; Lady Aberdeen in Dublin ; Lady Venables- Vernon in Jersej' — all produced consistently good results in their several districts. Hospitals were ready and staffed in tlie shortest possible time ; it was described as mobilization by . magic. It was from many of these counties that the V.A.D. members came who were drafted to the military hospitals. Of the many women who helped the British Red Cross Society it would be difticult and almost invidious to choose any names in particular. Queen Amelie of Portugal worked indefatigably at Devonshire House in the early days of August as checking clerk. Lady Dudley and Lady Gifford were also busy in those early days ; Lady Sophie Scott, Lady Beatrice Pole-Carew, and other Society women worked long hours packing and sorting medical requirements in the supply department at 83 Pall Mall. Hundreds of women gave their time and their money and effaced themselves in dull routine work to help the machine along. THE DUCHESS OF NORFOLK. I Speatgkt, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE, President of the Derbyshire branch of the British Red Cross. After nine months of war the Queen Alex- andra Relief Fund for War Nurses was started to help those who had suffered mentally, physically, or pecuniarily from or in conse- quence of attendance upon the sick and the wounded during the war. It was not intended to ap2:)ly to nurses on the staff of the Army or Navy Reserve, Territorial Forces, or Territorial Forces Reserve, as these were already pro- vided for. The nurses who were expected to benefit were those employed during the war by the Order of St. John, the British Red Cross Society, or the Joint Committee of both bodies, or who had worked under their sanction. Many nurses threw ujd lucrative private con- nexions to take a small salary imder the Red Cross because they knew their skill would mean the difference between life and death for many wounded men. It was only fair that their position, if their health broke down, should be made secure for them. However, in spite of this and the large smns of money subscribed, nurses were not entirely pleased with the Fund, which they regarded as a charitable enterprise while their work had been a national on** The work of the women doctors from the beginning of the war was of great value to the THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAIl 251 State. It wa"^ performed uitli extraordinary eoiiijjetence and with equally commendable modesty. In peace time the women doctors had a strong and old -fashioned prejudice t(j contend against. The l)i'lief tliat niu-sing was womanly, hut that the practice of medicine and surgery was not, died hard. But the war killed Ihis reninant oi earlv X'ictorianism [SpfaighL LADY BEATRICE POLE-CAREW. effectvially. The visits of the Queen, the Princess Royal, the Duchess of Albany, Princess Alexander of Teck, and Princess Arthvir of Connaught to the London School of Medicine for \\'omen (Royal Free Hospital) in the early part of 1915, and the fact that Queen Mary w ent over every part of the building, not even neglecting the dissectmg room, set the seal of Royal approbation on this great career for women. Her ]Majesty at a later date allotted a portion of the gift of the women Freemasons to paying for the training of a woman medical student. This was a splendid milestone in the history of women in medicine. Directly after war broke out women's volun- tary niedieal units, were formed. The first of these was the Women's Hospital Corps luider Dr. Flora ^lurray and Dr. Louisa Garrett Anderson, which, by reason of its «iuall >[■/.<• (it only included twenty members, doctors, nurses, and orderlies, four of th(> nurses being men) was able to get to work before any of the bigger imits could do so, hampered as they were by the need of larger cjuarters. Tliis women's unit, privately equipped, found quarters at Claridge's Hotel in Paris, and got to work at once under the auspices of the French Government. Very shortlv after a women's unit was organized by tlui Women's Imperial Service League and sent to Antwerp. Mrs. St. Clair Stobart was commandant, and the medical women were Dr. Helen Hanson. Dr. I'Inrcnce Stoney. Dr. .Joan Watts, and Dr. Mabel Ramsay. They were under the Belgian Red Cress, and th(nigh they were actually at work for only a fortnight, owing to the sudden fall of the city, they did some splendid work. They were among the last civilians to leave, and, as they departed, riding on the top of a London motor 'bus filled will) animimition, the city was shelled incessantly, and they oiiiv succeeded in crossing the Scheldt a few moments before the bridge wa.s blown up. .Meantime, the work of the Women's Ho.spital Corj)s had been arousing tlie admiration and interest of tho.so who were controlling tho IJritish ^lediciil Department at the base. Lord Esher spoke in the highest terms of their work, and they were asked to start a hospital of 200 beds at W'imerevix, which afterwards amalgamated with the Rojal Anny Medical Corps. Paris had become too much the centre of military opei-ations for it to be po.s?ible to continue much ho.spital work there. And the work of the corps at W'imereux led to the offer from Sir Alfred Keogh of the organization of a women's military hospital in London of 550 beds. To vmdertake this some of the staff came over from Wimereux. The hospital was established in the old St. Giles Union at Endell Street, where very extensive alterations were DR. FLORA MURRAY, 252 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. SCOTTISH WOMEN'S HOSPITAL— AT made and the whole place was thoroughly equipped on the most modern lines:-. Dr. Amy Sheppard was appointed ophthalmic- surgeon and Mrs. Handley Read dental surgeon. The members of the medical staff were graded for jim-poses of pay in the same way as the ordinary male members of the R.A.M.C. The nurses were attached to Queen Alexandra's Imperial Nursing Service, and the innovation of women orderlies was a feature of the organi- zation. The doctors and nurses adopted the same imiform they had worn in Paris — a prac- tical coat and skirt of covert coating with red cuffs and shoulder straps for doctors and blue ones for orderlies. The niu'ses ^vore a short floating veil to their hats when out of doors, and they became quite familiar figures at many charitable matinees, shepherding platoons of wounded but convalescent Tommies in blue hospital suits to the seats generously Ivought for them on these occasions by friends of the hospital. The arrangements of the new hospital vied with its prototypes in perfection of equipment and smooth working, and there was a large club-room in which concerts and entertain- ments could be held for the more convalescent. Another group of women doctors, known as the Scottish Women's Hospitals, first organized by the Scottish Federation of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, did a great deal of work in France, and in Serbia. Nearly £40,000 was collected by women, and mostly from women, for these Scottish hospitals. Dr. Inglis, of the Scottish Federa- THE ABBAYE DE ROYAUMONl. tion, initiated the scheme. The first medical work begun in connexion with these hospitals was at Calais, where Dr. Alice Hutchison was invited to take charge of an annexe to a fever hosi>ital for Belgian soldiers ; the invitation came from Dr. Depage, the great Belgian doctor. Dr. Hutchison's annexe was soon known to have the smallest percentage of deaths from typhoid of any hospital in Calais. In order to have as much accommodation as possible for serious cases she started in con- nexion with it a convalescent home at Rushard. The first coinplete unit to go abroad went in charge of Dr. Ivens. It took up its quarters at Royaumont, a castle of great architectural beauty, a place of vaulted corridors, Gothic arches and cool cloisters, built, according to some, by Blanche of Castile, according tp others, by St. Louis. It had once been a monastery and later a convent. Since the nvms were expelled from France ten years ago, the castle had been unoccupied and fallen into disrepair. It was thus that the luiit found it, somewhat to their dismay, for labour in France was difficult to obtain, and the cleaning had to be done to a great extent by members of the unit. It was some time before proper arrangements covdd be made for hot water, lighting, and sanitation. It was decided to organize the hospital in four wards of twenty-five beds each, to be called after Millicent Fawcett, Blanche of Castile, Joan of Arc, and Margaret of Scot- land. Other wards were organized later, one of which was called after Queen Mary. THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAB. 253 "\^^ien arrangements were complete, the hospital was inspected and recognized by the French Government as " Hopital Auxiliaire 301." The X-ray equipment which the wonien brought with them was the only one in the neighbourhood, and ca.ses were brought from everywhere around so that bullets and pieces of shrapnel might be accurately located. The hospital was so near the firing line that wounded could be brought straight from the Front. The unit was provided \\ itli motor ambulances driven by women. Tlie French countryside took a keen interest in what was going on at the old chateau of sinister legend, now turned to benevolent uses. On Sundays they were allowed to flock in and see things for themselves, and if any- thing was wanted in the way of a piece of furniture they tried to supply it. They took it very kindly that British women should go and nurse their wounded. More formidable were the visits of officers of high rank, with courteous invitations to luncli, at which questions of precedence loomed large, and speeches and compliments were the order of the day. The fact that IMrs. Harley, sister of Sir John French, was administrator, added prestige to Royaiunont. A practical proof of the value of the vuiit was shown in the fact that a special request \\as sent down from the military authorities that they should take the most serious cases and discharge them immediately they were convalescent. The French authorities asked for an exten- sion of the hospital work, and Royaumont presently doubled its strength. Further, a field hospital, afterwards the fourth unit, was equipped and sent to Troyes near the Front, where large hospital tents provided accommoda- tion for 200 patients in the j^ark that surrounds Chateau Chantekjup. Dr. Louise Mcllroy and Dr. Laura Sanderman were in charge, and Dr. Ellen Porter was the bacteriologist. The third unit was sent to Serbia, suffering from its third war. The darkest stories of hospital work came from there. It was said that 50 per cent, of their patients had died, so terrible had been the scourges of disease. The Serbian GovernAient recei\ed with enthu- siasm the offer of help of the Scottish Women's Organization. It agreed to pay the salaries of the members of the unit and the cost of main- tenance. The equipment, of which there was l)ractically none in Serbia, was provided from this country. As soon as the unit, in charge of Dr. Soltau, arrived at Kragiijevatz, it was given a hospital with 250 beds. Letters revealing the sad state of the country were presently received, preceded by wires asking for more doctors and nurses. "The trouble now," wrote Dr. Soltau, "is the terrible number of eases of fever — typhoid, typhus, relapsing fever, and in some places SCOTTISH WOMEN'S HOSPITAL- ORDERLIES. 4G— 3 254 THE TIMES HISTOEY OF THE WAR. ^Fruiii tht: drawing by Sargent. MARCHIONESS OF CREWE. Chairman of the Central Committee, Women's Employment. small -pox. The Avistrians left behind them hundreds of sick people, and there are himdreds of Serbs ill, and more cases coming in every day from the lines." Well-known golfers sent out an appeal for funds for beds in the new Serbian unit, as a memorial to Miss Neil Fraser, the woman golfer who died of typhus in Serbia. The appeal ends with the words, " At her funeral, which was conducted according to the rites of the Greek Chvu-ch, with full military honours, a little Serbian lady, overwhelmed with grief, was heard to murmur in her foreign accent, ' It is noble — so noble. To give one's life for la Patrie is fine, but to give it for the country of another is incredible.' " Dr. Tnglis, working indefatigably for the cause of the wounded, collected enough money to send a second complete rniit to Serbia, and soon a third was on its way imder the direction of Dr. Alice Hutchison, whose career has specially fitted her for dealing with epidemics of all kinds. She had been through a cholera epidemic in India, served in a former Balkan war, and dealt at Calais with the typhoid epidemic among Belgian soldiers. Money was collected for other units, of which the London Society of the N.U.W.S.S. supported two. When the third Serbian vmit arrived at Malta it was unable to proceed at once as it was requisitioned by Lord Methuen for service amongst our own wounded troops, who were expected from the Eastern theatre of war before an adequate medical and nursing staff could reach Malta from England. The women were delighted to be able to look after tlioir own men, and when the unit finally set sail for Salonika there was much sorrow amongst the " Tommies " at their departure. Besides these hospitals, medical women served with the Wounded Allies' Relief Committee ; they worked with a mixed unit (men and women) of the Belgian field hospitals ; in a mixed unit with Mr. Berry, of the Royal Free Hospital, which went out to help the Serbian Government ; in a mixed unit at St. Valery, and other places. Dr Hilda Clark worked with a mixed unit, formed by the Society of Friends, for the treatment of the civil population in France in the devastated areas. The war made a great difference in the demand for women doctors. They were ap- pointed for the first time to many resident posts where it might reasonably have been expected that they would have been accepted before. These new aj^pointments included two women residents in the Great Onnond Street Children's Hospital ; two at the Children's Hospital, Tite Street, Chelsea ; one at 1 he Chelsea Hospital for Women, and one at tlie Female Lock Hospital. None of the visiting appointments were, however, opened to them ; the war could not break down this male mono- poly. A woman Assistant INIedical Officer of Health was apjjointed at Manchester, but this appointment was expected before the war. The scope in private practice became very great : many women acted as loc^mi tene»s LADY ROXBURGH. Hon. Secretary of the Queen's " Work for Women " Fund. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 255 [I {off man. MRS. GASSON. MRS. AUSTEN for men gone to tlie Front, and patients with a prejvidice went to them as a war-sacrifice and found that skill had nothing to do with sex. There were about a thousand women on the register, and many who had retired came back to practice to assist some pubhc authority, hospital, or private practitioner. Before the war there was a shortage of men, and the death of many self-sacrificing men at the Front and the enlistment of many male students made the adoption of medicine by yotmg women where their means and their talents [Lambert Wesliii. ' ^^^^^^m^m^-^^^ [Thcmson, CHAMBERLAIN. VISCOUNTESS MIDI. ETON. allowed it, a national duty. i)r. .Mary Seiiar- lieb on December 5, 1914, wrote a letter to the Times on the subject of medicine for women, in which she said : May we not hope that when thi< urtjent demand for women doctors is realized by the public many women of good birth, education, and ability will be desirou.a of entering the medical profession ? It is certain that all such women cannot, and do not, expect to marry, and that in default of this most natural and desirable con- dition of life some women must seek other spheres &f usefulness. From an experience of medii-al life now verging on 40 years, I venture to think tliat no career could offer greater happines'-- and satisfaction to a woman, nor greater opportunities of practical asefulnesss. liian QUEEN'S "WORK FOR WOMEN" FUND. A Power-winder for expediting the winding of wool for making socks. 256 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. ^Lafayette, MISS MARY MAGARTHUR, Hon. Secretary, Central Committee, Women's Employment. medir-ine. I should like to point out that women medical students need not of necessity be very young. The more mature woman has certain great qualifications for the task ; her verbal memory may not be so strong as that of her juniors, but her trained mind, experience of life, and general savoir faiie are of considerable service to her as a student and still more as a practitioner. That women are capable of rendering efficient profes- sional aid is proved by the fact that at the present time several hospitals officered entirely by women are at work in the theatre of war, and that the services of these medical women are much appreciated by their professional brethren and by their patients. The hint was taken and the register of the London (Royal Free Hospital) School of Medi- cine for Women was so quickly increased that new buildings had to be planned, and the Duchess of Marlborough became treasm-er of the extension fimd. The medical schools in Manchester, Dublin, Edinburgh, and other places, also showed a sjjeedy increase in the ntmiber of women students. In the early days of August unrest throughout the covmtry was described as the confused rushing of the unprepared to nieet the un- imagined. There was a terrible amovint of unemployment amongst women ; it dated from the August Bank Holiday that was spent very dismally in glorious stinshine by thousands of workers with a minimum of money for pleasure or play. Women had been largely employed in luxury trades ; they were very badly organized, principally because as a group they had always been badly paid. There never had been any index number in regard to women's unemployment ; the State had hitherto attempted to meet its obligations by sporadic assistance, but the fact that there covild be an enormous amount of suffering owing to trade depression and dislocation was left to be discovered in the Great War. In the months of September and October, 1914, when only a relatively small percentage of men were registered at the Exchanges as unemployed, the percentage of women standing idle was three times as great. The position was saved by the Queen. Her swift grasp of the dislocation of labour in its. early stages and her knowledge of many phases of women's work and pay were brought to the help of women who were summarily thrown out of employment. This was the Queen's message to the women of Croat Britain : — Tn the firm belief that prevention of distress is better than its relief, and that employment is better than charity, I have inaugurated the Queen's " Work for Women Fund." Its object is to provide employment for as many as possible ot the women of this country who have been thrown out of work by the war. I appeal to the woinon of Great Britain to help their iess fortunate sisters through this fund. Maby R. The appeal was unique ; it voiced the spirit of working women who object to charity and doles and who wanted work. ]t was followed by the calling together on August 20 bj' Mr. Herbert Samuel of a standing committee " to consider and from time to time report upon schemes for the provision of work for women and girls unemployed on account of the war." It was composed as follows : — ■ Lady Crewe (Chairman), Mrs. H. J. Tennant (Trea- surer), Mrs. Alfred Lyttelton, Mrs. Austen Chamberlain,. Lady Midleton, Lady Askwith, Miss Margaret Bond- field, MLss Violet Markham, Miss Susan Lawrence, Dr. Marion Phillips, Mrs. Gasson, IMiss R. E. Lawrence (of [l.afaye-ie: LADY ASKWITH. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 257 the Uncmployod Body), and IMiss Mary MacArthur (Hon. Secret ary). Her ^lajosty the Queen was in daily touch with this Committee ; she followed its workings with the greatest care, and slie visited the scenes of its aftivities, its workrooms and centres for training, inquiring into everything with wise and kindly interest. The business of the Committee was to devise and examine schemes of employment for women in England and \A'^ales, and to submit them to the Governmi'nt Committee for the Prevention and Relief of Distress. In all big schemes in which jJublic money is us(>d there is plenty of red tape, but in this there was the minimum ; the needs of the working women were paramount, and the women who were dealing with them knew their ground. When the Government Committee expressed its approval — generally a very speedy matter — a grant was made out of the National Relief Fund for the purpose. This grant came from that part of the Fund ear-marked as " Queen's Work for Women Fund," this being the money that had come in response to that appeal and was paid into the National Relief Fund for the sole use of the various projects and relief pm'poses for women. ' Swat le. HON. MRS. ALFRED LYTTELTON. The Committee began their \\ork in rooms lent for the purpose by Lady Wimbonie at Wimborne House, Arlington Street. Presently they outgrew this accommodation and were glad to take advantage of Lady Clementina Waring's offer to place No. 8 and 9 Grosvenor Place at their disposal. Other large houses, including 138 Piccadilly (lent by Mr. H. J. King) and No. 12 Park Street (lent by THE QUEEN'S "WORK FOR WOxVIEN " FUND. Mrs. Pearson receiving contributions at the Headquarters, 33 Portland Place, London, W. 258 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAP I. [Ernest Brooks. H.R.H. THE PRINCESS MARY. Mr. Atholl Thome), -were also placed at the disposal of the Committee. The main executive functions of the Com- mittee were classified as follows : I. Employment of Women under Economic Condi- tion--. (a) To assist the proper distribution of work available for women in normal industry, and to facilitate the provision of alternative employment (not entailing loss of skill) for skilled women workers displaced owing to tlie war. {h) To promote new openings for permanent employ- ment under economic conditions. II. Relief Work. (a) To lay down the lines on which the Central Com- mittee would be prepared to approve schemes for the- X)rovision of work for women unemployed owing to the war; submitted by Loral Representative Committees^ and to be administered bv them. (/>) To consider actual schemes submitted for approval by liocal Representative Committees, and, alter approval, to supervise their administration. (c) To promote and administer experimental schemes approved by the Government Committee, under which work is provided for women displaced owing to the war. In their subsequent interim report (presented March, 1915) it was stated that throughout their operations the Committee have realized that it was better that workers should be selJ- maintaining than dependent upon relief, even when that relief was given in the form of work ; that tl is consideration was of especial import- ance in regard to unemployment due to the war, since the effect of the war might be to diminish the net demand for labour ratlier than to shift the demand into new channels. In the dislocation of industry which led to the appoint- ment of the Committee the luiprecedented slackness in one trade or a part of it co -existed with almost equivalent over-pressure in other parts of 'it, or in other trades, the resultant problem being one of the adaptation, as far as possible, of unemployed firms and workers to new and imperious national needs. The Committee considered it to be their duty to vise such opportunities as were given to them to increase the number of firms and THE "THREE ARTS" WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT FUND. Making respirators for the troops. THE TIMES HISTOliY OF THE WAB. 259 COMFORTS FOR THE TROOPS. Mile. Favre. the Countess Nada Torby, Miss Barclay, and the Countess Zla Torby. The Grand Duke Michael of Russia and his daughters set out to collect 500,000 pairs of socks and mittens for the troops at tlie Front. workers participating in the supply of Govern- ment requirements, and for this purpose they created a special Contracts Department, under the direction of ^Ir. J. J. Mallon. This enabled them 1. To advise in regard to the plaoing of contracts so that iinemploynient may be prevented or miniiriised. 2. With the same object in view, to undertake orders for certain articles from Government and other sources, such orders being carried out : (r/) By firms adversely affected by the war. {b) In workrooms organized oy the Committee on a self-supporting basis. The early efforts of the Committee in regard to the lessening of unemployment among makers of men's clothing had an interesting and useful outconie. It was found that rela- tively few wholesale clothing firms were accus- tomed to manvifacture military garments, and that other such firms were hampered in attemjit- ing to do so bj^ the technical difficulties pre- sented by the existing models of Army Service Dress. At an interview which was readily granted by the War Office authorities, certain modifica- tions of these models were suggested and were immediately approved. The changes removed the difficulty in manufacturing to which atten- tion had been called, and thereafter full employment in the tniloring trade coincided with a greatly improved supply of Arm\- clothing. Contracts in London and the provinces were early secured from the War Office for khaki cloth, blankets, and various kinds of hosiery for manufacturers who would otiicrwisc have had to close down. In the hosiery trade the Queen gave a large MAKING SHELLS IN A FACTORY. MUNITIONS 260 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAIL [Lena Connell. DR. MARION PHILLIPS. amount of employment by entrusting the Com- mittee with the purchase of woollen belts to form part of the Queen's gift to the troops. In executing the command of Her ]\lajesty, the Committee were able to place orders for wool with spinners whose staffs were only partially occupied, and in the actual making of the belts to provide employment for workers similarly situated, and for a considerable nimiber of women in Kidderminster, Belfast, Stroud, and elsewhere already out of work. The yarn was largely obtained from firms previously engaged in the prodviction of yarn for carpets, and assistance was thus given to an industry which suffered severely on the outbreak of war. One of those who benefited by this contract was an enterprising London wholesale dressmaker who found herself with 100 workwomen and no work, as the war had caused an immediate economy in clothes. She tendered for a niunber of belts and, when her tender was accepted, bought a number of small machines and wool and set to work to train her staff to a new occupation. The work done through trade workshops was also considerable, and kept many small firms through ovit the covmtry alive that would otherwise have liad to relinquish their business. The greatest care was taken not to disorganise trade, and the work was only undertaken where the ordinary trade was fully employed. Two typical contracts were for 20,000 cut-out shirts, received from the Royal Army Clothing Depart- ment, and for 2,000,000 pairs of Army socks LUNCHES FOR THE POOR. At the East London Federation of Suffragettes, where lunch is supplied for twopence. [Langfier. MISS MARGARET G. BONDFIELD, Member of the Central Committee, Women's Employment. from the War Office. In carrying out the fornier, the Central Contract workroom at 138 Piccadilly, where tests and experiments were made, jDroved of great value in standardizing time, cost, etc., for the other workrooms. Over 130 firms were given contract work. When testing new openings for trades, the Committee always kept in view the fact that the transference to Great Britain of a trade which had flovirished in G ermany was . not always a simple matter. The result of their deliberations ended in the investigation of the conditions of manufacture of stuffed toys and wooden toys, the making of china dolls, artificial flowers, baskets, bon-bon bags, boot polish, brushes, crochet buttons, tireless cookers, gloves, Japanese cot quilts, hair nets, memorial wreaths, nets, polished wood fancy articles, potash (from seaweed), slippers, stockinette THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR, 2G1 MRS. PANKHURST Addressing a meeting at the London Pavilion on the subject of War Service for Women. knickerbockers, surgical bandages, tapestry and tinsel scotirers, gold beating, weaving of willows for mats, chairs and baskets, and leather work. They financed two small schemes in fruit pre- serving and pulping at Studley and a back-to- the-land scheme for factory girls at Radlett. In deciding \\ hat t j'pes of employment should be permitted in relief workrooms, the Central Committee were guided by two main principles — that the product of that emplojTiient nuist not compete in any way with ordinary industry, and that the work must be of such a nature that it should maintain and, if possible, im- prove the efficiency of the women employed. Only to women who had had employment previously was work given. In its relief work the greatest problems the Conunittee and its sub -committees had to face were the dangers that if they gave work that was reasonably paid to those poor \\omf'n they would almost inevitably attract to their funds thousands of women in the sweated trades who were still straining and starving, and tlie further problem that if they sold the result of the women's work they would injure trade. To help the women and at the same time keep trade normal was their work. The criticism.s were many. There were peojjle who objected to the ■women in training and in the workrooms being paid only 3d. an hovu' ; there were people — happily they were few — who thought a maxi- mum of lOs. a week 'later increased to lis. (id.) too much, and that a riaorous discipline of fines for non-jJiuK-tuality should bo maintained in the workiooms. There were others, too, who thought that l>y not selling the work made in the \\orkrooms they impaired the eflieiency of the worker, who could only keep at her best when she was working against time on some- thing that would be subsequently told. The gradual operation of the scheme, however, did away with much criticism : the workrooms were opened on the principle that 3d. an liour, though by no means possible a.s a standard ratu of pay, and 10s. for a forty-hours' week, though by no means an ideal wage, were the fairest pay possible which would allow of the greatest number being helped ; and the products of the work done in the varioas experimental work- rooms — cradles, layettes, and children's cloth- ing — ^were distributed in homes where such necessaries could not possibly be obtained. Experimental workrooms were started in Piccadilly, Bethnal Green Stepney, St. Pancras, Hackney, Camberwell, and Shoreditch ; domes- LADY JELLICOE (on the left) At the Union Jack Club for Wives of Soldiers and Sailors at Pentonville. 262 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. TO FIGHT POISON FUMES. Making respirators for soldiers at the Front. tic eoonomy training centres in Bethnal Green, Stepney, St. Pancras, and Islington. Over 300 branches of the Queen's Fund were established throughout the country. Many local representative committees for the preven- tion and relief of distress in different parts of the country started schemes on the lines of the experimental ones in London. These had been intended mainly as examples and illustrations to local representative committees, upon \\hom or upon whose women's employment sub- committees lay the duty of providing occupa- tion for unemployed women on lines approved by the Central Committee. These local repre- sentative committees had to show that un- employment was abnormal and was due to the war, and to satisfy the Government Committee tliat there was genuine and special need for a workroom in the district in question. Grants were made outside London to dis- tricts of such different needs as West ITam, Southampton, Barking, Leyton, Ilford, Wal- thamstow, Birmingham, Burnley, Tottenham, Middleton, Chipping, Wycombe, Reading, Bacup, Exeter, Edmonton, Tynemouth, Eceles, Cardiff, and Willesden. There was accommoda- tion for 1,400 women in these rooms. In the early months of the war in the twenty- nine boroughs of London different kinds of women workers were affected. In Chelsea it was the young dressmakers in the big houses who had been doing fine \Aork, making evening, dresses no one wanted to buy. Over 50 per cent, of them were unemployed, and of those' still employed the greater nmiiber were on pai t time. In Westminster -it was the middle-aged women who lived up high stairs in lonely little- rooms in solitary, shabby gentility — waistcoat workers, theatrical dressers, small dressmakers — who suffered most. In Batter^ea tailoresses and dressmakers were affected. In Bethral Green it was the cabinet-makers. In Shoreditch over a thousand French polishers, box-inakers, charwomen, and kitchen-hands of sn:iall eating- houses were without work. In Hoxton it was the cleaners who were out of \\ ork. In IslingtGn,^ Finsbury, and Holborn, upholsterers, jewellers,, book-cover and cardboard makers, shop assis- tants, clerks, etc., were thrown out of employ- ment in hundreds. At most of the experimental workrooms,, little garments for layettes for East-end mothers, and cradles made from banana crates, were inanufactured. Strangely-assorted groups of women to whom the needle was an unknown implement— thanks to the flood of cheap THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 26S German clothing that was to be bought evory- where before the war — were to be seen : from trouser-finishers, box-makers, Frcncli poHshers, waitresses, hop-pickers, and workers of a rougher kind, to typists who, not b^ing par- ticularly efficient, had been dismissed in the early weeks of the \\ar. The n^idday meal, prepared by a munber of the workers receiving a training in domestic economy, who changed places week about with the sevsing women, cost 3d. and included a cup of tea and slice of bread later in the day. All of these rooms were in direct touch with the Labour Exchanges. A form of training for the elder women, the benefit of which had been already felt and w ill be felt more, was that of home-hel{). The women for such training were carefully chosen, as they would take the mother's place in the poor East-end homes, and large demands are made on their sympathy and their tact. Having been always poor thenaselves they could spend the family funds to the same advantage as the sick mother. Seamstresses, factory hands, and domestic workers were trained for this work. The terrible disturbance in the labour market put a very valuable weapon in the hands of those who had the interests of the young women of the futm-e at heart. Inefficiency, the frequent handicap of the young girl worker, can be modified in some trades, and, with the object of accomplishing this, a number of training schemes, which could bo rejjroduced on somewhat similar lines throughout the country, were formulated. Only those women and girls were selected who were willing tu go through the whole course and who would be likely to benefit by it. They were paid the same amount that they would have had if working in one of the workrooms. "TIPPERARY ROOMS" AT HAMMERSMITH. Making Garments for the Troops at the Front. Inset : Mrs. Lloyd George visits a club for soldiers' wives at Camberwell. •264 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. WOMEN AS BUTCHERS. At a shop at Wood Green, London ; and Miss Eva Fenton at work In a meat-store ; Delivering Meat to Customers (bottom picture). A polytechnic for City workers at the Nf w Bridewell was one of the most interesting of the training scliemes to be put into operation. The City Fathers showed a special interest in a scheme for City workers ; they gave Bridewell House, the old " house of correction for persons of either sex sentenced by the City magistrates to i)nprisonment for terms not exceeding three months," and with it the services of a resident caretaker and sum of money for putting the place in order, buying furniture, and so forth. Nearly 700 girls of this class were on the books of St. Bride's Institute, and 53 of these, having others dependent on them, were chosen for the benefits of this scheme. The selections were made from those recommended by the Typists' Registry, established by the Prince of Wales's Fund in the City, or by the local representative committees of the Borough Coimcils. L.C.C. teachers gave lessons ia shorthand, typing, book-keeping, and French to the young typists, and a certificated dress- maker taught them to cut their own patterns and make their own clothes. The hotu-s of training were forty per week, the same as those of the workrooms, and each girl was paid 10s. a week and a travelling allowance not to exceed 2s. 6d. a week. This attempt to improve the equipment of girl typists represented the extent to which it was iDossiblo to relieve the professional classes amongst women on the part of the Central Committee. The Professional Classes Sub- committee dealt with the position of botli professional men and women. At Deptford a training scheme for un- employed girls under seventeen was started. Large nvunbers of girls in this neighbourhood, many of them daughters of casual labourers, between the ages of fourteen and seventeen, wlio were usually emjjloyed in factories, in dressmaking and in daily service, were iin- employed. They were too young for the ordinary workrooms and, having once left school, nothing would induce them to go bacli. And as they had been contributing to the sup- port of their families some scheme by which they could earn money had to be formulated. A maintenance allowance of 4s. a week for girls from fourteen to sixteen, and Is. a day for girls of sixteen, was given to those in training, in addition to meals. During the mornings they were taught to make their own clothes, to make underclothing and rag dolls. In the afternoon, on five days a week, teachers THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 265 supplied by the L.C.C. gave classes in cookery, dress-cutting and making, lioine nursing, Englis?!, singing, and drilling. Similar oxperimental schemes were tried at St. I'anoras, Southwark, and Lewisham. At the Islington Domestic Economy Centre one of the most interesting cla.'^ses was that devoted to the cutting oat of paper patterns. Here the girls were taught to make patterns to fit themselves, and they learnt the principles underlying the proportions and how from the one pattern various garments may be made. At this domestic economy centre the Queen was profoundly interested in the various classes, watchmg the girls at their laundry work and their cooking, and n\aking those minute enquiries from the workers them- selves which prove the intimate and personal knowledge Her Majesty has of every depart- ment of housewifery. The girls taking this course had been packers, bookbinders, corset- makers, hair-preparers, nursery governesses, and blouse improvers. This Islington centre was one of the Mayoral enterprises, antl all the lojal ladies and tradespeople were very kind to the girls ; some of the tables were presented by the local undertaker, and were really coffin- lids, and all the basins, etc., were supplied and fitted free. I/ater on a scheme for trainmg girls in leather work was put into operation at the Cordwainers' College, and another at Hammersmith for training women as grocers, a special shoj) kaving been fitted up under the auspices of the L.C.C. The Central Committee's schemes were in many instances taken as models in the pro- vinces, even for schemes supported by local funds, and members of local representative committees came from all parts to see what was being done in London. The schemes adopted in the provinces included a considerable amount of traim'ng, particularly^ in cooking. And the value of training at such a time could not be too strongly insisted upon. Birmingham taught the making of rag-rugs ; High AVycombe chair-seat willow ing; Burnley gave training as home-helps. Though emigration was practically at a standstill, as the Colonies were feeling the war sufficiently not to desire any additional seekers for employment, Australia made the Queen an offer for her fund. Those who accepted the offer had to give an under- taking to go into domestic service for one year. Four States — Victoria, New Pouth Wales, Queensland and Western Australia— offered to accept girL«, untrained as well as trained, at a reduced passage of £1 down and £2 to be repaid in instalments ; and New South ^^■ak■s further invited young widows with children. The Queen was greatly interested in the offer, and herself appointed a sub-committee of the Queen Mary's Work for Woinen Collecting Committee to see what advantage could be taken of it, and POLICEWOMEN IN LONDON. Guarding works of art in an Exhibition ; and a Member of the Force in Bow Street. 266 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. TELEGRAPH MESSENGER At Steyning. Satisfactory conditions \\ ere laid down by which 550 girls could go out practically free of charge. The Central Committee obtained a grant from the Queen's Fund of £1,100, which would pay the preliminary £1 and give £1 to each girl as pocket-money on arrival. But this was not all ; a very excellent outfit, part of it made at the Queen's workrooms and part of it given out to firms in need of employment for their women workers, was provided for each one ; it consisted of a trunlc containing four sets of underclothing, two print dresses, two overalls, four aprons, a coat and skirt, an aftei'noon dress, a shirt blouse, an ulster, three pairs of stockings, six handkerchiefs, a pair of boots, a pair of shoes, one rough towel, t\v'o face towels, a brush and comb, and a toothbrush. Applica- tions for these passages were made through the British Women's Emigration Association. Imperial Institute, South Kensington, and tlie applicants had to pass the test of age and medical fitness required by the Australian Government. The age was fixed at eighteen to thirty-five for those who had had previous domestic experience ; at under twenty-four by New South Wales for those who had not been in service before, and for Victoria at twenty-one. References were, of course, required as to character. The Queen was in daily communication with Miss Mary MacArthur and the members of the Central Committee. She visited the centres frequently and informally, and made practical suggestions that were always to the advantage of the workers. And the splendid women of the Central Committee — the strangest grouping of different interests that had ever been seen on any committee before — worked most strenu- ously and most loyally with Her Majesty. The value of the advice given by Miss Mary MacArthur, who for some years had voiced the claims of the working women with no little ability and had made herself peculiarly their representative, was perhaps one of the biggest assets the Committee possessed, and as such was appreciated by the Queen, who was an exceedingly shrewd judge of personal values. When the Committee presented its interim report on INiarch, 1915 — the first time a body of women ever presented a report to Parliament^ — it wa? stated that "the personal interest which Her Majesty the Queen has graciously taken throughout in the many activities of the Com- mittee has given a great stimulus to the work." On the no less important side of the work— the gathering of money — the Fimd had a Collecting Committee of hard-working ladies, whose energies were centred at 33 Portland Place, Lord Blyth's town house. H.B.H. Princess Alexander of Teck and H.H. Princess Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein were vice-oresi- dents. Lady Crewe was chairman, and the membership included : Lady Askwith, Mrs. Asquith, Lady Brycc, Mrs. Austen Chamberlain, Lady Derby, Ladj' Ilchester, Lady Midleton, Lady Northcliffe, Mrs. Pearson (hon. treasurer), Lady Rothermere, Mrs. Leopold Rothschild, Lady Roxburgh (hon. secretary), Mrs. Arthur Saseoon, and the Duchess of Wellington. In tlie ninth month of \\orking the fmid had reached £154,596. Many kindly offerings came to swell tiie fund : a lady travelled second class to Australia instead of saloon, and sent the balance to the fund ; a girl sent a lock of her hair ; a fiancee whose sweetheart died at the front sent his ring ; jewellery of many kinds came from women who had nothing else to send ; a million and a half cJiildren collected for it. As women were drawn back into the labour market, when the demand for them in comiex- ion with Government contracts increased all THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 2G7 ^ ■over the country, many of the work rooms were closed, though the training schemes were proceeded with. When the early sewing and Icuitling activities of women throughout the country had reached fever heat one saw them in the trains and the tubes, in the restaiu-ants, at charitable concerts, at public meetings, working as if tiuir lives depended on it and as if the loss of a moment was a tragedy.. It was evident that this abnormal production of articles — a certain amoimt of which Mould probably be of no practical vahie — was likely to compete very seriously with the work of industrial women whose business it was to do this class of work. Everywhere there were poor women with their hands idle and well-to-do women with their hands busy. The Queen promptly saved the situation ; herself a practical needlewoman, she realized that there was likely to be a big wastage of material on the part of the warm-hearted amateur workhig without guidance. The liondon Needlework Guild, of which Her Majesty was President, with its numerous branches, was already in existence, and the experience of its members invaluable ; some- thing on similar lines, for additional comforts for the soldiers and sailors, garments for the sick and woimded and clothes for poor women and children, w as needed in the coming winter. The Queen summoned a small committee to meet at Buckmgham Palace. At this Princess Mary, Lady Savory, Mrs. Harcourt, the Hon. Mrs. :Mallet, Miss Farquhar, Lady Lawley, Lady Dawson, Miss Halford, ]Miss Taylor-Whitehead, Lady Northcliffe, Lady Ampthill, Lady Bertha Dawkms, and Miss AUcroft were present. There also the first meeting of the Council of what was to be known as Queen iNIary's Needlework Chuld took place on August 10, at which Her INIajesty, at her own request, sat as an ordinary member. Lady Ampthiii being in the chair. Princess INlary was present, and also Lady Bertha Dawkins, Lady Lansdowne, :\Irs. Asquith, Lady North- cliffe, Mrs. Hobhoxise, Mrs. Harcourt, Lady Bathurst, Lady Dawson, Lady Hope, Mrs. Albert Spender, and Lady Lawley (Hon. Sec). It was decided that work should begin immediately. Amongst the resolutions pro- posed and agreed to at this meeting were : (1) That all presidents of counties in the United Kingdom should be asked to communicate with the Hon. Secretary of Queen Mary's Needlework Guild, St. James's Palace, S.W. (2) Tliat ail pre.-irtents he a-^kcd to try. in addition to organizing working parties in their own divLsion.s, to give employment, when possible, to those who, owinp: to the war, may find themselves in need of employment. 'J'he King lent tlie Levee suite of rooms at Friary Court, St. James's J'alacf, for tlie activities of the Committee, and throughout the country, through the mediiun of the Press, a lead was given to women's vohmtary labour. The following official statement, issued <»ii August 21, l!tl 4, intimated the Queen's wishes that the vohmtary worker must not interfere with trade, and the suggestion that garments should be bought as far as pos.sibU; in the shops was wisely acted upon, as \sas qui<kly made known to Her Majesty : Queen Jlary's Needlework Guild has received repre- sentations to the effect that the ])ro\ision of garments by voluntary laboiir may have the consequence of de- priving of their emp'oyment workpeople who would have been engaged for wages in the making of the same garments for contractors to the Government. A very large part of the garments collected by the Guild con- sists, however, of articles which would not in the ordinary covirse have been purchased by the Government. They include additional comforts for the .soldiers and sailors actually serving, and for the sick and wounded in hospital, clothing for members of their families who may fall into distress, and clothing to be distributed by the local committees for the prevention and relieving of distrchs among families who may be suffering from imemployment owing to the war. If the.se garments were not made by tho voluntary labour of women who A POST WOMAN At Fpsom. 268 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. are willing to do their <;hare of work for the country in the best way open to them, they would not, in the majority of cases, bo made at all. The restilt would be that families in distress would receive in the winter no help in the form of clothing, and the soldiers and the sailors and the men in hospital would not enjoy the additional comforts that would be provided. The Guild is informed that flannel shirts, socks, and cardigan jackets are a Govern- ment issue for soldiers ; flannel vest, socks, and jerseys for sailors ; pyjama suits, serge gowns for military hospitals, underclothing, flannel gowns and flannel waistcoats for naval hospitals. Her Majesty the Queen is most anxious that work done for the Needlework Guild should not have a harmful effect on the employ- ment of men, women, and girls in the trades concerned, and therefore desires that the workers of the Guild should devote themselves to the making of garments other than those which would, in the ordinary coiu-se, be bought by the War Office and Admiralty. All kinds of garments will be needed for distribution in the winter if there is exceptional distress. The Queen would remind those that are assisting the Guild that garments which are bought from the shops and are sent to the Guild are equally acceptable, and their purchases would have the additional advantage of helping to secure the continuance of employment of women engaged in their manufacture. It is, however, not desirable that any apj^eal for funds should be made for this purpose which would confiiot with the collection of the Prince of Wales's Fund. On August 31 it was announced that it had b(>en arranged that a meeting of one repre- sentative each of Queen Mary's Needlework Guild, the St. John Ambulance Association, and the British Red Cross Society, would be held every Wednesday afternoon at St. James's Palace. At these meetings notes were compared to ascertain the special requirements of each Society. Lists were constantly supplied to the Press of the things most needed and cotuities vied with each other in supplying them. The work of packing, sorting, checking the contents of the flood of parcels was at first an almost, overwhelming task, bttt presently it was organized out of chaos into order. The workers were all volvmtary, and on that list of women wlio spent btisy days at St. James's in doing what was monotonous if responsiljle work,; there were many who were well known in Society who helped as if sucli worlv had been their business. There was no watching the clock ; if a thing had to be done it was done. Soon the machine worked smoothly and the pressure upon certain people lessened. There was a book kept at Friary Cottrt, St. James's, which recorded the gifts received from Greater Britain and from allied and neutral countries with whom our tie was one of friendship. That book made brave reading ; it recorded that beautiful old embroidered towels, family heirlooms, had been sent by Russian peasants ; it told of gifts of native work from Zulu chiefs ; it noted that from every State in the U.S.A. had come an offering- from the women who felt they were at this time- " kin-folk, kin-tongued." There, too, was recorded the great generosity of the Chilean women in London in the gift that came through Madame Edwards ; lovers of things beautiful, their gifts were typical of their taste, and many of their articles of clothing for women and children gave much happiness when distributed through the Officers' Families- Fund to ofiticers' wives and children. There were also gifts from Argentina, Athens, British Columbia, British North Borneo, Barbadoes, Bermuda, Batavia, Buenos Aires, California,. Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Natal, Rhodesia, Transvaal, Tembuland, Corea, Canada, Ceylon, Christiania, Charmel Islands,. Demerara, Donainica, Egyi:)t, Federated Malay States, Fiji, Geneva, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Jamaica, Madagascar, Malacca, Maiu-itius,. Malakand, Manchuria, Naples, New Zealand^ New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Nova Scotia, Oporto, Penang, Perak, Rio de Janeiro,. Russia, Singapore, Shanghai, Siam, Stockliolm, Trinidad, Tasmania, Thursday Island, U.S.A^ Beautiful things came from abroad. Branches of the Q.M.N.G, were everj^where. One in. Canada sent most generously, and so did one in New York. The mayoresses of nearly every town in the Kingdom added to the record the enthusiasm of her working parties. In Belfast and Glasgow activities were ceaseless. Numerous as the gifts were, the demand for them kept pace with their number. In ten months of working the gross number of articles received was 1,101,105 ; of this 1,070,887 were dispatched in about 2,(500 requisitions. But though Friary Court was a great clearing-house- for articles received from everywhere, it did. not represent the total amount of articles made for the Guild and distributed. It was the Queen's wish that the branches of her Guild,, which were formed throughout Great Britain and in every country where English was spoken,, should be free to do as they wished in the dis- tribution of the articles they collected ; they might use them for local distress and local hospitals, or for regiments quartered in their neighbourhood, or send thetn abroad. In all distribution, whether from headquarter* or locally, great care was taken to ensure that a real want existed, that the clothing reached its proper destination, and that there was no overlappmg. Of the variety of the recipients of garments- THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 269 LOADING UP TRUSSES OF HAY At Studley College. Warwickshire, where women are taught every branch of Farming. GATHERING IN THE HAY On a Farm in Middlesex. 270 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. the following list of the distribution in the first ten months gives some idea — the distribution varying from 21,000 to 50,000 per week : 744 regiments 30 1 hospitals at home ... 216 hospitals abroad (including Serbian and Dardanelles, 11,001) Indian Fund Koyal Navy 35 camps ... Forces in South Africa ... Forces in East Africa (from Devonshire House) Forces in Egypt (fi'oni Devonshire House) ... Allied Forcos 89 convalescent homes ... Belgian Refugees Officers' Families Fund 207 Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association Committeos Committees of relief for helping women and children Various ... Prisoners in Germany ... Garments, 425,050 80,000 140,899 13,133 35,909 34.055 3,082 3,000 9,900 45,061 13,406 28,734 3,329 81,169 155,204 5,188 6,550- ON THE FARM. Bringing out the Horses ; Ploughing ; and at Work on a Farm in Warwickshire. To say that the Queen took a strong personal interest in the work of the Guild is to express a truth very frigidly. Her Majesty was con- stantly at Friary Court, examining the kind of socks and shirts that were going out to the men,, anxious that workers should know the things that were needed most — that the life of a sock to a marching man was but four days — that flannel was preferable to flannelette. Every story of self-denial in connexion with the Guild reached her sympathetic ear ; her- self a good needlewoman, she knew that all were not, and that the putting in of a sleeve in a shirt was a matter of care. \A']ien a parcel of summer shirts was being sent to the Darda- nelles, the Queen examined them and decided that they were not thin enough for liot -weather wear. The mother herself of j^oung men, she knew their needs. When the great pressure on the garment department ceased — though requisitions were still being received — the Queen suggested the formation of a surgical department, which was put in the hands of Lady KeppeL The same spirit of business organization was brought to bear on tliis department ; there was nothing of the amateur in the making of bandages or dressings, or in the sorting cr parcelling of them. Lady Keppel took lessons in tlie making of " T " bandages, many-tail bandages, roller bandages, round and flat swabs, and, above all, tlie little round plugs of cyanide ganze which takes a nurse sucli a time to make. Her vohinteers sat through long summer days rolling bandages on little machines, catting and sewing the complieat»d ones, and THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAB. 271 deftly tiiniin<: tlic little plugs much needed Inr this war of niicl w ounds. Other helpers made shell dressings and the pneumonia jackets that brought comfort to poor fellows who were "gassed." In the quiet rooms, in mob caps and aprons, pictures of practical picturesque hygiene, these women worked quickly and deftly. Outside another worker sorted the.^e things into packages that were sealed carefully, and as uniform in appearance as if they were the work of a professional packer. That was the spirit of the place — what was Morfh doing was worth doing well. 'I'hroughout these difficult months l.ad^- Lawley was indefatigable ; to her organizing power, acquired in IMadras and Western Australia when her husband was Governor of these districts, not a little of the running of the work on smooth businesslike lines was due. Almost as unexpected, from a German point of view, as the action of the Irish in laying aside all thought of civil war was the patriotic stand of the suffragettes in spite of their grievances against the Government, their determined prosecution of propaganda in season and out of season, and the special legislation which had been directed against them. When war brcke out there were eleven suffragettes, members of the Women's Social and Political Union, actually in prison with sentences varying from t\\o years to three months ; they were all on hunger strike and most of them were being forcibly fed. Mrs. Pankhurst had just been released under the famous " Cat and Mouse " Act and was slowly recovering from the effect of himger strike. Mr. McKenna announced an amnesty on August 10, and the eleven prisoners were set free. About a hundred other women were at large imder the "Cat and Mouse" Act, the majority of whom liad exceeded the period of liberty granted by their licence and refused to return to prison. Most of these women had been sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from three years to one week, while a few had been released, while imprisoned, on remand. It was at first assumed that the amnesty applied to these women as well as to those actually in prison, but the re-arrest a few weeks later of one of the " mice " forced the W.S.P.U. to seek a definite declaration from Mr. ^IcKenna, and a deputation went to the Home Office on August 27. The Home Secre- ON THE FARM. Harvest time; sheep-shearing; and Flowers for the Market. 272 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. tary then stated tliat the amnesty did not extend to convicted prisoners at lar^e, but that any such prisoner would be given the benefit of it on returning voluntarily to prison, and that during the course of the war no re -arrests under the Act would be made. The release of the prisoners accomplished, the Union immediately abandoned without a single reservation tlie whole of its militant campaigTi and suspended the publication of its oflficial organ, " The Suffragette," the last copy of the pre-war issue being dated August 7. This publication was resmned in April, 1915, when it appeared to its editor that it could be of service to the Government by insisting on tlie need for national service for both men and women and by a fighting patriotic proiJaganda that gave no quarter to anything that would hinder or impede the Goverrmient in its great fight against the Eiu-opean pest. The family quarrel on the subject of votes w as laid aside. The first act of Mrs. Pankhurst on recovering from the effects of her hunger strike was to deliver a stirring recruiting speech at the Dome, Brighton. Throughout the country through the vast linked-up organization the message was sent to the suffragettes to set to work in the A PAGE GIRL At a hotel in London. A VAN DRIVER In Kensington. way that lay nearest to them to help to bring the war to a successful conclusion. No special form of work was indicated — the only positive statement made from headquarters was that not to be helping was a disgrace. Every kind of relief work had members of the L^nion on its committee ; the extraordinary ubiquitous energy w hich had proved a thorn in the side of the Govermnent was now brovight to its ser- vice ; the ready wit and fluency which had made the Government candidate dread the appearance of the Union at by-elections was now used to cajole recruits and to shame shirkers. More than this, the most eloquent of all the suffragette^, the redoubtable Miss Christabel Pankhurst, \^'ho had been living in voluntary exile in Paris owing to the warrants for her arrest in London, like her followers, thrcM- aside the thought of fighting against the G overnment at a tune of national peril. Taking up the cause of the Allies, she went to America to hanmier it home for four months and to stand heckling from the hyphenated American, who came in organized groups to her meetings to ask what he and she (for the American fraulein was much in evidence) thought incon- venient questions. Miss Pankhurst answered them neatly and effectively, and the " Ayes " had it in her tour throvigh the States. There were 600 women's suffrage societies THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 273 A MOTOR-DRIVER In Kensington. gathered together under the aegis of the National Union of Women's Svxffrage Societies, of which Mrs. Henrj^ Fawcett, LL.D., is presi- dent. A^']aen war broke out, Mrs. Fawcett appealed to all the societies within the Union to suspend their political activities and devote their resovu"ces, their industry, and their vast linked-up organizations to the relief of distress and the other lu-gent questions arising out of the war. An Active Service Leagvie was formed. " Let us show om"selves worthy of citizenship, whether qur claim be recognized or not," was her call to her followers. The central organization at headquarters took up the organization of relief. An enormous number of women had rushed to the offices when war was declared, asking to be allowed to help in some way — on Care Committees, in Red Cross work in connexion with the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association, the Belgian Refugees Committees, Schools for Mothers, Infant Welfare Associations, Girls' Clubs, etc. All these zealous women were indexed, and were drafted in batches or individually to organiza- tions requiring assistants. But besides people offering their services, there also came to the central oflfices many women in distress, suffering from the effects of the first panic of the war which caused the chicken-hearted to dismiss their workers, whether of the wage-earning or the salaried classes. The officers of the National Union kept their- heads ; they referred people who could be best helped in that way to suitable organizations, and then for dressmakers in distress they opened the first emergency workrooms at their offices in Great Smith Street. At these workrooms the principle afterwards so strongly insisted upon by the Central Com- mittee of training the workers and improving tiieir skill was initiated. Four workrooms in all were started, including one in tlie East End and one in the Fulham Road. They worked with the Women's Co-operative Guild in organizing maternity centres through- out London ; they helped the National Union III Women Workers with patrol vokmteers ; tmd organized a scheme for a Profes-sional \\'omon's Patriotic Service Fund, for the relief of professional women whose needs had been inadequately dealt with. They gave from this fund remuneration to professional women wlio were out of work and offered their services to approved organizations needing workers for distress committees or other work of national importance. The Women's Interests Committee was formed by them, and to their Scottish branch was due the great hospital scheme dealt with elsewhere. On the eve of the arrival of the first refugees from Belgium, the London Society, 58 Victoria Street, S.W., agreed to undertake their official LADY COMMISSIONAIRE In Oxford Street, London. 274 THE TIMES HISTQBY OF THE WAB. registration and to provide French and Flemish- speaking interpreters. As the number of refugees increased, the responsibiUty of this work became very great : 187 interpreters were enrolled, 150 of whom were actually employed, whilst registration at the various London centres continued day after day from 8.30 a.m. to 12 at night. When the charge of the Belgian refugees was taken over by the Government, the system of registration which the Society had evolved was approved by them and adopted without alteration ; the organizer in charge was transferred to a highly responsible position, first at Alexandra Palace (Government Hostel), and afterwards at the War Refugee Committee's headquarters in Aldwych. What the other suffrage societies did was also noteworthy ; they all helped in different ways. The Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association offered their office and staff to the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association, and when the Government took over the payment of allowances they established a hostel for educated women thrown out of work, at Roland Gardens, Kensington : they raised funds for the ne\v wooden huts war hospital at Netley, for the medical units being sent to the Serbian Army by the Scottish Federation of Women's Suffrage Societies : and THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. 275 ON THE RAILWAY. Examining tickets and a woman porter (inset). their braneiie« m Ireland. Scotland and tJie provinces were equally active. The Freedom League formed a Won)en's Suffrage Xational Aid Corps, inaugurated maternity centres, and convalescent hospitals for women and children dismissed from general hospitals for lack of beds. Tiiberai women suffragists devoted themselves to infant and maternity welfare, to Belgian repatriation, and to the big problems of un- emploxmient. The East London Federation of Suffragettes employed themselves in extensive relief work, creches, cost-price dinners for expec- tant mothers, and to a big toy-making scheme, where some model toys were designed and earned much admiration at the exhibition of British In- dustries at the Agricultural Hall. The New Con- stitutional Societj' opened a workroom early in \ugust for unemy^loyed dressmakers, and also a club for soldier.^' and sailors' families in Cam- berwell. Tlie ^\"onlPn ^^'riters joined the Emergency Corps, and in addition supplied warm garments to Indian and other troops. The Forward Cxniiric Suffrage Union raised money to help AVelsh women and children in acute distress. The British (Overseas) Suffrage LTnion provided warm underclothing for poor children, and supported relief and milk depots. The Church League made its activities felt bj^ assisting on every conunittee on which its workers could serve. Irish suffragists were al^o busy ; directly after w ar began the Dublin suffragists estarj- lished an emergency council, took workrooms, started a toy-making industr\^ and, further, organized a Tipjjerary clul) for women and a babies' creche. The Irishwoman's Suffrage Federation orsamzed the Dublin to\ industry, where sixty girls were employed ; Dublin coloured emrjroiderv (formerly made m the Blat k Forest ) w as started, and also a domestic centre 276 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. for teaching washing, plain sewing and cookery : fifteen Belgian refugees were supported since December 1914; and a bed endowed in Dublin Red Cross Hospital. The Northern Committee organized a workroom where knitting was given out and over £100 paid in wages. Interpreter corps were formed to help with refugees, and working parties arranged. Similar self-denying ordinances were issued by the National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage. At the commencement of the war the executive of the League decided that all propaganda work should be abandoned during BILL-POSTING At the Royal Oak, London. the period of the war. Its members used their training in the interests of every society that needed help. The members of the staff at headquarters joined in the work of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association. Branches of the League were notified at the outset of the decision arrived at, and were asked to put forth their energies in war-relief work of varioiis descriptions. This request w8.s heartily re- sponded to by all the branches of the League, and in some cases anticipated. But in every instance the League and its branches merged themselves into some patriotic society ; in no case did they endeavour to exploit the patriotism of the members of the League as an advertise- ment for the anti-suffrage policy. The names of well-known " Anti's " were to the front on every conmiittee engaged in public service : its members were helping in every part of England, and in France and Flanders. Briefly cata- logued, their activities during the war included local hospital service ; national hosjiital ser- vice ; provision of hospital equipment ; con- valescent homes ; rest stations : Red Cross work for British, French, Serbian and Monte- negrin troops ; the Territorial Nursing Associa- tion ; Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Associa- tion ; Disabled Soldiers' and Sailors' Funds ;. clothing and comforts for sailors, British and Indian soldiers, for mine-sweepers, and for prisoners in Germany ; recreation and reading- rooms for troops ; Queen Mary's Needlework Guild ; clubs for soldiers' and sailors' wives ; women's unemployment ; girls' clubs ; Belgian relief work : Belgian refugee work ; National Relief Fund ; Serbian Relief Fund ; Blue Cross Work ; provision of hospitals for wounded ; motor ambulances ; help for officers' families ; Armenian Red Cross work ; provision of pillows for stretchers. The National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage contributed many of its members for active service. Volunteer training corps. National Reserve, and Scouts' Committee for Defence work. One of its county branches was instru- mental through its officers in carrj'ing through an important scheme for the training and em- ployment of girls for farm work ; another branch similarly provided a free buffet for soldiers and sailors at one of the London railway termini. One of the officials of tho League was decorated by the King of the Belgians for valuable hospital and relief work at Ostend and Rouen, and another worker of the League had the credit of having engi- neered the movement which resulted in 100,000 dollars ,being provided in Canada for a hospital ship. Disinterestedness alike on the part of suffragist and anti-suffragist resulted in their trained energies being used to the utmost in the public weal. On March 17, Ktlo, the Board of Trade issued an appeal to women to vohmteer for war service. Previous to that appeal there had been a certain dilletante interest in the replace- ment of men by women that had been going on for some months. Many vacant situations in business offices and banks had alreadv been THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAB. •Ill filled by women clerks ; ernploj-ment had begun to right itself for the industrial woman and the girl clerk, both of whom when war broke out were the first to suffer. The appeal seemed as if it was intended to reach a different class, and to gather in the woman who had had a good education and who might be employed on voluntary work or not at all The official statement said : The President of the Board of Trade wishes to call attention to the fact that in the present emergency, if the full fighting power of the nation is to be put forth on the field of battle, the full working power of the nation must he made available to carry on its essential trades at home. Already, in certain important occupations there are not enougli men and women to do the work* This shortage will certainly spread to other occupations as more and more men join the fighting forces. In order to meet botli the present and the future needs of national industrj' during the war, the Government wish to obtain particulars of the women available, with or without previous training, for paid employment. Accordingly, they invite all women who are prepared, if needed, to take paid emplojTnent of any kind — industrial, agricultural, clerical, etc., — to enter themselves upon the Register of Women for War Service which is being pre- pared by the Board of Trade l^abour Exchanges. Any woman living in a town where there is a Labour Exchange can register by going there in persor. If she is not near a Labour Exchange she can get a form of registration from the. local agency of the Unemploj'ment Fund. Forms will also be sent out through a number of women's societies. The object of registration is to find out what reser\'o force of women's labour, trained or untrained, can be made available if required. As from time to time actual openings for employment present themselves, notice will be given through the Labour Exchanges, with full details as to the nature of work, conditions, and pay, and, so far as special training is necessary, arrange- ments win, if possible, be made for the purpose. Any woman who by working helps to release a man or to equip a man for fighting does national war service. Every woman should register who is able and willing to take emploj'ment. It was stated on the form issued by the Board of Trade and circulated largely through the women's societies that women were wanted at once in farm work, dairy work, brush-making, leather stitching, clothing, machinery, and light machining for annament. It \\ as stated also that to those with no experience training might be given and that " even if you can work only half of each day you may be useful." By three o'clock the following day seven himdred registrations had been made at the various Labour Exchanges ; these were mainly middle-class women and most of them asked for annament work. The next day's post brought the registrations up to 4,000, and in the first week over 20,000 registered. After that registration went on steadily at an average rate of 5,000 a week. The women automatically ranged themselves into three great classes for armament, clerical, and agriculttiral work ; OMNIBUS AND TRAM CONDUCTORS- An omnibus conductor at Woking ; On the tram at Newcastle, and in Edinburgh (bottom picture). t278 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. the next biggest demand being from those desiring shop assistants' work and dressmaking and tailoring. But though the women steadily registered the employers did not show any very great desire to employ them. When the register had reached 80,000 there had only been about 2,000 called out. There was, however, a reason for this. When the Board of Trade drafted this scheme of war service it made the mistake of not calling in an additional staff to deal with what was evidently intended to be a huge national effort. Instead they endeavoured with the staff they had to cope with the new problem they had created. And this was the reason of the complaints which after a time began to be heard. The women w-ere there, but they were not being called out. Those \\ho registered in the first days felt that they had a grievance. Their willingness seemea wasted. Instead of approaching the employers from the first and realizing the sj^ecial featiu-es of their appeal, the Board remained for about three months as ordinary brokers of labour waiting to be approached by the employer. Canvassing of employers was only begun in earnest when questions were asked in the House of Commons, and after that a great im- provement took place in the comjaarative figures. But the reluctance of employers to replace men by women was more apparent than real. There was at the time that the figures on the War Register stood highest an enormous movement on what are known as the ordinary "live" registers of the Labour Exchanges throughout the country. The industrial women were given the first offer of all work that was v\ithin their powers and the War-Service Register was only tapped for vacancies they could not fill. The great complaint against women's laboiu- had been that it was not mobile enough. The war changed this — not completely, but suffi- ciently to show that the single woman would after a time be easier to move from a locality where employment was slack to one where it was brisk. An example of such movement was seen \\hen some of the fisher girls from the East Coast of Scotland, who had suffered considerably from the slump in fishing, were moved to the jute mills in Dvmdee. Every- ^\ here women seemed to be rejslacing men ; they were taken on in the "heavies" and jNIanchester goods departments in shops in London and the provinces ; they were acting as commissionaires, whistling for " taxis " and opening carriage doors ; one was replacing a coachman and driving a carriage and pair ; many were taking the place of chauffeurs — - though Scotland Yard had refused licences to women to ply for hire as taxi-drivers ; they were ticket -collectors, ticket-sellers, carriage cleaners, and porters at railway stations ; TOWING A BARGE ALONG REGENT'S CANAL. 2 HE TIMES HISTOnY OF THE WAR. 279 MAKING A DOLL'S HOUSE. Copied from the Beguinage, Bruges. in the railway manager's office they were mastering the language of "rolling-stock"; they were pushing mUk-carts up Oxford Street ; they were working lifts, driving motor-vans (and motor -omnibuses in the provinces), and trams ; acting as packers, ordinary messengers, and cycle messengers ; they were replacing highly important male gardeners at Kew ; they were acting as park-keepers in the Xorth and as recruiting officers ; they were cleaning ships in the docks in Glasgow ; they were tracing plans in engineers' offices in London ; they were taking the place of footmen everywhere, of pantrjmien, waiters, kitchen clerics, cinema- operators ; there was even a woman potman domg cellar Mork in a London bar. Numbers of them were acting as clerks, tj'pists, and messengers in the War Office. Highly educated women were drafted into the Censvis of Production. The Assistant Censor was a woman, and many memliers of the Censor's staff likewise. In the boys' secondary schools women were everywhere replacing men, science being the subject in which recruiting was strongest ; a games mistress was engaged in one boys' school, and " Smith minor " survived it. The re- placement in the banks had been very great, l)ut there was a firm stand in London, at least. against the woman coimter-hand. No woman was allowed to cash cheques for the public or to handle the public money in the banks. It was said to be felt that this might involve later on the initiation of women into the secrets of bank- ing and investment and lead them, perhaps, to thoughts of the Baltic or the Stock Exchange. And while this enormous change was going on the "War Register was being very slowly drawn u]3on. Employers natui'ally preferred women who had been employed before, and they felt they could get them from the ordinary registers of the Labour Exchanges or tlie ordi- nary scholastic or bureau agencies more readily than from the War Register. The existence of the War Register and the know- ledge that there was this great reserve of women waiting to be drawn upon stimulated replacement. After the first nine or ten months of war there were \-ery few indus- trial women, vmless actual imemployables, idle, and it was difficult even to get yoimg women to join trade schools of any kind, owing to the big demand for their labour outside. From the War Register, however, a certain nvunber of women had been drawn for training in agricultm-e ; one of the first expermients of this kind was made at the Harper Adam'3 College, Newport (Shropshire), to which women 280 THE TIMES HISTORY UF THE WAR. had been drafted from Birmingham and Shrewsbury, most of whom had had a good education. The training inckided instruction in stock feeding and tending, dairying, poultry- keeping, horticulture, and general farm work. Other colleges which helped in the first scheme were Swanley, Garforth (Leeds), Sparsholt (Winchester), the Midland Agricultural Training College (Kingston-on-Soar), and Aberj'stwith. A three -weeks' course was given at most of these colleges, and included the rudiments of milking. For an industrial worker to take a course of this kind, even if free, would have meant giving up her chances of work at ammunition making or a similar war contract. The greatest willingness to train came from the class above the industrial worker. As had been anticipated, there was a certain amoimt of artificial demand for women's work during the war which could not be described with any exactitude as a replacement, though it was, as in the leather trade, where men were lured from " clicking " to accoutrement making, an opportunity created by a temporary shortage of men's labour due to an abnormal demand. In the filling of shells and other work in con- nexion with ammunition there was eager competition for work from old and young. One old woman, who had tottered up to one of the munition works to plead for work, urged "the Germans killed my son" as a reason for her desire for such a grim occupation. When the replacement of men by women hardened there was considerable anxiety felt both by women and men lest any lowering of the standard of wages would result. The anxiety was not vmfounded, for cases were known where some trifling alteration in the work done was made by the employer, who thereupon said it was not the same, and paid only a half the sum formerly paid to the male worker. It Mas felt that if this was permitted many employers would get so used to cheap female labour that in the inevitable reaction and slump after the war they would be reluctant to replace the cheap woman by the retired soldier expecting his former wage. Mrs. Fawcett approached the President of the Board on behalf of the newly formed Women's Interests Committee of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies to call a conference of women's societies to consider the scope of possible war-service and also on the question of wages. When the conference met Mr. Runciman stated that : As regards the wages and conditions on which women should bo employed, as a general principle, the Exchanges did not, and could not, take direct responsibility as to the wages and conditions, beyond giving in each case such information as was in their possession. In regard, how- ever, to Government contractors, it had been laid down that tKe piece rates for women should be the same as for meti, and further special instructions had been given to the Exchanges to inform inexperienced applicants of the current wages in each case, so that they should be fully apprised as to the wage which it was reasonable for them to ask. A general safeguard against permanent lowering of wages by the admission of women to take the place of men on service would be made by asking employers, so far as possible, to keep the men's places open for them on their return. It was, of course, evident to many of the women who obtained employment either through the War Register or the ordinary register that there was every chance of their entry being a permanent one ; in many cases the men would never return ; in others they would return either vinfit for their former work or with no desire for it. This was especially the case with men who had led a sedentary life, and experienced the great pleasure of open-air life in camp. While honourably in- tending to keep their bond, and, if called upon, give up their jobs to the original owners on their return, there was a strong feeling amongst war-service women of all classes that in the interests of both the best terms should be made with the employers. The millennium — a very sad one it had proved — had come in the matter of opening up new opportunities ; a few months of war had done what years of agitation had failed to do. Nothing would ever be the same again. Women realized fully and soberly their new responsibilities and the share which the younger women would have to shoulder in the aftermath of the war when they lived in the after years of paying for it. Of women's ingenuity in thinking of ways of helping there was no end. The Government on several occasions appropriated some of their schemes and ideas, and the fact only flattered them. This was very noticeable in the dealings with the Belgians ; men did not appreciate the right method of dealing with the family unit when it came clamouring in strange tongues in its thousands ; it does not occur to the average Englishman that everyone does not know English. And so the interpreting for welcoming, feeding, clothing, and housing of thousands of Belgians owed its organization in the main to women. (Other aspects of Women's Work are dealt with in a subsequent chapter.) THE TIMES HISTORY OP THE WAR. Manuel GENERAL JOFFRE CHAPTER LXXII. THE FEEDING OF THE ARMY AND NAVY. Food and Military Efficiency — Reorganized Army Service — Wellington as Commissariat Officer — The Lessons of History — Army Provisioning in Franco-German \\'ar — The Ration of the British Soldier — Waste and Its Causes — New System of Contracting — Feeding of the Home Army — Provisioning of Expeditionary Force — Supplying an Army IN Retreat — Changing the Bases — The Daily Routine — Links of Transport — Important AVoRK OF Motor Lorries — Organization of British Manufacturing Trade— Some Personal Narratives — Comforts for the Trenches — Feeding the Indian Contingent — Army Service in the Gallipoli Peninsula — Indian Mule Pack Transport — Victualling the Navy — Clothing and Food Supplies — Work of the Victualling Yards — Provisioning of Fleet Auxiliaries — In the Days of Howard and Drake — Popularity of New System. THE sudden outbreak of the Euro- pean War found the Army Service Corps, upon whom rested the burden of provisioning the Army, both at home and over seas, in the spheres of supply and transport, ready with plans which put its organization on a war footing with a minimum of delay. That the Army Service Corps rendered loyal, devoted, and efficient service from the very outset of the war, and that the system established stood the crucial test imposed upon it by the creation of vast new armies, was acknowledged by all ranks. The Cinderella of military depart- ments, whose important functions had in the past been too often regarded as consisting of simple administration and routine, came into its kingdom at last. It was generally admitted that the qualities which distinguished the British soldier — his tenacity, ability to endure privations, his unfailing cheerfulness imdcr all conditions, his immunity from ordinary' sickness as compared with earlier campaigns — were to be largely attributed to the fact that he was the best -fed soldier in the field. The French Commissariat copied his ration, the German soldier envied Vol. IV.— Part 47. it, the British soldier himself throve on it, realizing that those responsible for his creature comforts had resolved that, even if there was waste, at least there should be no stint of food. The wonder of it all wa.s increased by the fact that the diet of fresh meat, of newly baked bread, of jam, of bacon, cheese, and milk, and other cominodities which made up a field ration which has never been equalled, so rarely failed to reach even those in the fighting line. There were occasions during the anxious days of the retreat from Mons when units could not be reached, but these were few indeed. Neither privations, nor difficulties, nor dangers daimted the Army Service Corps in the discharge of a duty in which their own casualties were not few. What effect the regular service of rations had in enabling the " contemptible British Army" to withstand the strain of those early anxious weeks when the Germans were march- ing by rapid stages on Paris it was never difficult to understand. Regular rations were a power- ful allj' during those dark days, keeping men in the fighting line who might have been in field hospitals, assisting to maintain discipline at times when nothing but the sense of it could have prevented rearguards who were fighting 281 282 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. i!wl % LORD KITCHENER VISITS A GAMP. Inspecting the soldiers' food. actions to gain time from being overwhelmed. It was abundance of good food added to medical comforts which kept the British soldier through the weary winter months of 1914-15 in the cold and flooded trenches, and if a choice had to be made as to which factor was the more important during that phase of the war, the supply of food would rank first. Tlie comparative neglect of this subject by military historians had often been the subject of comment, but was not difficult to undei- stand. Here were no high lights of glamour and romance, no pomp and circumstance, no echo of international politics, no nice problems of strategy or tactics. The historian had more stirring topics for his pages — the crash of battles, the storming of fortresses, the sack of towns, the dash of cavalry charges, the thunder of the gvms, the deadly work of infantry with the bayonet, the reckless daring of forlorn hopes, the doubts and fears of night attack. What had rations of bread and meat in common with these glowing themes ? Was it to be wondered that for long years army service tailed along at the rear of the Army, something above the status of a camp follower, something less than a military organization ? That a system which until recent years had been largely civilian in character, and which had sprung out oi no higher incentive than official indifference, if not discouragement, proved itself ready to meet the emergency of a great crisis was one of the most satisfactory features of British administration. The Army Service Corps as it existed at the outbreak of war was comparatively new. It was reorganized only in the year 1888, and it should never be forgotten how much was due to the work and influence of Sir Redvers Buller. That staunch friend of Tommy Atkins had made a careful study of all army problems and not least of those furnished by the work of supply and transport. He knew it all, and it was his influence which was largely responsible for elevating the status of the Army Service Corps and making it the admirable instrument it proved itself to be. Many developments took place in the years immediately preceding the war, the most important being the reorganization of trans- port due to the introduction of the mechani- cally propelled vehicle. Glancing backwards, the immediate pre- decessor of the Army Service Corps, founded by taking men from other parts of the Service and training them for the special work, was the Commissariat and Transport Staff. This came into existence as a united body only in the year 1875, as, although the departments of transport and supply were formed under one head in the year 1870, its status was little more than that of a civilian body, even the transport officer having no combatant rank. A com- missariat organization had formerly been THE TIMERS HISTOBY OF THE WAB. •2b3 created afresli for every war, and as promptly disbanded when thf war was over. The hisloiian of supply and transport could easily fill a vohune with the tale of the discreditable achievements of erude systems of hastily assembled wagon trains, and the exploits of uixscrupulous contractors whose main desire was to see how nearly they could succeed in starving the Armies which England at different times dispatched overseas. Other reasons for the faihu-e of these early commis- sariat arrangements were the divorce of trans- port from supply, the quarrels as to whether the organization should have a military or semi-military standing, whether the control should be with the politician or the soldier, and if the financial arrangements should be in tie hands of the Treasury or the War Office. The history of British commissariat services up to the time of the Euro])ean war confirmed the point made by the well-known military writer, the Hon. John Fortescue, that " deep in his heart the British politician cherishes the con- viction that in dealing with money a soldier is either a rogue or a fool." There were, of course, exceptions to the chaos and scandals which fill the main chapters of the story. The case of the Peninsular campaign was one. The significant relation of army commissariat to the waging of success- ful war was well recognized by Wellington, who crystallized its importance in a phrase wrung from him during the bitter experience of the provisioning of his army in the J^eninsular u ar : " Many can lead troops ; I can feed them." It is well known that Sir Arthur Weilesley, as he then was, was a fir.st-rate commissariat officer, and both he and his Commissary, General Kennedy, gave the closest attention to food and transport problems, and raised the corps employed in the work to a high degree of efficiency. This organization, however, having served its purpose, was allowed to be disbanded after the war, and nothing remained of it but a record in an official pigeon hole, so that in the next campaign it was necessary to start de novo. Exjierience of army service under various conditions and in different countries was gained, but this was generally all that the British Army had to draw upon when next the nation was at war. No soldier worthy of the name has ever denied, however, that all strategical move- WEIGHING IN. 284 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. ments ot armies must depend in the last resort on the means of obtaining food. All great commanders, whether of the ancient or the modern world, knew it for a basic truth even while they attempted to evade the issue. Darius, who in the pre-Christian era dis- patched an army of 700,000 men across the Bosphorus, allowed them to go starving to court defeat. Xerxes was a wiser general ; he knew that the great army, said to niunber two and a quarter millions of men, which he sent into Greece, and which took seven days and nights to cross the bridge of boats built by Egyptian and Phoenecian engineers across the Hellespont, must depend for victory upon the ability to feed it. The provisioning of this force, the largest army of ancient times, accomplished by the accumulation of enormous reserves, was a stupendous task, the difficulty of which was accentuated owing to the fact, recorded by Herodotus, that with camp followers the number would be swelled to about six millions of people. All the teachings of history have made ^^ plain that the successful commander of armies must also be a commissariat expert. The ex- perience of the Thirty Years War impressed the lesson on Gustavus Adolphus ; Frederick the Great sacrificed the mobility of his armies rather than allow hunger to thin their ranks ; Napoleon learnt the bitter truth that hunger is a foe more to be feared than steel during tlie retreat with a starving army from Moscow ; the need for food imposed severe restrictions on the operations of Wellington in the Penin- sula. Misled by Spanish assm-ances as to the supply of provisions. Sir Arthur Wellesley crossed the frontier from Portugal into Spain lacking any adequate means of transport and without magazines. The failure of Spanish contractors, and the open hostility of the people of the country to their English allies, brought the British army to the verge of starvation. Half a poiuid of wheat in the grain daily, and twice a week a few ounces of flour with a quarter of a pound of goat's flesh formed the sole subsistence of officers and men. This meagre fare was indeed only obtained with difficulty, and its distribution was often attended by unseemly behaviour. It was found necessary in the end for the British army to retire into Portugal, where the command of the sea made it possible to feed the army from home sources of supply, and to furnish as well the means of subsistence for the population of the territory in which war was being waged. Wellington was but following old practice in moving his army nearer the coast. Historians have indicated that wherever possible invading armies marched parallel with the sea in order to have the support of their fleets for food transport. The Turkish army was probably the first to estimate the allowance of the soldier's daily ration, and to Napoleon should perhaps be A HURRIED DINNER. THE TIMES HISTOEY OF THE WAE. 285 Repair Department at the General Post Office : making parcels secure, which have been carelessly packed, before dispatching to the Front. assigned the credit of first establishing maga- zines on a large scale for the provisioning of an armjr of invasion. Old records have suggested the existence of such systems in a crude form in much earlier days. Certainly Xerxes accumii- Ixted immense stores of provisions along the line of march of his great army, and it was the custom of the Athenian armies not only to march near the sea whenever pos'^ible in order to have the support of their fleet, but they left behind in Athens a body whose duty it was to attend to the provisioning of the troops. The system of definite rations \\as also adopted in the old days, certainly by the Roman army among others. The legions carried their own food, and one day's rations appears to have consisted of about two poimds of wheat, rye, or barley, some pork, and lentils and other vegetables. A supply of wine was always provided for the Roman soldier. Coming down to the Middle Ages, when comparatively small armies were the rule, Henry V. invaded France with 6,000 men of arms and 24,000 bownnen, antl the troops lived to a great extent on the country they invaded. Unless, however, it was possible for the army to make a rapid advance the attempt to live on the countrj' invaded was apt to fail. The only recorded instance of success was the insurgent army of Ceneral Gomez in Cuba, numbering 35,000 men, which in the year 1898 lived for months entirely on the produce of the fertile soil of Cuba. In this case the armj- had been recruited from the ranks of agriculturists, and on laying down their arms the troops returned to their occupation on the land, literally turning their swords into plough -shares. The sys- tematic quartering of the troops on the inhabi- tants of a country was initiated by German troops some time in the fourteenth century, but the arrangement was coupled with an order to the soldiers to pay for what they obtained. More ruthless methods of obtaining food from an invaded territory were practised by the German army during the European war. No account of army commissariat would be complete which failed to do justice to the work of Louvois, the ^^'ar Minister of Louis XIV. 47—2 286 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. Louvois doubtless learnt much from Gustavus Adolphus, but he unproved upon the methods of his teacher. The general system of magazines of provisions which he created was well con- ceived, and was said to have greatly increased the strategical power of the French armies. For the campaign in Holland, in 1672, Furse records that he provided the French army with both a siege and a transport train, then an innovation in the art of war. Frederick the Great was a first-class com- missariat ofticer. He recognized that it was not enough to collect provisions in magazines, but that the plan of campaign must be so drawn up as to enable the supplies to be within reach of the troops in the field. Undoubtedly the magazine system militated against raj^idity of movement, and on more than one occasion Frederick was known to have made the move- ment of his troops subservient on those of the provision columns. At that tiuie the Prussian soldier received daily 2 lb. of bread, and weekly 2 lb. of meat ; the rest he bought out of his pay. In many respects Frederick differed from Napoleon, as the latter soinetimes paid little or no heed to the feeding of his army. Frederick, however, waged war in a different manner to Napoleon ; it fitted in with his method to keep near the base and to have huge trains of wagons accompanying the troops. This rendered the movement of his army slow, but inasmuch as the operations undertaken consisted mainly of sieges of the enemy's fortresses, the course of the campaign was but little affected by waiting for food supplies. The capture of a convoy was often deemed of more importance than the defeat of the enemy in the field. Under the conditions which prevailed there was something to be said for the practice often followed by Napoleon of living on the coimtry traversed. In some campaigns, however, notably in Egypt, Napoleon showed great care for the subsistence of his troops ; whereas in the Peninsula, Junot had explicit orders from the Emperor not to delay his march a single day waiting for pro- visions. " Twenty thousand men," wrote Napoleon, " can live anywhere, even in the desert." It was in this spirit that the ill-fated march on Lisbon was im.dertaken in accordance with the orders of the Emperor, and although they plundered everything as they went along, the arn:iy of young recruits, which originally numbered 25,000, was reduced to 2,000 starving men by the time Lisbon was reached. General Foy, commenting on this adventure, wrote : " The French were not expected in Portugal SERVING OUT RATIONS TO LONDON TERRITORIALS. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 287 INSIDE THE BAKEHOUSE. either as friends or enemies, and no prepara- tions had been made to receive them. Yet, all at once behold them entering Portugal with no provisions, no means of transport, and pushisng on without stop through a country in which a prudent traveller never quits the place where he has slept without providing subsis- tence for the day." What WelUngton did in this campaign has been referred to above. He fell back on the sea, " the nurse of British armies," drawing his supplies from the water while devastating the country so that nothing should be left for the invader. It was ]Massena who was in command of this the third array of invasion, for Portugal, and the starvation of the French army was the most effective method of forcing the enemy to abandon the march on Lisbon. There are two or three other campaigns the events of which had an important bearing on the intin-iate connection between success or failure in field operations and the -supiily and transport of food. The first of these was the Russian campaign of Napoleon in 1812. The Emperor well knew that success in the invasion of Russia with a force of 400,000 men could only be achieved by placing the provision and transport of food for his army vmder 'soimd administration. At the very outset of the campaign he laid down demands for 20 million rations of bread and rice, which he estimated would furnish a fifty days' supply, and 2 millions of measures of oats as provision for 50,000 horses for a similar period. He also estab- lished large magazines at Thorn, Konigsberg, and Danzig, and created a wagon train for the necessarjf transport. In no previous cam- paign had anything like such complete arrange- ments for transport been made. In addition to the base magazines, there were established six lines of food depots on the road to Moscow. The failure of this ambitious enterprise was largely due to the breakdown of a scheme for storing and transporting food which, howe\er admirable on paper, could not be realized in practice. The distances between the line.« of depots made them almost useless, and the army had to cater for itself on the march. The trutli was that in his efforts to engage the enemy in a decisive battle Napoleon refused to wait for the food trains, relying upon feeding his army on the Russian magazines after the enemy had been defeated. Tiie Russians, how- ever, destroyed everything in their retreat, and even the vast accumulation of provisions at Danzig and Konigsberg, which Napoleon intended to transport to the field by means of the waterways could not be got within reach of the army, on which disease as well as starva- tion had commenced to take toll. Clause- witz correctly attributed the melting away of Napoleon's army in his advance and its utter ruin in retreat to the Emperor's want of regard to the subsistence of his troops. It was 288 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. INDIAN TROOPS IN CAMP. Baking bread ; milking a goat ; and preparing a native dish. a rabble and not an army tliat Napoleon coin- inanded at the close of this disastrous cam paign. It vva.sian instance of a great military enterprise wrecked for M^ant of adequate pro- visioning arrangements. A British scandal in army commissariat was furnished by the Crimean War. There was such an entire absence of systeni that within a very short period every branch of army ad- ministration utterly failed of its object. In the ordinary meaning of the word tliere was no " transport," and although food brought from overseas was waiting witJiin a comparatively f?w miles of the point at which the military operations were being conducted, there were no means of bringing the rations to the men. Sir Charles Dilke, in an article in the United Service Magazine used strong but justifiable language on the conduct of this campaign. He wrote : — ]n tlic Crimen there were no great n'.arche.*. no .skilful mananr/res in the open field at long distances from the base ; our inost advanced posts were never a full day's inarcli from the sea, and it would have seemed to be a simple task to provide for the army in the field. Yet the wliole of our plan utterly broke down ; the horses of the cavalry and artillery were destroyed by doing common transport work, for which they should never have been used, and the army of the richest nation in the world commanding tlie seas starved almost within sight of its own ships for want of propei arrange inents as to food, rotted for lack of sanitary provision, and, from the absence of that care which is the business of the genera! staff, became a wreck of itself. Things were very differently managed in the case of the small army which quelled the Indian Mutiny. It was a remarkable tribute to the efficiency of the Indian comixiissariat of that day that, in a country which for the time being was largely hostile. Lord Roberts should have been able to write : — Throughout the campaign the Conimissariat Depart- ment never failed ; the troops were invariably well s\ipplied, and even dining the longest marches fresh bread was issued almost daily. The Civil War in America, both in respect of numbers of men engaged-^the Union army increased to over 1,300,000 men- — and the duration of the campaign, furnished many l?ssons to commissariat officers. From some points of view, the position in America in 1801 was comparable to that in Great Britain at the time of the > outbreak of the European -war in 1914. Large armies had to be raised, and there was, as in the case of the British com- missariat, no experience of provisioning in the field a force of the magnitude which had to be formed, ultimately by compulsion. It was not in that war a case of having to provision an army overseas and requiring the assistance of a strong navy, but those responsible for sup|)ly and transport realised that the pos.session of the navigable rivers would give an overwhelming advantage to the side which could hold thein and convert them into lines of commvmication. The blockade of the southern coasts which was afterwards undertaken, with the object of preventing svipplies reaching the Southern army, was an illustration of the strangling process which sea control, as in the European THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 289 war, gave to tho nations which possessed it. Hunger was the bitterest enemy of the Con federate army in awarwiiich, Uke the European campaign, threatened from its outset to be one of attrition. In the Franco-Oerman war of 1870 71, llic arrangements for jjrovisioning the German army were tho best wliich had up to tliat time been devised, 'i'ho whole of the country con- tributed towards the feeding of the troops. Tiu-ee armies had to bo fed, comprising over 400 battahons, 3oO squadrons, and 2 ilO batteries. These were large numbers to provision at a period when the scientific organization of com- missariat was in its infancy. As com[)ared with the great European war of 1914 tlie numbers to be fed were, however, insignificant. The plans adopted in 1870 were far reaching, and included not only the establishment of food reserve magazines, but the provision of field bakeries and other accessories for the supply of the troops. In addition to the corps which had been locally organized being partly sup- plied from their own districts and requisitions being made on the invaded territory, large food purchases were also made abroad, these being delivered at Cologne and handled by the general transport system. It was found that the invaded territory could only be made to yield one-third of the provisions and forage reqiiiicd for the army, so that two-thirds had to be provided by the conunissariat. The claim wjxs justly made that no army had been so well fed up to that time, and yet there were short periods during the operations when the troops suffered the severest prixations from want of food. These arose from \arioiLs cau.ses ; supplies sometimes failed, and to these deficiencies were often added difficulties (jf transport due partly to the congestion of tin- railways and partly to the shortage of animals for road haulage. The nature of the task which was entrusted to the German commissariat may be appre- ciated from the figures of the daily require- ments of the forces which invested Paris, quoted by Col. G. A. Fur.se, in his well-known work on the provisioning of armies. These forces required each day 450,000 lb. of bread, 102,000 lb. of rice, 539 oxen or 102,000 lb. of bacon, 14,000 lb. of salt, 900,000 lb. of oats, 2,400,000 lb. of hay, 28,000 quarts of spirits, a large supply of coffee and sugar, and many thousands of cigars. The provisions and forage for each army corps filled each day five railway trains of 32 wagons. That, in sjjite of the care with which all the arrangements for the feeding of the army were made, sections of it were so often near starvation illustrated the difliculties of properly feeding an army on the march A LARGE FAMILY TO FEED. Men of the Army Service Corps at Dinner. 290 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. TRANSFERRING MEAT FROM A STORE TO A RAILWAY. The same thing happened to the army which in the autumn of 1914 made its rapid march on Paris, leaving its provision trains hopelessly out-distanced. It was probably one of the severest blows to German ixiilitary pride to learn, as their leaders did Ir am, that in the art of provisioning an army they could teach nothing to the British, and that the complete- ness and efficiency of the German commissariat system was far excelled by that which helped the little British Army to delay and finally, in common with its Allies, to thwart the threatened seizure of Paris, and which kept oiu- men at the highest pitch of efficiency when they were bar- ring the way to Calais. Tt was said that the British commissariat had much experience to draw upon, that something had been learned from the campaigns in Abyssinia, Ashanti, and Egypt, if only what to avoid, and that important lessons must have been derived from the provisioning of the British Army over long lines of communication dui-ing the South African War. It was suggested that the British had tested all the various methods of provisioning which were applicable to field service. There was doubtless something in this contention. This, however, was certain, that while in the early months at least there was a lack of men, and for a very long period a shortage of munitions, food was always good and plentiful. It was generally admitted that the system evolved for the armies operating on the Continent successfully withstood the strain of the Great War. How was this system worked out so that the outbreak of hostilities called into existence PLACING A JOINT INSIDE A BEEHIVE OVEN. arrangements to meet the needs of the case ? The method of provisioning adopted on the Continent of Europe, although very similar from the point of view of the ration to the South African War, was absolutely different from the transport standpoint. The change was largely due, of course, to the coming of mechanical transport, but not wholly. The British soldier, in spite of contractors' scandals and a discredit- able wastage of both money and supplies, was well fed in South Africa. The ration then was 1^ lb. of biscuits, 1 lb. of fresh meat or 1 lb. of tinned meat, 4 oz. of jam, 3 oz. of sugar, 2 oz. of desiccated vegetables, J of an oz. of tea, i oz. of coffee, and pepper and salt. In the Eiu"opean War this ration was reinforced by 4 oz. of bacon, and very excellent bacon it was, and 3 oz. of cheese, and another change was the supply of Ij lb. of fresh meat, some extra tea, which was much appreciated, and the issue as a substitvite for the extra meat of | of a tin of condensed milk. Jam was always a favourite item of the soldier's ration. It was first issued free as a ration in Egypt in 1889, and was adopted as a field ration to the Ashanti cam- paign of 1895-96. It was said that the British soldier in the European War was far too well fed and that there was waste. Of course there was waste ; unless an anny were to be doomed beforehand to privations which would materially affect its fighting value, there must be waste. It was Moltke who laid down the dictum that "No food was too expensive/' and it is recorded that in the Philippities the waste and losses of American detachments fed and equipped many THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 291 of the insurrectionists in a way they deemed to be luxurious. There were other causes, as there always are in war, which might appear to furnish foundation for the charge of wasteful provisioning. Although a small fraction of the supplies were obtained by purchase in France the bulk of the food for the amiy had to be sent from England, and it took several days to reach the firing line. A battalion to which full suj)- plies had been consigned on Monday from the English depot which fed the Expeditionary Force might conceivably have had its strength reduced by anything from 20 to .50 per cent, by the time these supplies reached the Front. Indeed, in some of the bloody battles which took place in the fight for the coast, a larger percentage of the men than that named above was put out of action while their food supplies were in transit. Uninformed critics suggested that such supplies could be diverted, but the nature of the task arising from the congestion of the railways and roads, and the disposition of the army rendered such a remedy for wa-ste an impo.ssible one. Similarly, in the case of the large home armies undtr training it was usually necessary to send full supplies. The numljer of rations could not be reduced on the chance of men ha\ing been granted leave which might be cancelled by a "stand fast" order at the la-st moment. Attempts were made by reducing the ration PREPARING FOOD FOR THE HORSES. Unloading fodder ; chaff-cuttinj* machine (top picture) ; and a portable field-trough. and substituting a money allowance to economise food, but much depended upon regimental management, which was a varying quantity. \\'hile on the subject of waste, the vexed question of cooking may also receive atten- tion. There wa.s indifferent cooking, particu- larly at the outset. Under peace conditions the number of army cooks was limited, and when the time came to expand the Army 292 THE TIMES HISTORY OE THE WAB. Service Corps to many times its original strength, while there was no difficulty in recruiting for this branch, it was not easy to obtain efficient cooks. To the credit of the men who had to endiu'e indifferent cooking they understood the cause and made light of a grievance not at any time universal, and which gradually ceased as the cooks settled down to their duties. All complaints, at least from the army overseas, finally simmered down to those relating to a plethora of plum and apple jam, and the British soldier, with his usual sense of hmiiour, when surfeited with this luxury was wont to " hang out banners on the outward walls " of his trenches, these crudely conceived emblems being em- bellished with forcibly worded protests against a further supply of this particular delicacy. EARLY MORNING. Serving out hot coflFee. The good service given was in no small measure due to the spade work which had been done before the war by the Army Service Corps. In spite of the fact that practically no money was available, the system which should obtain in the event of a European War had been fixed.. The sites of depots for the feeding of the home armies and the Expeditionary Force had been inspected. Some were situated on the coast, and others, to the number of thirteen in all, at convenient centres inland. When war was declared the organization was ready ; possession was at once taken of the premises which were to serve as magazines, and the accumulation of the necessary reserves was commenced. For a short period of ten days only were the old commissariat arrangements allowed to remain in force. Under that system each unit provided its own food by direct buying, and had this method continued to prevail the rule would have been for each coinmand to purchase its own food. Generals in command of particular districts would have been competing against those in command of adjoining areas for the supply of the home forces. On the top of that the War Office would have been buying for the Expeditionary Force and the Admiralty purchasing victualling for the Navy. Under the scheme ready to be put in force with a minimum of delay all buying passed into the hands of the War Office and competition was eliminated. Contracts were made directly by the War Office, and all food, forage and other stores subjected to rigorous analysis and inspection. No possible loophole was left for the supplj^ of indifferent or bad food as in the case of the South African War, when contractors dumped their lots on board ship with little or no supervision. The 1914 system expanded with the growth of the armies, and the huge stocks accumulated always assm-ed supply being well ahead of demand. Each of the magazines had a definite area to supply, and a special depot was estab- lished for the supply of the army overseas. The provisioning of the home armies, in spite of the constant movement of the forces in training, was easily arranged. The magazine serving the South of England, or the Eastern Counties, or the West, knew day by day the munber of rations which had to be provided. With the railways under military control and a constantly augmented motor transport fleet, a sudden addition to the number of troops being fed from a particular magazine was easily met. It was an interesting experience to watch the work of a depot which might have to provide the daily food for a quarter of a million men or more. One of these depots was indeed enlarged to a capacity which would enable it to hold sup- plies for an army of 1,000,000 for one month. The work of such a depot in giving effect to the policy of the Director of Supply and Transport, of demanding, collecting, inspecting, main- taining, and dispatching svipplies either to foreign or home stations of the Army was no light task. Such a depot for the piu-poses of the war was divided into foiu departments — the home, foreign, stores, and interior sections. A day spent at one of these depots was a revelation in the advance made in the organiza- tion of Army Service. The buying arrange- ments, the marshalling of the inwards road AN INCIDENT AT THE FRONT. Officers and men taking supplies to the firing line. 293 47—3 294 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAB. 295 transport in a delivery yard, the lay-out of the railways for inwards and outwards traffic, the finely conceived storage accommodation, the system of inspection and analy^^is liy competent officers, the arrangements for daily loading for dispatch to camps and towns served by the depot, gave evidence of scientific management. In the home section were to be found the stores of meat, flour, tea, sugar, biscuits, and the other commodities. For the feeding of the home army, to the provisioning of which the majority of the depots were devoted, separate receptacles alongside rail were set apart for the require- ments of the different camps and towns in the area supplied. These were filled over-night with the following day's sup{>lies and usually loaded on train in the early morning. Flour only and the men, but in a special section the large number of girls employed packed the iron rations which took the place of the old emer- gency ration, and other articles of food which needed special care. Tea and sugar were weighed in grease-proof bags, put in a tin with two cuVjes of Oxo, lightly soldered, because it was foimd that the tins were apt to come open when carried, and packed in boxes which held 100 rations each. In addition to the service rations, a reminder would be given to the visitor to the dej)6t of the voluntary gifts of food and little luxuries which came the way of the soldier. In one large room could be seen a corps of girls packing some of the Royal Gift boxes, and in other instances the female hands were engaged in jmcking the seed dainties for COOKING ON THE FIELD. not bread was sent out from the bases of the home army, the bread being supplied by bakeries in the various districts where the army was quartered. The flour was delivered to them and made into bread at a small fixed profit. The daily routine was carried through without hitch, and although the army of workers was recruited from the ordinary ranks of labour — including a considerable female element for the light packing work — and was not amenable to inilitary discipline, there were no labour troubles wliich e^'er became acute. The depot to which reference is made directly served the Expeditionary 'Force, but it maintained reserves for the Army in France, inclucUng millions of pounds of pre- served meat, biscuits, and medical comforts. The heavier packing and loading was done by the Indian soldier, who all through the war, with the exception of certain commodities sent from India and local purchases, had his rations sent from England. Reference was made above to the ease with which the Army Service Corps was recruited. There were many evidences of this ; to take only one, the various professions represented among the officers at one'of the great food depots showed how freely conmierce, sport, finance, and science had given up their sons to this special work. Side by side with f)rofessional soldiers, veterans of the Anny Service Corps, were to be found in uniform buyers from commercial houses, expert chemists and analysts, a director of a famous financial trading corporation, a dealer in produce, an engineer, a well-known Coimty Cricket captain, not without commercial 296 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. [BarneU MAJOR-GEN. S. S. LONG, C.B. Director of Supply and Transport. experience, a son of a faniovis actor, a member of the peerage, an expert in transport. All these had come forward to do their share in shoulder- ing the burden of the Empire. Ordinarily, of course, all the buying was done by the War Office, but to the officer in charge of the depots was reserved the right to make emer- gency purchases, and the right was freely exercised at times. The bulk of the depots were, of course, established for the provisioning of the forces maintained at home, and the work was of the same character at all. Interesting, however, as were the methods by which the growing army in England, gradu- ally increased in number to millions, was fed, it was a far more difficult task to ensure regular supplies of rations to the ever-increasing number of men in the field, particularly when to the anny operating in France was added the forces landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula. These con- stituted by far the largest armies ever main- tained by the Empire in any field of war. When in August, 1914, it was decided to dispatch an expeditionary force to the Continent to cooperate with the French and Belgian armies, the first st.ep taken was to ensvu-e that this army should be properly provisioned. Home bases were at once established to under- take the work of furnishing not mereh^ food to the men, but forage for the horses, and a supply of petrol for the mechanically pro- pelled lorries, which were for the first time assigned an important role in anny transport. It should not be forgotten that the work so admirably carried out by Major-General S. S. Long and by Col. A. R. Crofton Atkins, his deputy at the War Office, and by the many other officers associated with the provisioning of the Army, as the title of the department indicated, included both supply and trans- port. Several bases were concerned with the supply to the armies overseas,, for while there were two main food depots, a railway home base from which nearly all food stores and also cigarettes, tobacco, and candles were dis- patched, fresh meat was handled at a special port depot, also hay, while to another port was allocated the work of consigning to the front the huge supplies of petrol. With the increase in the number of men on active service it was necessary to accumulate large reserves, not only at the special home bases from which the sokUers in the field were fed, but to maintain in the reserve depot surphis stores which could be drawn upon when required. In addition to the home bases, overseas base=4 were placed at the disposal of the British Military authorities by the French Government, wlio from first to last gave full facilities for the work. The first overseas bases were established at certain French Channel ports, and the initial work was to pour into those btises reserves which, in the event of any stoppage of the steady stream of supplies from the home base, should tide over a short emergency. Supplies of field ovens and travelling kitchens and other cooking appliances of all sorts liad to be accvimulated in advance. The COL. A. R. CROFTON ATKINS, C.M.G. Deputy Director of Supply and Transport. THE TIME!^ HISTOnV OF THE WAE. 297 A TRAVELLING KITCHEN AT THE FRONT. railway transport on the British side was easily arranged, as the railwaj^s were already vinder Government control, and plans of working which had been drawn up before there was any threat of war were readily put to the test of active service conditions. Sea trans- port to the overseas base was a inatter of easy arrangement, and from the first day of war, although the work increased to a point which meant the daily loading and unloading from depot to rail, froni rail to ship, from ship to overseas base, and the reloading on rail, and the subsequent handling by road transport of many thousands of tons of dead weight, the organization worked with the utmost smoothness. The ^\•ork at the overseas bases was an interesting sight, and was described in different issues of The Times. The key-notes of the system of handling the \ast amount of material coming under the head of sup[)lies were simplicity and the saving of labour. After being brought from overseas the cargoes were landed and stored in the large sheds, or hangars, lining the docks and quays. For convenience in storing and accounting the sheds were divided into sections, and as a ship came in it took up a berth opposite the sections which it was desired at the moment to fill. From the stuff thus accumulated one day's supplies for the troops dependent on the base in question were each day collected in bays or pens arranged close to the railway lines laid alongside the sheds, each bay being large enough to contain the quantity consumed by a formation such as an Army Corps, a Cavalry Corps, or a Headquarters, etc. This A FIELD KITCHEN IN FRANCE. 298 THE TIMES HISTOBY Oi^' THE WAB. BEEF FOR THE TROOPS. procedure applied to most articles, but those requiring more careful guarding, such as medical comforts, wines and spirits, were kept separately. Petrol was also stored apart from anji}hing else, and was carried in special trucks. Meat was not kept in the sheds, but retained on board the "frozen meat vessels" which acted as depots and remained alongside until empty, and was then placed direct on the rail. Bread, again, was put on rail at the bakeries, and did not pass through the sheds. The trucks containing these three articles were added on to the trains when finally marshalled before departvu-e. Bread for the army was baked in the open at the bases, in himdreds of field ovens, each capable of baking 90 loaves of 1|- lb. weight — the daily ration. The field ovens, however, were gradually sup- plemented by steam travelling ovens, each capable of baking 4,000 loaves a day. The never-ending stream of material which poured in necessitated the maintenance at each base of a very large staff, a great portion of which consisted of labour. Beside the ordinary fatigue parties of troops, and the military prisoners constantly employed on work which did not require any particvilar skill, there were large gangs of trained dock hands — stevedores and labourers — specially enlisted in the Army Service Corps for the unloading of ships and the stacking of cargoes. At one place there were 1,400 of such men at work daily on the quays. All were clad in khaki service vmi- forms, and the stevedores who worked on board the vessels wore a blue naval cap as a distingviishing mark. There were also small parties of tradesmen, such as carpenters, to repair broken cases, and needlemen to sew up sacks which had burst, and tally clerks, ac- countants, storemen, and foremen. A base supply depot, therefore, had a peculiar life of its own. In activity it resembled a gigantic beehive, which in spite of its complexity was regulated by a spirit of the strictest order. This appeared all the more remarkable when it was remembered that the great majority of the men employed had never before been subject to military discipline, had been accus- tomed in peace time to live in an atmosphere of trade disputes, and had been suddenly placed under a strange authority imposing considerable restraint on the action of the individual. In those circumstances, the fact that the whole machine worked smoothly spoke wonders for the good spirit prevailing among all ranks. At one place the community THE TIMES IIISTOBY OF THE WAB. 291> even possessed a bi-monthly journal ot" its own, the Hangar Herald, which attained a literary level of some merit, and was certainly not devoid of humour. Bread was such an important it(>m of supply that it was satisfactory to know not only that it reached the troops regularly l)ut tliat its good quality was much appreciated. It kept well, as there was need it should do, as it could not be less than 48 hours old by the time it reached our men, and it was sometimes foiu* days old. French ration bread, which possessed remark- able keeping qualities, was also supplied by the French Intendance, who also offered to supply cattle, although at a later stage, noting the excellent work the British soldier did on a beef ration, they themselves asked for help in the supply of beef to the French Army. It might be imagined that when the food su]:)plies for a single day for a division had been loaded on train that the more important part of the work had been done. \Vhat followed after this, however, involved a nicety of organization of which the ordinary civilian has never dreamt. The whole of the methods subsequent to the loading on train at the overseas base had been modified in the years immediately preceding the war, mainly owing to the advantages ob- tainable by the use of mechanical transport. Tliere was no mechanical transport in South Africa, and in addition to the disadvantages of dealing with the contractor of the old tj-pe, there was the slowness of animal transport to be overcome, while for meat supplies recourse was had to the ancient way of war, which was to dri\e cattle on the hoof with the troops. In France, with troops moving in a civilized theatre of war, only a sinalhpercentage of whom were maintained in billets by the inhabitants, who were mainly indL-pendent of supjjlies requisitioned in advance or in the immediate neighbourhood, the means of supplying (he troops was effected by rail and fast moving motor lorries, wJiich delivered to horsed trains and then to the troops. No link in the new transport chain proved stronger than that fvu-nished by the motor lorry of the internal - combustion engine type. The fact that so many of these vehicles were available for army service in the earliest stages of the war was an important asset to the British Expe- ditionary Force. It is true that the few hundreds which by arrangement with com- mercial users were handed over to the War Office were far short of the full numbers required, but for this the blame largely rested GUTTLXG UP MEAT FOR STEWING. 800 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. MAJOR-GEN. SIR JOHN S. COWANS, Quartermaster-General. with a parsimonious Treasury. The motor lorries which were available were, however, of the utmost value, and their employment not merely for the transport of food supplies to the Front, but as motor ambulances for the woimded on the return journey, was an incal- culable advantage in the opening stages of the western campaign. At a later stage, when the demand for motor transjaort both for the armies in the field and for the home forces rose to a point for which no provision could possibly have been made on a peace footing, the mobili- zation of the home commercial motor manu- facturing trade, with assistance from American. Swiss, and Italian manufacturers, enabled the call to be met. All British firms who were able to produce the right type of vehicles d-voted the whole of their output to the national service, the Army finally being in possession of many thousands of lorries si:)ecially designed for the ardvious work associated with the supply of armies in the field. The steps vA-hich made this great manufacturing trimnph possible were taken years before the war. Consideration was given at a comparatively early stage in the history of the commercial raotor vehicle to the needs of the Army in such a war as Great Britain was compelled to wage in common with her Allies. When the question of employing motor vehicles for army purposes was first discussed it was recognized that Great Britain possessed an advantage in having a larger number of commercial motors in service than any of the Continental countries with whom it was possible we should one day be at war. In view of the recognition given by all military nations to tlie important work which would fall to the lot of the Mechanical Transport Section in the next great war, this commercial supremacy was of innnense value in enabling jjlans to be perfected. Several methods were open to those respon- siljle for the organization of the new arm to ensure that the necessary niunber of motor lorries should be available in case of hostilities. The plan of maintaining in peace such a number of vehicles was very properly rejected, and it only remained to decide whether the vehicles would be obtained by impressment or bj^ means of an arrangement whereby certain owners, as well as the leading manufacturers, were subsidized in times of peace for keeping and building suitable types of vehicles on the understanding that these would be placed at the disposal of the Government at short notice on the outbreak of war. The whole subject was discussed at the Imperial Motor Con- ference held in London in 1913, and the lines which military policy should follow in this field were definitely laid down. It was recognized that the steam-driven vehicle, owing to its almost insatiable appetite for water, would not be suitable for employ- ment under war conditions. This threw the military authorities back on the internal com- bustion motor. In connexion with the subsidy plan of providing for the needs of transport in war, a method adopted by practically all the Great Powers as the cheapest, it was necessary to recognize — and this applied with special force to Great Britain — that confusion might arise from the many tyjDes in use. It was, of coiu-se, too late to remedy this dis- advantage in the case of vehicles already in commercial service but which on terius were to be held at the disposal of the Government, but with regard to those which were to be constructed by manufacturers vmder the sub- sidy. Colonel H. C. H. Holden, as M^ell as Captain Davidson, the Secretary of the Mechanical Transport Conuuittee of the War Office, who took part in the 1913 discussion, was clear that not only the vehicles themselves but also as far as possible their component parts should be standardized. Two vehicles were THE TIMES HiSTOlx'Y OF THE WAB. 301 selected as types, both petrol -driven, both having wheels shod with solid rubber tyres and carrying useful loads of 3 tons and 30 cwt. respectively. ■Manufacturers were taken into confidence, designs were got out, trials held, and the scheme settled on a business basis. It was found that leading niaiiufacturers were able to comply with the .stringent requirements of the War OOice as to speeds, weights, ability to climb severe gradients with full loads, and radius of action without fiK'l replenishment. From that time the future of British military motor transport was assiu"ed. AMien the war came and the industry was organized it was merely a case of multiplying types which had been already tested. Experience of actual war. conditions was slight ; a few motor transport units had been employed in the first Balkan \Var, and Italy had made use of some light type lorries in the Tripoli campaign. Other nations wei'e meanwliile adopting somewhat similar plans — modified by national conditions — to those of the British AA'ar Office. Great Britain was able to arrange for a coaiparatively low subsidy, but the French Government had to pay more, and Germany, which at the outset of the subsidy scheme had a comparatively small number of motor vehicles in servdce, had to pay high rates. It \\as a case of encouraging for military requirements an industry which was almost non-existent. The type subsidized was not the same in all cases ; the French gave pre- ference to a light lorrj% Germany to a heavy type of vehicle — at least at the outset. The Austrian Government waB influenced in its choice of lorry by the mountainous character of the country in which a war between it and another European Power would probably l)e contested. Russia — without a home industry engaged in the manufacture of motor vehicles — - was compelled at a time when other nations were subsidizing home industry to rely for the needs of its army on foreign finns. A point to which those responsible for British developments paid more attention than those doing similar work for Continental armies was that of standardization, and the advantages arising from the attention gi\-en to this point in facilitating repairs and replacements in the field, was foimd to be of no small importance in the case of the large fleet of lorries which during the \\ar transported food supplies between rail-head and the refilling points. Standardization also made it possible for a driver to take charge of any vehicle instead of having his usefulness confined to the handling of a lorry of one type. Nor, in face of the rapiil increase in the number of lorries required for army service, was there during the war any real lack of skilled drivers and mechanic.^;. The great development of the commercial vehicle in Great Britain had made it necessary for purely industrial service to train large num- bers of men to drive motor vehicles and to execute running repairs, and these men, Mho had been formed into an Army reserve to the number of between 3,000 and 4,000, came forward freely, and offered tluir services to the military authorities. It was a new type of soldier, and his ad\ent raised afresh the controversy as to whether such a man should be trained to fight, or even whether he need be armed. There was an impression before the war that the greater niobility of the Anny Service Corps arising from the u.se of mechanical DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING SUPPLY SERVICE IN AN ARMY OF 4- DIVISIONS. 1 CAVALRY DIVISION. 2 MOUNTED BRIGADES. AND OTHER ARMY TROOPS, WHEN THE FORCE IS MARCHING. o Railhead for 3rv ana 4tn Oivisionp and fit klouatf^d Brigadt- Billtting araaa ofDiui»ion$. etc Refilling Point R«n</ezvou». Mouaments of M T. Supply Column -^ Marth of Trains after refilling frwn tl.T. Supply Column. REGULATING STATION ADVANCED BASE IdAIN aUPPLt OEPQT Ui J3 OS (» b j: •01) oi w V Q 3 Z D u SB *. n. !/J a >. X! as OS < a D > O a ■OS C z 'S en X < u ^ w ? X u H u z e 3 ■OB CD O Qm o T3 o 4^ OS u H .c 3 v> a (A O. o o u 4-1 u z j: ^H z o C H 0) < n as a 3 C« 302 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 30S transport would make it necessary for those serving with this force to be trained as com- batants. Theoretically it was their duty to fight, if battle were necessary to ensure their supplies reaching the men at the Front, and if the need did not often arise during the war the A.S.C. man was always ready to defend his convoy, and on the occasions when he did so w'orthily ujiheld the honour of the corps. It was stated, indeed, that on one eventful night a fleet of lorries in a tight place charged a squadron of Uhlans at full speed — the lorries were capable of doing 20 miles an hour if the need arose — and dispersed an enemy miused to such tactics. For whatever purpose required the motor lorries did excellent work. They enabled the men to be supplied regularly with fresh meat and bread, an unmixed advantage, and they performed their journeys of anything from 60 to 80 miles a day ; the lighter lorries serving the cavalry did a still greater mileage with persistent punctuality. This good per- formance was made possible by the provision of travelling repair shops for running repairs, and the facilities which existed for complete overhaul at several of the overseas bases. The extended use made of thousands of lorries enabled various vexed questions to be settled in the light of actual war experience. These included the desirability of employing mechani- cal transport except on roads, the best method of transferring supplies from motor lorries to horse wagons, the rules which should govern the selection of refilling points, it was easy enough to devise the system on paper, but to carry it out in practice day by day, jiarticularly in the conditions which prevailed in tlie early stages of the war, was a task calling for the exhibition of many qualities by those in charge of the work. The experience of the Army Service Corps furnished practical illustrations of the different character of the problems of feeding an army on the march and in the entrenched positions occupied during the winter of 1914-15, when the arrangements of the rail-head and refilling points where the loads were handed over by the motor transport to the supply trains were more or less permanent. LOADING A TRANSPORT. Mr. Wedgwood Benn, M.P., at Alexandria, tasting the biscuits supplied to the troops for a day's rations on landing. 304 THE TIMES HISTOliY OF THE WAR. IN THE NORTH OF FRANCE. A cup of coffee. In the retreat froin Mons, almost before the new organization had had time to settle down, the Army Service Corps was put to the severest test. From twenty to twenty-two hours' work out of the twenty-foiu- was the rule rather than the exception, and the men were constantly in danger. Even the motor transport section, which was. only concerned with the carriage of supplies up to the refilling point, was often under fire. An example of the character of this work during the retreat was quoted by a Times correspondent. He wrote : At Le Cateau on the night of Atigust 25-26 one supply cohimn lost its way in the rain and darkness when endeavouring to find its own brigade in the out- post line. It stopped at a road signpost, only to find on comparison with the map that the coluum was o mile oufside its own outpost lines and in close proximity to the enemy. The feelings of the officer in chai-ge can perhaps be imagined. One a.m., a dark night, a strange country, close to the enemy's lines, with five noisy lorries with thrumming engines and flaring headlights. It may be asked why, in the circumstances, headlights or any lights were permitted. It was a case of Hobson's choice. Either no lights and a certainty on a dark, wet night of driving into the ditch in the narrow lane and remaining there, or lights with the risk of drawing the enemy's fire. Eventually the vehicles were turned round, the right road discovered, and the vmits for whom the supplies were intended found. The lot of the men belonging to the horsed Trains was often harder sLill, for the roads from the refilling point to the trenches were very frequently under the enemy shell fire, w hich was verj'- acciu-ate by day, and even by TEA ON THE FIELD. night, the range being known, the roads were constantly shelled with the assistance of searchlights. In order that the risks may be the better understood, the details of the work from the refilling points, that is the points to which mechanical transport is employed, should be described. The diagram on page 301 will indicate more clearly the system which HORSED TRAINS IN THE NORTH OF FRANCE. THE TIMKS HISTORY OF THE WAR. 305 was in force. Refilling points were fixed at conv^enient places, sometimes at the head of the areas from which the dixisions movt^d the same morning, sometimes in rear of tlic hilleting area occupied at night. Here the inechanical trans- port unloaded on to tlu> roads — there was not generally room in the roads for the direct transfer from loi'ry to wagon — and then returned to the next day's rail-head. When It must be understood tl at there were .se\'eral variations of this system in vogue ; and the daily supplies were sometimes drawn from Reserve Parks instead of fioin railroads, when it was not I o>>il)lc owing to the local war (■oiidiiions to push the railway sup])ly trains suHiciently far forward. On (jther occasions they were delivered direct to Regimental Transport without the intervention of the Trams or per contra. Ti-ains sometimes drew supplies direct from railhead without the intervention of the mechanical transport. These variations served to illustrate the elasticity of the normal system of supply. In the ca.se of Cavalry horsed Train-; were not employed, but a double eche'on British Staff officers have an impromptu lunch near the firing line; a sergeant outside his "dug-out" (top picture) ; and food heing brought in to a man on duty in a trench. refilling points could not be determined upoTi, rendezvovis were fixed for the motor transport, and instructions given there as to refilling points. Here the horsed Trains of the second li'ie transport took ov^er the supplies. It was their work to take them uj) to wher(> the field cookers and cooks' wagons were a-waiting. The supplies were then taken over by the Regimental Transport, where they were^taken over by the regiment, the Qviartennaster of which superintended the division of the rations into the quantities for the various platoons and companies. of liglit lorries performed the whole of the road transport on the one day, and back to rail-head the next, and delivered supplies to the cooks' wagons of the first line transport. It was a recognized necessity of military operations, however, that an army must be rendered independent of its supplies for at 306 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAE. A MIDDAY MEAL AT THE FRONT. least a short period. This principle was, of course, put in force during the European War. Each man carried on him one day's complete reserve — the iron ration, as it was called. This was a tin containing preserved food and took the place of the old emergency ration, which was a concentrated form of food. And all who had experience of it agreed that the new ration with its preserved meat, biscuit, Oxo, and other foods was an iinprovement on the old. In addition to this day's supply, which was never used except in extremity and under special orders, there was in the cooking wagons of the various units the unexpended portion of the current day's ration, in the "Trains " one complete day's ration, one extra grocery ration, and one day's grain for horses, or in the mechanical transport one complete day's rations and grain. The details of the arrangement might be altered, but, broadty speaking, it might be said that on any given night a com- manding general knew that he had on hand supplies sufficient to last three days. Such a reserve was vital during the retreat which marked the early period of the war. Try as hard as men would, the service of food could not always be performed, in spite of risks which were cheerfully endured. One of these occasions was the last day of the battle of Mons. The iron ration had to be consumed, and it was an extremity to which the men were rarely driven. Whenever practicable it was the duty of the requisitioning officer with each brigade to supplement the ration with supplies purchased locally. The large purchases included cattle, hay, wheat, vegetables, oats, and straw, all of which were readily furnished by the inhabitants. Fruit was plentiful during the early period of the war and was freely given to the soldiers. The following incident narrated in The Times indicated the dangerous character of this work. Two supply officers dtiring the retreat succeeded in requisitioning some newly baked bread, which was loaded in the cars. Under a very heavy rifle and shell fire this bread was carried rapidly along the line behind the barricades manned by the troops and issued to the soldiers. Rifle and shrapnel bullets knocked up the dust in the road along which the cars were driven. One car, which was hit in two places, but not seriovisly damaged, conveyed wounded men from the firing line to the hospital. In addition to the danger from bullets and shells, the cars ran considerable risk of damage from the con- dition of the road, strewn as it was with pieces of stone, brick, chimney pots, glass, and tele- graph wire brought down by the shrapnel and high explosive shell. THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. 307 The supply and requisitioning officers in their cars had often to work along the front and on the flanks of the main bodies of troops. Much of the work wa^ done at night, and considerable risks had to be run from small detached or scouting parties of the enemy. One morning in the dawning light and in a thick mist a car ran into an outpost of Uhlans, muffled up in their heavy cloaks and half- asleep. Before they realized that the car was British it had been smartly turned round and vanished again into the mist. A letter written by an Army Service Corps requisition clerk of the 5th Divisional Train of the II. Army Corps threw a vivid light on the difficulties of the work of provisioning an army in retreat, and was a reminder that the duties of the Army Service Corps included fighting as well as food sujiph'^ and transport : " All went well," he wrote, '" iintO we got into Belgium, where the first hitch occurred. We had arrived at a place called Dour, where General French had made his headquarters. We had just completed our purchases when the troops started their retreat, the date being August 24. My officer had left the chauffeur and myself in the car and had gone off on duty, leaving us without orders. We could not move, and the troops were fast leaving the town. General Smith-Dorrien was the last to leave, and, seeing vis in the car absolutely isolated ordered us to leave the place. The Germans were then within half a mile of us, and shells we-i-e bursting over our lioatls. 1 told General Smith- Uorrien about our olficer having gono on ahead — 1 can tell you we did not like leaving him — but while we were sinning up tlie oar he arrived in anot.'ier ollicer's motor, and we all made our way ou' of the place as fast as wo could From that time we retreated for 12 days, with the Germans close on our heels. The Germans by their aeroplanes always had our position * pat,' ami I can tell you they were most anxious to get hold of us, as the train coa^Lstcd of about 40 motor-lorries stocked with food and ainniinii- tion, and several hundred horse wagons similarly loaded. We were chased day antl night by the Uhlans. " At length came the critical time. At a little town a few miles Irom St. Quentin, where a big battle hatl taken place, it was reported that the Uhlans were a milo away. As tho horses and men were so fatigued, cur colonel decided to stay and defend tho place, and chance to fate. Tho wagons wore all drawn up in the streets, and we were detailed with loaded rifles to our places. I with five otiiers had a small lane to defend. The troops were all ready, and all was in perfect order. The inhabitants of the village were all taken into tho little church, and a special service was held. I can tell you 1 shall never forget my feelings on this night. The church organ was playing and the choir was singing. It was now about 10 o'clock, and pitch dark. Wo knew the Uhlans were very near, and expected a rush at any moment. We had very littlt* room in the place, and were threatened with a stampede of the horses, which were very restless. Time wore on and we were not attacked. Day broke, and still no attack was delivered, and we were again on the roa^l before they discovered how small a force of men was guarding such large and important supplies. We had many scares like this during the retreat. Once at a place called Bavag, in the North of France, we were just about to HOT RATIONS COOKED ON THE MARCH. A field kitchen fitted with portable ovens by which food and tea can be served immediately a halt is called. 308 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAB. GUTTING UP THE BREAKFAST BACON. issue rations to a brigade of artillery who were going into action at 3 a.m. when it was reported that we were surrounded by German cavalry. The order was given to burn the whole convoy to prevent it falling into the enemy's hands. But by a clever ruse of one of our officers we were enabled to get the convoy away, an<l off we went like the wind, with the Germans behind us. We had to cross a railway bridge. All the transport, with the exception of .30 motor-lorries full of supplies, passed over in safety. Then a rush was made by these vehicles,and 28 of them had lumbered into safety when the bridge was blown up. The other two lorries were left on the other side, and fell into the hands of the Germans. Two officers and eight men were captured and, so far as I know, have never been seen since. " We have had riiany adventures and great risks during our short stay. We started to advance again on September 6, and as a send-off — -on a Sunday morning by the way — a German aeroplane dropped three bon^bs into our camp, one exploding within 50 yards of us. The feeding of the troops and horses is a great factor, and one of the most important items of the day. We take the food now right up into the firing line and issue to the troops wifh the shells bursting over our heads." This was no exceptional case, but a plain record of what was happening to many vinits. Meanwhile, the administration had to cope with the threat to the lines of communication caused by the rapid German advance, and it became necessarj^ to change the sea bases. Boulogne became impossible, and later on Amiens and Havre, a fresh base being estab- lished at St. Xazarre. It was an arduous and anxious time for all connected with the provisioning of the army, for wliile the vast accumulations of stores were being shifted from one base to another, and the whole system of communications between the sea bases and the Front was subjected to frequent changes, and regular daily supplies covild not go forward to the ai-my which was fighting reargviard actions so gallantly, it still had to be fed. Until the new line of communications was established TRANSPORT WAGON IN BELGIUM. the difficulty was overcome by diverting rail- way trains to a new line through Villeneuve St. Georges, in the neighbourhood of Paris. '• The trains," wrote the Special Corre- spondent of The T lines 'were worked round to a position in rear of the army, and rolled up one by one until the establishment of the new bases permitted reversion to the original plan of supply. It would not have done to have dumped on the army at the front the supplies for a whole week, for neither lorry transport nor horse transport would have been able to handle them. The army is best served in littles at a time, for accumulations cannot be moved if an army advances, while thoy have to be destroyed if it retreats." While the army was moving forward after the check to the German advance on Paris, rail- heads were being frequently altered and ren- dezvous and refilling points changed. What it meant to adapt a new rail -head within a few hom-s to the accommodation of a vast amount of rolling-stock, and for loading and unloading lorries in the shortest possible time, only those who have had charge of the work could realize. Perhaps the only rail-head available was a little wayside station, and it was necessary to improve entrances and exits to enable the work of transferring supplies from rail to road transport to be accomplished. As many as sixty or seventy three-ton motor lorries had to be assembled for the clearing of the divisional type trains di-spatched overniglit from the overseas base^ and a good deal of organizing ability was necessary to enable the mechanical transport to load up and leave rail-head without causing confusion. These at one period were daily problems. As stated above, the ideal method was to have them at the head of the areas from which troops had just moved. This THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR 309 arrangement enabled the supply sections of the trains to be filled after they had quitted the ar^as where they spent the previous night, and thus any retrograde movement of the horse transport was ob\iated. When troops were stationary, except diu-ing battle, it was foimd preferable to send the supply colmnns into brigade areas where the refilling points were placed, but during battle it was necessary to send back the trains some distance to refill from the supply columns, more than one refilling point being, if possible, arranged for each division, with the object of reducing to a minunum the movements of the supply sections. In the field, however, it was not so simple a task as might appear from this statement. An officer writing imder date September 17. 1914, gave the following account of the conditions under which the British Army Service Corps was then worldng. He wrote : There has been a great battle raging all along the front, a distance of about 120 miles. Our division is about in the centre, and \vc have had a hard time. As regards our own A.S.C. work, we load up the horse wagons of the train from the mechanical tranr.port vehicles in this town, which is the refilling point. The whole road from hero to the river Aisne is under very heavy shell- fire all day, and it is only at dusk possible to move out. Even then we often como under shell-fire : the guns are laid by angles — the distance is, of course, known, and at frequent intervals during the night shells are fired on the road or at the village on the way, or at the bridge-head 41 miles from here.' The enemy in his retirement blew up the bridge over the river, and our engineers have built a pontoon one to replace it. Tills bridge, though, is under the enemy's guns, who shell it with great accuracy. Last night on starting out, a pitc)i-dark night and raining hard, we could see the frequent flashes of the enemy's artillery, and hear and see the bursting shells. The wliole of the road is lined with dead horses, and the smell is too dreadful for words. We had to halt for some little time, as a village through which we had to pass was being shelled. The.se high explosive shells make a most terrifying noise, and do dreadful damage when they do hit something. When ihe shelling stopped wi- moved on, and finally reached the river. It was irnpos.-ible to get loaded wagons across a very shaky pontoon bridge in pileh-darknes> with very steep banks down to it and no side rails on it. The supplies had therefore to bo dumped on this side. 'J'hisw'as a tnatter of great didiculty in the dark and wet, a very narrow roa'l, chokoil in places by dead horses, ambulances and pontoons also there waiting to go forward, and a perpetual stream of wounded men being carried or helped past, going in the opposite direction. .So black was it that I could not see my hand before my face and one would walk right into a horse without peeing it. The only thing which showed up was the wliite bandages of the woimded. Getting the wagons round in the darlcness and the crowd at bridge-head was very difficult, and often the wheel was blocked b\ coming up against a dead hoi-se. To add to the didiculty, one's nerves were on the qui vive, waiting every second for the enemy to resiune shelling. One shell among that congested crowd would have had dreadful results. Just before wo arrived shells had dropped there. . . . We had not left the place more than half an hour when we saw the fla-shes of the guns behind us. . . . We got back to this town at 3.30 a.m. This is what goes on every night. Leaving at dusk, getting back at 3.30 a.m., and hoping the enemy will refrain from shelling until wt are back. Thus day by day, and night by night, the task of feeding the army continued. It was wonderful to witness the cheerfulness with which the men faced dangers of the kind indi- cated in the letter quoted, and there were often worse experiences than these. To be roused at 2 a.m. on a cold dark wet night to take supplies up to trenches, the approaches t(j \\ Iiich were being shelled, was no uncommon experience. Nor was it rare for the men who carried out duties of this character to bring back their own wounded as well as the disabled from the trenches they had served with food supplies. The Army Service Corps man did LOADING UP WOOD. u O o e V) Is •:3 ■o" ai S <j; w > u < X u z < C s 0) OS 3 w w O 4-t :i4 -a O ^ o • >-i e E s w Q O O < o 4-1 o 03 ?: o u ■oil c c -^^ < ^ X u u o J5 m u O 4-> O •T3 C >. U « <ii ^ CS >, Wl UJ u u « ■g taM > jB > US m OS -o Cd c E en ^ <u >* a> a o w OS n 1 < 4-1 l«> Ct) C E fc to o H o 4-) o 4> cr >v w ja OS to o OS o 3 kJ U OS CR o S o c F s _3 "o fc o O "a z Q. S H^ <n <; n OS <4-i i- o c < o a 310 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 311 not figure, except upon the rarest occasions, in the hsts of thost^ wlio received decora- tions for gallantry, but it was not because he (lid not when the ()p[)()rtunity came to him, or he made an opportunity, prove himself less a hero than those whoso main function is to stand in the firing line. The A.S.C. men lived during the retreat and subsequent advance, as one of them expressed it, with " loaded rifles ever by their side." They were veritable Jacks-of-all-trades. One re- corded that he had been by turns clerk, scout, and dispatch rider, and he appeared to have fallen quite naturally into each of these roles. At a later period, when the war of trenches commenced, the Army Service Corps took advantage of the fact that they were supplying troops standing in more or less fixed positions to improve the already good rations which were being served. The soldier lived well during the lulls in the fighting ; bacon was provided for his breakfast, he lunched on bread and cheese, dined on hot meat, vegetables, and bread, and, of course, had jam served with his tea, varied occasionally with butter as a substitute. At certain times, when on duty in the trenches, he had pea soup once or twice a week, as well as a rum ration and extra tea and sugar. Cigarettes as an alternative to tobacco were also served out, and with them matches. A \\ ord might be written about the supply of water ; this was obtained from local sources, and for taking the supplies up to men in the first line empty petrol tins formed an excellent receptacle. The utmost care had to be taken with regard to the selection of the streams from wliich water was drawn to ensure the purity of the supply. It has to be borne in mind also that the fine catering of the Ai-my Service Corps was often reinforced by parcels of food sent by relatives and friends who feared that their own particular private Tommy Atkins was not getting quite enough to eat. And that is a reminder that with his daily bread the man in khaki regularly received his letters from home. The trains going up from overseas base to rail -head in- variably had an additional wagon or so for the soldiers' letters, and these were taken over by the supply Trains and sorted for delivery to the men. It was one of the little things .which the Army Service Corps cheerfully added to its multifarious duties, and which found its reward in the intense appreciation by the men of the daily post. It might have been imagined, and the voice of rumour insisted that such was the case, that the feeding of the Indian troops presented ditliculties. It was definitely stated at one period that this fine addition to the army in France would eat nothing that had not been cooked in goat's milk, wherefore 50,000 she- goats must bleat eternally behind the Indian divisions. As, however, was clearly pointed out by The Times Special Correspondent, writing from Paris in November 1914, the feeding of the Indians was subject practically only to two important restrictions, Ijoth con- cerning Mahomedans. One was that they should be supplied with nothing containing pork or relating to pigs, and the other that all animals for their consumption slionld be given BRKJ.-GEN. E. E. CARTER, Director of Supplies Overseas. the halal (throat-cutting) by their own Initchers. Fortunately, both these matters insisted upon by the Koran were easily arranged. The goat story had this much foundation — that most of the Indians prefer goat flesh to any other. The purchase of the necessary number of these in France presented very little difficulty. The record of the Army Service Corps in furnishing and transporting supplies for an army which, in spite of the heavy drain of casualties, continually swelled in munbers was a performance of which those associated with the work have every reaf^on to be proud. Before many months had passed the nimibers serving in France had increased to proportions of which the British Army had no previous experience, but from the outset the work \^as well done and it was generally admitted that our army was magnificently fed. Those who 312 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. ^^^^^^^^^^ft ».^^ ^h1 BLUEJACKETS IN BELGIUM. Handing out " bully beef." were in charge of the work in France, of whom Brigadier-General Boyce, Director of Transport Overseas, and Brigadier-General E. E. Carter, Director of Supplies Overseas, should be men- tioned, handled their departments with con- spicuous ability. There was also at a later period the need for the Director of Supply and Transport at the War Office to organize and carry out the provisioning of the considerable army engaged in the Dardanelles campaign. This con- stituted an important addition to the work of the Army Service Corps, as it implied the transport of the provisions for the troops serving in this field over a comparatively long sea passage, requiring the services of a large number of food transports. The fact that for the army on the Continent as well as for that in the Gallipoli Peninsula nearly the whole of the food supplies had to be transported overseas in waters where enemy submarines were operating, and that so few food ships ■were lost, was a remarkable tribute to the influence of sea power on military operations. In the case of the Dardanelles campaign the fact that all the supplies had to be sea- borne was only a part of the problem that had to be solved, as at the actual seat of operations the supplies had to be landed on beaches which at the commencement of the campaign and for some time afterwards were exposed to the enemy's fire. It is true that the land transport was only over short distances, but the absence of roads made it necessary to move by hand all the supplies for the Forces ashore. To land loads, even if the weights were limited to 80 lb., on a shore destitute of port facilities, and then to transport supplies to troops occupying positions in the hills under fire, was different kind of work to that which had to be carried out in France. It was done, however, as all that which had fallen to the share of the Army Service Corps was carried out during the European War, with the deter- mination that the men in the fighting line should not go ill -fed. The early days here were perilous and fateful ones, but as the Allied Forces progressed and pushed the enemy away from points where they could command the beaches, the landing of provisions became an easier task, which was rendered still lighter when it became possible to construct landing- stages and to make paths up the hillsides, in the scaling of which so many of those who took part in the first landing were put out of action. Mechanical transport was available for the Dardanelles campaign had it been possible to employ it. A fleet of lorries was ready in Alexandria. Nor would horsed Trains have been of any service under the conditions PREPARING FOOD FOR THE NAVAL FORGE IN BELGIUM. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. 313 obtaining in the (Jallipoli Peninsula, and recourse was therefore had to an Indian pack mule corps, which was withdrawn from France, and to a second mule corps raised on the spot. Both these transport units did good work, as the mules could go anywhere and clinili tlu- steepest cliffs and hills. When consideration is given to the fact that within a period of twelve months the British Army was expanded from a peace strength of about 150,000 to a total of .several milUons serving both at home and abroad, the manner in which the troops were provisioned from the first day of war will stand as a permanent record of the efficiency of the organization which, while it was carrying out this work, had also to enlist and train men for the many varied duties which had to be performed. Feeding the Navy. It was a piece of good fortune that, after having been a soiu"ce of trouble for a very long period, the victualling of the Navy had dviring the years immediately preceding the war been reorganized on a basis which gave general satis- faction. The new regvilations came into force in October. 1907, and although it was feared that the interference with the time-honoured system of " savings " might cause trouble, a very sliort experience of the reformed victualling showed that it was likely to be an unqualified success. What had to be done, therefore, on the out- break of war was not, as in the case of the army, t ) })ut into operation an entirely new scheme KITCHEN ON A GKL'ISEK. but to expand an existing one, grafting on to it the additions and making the modifications necessary to the conditions created by war. During war, as in peace, the ship was the home of the bluejacket, and although many of the little luxvu-ies of ordinary times were thrown overboard with the pianos which were bundled into the North Sea when decks were cleared for action, the sailor, like the soldier, was rather better fed than before. There was also this difference, that while an army in the field coidd only sustain itself tor a few days without fresh supj)lies from the base, a warshijj could be and was provisioned for a period which, if the need arose, could be reckoned in montlis. There is this parallel between the provisioning of armies and the victualling of ships that while in army, except for the shortest period, must REPLENISHING THE LARDER ON A WARSHIP. 314 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. depend on the maintenance of lines of communi- cation, in the last resort a fleet which lacked the command of the seas must starve. The fate of the German commerce raiders illustrated the truth of this obvious contention. The task before the Director of Victualling, Mr. J. H. Brooks, and Sir F. W. Black, the Director of Contracts, and the staff of their departments, was, therefore, the applica tion of an existing system to new conditions. Many strenuous days and nights were spent in putting the organization on a war footing, but there was no hitch. The work was the more arduous as the Victualling Department was responsible not only for the feeding but for the clothing of the men and for the provision of the mess traps, cooking utensils, etc., of both officers and men, for the supply of soap and tobacco, and for the ships' libraries. In addition, there was the administration of the material and personnel at the Victualling Yards, and the maintenance of supplies to fleets on foreign stations such as the Mediterranean, China, and the Atlantic trade routes. These constituted duties of no light order when their fulfihnent had to be interpreted in terms of war, but the ample stocks of pro- visions and clothing accumvilated in days of peace stood the strain until delivery coinmenced to be made vmder new contracts. Henceforth, if all was not quite plain sailing, and long watches at the Admiralty were the rule rather than the exception, those in command made light weather of the task entrusted to thein. It was not merely that it was necessary to provide for the victualling of the larger number of warships in commission. This was simple enough ; the difficulty lay with the very large number of auxiliary ships and subsidiary shore services that were called into existence at the shortest notice by the exigencies of the war. FLOUR FOR THE NAVY. Carrying bags of flour on to a warship. Inset : Barrels of flour for the bakehouse. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 315 Carrying bread, bacon and condensed milk on board. Inset : Bakehouse on a warship. For many of these auxiliary forces special arrangements in the matter both of the feeding and clothing of the men had to be evolved according to their special conditions, the naval system being inapplicable. It might be pointed out, too, that not only at the commencement but throughout the coiu-se of the war, it was the clothing problem which was the more acute, due mainly to the unprecedented de- mand for new kits at a time when the army authorities were making abnormal calls on clothing factories. All these difficulties were, 'however, gradually overcome, and the victualling of the ships during the war gave every reason for satisfac- tion. If the bluejacket compared his lot with that of the old-time sailor, the men who sailed with Drake and Howard to defeat the Spanish Armada, or those who manned the ships of Nelson's day, he would have realized more fully the change that had come over navy victualling. The old plan was to have victuallers whose business it was to accompany the fleet, but it often hap|>ened that the victualling ships could not find the fighting ships, whose crews, were often near starvation. When they were in company the warships had not merely to engage and defeat the enemy but to defend their own food supplies. It is recorded in Oppenheim's accoiuit of the administration of the Royal Xavy that in April, 1513, " a convoy reached the fleet off Brest just in time, for of ten days before there was no man that had but one meal a day and one drink." Pursers moved through naval history " loaded with the maledictions of many generations of seamen." The truth was that until the year 1850 there was no Victualling Department in existence. It was left to individual enterprise, and as the stores were obtained by a system of purveyance or forcible purchase, there was not much desire on the part of traders to supply food for the consumption of the Xa\'y. The King's Purveyor fixed the price that he was willing to pay, and it sometimes bore no relation to the market value. The theoretical allowance to the seaman if he could have obtained it was, however, by no 316 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. means niggardly. In the year 1545 a pound of biscuit and a gallon of beer per day were allowed to each man, and 200 j^ieces of flesh to every hundred men on four days in the week. Beer the sailor invariably demanded. Howard had sound views on the victualling of his fleet. His plan was to provision each for six weeks, but if he obtained supplies for half this period he was fortunate. The victualling of the fleet was too often made a matter of Crown pat- ronage and looked upon as a source of profit by those obtaining appointments. In the year 1496 the provisioning of war vessels was in the hands of one John Redynge, Clerk to the Spicery, and a few years later it was entrusted to the tender mercies of a IVIaster of the Horse. The formation of the victualling branch of the Navy into a separate department took place in ON A WARSHIP. Taking in Food Supplies. about the year 1550, but there is no doubt that the real credit was dvie to Henry VIII., who had a very clea^r conception of the need for taking the provisioning of the Navy out of the hands of irresponsible agents who were under no real authority. It was by I^etters Patent of June 28, 1550, that Edward Baeshe, who had formerly been an agent for the provisioning of the fleet, was appointed General Siu-veyor of the Victuals for the Seas at a fee of £50 a year, .3s. 4d. a day for travelling expenses, and 2s. a day for clerks. Victualling storehouses were afterwards acquired at Ratcliff, Rochester, Gillingham and Portsmouth, and in 1560 fresh premises were taken at Tower Hill. At this period the Surveyor of the Victuals was, aj recorded in Oppenheim's account of the administration of the Navy, paid 4^d. a day for each man in harbour, and 5d. a day when at sea. For this he had to provide per head, on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, one pound of biscuit and one gallon of beer and two pounds of salt beef, and on the other three days, besides the biscuit and beer, a quarter of a stockfish, one-eighth of a pound of butter, and one-quarter of a pound of cheese. It is added in Oppenheim's chapter on Elizabethan administration of the Navy that : Fourpence a month per man at sea and 8d. in harbour he (the surveyor) was to allow for purser's necessaries, such as wood, candles, etc. ... He undertook not to use the right of purveyance unless ordered to victual more than two thousand men suddenly, and agreed to keep in hand one month's provisions for a thousand men. . . . He was given the use of all the Crown buildings belonging to his department, subject to his keeping thont in repair, and was permitted to export one thousand hides in peace time, and as many as he should slaughter oxen during war. Baeshe did not appear to have found his appointment renumerative, and when he gave notice to determine his contract in 1586 he anticipated a loss on the victualling. He was an old man at this time, and when the Govern- ment stores were handed over to his successor, although the Armada was already expected, there were only 12,000 lbs. of beef and 2,300 stockfish in hand. This partly explains the bitter complaints of Howard with regard to the poor victualling of his fleet. At other times, however, various edicts made it clear that the Govern- ment storehouses were overstocked, in which case merchant ships were compelled to buy Goverrmient provisions. In 1596, indeed, an order was made prohibiting butchers in the City of London froni selling meat to ships until the Government stores had been sold out, and all outward-bound ships had to produce a certificate of purchase before they were allowed to leave the river. Disaffection, merging into open mutiny, was often associated with the character of the provisions served out to the fleet, and cases were recorded of crews having gone ashore and wrecked the houses of those responsible for supplying unwholesome food. Matters in regard to victualling were probably at their worst during the Commonwealth, although the lot of the Commonwealth sailor could not have been inferior to that of the men who took part in the attack on Cartagena in 1741, as described by Smollett, who himself served on board a ship of the line which was present on this occasion. The seamen, stated Smollett : " Languished for five weeks on the allowance of a purser's quart THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 317 per diem of fresh water for each man ; their provisions consisted of putrid salt beef, to which tho sailors gave the name of Irish horse ; salt pork of New England which, though neither fish nor flesh, savoured of both ; bread from the same country, every biscuit whereof, like a piece of clockwork, moved by its own internal impulse, occasioned by the myriads of insects that dwelt within it ; and butter served out by the gill that tasted like train oil thickened with salt." 'I'hat this was no fancy picture there was other evidence to prove. A method of robbing the sailor which was only abolished in the year 1824 was by the institution of what were known as banyan days, on which no meat was issued, the days selected for this enforced abstinence being Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The men who fought with Nelson at Trafalgar suffered like their predecessors from inferior victualling as compared with the European War of 1914, but theirs was a great improvement on the lot of the older seamen who were made to give practical illustration of the old saying that " nothing will poison a sailor." Not, however, until quite recent years could it be said that the men who man the British ships of war were well provisioned, unless it were out of their "savings " and their pay. It was not until the year 1832 that the business of victualling the fleet was taken out of the hands of the Navy Board and the Commissioners of Victualling, and so passed imder the direct control of the Admiraltj^ Many changes were made in subsequent years, and at one period certain articles, in- cluding biscuit, chocolate, mustard, pepper, cooperage articles, and oatmeal, were manu- factured at the victualling yards ; biscuit, oatmeal, chocolate, mustard and pepper at Deptford, and other stores at Gosport and Plymouth, although the famous Navy biscuit was manufactured at all three yards. Many visitors to the Admiralty during the period of the war had the opportunity of inspecting a sample of the naval biscuits and chocolate ; one of the biscuits which was reputed to be still perfectly fit for consumption was baked at the Royal Clarence Yard as long ago as the year 1852. The only remnant of this old system which remained in existence during the Great War was the manu- facture of chocolate, which was still continued to be made at the Deptford yard. The method by which the actual victualling of ships was carried out during the war was, and should remain, a naval secret. The practice during years of peace was for provisions and clothing to be supplied to ships on demand from one of the yards, the ships coming to port for that purpose, and stores being transferred by lighters from yard to ship. That was a system which for many reasons had to be dis- continued during the war. Up to the year 1907 the sailor, like the soldier, had a fixed ration. This was generally un- popular, the main objection being that tho man could not obtain what he wanted. The com- mittee whose work was reflected in the 1907 reforms introduced a standard ration com- prising a minimum of essentials for each man, this being supplemented by a messmg allowance, which the men were allowed to spend in their own way, either in the purchase of more Government stores from the ship's paymaster or by piu-chases from the canteen. The standard ration included 1 lb. of bread, J lb. of fresh meat, 1 lb. of vegetables, 4 ozs. of sugar, ^ oz. of tea, ^ oz. of chocolate, J oz. of condensed milk, 1 oz, of jam, and J of a pint of spirit. This might be regarded as a type ration, as many substitutes were allowed. Under the old system the daily allowance was cdnsidered to be worth 92d., plus the spirit ration, and under the new method this amount was divided uj) MEAT FOR THE NAVY. 318 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. by an allocation of 5hd. for the minimum allowance, leaving a messing allowance, which took the place of the old " savings," of 4d. per daJ^ This was increased during the war to 4Jd. per day, and, in addition, the ration itself was increased by various special issues. The marine received special treatment ; while he was afloat he was provisioned in the same manner as a sailor, but when serving ashore he had the soldier's ration. It was not merely the victualling itself that had been improved in the years preceding the war, but with the introduction of the new system improvements were also made in the cooking and messing arrangements on board warships. In all modern ships steam cooking was introduced and better galley accommoda- tion was provided, as well as a preparing room or cook's kitchen where the dinners of the ship's messes could be prepared by the staff of ship's cooks, whose numbers had been increased for this purpose. Bakeries were introduced into the fleet at a comparatively late date, bread formerly being obtained from a shore source. During the war, however, and for some years previously, all the big ships baked their own bread, and wherever possible supplied fresh bread to auxiliary vessels accomi^anying the fleet which had no bakeries on board. Fresh meat was supplied either from the big abattoirs established at the victualling yards of the home ports or from Adnairalty contractors at other places^ and frozen meat when necessary was furnished from ships specially chartered for the purpose. When it came to a choice of meat it was foimd many years ago that the bluejacket had a distinct liking for beef and that he preferred it fresh, even if tough. That the Navy was well fed during the war and that supplies reached the fleet regularly may be gathered from the statement that it was hardly ever necessary to have recoLu*se to preserved meat. Indeed, under modern conditions it has rarely been necessary for preserved meat to be used except as an additional ration and for the purposes of an emergency reserve on board ship. Special attention was paid to the provisioning of submarines, which were always liberally pro- vided, and never more so than during the war. Apart from the ordinary Navy victualling, there were additional rations, consisting of food- stuffs with special dietetic qualities which, while regarded as an emergency ration, included tins of soup and other luxuries. Indeed, the cooking arrangements on some of the larger submarines were quite excellent and messes were supplied with fresh meat. The idea that submarine crews lived on " bare Navy " is quite erroneous. The great increase in the quantities of PROVISION STORES FOR WARSHIPS. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 319 HOISTING BEEF ON BOARD A WARSHIP. victualling required after the Xavy was mobilised for war may be gathered from the statement that the supply of various com- modities was more than doubled, the quantities used during specified periods increasing in one case from 18 million pounds to over 40 million pounds, and in another instance from 9| million pounds to more than 20 million poinids. As might be imagined, the purchase of enormous quantities of provisions and clothing of all kinds, which went into store at the victualling yards and were thence issued to the fleet, taxed the organization of these yards to the utmost. This was particularly the case at Deptford, where, owing to the fact that the establishment was an old one — the depot was built on part of the site of the old Deptford shipyard where Peter the Great served an apprenticeship to shipbuilding — the storage accommodation was unsuitable to modern requirements. To over- come this difficulty four large additional sheds were built during the war and served to relieve the pressvu-e. It was necessary to make a visit to this or one of the other victualling yards to obtain a real insight into' the character of the demands made for victualling and clothing diu"ing the war. It was expected that the changes in the victualling system would be followed by the adoption on shipboard of tlie general mess, or restaurant system, as adopted in the American Xavy. This method, under which the whole of the messing arrangements fcr a ship were placed in the hands of a com- petent officer, was adopted for naval establi.-^h- ments ashore. It was fovmd that if the men were willing to hand o^■er their messing allow- ance to be dealt wilii in this manner they obtained a much more varied diet. At sea the general mess was tried on one or two ships, but it was not popular, and a reversion wa.-s made to the small mess of from 15 to 25 men, these being run by the men themselves, who selected one of their munber as caterer. The work of running the small messes was to some extent simplified by the provision of the cook's kitchen. The canteens. long a feature of the Xavy, remained in full force during the war. It was made clear in the enquiry conducted by Admiral Login's Committee that canteens were an essential part of the system of naval victualling, and indeed it was common knowledge that the business transacted by the canteens was increasing at a rate which threatened to relegate the official victualling to insignificant proportions. Figm-es which were laid before the committee showed that while the expenditure on official victualling had declined to £850,000 a year, the men spent out of their "savings" with the canteens during the same period the sum of £1,500,000. 320 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. The establishment of the canteens arose out of the admission of the Admiralty of the time, by legalising the savings system in 1799, of their inability to provision the men properly. There IS no doubt that for a considerable period the men looked with suspicion on official foodstuffs, and therefore preferred to draw the money equivalent and spend it at the canteens. The character of the canteens, owing to different contractors being employed, varied very con- siderably ; in some cases goods of poor quality were sold at exorbitant prices, while in other ships the canteens were so well managed as to be a positive boon. On board ship there were, of course, only dry canteens, but the wet canteen was permitted at shore estabUshments. The only alcoholic drinlt which the seaman could obtain on board ship was the spirit ration, and, although by recent regulations a man could have the money value of this instead of the spirit, he generally preferred to take his tot of rum. It was recognized that in any changes which might be made the canteens must be preserved, but an excellent step was taken in bringing them under the control of the Director of Victualling. This meant that the contractors were fenced in by regulations whichwere all to the benefit of the men, while the contractor's own position was made easier in some respects. With Admiralty control there came an lui- doubted improvement in the way the canteens were conducted, and as this was coincident with improvements in the general victualUng system, the outbreak of war found this important department developed to a higher degree of efficiency than at any previous period. A visit to any one of the great victualling yards at any period after the rush of war demands had been met would have revealed the fact that these establishments were amply stocked for a war as to the length of which it was not possible to make predictions. As in the case of the supply depots for the Army, a very thorough system of inspection of stores was in operation. Not only was all food tested and supplies, if necessary, rejected, but all clothing materials were examined and tested for strength and quality. No risk was run of defective stores being accepted for the Fleet, and the loss through condemnation of stores, chiefly arising from returns from ships, was reduced to negli- gible proportions. The Director of Victualling, although not a purchasing officer, was respon- sible throughout the war for making indents upon the Director of Contracts for the necessary supplies, and he was also charged with the duty of the framing of the estimates for and supervising the expenditure on the Victualling vote. Even during the long years of peace the possibilities of war were not left out of sight. If the Navy was ready when the svipreme moment arrived it was because the strategy which would govern its movements in the event of war had been long since decided. The plans for the victualling of the Fleet were by no means the least of these decisions. The Director had always been in close touch with the Director of Naval Intelligence and the Director of Transports as to the needs of war, and those in charge of foreign naval stations knew what had to be done on the outbreak of hostilities. That the work was well done, both at the Admiralty nerve-centre and at the naval outposts, is a claim warranted by the experi- ence of the war. BRINGING MEALS TO THE MESS DECK. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. THE SULTAN OF EGYPT CHAPTER LXXIII. THE FIRST " INVASION OF EGYPT." The Problem of InvasigSt — Precedents ix History — ^The Suez Canal — Geographical Description of the Sinai Peninsula — Turkish Choice of Route — Military Preparations — Djemal Pasha in Command — Events in Syria — Preparations in Egypt— Cairo as a Training Ground — The Canal Defences — Naval Work on the Coast — -Operations at Alexandretta — The Turkish Advance — Djemal's Plan of Attack — Analysis of the Fighting — Djemal's Failure and Retreat — Minor Operations — Events in Egypt in the Spring of 191'). THE Turco-German scheme for the invasion of Egypt had been frequently ridiculed by the less well-informed organs of the Allied Press. Had greater attention been paid to the history not only of the Ancients in whose days Assyrian and Persian armies crossed the Sinai Peninsula and successfully invaded the Nile Valley and Egyptian rulers repeatedly marched across the waste into Syria, but also of the Turkish and Saracen rulers of the Near East in the ]\Iiddle Ages, it would have been realized that an army of moderate dimensions could cross the desert without undue risk. At least two highly trained armies essayed the invasion of Egypt in the Middle Ages. The renowned Mongol general Kit-Bugha, one of Hulagu Khagan's ablest lieutenants, made the attempt. He was defeated and slain at Ain Jalut, near the present Turco-Egyptian border, by an army of Mamelukes commanded by the famous Mamelulce leader, afterwards Sultan of Egypt, Beybars "Bundukdar" (the Arbalaster). Kit-Bugha failed, but the fact that the attempt was made by the Mongols, who were incomparably the most highly organized and trained warriors of the earlj' Middle Ages, possessing a General Staff and an admirable Intelligence Department, proves that the ablest soldiers of that age regarded Vol. IV.— Part 48. 321 the passage of the desert as practicable by a well-equipped army. In 1517 Sultan Selim, the Grim of Turkey, at the head of a host almost as well organized as that of the ^longols, and provided with wheeled transport and artillery, successfully crossed the desert by the El Arish road and, after defeating the Mame- luke cavalry at Ridanieh, led his disciplined Janissaries into Cairo. At the end of the eighteenth and the begin- ning of the nineteenth centuries Napoleon and two Turkish generals crossed the desert. The former reached Acre, failed before British and Turkish stubbornness, and was able to witli- draw with heavy, but considering all things, not excessive, loss into Egypt. A Turkish host was only stopped and overthrown at Heliopolis within a few miles of Cairo by Kleber in 1799. In 1801 another Ottoman army, co-operating with Abercrombie's gallant force, successfully crossed the desert. The hosts of Mehemet AH and Ibrahim Pasha followed their example at a later date. When the Egyptians were finally compelled to evacuate Syria, Suleiman Pasha, fearful that his retreat by the coast road would be cut off from the sea, actually succeeded in withdrawing the remains of the Egyptian garrison of Syria into Egypt by the Akaba-Nakhl road. It was believed in some quarters that the 322 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. A GAMP AND FERRY NEAR ISMAILIA. construction of the Suez Canal had rendered it impossible for any army to contemplate the invasion of Egypt from the east pending the completion of a light railway or tram line across the desert, by which heavy artillery, capable of coping with the warships which assisted in the defence of the Canal, could be transported to, or sufficiently near to, the scene of action. It was also held that lack of water would seriously embarrass the attacking force. It had not been realized that the Turks, if indifferent organizers, were skilled in impro- vization, as became the citizens of an Empire which for generations had lived by shifts. British officers who, themselves detesting the Teuton, imagined that " Johnny Turk," with the exception of Enver and his friends, held him in equal loathing were unwilling to admit that the Turkish officer might conceivably render an vrnwilling but still complete obedience to the German prophet of efficiency. As for the water supply in the- Sinai Peninsula, this, although never abundant, was«a very varying quantity. There were years in which the El Arish road alone was practicable for an army ; 1915 was not one of these. In Novem- ber and December of 1914 rain fell in parts of the Sinai desert and the Turks were conse- quently able to make their attack with- a cer- tainty of finding the wells or rock pools/ full on most lines of march that they might select. The Canal was, of course, a serious obstacle to any invading force. From the military point of view it was a huge imfordable ditch, deep enough and wide enovigh for the move- ment of the floating batteries of modern war- ships — an obstacle which could not be turned, and could only be destroyed as an obstacle either by the employment of enormous quanti- ties of high explosives or by mines or heavy artillery capable of sinking warships therein and thus blocking a section of the channel. Even so the problem how to obtain a perma- nent footing on the western bank of the Canal remained to be solved. The Bitter, Ballah, Timsah and Menzaleh lakes greatly restricted the line which the defence required to hold,, and a railway, connected at Ismailia with th& excellent Egyptian system and running from Port Said to Suez on the western bank of the Canal, enabled the defenders to reinforce any threatened point with great rapidity. On the other hand there were certain disadvantages for the defenders. Lack of water rendered it difficult to push cavalry reconnaissances far into the desert. Save where fortified bridge- heads had been constrvicted, as at Kantara and Ismailia Ferry, the Canal was an obstacle to counter-attacks on the part of the defence, and the northern extremity of the position at Kantara lacked depth, having immediately behind it the swamps and pools of the southern extremity of Lake Menzaleh, and being thu« exposed almost throughout to shell fire if tht attacking force could bring its hesCvy guns within range. But if on the whole the Canal favoured the defence against any attempt at the invasion of the Delta, there was nothing in the Canal position to prevent an enter- prising enemy provided with modern artillery THE TIMES HISTOHY OF THE WAB. from establishing himself sufficientl\' near the eastern bank to impede navigation and thus to strike a blow at the eastern line of communi- cations of the British Empire which would have considerable moral effect. The enemy's ability to establish himself and maintain himself in such a position depended not only on his fighting power, but on his ability to keep his army provided with food, water and ammunition, i.e., on the nature of his com- munications with his base in Southern Palestine. It will now be necessary to give some account of the Sinai Peninsula through which the would- be invaders of Egypt marched and through which their lines of communication ran. A triangle of sand dune, rock and mountain, its apex pointed due south, its sides marked to east by the Akaba Gulf and the Turco- Egyptian frontier line delimited in 1906, to west by the Gulf of Suez and the Suez Canal, with the shore of the Mediterranean between Rafa and Port Said for its base, such is the Sinai. Geographically and orographically it is divided into three zones — the zone of the Drift sand, the Plateau zone, and the Mountain zone to the south. The first zone is narrowest near Rafa on the Turkish border. Thence it stretches westward along the coast, gradually expanding inland to a width of some 35 miles south of EI Gels, and at Katia sweeps to the south between the Canal and the Plateau, its width \arying from 20 to ."{.") mile^ between El Kantara and Ismailia, narrowing to from 10 to 12 miles due east of Suez town, and thence stretching southward — a ribbon of decreasing depth — along the eastern coast of the Gulf of Suez towards Tor. Its shape is thus rougliK that of an L upside down, or a Greek T. The softness of the surface is the princii)al feature of the region of the drift sand. Scat- tered about in it are "islands'" of firmer ground : outcrops of rock, patches of hard gravel, small tracts where the " wadis "- torrents flowing from the plateau in spate perhaps once in five or ten years — have deposited layers of mud and gravel, whu h ilie sparse desert vegetation has boiiiul. liut in the main it is an infinitely fatiguing country of .soft .sand, sometimes blown by the wind into multitudinous dunes, where the way is easily lost, so like is each dune to its fellow. Betwet n Bir-el-Mazar and Bir-el-Abd, on the road from El Arish to El Kantara, the dunes cover many score square miles, and again to the south and south-west of the palm -'groves of Katia. Between these dunes. and the open waters of the Mediterranean, from a point immediately north of Bir-el-Mazar to a point some four miles north of Katia, stretches the Sabakat Bardowal, or Serbonian Bog of the Ancients, a long salt- water lagoon divided from the sea by a narrow sandj^ spit of land, with one or two small openings through which fishing boats can pas.s. West of this another region of salt lake and EL KANTARA ON THE SUEZ CANAL. 324 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAB. marsh intervenes between the sea and the sand till the Canal is reached. First there is the plain of Tineh or Pelusium, a bare expanse of mud and salty soil, with stagnant salt pools and great areas of quagmire in summer, in autvmin and during the Nile flood largely sub- iTierged, save for a few mounds, the sites of ancient cities, bj' the rising of the salt waters of Lake Menzaleh. Then comes Lake Menzaleh, a great salt lagoon, expanding or contracting with the Nile flood, across the eastern bight of which passes the Canal with its raised banks, a double causeway. This northern portion of the drift sand area is not altogether unproductive. All along the coast are districts where water is obtainable by digging. In the neighbourhood of El Arish the wells- are numerous enough to make a fair amount of cultivation possible, and the quality of the water is good. Here, too, the bed of the great Wadi El Arish, which ran twice in spate to the sea in the winter of 1914-1915, holds extensive pools after flood, and is always a safe place for well-sinking. Further west the quality of the water deterio- rates. Round Bir-el-Abd, Katia and Bir-el- Duweidar are many smaller wells, and it is indeed easy to find water at from six to ten feet depth throughout most of the country just south of the Bardowal lagoon. There are at least 40,000 date palms in the oases in ques- tion. But the quality of the water is generally bad. Most of the water of this coast strip, save about the mouth of the Wadi El Arish, would seem to come either from the sea or from the lagoon, but the nature of the subsoil through which it filters varies greatly, with the result that, while El Aiish is supplied with drinkable water from a limited number of wells, most of the more numerous wells of the Katia region yield a fluid which even thirsty Orientals find nauseous. Further south, along the stem of the " Gamma " or inverted L, wells are few and far between. Those that exist there probably derive their water from the plateau. Near the hill of Er Kigm, almost due east of the northern extremity of the Great Bitter Lake, is a hollow covered with impervious clay. This hollow is really a sort of sink, into which the Wadi Um Muksheib floods once in ten or fifteen years after a cloud-burst on the rocky Djebel Um Muksheib, a mountain mass on the edge of the plateau. A bar of hard sand forms a sort of dam at the northern extremity of the sink, and after the rare floods a great pool is formed at Er Rigm which can supply a great army for many days. Late in 1914 Wadi Um Muksheib ran in spate into the hollow, and the discovery by the' Turks' Beduin auxiliaries, of the pool thus formed vmdoubtedly helped to determine Djemal Pasha to choose the El Audja-Ismailia line of advance. The mountain zone of the Sinai Peninsula need not be described. A small raiding party ON THE SUEZ CANAL. The entrance to the Canal, showing De Lesseps' Statue. Inset : The office of the Suez Canal Shipping Company, Port Said. THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE TT'.-IT?. 325 TAKING CAMELS ACROSS EL KANTAKA. alone operated in it during the Canal campaign, and was destroyed as soon as it had been encouraged to venture out of the impassable labyrinth of peaks, gorges and cliffs that forms the southern third of the peninsula. No army could operate therein. For the rest it need only be said that it contains two of the very few permanently inhabited settlements in the Sinai, the Monastery of Mount Sinai and the Tor quarantine station for the pilgrims returning from the Holy places by the Red Sea route. Most important from the military point of view of the three regions or zones into which the Sinai is divided is the zone of the Plateau. The greater part of this region is an open stony or gravelly expanse, sometimes flat, sometimes rolling country, barren beyond belief, and largely waterless, but less demoralizing to tired infantrymen than the " soft desert." Round the curved edge of the plateau are mountain masses, isolated and steep hogs' -backs (jf rock, Djebel Lagama, Djebel Hellal, cloven in two by the Wadi El Arish, which here has cut an amazing canyon with walls of 700 feet of clif?, Djebel ^laghara, where the Pharaohs mined tiu-quoises, and further south, on the westward facing edge of the plateau, Djebel L'm Muksheib and Djebel Er-Raha, with Djebel Yelleg fiu-ther within the plateau to the east. There are a few rain pools in the gullies that score the sides of these isolated movmtain masses, which rise from 2,000 to 3,000 feet above sea-level and from 1,000 to 1,500 feet above the average level of the plateau, and at their feet there are sometmies wells — Bir Hassana below Yelleg, Bir Hamma below Maghara, and the Roman or Byzantine cistern-well of Moia Harab imder the western slope of L'm Muksheib. But they have no military importance, for no troops could maintain themselves in their steep and barren fastnesses, often inaccessible to all but the occasional ibex of the Northern Sinai. In the Plateau zone is but one large patch of drift sand, a mass that lies between ^laghara and Yelleg, but does not cover more than a few miles of the caravan route that lies between them. The rest of the plateau is to a large extent passable even by heavy wheeled traffic : automobiles could travel at speed over many miles of it, and artillery can be moved almost everywhere. It rises gradually irom about 1,000 feet above sea-level at its northern edge to over 1,500 feet a few miles south of Fort Xakhl. In general the plateau is waterless, save for a few wells in the bed of the Wadi El Arish, a great torrent, nearly always dry, which rises south of Fort Nakhl and reaches the Medi- terranean less than a mile ea-st of El Arish. But it contains two comparatively well watered areas — the Kossauna district, where there are at least four large springs that can neither be blocked nor polluted, in the north-east, and Djebel Somar, about 25 miles south-east of Suez, in the south-west. The Kossaima region is sufficiently well watered from the springs to be cultivable in parts, as is some of the country 48—2 320 THE TIMES HTSTOEY OF THE WAB. imw"-^ M '^JSuft/'i round the great cisterns of El Audja, ten miles to the north on the Turkish side of the border. The population of the whole Sinai does not exceed 40,000 persons, a few settled inhabitants in and near El Arish, 400 or 500 Djebeliyeh Arabs, descendants probably of the slaves or tenants of the Sinai Monks in pre-Islaniic times, who still live around the Monastery, and the rest Beduin of small and generally unimportant septs ; Tiyaha in the south, Tarabin, Azazma, and other sub-tribes of the Howeytat in the north, rather harmless people, living poorly as their ancestors lived by herding and hiring camels, paying some slight attention to the Egyptian authorities at El Arish and Fort Nakhl, the " capital " of the Sinai province, and very little attention indeed to their own sheikhs. From a military standpoint they were THE CONVENT AT MOUNT SINAI. Showing the only means of ingress up to the British occupation of Egypt, a primitive lift being lowered from a "doorway" in the wall Inset : Interior of the Convent showing the "door- way " in the wall. of small importance, excejat as possible secret agents or scouts. Two main roads lead across the Sinai from the Turkish frontier. The best known is the old caravan road which leads from Rafa to El Kantara, a distance of 125 miles via El Arish, Bir-el-Mazar, Bir-el-Abd and Katia. The water supply on this route is, on the whole, good, the jaroximity of the telegraph line connecting Egypt and Syria makes it easy to follow at night, and it is perfectly passable for men and camels, but heavy wheeled transport could only be brought along this road by a com- mander who was ready to break many men's hearts and many beasts' backs. Along most of its coiu"se this road is protected against bombard- ment from the sea by the coastal dmies and by the Bardowal lagoon and its bar, but El Arish is exposed to naval attack, and troops making a detovir to the south to avoid this threat would find themselves in an area of particularly soft sand-drift. For these reasons the Turks merely made a demonstration along this route. The other great road across the Sinai is the Darb-el-Hadj, or Pilgrims' Road, exten- ^^ •i*r*'»?*:l'Sv The road which crosses the Plateau from Tabah to Suez. The Ancient Fortress of Giziret El Faracun. Xht3 rip ^^^-^^ ■*" Mount Sinai and a view of the summit of Jebel Mousa. THE SINAI PENINSULA. 328 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. A TRACKER, Attached to the British Force in Egypt. sively used by Egyptian pilgrims to the Moslem holy places before steamer traffic grew general in the Red Sea. This road leaves the head of the Gulf of Akaba from that town, and climbs up a very steep escarpment, a prolongation of the movintain zone of Southern Sinai towards the north, to over 2,000 feet above sea-level. Thence it descends to the plateau, which it crosses in a west -north-west direction by Bir Themed, Fort Nakhl, and the passes east of Suez till Suez is reached. The greater part of this route can be traversed even by heavy artillery, but it lacks water. Akaba is abso- lutely open to naval attack and the passes which troops advancing by this or parallel routes must thread before they reach the Suez plain are regular traps, narrow defiles where a handful of men covild stop an army. Again, Akaba itself is three marches from Ma' an, the nearest station on the Hedjaz Railway. The road runs through an abomination of desolation with but one well, and the descent into the Ghor, the deep trench which rims north from Akaba to the Dead Sea, is steeper, higher and generally more difficult for a heavily equipped force than the ascent from the Ghor to the Sinai plateau. The Darb-el-Hadj was, therefore, judged vinsuitable as a main line of attack, but as it has excellent lateral commvmications with Kossaima, and thus with El Audja and Bir-es- Saba (Beersheba), in Southern Palestine, the Turks soon decided to make a demonstration along it against the southern sector of the Canal defences. The vmsiiitability of these two roads for the main advance and favourable news concerning the water supply on the road between Kossaima and Ismailia ultimately led Djemal Pasha, or his Chief of Staff, the Bavarian Colonel Kress von Kressenstein, to adopt this line for the main attack. Further details concerning this road will be given when the enemy's march on the Canal is described. Meanwhile it may be noted that the Turks for some time played with the scheme of constructing a railway from Ma' an to Nakhl, crossing the Ghor at a point some distance north of Akaba. Unfortunately for their enemies, the Tiu-ks consulted the Austrian archaeologist and geographer, Dr. Alois ]\Iusil, who scornfully disposed of a scheme for building a railway down 3,000 feet of cliff and sand- slides and up 2,000 feet of screes and gullies on the western side of the Ghor. Finally it was decided to prolong the Haifa Damascvis line into the Sinai by way of Nablus and Jerusalem. The French railway from Damascus to Muzeirib in the Hauran was pulled up, and the rails were transported to Afule station, whence the Sinai railway was to start. With rails taken from sidings or rei^airing shops on the Syrian lines, and with a couple of German shiploads which had been landed by fugitive German steamers just after the outbreak of the Great War, the Tvu-ks hoped to reach Kossaima. By the end of May, 1915, all work had ceased and the line had reached a point abovit six miles south of the Jaffa- Jerusalem Railway at Ludd (Lydda). Its abandomnent was due to the seriousness of the situation at the Dardanelles, and also to the depredations of the Beduin carriers and work- men, who stole an extraordinarily large propor- tion of the bolts and rivets required by the constrviction parties. Even if work had been commenced at the same time as the Turkish general mobilization, the line could not possibly have reached the neighboiu-hood of the frontier THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. 329 by the early spring of 1915, when, for climatic reasons and on account of the impending failure of the winter rain supply in the desert, it was necessary to advance without delay or else to postpone the "invasion of Egypt" till the completion of the railway or the next winter rains. When war broke out, the Turks had had three months in which to complete their mobilization. Diflficulties of transport and lack of equipment, which was only gradually supplied from Austria and Germany, prevented them from taking an immediate offensive against Egypt. In October the Vlllth (Damas- cus) Anny Corps (23rd, 25th and 27th Divi- sions) and some troops of the Xllth (Mosul) Army Corps were in Syria, with a considerable nvunber of Mustahfiz (."Jrd Line) and Depot troops. The Damascus Army Corps had not the reputation of being one of the best in the Ottoman service. By the terms of the pact into which the Committee of Union and Progress entered with the Arab party early in 1914 it was for the most part locally recrviited. The officers were, as a rule, Tiu"ks who did not often understand the language or the character of the Arabs who formed the majority of the rank and file. After mobilization orders were issued the pact between Turks and Arabs, like the Armenian reform sclieme, was tjirown over- board, and a considerable number of Arabs were drafted into Anatolian Army Corps, their places Vjeing taken by Turks and a few Kurds. The Mosul men do not appear to have proved satisfactory. Many deserted and, by the begin- ning of November, the Turks had decided to send more reliable troops to Syria in their place. They were' then sent back to the East, and at a later period came into action again.st the British forces in Southern Mesopotamia. At the end of November and early in Decem- ber a large Turkish army poured through the Cilician Gates into the plain of Adana. Tt was composed of troops from the IITrd (Rodosto), ON THE SUEZ CANAL. French men-of-war and an Australian troopship at Port Said. Inset : An Australian troopship. 330 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAB. GENDARMES (SYRIAN MOSLEM) With headdress for desert wear. IVth (Smyrna), and Vth (Angora) Army Corps. A full division of each Army Corps' (the 8th of the Illrd, the 10th of the IVth, and the 14th of the Vth Corps) were there, and a composite (Muretteb) division of the 1st Army Corps followed later. But only the IVth Corps troops moved southwards into Central Syria. The 8th remained for some time in Cilicia. The 14th Division seems to have pushed eastwards towards the Caucasian theatre, arriving, after many weeks' marching, at Erzrum to find the army it had been sent to reinforce hopelessly beaten at Saryk:a.Tiish and Karaurgan. The composite division of the 1st eventually arrived in Mesopotamia. With the 10th Division came two or three batteries of heavy guns, a pontoon train, a considerable force of field artillery and great quantities of stores and munitions of war. The 10th Division bore a good reputation as a well-trained and well-disciplined force. It was commanded by a Gennan officer — von Trommer Pasha. Shortly before it arrived in Syria the Commander of the "Fourth Army," to which the attack on Egypt was entrusted, arrived at Damascus. This was Djemal Pasha, one of the leading personalities of the new regime in Turkey, who had resigned the port- folio of Minister of Marine to take the command of the "Army of Egypt," and so, it was more than whispered, to escape from the advice hourly tendered to the Ottoman Admiralty by its German advisers. Djemal had been one of the leading members of the Committee of Union and Progress in its Macedonian days, when he was a major on the Turkish General Staff. Under the new regime he held the posts of Vali of Adana and of Baghdad, resigning the latter when the oppo- nents of the Committee temporarily returned to power. When the Balkan War broke out he was offered and accepted the command of the Konia Redif Division, and fought sturdily, if unsuccessfully, vmder Mahmud Mukhtar at Soghudjak Dere and Bunar Hissar. He then fell sick of cholera, recovered, and was the first of the Young Tvirk conspirators to enter the Sublime Porte when Kiamil Pasha's Govern- ment was overthrown and Nazun Pasha slain by the followers of Talaat and Enver. In reward for his services he was appointed first Commander of the Constantinople Army Corps, in which capacity he rendered great services to his party during the uneasy months that passed between the coup d'etat and the murder of Mahmud Shevket Pasha. After the recapture of Adrianople he became Minister of Public Works and, early in 1914, Minister of Marine. A convinced " Pan-Ottoman," dreaming of the day when Turkey would become a Sea-Power again, he made no secret of his Irredentist aspirations. "You Europeans," said he one day to the Italian Ambassador, " may consider the questions of Timis, Tripoli and Egypt as settled. We do not think so, and when one day we raise these questions, we shall do so with three hundred million Moslems at ovir back." No less indiscreet was his language to the French Ambassador at Constantinople early in October, when the Ottoman troops were already beginning to move towards various THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. 331 strategical points on the Turco-Egyptian fron- tier. " I caimot imderstand the attitude of yoiir Enghsh colleague," said Djemal angrily. " Recently I suggested tliat we should op( ii negotiations for tlie ev^acuation of Egyjjt by the British garrison ; after the war, of course. Just imagine ; he didn't even an.swer nie " (" Figurez vous, il ne m'a pas meine repondu "). Sir Louis JMallet's refusal to discuss the evacua- tion of Egypt with Djemal was the last straw. Baron von ^^'angenheim, German Ambassador at Constantinople, liad already succeeded in diverting the attention of the Minister of ]\Iarine from his fieet to the " sad plight of our martyred Moslem brothers," as Turkish news- papers described the condition of the Egj^ptians, and Djemal, already bitterly anti-British, on accoiuit of the embargo laid on the Sultan Osman and the Reshadieh by our Government, was henceforth hypnotised by the " Kurassier- Diplomat." Egypt became an obsession with him, as was King Charles's head to Mr. Dick, and Enver was no doubt delighted. He and Djemal had quarrelled more than once, and when the Turkish Xajsoleon had made war on the Entente Powers Djemal would be better in a distant province. So much for the Turkish Commander-in- Chief in Syria. Though a courageous and ener- getic man, choosing energetic subordinates, he had a large share of what Robert Louis Stevenson called " blooming gaseous folly," in his composition. The details of his plan of campaign, if not the plan itself, were worked out by his Chief of Staff, the Bavarian Colonel Kress von Kressenstein. The organization of the Ottoman transport was confided to Roshan Bey, an able Albanian officer, \\ Iio was largely responsible for the success of the march across the desert. By the new year foiu- Xizam (First Line) or Muretteb (Composite) divisions and the equiva- lent of nearly two divisions composed for the most i)art of Second Line and Depot troops were stationed in Central and Southern SjTia, between ten and fifteen thousand Beduin irregulars liad Ijceii collected, and ])art of the Hedjaz Division had been railed up from Medina and sent to Fort Nakhl. The artillery of the Foiu-th, or Syrian, Anny (a.s Djemal's force was officially named) had been greatly strengthened, large quantities of stores and transport had been requisitioned, and Turkish scouting parties had acquired a considerable amount of information as to the roads and water supj)ly of the Sinai. But the Turkish leaders themselves realised that, imposing as their military strength in Syria appeared to be, they would be compelled to leave a large proportion of the troops they had mobilized and equipped behind them, not only to protect their communications against attack from the sea but against Arab disaffection. The Druses of the Hauran, the settled Arabs of Kerak, who had risen in revolt against the Turks in 1910, and some of the great Beduin clans, required to be vigilantly watched by the authorities. The autonomous province of Mount Lebanon, TURKISH CONVOY IN SYRIA. 332 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. inhabited by Druses who hked the Turk but little and Christians of various sects who thoroughly detested him, was a stronghold of French and British influence, and owing to its physical conformation required to be masked or occupied by a fairly large force. Among the majority of the Moslems of Syria Tm-kish rule was tolerated, but there was little liking for the Turk, and Young Turk experiments in " Tiu-ci- cization " — ^modelled on those of Magyar and Prussian — had the worst possible effect on the loyalty of the educated Arabs. There was no avowedly anti-Turk party among them that could be compared to the Macedonian " Internal Organization" or the Armenian " Dashtnak " and " Hintchak " Societies in Hanaidian days. The Parliamentary elections were regularly " made '^ by the Committee of Union and Pro- gress ; Turkish Ministers and politicians had entered into a pact with more or less representa- tive Syrian Moslems for the removal of specific grievances ; but throughout the troubled period that intervened between the Balkan \\'ar and Tiu-key's entry into the Great War as the ally of the Central Powers the relations between Arab and Turk were strained. Religion, as strong a force in Syria as in Egypt, to some extent eased the strain, but it could not prevent the eloquent "meridional" commercially- minded Arab from growing more and more restive under the domination of the Osmanli, whom he feared but in his heart of hearts des^oised as a slow-witted and " pre-economic " man. Both the Turks and their German allies had been disajipointed by the coldness with which the proclamation of a Holy War was received by the majority of the Moslems of Syria. In vain did agents or creatxires of the Committee of Union and Progress, such as Sheikh Shawish and the Druse Emir Shekib Arslan, preach the " Djihad." They obtained a few recruits among the town rabble of Beirut, Jaffa, Nablus, and other cities where there was a somewhat fanatical element, but they failed, as a rule, to arovise the enthusiasm of the educated classes and of the depressed peasantry, while the Ulema; whose whole-hearted support was necessary if Moslem fervour was to be kindled into flame, pertinently asked what sort of a Djihad was this in which the leading Moslem sovereign was the ally of two infidel Powers. In vain did Turkish officials and officers attempt to excite the fanaticism of the masses against enemy subjects and native Chiistians. The wholesale requisitions in which the military RECRUITING MEETING AT THE JAFFA MARKET. THE TJMES HISTOliY OF THE WAB. 333 IN COMMAND OF THE TURKISH ARMY IN EGYPT. General Djemal Pasha (on right) taking leave of the Turkish troops before their departure for the desert. Inset : General Djemal Pasha and his German Aide-de-Camp, Colonel von Trommer. indulged, the imposition of the Corvee (forced • labour on the roads) on the peasantry and the levying of " benevolences " or " forced volun- tary subscriptions " on all persons w ho were known or believed to have money, involved Moslems and non-Moslems in common distress and deepened tlie dislike of the overbearing Turk. Vain, too, were the theatrical attempts of German and Austro-Himgarian Consuls and other agents to prove themselves more Moslem than the Moslems. ^\■llen Herr Lange, a German who had till recently been Belgian Consul at Haifa, made the infamous suggestion that English and French women left in Syria should be distributed among the Arabs, no Arab supported him, and an attempt by Dr. Hartegg to preach the Holy War and raise recruits at Xablus was snubbed by the leading ^Moslem family in that town. The powerful Beduin clans of the Eastern Desert, on whom the Tiu-ks had counted, proved a broken reed. Only the Tarabin, the Aza/ma, and some of the sub-tribes of the Howeytat supplied irregular levies. The Rviala and Aneiza promised to defend S\Tia were the country invaded, bvit found a hundred good reasons against participating in the Egyptian expedition. The Beni-Sukhur Sheikhs and their followers quarrelled with the Turks over camel hire, pillaged the arms depot at Beer- sheba, and took to the Eastern Desert, killing some soldiers who attempted to bar their passage of the Hedjaz Railway at Amman. The autonomous, province of Moimt Lebanon was occupied towards the end of November by Turkish troops. One hundred soldiers, still in summer ecjuipment, perished in a blizzard in 48—3 334 THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. A TURKISH BATTERY NEAR THE SUEZ CANAL. the mountains. Some villages were disarn\ed, several notables sent to Damascus as- hostages, and the Governor, Kuyumdjian Effendi, was instructed to take his orders from the Ottoman Commander in Syria. The Lebanese, in spite of their pro-British and pro-French sympathies, wisely refrained from any revolutionarj^ move- ment, which would have exposed them to the sternest repressive measures. The Ottoman soldiers, mostly Arabs, on their side behaved well. Subjects of the Entente Powers residing in Syria suffered much from the thievishness or from the suspicions of Turkish officers and officials. For the present it need only be said that, while few acts of personal violence were recorded dm-ing tlie period covered by this chapter, scliools, chiu'ches, monasteries and private houses abandoned by their owners were seized v^ith their contents by the military authorities, enemy subjects of military age who failed to leave in tim3 were interned, and the clergy and missionaries, more especially the French and Russians, either expelled or exiled, with the minimimi of hmnanity, to the interior. Djemal Pasha, during these seizures of property and expul- sions, informed all and sundry that no mission- aries would be permitted to retiu-n to Palestine after the war. The Russian Jews, who foriTied the majority of the Zionist colonists in Palestine, were given the alternative of renovuicing their nationality or leaving the coiuitry. To their credit many accejated exile and made their way by sea to Egypt in a state of dire destitution. Some of these unfortunate people were robbed and maltreated by the Turkish gendarmes before they left Palestine. This change of policy on the part of the Committee Government, which had at times shown strongly pro-Jewish and pro-Zionist leanings, would appear to have been inspired by the belief that the Arabs, who feared the economic conquest of Palestine by the Jews, would appreciate this bid for their support. But none of- these efforts to excite fanatical or anti-foreign feeling aroused any general enthusiasm in favour of the war among the Moslems of Syria. By the middle of December the British garrison in Egypt had been brought up to a strength that would have enabled it to repel a far more formidable attack than that which the Turks viltimately directed against the Canal position. It was composed of the Aus- tralasian Army Corps of Australians and New Zealanders, the East Lancashire Territorial Division with most of their Divisional troops, a Mounted Brigade of Yeomanry, and a strong Indian force, including a nmnber of Imperial Service troops, mostly mounted, and many excellent Regular battalions, and of the strength of a powerful Army Corps. Of these troops part of the Indian force were excellent. The Territorials and Yeomanry trained on very rapidly. The Australians, and to a less extent the New Zealanders, did not shake down very kindly to military discipline at first. For this there were many reasons, notably the lack of professional or, at all events, trained officers among them, the extreme individualism of some of the men, and, in some cases, errors in recruiting by which men physically or morally unfit to belong to a Volunteer force had been allowed to enlist. But, once bad characters and inefficients had been weeded out and the officers had got some grip on their men, the efficiency of the Australasian Army Corj)s in^proved rapidly. Dviring the campaign on the Canal few of its units were actually engaged ; it was not till the great fight on the Six Beaches of the Gallipoli Peninsula that it had the chance of displaying to an astonished enemy the wild valour and elan and the remarkable THE TIMES HISTOny OF THE WAR. 385 individual initiative and intelligence of the Colonial soldier. At the beginning i>i 1915 the defence of the Canal was left to the Indian troops and the Fleet ; Territorials, Yeomanry and Austral- asians were undergoing intensive training at Alexandria, and still more roiind Cairo, where the desert in the spring and winter months proved a magnificent and uiiliuiitod training ground for all arms. At Mena House, below the Pyramids, at Heliopolis, to the east of Cairo, and at Meadi, on the way to Helouan in the south, great camps were formed for the new- comers, and the large barracks formerly occupied by the Army of Occupation now housed Yeomanry and Territorials. Thanks to the very general employment of inoculation, typhoid caused few fatalities among the troops : the Australasians arrived wiih influenza, whicli broke out on several of their troopships shortly after starting, and lost a certain number of men from pnemnonia, while "sand colic," an intestinal disorder apparently caused by absorb- ing sand, an unavoidable ingredient in one's food in windy weather in the desert, gave some trouble. On the whole, however, the health of the men was very fair. The horses of the Colonial troops arrived in admirable condition. There was a tendency during the South African War to regard the Australasian as a bad horse - master, but nothing could have been better than the condition of their beasts after their arrival in Egypt and throughout their stay in the covmtry. The one drawback to Cairo as a training centre is the fact that few towns contain a larger parasitic population, both European and native. Drinking dens and houses of ill-fame are all too common, and till recent years the Cai)itulations prevented the Anglo-P2gyptian authorities from takhig sufficiently drastic steps against the vendor of poisonous brewages, misnamed " beer " or " spirits," or the keeper of disorderly houses. Arriving with plenty of money in their pockets, for they at first received all of their Us. a day, in a great city, some of the Australasians were decidedly " fresh " at the beginning of their stay. ^Military Ordinances for the closing of certain houses and the punish- ment of individuals selling adulterated lic^uor were rendered necessary, and had the Australian military police been up to their work there would have been little cause for complaint from the very beginning. As it was, it took spme time to get some of the Colonial troojjs in hand. But it would be vmfair to regard an undisciplined and small minority as in any sense representative of the Australasian soldiers. The great majority behaved wt-U, and gave the European and native population no cause for complaint whatever, while their magnificent physique was a constant source of admiration. So also was their lavishness. During the autumn and winter the Suez Canal position was thoroughly strengthened. Most of the devices of modem field fortification were employed in its defence : military and naval patrols watched vigilantly for any attempt on the part of enemy agents to ap- proacli the entrenchments or to droji explosives AN AUSTRALIAN CAMP, Showing the desert and Mokathun Hills in the distance. d •oe « u u ts c« PQ U u J jS b *d HM *J as « V Q rT3 U ■/i H u •^ D O S E Q (A Z « < W J .2 u (A ID u << u J3 u W '3) K .c H •on c ^ « H 336 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 837 GILIGIA AND NORTHERN SYRIA. into the Canal and the different sections of the defensive line were thoroughly linked up by telegraph and telephone. Without going into details of the British defences it may be said tliat they consisted of a series of fortified " bridge-heads " on tlie Eastern Bank of the Canal covered by entrenched positions on the Western Bank. Most important of the fortified bridge-heads were El Kantara, El Ferdan and Ismailia Ferry in the northern section, Tussum and Serapeiim in the centre, and Shaluf and Kubri in the southern. The groimd to north and south of El Kantara had been flooded by letting the Canal flow for a while into the Menzaleh and Ballah Lakes, and the front on which an enemy could attack this most impor- tant post was thus greatly limited. War vessels were detailed to hold the Timsah and Bitter Lakes in case of necessity, but till the enemy was known to be advancing most of the more important imits of the Alhed squad- rons in the Levant and Red Sea were employed on the Syrian and Arabian coasts. Their work must now be described. The declaration of war against Turkey was followed by a concentration of war vessels, mainly cruisers and torpedo-craft, in the Levant and Red Sea for the purpose of watching the coasts of Southern Asia Minor, Syria and Turkish Arabia. The action taken by H.M. cruiser Minerva and the destroyers Savage and Scourge in the Gulf of Akaba until the new year has already been described.* On the- Syrian coast the object of the opera- tions of the Allied war vessels was double — first, to prevent mine-laying off the enemies' ports and to capture coasters conveying war material from one port to another ; secondly, to observe and when possible impede such hostile movements, especially in comiection with the projected invasion of Egj'pt, as might take place within range of the guns of war vessels or within the radius of the French hydroplanes supplied for this work by our Allies. The share of the Alhed warships in the defence of the Suez Canal is described later. The one point at which the communications between the Turkish forces and Constantinople could be effectively attacked by a purely naval force was Alexandretta and the shore between the little town and the village of Payaz further north. To imderstand the importance of this stretch of coast reference must be made to the map on this page of the railways and chief roads of Cilicia and Northern Syria. It will be seen that the gap in the Baghdad Railway between Kara-punar and Dorak, where three tunnels had been commenced before May, 1914, is no serious obstacle to the transport of troops from the north, since two carriage roads — the old Vol. III., p. 318. sss THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. Government road which traverses the CiUcian Gates and a good now road admirably built by the Baghdad Railway Company's engineers, which follows the unfinished mountain section of the railway pretty closely — cross the Taurus range and meet the railway at Tarsus and Dorak in Cilicia. These roads are occasionally blocked by bad weather, but seldom for more than a few days during the winter. East of Adana the railway runs to Toprak Kale, where it bifurcates. One branch runs to the foot of AUSTRALIANS IN THE TRENCHES. the Ainanus Mountains at Baghche. From Baghche to Radju, whence a finished section of railway runs to Moslemieh and Aleppo, is perhaps the most difficult section of the Bagh- dad line. A tunnel is being made at Baghche, but on the east side of the range constrviction is difficult till Radju is reached. A rough and bad road crosses the Anianus above Baghche, and runs thence towards the south-east through difficult country towards Killis and Aleppo. In summer wheeled transport can be got over the Amanus ranges without excessive difficulty, but in winter the road is most trying and is frequently blocked by snow or slush. Another road from Adana passes round the eastern shore of the Gulf of Alexandrotta, by way of Payas and Alexandrotta town, crosses the Amanus by the easy Bailan Pass, and thence is continued to Aleppo. This is a good road with few difficulties for heavy traffic, but, like the Payas -Alexandrotta section of the Toprak - Kale-Alexandretta branch railway, which it crosses and recrosses, it is absolutely exposed between Payas and Alexandrotta to naval bombardment. There it runs between the beach and stooji hills or cliffs ; no forts protect it, and any formed bodies of troops or transport trains daring to traverse it under the guns of a warship would be speedily destroyed. Behind Alexandrotta it winds up to the smnmit of the Bailan Pass, in full view of the sea and an admirable target against the hillsides. It will thvjs be seen that the Turks, if they wished to reinforce their Syrian Army, had either to risk great losses from naval gimfire between Payas and Alexandretta, or to move their men, stores, and guns by a difficult mountain route over the Amanus from Baghche to Radju, a route which bad weather might at any time block for two or three weeks. At first they risked the sea-road, and risked it with success. The 10th Division, if not others of the troops who crossed the Taurus late in Novem- ber, marched or were railed, with gvms, pon- toons, explosives, and baggage to Alexandretta. Owing perhaps to a failure to realize the strategic importance of this stretch of coast, perhaps to the lack of coordination between the higher naval and higher military command at home which was manifested in the earlier stages of the Dardanelles operations, there was no Allied warship in the Gulf of Alexandretta as the trains came down from the north. A single cruiser would certainly have inflicted heavy losses on the troops who afterwards THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 339 BRIDGE BUILDING BY THE AUSTRALIANS. Building a pontoon bridge across the Irrigation Canal. attacked the Canal, and might have destroyed most of their artillery and pontoons. But the chance was lost, and it was not till a week after the main body of Djemal's army had crossed the Bailan Pass with gvms and equipment intact that H.M.S. Doris appeared off Alex- andretta. In spite of the value of Alexandretta to the German Government and its capitalist allies who hoped to exploit and control the Turkish Empire in Asia by means of the Baghdad Railway, Httle had been done to protect the town against naval attack. A merchantman, afterwards destroyed by the Doris's crew, had been simk in the bay ; half a dozen mines are said to have been laid down near Ayas. Some trenches were constructed along the shore and on the Bailan Pass. But the failure to take any effective measures to render it difficult for hostile warships to land parties and attack the railway is difficult to explain. On December \o the British protected cruiser Doris left Askalon, where she had been engaged in some minor operations. On the 17th she appeared ofi Alexandretta and bombarded and destroyed four bridges on the road and railway leading from Alexandretta to Payas. Her captain presented an ultimatum to the Turkish commandant at Alexandretta ordering the surrender or destruction of the railway station, wharf, and warlike stores in the town. P\iiling this he threatened to bombard Alexandretta, a garrison town within the war area. On the 18th the Doris's guns destroyed a train laden with camels for the Syrian army, and a landing party dispersed some Turkish troops near the Dort-Yol railway bridge and blew the bridge up with dynamite, losing one man wounded during the operation. The Turks at Alex- andretta, having taken no notice of the first ultimatmn, a second ultimatiun was served on their commander demanding the surrender of all war material in the town, failing which the Doris would be obliged to have recourse to a bombardment. This ultimatum elicited an angry telegraphic message from Djemal Pa.sha at Damascus, who threatened to execute Allied subjects interned at that city should any Otto- man non-combatants be killed by the British warship's guns. It was a characteristically Tiu-kish proceeding. Either the British were to withdraw, leaving the engines and war material at Alexandretta imtouched, or they were to endanger their coimtrymen's lives by carrying out a necessary operation of war after giving full warning to the townsfolk and tlie authori- ties. The captain of the Doris replied to DjcmaJ Pasha that he would be held responsible for the death of the Allied subjects he proposed to execute. The American Embassy at Constanti- nople now used its influence with the Porte in order to induce the Ottoman military authorities in vSyria to take a more reasonable view and, much of the war material in the town having been removed under cover of the negotiations, it was finally agreed that the two railway engines at Alexandretta should be blown up by the Turks themselves. On December 21 a landing party arrived under the white flag to witness the destruction of the engines. The Tiu-ks professed to have no high explosives. The captain of the Doris offered to supply them. The Turks agreed, but when all was ready their parlernentaires became obstructive. They would not allow our men to blow the engines up, and they professed to be unable to find Turkish officers at Alexandretta with the necessary ^jM^^ m: E R RAN^mm^ rPORt SAID] ^B^^:^o^^I=I=JSr^£=H:^ ^OIUz ^Nl'^CASSIU =JPsE=^LU^SJJJM -Rasrel Csfi ^ ?.'^:h Omfare^ (the TaniticMou, '^ |rn A: -i>==^.'>j--!^i=£5==^-^;lH •^, :■•:-■• ' ." TeleJFadhei — — ^ ^r£'.ji|o ' 'o Pelusiiua '■■^^TetedhDhahe. . «. 1 - ^ ■ ■'■= Hta anctPulusium? 'Zamari ,-■'.■.:""-.•'""•" ■:■■'■ >=/v» bziiv^:;=c flH>' TelelHirv' -.-!"'■■ ■•" ::EIRuman'X -tTf; §^^^Ii^ V .'■*• *" '*"''' el Mazar ^/^ -:Bir ^I'Duwefda'r^rJ^j^^ TelHabuh •ffi^Medeua el Nuss ^antara^^f^'i' ^AWBALLAfl ' ^ E L - J I r Ji B. <'!fABUOHDA Ismailia ,To: rfjsa BirAbuBaili El FcROAtJ Hills N^FEB 2-3 TJMSAB ^ ElBir Mahadab AM'A Dj. Ragwi ..-^ Dj-Turkmanieh, ■■■■'DJ Ml Tussum*. ^^ ■ iO S"' ''■''■•'sSj ''i-,- y^ — '' .^^'y^Bir Rod Sale »^_ f^/rfS iiiii dJebel''"-'>-= "^AT^Ss/^^U Vji'f^";^ ■Habeita ,„., ^iv*^ "|^*'^-^'* "^h^y^^'^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ . v^^ ,ja04Dj.ELGiDDi.i:%^'^-, f, '- -:::^^ f^^,:- ■■■•'^f^'^M GENEfFA '-. Geneffa to Shaluf elTerraba- "-.-Moi Ha rau ,,--o'- ;;;■■;-■--'■ -e'Siirr^ ,/„ •:^ir. Dj.Elasal'a » -__ Monument ) l"^'^*-'' ---■, -^-.^ ^, , -:£-.>^"s->-;-^V/ UJ.tLASALA \ zyLK£: ■•■. (iWu"',"" \'- ^----■' --■■"^^ / ' X. '/lrfa6/"eA T^z _ J\ ''^j^j^" Hefer ^._.- ---'' .Kubri Prominent Dj Dubarieh;! iyj7 d e TIL e s i < : // HVscLijelPebsei}^ ' 'r?,<\-- ■"" v// ■ ■-•■T ,'<'',.iji' ■... . [%''-. •-■'i i.'v ■■•■>■-- .. n',.-y.-.^ ■6.C . rax "x i£&"v^ft: ■■^c"'^'^^*;i^^:.-;«'# ^^^? *''"-a'!7;?.'.=. ence Dj.BaGAH ■ ', .,,^ J-::^ ;"'■ ^^IrC/Jah ^ ■■■■B Turkish Main Advance • ••••• Turkish advance on Kanbara -^_— — ••— • Turkfsh advance on Nakhl-Suci ^^£_ ^Engagements ^ChieF Wells —Roads ^=^^ 5 Scale oF Miles. lO 20 30 bSn -/i^'t?: '-ui*. ■■•ill''' W- "---''■•-•'■' -v*/-' •^.'■■v 340 MAP TO ILLUSTRAT S^^jL yUAFA P Jl 1. ±: S 1 I N E Telel Ahatmen^ . j» « , -, ■ _, ^^_- I Harm et Badar! ^^,>-<ii^heikh Zuweiyid .^ "^^<- I Turkish Base. ,? '^^^^z' Bir el ^-^ \ "h^^;.. ^'oShelAmlfth \ v^ ^^, ElMeshrifeh tJ^ i 5'-7>r ^-.c' . BirAbuAweiqilam V ^^ >f'fl-v<fl,w,-> "■■ ■••*: 1..? 'W ^ plain) .'■->••;«.. ■;.i:,Y -" '-' \. ^^^C Roseliram^f, y. ; ■■■.^^ r',? VA LiBNi ;;$:??> ,'A ^(^E ^ 4 ...i ■-■ . •\.....vft t> .-i-.. 3 V. •" •^^ '"%^ ,y-"i\ "if,/ ■■-•' i^ S ^- ">.-?;-:■■ ••'.'-'■• • ..y.-.--' ,-■ rxuiioiiici [o] •K\ : ■ \ -f ;■■■ .'f >^=^ «'>■- JBE"i>(7 - •■' tv>,x V 1 ■, ^1 ■ P E N I N S ;U L^^ ••"'•X; ITKemed /r?$,.' ^ "J' ;f'-% i> ^""^^^--^^i;.' h ^■" ^rs^;-" Jill'"'- dj MtcRA 1; .•••?;;:......■'■' ■ 7g0 HE TURKISH ADVANCE. 341 3i-2 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. qualifications to do so. After a series of delays they yielded, though not till one had been thrown into the sea for impertinence, fortunately in a shallow spot, and another soundly shaken. At the eleventh hour a formula was discovered which saved Ottoman face. A British naval reserv^o officer who spoke Turkish was given a very temporary commission in the Turkish Army, and superintended the setting of the fuses and the placing of the explosives. The engines flew in pieces, some of which fell four hundred feet away, in full view of the 4,000 soldiers of the Alexandretta garrison, and H.]\I.S. Doris departed, having "singed the beard " of Djemal Pasha and inspired a whole- some respect for Allied naval power on the Syrian coast. Henceforward British, and later French, cruisers paid constant visits to Alexandretta. Attempts to move military stores along the damaged coast road were rendered highly dangerous by their guns. On several occasions landing parties cut telegraph wires or destroyed stores and forage left on the road by the panic-stricken drivers who had been impressed by the enemy and abandoned beasts and carts when the shells began to fall. On one of these occasions some British sailors found that a cart which had been thus captured contained not military stores but oranges. They emptied the cart, but left £2 and a note for the owner, who was delighted to be overpaid, and sang their praises at Alexandretta. On only one occasion during the first three months of 1915 did any fighting worth men- tioning occur on the shores of the C4ulf of Alexandretta. On February 6 a landing-party from H.M.S. Philomel came under a heavy fire from a concealed trench manned by about 80 Turkish soldiers. Six of the British and New Zealanders who formed her crew (for H.M.S. Philomel had been lent as a drill and training-ship to the Government of New Zealand) were wounded, three mortally. They were avenged by the cruiser, which instantly steamed in and opened a point-blanli fire with her 4" inch guns on the trench. Of 80 Turks, more than 50 were killed or badly wounded, some being literally blown to pieces by the high -explosive shells. After this lesson the Turks at Alexandretta left the Allied sailors severely alone. The operations of the British cruisers at Alexandretta, though less successful than they might have been had they commenced ten THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 348 days earlier, were none the less of use to the Allied cause, since they prevented the enemy from sending any large quantities of stores or any number of men to Aleppo for the Caucasus, Mesopotamia or the Egyptian border by the easy coast route. Troops and nuinitions had to be sent from Cilicia into Northern Syria over the Giaur Dagh by the pass sometimes known as the SjTian Gates. Something was done by the Tiu-ks to improve the road, but till late in March their transport columns and heavily equipped infantry siiffered the maximum of discomfort and inconvenience £is they struggled over the mountains, exposed to bitter wind and sleet and camping in slush and mud, till they reached the comparative comfort of the North Syrian plain. On the coast of Southern and Central Syria no very striking operations took place during the winter. El Arish was more than once shelled. The Russian cruiser Askold landed parties at several places. Sometimes the Rus- sians were well received ; some, as at Khan Yimus and Ruad, were fired on. Only one seaman was lost during these operations, during which the Russians captured a disabled German merchantman and discovered some mines. Meanwhile the French hydroplanes carried by certain vessels of the Levant squadron paid frequent visits to the southern coast of Pales- tine, were able to obtain a considerable amoimt of useful information as to the situation of the enemy's camps, movements of troops and baggage-trains, etc., and at times flew as far inland as Beersheba. After the commencement of the Allied operations against the Dardanelles the French Fleet took over the entire observation of the Syrian coast. On April 19 the battleship St. Louis bom- barded the Turkish entrenchments at El Arish, a hydroplane " spotting " for her. She drew the fire of 15 or 20 field guns, was once hit by a shell which did no damage, and inflicted some loss on the Turks. Early in May she shelled a big camp near Gaza, where a number of Ottoman soldiers had assembled preparatory to a review which Djemal Pasha was to hold. About 50 of the enemy were killed by shrapnel, and as many more wounded. On April 29 the cruiser D'Entrecasteaux shelled some trenches at Tarsus on the Cilician coast, while her hydroplane with a French pilot and British observer flew over the railway station and dropped a bomb on a railway truck laden with dynamite. Other trucks canying high explosives disappeared with terrible detonations, and the railway station was wrecked. On May 10 the Jeanne d'Arc appeared off El Arish and again shelled the Tiu-ks there. On Ascension Day the cruiser D'Estrees appeared before Alexandretta. Her commander, M. de la Passandiere, summoned the Kaimakam to haul down the " flag of barbarism " which was flying over the Gennan Consulate. The Kaimakam was, as usual, ill or absent. There- upon M. de la Passadiere, having fixed a time limit within which the Consulate was to be evacuated or the flag hauled down, filled some 5-5-inch shells with black powder to avoid doing unnecessary damage and trained his guns on the building. As soon as the time- limit expired he ordered fire to be opened. The Consulate was wrecked, the obnoxious flag came down, and the nightshirt of the Consul, who himself fell out of a window, was whirled aloft by the shell blast to the summit of a high tree in the garden. Three Tiu-kish soldiers who remained near the Consulate in spite of warning were wounded : otherwise there were no casualties. The captain of the D'Estrees next turned liis attention to a petrol depot which might be used to supply the hostile submarines which had by this time appeared in the Aegean. Wishing to spare the town, he chose an hour when the wind had dropped on ^lay 14, and ignited the depot with a couple of shells, destroying 1,000 cases. A few days earlier the Jeanne d'Arc had destroyed a much larger depot at Makri on the southern coast of Cilicia, where over 20,000 cases had been ignited. The bombardment of Budrum on the S.W. coast of Asia Elinor in the Gulf of Halicarnassus should not perhaps be mentioned here, belong- ing as it does to the Aegean side of the naval war against the Turks. It was cau.sed by a gross act of treachery on the part of the Turks, mostly armed civilians, who fired on two boats' crews who had been sent in to parley with the authorities bj?^ the captain of the Dupleix. About 20 French sailors were killed or captured, and the Ottoman authorities had the effrontery to publish a communique describing the repulse of a landing force. The Dupleix thereupon bombarded the jNIoslem quarter of the towTi for tlu"ee hours, doing great damage. Another case of attack by armed inhabitants on boat parties occurred at Banias, near 344 THE TIMES HISTORY: OF THE WAR. Latakia, on May 18, when a tvig and a boat belonging to the D'Estrees, which had captured two enemy merchantmen and chased another to the little port, were fired on from the house- tops and landing-place. The two French officers in charge showed great coolness and decision. Lieutenant le Gaillou climbed from the tug into the little boat, which had been badly hit. One of her crew was dead. Another, his leg shattered by a dum-diun bullet, was plugging a hole in the boat's side with his uninjured foot. He made her fast to the tug and got her away while his junior, Lieutenant Van der Kemp, coolly picked off four of the armed inhabitants from the boat. To pimish the armed inhabitants, who had posed as peaceable civilians till the boat approached, part of the town was destroyed by the D'Estrees. The D'Estrees afterwards destroyed the house of the German Consul at Haifa, who had passed for a gentleman before the war, but had latterly been inspired to repair to the cemetery near Moimt Carmel, where lie Napoleon's soldiers slain at Akka and Mount Tabor, and, assisted by a Turkish officer, to scatter their p^^^W^, -i.t^ *■ THE RUSSIAN CRUISER "ASKOLD." bones about the fields and deface their memorials. The new year began in the Red Sea with an exciting escape on the part of Capt. Stirling, D.S.O., of the Dublin Fusiliers, and Seaman Herve Le Grail, first from an accident to their hydroplane, and then from capture. The hydroplane, which had frequently given trouble, failed them at a great height above the pre- cipitous gorges north of Akaba, and there was no hope of reaching the sea. Thanks to the magnificent coolness and skill of the Breton pilot, who handled tlie machine with amazing mastery, the hydroplane was steered down to one of the few spots among the gorges where descent did not mean instant death. As it was the hydroplane was naturally wrecked : Captain Stirling was pinned down under the machine and Le Grail thrown forward on his head and stunned. It was the first occasion on which a hydroplane had landed on terra firma with- out killing its passengers. Eventually Le Grall recovered, extricated Captain Stirling, who had begvm. to wonder whether he was to die of starvation pinned under the wrecked machine, and set off with him towards the shore. But Le Grall was badly shaken by his fall, and in the end collapsed. Stirling left him hid in a gully, and after making his way through difficult country full of parties of Tm4is and Arabs, reached the shore, and was picked up by H.M.S. Minerva. Next day a landing party searched for the missing pilot in vain. At nightfall the Minerva steamed away, but shortly afterwards her captain had a sudden presenti- ment that Le Grall would yet be found, and steamed back. The JVIinerva's searchlight thrown on the shore awoke the Breton, who had slejjt off the worst of the shock, made his way through the Turks to the beach in time to see the Minerva steaming away, and gone to sleep like a philosopher. Late in February the French armoured cruiser Desaix landed a reconnoitring party near Akaba, accompanied by Pere Jaussens, the well-known Dominican archaeologist. There were no signs of Turks till the churcliman dis- covered the tracks of military hob-nailed boots which led to a village. The landing party was reinforced, and French sailors drove the 50 or 60 soldiers who were lurking among the houses out of the village, killing and wounding a dozen of them and losing one man slightly wounded. Vessels of the Indian Marine to )k part in the patrol of the Red Sea, occasionally n:iaking useful captures and discovering mines in the Gulf of Akaba. On March 21 the white-flag trick was played on H.M.S. Dufferin at Muweilah, on the coast of ]\Iidian, \\'here there is an ancient Tvirkish fort. A British sailor was killed and an officer and nine others wounded. The fort was severely bombarded, and several Turks are believed to have been killed. In mid-May H.M.S. Northbrook took a dhow, on board of whicli were 6 German officers of the mer- cantile marine and 10 men, who seem to have been attempting to make their way north to one of the Turkish Red Sea ports. Both here and in the Levant there were many other THE TIMES HTf^TOEY OF THE IT. I/;. 845 THE TOWN Ol' interesting and exciting incidents which cannot be recounted here. Enough that our sailors and those of our gallant Allies were worthy of their forefathers and made war as cleanly and chivalrously as they did. It was not till the New Year that the Arab bands which had been engaged at Bir-en-Nuss began to show themselves again in any numbers to the west of Katia. Meanwhile El Arish had been converted into an advanced base and large quantities of stores collected there : small bodies of Turks had come down to El Audja from Beersheba, and others had strengthened the force which had occupied Fort Nakhl. Dviring December the Turkish troops in the Jerusalem and Hebron region received reinforcements from the north, and Colonel Kress von Kressenstein, arriving at Jerusalem was greeted with acclamations by the population, the local Jews erecting an arcli on which the words "' Blessed are they that come in the name of the Lord " were inscribed in Hebrew characters. The Turkish authorities haAing shown their German allies to the public, next bade it acclaim the coming of the Holy Standard from the Great Mosque at Medina. But when the Standard arrived it was patent to all that while the jjole might be of some antiquity, the flag itself \\as neither ancient nor particularly holy. What was even more depressing to Pan -Islamic enthusiasts was the death of the ^lufti who accompanied the flag and had charge of it. Arriving after a toilsome journey at Jerusalem, the aged and venerable man addressed a meeting ALEXANDKETTA. of the Faithful in the court of the Mosque of Omar. A violent thunderstorm put a sudden end to the meeting. The Mufti was drenched, and died of pneumonia in three days. This event naturally caused a great depression, as did the fall of the Ottoman Standard at the Konak at Jaf^a while the fanatical Kaimakam was addressing a meeting and calling for volunteers. It was, apparently, in the last days of November that the Wadi Um Muksheib ran do\\'n in spate and formed a lake at Er Rigin. The Turks, whose Intelhgence Department was well served throughout the campaign by their Beduin auxiUaries, soon got wind of this, and no doubt decided to follow the El Audja- Gifgaf¥a-Er Rigin-Ismailia line of advance in consequence. Stores and camels had already been collected at Beersheba and El Audja, from which the first troops sent to Nakhl had marched south via Kossaima, where there was a good water supply. The force concentrated for the attack on Ismailia consisted of the 10th Division (28th, 29th and 30th regiments with part of the 10th Field Artillery Regiment), commanded by Colonel von Trommer ; 2.3rd Division ( (32nd, Goth and 68th regiments), commanded by Behdjet Bey ; and 25th Division (73rd, 74th and 75th reg^inients and part of the 25th Artillery Regi- ment), commanded by Ali Fuad Bey ; part of the 29th Cavalry Regiment, two 6-inch howitzers, two macliine-gun companies, the Hh and 8th Engineer battalions with a Pontoon Company, a battalion of the 64th Infantry Regiment, and a force of a few hundred " f edais " or " mudjahideen." The infantry 346 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. regiments of the 23rd and 25th Divisions each numbered only two battalions instead of the usual tliree, the third battalions having been left behind in Syria. The 1st and 2nd battalions of the 25th Division at least were above strength, averaging about 1,500 men. The total strength of the main force was probably about 30, 000 men. The Northern Colun^n, which was to march by El Arish and Katia to El Kantara, was composed of the 80th and 81st Infantry Regi- ments of the 27th Division, probably two batteries of the 27th Artillery Regiment and a Mountain Battery, a Maxim Company, some cavalry and a force of irregulars commanded by INIuntaz Bey, an ex-brigand who had murdered a brother-officer at Salonika, had been exiled to Jaffa, where he broke prison and tiu*ned high- wayman, and had been pardoned under the new regime. Realizing that men of spirit like himself were likely to prosper under a revolu- tionary regime, he became a member of the Committee of Union and Progress and attached himself to Enver Pasha, whom he served in Tripoli. The Southern or Nakhl column was commanded by an officer of, if possible, worse antecedents, named Eshref Bey. It was com- posed of the 69th (Reserve) Regiment, detach- ments from the 128th and 129th Regiments, which formed part of the Indej^endent Division of the Hedjaz, and abovit 1,500 irregulars, with some Gendarmerie and a mountain battery. The Northern Column may have numbered 6,000 men ; the Southern column about 3,000. Djemal Pasha as Commander-in-Chief accom- panied the main force, which was under the direct command of his namesake, Djemal Pasha (II.), commander of the ^'IIIth (Damas- cus) Army Corps. The Tiu"kish transport was well organized. Each regiment had about 250 camels : the Reserve transport was effected by shifts of 500 camels working over stages of as yet imknown length. Food was usually sufficient. The men were encouraged to be sparing of their water ration, but had little or no trouble from thirst during the march. The field guns were man- handled on soft ground : the heavy howitzers, two in number, of 15 cm. (6 inch) calibre, were hauled by a multitude of men and oxen, as were the pontoon boats, galvanized iron vessels of 7-50 metres length, 1*54 metres beam, and "80 metres draught, constructed by the Hilgers Aktiengesellschaft. and the rafts ingeniously made of " tenekes " (kerosine tins) held in a wooden frame. The heavy howitzers, which do not seem to have been provided with " caterpillar wheels," are said to have required 36 oxen or buffaloes each to move them. The pontoon boats were dragged on wheeled frames, to which rollers or sledges could be fitted on soft ground. March discipline seems to have been good. The men on several occasions covered 20 miles a day, and the Camel Transport Companies were specially commended by Djemal Pasha for their endurance, some having marched 90 miles in three days. The story of the march can be briefly told. The bulk of the main army left Hebron on January 11. On January 18 a hydroplane located a force of about 8,000 men at Beersheha. This was probablj- the rear-guard of the main force, for on January 22 a strong Turkish force was sighted at Moia Harab. On January 23 the advance guard of the Southern cokunn was marked down at Ain Such". By January 26 the advance guards of the Southern and Cen- A PARTY OF THE NEW ZEALAND CONTINGENT Trench-digging in the desert. THE TIMES HISTORY OE THE WAE. 347 NEW ZEALANDERS IN EGYPT. Cavalry on the march. Inset : Cupid, the mascot of the Wellington Mounted Rifles. tral colmiins were near the Canal, the Soutli- erners at Bir Mabeiuk, the Central column at Moia Harab, and also on the Wadi I'm ]Miiksheib, where from 2,000 to 3,000 men were detected. On that - day part of the Northern column was engaged with our cover- ing troops some miles east of El Kant/ara. We had an officer and five men wounded in the skirmish. It was now clear that the enemy's main attack was impending, and the New Zealand Infantry Brigade was consequently railed up from Cairo, the Otago and Wellington battalions being sent to El Kubri, the Auckland and Canterbui'y battalions toTsmailia. On the same day H.M.S. Swiftsiu-e, Ocean, ^linerva and Clio entered the Canal, where the French warships Requin and D'Entrecasteaux, H.M.S. Hardinge and two torpedo-boats \\ere already stationed. At 3 a.m. on January 27 the Nakhl coliunn made an attack on the Baluchistan and El Kubri posts, and was easily repulsed. Early on the following morning an attempt was made to rush the British outposts at El Kantara and was repulsed by the 14th Sikhs, who lost a native officer and had about 20 other casual- ties. For the next three days there were constant skirmishes at long range between oiu- outposts and the enemy's patrols, while the warships sent occasional shell at the larger bodies which occasionally showed themselves but took care to entrench just bejond the extreme effective range of the shrapnel fired by our naval gims. ^lore damage was probabh* done by our airmen, who flew their aeroplanes and hj-droplanes boldh- o\er the advancing coliunns, now and again planting effective bombs among the men and camels. Several of them had narrow escapes. One French pilot and a British observer, Lieut. I'atridge. of the Indian Army Reserve of Officers, lost their maclune tlirough a bad engine failure some miles outside our lines, came back in the night, and were unhai)pily fired upon and killed by one of our pickets. [Meanwhile the Turks, marching rapidly and suffering from cold rather than lieat, had brought their main body to the great pool at Er Rigm. They had crossed the Wadi FA Arish at the well of Ruafa, marched thence across the open hard plain of El Sirr to Bir Hamma, where they dug a good well, and thence, as far as po.ssible avoiding the great patch of dune country north of Djebel Yellef, moved on to the edge of the plateau and the slopes that descend into the drifts and belt. But not all Djemal Pasha's force had reached the hills above Bir Habeita, where the Turkish 348 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. U O c a 3 u ,o o u C ■OC >• O z .J <: ooniinancler encamped eight miles east of Serapeum on the night of January 3 1 . Four or five marches away were the 28th and 29th Infantry regiments, the 3rd battahon of the 30th, and perhaps other units. \\'hy they were left so far in rear of the main body and why the Ottoman Commander-in-Chief did. not await their arrival none could understand. On February 1 he transferred his headquarters to Katayib el Kheil, a group of low hills about eight miles east of the southern extremity of Lake Tinisah. The orders for attack which he issued on the following day show him to have been confident of success. His army had successfully crossed the desert : the men \\ ere in good condition : there had not been many deserters save among the irregulars, whose leaders forced Indian, Algerian and Tripolitan pilgrims whom they met on the northern or the Nakhl roads to join the " mudjahidin," and he firmly believed that the Indian iNIoslems arrayed against him would make but a show of resistance, if they did not desert en masse. And was it not an article of faith with every good Young Turk of the Committee of Union and Progress that Egypt was pining for the Ottoman deliverer, and that the Grand Sheikh of the Senussi was about to lead his valiant, if somewhat nebulous, armies out of the Sahara to attack the infidel in the rear ? By the evening of February 1 Djemal Pasha had prepared his plan of attack. The main force, composed of the 25th Division and all or part of the 23rd Division, was to attack the canal and if possible force a passage between Serapeum and Tussum, while its right wing held our troops at the Ismailia Ferry bridge- head by a feint attack. The Northern column was to attack El Kantara while demonstrating at Ferdan to prevent the reinforcement of the first-named post. The Southern column was ordered to make a demonstration at Kubri near Suez, an order which it carried out very feebly. If the selection of the El Audja-Ismailia line of advance had been dictated by its greater practicability for wheeled transport, its security against interference from the sea, and above all, by the existence of the great rain pool at Er Rigm, the choice of the Tussum-Serapeum section of the canal as the principal objective of the attack was due to the consideration that success here would bring the enemy within a THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAR. 349 few miles of Ismailia and that the ground on the east bank of the canal between the bridge- heads of Serapeum and Tussum favoured the attack far more than the open desert in front of the IsmaiUa Ferry post. Tlie enemy's patrols had informed Djemal that the west bank of the canal between tlic two bridgeheads was un- occupied by onr troops. It may have been partially unoccupied at the moment \\lu'n the patrols last visited the opposite bank. Even for so large a force as that which held the canal it was impossible — not that it was necessary — to man every yard of the western bank of the canal. The Turks were certainly ignorant of the fact that part of the Tussum-Serapeum line was held by our troops, well concealed by the long narrow belt of trees that marks the western bank,* nor did they realize how rapidly rein- forcements could be railed to any threatened point from Ismailia, and even, if necessary, from Cairo. On February 1 Djemal Pasha seems to have reached Katayib el Kheil with his staff. The 23rd Division, forming the right \\'ing of his force, seems to have reached this group of low hills about 10,000 yards east of the southern extremity of Lake Timsah oil the previous day. As soon as the 25th Division and the Smyrna troops, who had started later from Er Rigm, had come into line with the right, the 2.3rd Division moved off against the Ferry at Ismailia, its left protected by Lake Timsah. Early on February 2 an Indian reconnoitring force of all arms met the Turks about 4 miles east of the Ferry. A desultory action ensued in which our troops attempted to draw the enemy within range of our main position, while the Turks hung back. At 3 p.m. a sadden and violent sandstorm put an end to the engagement, and the enemy en- trenched about 2 1 miles south-east of the Ferry post. The 25th Division reached a point within four or five miles of the Canal that afternoon. Its^ * Tlie troops in the .section Tnssuni-Dversoir (at the northern extremity of the Great Bitter Lake) of tlie Canal Defences were the following on the morning of February 3 : 19th Lancashire Battery, K.F.A. (T.F.). 5th Battery Egyptian Army. 1st Field Co:, East Lancashire R.E. Canterbury BattaHon, X.Z. Infantry (two platoons). 2nd Rajputs. 62nd Punjabis. 92nd Punjabis. 2/ 10th Gurkhas. 128th Pioneers (two platoons). KJTth Field Ambulance. scouts were already ensconced on the eastern bank, immediately behind which, facing the line of trees on the western bank, are nvimerous sandhills anfl hollows where brushwood grows, good cover for infantry. The bank it.self falls steeply to the Canal, but at several points till rein are openings, gaps, so to speak, in a sort of sandy jjarapet, down which pontoons and rafts could be dragged. At the foot of the eastern bank is a narrow sandy beach not more than seven or t^ight yards wide. After nightfall the 25th Division advanced, with the Pontoon Companies and Engineers of the 4th and 8th Army Corps, who were • i > r ijk ■ ■m ^^■i^ |k U B K^^H ' h ENVER PASHA. the first to reach the water with their pontoons, some twenty in number, and five or six rafts made of kerosine tins in wooden rectangular frames. \\'ith them came part of the 75th Regiment, and some of the " fedais " or " mud- jahidin " (Holy Warriors), as the Arabs called them, who accompanied Djemal's force, old Tripoli fighters and Balkan adventurers. They struck the gaps in the Canal bank, the most northerly of which is within a few himdred yards of the Tussum bridgehead, shortly before 3 a.m. on the 3rd. To their left, covering them, were the remainder of the 75th. Further south towards Serapeum were the 74th Regiment. Part of the 73rd seems to have been in support of the Pontoon companies, part moved into and 350 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. THE MAORIS occupied the outer or day line of the Tussuni post. The night was extremely dark and still. The silence on the western bank encouraged the enemy to believe that it was unoccupied. The men were confident, as were the Turkish officers. In a letter found afterwards on a dead ofificer, which had evidentlj^ been written on the evening of February 2, when the writer was resting within sight of the Canal, were the words. " It would be false to say that our march was not difficult and full of hardship, but every difficulty has, humanly speaking, been conquered thanks to our perfect organization, and to- morrow we shall be across the Canal and on our way to Cairo." The regimental preachers had warned their men that if victory and Paradise were in front of them, death and Hell fire awaited those who retreated. Tales of mas- sacres of Egyptian Moslems by the licentious British soldiery were spread among officers and men in accordance with the traditions of the Committee of Union and Progress, and the countersign for the night of February 2-3 was " Sandjak-i-Sherif " (The Holy Banner). Some of the " mudjahidin " who accompanied the Pontoon companies to the water were noisy, and it was their exhortations, " Forward brothers, let us die for the Faith," that first warned the sentries of the 5th Egyptian " Field " Battery composed of movmtain gims and Maxim section which, all unknown to the enemy had been posted on the west bank a short distance south of Tussum. At other gaps on the east bank all was quiet. "We heard nothing and saw nothing," said a prisoner. "Only a long way off there were dogs barking : we were at the water side when suddenly a Maxim opened on us." It was then 3.30 a.m. Crowded in the openings of the eastern bank of the Canal or on the narrow beach below it, the Turks IN GAMP. suffered heavily from case fired by the Egyptian mountain guns and from the well-strved Maxims. Some boats which pushed out were sunk in mid-channel, and the men of the 62nd Punjabis near Tussum showed particular pluck in coming out of their cover to shoot vmder a hot fire at them, or even to charge down their own bank to repel attempts at landing. Further south towards Tussvun a Territorial field battery belonging to the East Lancashire Division opened fire, supported by a platoon of New Zealanders of the Canterbury Battalion. The Turks lining the bank instantly replied with rifle and machine-gun fire. Their riflemen made it impossible to stand up near the Egyptian mountain guns, but the gunners stuck to their work, inflicting heavy punishment. Torpedo- boat No. 043, a tiny craft with a crew of 13 all told, now dashed up and landed a party of fovir officers and men south of Tussum. They scranibled up the eastern bank, found them- selves in a Turkish trench, escaped by a miracle though fired on at point-blank range, and got back to their ship. The midget promptly dashed in between the fires and enfiladed the eastern bank under a rain of bullets, losing two officers and two men woimded, but destroying several of the pontoon boats lying unlaunched on the enemy's bank. As the dark cloudy night lightened into dawn fresh forces came into action. The Turks who had occupied the day line of the Tussvun post on the eastern bank advanced against the bridge-head, covered by artillery, while another body attacked the Serapeum post. The war- ships on the Canal and Lake Timsah now opened fire. Three batteries of Turkish field guns replied from the lower slopes of Katayib el Kheil. Their shells were admirably fused, but though they made good practice at visible targets, they never found the Territorial battery THE TIMES HISTUEY OE THE WAR. 351 between Tassum and Serapeuin, which witli some help from the New Zealanders beat down the fire from the eastern bank sufticiently to be able to turn part of its attention to the enemy's reserves as they showed themselves on the opei\ desert further away to the east. A chance salvo from one of the enemy's batteries woimded four of the Territorial gunners, but it had previously run more risk from a small party of the enemy who had succeeded in getting a pontoon across the Canal in the dark. Their pontoon sank as it reached tlie western bank, but the men maintained themselves for some time and snij^ed the artillery horses, liitting a few, till dawTi, when they were rounded up by some Indian cavalry and ev^entually surrendered. Supported by the ships and by field and mountain artillery, the Indian troops now took the ofien-^ive. The Serapeuin garrison (2nd Rajputs and 92nd Piuijabis), which had already stopped the enemy three-quarters of a mile from its position, now cleared its front. The Tussum garrison, consisting of the 62nd Punjabis, drove the enemy back by a brilliant counter-attack. The l/6th Gm-khas also dis- tinguished themselves. Two battalions of the 28th regiment were thrown vainly into the fight. Our artillery gave them no chance, and by 3 p.m. on the .3rd the enemy was in full retreat with the exception of a few hundred men who had been left as a rearguard or had lost touch with the rest and remained in the bu.sliy hollows on the ea-st bank between the two posts. Meanwhile the warships on Lake Timsah had been in action. A salvo from the Recjuin woke up Ismailia early, and crowds of soldiers and many civilians climbed every available sand- liill to see what was doing till the Turkish field guns posted in tlie ea-st and south-east of the Ferry post position sent shells sufficiently near to convince them that it was safer to watch from cover. A husbtmd and wife hastily dis- embarking from a Bibby liner which was lying of^' the landing stage at Isinailia, near which shell had burst, took a carriage and drove along the lake front, much peppered by shells till near the old French hospital, when they suddenly realised their danger and drove back at such speed as the ramshackle arabiyas and broken- down horses of Ismailia can muster. But the enemy's shell did more than startle. At about 11 a.m. two 6-inch shells fired from a couple of howitzers concealed in hollows about 9,000 3ards from the south-east extremity of Lake Timsah hit H.M.S. Hardinge, an armed but unprotected transport belonging to the Indian ^larine. One wrecked her fimnel. The other biu-st inboard. Pilot George Carew, a gallant old merchant -seaman who had refused to go below, lost a leg, but continued to advise the piloting of the damaged ship into Ismailia. Nine of the crew were wounded, two mortally. The Hardinge's place was taken by H.M.S. Swiftsure. Later the fi-inch howitzers dropped ARTILLERY WHEELS COVERED WITH STRAW TO PROTECT THEM FROM THE HEAT OF THE SUN. 852 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. two shells, one just short of and one just over the French coastguard battleship Requin. The Requin replied with her 10-8-inch guns, and the Turkish heavies eventually ceased their fire. During the morning of the 3rd the 23rd Division moved towards the Ismailia Ferry post, which was held by the 52nd Sikhs, 56th Punjabi Rifles, a battery of Indian Mountain Artillery, and Australian engineers. On the west bank a Lancashire Territorial Field Battery formed part of the garrison of the Ferry post. The Turks used the ground well, digging shelter pits as they advanced, and were supported by two field batteries. An officer, apparently a German, exposed himself with the greatest daring, and watchers were interested to see a yellow " pie dog " which also escaped, running about the advancing line. Our artillery kept the enemy from coming within 1,000 yards of the outpost line. In the afternoon the demonstration ceased, save for a few shells fired as a nightcap. During the dark night that followed some of the enemy approached the outpost line, but dawn found them gone. INDIAN TROOPS REPELLING A NIGHT save for a Greek doctor, who had fallen into our wire entanglements. At the same time as the fighting ceased at the Ferry it died down at El Kantara. There the Turks had made a plucky night attack, which came to grief on our barbed wire. Another attempt to advance from the south was repelled by an advance of our Indian troops. Some damage was done to the enemy, of whom barely two regiments, the 80th and 81st of the 27th Division, were engaged, by Indian and Territorial artillery and by the guns of H.M.S. Swiftsure. The attack, during which it was necessary to advance on a front narrowed by inundations on groimd so marshy at the edge of the flooded area that some of the enemy went waist-deep into the mud, never had the ghost of a chance of success. At the same time the Turks with a battery made a demonstration towards El Ferdan, but were easily beaten off by the troops there and by the gunboat Clio, which was twice hit. There were no casualties at El Ferdan and less than 30 at El Kantara, where only part of General Gox's Brigade— 1 /6th Gurkhas, 14th Sikhs, THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. 353 ATTACK BY THE TURKS AT TUSSUM. G9th Punjabis, and 89th Punjabis — was en- gaged. Late in the afternoon of the 3rd there was some sniping from the east bank between Tussum and Serapeum, and a man was killed in the fore-top of H.M.S. Swiftsure, which had left Lake Timsah. There was some fighting during the night on this section. Next morning sniping was renewed. Half a battalion of the 92nd Punjabis was sent out from Serapeum and found several hundred of the enemy in the hollows. During the fighting that ensued some of the enemy, either by accident or by design, held up their hands, while others fired on the com- pany of the 92nd, which was advancing to take the surrender, killing Captain Cochran and several of his men. Reinforced by one company each of the 27th and 67th Punjabis and of the 128th Pioneers * and by the 62nd Punjabis, the 92nd soon overpowered the enemy after a sharp hand-to-hand fight in which a British officer killed a Tiu"kish officer with a sword- * The 27th Punjabis and the 128th Pioneers had arrived at Serapeum from the General Reserve on the previous afternoon. thrust in single combat. Here was found the dead body of a German officer, Captain von dem Hagen, in whose haversack was discovered a white flag with rings and halyard in a special case. In fairness to the dead it must be added that there is no proof that any use was made of this flag, but, if one charitably supposes that it was intended for legitimate use, i.e., for purposes of surrender, its presence does not say much for the moral of the Gennan officers attached to DjemaTs force. The enemy were killed, cap- tvu-ed, or put to flight. They had about 120 killed and wounded at this point, and 6 officers and 2.")1 men were captured, with 3 maxim guns. The demonstration near Suez on February 2 was quite the tamest made in the Suez Canal campaign and need not detain the reader. It did not cost us a man. That night the Turks in front of El Kantara, El Ferdan, Ismailia Ferry and Suez follo%\ed the example of the greater part of the main force and made off as fast as they could towards Katia, Djebel Habeita, and Nakhl. In the afternoon of the 4th, after the end of the fighting between Tussum and Sera- 354 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. A BRITISH AEROPLANE. peum, Indian Cavalry and other patrols moved eastward and made some captures of prisoners and war material, and preparations were being made at Ismail ia for an advance in force across the Canal that night in pvirsuit of the retreating Turks. To the disappointment of the Indian troops and of the large Colonial and Yeomanry reinforcements which had reached Ismailia, these preparations were eventually suspended. So ended the battle of the Suez Canal. The British losses were amazingly small, totalling about 115 killed and wounded. Of the Turks over 900 were actually buried or found drowned in the Canal, about 650 were taken prisoners, and between 1,500 and 2,000 were believed to have been wounded. The Indians bore the brunt of the fighting and were well supported by the Allied warships and by the Territorial artillery who, if they had no opportunity to mancBUvre, shot very well indeed. The Egyp- tians and the small number of Australasians engaged did their part. The Turks, and still more the Syrian Moslems, were brave enough, and their artillery shot well if unluckily, but their tactics were infantile. Counting on a rising in Egypt or the mutiny of the Indian Moslem troops, who evinced stronr^ly anti- Turkish sentiments on several occasions during the battle, Djemal tried to break through our position under cover of demonstrations along a 90 mile front with a force which did not total more than 25,000 men and of which he brought less than half into action at the decisive point. The British commanders at first believed — and very naturally too — that the Ttu-kish leader had merely indulged in a reconnaissance in force, of rather an expensive character perhaps, but still only a prelude to the main attack. This impression was strengthened by the discovery made by our cavalry that the enemy, though he had burnt a certain amount of war material and left a few deserters behind, had drawn off THE RED GROSS. Turkish wounded being brought into a wayside station. THE TIMES HISTOBY OF THE WAB. 355 on the whole in good order. On February 6 our aeroplane observers, who had done excellent work during the fighting, reported that all the enemy in front of the Tussuni-Deversoir section were concentrated at Djebel Habeita between Bir Habeita and Kv Kigni, and that strong reinforcements were closing up. The news aroused great enthusiasm among the British force?. They had been reinforced on the even- ing of February 3 by the 7th and 8th Australian battalions, and on the following day by the Herts and 2nd County of London Yeomanry, with a squadron of the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry among other troops, and hoped to see Djemal Pasha commit himself to a real attack. But on th(> night of February (i-T began the general retirement of the Turkish army, including that of the reinforcements from Djebel Habeita to Beersheba. It was a sore disappointment to General Wilson and his subordinates on the Canal. Till then it had not been thought possible that Djemal had struck his hardest blow — and bolted. The very failure' of the Turkish Higher Command saved the Ottoman Army. Had the British coimter-attacked on the morning of February 4 they would probably have overtaken most of the enemy's artillery before they got clear away into the diuies. But it is easy to be wise after the event. The faihu"e of the victors to discover among the prisoners troops from certain units which were believed to be on the Canal, whereas Djemal had for reasons unknowTi left them two marches behind : the weakness of the attack at all points where it was delivered and the difficulty of believing that an enemy who had crossed the desert with such rapidity and skill could have made such a gross tactical error as to attempt to force an extremely strong position held by a superior and better equipped enemy with some 12,000 men : all these factors induced the belief on February 4 and 5 that the Turks had the intention of making use of the strong reserves inexplicably left two marches to the east. The net result was paradoxical in the extreme, the Turks having crossed the desert with unexpected success owing to the organizing skill of Kress von Kressenstein and Roshan Bey and the existence of the great rain-pool at Er Rigm, escaped from a most unpleasant situa- tion largely owing to the almost comic tactics of Djemal Pasha. Having once emerged from the dune region they made off to Beersheba at their best speed, declared they had won a victory and would shortly return to Egypt to win another, and warned the public in Syria that it would be unsafe for anyone to express his doubts as to the completeness of the success which the Divine Providence had vouchsafed to the Imperial Arms. If the Turkish main army had escaped and there was no hope, for rea.sons connected with roads and the water supply, of forcing the troops on the El Ari.sh-Katia road and the Nakhl column to accept battle, one small Turkish column had unwittingly put its head SURGEON GENERAL WILLIAMS, C.B. Divisional General of the Australian Imperial Force. in the lion's mouth. In January the com- mander of the Tiu-kish troops at Fort Xakhl, being informed that the Government quaran- tine Station at Tor was vmdefended, sent a body of fifty men with a German officer and an Austrian Jew, George Gondos by name, who passed as a German officer, to occupy the place. The party requisitioned food at the Monastery of Mount Sinai, where George Gondos professed to be the Chief of Staff to the Commander of the victorious invading Turkish Army, and news of their advent caused something of a panic at Tor. But on their arrival the raiders found 200 Egyptian soldiers in occupation. They there- 356 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAB. ■«|M&S.. fore sent for reinforcements to Nakhl. These when they arrived brought up the strength of the force to about 200 men. It was a motley column. There were perhaps two dozen Tur- kish soldiers, as many more Arab soldiers and gendarmes, a few " fedais " and Beduin from Midian and Sinai, tempted by promise of loot. They occupied a small village five miles north of Tor itself, sent in arrogant messages to the authorities, and fired occasional shots at pro- digious ranges. On February 11a detachment of the 10th Gurkhas embarked very secretly at Suez, landed in the rear of the enemy, and advancing over the hills surprised their position at dawn on February 12. The Egyptians co-operated with the Gurkhas, and the enemy's force was annihilated. Sixty '•^Si'StW'.'fjjf ", -, *?Rk.>^v_ -'4 AFTER A BATTLE. Turkish dead and an abandoned pontoon boat. were left on the field, and over 100, among them a Turkish major, were made prisoners. On ovir side one Gurkha was killed and one wounded. Gondos and the German officers with a few men had unluckily left the camp two days before the attack for Abu Zenaima, a point on the coast between Tor and Suez, where was a manganese mine owned by a British firm, in whose employ Gondos is said to have been. The raiders damaged the mine and mining machinery as much as they could and then departed, stealing some camels on the way to Nakhl. The defeat of this raiding party following on the repulse of the attack on the Canal further discouraged the Beduin levies who had accompanied the columns under Djemal Pasha and Hilmi Bey. Most of them now disappeared into space taking the rifles with which they had been supplied. For a month after the fight on the Canal the enemy made no move worth mentioning. By this time their commanders had come to the conclusion that nothing could be effected against the Canal till the much- advertised Sinai Railway was somewhere near the Sinai Peninsvila. It was decided to keep our troops occupied by raids and THI' TIMES HISTOEY OF THE WAE. 357 feints and if possible to throw mines into the Canal. On .Marcli 22 a cohnnn composed of the 3r(I IJattaHon of the 30th Regiment, with artillery and machine guns and a few horsemen, appeared within a couple of miles of the Canal near VA Kubri. Their advance guard, some 400 strong, led by German officers, met a patrol of 9 men of the 5()th Punjab Rifles, imder Havildar 8iibha Singh. The Havildar fell back, fighting most skilfully and courageouslj-, keeping the enemy at a respectful distance, and finally brought his men into safety with the loss of two killed and three wounded, all of whom were brought 0&. The Havildar, who was himself wounded, was promoted to Jemadar and received the Indian Order of Merit. He had inflicted a loss of 12 killed and 15 wounded on the enemy. General Younghusband's brigade went out next day to attack the Turks, but there were delays, and the enemy, who had been under the command of a Ger- man, Colonel von Trommer, after an exchange of shots with the troops guarding El Kubii, made off towards Nakhl. The pvirsuing cokmm was only able to harass their rear-guard for a ■while, but good work was done by oiu- aero- plane scouts who accurately reported the enemy's movements as they drew off and placed several effective bombs. We had about half a dozen casualties in this skirmish. The enemy may have lost 40 men, including a few prisoners. A mine was actually found in the Canal, near El Kubri, and navigation was suspended for 24 hours while its southern reaches were being dredged. On April 29th another raiding i)arty with maxim guns appeared near Bir Mahadet and engaged a detachment of the Bikanir Camel Corps and some Egyptian sappers. A British officer was slightly wounded and there were 8 other casualties, 5 killed or missing and three wounded among the Bikaniris and Egyptians. A strong column of all arms, a large proportion of which was composed of Imperial Service Cavalry, was sent out to engage and if possible cut off the raiders, who had been marked dow n by our air scouts. It took the best part 9f a night to cover the 12 miles from the Canal to Bir Mahadet, and when it arrived there it found the Turks gone. The aeroplanes, which were as usual admirably handled, found the enemy at a small well six miles further north. They warned the Cavalry and repeatedly gave them the direction of the hostile camp, but it was not till the early afternoon that the Patiala J:iil U . - F'V, GENERAL SIR G. J. YOUNGHUSBAND. Cavalry, who were leading, came up with the rear-guard of the enemy, who had just left the well. The order to charge was given : part of the Turkish rear-guard stampeded. A group of about a dozen Turkish soldiers led by a brave Albanian officer stood and opened fire from the flank on the small body of British ofticers and Patiala Lancers who were riding in. The hand- ful of cavalrj' wheeled and charged the group, but two British officers and a native officer were killed or badly wounded before the cavalry got home. The Albanian, a son of Djelal Pasha of Djakova, was borne down by seven lance- thrusts — and survived his injuries. His men were killed or taken. No further piu^uit was attempted. Thanks to excessive caution on the part of the Cavalry commander the enemy's column of at most 250 men escaped from four or five times its number with less than 20 ca.«'ial- ties. In May some contingents of Yeomanry were sent to the Canal. They showed much dash and zeal in chasing parties which came too close to our lines, and when Colonel von Lauffer with a mixed force of cavalry and camelry attempted ratlier a r?el>le raid near El Kantara at the beginning of June, they were rapidly on the spot, chased him away and captured his galloper. 358 THE TIMES HISTOEY OF THE W.4B. A mine was found buried near the Canal after this attack, the Porte with its usual fatuity having informed neutral Powers that owing to England's arbitrary conduct in Egypt it would be compelled to take measures which would involve the closing of the Canal to navigation. But the attack on the Dardanelles, which was now being vigorously pressed, had by this time made Turkish mihtary action in Sinai a thing of snarls and grimaces. The 10th and 25th Divisions, half the first line troops in Syria. had reached Constantinople by the end of May and part of the 27 th Division followed in their track. By June 6 less than 25,000 Turkish troops, many of them second line formations, remained in Central and Southern Syria and in the Sinai Peninsula. The force left at El Arish and Nakhl may have numbered 7,000 men. It was mobile and hardened to desert conditions, but its chances of effecting anything against the Canal were small. Our air scouts kept a watchful eye on all the desert roads which the enemy might use and had developed remarkable powers of observaton during the first six months of 1915. Though landing almost anywhere in the sand-dime region w