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CHRONICLE wTrt"^,^

THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

" News of battle I News of battle ! Hark I 'tis ringing down the street ; And the archways and the pavement Bear the clang of hurrying feet ! '' News of battle ! " Aytoun's Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers."

PUBLISHED FOR Zbc H)atl^ Cbtontclc By HODDER and STOUGHTON london, mcmxiv

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE HEROIC DEFENCE OF LifGE " - " - - " . 7

II. THE OCCUPATION OF BRUSSELS I7

III. THE GIANT CONFLICT AT MONS - 22

IV. THE MASTERLY BRITISH RETREAT 30

V. HOW RETREAT LED TO VICTORY ------37

VI. LOUVAIN : THE BRAND OF SHAME 47

VII. THE DRAMATIC TURNING POINT 57

VIII. PARIS PREPARES FOR SIEGE - -62

IX. THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE 70

X. THE GERMANS HURLED BACK 79

XI. THE BATTLE OF THE RIVERS ------89

XII. AN HISTORIC TUG-OF-WAR ---102

XIIL THE FALL OF ANTWERP ------112

XIV. THE FIGHT FOR THE CHANNEL -----*- 123

XV. BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES ! 132

t

XVI. AT HELIGOLAND AND ELSEWHERE ------138 vi CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XVII. LOSSES AND GAINS AT SEA I44

XVIII. THE EASTERN CAMPAIGN 150

XIX. THE CONQUERING RUSSIANS 159

XX. THE CLASH OF SLAV AND TEUTON 1 69

XXI. GREAT EVENTS ON THE VISTULA - 179 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT ' WAR

I. THE HEROIC DEFENCE OF LI^GE

It is impossible to over-estimate the was confronted with a peremptory de- service rendered to Europe by little mand for free passage through her Belgium in holding up for several territory for the Kaiser's legions. days the head-waters of the vast and If in her weakness she had given menacing tide of the German in- permission, who could have blamed " vasion. Rapidity of action is the her ? But with sublime heroism of " great German asset said the German soul Belgium declined, though well ImperialJ Chancellor to ourj^^Am- knowing the risk, and then flung her- bassador in Berlin. We owe it to self with splendid intrepidity athwart Belgian courage and tenacity that the path of the Teutonic host. She that asset was seriously impaired. has suffered terribly by her heroic This small State, which had no resistance. Her whole national life quarrel with any one and only desired has come to a standstill. Her fields, to live at peace with its neighbours, tilled by a frugal, hard-working was suddenly exposed to a cruel peasantry, have been laid waste • her ordeal. Two days before the receipt prosperous industries are stricken of the German ultimatum, the Belgian with paralysis. Louvain, with its Government was informed by the architectural glories, its peerless German Minister in ^Brussels that library, its exquisite colleges has the Tirle- Germany would respect neutrality almost been blotted out ; Vis6, of Belgium. Two hours-before hand- raont, Aerschott have been reduced ing in the ultimatum on that memor- to ruins; the Government of the able Sunday evening, Germany's ac- country was compelled to flee from credited representative repeated his the capital to Antwerp, and from assurance. Then suddenly Belgium Antwerp to the foreign but friendly 8 TH'E .GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

' 'i>i' all its It is a small city -'IfairrB ;• jiundr^ds ;of thou- with might. sands of the Belgian people in town country with only seven milHons of and country are homeless and have people and a total armed strength of been reduced to beggary, and they about 300,000 men, most of whom have suffered, especially the women had received very little training. and the children, unimaginable hor- But love of freedom and devotion to of can wonders and rors ; thousands Belgium's finest one's fatrie work ; manhood of the country have perished these militia-men fought like lions. on the battle-field. Half-a-million of The upshot was that the carefully- her people have fled for refuge to Hol- prepared time-table of the Germans land, to England, and to France. And was deranged. Belgium's resistance yet through all the gloom of these robbed them of twelve days. This horrors, these sufferings, this wicked delay was an inestimable service to destruction and these unavenged France, and it gave time to allow the wrongs, the countenance of Belgium British Expeditionary Force to take shines forth with a radiant glow. its place in the French fighting line on the north-eastern frontier. Bel- Suffering and Achievement. gium has placed France and England She has suffered debt. She has much ; yes, but under an unforgettable she has achieved much. She mourns covered herself with glory. Her sons the loss of precious lives, the des- have fought with a grand heroism for truction of treasures, houses, crops, their country against overwhelming live-stock, merchandise. In a few odds. In the story of their achieve- short weeks she was reduced from ments there is nothing more thrilling wealth and prosperity to poverty and than the defence of Liege. idleness. She has lost nearly every- A Romantic Town. thing, but she has found her own soul. And to-day in her ruin, Belgium con- Liege is a town with 250,000 in- fronts the world with a proud and an habitants. It has an old and romantic elate look. Through her capacity for history. It is the seat of a University sacrifice, through the valour of her and a famous m.usical centre. Situated sons, she has vindicated by a new and in the heart of a great coal-mining noble title her right to nationhood district it is the home of many pros- and independence. perous metal industries, among them The German General Staff prides the manufacture of explosives and itself on its skill in all that concerns small arms, particularly revolvers and the mechanism of war it town is within a ; but cannot sporting guns. The measure the soul of a people. It day's march of the German frontier. counted confidently on an easy, un- It nestles in a corner of the valley of opposed march through Belgium. It the river Meuse, which flows from was rudely deceived. Belgium resisted south-west to north-east. In spite of THE HEROIC DEFENCE OF LlfiGE

the smoke and grime inseparable from at France before France was ready, industry, the country round about the possession of Li^ge, commanding Li6ge is full of charm and beauty. all these important routes of com- The town owes much to the Meuse, munication, became of supreme im- which is as wide here as the Seine is portance to them. The German plan in Paris. was, while containing the French By express train Li6ge is three along t^^e rest of the Frontier, to enter the French hours only from capital ; France on the north-east and then to and it is less than 20 miles from the attempt a great turning movement German frontier. pivoting on the powerful fortress of The town itself has no military Metz. German strategy coolly took strength. But it is surrounded by a for granted the invasion of Belgian dozen forts, which were planned by territory, although Germany was and the late General Brialmont, one of the is under solemn pledge to protect the most famous military engineers of the neutrality of Belgium. To a success- nineteenth century. As Liege lies in ful invasion of Belgium the fortress of a hollow of the valley of the Meuse, Liege blocked the way. surrounded by hills, the forts have a Of the twelve forts six are large commanding position over the sur- and six relatively small. The largest rounding country. Mr. Hilaire Belloc, fort is five-sided. Around it runs a writing in Land and Water, says : deep ditch, of which the counter- " The fortress of Liege is a modem scarp is a masonry wall, while the fortress that it consists of earthen is the ring ; is, escarp simply pro- an area roughly circular, almost, or longation of the exterior slope of the rather less than ten miles in diameter, parapet. Behind the counter-scarp protected by a ring of forts (twelve wall and running along almost the in number) surroimding the great whole of its length is a vaulted industrial town of Li6ge. The river gallery, which at the angles of the Meuse runs right through Liege and ditch is pierced for machine-guns through the middle of the ring. One and rifles so as to sweep the floor of of the main railways of Europe rims the ditch at the moment of the assault.

: through the same circle and leads From this gallery small galleries run from the chief German bases of outwards and downwards at I right in the North to the to enable the defenders to I supply Belgian angles other also come in counter-attack i plain ; railways besiegers' mining oper-

I and effect their junction with this ations, and other galleries communi- i main line within the circle of the cate with the part below the floor ot forts." the ditch. Since the Germans were deter- Galleried and Pierced. mined to invade Belgium, in order to fort the be able to deliver a staggering blow In the rear of the escarp 10 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

is of masonry, galleried and pierced Unfortunately when the crucial ordeal so as to command the flow of the came so suddenly early last August, ditch. The parapet of the fort is a little more than 25,000 were available plain infantry breast-work with steel and most of these were composed of gun-cupolas bedded in concrete at militia. But the men had plenty of intervals. Within this pentagonal pluck; and above all things, they work and supported from it by an had a born leader, General Leman, inner ditch is a triangular mass of who conducted the operations with concrete, galleried and pierced on its equal daring, judgment and resource- rear side so as to sweep the rear of the fulness.

inner ditch ; and on all sides so as The War's First Hero. to give fire upwards upon the interior of the outer fort and thus prevent General Leman may be described the enemy who has stormed the as the first hero of the war. The front part from establishing himself fame of his defence of Li^ge will not solidly in the interior and to keep soon be effaced from the memory of open a way for reinforcements by mankind. A fair-bearded, good- way of the rear side or gorge. Access looking man, with kindling eyes and from the outer fort to the inner ditch a high forehead, Leman was for is obtained through a tunnel from a several years Director of Studies at southern area, all parts of which are the Ecole Militaire, in Brussels. He kept under fire by carefully sloping was for some time a professor of the earth on the inner side glacis- mathematics and on many occasions fashion, so as to bring it under the gave proof of his skill as an engineer observation of the in the officer. cupola I centre of the triangular keep. It was at seven o'clock on the " The smaller forts, called fortius," evening of Sunday, August 2nd, are triangular and contain no pro- that the German Minister in Brus- vision for interior defence. At the sels, without any previous warn- angles of the triangle are small ing, launched an ultimatum at the cupolas for light quick-firing guns. Belgian Government. Germany de- The infantry parapet is traced in the manded the unopposed passage of of a heart. In the hollow of her shape troops through Belgian territory ; this heart is a solid mass of concrete she offered to pay for everything on which are the shoulders of the she required, promised compensation gun-cupolas. Ditches add to the de- for any damage that might be done fensive power of the fortius. and guaranteed that Belgium's inde- In the whole fortress were 400 guns. pendence would remain unaffected Mr. Belloc estimates that for the full at the close of the war. Twelve defence of the forts the services of hours were given for the reply. 50,000 trained men are necessary. King Albert, — a monarch who in THE HEROIC DEFENCE OF LIEGE II

this cruel testing time has earned corps. Liege was now assailed by the admiration of the whole world 120,000 men, and the new reinforce- by his personal bravery, his high ments had brought with them heavy patriotism, and the simple dignity of siege guns. A desperate attack was his demeanour—at once joined his made that night. The small garrison, Ministers in conference. All night fatigued by their terrible exertions long the King and his counsellors sat and loss of sleep, were unable to in solemn deliberation. defend all the intervals between the Then at four o'clock, in the small forts against this simultaneous assault. hours of Monday morning, August Two of the chief forts were destroyed, 3rd, they met the German demand and in the darkness a considerable with an emphatic negative. When force of Germans penetrating a wide news of the refusal became known gap, worked their way into Liege. in the morning of that lovely sum- The town was now in their hands, but mer's day, all Belgium was thrilled several of the forts remained intact. " " with patriotic pride. To arms As long as they so remained, the was the universal cry. Germany advance of a large German army promptly declared war, and the 7th into Belgium was impossible, for the German Army Corps from Aix-la- Liege forts commanded the junction Chapelle crossed the frontier on of the main railways by which alone the Monday afternoon. Its instruc- supplies could be transported from ' tions were to force the fortress of the Rhine valley. Unable to trans- Li6ge. The attack began the same port a large army into Belgium, the night. It was beaten back with Germans determined to send on heavy German losses. Next day bodies of cavalry to sweep the Belgian more troops joined in the assault, plain and to live on the country, and but the forts were not to be taken. spread an atmosphere of terror. It Repeated attacks by the Germans was these roving bands of Uhlans, were repulsed with a heavy death- many of them suffering from the roll. pangs of hunger, of whom we heard so much in the first ten days of the While the World Wondered. war. All eyes the world over were now So Li^ge, the fortress, still remained centred on this desperate assault, an obstacle to the German advance and this stubborn defence. To the though Li6ge, the town, was in their amazement of Europe, little Belgium hands. Right gallantly did the men was holding up the German legions in the remaining forts comport them- and the forts of Liege were breaking selves. Airships hovered over the the spell of German invincibility. forts and dropped bombs upon them, On Thursday, August 6th, the Ger- but the spirit of the defenders was mans brought up two more Army indomitable. Day and night the roar 12 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR of the guns hardly ever ceased. The no attempt at deploying, but came last forts were not silenced until on, line after line, almost shoulder to August 15th. shoulder, until, as we shot them down, the fallen were one of " " heaped on top but not War ! Magnificent, the other, in an awful barricade of In their first attacks on the Liege dead and wounded men that threat- fortress, the Germans, after preparing ened to mask our guns and cause us the way with artillery, hurled for- trouble. I thought of Napoleon's in close —if he said ward their infantry formation, saying it, monsieur ; and expecting to carry the positions by I doubt it, for he had no care of ' sheer force of impetus and mass of human life ! — C'est magnifique, mais ' weight. The besiegers were then ce n'est pas la guerre ! No, it was simply mowed down in hundreds slaughter, just slaughter ! under the deadly fire of the Belgian A Barricade of Dead. guns. A Belgian officer gives a vivid account of the first attack on the "So high became the barricade of of an the dead and night Monday, August 3rd ; wounded that we did attack, be it remembered, that came not know whether to fire through it so suddenly as to leave the garrison or to go out and clear openings with scanty time for preparation : — our hands. We would have liked to " Some of us late arrivals only extricate some of the wounded from managed to get to our posts when the dead, but we dared not. A stiff the German attack began. It was wind carried away the smoke of the night time. We replied sharply with guns quickly, and we could see some our guns. Until the dawn came we of the wounded men trying to release had no very distinct idea of what themselves from their terrible position. our practice was. Then we noticed I will confess I crossed myself, and heaps of slain Germans in a semi- could have wished that the smoke circle at the foot of our fort. The had remained. " German guns must have been much But would you beUeve it, this less successful, because they rarely veritable wall of dead and dying hit us that night. They did better actually enabled those wonderful Ger- at daybreak. We did better still. mans to creep closer, and actually " As line after line of the German charge up the glacis ? Of course, infantry advanced, we simply mowed they got no further than half way, them down. It was terribly easy, for our maxims and rifles swept them monsieur, and I turned to a brother back. Naturally, we had our own officer of mine more than once and losses, but they were slight compared ' said, Voila ! They are coming on with the carnage inflicted upon our

again, in a dense, close formation ! enemies." ' They must be mad ! They made Mr. J. Byron Dolphin, British I

THE HEROIC DEFENCE OF LIEGE 13

Vice-Consul at Li6ge, on his return to A Devoted Garrison.

London after the fall of the town, said : Forf Loncin, where General Leman " The forts were subdued by the was himself in command, was subdued heavy siege guns of the Germans, by the enemy on August 6th. That two of the largest of which were of day there was a tremendous attack 42 cm. calibre. Some of these guns on this fort. In spite of a terrific were placed about one and a half cannonade, and the constant crash miles from my house, and others were of immense projectiles into the pre- six or seven miles away. You could cincts, dealing death and destruction effect all the devoted not see the of the firing ; we around, garrison only knew of the results from the stuck to their posts. They had taken statements of the soldiers who had an oath with General Leman to die been defending the forts. rather than surrender. From dawn " Several shells struck a large gas- on August 6th the bombardment ometer, but as the gas had been care- continued with Uttle intermission fully filtered beforehand, so as to avoid hour after hour. Then at 5 o'clock any explosion, , it simply burned in the afternoon the powder magazine itself out. Several shells fell close took fire, and there was an earth- to the Vice-Consulate, and I was able shaking explosion. The central part afterwards to pick up pieces of shrap- of the fort was shattered to fragments, nel in my own garden. The noise vast concrete blocks were hurled into of the bursting of these shells was the air, and devastation was spread absolutely deafening. It drove the far and near. Many of the garrison women into a sort of frenzy. They lost their lives in this gigantic up- were heaval. After the roar and crash of absolutely dumbfounded ; they shrieked and vanished into the cellars. the explosion came a silence as of Everybody lived in a cellar, and few death. Then the German soldiers went to bed during the period of the ran forward eagerly into the fort. bombardment of the forts. The In justice to them let it be said heaviest attack on the forts was on they did all they could to succour the night of Wednesday, August 5th, the injured men. General Leman, and on August 6th, when the fighting was discovered under a mass of debris, around the Boncelles fort was terrific. unconscious. He was tenderly re- This fort is three or four miles from moved. In one of the galleries the - the centre of the city. I was able, Germans found twenty five men from my bedroom windows, to see hardly to be seen in the thick smoke the shells bursting throughout the and fumes. They were as black whole night of Wednesday, and the as negroes. Their eyes were wild sky was absolutely lurid—blood-red, and bloodshot. Half asphyxiated, reUeved by the green flames caused wounded, worn in body and mind, by lyddite." they had gathered in a corner of 14 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR the gallery to meet uncomplainingly that is tragic. The commander of the death they had vowed. Pro- one fort, at the moment when the foundly moved by the spectacle the bombardment was heaviest, went Germans hastened to their succour, mad, and shot his own men. He was and got the valiant band of mutilated disarmed and bound. The cupola heroes out into the fresh air, where of another fort was destroyed by a they revived. Of 500 men in Loncin bomb from a Zeppelin. Other forts Fort, 350 were killed during the were swept away like sand castles on siege. the seashore before the relentless waves of the oncoming tide. The Shattering of Nerves. The Daily Round. A Belgian professor who conversed " with several of the defenders says As long as possible General Leman that they suffered quite as much from inspected the forts daily to see that the heat, the smoke, and the nervous everything was in order. By a piece commotion, within as from the attack of falling masonry, dislodged by our " from without. I met several men guns, both General Leman's legs were who had been fighting day and night crushed. Undaunted, he visited the in the forts. They complained of forts in an automobile. Fort Chaud- had neither food nor fontein a having sleep ; was destroyed by German and yet when food was now offered shell dropping in the magazine. In the them they rejected it, and the lower strong Fort Loncin General Leman jaw projected in an attitude of dogged decided to hold his ground or die. " determination, and they kept abusing When the end was inevitable the the enemy who was no longer here. Belgians disabled the last three guns Although exhausted physically, they and exploded the supply of shells showed no sign of yielding or of fear, kept by the guns in readiness. Before and they dragged their guns along this, General Leman destroyed all though they could hardly stand, and plans, maps and papers relating to the thought only of obeying orders. defences. The food supplies were These men were all heroes, worthy in also destroyed. With about 100 men, spirit of their vahant commander." General Leman attempted to retire The story of the last stand of the to another fort, but we had cut off Loncin garrison is told in graphic their retreat. By this time our language by a German officer who, heaviest guns were in position, and though an enemy, did not conceal his a well-placed shell tore through the admiration for the bravery of General cracked and battered masonry and Leman. Here is the narrative of this exploded in the main magazine. With chivalrous German : a thunderous crash the mighty walls " General Leman' s defence of of the fort fell. Pieces of stone and Liege combined all that is noble, all concrete twenty-five cubic metres in THE HEROIC DEFENCE OF LIEGE 15

size were hurled into the air. When reputations.' With a smile he added, ' ' the dust and fumes passed away, we War is not like manoeuvres —a stormed the fort across ground liter- reference to the fact that General ally strewn with the bodies of the von Emmich was recently with troops who had gone out to storm General Leman during the Belgian the fort and never returned. All the manoeuvres. Then, unbuckling his men in the fort were wounded, and sword. General Leman tendered it to * most were unconscious. A corporal General von Emmich. No,' replied with one arm shattered valiantly tried the German commander, with a bow, ' to drive us back by firing his rifle. keep your sword. To have crossed Buried in the debris and pinned be- swords with you has been an honour,' neath a massive beam was General and the fire in General Leman's eye Leman. was dimmed by a tear." " * Respectez le general, il est mort,' After his capture. General Leman said an aide-de-camp. addressed the following manly letter^

to the King of the Belgians : Generous Moments. " " — With gentleness and care, which Sir, After honourable engage- showed they respected the man who ments on August 4th, 5th and 6th, I had resisted them so valiantly and considered that the forts of Liege stubbornly, our infantry released the could only play the role of forts d'arrlU general's wounded form and carried I nevertheless maintained military him away. We thought him dead, government in order to co-ordinate the but he recovered consciousness, and, defence as much as possible, and to ' looking round said, It is as it is. exercise moral influence upon the The men fought valiantly,' and then, garrison. ' " turning to us, added, Put in your Your Majesty is not ignorant that despatches that I was unconscious.' I was at Fort Loncin on August 6th " We brought him to our com- at noon. You will learn with grief mander, General von Emmich, and that the fort was blown up yesterday the two generals saluted. We tried at 5.20 p.m., the greater part of the to speak words of comfort, but he was garrison being buried under the ruinsi silent—he is known as the silent That I did not lose my life in that ' general. I was unconscious. Be catastrophe is due to my escort, whc sure and put that in your despatches.' drew me from a stronghold whilst More he would not say. I was being suffocated by gas from ** Extending his hand, our com- the exploded powder. I was con- * mander said, General, you have veyed to a trench, where I fell. A gallantly and nobly held your forts.' German captain gave me drink, and I * General Leman replied, I thank you. was made prisoner and taken to Our troops have lived up to their Liege. i6 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR " I am certain that I have shown my life the better to serve them, but carelessness in this letter, but I am death was not granted to me.— physically shattered by the explosion Lieutenant-General Leman.** at Fort Loncin. In honour of our arms I have surrendered neither the It is the letter of a gallant man. fortress nor the forts. Deign pardon, General Leman's name will always Sire. be associated with the defence of "In Germany, where I am pro- Liege, a defence, let it never be for- ceeding, my thoughts will be, as they gotten, which arrested for several always have been, of Belgium and the days the German advance, and so King. I would willingly have given helped to save Western Europe. II. THE OCCUPATION OF BRUSSELS.

The heroic resistance of Li^ge to the ment on August 17th from the capital Kaiser's legions had an inspiriting to Antwerp. They had previously de- effect on the Belgian troops. They clined a fresh proposal from the opposed the invaders with gallant- Kaiser, who offered easy terms of hearted courage. At Haelen, on peace provided Belgium would August 1 2th, the Belgian soldiers abandon its resistance. defeated a force of German cavalry In Belgium's Capital. and artillery ; and on August 13th there was another Belgian success Brussels is an open city without any at Eghezee. Everywhere the spirit defences. It is a city rich in noble and courage of the Belgian troops were public buildings and in art treasures. admirable. King Albert, in these By the decision of the Government anxious days, set a fine example to his that Brussels should offer no resistance people, going here and there among to the enemy, the Germans were left his soldiers, sharing their perils and with no excuse for bombarding the privations, and preserving a serene city and despoiling it of its glories. faith, though his heart must have It was on August 19th that the been wrung by the unmerited suffer- Germans took possession of Brussels, ings inflicted on his innocent people, and on the following day 50,000 and by the ruin and devastation of the enemy's forces marched through carried through his beloved land by the principal streets of the city. the modern Huns. It was characteristic of German From the nature of things, it was methods, and of their desire to create impossible that Httle Belgium, by a moral impression, that they se- her own unaided exertions, could lected for the march into Brussels long keep at bay the myriad soldiers troops that had not been in- action, of the Kaiser. She held up for days with all their accoutrements shining, the head-waters, but presently the men and horses very spick and span, rising German tide broke through the bearing no trace of hardship and none barrier of her resistance. Realising the of the stains of war. The march of inevitable. King Albert and his this highly-burnished force through Ministers removed the seat of Govern- the city was witnessed by silent and 17 i8 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR saddened spectators, whose hearts their arrogance and absolute lack burned within them as they watched of tact came out in the actions of the the invaders file by. A correspondent officers. They laughed derisively in in The Times thus describes this the faces of the defenceless crowds, spectacular display : and mockingly tore down Belgian " The invaders were led by a flags which flew from deserted dwell- typical Prussian general, whose name ings and arranged them over the 'a black- of their I could not get ; swarthy, hindquarters chargers. They moustached, ill-natured brute dressed ordered hotels and cafes to be thrown in khaki-grey,' to quote a Belgian who open, and on the terrasse near the escaped from the occupied city. Gare du Nord Station they ate, '* The troops sang, but sometimes drank, smoked, and made merry in in a monotone that suggested an the noisiest manner. Some mounted * emphatic order to do so. Deutsch- the stairs in different hotels in the ' land, Deutschland tiber AUes ! popular quarters, took possession of shouted one battalion as they the rooms, and sat smoking and marched, their heavy-soled boots drinking at the open windows or on clanking on the cobbled streets in the balconies far into the night. They * Die Wacht am never missed the to im- harmony ; Rhein,' opportunity echoed another. Some of the more press on the poor inhabitants that boisterous Prussians indulged in the they were the conquerors, and that * catching refrain, Puppchen.' At the populace was mere dirt." first the Kaiser's host experienced the It has been the hard fate of Brus- cold comfort of deserted streets and sels to suffer as few cities in Europe houses still as the grave, but towards have suffered from the rude blasts the centre of the city the crowds had of war. What a history is that of this gathered on the pavements ten and beautiful city in the great plain of twelve deep. In stony silence they Flanders ! Of what heroic incidents has it watched the German soldiers pass ; been the scene in its ten centuries the children appeared interested in of crowded life ! The name Brussels " the wonderful spectacle, women is derived from Bruksel," signify- " trembled and whispered beneath their ing the manor in the marsh." It breath, old men and men too young stands on one of the great highways for the Belgian colours stood white of Europe. During the middle ages, as ghosts and speechless with anger. and long before, here was the most frequented crossing of the river Senne. The Arrogant Prussian. Through Brussels ran the main Roman " The German soldiers behaved and Frank road between Cologne simply as they had been ordered to and Tournai. Down the centuries do, and cannot be said to have out- great military captains have ham- raged the ordinary laws of war, but mered at its gates or hurried through THE OCCUPATION OF BRUSSELS 19

its streets at the head of armed hosts. eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries With distressing frequency the city knew Brussels well—William the was involved in not its quarrels Silent, Parma, Don Juan, Tilly, own. But it had itself a militant Eugene, Marlborough, Napoleon, Wel- population. In the middle ages lington—European nations having Brussels was famed for its manu- fought out most of their quarrels factures of cloth, and it was dominated on the plains of Flanders. Here, in by its merchant princes. Between very truth, is the cock-pit of Europe. them and the weavers raged fierce Within easy reach of Brussels are feuds comparable to the struggle be- the sites of the most famous European tween the plebs and the patricians battles. The city has itself made in ancient Rome. history. In December, 1789, the people of Brussels rose against the A Place of Events. Austrian garrison and proclaimed the Few cities in Europe have so thrill- independence of the States of Bra- ing and romantic a history as Brus- bant. Austrian power was re-estab- sels. It of lished in but a later it became the capital the 1791 ; year Dukes of Brabant in the fourteenth was swept out by the armies of revo- century, and thenceforward was lutionary France. Flanders then caught in the swirl of the European shared for some years in the fortunes current. It was here, in the early of the French Republic and the years of the Reformation, that the Empire. After the fall of Napoleon Emperor Charles V. abdicated. Leav- the country was united with Holland ing Spain, the Netherlands, Naples, in one kingdom under the Prince of Milan, the Indies, and the protec- Orange. It was an unnatural al- torate of Rome, to his son Philip II., liance, owing to profound differences and Austria and Germany to his between two peoples in ideas, religion, brother Ferdinand, the great emperor language, spirit and tradition. An retired to a monastery in Spain, to insurrection in Brussels in 1830 began spend the remainder of his life in the movement which culminated in the a hermit's cell. In the wars of separation from Holland and the religion Brussels had an unhappy establishment of the independent prominence. It was here in the kingdom of Belgium. Since then Grand Place, during the tyrannous Belgium has prospered exceedingly. rule of Alva, that Egmont and Hoorn were executed. On the same Under the German Heel. spot many another gallant man paid with his life for an unsuccessful To-day Brussels is a beautiful and adventure or for fidelity to his reli- thriving city, with a population of gious convictions. The chief military over 700,000 persons. It has a fine captains of the sixteenth, seventeenth, University, a celebrated academy of 20 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

music, prosperous industries, mag- the city and the safety of its nificent public buildings. It is sad inhabitants. to think that this famous capital If, however, there should be, should have fallen into the hands of as there has, unfortunately, been German soldiery. The Germans, not elsewhere, any act of aggression content with making free of the city against the soldiers, the burning and all its contents, imposed upon it of buildings, or explosions of a fine of £8,000,000, threatening if any kind, I shall be compelled this were not paid that they would to take the severest measures. remove the art treasures. The Mayor The General Commanding the of the city, M. Max, stood up man- Army Corps, fully to the invaders. His energy SixTus VON Arnim. and spirit during anxious, trying weeks cheered the citizens and won The Shrewd Burgomaster. general admiration. Early in Octo- An interview between M. Max, the ber the Germans, incensed at the burgomaster, and General Sixtus von spirit and energy of M. Max, arrested Arnim had the results : a few later the following him ; and days patriotic burgomaster was removed (i) The free passage of German to as a of war. Germany prisoner troops through Brussels. On August 20th the German (2) The quartering of a gar- General the placarded following pro- rison of 3,000 men in the barracks clamation all over Brussels : of Daily and Etterbeck. (3) Requisitions to be paid for German troops will pass in cash. Brussels to-day and on through (4) Respect for the inhabitants the and are following days, and for public and private circumstances to de- obliged by property. mand from the city lodging, food, (5) The management, free from and All these matters supplies. German control, of public affairs will be regularly arranged through by the municipal administration. the municipal authorities. I expect the population to The Germans guaranteed the lives conform itself without resistance and property of the inhabitants on to these necessities of war, and condition that they abstained from in particular to commit no act any demonstration against the Ger- of aggression against the safety man troops and that provisions and of the troops and promptly to forage are supplied. " furnish the supplies demanded. Quarters must," said a German " In this case I give every proclamation, be found for soldiers guarantee for the preservation of and horses, and the inhabitants must THE OCCUPATION OF -BRUSSELS 21 keep their houses Ughted all night. troops, will be shot. The whole They must also put the public roads town is responsible for each one of into a condition enabling vehicles its inhabitants." to travel easily, remove all obstacles, To further terrorise the people and assist the troops to the best of powerful guns were placed in the that soldiers be their ability, so may principal squares ; and field-guns able to perform their duty, which is were trained upon the Government doubly difficult in an enemy's offices and the Royal Palace. country. From August 20th the Germans "It is forbidden to hold meet- remained in possession of Brussels, ings, to enter into relations with the but always the Belgians could hope enemy in any way, or to ring bells. that they would be driven forth, and The Mayor, a priest, and four citizens that Brussels, free from the defiling will be held as hostages. touch of the conqueror, would be " Any inhabitant found with arms enabled to resume its gracious, active, in his house, or who attacks the fruitiul and bustling normal life. III. THE GIANT CONFLICT AT MONS

The tremendous onslaught of the A Desperate Issue. German hosts swept Hke a raging flood over Belgium, leaving the broken The bombardment of Charleroi by forts of Liege like rocks amid the tor- the enemy went on unceasingly and rent. Namur was the key of the relentlessly, and one learns how valleys of the Meuse and the Sambre, desperate and awful was the French through one of which the Germans resistance from a story, published intended to descend upon Mezieres and by The Times newspaper, of a French Sedan, and through the other to carry infantryman, who said that the out the great sweep of General von Turcos, with legendary bravery, Kluck, who sought to envelop the flank actually debouched from the town of the Allies and pass onward to Paris. during the enemy's hottest attack On, on came the Germans up the and charged the German battery, valley of the Meuse, to its junction flinging themselves into their very with the Sambre at Namur, and past midst, and bayoneting the gunners. that place they swept forward to Their loss in men was as great as Charleroi. Southwards from Brussels their gain in honour, for out of descended another column, crossing their battalion only a hundred re- the forest of Soignies and the very turned unscathed. It was another field of Waterloo to join hands with charge of the Light Brigade—but the troops from the east and to with far greater losses. Their bravery, confront the Allies in the line from however, was powerless against the Mons to Charleroi. Here, on August persistent advance of the far superior 2 1st and the following day, was weight of the German hordes, who fought a very terrible battle between pressed on foot by foot through the the French and the enemy—a battle outskirts of the town into the very in which the French force was courage- heart of Charleroi, where, in its ously fighting as one man to three, narrow streets, the carnage was and which ended eventually in our indescribably terrific. These streets gallant Ally being driven out by the became so jammed with dead that continuous pressure of greatly over- the killed remained upstanding where whelming numbers. they were shot, resting like fainting 22 THE GIANT CONFLICT AT MONS 23

men against the shoulders of their finally gave way before the deter- dead brothers. It has been estimated mined rush of closely succeeding in many quarters that the German lines. And, as has been said, the losses in their attack upon, and the siege howitzer fire of the Germans fighting in, Charleroi were between was one of fearful deadliness. While 50,000 and 60,000, far exceeding the speaking most highly of the defenders losses of the French. of this fortress city, a Belgian officer, recounting his experiences to a cor- The Pursuing Legions. respondent of The Times, declared The next episode in the pressing that at Namur they had had no onward of the German legions was chance at all against the German their of it that that capture Namur. Remember- artillery ; was and alone ing the wonderful defensive work of which had given the enemy the the Belgians at Liege, it was hoped advantage for the time being. that a similarly successful resistance Officer's Testimony. would be made at Namur. But it An was not to be—and again the reason In support of this explanation of of this loss to the AlHes was in the the rapid fall of Namur it is of fearful superiority of their enemy's importance to quote a letter received numbers, coupled, it must be ad- by the Belgian Minister in London mitted, with the unexpectedness of from one of the Belgian officers the German attack, and with the engaged in resisting the siege. A deadliness of its great siege guns. tremendous quantity of projectiles While engaged in concentrating on was used, he said, not only against Mons, the enemy was also bringing up the forts but also against the spaces his heavy guns against Namur, with between them. The German artil- the result that three of its forts were lery employed cannon of 5, 10, 13, pulverised under a perfect hurricane 15, 21 and 28 centimetres. It was of fire, and the French and Belgians, the enormous 28-centimetre guns seeing the helplessness of resisting (14 inches) which destroyed the such a formidable attack, evacuated defences. The fire was so continuous them in properly organised manner. that it was impossible to attempt to The fall of Namur was undoubtedly repair the damage done between a very serious reverse to the Allies. the forts. The fort of Suarlee, for For its possession was absolutely instance, was bombarded from Sunday essential to the development of the morning, August 23rd, and fell on arranged plan of operations. Still, the 25th at three o'clock in the after- the defence put up by the French and noon. Three German batteries of Belgians was one of great gallantry large cannon, using projectiles weigh- and perseverance, and it is not in ing 350 kilos (about 700 lbs.), shot the least to their discredit that they 600 projectiles on the 23rd, 1,300 24 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR on the 24th, and about 1,400 on the German soldiers who had put on 25th against this fort. When the Belgian uniforms and declared them- " fort fell all the massive central selves as friends.'* structure was destroyed, and further When the history of this great war " resistance was futile, as it would comes to be recorded without pre- have been madly wasteful. judice" by the mind which gives as well The defenders, however, were far as takes—which, out of touch at last superior to the Germans with the with the heat of national anger, long rifle the Kaiser's in left of ; indeed, men behind with the havoc grand many instances during this fight did cities and the bodies of the brave, is not even put the rifle to the shoulder, better able to look round for the great " but fired it off anyhow." The deeds of foe as well as friend—it will German Army was very well organised find it hard to give an account of the at this point—but not at the bayonet German victory at Namur without '' point ! When they see a bayonet staining the page with the blood of the they turn and run," was the comment treacherously murdered. It is un- of a officer in this for Belgian engagement ; fortunate the character of the " while a Turco said, When we hit future Germany—whatever that is one German with the bayonet, five going to be like—that the written " fall down —words quaintly exaggera- history of this war, be the writer the tive of the terror that takes possession fairest and most unbiased chronicler of the enemy when he sees the glitter in all the world, must of necessity con- of steel on the top of the rifle. tain an overwhelming indictment against the past commanders of its Tricks of the Game. army. All credit for what they have Tales of German treachery fall thick done well must for ever go shackled from the lips of our Allies, military with unforgettable disgust for what and civil, in connection with the tak- they have done ill. So much for the ing of Namur. There the German shattering and the seizing of Namur. trumpets blew the French charge, British Line Up. and then, when the French soldiers The had approached within three-hundred Let us now survey the preparations yards of the enemy, and were breath- of the British Forces, which were soon less with running forward to meet to plunge into the great battle and with great gallantry the overwhelming turn the tables on the German legions. numbers on the German side, they On the evening of Friday, August 21st, were mercilessly cut to pieces by —the first of the two days of fierce quickfiring guns. It was before fighting between the Germans and Namur, or so the charge has been the French, at and around Charleroi— made again and again, that many of the concentration of our Field Force our brave Allies were shot down by in Belgium was practically complete.

THE GIANP CONFLICT AT MONS 25

and Sir John French was able on the ceivable conveyance under the sun— following day to effect the dispose- barring roller skates, as one of the ment of the troops to positions most cheerful soldiers put it in a letter favourable to the commencement of home ! Huge motor vans, the names operations—these disposements being of big English firms showing dully but made, as our Field-Marshal reported to certainly through the thin coat of Lord Kitchener, in pursuance of plans paint on their sides, creaked with the sketched out by the French Com- weight of their loads of lighthearted- - mander - in Chief, General Joffre. ness. Upon one of these vans were the " Accordingly a course was taken up familiar words, Goods Carefully extending along the line of the canal Removed." A facetious Tommy had " " from Conde on the west, through run a chalk line through Goods " " Mons and Binche on the east, the and substituted above, Germans ! Second Corps occupying the position On the motor-omnibuses were soldiers from Conde to Mons, the First Corps playing at conductors, demanding of " being posted to the right of the their comrades, Fares, please," and Second Corps from Mons, and the 5th asking them if they wanted to get off Cavalry Brigade being placed at at the Marble Arch—adding, "Where's Binche. In the absence of his Third yer girl, where's yer girl ? Ain't yer " Army Corps, it was Sir John French's got one ? from a passage of a popular plan to keep the Cavalry Division as rag-time song. Then there were " " much as possible as a reserve, to Johnnie Walker vans, inscribed in " operate on the outer flank or to move chalk with Teetotallers, we don't " " " to the assistance of any severely think ! and Still going strong ! " pressed or harassed part of the line. One really witty line ran, This is the The forward reconnaisance of the 5th carte for me when Johnnie comes " Cavalry Brigade was commanded by Walkering home ! On a Carter " Brigadier-General Chetwode, streng- Paterson van was scrawled, A few thened by a few squadrons under nice little parcels for the Kaiser, with " General Allenby, both of whom, to England's love ! Such was the quote the dispatch of the Field- spirit in which our soldiers of the " Marshal, did excellent work." King arrived to fight the fierce battle of Mons—a spirit described in a Comedy with Tragedy. Berlin newspaper as one of the As comedy is mingled with tragedy utterest demoraUsation and dejection ! on the stage, so is it in the theatre of war, and the arrival of our British The Battle Opens ! troops in Mons was a sight to inspire The real beginning of this battle laughter as well as a certain dignified was on Sunday, August 23rd, the sense of confidence and admiration. Germans making a fierce and tre- They arrived in nearly every con- mendous attack upon our Allied line 26 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR massed upon the river Meuse above it, and knew that British soldiers were Namur, along the line of the Sambre, incapable of wanton destruction. and so on to Mons. Details of this They continued these defensive Mons battle reached London on the arrangements throughout the day and evening of August 27th, and were part of the night, and on Sunday were published in the Daily Chronicle on still busy with them when they were the following day, but positions, surprised by a sudden attack. The towns and landmarks generally were enemy was coming out of the woods " " blacked out by the Press Bureau, to the north-east of Mons in numbers and one had to be satisfied with an greatly superior to those of the unconfirmed story of British gallantry British. At the same time another until the Field-Marshal's signed dis- considerable force of the Germans patch, published in London on Sep- attacked the French positions beyond. tember loth, proved it to be in perfect A Very Warm Reception. order. The early story of the great and bloody struggle in the neighbour- The first German attack on the hood of Mons was outlined in a British advance posts near the canal communication from the Daily was quickly repelled, and the enemy Chronicle special correspondent, Mr. was seen falling back into cover in G. H. Perris, repeating the informa- some confusion. After a while the tion of a Belgian with whom he con- invaders emerged once more from the versed, and who was a spectator of shelter of the woods into the open, our Tommies* first big encounter with and were met again by a devastating the enemy. fire from our guns. The British The Germans were signalled on the tactics had been to bring them out Saturday (he wrote) as approaching thus by ceasing fire and giving them from the direction of Charleroi and the impression that the defence was turning Mons by the north. The weakening. As has been seen, the English prepared their lines with ruse succeeded admirably, our artillery extraordinary rapidity, small parties mowing the enemy down by the being sent out to blow up the canal thousand. Much of the shock re- bridges, while the infantry and the ceived here by the Kaiser's hosts was artillery occupied points of vantage provided by our splendid rifle fire overlooking the valley. In several from the trenches. By nightfall on of the small villages about here, in this eventful Sabbath, the enemy, in order to establish entrenched firing spite of its huge numbers, had made lines, a number of houses and farm- little or no progress—except in the sheds had to be destroyed. The loss of its men ! Their dead and village people, it seems, wilhngly wounded were scattered in dull and helped in much of this work them- hideous pattern about the beautiful selves, for they saw the necessity of moonlit hills between the shimmering THE GIANT CONFLICT AT MONS 27 canal and the dark forest, from the could stand, and then there was shelter of which they had issued all another bolt for the rear." too confidently. The German fire, Of Countless Number. on the other hand, had proved some- what ineffective, and the British This advancing and retiring went losses up to this point were com- on for hours, each retirement un- paratively slight. masking a fresh body of men, and by In his dispatch on September 7th the time they were close enough to to Lord Kitchener, Sir John French hurl themselves upon our trenches, referred, as we have already said, to it was an entirely fresth set of troops, " " the excellent work done by the who had suffered little from our Brigadier-General Sir Philip Chet- Tommies' fire, being screened by wode, with the 5th Cavalry Brigade, those who had in more senses than " on Mons Sunday. We get some- one gone before." " thing of the nature of this work to- As they scrambled up they wards the conclusion of the following seemed very cocksure of themselves, account of the battle, furnished by a but they had forgotten our men posted non-commissioned officer invalided under cover on their right, and just as home : they were steadying themselves for " As the Germans came into one last rush at us a withering fire view in the open, in front of our was opened on them, and at the same hastily dug trenches, our men opened time we cleared the way for the on them with a steady fire that never Hussars, who were at them right and once went wide, and we could see left as soon as the fire of our infantry clean-cut gaps in the tightly packed ceased. " ranks as the hail of lead tore its jagged Hell's fury blazed from the eyes of way through them. They were a the Germans as they tried to grapple game lot, however, and kept closing with their new foe, and our men in the up the gaps in their ranks as though trenches stood there silent and inactive they were so many marionettes. spectators, lest they should hit their However, flesh and blood cannot own cavalry. It only took the stand this sort of thing for ever, and Germans a few minutes to make up after a while they began to come their minds, and with a blood-curdling along towards us with a less confident wail, that I shall remember to my step. Then they halted for a few dying day, they ran as though all the seconds, gazed about them in a dazed fiends were after them. They were sort of way, and ran like hares. Their cut down like chaff, and it was at this place was taken by another bluish- point that most of the prisoners were grey mass behind them, and this body taken by our men. Rifles, bandoHers, came on in much the same way until caps, and everything else that could they too had had as much as they be cast off was sacrificed to speed, and 28 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

of many the scared men easily out- one of ours, they could not possibly paced the tired horses of our Hussars. stand against the English spears. " " a lull in Later, during the fight, we Mein Gott ! he exclaimed, "it is went out to collect their wounded hell let loose when your English near lying our trenches, and you lancers charge ! Never before have I would hardly believe the fury some of seen an5rthing like them in our army these " men manifested against us. I or in my sleep ! think they hate us ten times more than The extreme severity of the battle they hate the French, and that is around Mons prepared one for the saying a lot. Those of them who subsequent information regarding the could talk EngHsh told us that had it strategical retirement of the Allied not been for our interference they Forces. It was, as we have said, a would have been in Paris now dictating conflict of tremendous ferocity, owing terms " of peace ! to the great numerical superiority of " the enemy and the undaunted spirit A Sea of Bluish-Grey." and bravery of the men upon whom The terrific superiority of the they were continuously throwing enemy's numerical strength at Mons, layer upon layer of fresh weight. All and during our retirement from that Sunday the English held their ground is a fact which at there was place, has received at Mons ; and night no quite remarkable corroboration from rest, in consequence of the persistent independent sources. Wounded Eng- searchlight work of the Germans, lish and French soldiers, who could which enabled them to drop shells never have met in the battle or after into the English trenches with, at '* it to compare notes," so to speak, times, terrible accuracy. One gets all tell the same tale of being con- a pretty vivid picture of this point of fronted wherever they moved by the battle from the words of one of breaker after breaker of this inex- our wounded infantrymen, in con- haustible sea of bluish-grey German versation with a representative of the " soldiery. They were three or four Daily Mail : " to our one —that phrase is in nearly Words of an Ey£-Witness. every letter home, and in nearly every " mouth of the stricken in our hospitals We were to advance under cover and those of France. Even the of artillery fire, but in the meantime enemy admits this great disproportion the were doing a bit of artillery " " enemy of — sides except, of course, in the practice too, so we threw up trenches Berlin press ! A prisoner in the and snuggled down in them to wait German Dragoons, speaking of the for whatever might happen. He attack of our 12th Lancers and Scots didn't keep us waiting long. The Greys upon his own cavalry, declared German gunners were over a ridge that although his men were four to two or three miles in front, and their THE GIANT CONFLICT AT MONS 29 shells soon came whistling round us. was a nipper and woke up and saw a There we lay and watched them light and thought it was a ghost and I what they call lay there wondering what would coming. got my " baptism of fire, and at first I didn't happen next ! like it ! Fortunately most of them burst behind us and did no harm, The Only Way. though some of them burst back- wards, as you might say, and did get This and a hundred other stories in among us. We thought they from our soldiers and the soldiers of might stop a bit when it got dark, but France of the wearing-down strength not they ! They kept it up as hard of the German hordes, will remain on as ever. In the daytime they had record as lasting evidence of the had aeroplanes to tell them where to serious necessity for the retiring drop the shells. They were flying movement alluded to by Sir John about all the time. One came a bit French in his message from the too near. Our gunners, a long way theatre of war to Lord Kitchener : " behind us, waited and let him come In view of the possibility of my on. He thought he was all right. being driven from the Mons position, Two thousand feet he was up I dare I had previously ordered a position say. We could hear his engine. He in the rear to be reconnoitred. This may have made a lot of notes, but position rested on the fortress of they weren't any use' to him or to any- Maubeuge on the right and extended body else, for all' of a sudden our west to Jenlain, south-east of Valen- gunners let fly at him. We could see ciennes, on the left. The position the machine stagger, and then drop was reported diflicult to hold, because like a stone, all crumpled up. ... In standing crops and buildings made the dark they turned on searchlights. the siting of the trenches very diflicult We could see them hunting about for and limited the field of fire in many some one to pot at. Uncanny that important localities. . . . When the was. To see the blooming big lane news of the retirement of the French of light working round and round and the heavy German guns threaten- until it came to something ! Then ing on my front reached me, I en- we heard the shells whistle. And deavoured to confirm it by aeroplane it came round to us and lit us a result of when reconnaisance ; and as up so that we could see each other's this I determined to effect a retire- faces, Lord, it made my blood run ment to the Maubeuge position at " cold—just as I used to feel when I daybreak on the 24th (Monday). IV. THE MASTERLY BRITISH RETREAT.

Wellington was asked what was retreat and daring to do it ! And, the best test of a great general, and one might add, in admiring acknow- " he answered, To know when to ledgement of the manner in which " retreat, and to dare to do it ! That Sir John French and his commanders is the text and moral and key of moved their men from Mons, knowing many a tremendous hour in the how to do it ! fighting which went on and on from Uncoloured Actuality. daybreak on Monday, August 24th, and which was outlined in the con- The progress of this retirement is —cluding words of the previous chapter sketched in the uncoloured phrases of words quoted from the despatch of actuality in the report of our Field- Sir John French. Marshal. Let the plain and unvar- Fighting on when the enemy is nished, and perhaps somewhat too giving way before you is a great and technical story in that despatch take glorious thing, but it is nothing to its place intermittently in this chapter keeping unbroken in retirement and as a connecting chronological series pegging away steadily and coolly of links between the narratives related yard by yard before the pressure of of the various engagements by many fiercely invading hosts three or four a brave eye-witness now serving his times your own strength in number. season in hospital. Showing the road Reckless charges against overwhelm- to these events, as it were, Sir John ing odds are wonderful things, and French wrote : "A certain amount the memory of them is a fine monu- of fighting continued along the whole ment to the bravery of the men who line throughout the night, and at make the sacrifice. But there are daybreak on the 24th the 2nd Divi- moments in great battles when it is sion from the neighbourhood of as courageous and as difficult to Harmignies made a powerful demon- retire as it is to advance; and the stration as if to retake Binche, retirement from Mons by the French occupied on the previous day by the and EngHsh forces is a case in point. enemy. This was supported by the It has shortened the road to victory artillery of both the ist and 2nd many a time, this knowing when to Divisions, whilst the ist Division 30 THE MASTERLY BRITISH RETREAT 31

took up a supporting position in the German cavalry regiments and neighbourhood of Peisant. Under emerged from the encounter with cover of this demonstration the undying glory. It is the story, we Second Corps retired on the Hne are told, of what those saw who were Dour-Quarouble-Frameries. The 3rd not in the firing line, and who awaited Division on the right of the Corps with apprehension and wonderment suffered considerable loss in this the collision between the grey hordes operation from the enemy, who had of the Kaiser's horsemen and the retaken Mons. The Second Corps thin but unswerving hne of Britishers halted on this line, where they parti- in khaki, who, with bayonets fixed, ally entrenched themselves, enabling made ready for their oncoming. Sir Douglas Haig with the First Corps These same Britishers had jovially gradually to withdraw to the new shouted their adieux to the French he effected retired from position ; and this without troops who had been much further loss, reaching the line their immediate neighbourhood, and Bavai-Maubeuge about 7 p.m. To- in the brief interval before the crash wards midday the enemy appeared came the watchers could see officers to be directing his principal effort walking up and down the lines crack- against our left. ... On the morning ing jokes with their men and otherwise of the 24th, the 19th Infantry Brigade, assisting to maintain their excellent which had been brought up by rail spirits. When the German cavalry to Valenciennes on the 22nd and was only 200 yards away one of our 23rd, were moved out to a position men momentarily put down his rifle south of Quarouble to support the and begged a cigarette from a com- left flank of the Second Corps." rade, which he coolly lit !

On Front and Flank. Prepare for Cavalry ! " With the assistance of the Cavalry Then they prepared to receive Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien was enabled cavalry," and did it in better order to effect his retreat to a less than new position ; and with much excitement although having two corps of the if they had been about to witness enemy on his front and one threaten- the finish of the St. Leger. Three ing his flank, he necessarily suffered regiments of German cavalry, splen- losses in doing so. didly horsed, splendidly equipped, It was in retirements of this kind charged a regiment of Irish infantry. that most wonderful courage was The men who had been joking and shown by cavalry and infantry alike. smoking rose up to meet them, a A splendid story was told in the bristling bulwark of giants holding Daily Telegraph of the manner in weapons of steel in steel grips. For which the Irish Guards, in the retreat a few minutes there was an awful kfrom Mons, met a charge of three chaos, horses, soldiers grey and 32 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

soldiers yellow, glittering lances and Charleroi and Mons and in the retreat bayonets, the automatic spit of from the latter place, there were machine guns, the flashes of musketry. frequent encounters in the air which Amidst it all the men in khaki stood might almost be described as of a immobile. Grimly and without budg- hand-to-hand nature. Then, in ing they threw back, at the bayonet's answer to the bomb-dropping exploits point, in utter demoralisation, the of the enemy, there has been a retort troops of the Kaiser, the men who to that sort of warfare by our own terrified the peasant villagers of Bel- men—notably at Dusseldorf. But gium and France. They wanted this bomb-dropping does not seem something to put on their banner, half so terrible, half so fiercely and their casualty list will have dramatic, as the face-to-face en- " shown that, if blood be the price," counter high up in the clouds, be- they achieved their aim. tween a soldier of the Kaiser and a incidents of the soldier of our or of Aeroplane great King, France ; retreat from Mons to Cambrai were and we are told that the following as numerous as they were wonderful. incident is only one of many that Little did we know how near we were were connected with the historic re- ' " to war in the air when we read treat of the Allied Forces on their

the famous novel of Mr. H. G. Wells ! well-ordered way to Cambrai. It was Thus it is of extraordinary interest told to a Times correspondent by a to read of the part taken in this private in the ist Royal West Kent prodigious European struggle by flying Regiment. " " machines which, but a few short years There was," he said, one interest- ago, were being almost sneered at by ing sight I saw as the column was on the unbelieving as things that could the march, and that was a duel in the never get beyond the pale of the air between French and German aero- sporting entertainment world. planes. It was wonderful to see the Frenchman manoeuvre to get the The Flying Warrior. upper position of the German, and after about ten minutes or a quarter We have heard how in the trenches of an hour to see the Frenchman get outside Charleroi a German aeroplane, on top and blaze away with a revolver flying 2,000 feet high, was brought on the German. He injured him so hurtling to the earth by the British much as to cause him to descend, and

guns ; how Sir John French sent his when found the German was dead. own flying men out to verify re- The British troops buried the ports of the approach of reinforced airman and burnt the aeroplane. armies of the that were not enemy ; and how, at During day we odd times during the fighting be- troubled by any more German aero- tween August 22nd and 24th, at planes." THE MASTERLY BRITISH RETREAT 33

Fighting every Mile Danger and 1 ifficulty

To continue with our troops in The operation, however, was full their retiring movement, planned by of dango" and difficulty, not only on Sir John French. For ever pressed by account of the very superior force a seemingly endless world of the of the enemy, but also for the reason enemy, rolling up in new cordons that the English troops, who had wherever our fire had mowed the for- been doing little else but fight and ward lines down, the English left the march, and fight and march again, position they had taken up south of with scarcely an interval for sleep Quarouble and proceeded to a new and food for two days and nights, one west of Bavai. This was accom- were thoroughly exhausted. Still, phshed by nightfall on the 24th, the the retirement was carried out success- west of Bavai being occupied by the fully, and thus the design of the Second Corps and the right by the enemy to surround the former First. This right was protected by positions held by the English, and to the fortress of Maubeuge, the left by crush into them with the weight of the 19th Brigade in position between their ever increasing legions, was Jenlain and Bry, and the Cavalry on frustrated. This retirement to Le the outer flank. The French on the Cateau was begun in the early morn- right, being fearfully pressed by the ing of the 26th (Wednesday). Two enemy, though putting up a tre- Cavalry Brigades, with the Divisional mendous fight all the time, were Cavalry of the Second Corps, covered retiring surely and certainly, and our the movement of the Second Corps, forces were being left with no support and the remainder of the Cavalry except that which the Maubeuge Division, with the 19th Brigade, the fortress afforded ; and the deter- whole under the command of General mined attempts of the Germans to Allenby, covered the west flank. get round our left flank, and so hem Meanwhile reinforcements were us against that place and surround being prepared at Le Cateau, where us, made it imperative upon the the detrainment of the 4th Division Field-Marshal to order a retreat to on Sunday, and its completion by still another position, viz., a position Monday, enabled Sir John French in the neighbourhood of Le Cateau. in the morning of Tuesday to " early I had every reason to believe that put eleven battalions and a brigade the enemy's forces were somewhat of artillery with divisional staff, under exhausted,'' wrote Sir John French, General Snow, into a position with *' and I knewthatthey had sulfered very their right south of Solesmes, and heavy losses. I hoped, therefore, that their left resting on the Cambrai- his pursuit would not be too vigorous Le Cateau road south of La Chaprie. the to prevent me effecting my object." In this position, we are told, 34 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

Division rendered to the the great help Quentin-Ribemont ; cavalry, effective retirement of the Second under General AUenby, being ordered and First Corps to the new position. to cover the retirement. The troops had been ordered to Throughout the 25th, and far into occupy the Cambrai-Le Cateau- the evening the First Corps continued Landrecies position, and the ground its march on Landrecies, following had, during the 25th (Tuesday), par- the road along the eastern border of tially been prepared and entrenched. the Forest de Mormal, and arriving at Landrecies at 10 p.m. It was the The Reasons Why Field-Marshal's intention that this hunted and harassed, but still In the first place, the trenches high- should come further were not deep enough or of sufficient spirited, corps west so as to fill the between length, our troops not having had up gap Le Cateau and but the time to carry out the work satis- Landrecies, in the and more men were too exhausted and could factorily ; second, not further without rest. important. Sir John French had get along That the was allowed no been informed that the jitrength of corps rest, in of the almost con- the enemy was accumulating to a spite impossible dition of the we shall read in prodigious degree, and that the men, the next The one Kaiser's men were rolling on more chapter. present has served to show the of relentlessly than ever. Having re- progress the retirement of our from gard to this, and the fact that the troops Mons to the Cambrai-Landrecies- French were being forced to retire Le Cateau line that marvellous feat on the right of our line—to say ; of steadiness and and almost nothing of the tendency of the courage endurance which enemy's western corps to continue supernatural brings back to one's mind with force the enveloping scheme on our ex- special the words of we have posed left flank, or of the now des- Wellington in reference to the perately exhausted condition of the already quoted test of a : "To know EngHsh troops—it was determined great general to a effort to continue when to retreat, and to dare to do make great " the retreat until some substantial it ! such as the Somme or the obstacle, All Along the Line Oise, could be put between our men and the Germans, and thus afford There was mighty fighting on both the former some opportunity for sides all along this line of retreat — to rest and reorganisation. Orders were, from Mons to Cambrai and, therefore, sent to the corps of com- their everlasting discredit, some manders to continue their retreat as mighty acts of treachery on the part thei'e can be soon as they possibly could towards of the enemy. Of this the general line of Vermand-St. no doubt whatever. Our men are

THE MASTERLY BRITISH RETREAT 35 too fair and brave to tell untruthful bad. Only for ten minutes they did tales against their opponents. They harm, with a howitzer gun, which was are sportsmen—and that says all firing point blank, and happened to that need be said. We refer to the get the range. We then brought up treachery on the battlefield, not to a gun which knocked it out. It was the atrocities in the villages. These impossible to know how many of them would make a chapter of their own— were killed, but I believe over 2,000. a chapter that would occupy a Our 3rd Brigade lost 119 men killed volume not easy to lift from the and wounded, two officers killed and bookshelf. three wounded." It was along this line from Mons to Cambrai that a in many casualty Unsoldierly ! our ranks was due not to the superior fighting of the enemy, but to its Then there is the story of the low superior devilry. Here are two and unsoldierly trick played by the characteristic instances of German Germans on the Coldstream Guards treachery in the field. The first at Landrecies, a story received from near the second official and other sources Lord happened Mons ; by " near Landrecies. We then had Plymouth, whose son, the Hon. dinner," writes an officer to a relative Archer Windsor-Clive, was killed— " in London, and I was just retiring practically —murdered (according to for a calm night, as we understood no The Times) by the treachery of the one was near, when there was a most Kaiser's men. During the main re- terrific firing. This was no false treat from Mons half a battalion of alarm. They did not attack our side the Coldstream Guards, of which the at all. The 3rd Brigade got most, Hon. Archer Windsor-Clive was an nearly all, of it. What they (the officer, were detailed to act as out- enemy) did in the first rush up the posts to stay the advance of the road was to come up in French uni- enemy, whilst the 4th Guards Brigade ' ' form, saying : Vive TAngleterre ! were billeted to the rear. As night The captain stepped forward to the fell, an officer, accompanied by two wire, fifteen yards in front of the line, others dressed in French uniform, and challenged. When right up they and speaking in French, came up charged, and knocked him down, and and informed the officers of the captured one of the machine guns. Coldstream Guards that a large body They were the only lot that got past, of the French troops was approach- and were, of course, driven back. ing. He had come to tell them, he They came on in line after line, and said, so that the British might not were mowed down like corn. One fire upon their friends by mistake. machine gun fired over 10,000 rounds. Shortly afterwards a large force The firing of the Germans was very appeared in front of the outposts, b2 36 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

and, when within easy firing dis- ing, the Kaiser had issued a very re- tance, opened a heavy fire upon the markable order, one which is likely to British. assault This unexpected become historic, in these terms : took our men completely by surprise. " It is my Royal and Imperial Immediately the truth of the position Command that you concentrate was understood, however, the half for the immediate battalion of Guards made a firm your energies, present, upon one single purpose, stand across the main road guarding and that is that you address all an important bridge, and from 8.30 your skill and all the valour of my p.m. until 2 a.m. gave the enemy a soldiers to exterminate first the terrible punishment. Almost imme- treacherous English and walk diately after the Guards had taken over General French's contemp- up this stand, with two farmhouses tible little army . . ." on their flank, a German shell struck the Hon. Archer Windsor-Clive with Subsequently a denial of the exist- fatal results. The affair took place ence of any such order was given out on Tuesday, August 25th, at Land- by the German authorities, but in any recies. case we go on to see how the British While all these events were happen- army defied and even laughed at it. V. HOW RETREAT LED TO VICTORY

As has been seen, the fall of Namur, Coming Through the Forest and with it the failure of the French " counter offensive pivoting on that About 9.30 p.m.," says Sir John '* city, changed the whole course of the French's dispatch, a report was re- war and necessitated the immediate ceived that the 4th Guards Brigade falHng back of the allied troops from in Landrecies was heavily attacked the line of the Sambre prolonged from by troops of the 9th German Army Namur to Mons to the line of Cambrai- Corps, who were coming through the Le Cateau-Landrecies-Mezieres, which forest on the north of the town. This was reached, and the allied forces brigade fought most gallantly, and reformed thereon, on the night of caused the enemy to suffer tremendous Tuesday, August 25th, the eve of loss in issuing from the forest into the " the most critical day of all," to use narrow streets of the town. " Sir John French's words. This loss has been estimated from But although the British troops reliable sources at from 700 to 1,000. had been ordered to occupy the Cam- At the same time information reached brai-Le Cateau-Landrecies position, me from Sir Douglas Haig that his and the ground had, during the 25th, 1st Division was also heavily engaged been partially prepared and en- south and east of Maroilles. I sent " trenched, I had grave doubts," urgent messages, to the Commander says Sir John in his memorable of the two French Reserve Divisions " dispatch of September 7th, owing on my right to come up to the assist- to the information I received as to ance of the First Corps, which they the accumulating strength of the eventually did. Partly owing to this enemy against me, as to the wisdom assistance, but mainly to the skilful of standing there to fight." Orders manner in which Sir Douglas Haig were, therefore, sent to the corps extricated his Corps from an ex- commanders to continue their retreat ceptionally difficult position in the able as soon as they possibly could towards darkness of the night, they were the general line Vermand-St. Quentin- at dawn to resume their march south Ribemont. towards Wassigny on Guise. 37 38 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR " By about 6 p.m. the Second Corps thrown against the left of the Allied had got into position with their right line, with a view to delivering a swift on Le Cateau, their left in the neigh- and decisive blow similar to that un- bourhood of Caudry, and the Hne of successfully struck three days previ- defence was continued thence by the ously at Charleroi. The fullest and 4th Division towards Seranvillers, fiercest impact of the blow fell on the left being thrown back. the Second Corps and the 4th Division " the fighting on the 24th of our Army. During " and 25th the cavalry became a good At this time," reports Sir John " deal scattered, but by the early morn- French, the guns of four German ing of the 26th General AUenby had army corps were in position against succeeded in concentrating- two bri- them, and Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien gades to the south of Cambrai. reported to me that he judged it im- " The 4th Division was placed under possible to continue his retirement the orders of the General Officer at daybreak (as ordered) in face of Commanding the Second Army Corps. such an attack. I sent him orders to use his utmost endeavours to break The French Cavalry off the action and retire at the earliest " On the 24th the French Cavalry possible moment, as it was impossible Corps, consisting of three divisions, for me to send him any support, the under General Sordet, had been in First Corps being at the moment in- billets north of Avesnes. On my way capable of movement. back from Bavia, which was my ' Poste de Commandement,' during He Cometh Not ! the fighting of the 23rd and 24th, " I visited General Sordet, and ear- The French Cavalry Corps, under nestly requested his co-operation and General Sordet, was coming up on our support. He promised to obtain left rear early in the morning, and I sanction from his Army Commander sent an urgent message to him to do to act on my left flank, but said that his utmost to come up and support his horses were too tired to move be- the retirement of left flank my ; but, fore the next day. Although he owing to the fatigue of his horses, rendered me valuable assistance later he found himself unable to intervene on in the course of the retirement, in any way. " he was unable for the reasons given There had been no time to en- to afford me any support on the most trench the position properly, but the critical day of all, viz., the 26th." troops showed a magnificent front At daybreak on the 26th the bulk to the terrible fire which confronted and best of the vastly superior German them. " forces to the north, which had pur- The Artillery, although out- sued heavily during the retreat, were matched by at least four to one.

\ HOW RETREAT LED TO VICTORY 39 made a splendid fight, and inflicted it was hurled at the western extreme heavy losses on their opponents. in the hope of turning the whole line* " At length it became apparent that, At this western extremity were the if complete annihilation was to be English. avoided, a retirement must be at- and the order was The Prussian Project tempted ; given '' to commence it about 3.30 p.m. The This project," continues Mr. Bel- " movement was covered with the most loc, the English contingent which devoted intrepidity and determination held that extreme left defeated. They by the Artillery, which had itself were not outflanked : they were not suffered heavily, and the fine work pierced : but they fell back still done by the Cavalry in the further further to a line representing about retreat from the position assisted one day's march behind, that is to materially in the final completion of the south and west of the line Cam- this most difficult and dangerous brai-Le Cateau. Upon Thursday, the operation. 27th of August, the Allied line as a " Fortunately the enemy had him- whole ran from M^zieres westward, self suffered too heavily to engage but no longer through Le Cateau to in an energetic pursuit." Cambrai, with some slight prolonga- In order to make clear the object tion towards Arras. It was bent of the enemy in his tremendous back and ran from Mezieres, south of attack on the 26th, ^nd to show how Hirson, south of Guise, just north cleverly it was foiled, we will supple- of St. Quentin, to strike the Upper ment the brief and precise statement Somme above and to the east of of Sir John French with a passage Amiens. " from Mr. Hilaire Belloc's lucid and At that moment—a moment not brilliant exposition of the war by exactly identical all along the line, " land in Land and Water. The but corresponding roughly to the " — enemy," he says, attacked the left afternoon of August 27th there be- section of the allied line with peculiar gins a two-fold development of the vigour, because it was now their campaign, which would, had the object not to break through the line Allied line failed, have made of the but to outflank it, and to get round following few days the critical days it by the west : to bend back and in the first phase of the Western come round on to the rear of its left War. This two-fold development extreme. It was on this account was as follows : First, the rapid that they attacked the western ex- German advance was checked for treme of the line." On August 22nd the moment, and with it (for the and 23rd, the main German assault moment) the everlasting German line to was hurled at the centre of the ; routine of advancing outflank, in the second engagement on the 26th, with their superior numbers, towards 40 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR the west or left of the Allied line. Meuse, with Verdun as its termination* Secondly, in the checking of this, The loop-like nature of the line on in the taking of the shock, the Allied August 29th showed that the Ger- line fluctuated in a curious and even mans had for the moment abandoned dangerous manner. It was so bent the attempt to outflank the line and that no one could at first tell from the were, where the indentations, or fragmentary reports reaching us either loops, or notches in the line showed, whether it would probably break, or endeavouring to break it through. whether there was a breaking point Had they succeeded the first phase in the enemy's line, or where in either in the war would have been won by the strain come. But them. failed the case would Fortunately they ; though the twisting of the line did line remained intact and retiring not yet afford any ground for judging imbroken, straightened itself out the future, we could, by putting once more along the route indicated. together the reports that had so far In this connection it is important reached us, see what the curve of to remember that a retreat is as much flexion had been, and what the a military operation as an advance, serpentine front then held would only differing from an advance in " appear to be. We could also judge this— that you abandon to the the peril." enemy that wastage from your organi- sation which you would in an advance A Switchback Line send back out of the way, and well That is to say, what had been cared for, to your base.'' an almost straight line of the Allies An Authoritative Word from Cambrai through Le Cateau to Mezieres on the 26th, was, by the Sir John French, in a later dispatch pressure of the attack, turned into dated September 17th (published on a switchback line, which ran from October 19th), thus refers to the situa- Bapaume down to La Fere, from La tions on the 28th and 29th of Sep- Fere up to Guise, from Guise down tember, which we have endeavoured to Rethel, and from Rethel in a to summarize j " final loop to Verdun on the river Some five or six German corps Meuse. This serpentine, or sinuous, were on the Somme facing the Fifth line was held over the week-end of Army Corps on the Oise. At least August 29th, but by Tuesday, Sep- two corps were advancing towards tember 1st, it had become again my front, and were crossing the a fairly straight line still farther Somme east and west of Ham. Three back, running roughly from Com- or four more German corps were pidgne, sHghtly up through La F^re opposing the Sixth French Army on and then straight on through Rethel, our left. " not turning until it reached the This was the situation at one HOW RETREAT LED TO VICTORY 41

I o'clock on the 29th, when received We lay there and could not move : a visit from General Jof^re at my the German machine-guns were sweep- headquarters. I strongly represented ing overhead and you couldn't put my position to the French Comman- a hand up without being hit. They der-in-Chief, who was most kind, couldn't damage us in the trenches cordial, and sympathetic, as he al- but when we got out to move back, ways has been. He told me that he they fair mowed us down. What had directed the Fifth French Army about our machine-guns ? Why they on the Oise to move forward and at- piled 'em like heaps of sacks. There tack the Germans on the Somme with was one sergeant I saw working a view to checking pursuit. He also one of our guns and he was simply told me of the formation of the Sixth sweeping 'em away. I got a good French Army on my left flank, com- sight of the Germans—at one time posed of the Seventh Army Corps, they were only 250 yards away when four reserve divisions, and Sordet's they formed up. During the greater corps of cavalry. part of Wednesday the exact range " I finally arranged with General was 650 yards. They look big fat J offre to effect a further short retire- chaps, short hair-^for all the world ment towards the Hne Compi^gne- like a lot of brewers' draymen." Soissons, promising him, however, Another English soldier, a corporal to do my utmost to keep always with- of the North Lancashire Regiment, in a day's march of him. In pursu- described the German forces as " ance of this arrangement the British never-ending. They were around us forces retired to a position a few miles like a swarm of bees, and as fast as one north of the line Compi^gne-Soissons man fell it seemed there were dozens on the 29th." to take his place." A wounded Having outlined, and sketched in, Highlander has given a graphic as far as possible, the strategy follow- account of the way in which the ing the fall of Namur, we will return German striking force of five army to the battle of August 26th, and the corps, or from 400,000 to 600,000 " " retreat which followed, endeavouring men, tried to buckle up the Allies' from the testimony of those who took left, which consisted of the British part in both to gain some idea of the troops. local conditions. " " Hurled at Us ! The Murder of Battle '' " While," he says, the French had Here is a glimpse of the battle got their eye on the centre, the whole on the 26th revealed by a soldier who available force of the Germans were was wounded in the elbow : hurled at us, and before we had time " It was awful on the Wednesday. to look round the lid of Hell was lifted We were right in the forward trenches. and we were in it up to the neck. The 42 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR wonder to me is that we came through which were shattered by high ex- it as well as we did. Anything more plosive shells." astonishing than the way the Germans A Thrilling Story were thrown at us it would be hard to imagine. The Germans were bent In this connection the wounded on getting through our lines at any Highlander above quoted tells a thrill- it one after the Germans cost in men, and was simply ing story ; saying the grand procession of men toeing the did all in their power to transform death line in the hope of wearing retirement into a rout he continues : " us out. At first the Germans came It was here that our guns were lost. on with easy confidence as though Halted out in the open with weak they were out for a picnic, but when infantry supports, and doing their our fire began to tear through their best to stay the onward rush of the ranks, leaving ugly gaps a yard wide bluish-grey clouds of Germans, the here and there they apparently began artillerymen suffered terribly. Ger- to realise that a funeral march was man marksmen picked off the horses more appropriate than the skip of one by one and then, when the Ger- the beanfeaster, and their approach man cavalry swooped down, the men was less confident. . . . We could could not get the guns away. have got away with comparative ease "So long as possible they stuck to had we gone the way they wanted us their posts, but the officers realised to go, but we would have uncovered that it was a useless sacrifice attempt- the French left and every man of us ing to save the guns, and they ordered knew that the safety of the whole their abandonment. I only saw one French Army depended on our stand. battery lost in this way. In another Therefore we held on, and fought inch case where the German Lancers by inch until we had fallen back on swooped down and killed the last man the French left." of one battery, the situation was Lord Kitchener, Secretary of State saved by a couple of companies of an for War, thus refers to this battle : Irish Fusilier battalion—the Munsters, ** The battle on this day was of the I think—who rushed at the Germans most severe and desperate character. with fixed bayonets and put them to The troops offered a superb and most flight, while the enemy's artillery stubborn resistance to the tremendous poured a merciless fire on them. Many odds with which they were confronted, of the Germans around that battery and at length extricated themselves were killed, and of course, the losses of in good order, though with serious our men weren't Hght. The Fusiliers losses, and under the heaviest were furious when orders came that artillery fire. No guns were taken they were to abandon the guns as by the enemy except those the no horses were available. You could horses of which were all killed or see them casting loving eyes on those HOW RETREAT LED TO VICTORY 43

guns all the rest of the day, and at becomes so terrible that you feel night when the time come to fall as if it would be a relief to cry out." " back the poor devils were dragging The effect on the nerves," he adds, " the guns with them, having captured is terrible—only the strongest can a few German horses and supple- stand it for long. The German mented them by men who were cavalry, too, have a trick of thunder- willing to become beasts of burden for ing along in a way that the horses' the time." hoofs make the most awful din you ever heard," declares the same wit- Saving the Guns '* ness, giving the impression that the The incident of the Irish trying to whole earth is shaking beneath their save the guns referred to in the fore- tread. Added to that there are the going is the theme of another soldier's wild, uncanny shouts that they in- letter : dulge in." " " I saw," he writes, a handful of Irishmen throw themselves in front Things Seen and Not Seen. " of a regiment of cavalry trying to cut The blue-grey uniforms of the off a battery of Horse Artillery. Not Germans are hard to see at a distance," one of the poor lads got away aUve says a Yorkshire Light Infantry man " but they made the German devils who fought on the 26th, and for pay in kind, and anyhow the Artillery concealing movements are more got away. . . . EVery man of us effective than our khaki, but it's sur- made a vow to avenge the fallen prising how quickly you learn to

Irishmen. . . . Later they were pick out such things as buttons and finely avenged by their own comrades, badges or armlets, and even the peaks who lay in wait for the German of caps or spikes of helmets in the cavalry. The Irish lads went at them sun, and tell by them of moving men * with the bayonet when they least ex- you cannot see otherwise. Aim at pected it. Some of them howled for a button a mile off and you hit a mercy, but I don't think they got it. German in the stomach,' is what we In war mercy is only for the merciful." say, and it is near enough to the All the testimonies of those who truth. The Germans are such stick- took part in the terrible struggle lers for rules that I have seen their of August 26th, state that the Artillery artillery keep firing away at a position fire of the enemy was devastating : of ours after it had been occupied by " They attach," says a British soldier, their own men, and at the hospitals "a lot of importance to massed ar- they find quite a number of Germans tillery fire, and for hours all their guns hit by their own rifle fire." seem to play on one little spot of our Before passing to incidents of the line until the din and the noise and retreat, continued far into the night the screeching of the shells overhead of the 26th, and through the 27th 44 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR and 28th (on which date the troops was the series of charges carried out halted on the Hne Noyon-Chauny-La by the Black Watch and Scots Greys " F^re), it is essential to record General at St, Quentin. Just as at the Sir John French's warm tribute to battle ;of Waterloo," writes the " General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien : Times correspondent, a " Highland I say without hesitation that the infantry regiment penetrated to the saving of the left wing of the Army thick of the fight, the soldiers holding imder my command on the morning on to the stirrup-leathers of the Greys, of August 26th could never have so again at St. Quentin this gallant been accomplished unless a com- manoeuvre was carried out many mander of rare and unusual cool- times. The Greys plunged straight ness, intrepidity and determination into the ranks of the enemy, each had been present to personally con- horseman accompanied by a comrade duct the operation/' on foot and the Germans taken com- Sir John French estimated his losses pletely by surprise were broken up from the 23rd to 26th inclusive to and repulsed with tremendous losses." amount to 5,000 or 6,000 men. A wounded man who was a witness of one of the charges describes their Tried and Foiled " effect as overwhelming.' ''Our men," " While the German advance on he said, came on with a mighty Paris was proceeding the various shout and fell upon the enemy with bodies of the German line between the utmost violence. The weight of the Meuse and Paris were daily at- the horses carried them into the close- tempting to outflank the Allied line formed ranks of the Germans and ' ' retreating before them, attempts the gallant Greys and the Kilties only foiled by the continued rapid gave a fearful account of themselves." and skilful retreat upon positions still farther in the rear. The aim of A By-the-Way Scene the enemy was to envelop, encircle, For the rest a good general idea the western end of the Allies' line, an of the sort of thing involved in the effort which, owing to their superior retreat may be had from the vivid numbers, could only be countered by little report of an English trainer retreat. Not imtil September 4th connected with the racing stables at when the line of the Allies had its Chantilly, who took his string of four- left on Paris and its right on Verdun teen horses out of one end of the were the tactics altered and suddenly village of Lacroix St. Ouen as the the outflanking movement was ex- Germans entered at the other end. " changed for a direct attempt to break At every point of vantage,"^ he told the Allied line. a correspondent of The r^'w^s,y* ahalt One of the most stirring of the is made. Riflemen fall into position many heroic incidents of the retreat at each side of the road. Machine- HOW RETREAT LED TO VICTORY 45 guns appear as soon as the Germans the war, and to the onlooker, exag- come well in sight, and a murderous gerating unconsciously the import- fire ploughs through the ranks of the ance of the things close at hand and advancing Teutons. These seem to visible, it seemed terrible in its signi- take no precautions." The speaker ficance and an ominous reminder of himself witnessed such a rear-guard 1870, when through Amiens there action. The British retreating left a came the dismal tramp of beaten detachment lining both sides of the men. Really this was the inevitable road. The Germans appeared and part of a serious battle, and not were allowed to come within a few necessarily the retreat from a great hundred yards. Then as if by magic disaster." two British machine-guns in com- The official survey of this period mand of an officer with a dozen men of the campaign explained the situa- ** swing into the road, a sharp order tion as follows : Since the battle at and the machine-guns and rifles blaze Cambrai on August 26th, where the at short range into the Germans. British troops successfully guarded A few minutes later the British are the left flank of the whole line of the marching along the road whistling to French armies from a deadly turning '' the next station," as they call it, attack supported by enormous force, where they will have another ex- the 7th French Army has come into change of compliments with the operation on our left and this, in Germans. A more sombre picture is conjunction with the 5th Army on etched by Mr. Philip Gibbs, one of our right, has greatly taken the strain the War Correspondents of the Daily and pressure off our men." Chronicle. Of High Significance On the Road The retreating movement of the Describing the retreat to Amiens, left wing was of the greatest signifi- a night scene he witnessed, he cance at this stage of the campaign writes : because of the enormous enveloping " Everyone knew it was a retreat, effort put forth by von Kluck's army and the knowledge was colder than of the German right. In addition to the mist of night. The carts carrying the cavalry fight under Sir Philip *' the quick and the dead rumbled by Chetwode on the 28th, when! our in a long convoy, the dropping heads men went through the Uhlans like of their soldiers turned neither to the brown paper," a battle at Guise, on right nor to the left for any greeting August 31st, formed another notable old a with friends ; there was hugger- stand during these few days. mugger of uniforms, of provision This last-mentioned engagement carts with ambulances. It was a was fought by two French army part of the wreckage and wastage of corps, who made a vigorous attack 46 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR upon the Guard and the Guard Re- by the British forces. The latter serve Corps of the German Army. culminated in the battle of Com- Under cover of this battle, the piegne, on September ist, in which rest of the AlHed Hne was able to the ist British Cavalry Brigade, with retire in safety, the French throwing the help of the 3rd Corps, held up the German forces mentioned back to the German adva.nce, beating it back the Oise, with a loss, it was said, with great loss, and capturing twelve of 50,000 killed and wounded. Ulti- guns. This gave to our men another mately, however, this part of the momentary rest from fighting. Never- Allies' line had to fall back, and in the theless a general retirement to meantime, on August 30th and 31st, the line of the Marne was ordered there were some sharp rear-guard in accordance with General Joffre's actions again on the left wing, fought tactics. VI. LOUVAIN : THE BRAND OF SHAME

" Louvain, Malines, Termonde. These attributes the establishment of a are names which will henceforward be permanent camp at this spot to branded on the brow of German culture," Julius Caesar but Louvain only became —Mr. Asquith at Edinburgh, September in the eleventh iSth, 1 91 4. important century " The sack of Louvain— the greatest as a place of residence for the dukes crime committed against civilisation since of Brabant. In 1356 the city was the Years' War. With its build- Thirty the scene of the famous Joyeuse ings, its pictures, its unique library, its Entree of Wenceslaus, which repre- unrivalled associations, a shameless holo- sented the Charter of Bra- caust of irreparable treasure lit up by principal bUnd barbarian vengeance."—Mr. As- bant. At that time its population QUiTH at the Guildhall, September 4th, numbered from 100,000 to 150,000, I9i4» " most of whom were engaged in the When you come into contact with cloth trade, the city containing no the enemy strike him down. Quarter is fewer than manufactories. not to be given. Prisoners are not to be 2,400 made. Whoever falls into your hands is into your hands delivered. Just as a The Turbulent Weavers thousand the under years ago, Huns, Here, as in other Flemish towns, their king, Attila, made themselves a the weavers were a very turbulent name which still appears imposing in and soon after the Entree tradition, so may the German name be class, Joyeuse known in China in such a way that never a serious feud arose between these dare ask- again will a Chinaman to look craftsmen and the patrician class, ance at a German. The of the blessing Duke Wenceslaus eventually throw- Lord be with you. Give proof of your ing in his lot with the latter. After courage, and the Divine blessing will be a of over attached to your colours."-—TAe German struggle twenty years* Emperor to his troops, July 2yth, 1900. duration, the White Hoods, as the citizens called themselves, were The ancient and beautiful city of crushed, but during an insurrection Louvain, the capital of Brabant in the in 1378 they massacred thirteen fourteenth century, before the rise of magistrates of noble family by throw- Brussels, derives its name from Loo ing them from the window of the signifying a wooded height and Hotel de Ville on to the spear points Veen a marsh. Local tradition of the populace below, a crime which 47 48 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR brought down on them the vengeance the reputation of the University some- of the Duke, who in 1382 took the what declined, but it continued to city and severely punished the exist until the close of the last century. citizens, one hundred thousand of Some conception of its position may, whom emigrated to Holland and however, be gauged from the fact that England, carr5dng with them the formerly no one could hold a public secrets of their handicraft. From this appointment in the Austrian Nether- period the importance and prosperity lands without having taken a degree of Louvain steadily declined, Brussels at Louvain. After having been closed correspondingly gaining. by the French Republicans, the But what Louvain lost in trade and University was revived by the Dutch commerce it practically recovered as Government in 1817. Since 1834 it a seat of learning, for in 1423 Duke has been maintained by the Bishops as John IV. of Brabant founded the a free (i.e., independent of the University which was to become the State) Catholic University. It pos- most famous in Europe, which made sessed (until a few months ago) Louvain the intellectual metropolis some 2,000 students residing in the of the Low Countries, the Oxford of four colleges attached to the Univer- Belgium, where in the sixteenth cen- sity. tury the presence of over six thousand The most remarkable building in students bore witness to the reputa- Louvain, and the only one spared by tion of its celebrated head, Justus the modern Huns, is the Hotel de Lipsius, and increased the distinction Ville, one of the richest and most of his justly renowned name, ornate examples of pointed Gothic in Europe. Resembling the town halls A Hall of Learning of Bruges, Ghent, Brussels and Oudenaarde, but surpassing them in In 1679 the University was estab- elegance and harmony of design, the lished in the old Cloth Workers' Hall Hotel de Ville was the masterpiece of which, erected in 13 17, testified, until Mathieu de Layens, a master-mason its destruction by the German soldiers, who worked at it from 1447-1463. to the wealth and taste of its foundtrs. With arcades the sixty-six yards long, A Lovely Church upper stories supported by graceful pillars, it housed the most valuable Opposite the Hotel de Ville, and library in Belgium and one of the now practically, if not completely, most precious libraries in the world. destroyed stood the lovely church of Adorned with fine wood carvings it St. Pierre, a cruciform structure of contained 90,000 volumes and some noble proportions (especially in the 500 manuscripts, many of these being interior) with a low tower to which priceless in worth. Under Joseph 11. the spire was never added. This

LOUVAIN : THE BRAND OF SHAME 49 church, built on the site of an older scenes from the life of the Saviour, church between 1425 and 1497, con- St. Augustine and St. Gertrude, were tained seven chapels, two of them among the finest specimens of late of the Gothic wood in containing splendid examples carving Belgium ; genius of the artist, Dierich Bouts. they were executed by Mathias de The choir was separated from the Waydere. The church of St. Michael, nave by an elaborate Jube, or Rood erected by the Jesuits in 1650-66, Loft in the late Gothic style, executed with an imposing fagade, was notable in 1490, consisting of three arches for the beautiful proportions of the adorned with statuettes and sur- interior it contained ; many modem mounted by a lofty cross. The pictures by Mathieu, de Keyser, massive twelve-branched candelabrum Wappers, and other artists. The was executed by Jean Matsys. This church of St. Jacques possessed brief chronicle does not exhaust the several pictures of the school of treasures of St. Pierre, which included Rubens, a fine St. Hubert, by de in addition a richly carved organ Grayer, some good modem works and dating from 1556, a beautiful Gothic a Tabemacle in stone executed in 1467, tabernacle fifty feet in height, executed with a copper balustrade in the in 1450 by de Layens, the ancient Renaissance style, cast by Jan Vel- tomb of Henry I., Duke of Brabant deneer in 1568. The sacristy con- and founder of the Church, four tained finely embroidered vestments paintings by Verhaghen, depicting the from the Abbey of St. Gertrude and life and death of Margaret of Louvain, two rehquaries of St. James and St. a pulpit carved by Jos. Berge, a fine Margaret. monument by Professor Boyarts, If the reader will endeavour, with dating from 1520, and an extensive the aid of his imagination, to re- altar piece, the centre painted by create these edifices, to restore to Dierich Bouts. them their rich and rare treasures, to estimate the genius that gave them A Sign of Four birth and the affection and piety Four other noted churches did which gave them cherishing, if he will Louvain cherish, viz., St. Gertrude, further place them in their pleasant St. Quentin, St. Michael and St. streets, lined with ancient houses rich Jacques. The church of St. Gertrude in ornament and character as well as was erected in the Flamboyant style with modem buildings of distinction, at the close of the fifteenth century and if he will, giving the wings of his with the exception of the choir, which imagination a still wider sweep, en- was added in 1514-26. The choir stalls deavour to gauge the veneration with dating from the first half of the which this historic city was regarded sixteenth century and embellished with by the Belgian people, he will be able statuettes and twenty-eight reliefs of to understand in some degree the 50 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR horror and grief its destruction has which by their frightfulness would be entailed. a warning to the whole country. The case of Louvain is such an inter- The Measure of it ference ; without even the miserable Here in restrained and measured excuse suggested. Louvain is miles language is the official announce- from the scene of real fighting. In ment of the sack ef Louvain by the International law it is recognised that * German soldiery : the only legitimate end which the " Ancient and beautiful Louvain, States shall aim at in war is the a town of forty-five thousand people, weakening of the military forces of a seat of learning, famous for its the enemy.' And the rules under the ancient and beautiful churches and annex to Convention IV. of 1907, other buildings, many of them dating which expand and demand the pro- from the fifteenth century, has been vision of the Declaration of Brussels, utterly destroyed by one of the lay down that any destruction or Kaiser's commanders in a moment of seizure of enemies' property, not im- passion to cover the blunder of his peratively called for by military own men. The excuse for this un- remedies, is forbidden. " pardonable act of barbarity and In destroying the ancient town of vandaHsm is that a discomfited band Louvain, the German troops have of German troops returning to committed a crime for which there Louvain were fired upon by the can be no atonement and humanity people of the town who had been dis- has suffered a loss which can never be armed a week earlier. The truth is repaired." that the Germans, making for the The Fuller Indictment town in disorder, were fired upon by their friends in occupation of Louvain, But even the above statement does a mistake by no means rare in war. not refer to one half the appalling The assumption of the German com- crimes committed by the German mander was in the circumstances so troops in the ill-fated city. Mr. wide of probability that it can only A. J. Dawe, who with a friend actually be supposed that | in the desire to witnessed its destruction, in a letter conceal the facts, the first idea which to The Times of September 3rd " occurred to him was seized upon as an writes : Burning houses were excuse for act in the into the road an unparalleled every moment falling ; history of civilised people. shooting was still going on. The " The Emperor William has stated dead and dying burnt and burning lay that the only means of preventing on all sides. Over some the Germans surprise attacks from the civil popula- had placed sacks. I saw about half tion has been to interfere with unre- a dozen women and children. In one lenting severity and to create examples street I saw two little children walk- LOUVAIN : THE BRAND OF SHAME 51 ing hand in hand over the bodies of peeping out of the window, saw, to the dead men. I have no words to my horror, that almost the whole describe these things." Every one street was in ruins. Then we found offering opposition was killed, every that our own house was alight, and one found in the possession of arms it was necessary to choose between shot. An assistant in a bicycle shop bolting and being burnt to death in Louvain, who, though a Dutch- where we were. " ' man, was given special facilities for I decided to make a dash for it, escape owing to his being mistaken but the moment I was outside the for a German, gave the following door three Germans held me up with account of what he witnessed to the their revolvers and asked me where Special Correspondent of the Daily I was going. My reply was that I News and Leader in Rotterdam : was a German, and that my master " ' At midday last Tuesday/ and his wife were Germans who had * (August 25th) he begins, a fearful been trapped in the burning house. " ' uproar broke out in the streets while Apparently my German was we were at dinner, and the crackle of good enough to make them beheve musketry was soon followed by the my statement, for they promised roar of artillery near at hand. to give us safe conduct out of the *' ' Hearing shrieks from the in- town. Our walk through the streets habitants of our streets, I rushed to to the railway station I shall always the window and saw that several remember as a walk through hell. " * houses were already in flames. Sol- The beautiful town with its diers were smashing the shop windows noble buildings was a sea of flame. and looting in all directions. Dead bodies lay thick in the streets. " ' As the people rushed into the Dreadful cries came from many of streets from the burning houses they the houses. It was half-past five were shot down like rabbits. With on Wednesday morning when we my governor, his wife, and little boy, reached the railway station. Sol- we fled to the cellar, where I and the diers were even then still going boy hid under a pile of tyres, while about the streets with lighted brands the manager crept into a chest, and and explosives in their hands, setting his wife far into a drain, where she alight any buildings that still re- stood with water up to her waist for mained intact. many hours. The Quick and Dead The Veil of Night " ' In the parks they had already " * * Night fell,' he continues, and begun to bury the dead, but in many the sound of shooting in the streets cases so shallow were the graves that became brisker. I crept out of my a large part of each body was still hiding-place to get some water, and, visible. At the railway station we 52 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

witnessed a truly harrowing spec- Confirming the Facts tacle. Fifty citizens, both men and women, had been brought from houses The Daily News correspondent from which the soldiers swore that draws special attention to the fact '* shots had been fired. that both my informants are Dutch- " ' They were lined up in the men who can have no object in street, protesting with tears in their spreading anti-German lies." Their eyes that they were innocent. Then story is corroborated by M. Auguste came a firing squad. Volley followed Van Ermen, Town Treasurer of Lou- volley, and the fifty fell dead where vain, whose permanent headquarters they stood.* had been in its historic town hall, " This appaUing story,'' continues and who witnessed the tragedy. This " the Special Correspondent, is fully statement of what occurred appeared confirmed by an independent dispatch in The Times of September 8th. The from a Dutch journalist who hap- following are citations from it : " pened to be at Louvain on his way At last on the Tuesday night to Brussels. He states that he was there took place the unspeakable standing on Tuesday evening near crime, the shame of which can be the railway station at Louvain talking understood only by those who fol- to a German officer, when he was lowed and watched the different strongly advised to leave the spot, phases of the German occupation owing to the great danger. of Louvain. It is a significant fact " A group of some five hundred that the German wounded and sick, men and women described as hostages including their Red Cross nurses, were ranked in the open space were all removed from the hospitals. by the station, and they were in- The Germans meanwhile proceeded formed that for every soldier fired on to make a last and supreme requisi- in the town ten of them would be tion, although they knew the town shot. This arrangement was carried could not satisfy it. " out with true German regard for Towards six o'clock the bugle the punctilious observation of all sounded, and officers lodging in pri- rules. vate houses left at once with arms " The wretched people sobbed and and luggage. At the same time wrimg their hands and fell on their thousands of additional soldiers, with knees, but they might as well have numerous field pieces and cannon, appealed to men of stone. marched into the town to their " Ten by ten as the night wore on allotted positions. The gas factory, they were brought from the ranks which had been idle, had been worked and slaughtered, without regard to through the previous night and day age or sex, before the eyes of those by Germans, so that during this who remained." premeditated outrage the people could LOUVAIN : THE BRAND OF SHAME 53 not take advantage of darkness to madmen surpasses all limits. They escape from the town. A further shot numbers of absolutely inoffensive fact that proves their premeditation people, forcing those who survived is that the attack took place at eight to bury their dead in the square, o'clock, the exact time at which the already encumbered with corpses population entered their homes in whose positions suggested that they conformity with the German orders— had fallen with arms uplifted in consequently escape became well- token of surrender. " nigh impossible. At 8.20 a full fusil- Others who had been allowed to lade with the roar of the cannons live were driven past approving drun- came from all sides of the town at ken officers by the brutal use of rifle once. butts, and while they were being maltreated they saw their carefully The Light of Murder collected art and other treasures " Thejsky at the same time," we being shared out by the soldiers, the " read, was lit up with the sinister officers looking on. Those who at- light of fires from all quarters. The tempted to appeal to their tormentors' cavalry charged through the streets better feelings were immediately shot. sabring fugitives, while the infantry, A few were let loose, but most of posted on the footpaths, had their them were sent to Germany. " fingers on the triggers of their guns On Wednesday," this narrative " waiting for the ujifortunate people to continues, at daybreak the re- rush from the houses or appear at the maining women and children were windows, the soldiers praising and driven out of the town—a lament- complimenting each other on their able spectacle—with uplifted arms marksmanship as they fired at the and under the menace of bayonets unhappy fugitives. and revolvers. " " Those whose houses were not yet The day was practically calm. destroyed were ordered to quit and The destruction of the most beautiful follow the soldiers to the railway part of the town seemed momentarily station. There the men were sepa- to have soothed the barbarian rage rated from mothers, wives, and chil- of the invaders. " dren, and thrown, some bound, into On the Thursday the remnant trains leaving in the direction of of the Civil Guard was called mp on Germany. the pretext of extinguishing the con- " feel I cannot but that, following flagration ; those who demurred the system they have inaugurated in were chained and sent with some this campaign, the Germans will use wounded Germans to the Father- these non-combatant prisoners as land. The population had to quit human shields when they are facing at a moment's notice before the final the Allies. The cruelty of these destruction. 54 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR " Then, to complete their devas- those of Valerie di MartineUi and tation, the German hordes fell back Leonie Van Lint, both Belgian tele- on the surrounding villages to burn phone operators, who during the —them. They tracked down the men destruction of Louvain, with shells some— were shot, some made prison- bursting around them and the Ex- ers and during many long hours change on fire, remained at their they tortured the helpless women and post switching through the orders of children. This country of Eastern the Belgian General Staff directing Brabant, so rich, so fertile, and so the retreat. beautiful, is to-day a deserted charnel- house." The Town of Bridges The Commission appointed by the Belgian Government to inquire into The ancient town of Malines, also breaches of the law of nations and destroyed by the Germans, situated the laws and usages of war con- on the tidal river Dyle, which flows firmed these facts in its report of through the town in numerous arms August 31st, and in a second report, and is crossed by thirty-five bridges, dated Antwerp, September loth, is the seat of Cardinal Mercier, the

adds : Primate of Belgium. A town of " Another fact which emphasises regular streets, handsome squares the ruthless character of the treatment and fine buildings, its greatest posses- to which the peaceable population sion is its cathedral of St. Rombold, of Louvain was subjected has also begun at the end of the twelfth cen- been established. On August 28th tury and completed in 13 12, but to a a crowd of 6,000 to 8,000 persons, great extent rebuilt in the fourteenth men, women, and children, of every and fifteenth centuries (after a fire age and condition, was conducted in 1342) with money paid by the pil- under the escort of a detachment of grims who flocked thither to obtain the the 162nd Regiment of German in- indulgences issued by Pope Nicholas fantry to the riding school of the town, V. The altar-piece representing the where they spent the whole night. Crucifixion, by Van Dyck, is one of The place of confinement was so small that master's finest works. Among in proportion to the number of the the other famous pictures in the occupants that all had to remain cathedral were Erasmus Quellin's " standing, and so great were their Adoration of the Shepherds," and " " that in the of this Wouter's Last sufferings course Supper ; these, and tragic night several women lost their the Van Dyck are fortunately re- reason and children of tender years ported to be intact. Three or four died in their mother's arms." shells pierced the fabric itself, wrecking Two names which will be treas- the fine Gothic arches and mutilating ured by all lovers of heroism are the famous pulpit carved in wood by LOUVAIN : THE BRAND OF SHAME 55

Boeckstuyns, of Malines, and repre- on the earthen floors and along the '' senting the Conversion of St. Paul." walls oozing with moisture I per- The stately pillars escaped, and though ceived through the darkness the a shell passed through the spire, it shadows of about 200 old men and did not cause structural weakness. women, stretched on mattresses, shak- The stained-glass windows, how- ing in all their limbs. They stared ever, of great richness and beauty, at me in a frenzy of terror. In vain the world-famous chimes in the tower, did I try to reassure them. They ' and the fine gateway of the cathedral only asked, Are they coming, are are reported to be destroyed. The they here, are they coming to kill ' shrine of St. Rombold and two Rubens us ? As I passed along they gazed in the Church of St. Jean were at me as the ghosts in hell looked up removed to Havre and Antwerp at the shade of Dante in the circles of respectively before the bombardment the Inferno. Not only was Malines began. destroyed, but the Belgian official Commission of Inquiry in its Report Seen on the Spot ' of August 31st states : We can M. Emile Van der Velde, the affirm that the houses in all districts eminent SociaUst leader, and a mem- between Louvain and Malines and ber of the appointed most of the suburbs of Louvain have Delegation by " the King of the Belgians to acquaint practically been destroyed.' the United States with the atrocities

: "I committed in Belgium, says Bombs from Zeppelins went to Malines after the fighting in order to investigate the state of The dropping of bombs by a affairs. I found only eight Belgian Zeppelin airship over Antwerp at people in the town, but even then night was conduct worthy of the the Germans were bombarding the assassins, murderers and looters of deserted houses, apparently with the Louvain and Malines. Before even sole object of destroying them." a fortified town^is bombarded the Dr. Charles Sarolea, the Special rules of war provide for twenty-four Correspondent of the Daily Chronicle, hours' notice, but the Germans at dead in a message received from Antwerp of night sailed over the sleeping city, on August 31st, wrote that he had dropping bombs without warning on visited "the desolate city of Malines the sleeping inhabitants and killing yesterday." "I went," he contmues, women and children. The first visit " down some cellars, and there saw of the Zeppelins was on August the scene I have wit- the in the most uncanny 25th ; second early hours nessed during these eventful weeks. of September ist. The objective of The underground passages extended the airship on the first occasion was in every direction, and everywhere the Palais du Roi, where the Queen 56 THE QREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR of Belgium, the little Princes, and the bomb,'* says the official statement of *' Princess Marie Jos^, lay asleep. But the visit issued from Antwerp, has the which was to fallen bomb, have never been used by artillery, and is on the Palace, fell into an adjoining completely unknown to them. It is street, wrecked a house, and injured made on the same model as that used two women. Another, apparently in- by the notorious Bonnot robber-band tended for the Banque, struck the attic in France." of a house near by, killed a servant as she slept and injured two others. RUSKIN AND TeUTONISM Another bomb fell into a shrubbery, dug a deep hole, uprooted shrubs Is it any wonder that John Ruskin " and blew the frames out of the St. declared that a German does not Elizabeth Hospital, where wounded understand even the meaning of * ' ' lay. Still another struck a house the words meek and merciful,' inhabited |by poor people, killed a and cannot be either. Accordingly, woman, terribly mutilated three girls, when the Germans get command of killed two Civic Guards, and seriously Lombardy, they bombard Venice, injured a third. One poor girl had half steal her pictures (which they can't her face blown away. understand a single touch of), and The second visit, on September entirely ruin the country, morally ist, was not unexpected, and the Zep- and physically, leaving behind them pelin was received with such a cannon- misery, vice, and intense hatred of ade that the crew dropped its bombs themselves, wherever their accursed indiscriminately, just outside the forti- feet have trodden. They do pre- fications. Five dropped on one group cisely the same thing by France— of houses, destroying three of them crush her, rob her, leave her in misery and slightly injuring four of the in- of rage and shame, and return home, habitants. Seven bombs were dropped smacking their lips, and singing Te in the Pare du Rossignol, close to Deums." some houses where two hospitals This is precisely what they have were established. The houses, which done by Belgium. The Kaiser's motto were flying the Red Cross flag, were printed at the head of this chapter " damaged, ten or twelve persons being is : Quarter is not to be given. The injured. The bombs were filled with blessing of the Lord is with you," a special bullets calculated to inflict sickening blend of blasphemy and *' horrible wounds. Such a type of savagery. VII. THE DRAMATIC TURNING POINT

At the end of the first week of Sep- has arisen, so that one has occasional tember it seemed as though the next doubts about its existence. It has event was to be, if not the siege of never been photographed, nor has it Paris, at least a German attack upon ever been mentioned in the official the fortifications of that city. A war-bulletins—German, French, or regular investment of Paris was hardly English. At any rate, a direct assault likely. It is the strongest fortress upon Paris was daily expected, and in the world. The perimeter of its the current impression was that the outer ring of forts exceeds a hundred Germans would use the same methods miles. A besieging army would need of attack—that of concentrating the to be at least half a million strong. whole of their artillery and infantry What was much more hkely, and, force upon a small— sector of the indeed, expected, ,was a sudden and fortification ring that have since overwhelming German assault upon been employed with briUiant success some sector of the perimeter of forts : against Antwerp. It was not merely probably on the north and east sides. a popular expectation. We have learnt since of the tremen- The German Expectations dous power of the German siege-train, but even in the early days of last The transfer of the Presidency and September it was beginning to be the Ministries to Bordeaux showed realised that against modern artillery, that the Government shared it. The used as the Germans use it, permanent pohtical value to the Germans of a fortifications have little value. triumphal entry into Paris, little more Those few people who read the than a month after the war began, German papers during the war had was obvious. It was thought that just began to learn of that monstrous they would be unable to resist the weapon, the Krupp 42-centimetre, temptation, the fame of the achieve- and of the havoc that it had wrought ment would travel throughout the upon General Brialmont's concrete entire world. Opinion in neutral and armour-steel forts outside Liege. countries would have become much Around this 42-centimetre a legend- more pro-German as a consequence. ary, more than half-mythicalg fame The spectator, like Providence, prefers S7 58 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

to be on the side of the big battahons. frontier. Two days later that army " " At least, it hkes to be for the winning had turned left-wheel and was if side, only for the pleasure of sa5dng : crossing the Marne near Meaux. The " I told you so." Neutral countries, new direction was at right angles to anxious about the outcome of the that which had been previously fol- war, and about their own future— lowed. Paris was no longer the like, —for example, Turkey and Bul- objective, but was left disregarded on garia might have all their indecision the right. The Second German Army removed, and their course of action had in these two days crossed the determined by so tremendous a coup Marne below Rheims. In less than a de theatre as the spectacle of a German week General von Kluck's cavalry army marching with bands playing screen was crossing the Grand Morin and the men goose-stepping proudly and Petit Morin Rivers, had reached along the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne the Upper Seine near Provins, some to the Arc de Triomphe. miles south-east of Paris. No wise Such was the—German expectation general, however, could ignore that at that time so confidently felt city, and everyone will admit that that the inhabitants of the outer General von Kluck is not the suburbs of Paris would not have sort of man to overlook such an been surprised at any moment by elementary precaution as guarding the clatter of hoofs and the appear- the flank that he now presented to ance of the dreaded Uhlans in their Paris against a sally from the force midst. Yet the expectation was never that he knew must have been collected fulfilled. Instead of continuing its in the city. He left, therefore, a advance on Paris, hardly more than fairly strong covering force along the a day's march distant. General von River Ourcq to face the French Kluck's army suddenjy^swerved at capital. right angles to its course, and moved As the event proved, however, this with astonishing rapidity southward force was hardly strong enough for and south-eastward. For a day or its purpose. This shrewd German two the people of Paris could hardly general had, at a critical moment in realise what had happened. Then the war, made a miscalculation. He came, first, a sigh of relief, and, after- knew that behind the fortifications wards, questionings — how had a there must be a certain force, but he change so dramatic come about ? imagined it to be much smaller and much poorer in fighting quaUty than The " Left-Wheel " Order it really was. His mistake very On September 3rd the German nearly brought him to disaster. The First Army (under General von Kluck) covering force was driven back over had reached Creil and Senlis on the the Ourcq with comparative ease. direct road to Paris from the Belgian Only by his military skill, and by THE DRAMATIC TURNING POINT 59 forcing his men to an almost super- II.—The Prince of Wurttem- human degree of exertion was he BERG between Chalons and the able to extricate his army. The Aisne valley. retreat had almost assumed the char- III.—^The Saxon Army be- acter of a rout before von Kluck tween the former and Rheims. managed to bring his army into IV.—General von Bulow's security behind the prepared positions army, widely extended, to the along the Aisne. west of Rheims and in touch " " with Strike Hard V.—General von Kluck' s Undoubtedly it was the German army, which, after heading purpose to inflict a crushing blow directly for Paris, had turned off on the French army at the first south-eastward toward Meaux " stroke. Strike hard and keep on and Coulommiers. striking," is their favourite military maxim. The defeat of the Allies Weight and Thrust at Mons and Charleroi was to have The object was clear. These armies been turned into a rout, and the were converging together into a mass Allied army scattered. Instead of across the Plain of Champagne be- being routed, however, the defeated tween the Argonne and Rheims. In Allies retreated in good order—it was this region they hoped by sheer perhaps the most ^wonderful retreat weight and thrust to break the

• in history—and kept themselves to- French fine. In that event the gether. Had they, or a portion of French army would have been divided their army, been broken, the Germans into two halves : the westward por- would have launched themselves upon tion retiring, if it could, to Paris, and the outer walls of Paris and probably, if it could not, to Coleans and the after a effort and Loise the other though great much ; portion falling back loss, would have made a breach and southwards upon the frontier fortress forced an entry. But they dared barrier. It was, at least, a bold not so tremendous a task characteristic of of attempt plan ; the thinking as long as the Allied army remained the Imperial General Staff. That it intact and in splendid fighting trim. failed was due to three things : (i) In short, the first object was, neces- General J offre's clever strategy in sarily, the destruction of the French selecting the line of the Marne for the Other had to wait. French stand the utter army. things ; (2) incom- On September 5th the Paris Temps petence of the Kaiser's eldest son as thus the of the a General and Russian in- summarised position ; (3) the

German armies : vasion of East Prussia, which forced I. —^The Crown Prince ad- the Germans even as^^early as Sep- vancing across the Argonne. tember 5th to begin transferring men 6o THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR from the western to the eastern the Aisne, the Ourcq, the Marne, the theatre. Grand Morin and the Petit Morin. General Joffre had done wisely in All these things tended to slow off the selecting the Marne for his purpose. German motion, which had hitherto A glance at any map of France, show- been so rapid, and rapidity was es- ing the railways and rivers, will sential to any success of a lightning explain why. Reserves could be back-stroke upon the French centre. readily collected along this line from But still more essential to success every part of France. In reaching (in this plan as in every plan in the the Marne, a German army would history of modern war) was it that find itself with two great fortresses— the converging armies should keep in Paris and Verdun—on its western step, as it were. Von Kluck was so and eastern flanks. These fortresses more than energetic ; with the would effectually prevent the Ger- other Generals of the German centre mans, who disUke parallel actions, and right wing. But there was a from their favourite device of out- laggard, who spoiled everything—no flanking their opponent. More- less a personage than the Crown over, the Germans would be exposed Prince. The reason for his failure to sorties from these strong places, too was a perfectly simple one. His threatening their communications, and army had been thoroughly beaten as the event showed, a sortie from on September 6th and 7th, and in- Paris came within an ace of utterly stead of continuing its triumphal destroying their right wing. In turn- march, had been compelled to retreat ing aside from Paris towards the forty kilometres in precipitate con- Marne, the Germans lost the advan- fusion. To this hour the Crown tage of the main railways which con- Prince is the only German General centrate upon the capital. Instead who has been thoroughly whipped in of proceeding along the useful iron equal battle on French soil. It is said, rails they had now to march without though the figures seem improbable, them. It was much the same with that the casualties in his army amount- the roads. ed to one hundred thousand. This would amount to a loss of about one Taking the Low Road man in three or four—a proportion The Germans had to turn aside that would almost constitute a records from the magnificent, world-famous Saving the Crown Prince routes nationales, to the inferior and narrow routes vicinales. Finally The whole German scheme had across their path lay a series of tribu- now collapsed. At all odds the Crown taries of the for Prince's had to be saved. Seine ; von Kluck, army example, having to push his way General von Kluck once more wheeled across no fewer than five rivers— his army—this time to the east—and THE DRAMATIC TURNING POINT 6i marched rapidly, with the other been exceedingly bitter to the Kaiser. western armies, to protect the Crown As the correspondent of the Daily " Prince's retreat. That the German Telegraph put it : In the plan of forces were able to extricate them- the German operations, the path that selves from the mess into which the promised the greatest glory was re- Kaiser's eldest son had put them, is served for the Crown Prince. This clearly a proof of their high military was in accordance with the policy of skill, and of the quality of their troops. bolstering up the fast-fading popu- Particular credit attaches to von larity of the Hohenzollems. Through- Kluck's achievement, for a strong out Germany he was acclaimed as the Allied force had swept back his hero of Longwy." In those days the covering army, crossed the Ourcq German papers had poems in eulogy and had virtually cut his communi- of the Crown Prince and the illus- cations. For a long time the Crown trated weeklies used to come out with Prince's army was in the greatest gorgeous coloured pictures of him peril, and it seemed as if the difficulty riding with magnificent mien and an of getting so large a body of men and unfamiliar manliness of bearing at —guns across the barrier of the Argonne the head of his troops. To-day there a roadless,— densely-forested, clay are no panegyrics of this hope of plateau was about to result in the Hohenzollems in prose, verse or another Sedan, and the surrender of picture to be found in the German the Crown Prince and his army. press. General von Hindenburg has The whole German strategical plan supplanted him as the national had failed, and that failure must have hero. VIII. PARIS PREPARES FOR SIEGE

The shadow of siege fell over Paris for the City of Light. The rapidity almost upon the anniversary of Sedan. with which fortresses such as Namur, True, there had been no Sedan this supposed to be almost impregnable, time, or anything approaching it, but had fallen made people ask each the long retreat of the Allied Forces other if the great forts of Paris, con- before the sweep .of the German sidered invincible, could successfully legions through Northern France made hold out against the enemy. the Parisians realise, at the beginning of September, that once again the Like Birds of Prey city might be called upon to endure, as it had done just forty-four years The threatened horror of warfare previously, all the horrors of a bom- was brought vividly home to the bardment and siege. Parisians at this time by the daily When the third stand of the AlKes' visit of German aeroplanes, which left wing, at Compiegne and Soissons, hovered over the city Hke great birds had failed to stem the invasion, the of prey. The first was sighted on city found itself actually face to face August 30th, and thereafter these with the danger. Up to then con- aerial visits of the enemy were daily fidence had been expressed in the repeated. Their bombs did not belief that Paris could not be attacked. succeed in creating any panic in the But on August 31st, German cavalry city, but the gloom of the situation patrols were within forty miles of the was increased by the constant stream French metropoHs, and on the follow- of wounded from the fighting lines so ing day they were in sight of Chan- near, and the influx of terror-stricken tilly, only twenty-three miles distant refugees from the country fleeing from from their goal, and the investment, the German advance. Thousands or at least a raid, seemed only a ques- came into the city, from towns and tion of a day or so. Paris realised villages within a radius of fifty miles, then that the enemy was only a day's train load after train load arriving at march from the boulevards. For the Gare d I'Est, the Gare du Nord, nearly a fortnight its fate hung in the and the Gare d 1' Quest, while the roads balance, and these were dark days into Paris were crowded with the 62

PARIS PREPARES FOR SIEGE 63

vehicles of country folk escaping with August 31st, that the Ministry was as much of their belongings as possible. preparing to shift its headquarters Nevertheless, Paris was preparing immediately to Tours, and then, if to meet its possible fate with calmness. necessary, to Bordeaux. From the very beginning of the war That day and the following saw it had resigned itself to the grimness every Government department en- of the conflict. It had changed, from gaged in packing up its effects and the very first day of the mobilisation, mobilising its staff. Motor cars re- from grave to gay. It had deter- moved the State archives and docu- mined, even if it fell to the enemy, ments to the Quai d*Orsay and that France should not thereby re- Austerlitz stations, whilst other ceive a mortal blow. Those who vehicles with Government property remembered the days of 1870, when a were sent off post-haste by road. similar fate was overtaking Paris, However, two days later it was contrasted the comparative stoicism decided to transfer the Government of the city now with the feverish right away to Bordeaux without a panic then. However, the insatiable previous halt at Tours. Early on the appetite for sensation, so character- morning of September 3rd, President istic of the true Parisian, did not Poincare and his cabinet left Paris for desert the people. The daily aero- the southern city, and later in the day plane visit was eagerly looked for, the members of the Senate, Chamber and on the days when it came not Deputies and other State officials also there was actually disappointment. made their departure. Possibly in the same spirit they were prepared to see Uhlans riding down An Eloquent Defiance the boulevards. Before leaving, the President issued Taken by Surprise a proclamation as follows : Undoubtedly the swiftness of the Frenchmen, — For several invasion of France took Paris by sur- weeks fierce fighting has been prise. It was realised from the first going on between our heroic that the city was threatened, but few troops and the enemy. In thought of the possibility that the several places the valour of our invader would be at the gates by the soldiers has gained marked ad- end of August. The blow, indeed, vantages. But on the north the appeared to be about to fall with pressure of the German forces unexpected and terrible swiftness. has compelled us to retire. This Those who stiU remained confident, situation imposes on the President during the days of the Allies' con- of the Republic and the Govern- tinued retreat, had their confidence ment a painful decision. To somewhat shaken by the tidings on watch over the national safety 64 THE GREAT BATfLES OF THE GREAT WAR

the public authorities are, under struggle all its vigour and duty, withdrawing for the efficiency it is indispensable that moment from the City of Paris. the Government should keep its Under the command of an liberty of action. eminent chief, a French army, At the request of the military full of spirit and courage, will authorities the Government, then, defend the capital and its patriotic transfers its residence for the population against the invader. moment to a point of territory But the war must go on mean- where it can remain in constant while in the remaining parts of relations with the whole of the our territory. Without peace country. It asks members of or truce, without hesitation or Parliament not to remain at a dis- faltering, the sacred struggle for tance from it, so that they may the honour of the nation and the form in the face of the enemy, restoration of violated right will with the Government and their go on. None of our armies is colleagues, a united front of broken. national defence. If some of them have suffered The Government only leaves too great losses, gaps have been Paris after having ensured the immediately made good by Re- defence of the city and of its serves, and the supply of recruits entrenched camp by all means in assures us of new resources in its power. It knows it has no men and energy for the morrow. need to recommend the admir-

Stand fast and fight on ! This able population in Paris to calm is the watchword of the Allied resolution and coolness. Every Armies of England, Russia, Bel- day Parisians show that they are gium, and France, equal to the highest duties. Stand fast and fight on, while -Frenchmen, show j^ourselves on sea the EngHsh help us to worthy in these tragic circum- cut the communications of our stances. In the end we shall enemies with the world. obtain victory. We shall obtain Stand fast and fight on, while it by untiring will, endurance, the Russians continue to advance and tenacity. A nation which to deliver a decisive blow at the refuses to perish and which in heart of the German Empire. It order to survive falters not in the is the Government of the Re- face of suffering or sacrifice is public that must organise this sure of victory. determined resistance. Every- Still a Paris Left where Frenchmen will rise in defence of their independence. Some of the foreign Ambassadors But to give to this formidable also removed to Bordeaux, but the PARIS PREPARES FOR SIEGE 65

Spanish and American Ambassadors The railway lines west were par- remained in the threatened city. To tially invaded, with bridges and complete the removal, the treasure of track blown up by enemy patrols, the Banque de France was also sent and Havre, Cherbourg and other away. western towns could only be reached The civil authorities remained be- by^ detours. By the first days of hind to support the military Govern- September there remained practically ment. A committee was formed by only the direction of south-west or the President of the City Council and south, by which flight was possible. the Council of the Seine department, Nevertheless, the exodus reached to act under the military Governor enormous dimensions, especially when and the Prefects. it was known that the Government An exodus of the population had was removing to the south. begun some days previously. The Scenes of Anxiety military Governor had advised those with friends in the provinces to send Extraordinary scenes were wit- their women and children away from nessed. Cabs laden with families and the city, and the huge task of evacua- their household goods raced to the ting the military hospitals, with their western and southern stations, where thousands of wounded was begun. great crowds of people were endeavour- Many were sent away to be placed on ing to take train for Brittany, Bor- hospital ships and taken by water deaux, and the far south. It was to distant parts of the country, and estimated that on one day there were others were dispatched by rail to no less than 10,000 at a time in the the far south. Thousands of the Montparnasse station, booking for civil population were evicted by St. Malo, Brest, Rennes and else- the military authorities from their where. At the Quai d'Orsay and the homes in the suburbs, for the pur- Gare de Lyon there were just as many. poses of the city's defence. Natur- Travelling was only possible under ally a large proportion of the resi- terrible conditions. Many trains to dents, which had the opportunity Bordeaux were composed mostly of and means of leaving, did so. While cattle-trucks, and in one truck there there was no - panic, extraordinary were often as many as thirty pas- scenes of flight were witnessed for sengers, for a journey which would days. Thousands besieged the rail- take about twenty-four hours. At way stations, and hundreds of motor some of the termini enough tickets cars carrying people and their posses- had been issued to fill the trains for sions hurried out by the main roads days ahead. west and south. As the German The great main roads out of Paris, forces drew nearer the city it be- south and west, saw, as already came increasingly difficult to escape. mentioned, equal activity. Even the c 66 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

Seine was utilised. River boats full were of all classes—rank and fortune of passengers, journeyed up to Havre being annihilated by this common (at £io per passenger) where crowded tragedy. Elegant women, whose steamers left for England and distant beauty is known in the Paris salons, French ports. whose frivolity perhaps in the past Such v/as the great exodus from w^as the main purpose of their life, Paris. A well-known war-correspon- were now on a level with the peasant dent, Mr. Phillip Gibbs, stated that mothers of the French suburbs, and on the road from Paris to Tours he with the midinettes of Montmartre saw, one day, a line of sixty miles of —and their courage did not fail them people, on foot, and in vehicles, rich so quickly. " and poor. His description of this It was a tragic road. At every stream of fugitives is so realistic that mile of it there were people who had it may be quoted. fainted on the roadside. And poor old people who could go no further The Greal Procession but sat on the banks below the " *' They came," he wrote, in every hedges weeping silently on bidding kind of vehicle—taxi-cabs for which the younger ones go forward and rich people had paid fabulous prices, leave them to their fate. ** motor-cars which had escaped the Young women wlio had stepped military requisition, farmers' carts out so jauntily at first were footsore laden with several families and with and lame, so that they limped along piles of household goods, shop carts with lines of pain about their lips drawn by horses already tired to the and eyes. Many of the taxi-cabs, point of death, because of the weight bought at great prices, and many of people who had crowded behind, of the motor-cars had broken down pony-traps and governess-carts. as I passed, and had been abandoned " Many people, well-dressed and by their owners, who had decided to belonging obviously to the well-to- walk. " do bourgeoisie, were wheeling barrows Farmers' carts had jolted into like costers, but instead of trundling ditches and lost their wheels. Wheel- cabbages were pushing forward sleep- barrows, too heavy to trundle, had ing babies and little children, who been tilted up, with all their house- seemed on the first stage of the hold goods spilt into the roadway, journey to find a new amusement and the children had been carried and excitement in this journey from further, until at last darkness came, home. But for the most part the and their only shelter was a haystack people were on foot. in a field under the harvest moon." " They trudged along—oh, so brave- The Waiting Millions ly ! —carrying their babies and holding the hands of their little ones. They But in spite of these scenes of PARIS PREPARES -FOR SIEGE 67

in flight, there remained the city An Entrenched Camp some two miUion inhabitants to face Probably but few of the countless whatever might come, with calmness visitors from other countries to and courage. Cafes still remained France's beautiful capital have ever open and still had customers. News- realised that the city is a huge modern papers were still produced, although fortress, ringed around with a wonder- reduced, by decree, to one edition a ful chain of forts said to be inpreg- day. There was abundant evidence nable. Perhaps even Parisians had that Parisians refused to consider the forgotten this although now they city as doomed. The defence might were reminded in a striking way of last a very long time, and in any their existence. Of the triple chain of case the enemy would have a stupend- forts, the outer ring has a circum- ous task. ference of nearly 100 miles, the In the face of danger the city fortresses extending from west to east seemed, to those in it, to take on a new across a distance of 30 miles (from beauty. The great avenues, with Marly, beyond Versailles to Chelles};- but few vehicles and pedestrians, and from north to south (from looked unusually dignified and ma- Domont to Palaisean), a radius of jestic under the brilliant sun and 23 miles. So long as these outer cloudless sky of those late summer forts could hold out, the city itself days. Still more romantic was the would be free from bombardment, aspect at night, with the dim lights and accordingly the Governor's everywhere, instead of the usual energies were directed upon them. blaze. Never did Paris look so The outskirts of the city were turned mysterious and wonderful, a city into a huge entrenched camp. Earth- waiting in tragic beauty for a great works and trenches were constructed blow. everywhere between the batteries and During these days the final pre- forts, and miles of barricades and - parations for the military defence of barbed wire entanglements were Paris were being pushed forward placed in position. A very drastic, silently and swiftly by General but necessary step was the demolition GalHeni, who had been appointed of hundreds of buildings—private Governor. His stirring proclamation houses, factories, churches—which " inspired courage. Army of Paris. might have obstructed the fire of the Inhabitants of Paris. The members guns and also given cover to the of the Government of the Republic enemy. For days the air resounded have left Paris in order to give new with explosions caused by the blow- impetus to the national defence. I ing up of these buildings by the have received the order to defend military engineers, and the value of Paris against the invader. This order the property so destroyed must have I shall fulfil to the end." been enormous. e2 68 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

to resist shells. The The Stout Parisian Heart prepared treasures of the museums, galleries Preparations such as these were and hbraries were, in most cases, watched with interest and much removed to vaults and other strong- sang-froid by the Parisians. The holds remote from the possibility streets were filled with the soldiers of bombs. of the garrison army, and the con- to and fro of stant dashing military An Agony of Suspense and armoured motor-cars gave yet another touch of actual warfare in At the Louvre special steel rooms the very midst of the capital. The were constructed in which the Veftus task of provisioning Paris also de Milo, the Gioconda, and other provided the citizens with a further priceless antiques were all placed. sensation. One can imagine with Vast barricades of sacks of earth and what feelings they looked upon the sand were placed in position upon sight of the Bois de Boulogne turned the roofs and around the rooms where into a cattle farm ! For days great the most valuable objects had been herds of oxen and sheep were driven deposited. This system of steel and in from the country and quartered in earth screens was also adopted at the park which is the pride of Paris, the Luxembourg and other famous and also in many adjacent open spaces. art repositories. In addition, some Huge supplies of wheat had been of the more portable of the city's hurried in from the time that the treasures were removed to distant war began, and in the matter of fresh parts of the country and securely greenstuff Paris was well supplied hidden. by the numerous market-gardens For a fortnight Paris hved in this which lie on the outskirts of the town, agony of suspense. The movement just within the outer ring of forts. of the German right flank to the Nevertheless how long the supplies east somewhat relieved the anxiety, would last seemed an uncertain but not until the battle of the Mame quantity. On the other hand, had been fought and won was the it was e\'idently the opinion of menace of invasion over, for the time those in authority that any siege being. But as the enemy was slowly would not be a long one. A decision rolled back by the Allies into its one way or the other would prob- entrenchments along the Aisne, ably be inevitable in a short Parisians breathed more freely. True, time. the enemy was still only sixty miles Elaborate precautions were also distant, at the nearest point from taken for the protection of the monu- the city to the firing line, but he was ments, and art treasures of Paris. securely held there. Trains began Many of the chief buildings were to run once more to the coast, and PARIS PREPARES FOR SIEGE 69 life in the city resumed its usual always in the memory of all those who course, as much as it had done since lived through that tragic fortnight in the war began. But the great shadow Paris, and the city itself would bear of siege would assuredly remain traces of it for long. IX. THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE

The whole of the vast movement of A Historic Dispatch swift retirement on the part of the The first in the Battle of German armies from before Paris, and stage the Marne is thus recorded Sir of the no less rapid advance of the by

French : Allies will go down to history as John " the Battle of the Marne. On Sep- The general position of our troops tember 3rd the Commander of the on Sunday, September 6th, was stated largest of the three great armies of to be south of the Marne with French the enemy advancing on Paris, which forces on our right and left. On Fri- was the one nearest the capital, dis- day, September 4th, it became appa- " covered the presence of a large rent that there was an alteration

' reserve accumulated by the French in the direction of advance of almost ' ' commanders behind Paris. He there- the whole of the ist German Army. upon decided not to retreat, but to That army, since the battle near turn at right angles to the course he Mons on August 23rd, had been play- had been pursuing, join up with ing its part in the colossal strategic Armies Nos. 2 and 3, and try to cut endeavour to create a Sedan for the the Allied line in two. This move- Allies by outflanking and enveloping ment involved his marching right the left of their whole line, so as to across the front of the French and encircle and drive both British and British lines, and is the movement French to the south. ** referred to by Sir John French in There was now a change in its his of the forces Dispatch September 14th, objective ; German oppo- when he spoke of the enemy being site the British were beginning to ** prepared to ignore the British." move in a south-easterly direction, The German Commander's rash instead of continuing south-west on daring was unsuccessful. He was to the capital. Leaving a strong repulsed and compelled to retire rearguard along the River Ourcq the way he had come, with the (which V flows south and joins the Reserve French Army behind Paris Marne at Lizy), to keep off the French and the British troops pounding after 6th Army—then to the north-west of him. Paris—^they were evidently executing 70 THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE 71 " what amounted to a flank march Possibly weakened by the detach- diagonally across our front. ment of troops to the east, and realis- ing that the action of the French 6th Ignoring the British ! Army against the fine of the Ourcq, " Prepared to ignore the British, as and the advance of the British placed being driven out of the fight, they their own flanking movement in con- were initiating an effort to attack siderable danger of being taken in the left flank of the French main rear and on its right flank, the Ger- army which stretched in a long mans on this day commenced to curved line from our right towards retire towards the north-east." the east, and so to carry out against The Various Movements it alone, the envelopment which had so far failed against the combined Before continuing Sir John French's forces of the Allies. On Saturday, Dispatch, we will make a break here September 5th, this movement on the in order to explain in greater detail part of the Germans was continued, the movements to which he refers. and large advanced parties crossed The last line of this portion of the the Marne southwards at Trilport, Dispatch leaves the enemy beginning Sammeroy, La Ferte-sous-Jouarre, to retire for the first time since the and Chateau-Thierry. There was con- opening of the war. As already siderable fighting with the French stated, on September 2nd or 3rd, 5th Army on the French left, which General von Kluck with an army of fell back from its^ position south of some 200,000 men, learnt of a large the Marne towards the Seine. reserve force collected by the French " On Sunday large hostile forces commanders behind Paris. He had crossed the Marne and pushed on also in front of him as he faced Paris through Coulommiers past the British the 5th and 6th French Armies, and right. Further east they were at- the British contingent. He had two tacked at night by the French 5th alternatives, to retreat the way he had Army, which captured three villages come, a movement which would leave at the point of the bayonet. the other German armies to the east " On Monday, September 7th, isolated and their western flank un- there was a general advance on the protected, or cross right along the part of the Allies in this quarter of front of the French and British lines the field. Our forces, now reinforced, with a view to uniting with those pushed on in a north-easterly direc- other German armies on his left. tion, in co-operation with an advance Leaving a large body of his army on of the French 5th Army to the north the plateau running west of the and of the French 6th Army east- River Ourcq, and around the villages wards, against the German rearguard of Penchard and B6gy to safeguard along the Ourcq. his communications, he started with 72 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

the rest of his army on his perilous there was a general impression adventure. "Upon Saturday, Sep- amongst the enemy's troops that they tember 5th/* says Mr. Hilaire Belloc were about to enter Paris." in his notes on the Battle of the Meaux Mr. Hilaire Belloc vividly describes or of the Ourcq (as the first section of the first move in the counter-offensive the Battle of the Mame will be of the Allies during the night of Sep- " " known), in Land and Water, the temper 6th : The French 5th Army columns of this first German Army, attacked with the bayonet, and re- von Kluck's, the largest German covered some little ground north of Army in the field, crossed the Marne the Seine, and by daylight on Monday at Trilport, La Ferte-sous-Jouarre, the British contingent advanced north- and just below Chateau Thierry. The wards against the enemy. The British French 5th Army fell back before this fought their way through, and beyond and on the the Forest of and advance ; Sunday, 6th, Crecy through the remainder of the Germans, with Coulommiers. The 5th French Army the exception of the large rearguard beyond them to the east attacked La which had been left to keep off the Ferte and Gaucher Estemay, and this increasing French pressure along the southern part of the Allied hne Ourcq, had pushed right down through crossed the Grand Morin river and Coulommiers to the neighbourhood approached the next defensible line of Piovins. Its cavalry patrols had held by the Germans, the Petit Morin." even reached the Seine in the neigh- The Flowing Tide bourhood of Nogent." This brings us to Tuesday, Sep- The German " Farthest South '* tember 8th. On that day, says. Sir ** This spot represented the German John French, The German move- *' army's Farthest South." During ment north-eastwards was continued, the night between Sunday the 6th their rearguards on the south of the and Monday the 7th, the counter- Marne being pressed back to that offensive of the Allies began, and, to river by our troops and by the French " quote Sir John French, there was a on our right, the latter capturing three general advance," followed on Monday villages after a hand-to-hand fight 7th, by the Germans commencing and the infliction of severe loss on " to retire towards the north-east." the enemy. The fighting along the " This was the first time," continues Ourcq on this day was of the most " Sir John, that these troops had sanguinary character, for the Ger- turned back since their attack on mans had massed a great force of Mons a fortnight before, and from artillery along this line. " reports received, the order to retreat The French 5th Army also made when so close to Paris was a bitter a fierce attack on the Germans in disappointment. From letters found Montmirail, regaining that place. THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE 73 " On Wednesday, September 9th, demoralised and inclined to surrender the battle between the French 6th in small parties. " Army and what was now the German Much brutal and senseless damage flank guard along the Ourcq con- has been done in the villages occupied tinued. by the enemy. Property has been " The British Corps, overcoming wantonly destroyed, pictures in the some resistance on the River Petit chateaux have been ripped up, and Morin, crossed the Marne in pursuit the houses generally pillaged. It is of the Germans, who were now hastily stated on unimpeachable authority, retreating northwards. also, that the inhabitants have " One of our corps was delayed by been much ill-treated. " an obstinate defence made by a strong Interesting incidents have oc- rearguard with machine guns at La curred during the fighting. On Ferte-sous-Jouarre, where the bridge Thursday last part of our 2nd Army had been destroyed. On Thursday, Corps advancing north found itself September loth, the French 6th Army marching parallel with another in- continued its pressure on the west, fantry force. It was thought that while the 5th Army, by forced marches this was another British unit, until reached the line Chateau-Thierry- it was found to be a body of Germans Dormans on the Marne." retreating. Measures were promptly taken to head off the enemy, who were Over the Marne surrounded and trapped in a sunken road, where over 400 men surren- By the loth the Germans had been dered." everywhere pushed right over the river Marne. Sir John French con- Their Ablest General tinues : The retreat, as cleverly conducted " Our troops also continued the by General von Kluck as his advance pursuit on the north of the latter had been, continued during Friday river, and after a considerable amount the nth and Saturday the 12th, the of fighting captured some 1,500 pri- pursuing Allies receiving their first soners, four guns, six machine guns check on Sunday the 13th, the Ger- and fifty transport wagons. man forces by this time having begun '' Many of the enemy were killed to occupy a very strong defensive and wounded, and the numerous thick position north of the River Aisne, woods which dot the country north which river gives its name to the next of the Marne are filled with German stage of the war. By Monday, the stragglers. Most of them appear to 14th, the Gennans were well-estab- have been without food for at least lished in their new position of defence, two days. Indeed, in this area of their fine consisting not only of operations, the Germans seem to be General von Kluck*s army, but also 74 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR of the 2nd and 3rd Armies, both by the British Army, which had having had to fall back. been transferred from the north to At this point we will supplement the east of Paris, and by French Sir John French's Dispatch, with the corps advancing alongside of it on the official of Press Report the Bureau line Crecy-Coulommiers-Sezanne. . , issued on September 12th, for though The German outer flank was forced it covers tic same ground as that back as far as the line of the covered by Sir John, it adds certain Ourcq. " particulars to our information : There it made a strong defence, " A summary, necessarily incom- and executed several vigorous counter- plete, may be attempted of the attacks, but was unable to beat off operations of the British Expedition- the pressure of the French advance. " ary Force and the French Armies The main body of the enemy's during the last four days. right wing vainly endeavoured to " On September 6th the southward defend the line of the Grand Morin advance of the German right reached River, and then that of the Petit its extreme points at Coulommiers Morin. " and Provins, cavalry patrols having Pressed back over both of these penetrated even as far south as rivers and threatened on its right Nogent-sur-Seine. owing to the defeat of the covering *' This movement was covered by force by the Allied left, the German a large flanking force west of the right wing retreated over the Marne line of the River Ourcq, watching the on September loth. " outer Paris defences and any Allied The British Army, with a portion force that might issue from them. of the French forces on its left, " The southward movement of the crossed this river below Chateau enemy left his right wing in a danger- Thierry, a movement which obliged ous position, as he had evacuated the the enemy's forces west of the Ourcq, Cfeil-Senlis-Compi^gne region through already assailed by the French corps which his advance had been pushed. forming the extreme left of the " The Allies attacked this exposed Allies, to give way and to retreat wing both in front and flank on the north-eastwards in the direction of 8th. The covering force was assailed Soissons. " by a' French army based upon the Since the loth the whole of the Paris defences, and brought to action German right wing has fallen back in on the line Nanteuil-le-Haudouin- considerable disorder, closely followed Meaux. by the French and British troops. " Six thousand and fifteen A Frontal Attack prisoners guns were captured on the loth and *' The main portion of the enemy's nth, and the enemy is reported to right wing was attacked frontally be continuing his retirement rapidly THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE 75 over the Aisne, evacuating the Soissons left behind a strong force to protect region. his communications on the plateau " The British cavalry is reported running west of the River Ourcq, and to-day to be at Fismes, not far around the villages of Penchard and from Rheims. Begy. This German rear-guard offered a most determined '' " resistance, Strongly Engaged ! and the French lost heavily before " While the German right wing has they succeeded in forcing the line thus been driven back and thrown of the Ourcq. Once, however, the into disorder, the French Armies line was forced the German retreat further to the east have been strongly was inevitable. ^ engaged with the German centre, The Restrained which had pushed forward as far as French Way Vitry. The French military authorities, in " Between the 8th and loth our their Report, dated Paris, September Allies were unable to make much nth, thus refer to this engagement : " impression west of Vitry. On the By its clever and rapid move- nth, however, this portion of the ments, this army (the army com- German Army began to give way, manded by General von Kluck) has and eventually abandoned Vitry, succeeded in escaping from the Allies' where the enemy's line of battle grip, and was throwing itself with the was forming a .sahent under the greater part of its forces against our impulse of French troops between enveloping wing to the north of the the upper Marne and the Meuse. Marne, and the west of the " Ourcq, The French troops are following but the French troops, which were up the enemy, and are driving portions operating in this region—powerfully of the forces northwards towards the aided by the bravery of our British Argonne forest country. _ Allies—inflicted considerable losses on " The 3rd French Army reports the enemy, and gained the necessary to-day that it has captured the time to allow our offensive. At entire artillery of a hostile army present, on this side, the enemy is in corps—a capture which probably re- retreat towards the Aisne and the presents about 160 guns. Oise. He has fallen back more than " The enemy is thus in retreat along 60-75 kilometres (35 to 45 miles) the whole hne west of the Meuse, in four days. " and has suffered gravely in moral, In the meantime, the Anglo- besides encountering heavy losses in French forces which have been opera- personnel and material." ting to the south of the Marne have Earher in this chapter we stated not ceased pursuing their offensive. that General von Kluck, before march- Starting, some of them, from the ing across the front of the Allies' district to the south of the Forest of 76 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

others from the district Crec)^ to enemy stopped fighting on the front the north of Provins and the south between the Marsh of Saint Gond, of Esternay, they have opened out and the Sommesous district, and from the Mame. fell back in the region immediately *' On the the of General left, army to the west of Vitry-le-Francois." von Kiuck and the army of General The marshes of Saint Gond are the \^on Buelow are back before falling sources of the river the Petit Morin : our troops." they are some ten miles long : "at

their narrowest, less than a mile : Obliged to Retire at their broadest over two miles The army of General von Buelow broad." was the one we have referred to as In No. 2. It had been the Marshes army holding " the line against the Allies between In a hurried retreat very heavily Paris and the Toul-Verdun line, and pressed by the enemy," writes Mr. " operating on the Plateau of Sezanne Belloc, these marshes of Saint It lay next to the left and east of Gond might prove an awkward ob- von Kluck's army, and was obliged stacle, even in a dry summer, and to retreat because its flank was even though they are crossed by five roads for a exposed by von Kluck's retirement. ; large force would The following is the passage in the be strictly confined to those roads French Report referring to its action and would be upon defiles, that is, as well as to the action of the German confined to long and narrow columns,

Army No. 3 : while it was crossing the marshes. "It is in the region included be- But it is evident that there was no tween the plateaux to the north of such pressure upon this retreat of the the Sezanne and Vitry-le-Francois German second group. All the energy that the most desperate fighting has to be spent in those days by the occurred. Allies was being exercised upon the ** In it have been operating, besides army of von Kluck immediately to the left of the army of General von the west." The army of General Buelow, the Saxon army and a part von Buelow, when it fell back over of the army commanded by the Prince the Marne at Epernay made for of Wurttemberg. Rheims and came into line north " The Germans have tried to break of Rheims with the German armies our centre by repeated violent attacks, No. I and No. 3 behind the River but did not succeed. Aisne. The third huge mass of Ger- '* Our success on the plateaux to man troops. Army No. 3, was on the North of Sezanne has enabled us the left, or east, of Army No. 2, in our turn to take under von the offensive ; Buelow, and just as von and in the course of last night the Buelow's retreat was necessitated by is

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THE BATTLE OF THE IVIARNE 11 von Kluck's, so was that of Army No. 3 officer just back from the front that under the Prince of Wurttemberg when the Prussian Guard was thrust made imperative by the retirement of back to the north of the St. Gond von Buelow, and for the same reason. Marshes on Friday they left a number This 3rd Army had marched far south of heavy guns stuck in the swampy " and was holding Sommesous Vitry- land. All along the line the heavy le-Francois, the railway line and the rain of Friday helps to account high road between them, and had for much of the German artillery entrenched a defensive line along losses." the River Saulx, and further along the It only remains to refer to the 4th River Ornain (its tributary) as far great German army, that of the as Revigny." Crown Prince, which before the general retreat began had its headquarters at Not Advance but Retreat St. Menehould. The object of this 4th This was the crisis of the first phase army was to either reduce the fortress of the campaign, for it was here, of Verdun or of Toul, or break through if anj^where, that the line of the the chain of forts between these Allies might be pierced. How much two strongholds. If the Crown Prince depended on this effort of the Germans could succeed in doing either of these is shown by the order of the General things he would remove the barrier in command of the German forces at guarding the flank of the French line Titry, dated September 7th, 10.30 from Toul-Verdun to Paris, and ** p.m., which he left behind in his would open new, good and quite " precipitate flight. In it he impressed short lines of communication for on his men that everything depended the Germans with Western Germany. ** on the result of to-morrow." The But he failed completely, and at one attempt to break the French line in moment it even looked as if he would two failed and instead of advance be caught before he could got away. came retreat. " A Summing-Up The failure at Vitry," writes Mr. G. H. Perris, the able Daily Chronicle The retreat of the German forces ** Special Correspondent at Paris, was was summed up as follows in the not as drastic as between Meaux and French Report, dated Paris, Septem- " Chateau-Thierry, but it was suffici- ber nth : The general situation ently complete. The French crossed has thus been completely transformed the Marne yesterday (September 12th) during the last few days, both from between Epernay and Chalons and the strategical and tactical point of view. Not our thence southwards to Vitry, and 20 only have —troops miles north-east of the latter place, stopped the Germans' march ^which the little town of Revigny has been they thought was a victorious one— le-taken. I am informed by a French but the enemy has -fallen back before 78 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR us at nearly every point." The Petit Morin, flowing into the Marne, Battle of the Mame, which ended, and to the south the Grand Morin, ** as General Joffre said, in incon- flowing into the Seine, which latter " testable victory for the Allies after river flows through S6zanne. To the five days' fierce fighting, was one of east, near the Marne, are the great the most important ever contested. swamps of St. Gond, to the west the It was really a series of battles, in Seine, and the Forest of Fontainbleau. which no fewer than forty-three Army Thus we have a series of rivers running Corps, or over 3,000,000 men, are east to west, while encircling the reported to have taken part. Sir whole are the Seine to the south, and John French in a later dispatch dated the Marne to the north and east. September 17th, says the Battle of Between the rivers are woods and the Mame began at sunrise on Sep- plains." tember 6th and closed on the evening Looking Forward ! of the loth September. We have touched on the character Having in this chapter outlined of the country in which the battle the campaign of the Battle of the occurred, but in order to seize the Marne, and traced the movement of significance of the movements of the German troops from the moment the armies engaged it is necessary their advance on Paris ceased, until to give a general idea of its nature. they were safe, for the time being, " The land upon which the great behind the Aisne, we shall in the next battle was fought," writes the special chapter endeavour, from the evidence *' correspondent of The Times, con- of eye-witnesses of the great Retreat, sists of high plateaux, woods, and to fill in the details of the picture. streams running betwixt deep banks. The reader will thus be enabled when It is among the most beautiful in reading the vivid stories illustrating France. Forming a great loop to the Battle of the Mame to fit the the north is the Marne, which flows incidents with which they deal into into the Seine just outside of Paris. their proper place in the tremendous This river gives off at Meaux a tribu- whole of the five days' conflict by tary, the Ourcq, which runs at first referring to the dates and places due and then west. in a north, Sweeping given this chapter ; possessing south-east, the Marne passes by general idea of the armies of the Vitry-le-Frangois. The country south German and French commanders he of the Marne, which up till Sunday will better appreciate the indiviudal (September 6th) was occupied entirely moves on the board, which otherwise by the enemy, is intersected from would be robbed of half their signifi- east to west by, to the north, the cance and interest X. THE GERMANS HURLED BACK

You have to imagine the mighty Kluck discovered the big French army German host rolHng down to Paris in reserve behind Paris, and foiled, sweeping everything before it Uke a started his disastrous march across " broad, rushing river. The stream the Allies' front. of refugees which passed me night and day during the week-end/' says A British Attack a Special Correspondent of The Times, in a brilHant message dated five miles On Friday, September 4th, the south of Provins, nth, encounter began. On that day the " September and which I encountered at a hun- British attacked the Germans in the dred different points, told its own neighbourhood of the Grand Morin sad tale. Everywhere was terror and River. The engagement was hot, and ' * despondency. Fly ! they told me. the British took a number of prisoners. 'They are here.' From Troyes the The next day, Saturday, 5th, the story came, from Nogent-sur-Seine, flank march of Kluck continued, from Romilly. These poor people and on Sunday, the 6th, the great had suffered all attack on his terribly ; above they exposed right wing ' seemed to dread the Taube,' the began. This right wing lay in the aeroplane, one of which region of Meaux at the junction of wrought " great fear along this line, and finally the Ourcqf and the Marne. Simul- dropped some bombs on the platform taneously with the attack upon it," of the station at But in reports The Times Special Corres- Troyes. " the towns people are less terrified." pondent already quoted, battle was- The tremendous wave reached joined along the whole front—Meau5c, Provins it extended to ; even Nogent, Esternay, Sezanne, Vitry-le-Francois, but it got no farther, though when it and extending to Verdun. The sound ceased to move forward the main of cannon became audible from where German mass was in touch with the I was, and it was clear by many signs fortifications of Paris, and the tri- that the tremendous encounter was umphant success of the German plans in progress. Over the line of battle, seemed assured. It only remained and under a blazing sun, a great to deliver the final blow when von black pall of smoke gathered, out of 79 8o THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR which boomed the cannon with ter- evening we had orders to fall back rible I waited in thrilled insistency. beyond C , but during the night anxiety. The day wore on ; night we advanced afresh, and our regiment fell cool and gracious." gathered on a hillside. At dawn on " " Sunday we came into touch with the Fierce and Terrible enemy, who was attempting a turning The fighting that Sunday was of a movement on our left. We were told fierce and terrible character. It began to hold firm until our British Allies, at dawn, and the importance General who were acting in the neighbourhood Joffre, the French commander, at- of Meaux, had repelled the German tached to the battle is evinced by forces on that side. There was no the impressive Order he issued that difficulty in doing so, for from the morning to his troops : beginning of the afternoon the enemy " At the moment when the battle fell back in disorder towards the on which our country's salvation east. There was, however, a very depends is being fought, it is im- lively engagement to the north of portant to recall to all that the Fertd-Gaucher. This continued all moment is no longer one in which night, and was at its height on to look behind. Every effort must Monday morning." be made to attack and push back Two Army Corps the enemy. A troop which can no longer advance must at all costs Another officer of infantry ex- guard the ground conquered, and die pressed the opinion that the defeated on the spot rather than retreat. Germans of this two days' battle " Under no circumstances can failure comprised two army corps. They be tolerated." had enormous losses—I saw more In the region of La Ferte-Gaucher than 600 corpses in a single trench. the Allied troops drawn up to receive Our men were superb. Despite the Germans understood they must orders one of our battalions charged maintain their position to the end : a German battery, although they " in order that the attacking force were well placed." A French officer at Meaux might achieve its task in told Mr. H. M. Tomlinson, the Special security." And they never wavered. Correspondent of the Daily News, A French sergeant of infantry gave that the German reply to the French Mr. G. H. Ferris, the Special Corres- offensive against the right of the pondent of the Daily Chronicle, the enemy at Meaux on the Monday " following account of his experiences : was hell." The French had only *' had been since the We ready Friday light guns ; Germans had heavy evening and during Saturday the cannon. But though inferior in force sound of cannon came ever nearer and weight of arms the French without our being engaged. On that bravely held their ground after their THE GERMANS HURLED BACK 8i

offensive was checked. Mr. Tomlin- impression that only death will put

son continues : him out of action. I know that in " The Germans devastated the all those four days of fighting, those French attacks. The French infantry village affairs, and finally the long advanced, only to come upon Unes and desperate battle about Meaux, of masked machine guns, which swept he was without water. He gave his them, driving them back for several last drink to his horse." hundred yards. German light artil- The Germans made tremendous lery then advanced, and wrecked their efforts to construct bridges to cross lines still more. But they held to the River Marne, the French having it, the brave fellows, knowing the blown up the existing bridges, and supreme importance of that action, covered the river with their heavy determined to wait for reinforce- guns. Time after time the German ments till night came and further engineers tried to get their pontoons waiting was hopeless. into position, each time a hail of " But help was nearer than they shells descending as soon as the thought. It came late, but it came work began. At one point sixteen in time to tip the beam. When attempts at bridge-building were thus things were at their worst, and the foiled, a mass of soldiers being hurled day seemed lost, the British heavy into the water at the final effort. artillery rolled down on the field in a scene of wild enthusiasm, and An Ugly Crossing literally blew the German position to The character of the crossing is atoms. vividly depicted by Private Duffy, the in " " of Rifle Brigade, an interview Carnage— Horrible ! published in the Manchester Guardian ** The carnage among the Germans of September 14th : ''A mixed force was not only great, it was horrible. of British and French infantry was Eye-witnesses tell me of that battle- told off to prevent the Germans field being strewn with fragments of crossing the River Marne at one men. That was the beginning of the point. About half a mile from the German retirement. And on that river bank we came out from a wood night, in the north-east, the French to find a French infantry battalion and British soldiers saw the flames going across in the same direction. of the pyres where the Germans were We didn't want to be behind so we burning the gathered heaps of their put our best foot forward, and one slain. of the most exciting races you ever " The Germans have been beaten saw followed. We got in first by a across the River Ourcq. And here head, as you might say, and we were again I must pay a tribute to the just in time to tackle a mob of French soldier. You get the definite Germans heading for the crossing in 82 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

disorder. We went at them with the and the British fast on his heels took bayonet, but they didn't seem to seven cannon, two machine guns, and have the least heart for fighting. about 1,000 prisoners. On Monday Some of them flung themselves in night, after the fierce fighting on the the stream, and tried to swim to Ourcq throughout the day, the French safety, but they were heavily ac- entered a village in this district only coutred and worn out, so they didn't just vacated by the enemy. In one go very far. Of about 300 men who large house they found a well-spread tried this not more than half a dozen dinner table, at which the German succeeded in reaching the other bank, Staff had undoubtedly been seated. and the cries of the drowning men The candles still burned on the table, were pitiful in the extreme. testifying to the suddenness of the *' Away on our left the German stampede. army had thrown pontoons across By Monday night von Kluck's the river to facilitate the retreat army had been thrown back from of their men, but the French and the Ourcq, the Marne and the Grand British artillery had found the range Morin, viz., from the region of Meaux to an inch or so, and kept dropping to that of Sdzanne. To protect their shells right in the thick of them. line of communications, reinforce- It looked so terrible from the shore ments were hurried north to the that a great number of Germans Meaux and Ourcq districts with a hadn't the heart to risk the crossing, view to overcoming the French resis- " " and they flung themselves down by tance. Meaux being —to quote " the river side to escape from the The Times— to Paris as Reading is deadly hail of fire. We were sent to London." It was by this route that against these men, and when we a way was to be opened up to the reached them we found that we capital. But this second attempt could only capture them by coming of the Germans on the Ourcq was as under the fire from our own guns. unsuccessful as their first. Beginning We did our best, but we knew it was on Monday night it continued through no use expecting our artillery to cease Tuesday the 8th, and was, says Sir " five, and it was from a shell from John French, of the most sanguinary our own lines that laid out me and character, for the Germans had massed others of our regiment." a great force of artillery along this " line." Through all night and well No Dinner ! on into the great German ' Tuesday The German retreat was precipitate. guns boomed along this river—the The enemy fled too swiftly even to German guns have a heavy sound ' return the fire of his in pursuers ; boum,' the French a much sharper * ' one place he retired twenty kilo- one, bing —the resistance of the " metres without firing a single shot. Allies could not be broken and on THE GERMANS HURLED BACK 83

Wednesday at midnight the official buted at this essential point to the communication issued from Paris re- general result." " ported : On the left wing all German It is admitted on all hands that attempts to break those of our troops the German artillery fire is excep- the bank failed. their rifle on right have The tionally good ; fire, however, British Army has crossed the Mame. is bad. An officer wounded in the The enemy has fallen back forty fighting which took place on the kilometres.'* Marne thus described the latter to Mr. George Renwick, Special Cor- How THE News Came respondent of the Daily Chronicle ; " While the Ourcq was being held Their rifle fire was strangely erratic. the resistance of the enemy at La German soldiers, by the way, do not Ferte Gaucher and Sezanne was, aim at all. At times they came near on this Tuesday morning, being enough to allow us to see through " broken. I had the news in two our glasses the curious methods of the ways," says The Times correspondent, German riflemen. They do not put " the cannon were silent ; the their rifles to their shoulders and take wounded poured down to the bases— aim; they put the butt of their wounded men no longer down-hearted rifles under their arms, and simply but full of spirit eager to be back to fire away, trusting to the effectiveness ' the fray. Their army is in full of volleys." retreat have crossed the river ; they ; left The Havoc of Battle they have La Ferte Gaucher ; they are rushing back home/ So the Mr. Thomas Naylor, Special Corre- good story ran. And from every sponent of the Daily Chronicle, who French lip there was a generous ad- traversed the Mame Valley on the dendum to it—and your compatriots Sunday following the battle, found —they have fought hke lions. They abundant traces of the fierceness of have smashed the Germans. Nothing the conflict and the haste of the " can withstand them." Only those," retreat. Outside Meaux on a hill wrote Mr. G. H. Ferris from behind to the eastward huge trees had been the Allies lines at Chateau Thierry, on cut right off close to the ground by " September 13th, who have seen shellfire. All around lay the unburied these British divisions in the field— bodies of German soldiers who bore on " not only the gunners, cavalry and their collars the number 9. The infantry, but the supply services and scene was a terrible and a sickening columns of communication, the flying one. Most of them were finely built corps, the pontoon outfit, the field fellows and all round them lay the telegraph and the rest—can appreciate carcasses of horses. Men were, busy how much the complete preparation burying the men and burning the and clockwork order of these contri- horses." On the summit of the hill 84 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

to the east of Meaux was a small to Vincennes since yesterday morning. farm consisting of an orchard, house The spoils of war include eleven guns, and outbuildings. There the battle had seven motor wagons full of ammu- raged with great ferocity. The Ger- nition, four mitrailleuses, three aero- mans had constructed a trench about planes, two large lorries filled with a himdred yards from the road, which helmets, rifles, swords, cartridges and ran for nearly three miles in the boxes, besides gun carriages and direction of Trilport. Great pits had wagons of different kinds. It is been torn in the earth about this estimated that since the beginning " trench by the AUies' artillery : The of last week about sixty guns, thirty rain*of the previous night had washed mitrailleuses, and forty wagons have away the earth revealing the thousands been captured from the Germans in of shrapnel bullets which had pene- addition to a considerable quantity of trated it. The carnage must have ammunition." been fearful as every shell seemed By Tuesday night our troops were in to have burst right over the trenches. possession of La Ferte-sous-Jouarre, One mess tin I picked up had no Charly and Chateau-Thierry. On fewer than fifteen bullet holes in it." the same day the French in the neigh- In these trenches still lay empty bourhood of Vitry le Francois achieved meat tins, packets of biscuits done a great victory, incidentally driving up in cloth, empty wine bottles and back the German Imperial Guard pails raided from surrounding farm- from Sezanne to the Marshes of St. houses and left in latter confusion. Thou- Gond ; in the morass of the the sands of picture postcards, evidently enemy lost over two batteries of seized by the German soldiers on field artillery and were literally mowed crossing the French frontier were down while making frantic efforts scattered about, while great coats, to save the guns. Their retreat at rifles, knapsacks, blankets, and haver- this point became a stampede, and sacks bore silent testimony to the on the elevated plateau to the south headlong nature of the flight. Some of the morass and in the fields between guns behind the trenches had also the villages of Oyes and Soizy-Aux- been abandoned but- the heaps of Bois many pyramids of heavy shrapnel empty shell cases remained. shells abandoned in the rout were afterwards found. On Wednesday Train Loads of Booty the British Army continued its pur- The following Renter message dated suit towards the north, and on the Paris, September 14th, shows how following day, Thursday, September much booty was captured after the loth, the French 6th army continued " Battle of the Marne : Twenty-one its pressure on the west, while the train-loads of booty collected in the 5th Army by forced marches reached Aviarne battlefields have been brought the line Chateau-Thierry—Dormans THE GERMANS HURLED BACK 85 on the Marne. The French troops pillaged by the German troops. The also continued their pursuit north of dining-room table was heaped with the Marne, capturing some 1,500 the wreckage of a drunken meal. prisoners, four guns, six machine There were empty wine bottles every- guns, and fifty transport wagons. where, and across the table and in the dishes there was flung a great crimson Prisoners in the Woods splash that looked like blood, but Large numbers of prisoners were proved to be the outpoured contents caught hiding in the thick woods of a tureen of beetroot soup. Every dotting the country north of the drawer from sideboard and cupboard of the floor its contents Marne ; most them had been lay on where had without food for two days, and ap- been turned out in a search for all peared absolutely demoralised. Much that was valuable. I passed from brutal and senseless damage, reports room to room and everywhere found Sir John French, had been done by the same litter. It seemed that not the Germans in the villages they had a single wardrobe or press in the house occupied. Property had been wan- had not been rifled. The beds were tonly destroyed, pictures ripped up, overturned, the telephone instrument the houses generally pillaged and smashed, and even a pile of gramo- '* the inhabitants much ill-treated." phone records had been trodden under Here is a picture of the kind of the German heel." senseless damage perpetrated by the ** The Art of Hunnery apostles of the new culture." It is drawn by a correspondent of The At Estemay, a village close to Times in France. Suzanne, and a pivot of the Marne "I set off on a bicycle towards La battle, the Germans arrived on the Fert^ of Gaucher and at a distance of evening Saturday, September 5th ; about seven kilometres from that they broke the windows of the little towm, finding myself on a lonely road shops, stole the gold communion with nothing to guide me but the service of the church, mounting a sound of guns, I turned down a lane machine gun on the turret, where they leading to a manor house where I had already hoisted the Red Cross meant to inquire the way. Windows flag, drank all the liquor they could and doors were open, but the place find and engaged in wholesale robbery, was as silent as the grave. I walked spoliation, and outrage. Many inhabi- into the courtyard and saw no one. tants fled, but among those who Then I entered the house and under- remained was a sister of the cafe- stood. The beautiful old manor which keeper opposite the Cafe de la Gare, looked so warm and placid in the a young woman of twenty. The summer morning had been deserted drunken and bestial German ofiicers by its owners and had been ruthlessly ordered her to serve them, their 86 THE GREAT BATFLES OF THE GREAT WAR

*' taste being in the direction of no longer upon easy ways. The Roman orgie." When she refused roads are turned to river ways. to obey them they slew her. Fortun- The wheels sink into deep ruts that " ately the ringleader of these cul- tax all the strength of those over- " tured murderers, the German com- wearied steeds. The drivers shout mandant, was found by the French and ply the lash unmercifully. The in hiding on their arrival at the great beasts strain and struggle in the heroic effort. But the wheels sink village ; he was placed against wall of the cafe and shot. But what deeper. The huge guns lurch ' and happened at Esternay w^as character- swing. A horseman dashes up from * haste istic, and apparently inseparable Haste, ; they are coming, ' of those terrible ! the German occupation any village ; Englishmen Again the whole countryside rang with the descent of those wet-sodden whips. stories of their robbery and cruelty. Again that terrible straining on the their drunkenness was traces. It is At Esternay vain ; the wheels are their undoing. Every cellar was ran- fast. Men cut the traces. The liber- sacked and at the chateau to which ated horses gallop off. The retreat we have referred they drank the draws slowly away through the dusk contents of some 3,000 bottles, mostly —an endless stream, worn and weary, champagne. In 'consequence, the famished, without ammunition." French arrived in the district prac- It was the Aisne or destruction. " tically unobserved. The German Once over the Aisne the German occupation lasted from Saturday after- Army had the river Oise on his right noon until early Monday morning, and for the moment the danger of when they disappeared in the direction being outflanked was averted." The of Soissons. Following their usual original defensive position was occu- custom, says The Times correspondent, pied by the Germans on Sunday, they took ten villagers as hostages September 13th, and it was on that including the Mayor and the Cure. day that they turned and faced their One of these prisoners, an elderly pursuers. Their position ran in a man, white-haired and apparently fairly even line east and west from about seventy, they kept without the forest of Argonne to the Oise food for two days. Happily there River, along a line of heights varying was something to drink as they were in character from east to west. intered in a wine shop. Between Thursday, September loth, and Saturday, September 12th, the Over Difficult Country day on which von Kluck was about Towards the end of the retreat, to take up a defensive position on the notably on Friday nth, torrential Aisne, some of his regiments marched rain fell and added to the difficulties over twenty miles a day and none " roll of the enemy : The great wheels to marches of less than fifteen. Their

88 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR " losses in men and guns in comparison standing at bay along a line extend- " \vith his enormous numbers was in- ing from the Argonne, past Rheims ' significant. By Sunday, the 13th, the and Soissons, to the River Oise, at a whole mass of German forces—much point beyond Noyon and Com- '* more than a million men— was piegne." XI. THE BATTLE OF THE RIVERS

In our last we left the whole chapter A Tremendous Task mass of the German forces standing at bay strongly entrenched behind It is impossible to realise the the River Aisne along a line of over tremendous task confronting the eighty miles in length, stretching Allies unless the natural features of from the River Oise, which guarded the German position is understood. ** their right flank, through Soissons Mr. Belloc, in his article on The War and Rheims to the Forest of Argonne, by Land," in Land and Water for ** which protected their left flank, the September 26th, describes these two " " position being described by Mr. Hil- limbs as follows : The first or '* aire Belloc as one of the strongest western limb (which may also be and best in Europe/' So far the war called the Soissons half), is a rather has three the tableland has been cut comprised phases ; (i) high which to Paris the the erosion of a of German advance ; (2) by number brooks retreat to the the into a series of German Aisne ; (3) separate platforms. German defence behind the Aisne. All of these platforms or buttresses This third phase began on Monday, join up to the north with one running September 14th, and developed into level of land. The whole district may one of the longest and greatest battles be regarded as a sort of flat-topped in history. The splendid defensive embankment rising everywhere above position occupied by the enemy con- the north bank of the River Aisne sisted of two limbs : (i) The plateau along its lower reaches, from its running from Craonne all along the emergence above the Plains of Cham- north of the River Aisne past the pagne until its junction with the of it town Soissons to the Oise ; (2) A Oise. But is an embankment long, low ridge, or rather swell, which the sides of which have been deeply in the Aisne scored ravines been goes a great curve from by erosion ; have at Berry-au-Bac to the neighbour- cut out of it on its southern edge by hood of the Forest of Argonne, all the series of brooks which run from round and behind, and then to the the summit down to the Aisne. east of, the town of Rheims. This embankment, or plateau, falls 89 90 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

very gradually from east to west. banks rising to a plateau or series of It is over 450 feet above the river plateaus ranging from 300 to 450 on the west above Craonne, where feet above, ideal areas for artillery, two conspicuous summits mark its these natural gun. platforms con- culminating points. Within five miles trolling the valleys being made still of the Oise, at and above Lombray, more effective by the woods on the it is no more than 300 feet above that heights where artillery could be river. Its total length from the concealed. The terrible task of the village of Craonne to Pont oise on the AlHes will now be better gauged. Oise in the neighbourhood of Noyon They had to cross the bridgeless is, as the crow flies, fifty-eight kilo- river swept by the German guns and metres, or very nearly thirty-seven to advance across and up the banks to miles. . . . the plateaus, every inch of the ground being rained upon by the German Almost Impregnable ! fire, the enemy themselves being " As to the second eastern limb of almost impregnably entrenched above this long position, which may also them. * be called the Rheims it runs limb,' West to East from the point of Berry-au-Bac to the Argonne through very diffei^nt coun- The 37 miles of the western limb try. It follows the course of the were occupied from west to east, or river Suippe, and the backbone of right to left, thus : From the River

it is . that swell . . rising north- Oise to Soissons the 6th French ward and the was from Sois- eastward from water Army posted ; next, of the Suippe, crowned generally with sons, the British Army continued plantations and stretching through the line, whilst the 5th French Army the tumbled, rough lumps of bare joined on the British right and oc- plough land before Ville-sur-Tourbes, cupied the rest of the line to the end until it reposes upon the Argonne. of the western Hmb. It follows that All this eastern limb of the great as the 5th French Army was opposite defensive position stretches through and on the flank—of the extreme right bare, hedgeless fields, cut by orderly of the Germans for the French were spinneys. It lies low along the hori- also along the Oise, which, as we have zon. It differs wholly from the said, guarded the right German flank— wooded, ravined, and somewhat bold the object of the 5th French Army heights of the western limb between was to get right round this flank and Craonne and the Oise." cut off the great main line of the It is now possible to picture the enemy's communications f next along battlefield, with the river passing the line, and roughly in the centre of from east to west with, so far as the the western limb, came the British, western limb is concerned, its steep who had the honourable and difficult

92 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

task of attaining the heights in front lines of them. There is the most ad- of them in face of the fierce German vanced trench in which the outposts resistance, and once there to hold mount guard at night, then two or the plateaux and drive the enemy three hundred yards behind is the down the slopes in the rear of these main line of entrenchments, and be- plateaux. Next again come the 6th hind that again are great pits dug French Army with a task similar, out of the ground to serve as kitchens and, if possible, even harder than or dormitories in which the reserves that of their British comrades, for and supports for the first line live. " the heights they had to scale and These rearward trenches are con- force, were higher here tham they nected with the foremost line by were opposite the British. parallel passage-ways, and there are The length of time occupied by other parallels in which machine- the Battle of the Aisne was due to guns are posted to fire over the heads each side having entrenched itself of the men that line the parapet. in a practically impregnable line of Then behind all, often in the chalk semi-permanent works, so that the quarries of the hills, are the en- "battle" was for both a "siege'* placements where the big siege guns, along a total hne of about loo miles, bolted down to their cement plat- the Allies and the enemy facing one forms, and the howitzers that toss a another at distances varying from a shell high into the air for it to fall mile to a hundred yards. Mr. G. three miles away, are posted. " Ward Price has given us a capital A whole semi-subterranean town description of the trenches of the in fact, with main thoroughfares and " Germans in the Daily Mail : They side-streets and telephone wires run- " are," he writes, very elaborate, ning all along, where hundreds of these trenches in which for nearly thousands of men eat and live and a fortnight now the great host of the sleep, and yet so well concealed that German Army has been living like a from a little way down the hill in gigantic long-drawn-out warren of front you could see nothing to tell greeny-grey rabbits. They are floored, you of its existence unless it were of with cement a noticeable little bank of many them, ; they hardly are roofed over with boards covered earth slightly raised above the sur- with sods that serve both to keep face of the ground. *' out the rain and to hide them from The. defensive position which the French or British Germans have taken hills aeroplanes ; they up on the are divided into chambers communi- that line the valley of the Aisne cating by doors. compels them to spend these damp and in A Warren-Like Town days chilly nights cooped up trenches, which are dug in a chalky "There are, of course, several soil. THE BATTLE OF THE RIVERS 93 " In these pits and galleries that dark, and fires at the spot his fancy stretch for miles along the hillsides has peopled with the enemy. The they are without exercise, cramped, crack of the report brings the whole confined, obliged to sleep and eat of the force behind him to its feet. and spend every hour of the day in The advanced post from which the the same section of damp, depressing sentry has been sent out comes up at trench. the double, and all along the Une of " " trenches behind the sleeping men Wer Da ! spring up and seize and load their " For by day the Allies' guns keep rifles, ready to fire if the alarm prove up an almost incessant fire that to be well-founded. makes it impossible to step up to "It is these night alarms that the level without imminent soldiers half a dozen ground weary the ; danger of death, and by night the times a night their sleep will be chance of a surprise attack from their broken by false alarms, and the infantry is so great that every Ger- French and English outposts, who man soldier must be at his post, sleep- on some parts of the long line of ing as best he may in the narrow battle front are now only a few hun- ditch which is at once his home and dred yards away, hear the splutter his defence, with his rifle by his side, of their rifles that are aimed only at ready to spring up to his place along trees or stones which fear and the the parapet on tha first alarm. And darkness of the night have caused alarms come often during these dark, the enemy to mistake for the men of cloudy nights. the Allied advancing to the " army The sentries that are- thrown out attack." ^. ^ in advance of the German lines, Trench and Grave straining ear and eye in the still- ness and the gloom, very easily in- Later on in the prolonged conflict terpret the most innocent sounds of the very projection of the trenches the night into the noise of French in- increased the troubles of the enemy, fantry stealing to the attack. A for they were made so deep that it loosened stone rolls down the hill- Vs^as a most difficult business to lift side, the dry branch of a tree cracks the dead out, and in some instances in the wind, and the startled sentry the attempt was relinquished with

swings round ; there "are shadows all dire results for the living. "In one around him, and among them his instance," said the Daily Mail scared eyes seem to see the forms of correspondent, in a dispatch dated " men creeping stealthily towards him North of the Marne, October 3rd, a to overwhelm him in a silent bayonet line of dead was arranged along the rush. trench with the weapons apparently " ' Wer da?* he shouts into the in the grasp of the dead. Sanitary 94 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

reasons, as well as military, make the worked their way foot by foot till in advance slow." The whole position places their front was not loo yards on both sides was so elaborately from the German trenches, could hear organised, with each point carefully the cries of the wounded coming covered by the fire of several others, across the intervening space during that not a foot could be won from the the pauses between the firing. without loss. Save in enemy heavy Breast-High Waters certain places direct attacks were only sparingly made and for many days the In some of the trenches on the battle was practically reduced to a heights above Rheims the French continuous cannonade and fusillade drowned the Germans out by laying from both sides. Under the perpetual lines of hose pipe from the city and " fire one gets absolutely dehuman- working the fire pumps till the water ized,'* said a French soldier who had stood breast high in the trenches. The in the trenches to been continually ; approaches the German trenches "it is the only alternative to going were mined and surrounded by barbed mad. One has no consciousness of wire entanglements. Another device hardship or danger, but answers to was the making of quagmires in front orders without realising what they of the trenches, usually by digging mean. One forgets what death is.'* extra trenches a few hundred feet ** The German trenches to the from the real ones, throwing in the north of Rheims and to the east and loose clay and then flooding them in ** west are described by a correspon- order to produce a ditch of liquid " dent of The Times as wonderful mud. North of Chalons the enemy's works of art. Dug to a depth of six trenches were just over a yard deep, feet, they are covered and protected with shell shields every twenty in many cases with layers of rein- metres and rest chambers. The forced concrete. The work was multiple line of the trenches were executed by forced labour of the in- flanked with further defence works habitants to form a defensive position concealing mitrailleuses, the trenches in case of need while their troops themselves being covered with doors were still fighting on the Marne." But torn from houses and covered with here too the condition of the trenches earth. after their abandonment was found We have described at some length to be terrible. Rain had fallen the defence works of the enemy be- heavily and the Germans were Hving cause these largely explain the pro- ** for weeks like rats in undrained holes. tracted nature of the conflict. It The fighting was without pause, and was clearly established," writes an the wounded as well as the dead had English officer who was in the firing " to lie where they fell amid the wet line, that the Germans before we and filth. The French, who had crossed the Aisne had carefully

96 THE GREAT BATTLES-OF THE GREAT WAR selected their position and had dug able disorganization during the gun pits and trenches ready some few earlier days of their retirement. days before to receive us." Whether it was originally in- Fighting and Waiting tended by them to defend the position they took up as stren- The Battle of the Aisne on began uously as they have done, or on Monday, September 14th ; Sep- whether the delay gained for tember 18th the following descriptive them during the 12 th and 13th accoimt of the between the period by their artillery has enabled and i8th was issued the 14th by them to develop their resistance Press Bureau. It- is compiled by and to reinforce their line to an the officer attached to Sir John extent not originally contem-,

French's staff : plated, cannot yet be said. " *' General Headquarters, So far as we are concerned, " September 18th, 1914. the action still being contested ''At the date of the last is the battle of the Aisne, for we narrative — on September 14th are fighting just across the river — the Germans were making along the whole of our front. To a determined resistance along the east and west the struggle is the River Aisne. The op- not confined to the valley of that position, which it was at first river, though it will probably thought might possibly be of a bear its name. The progress of rearguard nature not entailing our operations and of those material delay to our progress, French armies nearest to us for has developed, and has proved to the 14th, 15th, i6th, and 17th be more serious than was an- will now be described. The action now ticipated. being Holding New Ground fought by the Germans along " their line may, it is true, have On Monday, the 14th, those been undertaken in order to gain of our troops which had on the time for some strategic operation previous day crossed the Aisne or move, and may not be their after driving in the German rear- main stand. guard on that evening found *' But if this be so,' the fighting portions of the enemy's forces in is naturally on a scale which, as prepared defensive positions on to extent of ground covered and the plateau on the right bank, duration of resistance, makes it and could do Httle more than indistinguishable in its. progress secure a footing north of the ' from what is known as a pitched river. This, however, they main- battle,' though the enemy cer- tained in spite of two counter- tainly showed signs of consider- attacks, delivered at dusk and at THE BATTLE OF THE RIVERS 97

10 p.m., in which the fighting from the hostile artillery fire, was severe. which was very fierce, and our " During the 14th strong re- men continued to improve their inforcements of our troops were own entrenchments. to the north the passed bank, Big Guns troops crossing by ferry, by " pontoon bridges, and by the re- The Germans bombarded our mains of the permanent bridges. lines nearly all day, using heavy Close co-operation with the guns, brought no doubt from French forces was maintained, before Maubeuge, as well as and the general progress made those with the corps. All their was good. Although the opposi- counter-attacks, however, failed, tion was vigorous and the state although in some places they of the roads after the heavy were repeated six times; one made rain made movements slow, one on the 4th Guards Brigade was division alone failed to secure the repulsed with heavy slaughter. ground it expected to. The ist An attempt to advance slightly Army Corps, after repulsing re- made by part of our line was un- peated attacks, captured 600 successful as regards gain in the prisoners and 12 guns ; ground, but led to withdrawal cavalry also took a number of of part of the enemy's infantry prisoners. Many of the Germans and artillery. Further counter- taken belong to Reserve and attacks made during the night Landwehr formations, which fact were beaten off. Rain came on appears to indicate that the towards evening and continued enemy is compelled to draw on intermittently until 9 a.m. on the the older classes of soldiers to fill 1 6th. Besides adding to the the gaps in his ranks. discomfort of the soldiers holding "There was heavy rain through- open trenches in the firing line, out the night of the I4th-i5th, the wet weather to some extent and during September 15th the hampered the motor transport situation of the British forces service, which was also hindered underwent no essential change, by the broken bridges. " but it became more and more On Wednesday, the i6th, evident that the defensive pre- there was little change in the parations made by the enemy situation opposite the British. were more extensive than was The efforts made by the enemy at first apparent. In order to were less active than on the counterbalance these, measures previous day, though their bom- were taken by us to economise bardment continued throughout troops and to secure protection the morning and evening. Our 98 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

artillery fire drove the defenders rule under cross fire from field off one of the salients of their artillery placed on neighbouring position, but they returned in the features and under high-angled evening. Forty prisoners were fire from pieces placed well back taken by the 3rd Division. behind woods on top of the *' On Thursday, the 17th, the plateau. " situation still remained un- A feature of this action, as of changed in its essentials. The the previous fights, is the use German heavy artillery fire was made by the enemy of their more active than on the previous numerous heavy howitzers, with day. The only infantry attacks which they are able to direct a made by the enemy were on the long-range fire all over the valley extreme right of our position and, and right across it. Upon these as had happened before, were they evidently place great re- repulsed with heavy loss, chiefly liance. Where our men are hold- on this occasion by our field ing the forward edges of the high artillery. ground on the north side they are now entrenched. Slopes and Lines strongly They are well fed, and in spite of the ** In order to convey some idea wet weather of the past week of the nature of the fighting it are cheerful and confident. The may be said that along the bombardment by both sides has greater part of our front the Ger- been very heavy, and on Sunday, mans have been driven back from Monday, and Tuesday was the forward slopes on the north practically continuous. of the river. Their infantry are QuiCK-FiRiNG Artillery holding strong lines of trenches " amongst and along the edges of Nevertheless, in spite of the the numerous woods which crown general din caused by the reports these slopes. These trenches are of the immense number of heavy elaborately constructed and guns in action along our front on cleverly concealed. In many Wednesday, the arrival of a places there are wire entangle- French force acting against the ments and lengths of rabbit German right flank was at once fencing both in the woods and in announced on the east of our the open, carefully alined so that front some miles away by the they can be swept by rifle fire and continuous roar of their quick- machine guns, which are in- firing artiUery with which their visible from our side of the attack was opened. So far as valley. The ground in front of the British are concerned the the infantry trenches is also as a greater part of this week has been THE BATTLE OF THE RIVERS 99

passed in bombardment, in gain- were interpreted as signs that ing ground by degrees, and in they wished to surrender. When beating back severe counter- they were actually on the parapet attacks with heavy slaughter. of the trench held by the North- Our casualties have been severe, amptons they opened fire on our but it is probable that those of men at point blank range. " the enemy are heavier. The rain Unluckily for the enemy, has caused a great drop in tem- however, flanking them and only perature and there is more than some 400 yards away there a distinct feeling of autumn in the happened to be a machine-gun air, especially in the early manned by a detachment of the * mornings. Queen's.* This at once opened " On our right and left the fire, cutting a lane through their French have been fighting fiercely mass, and they fell back to their and have also been gradually own trench with great loss. gaining ground. One village has Shortly afterwards they were already during this battle been driven further back with addi- captured and recaptured twice tional loss by a battalion of the by each side, and at the time of Guards which came up in sup- writing remains in the hands of port." the Germans. The fighting has A special order of the day by Sir been at close quarters and of the John French was issued to the troops most desperate nature, and the in these terms : streets of the village are filled " with the dead of both sides." Once more I have to express my deep appreciation of the Lesser The Things splendid behaviour of officers, non-commissioned officers, and Amongst minor happenings of in- men of the army under my com- terest is the following : mand throughout the great battle " During a counter-attack by of the Aisne, which has been in the German 53rd Regiment on progress since the evening of portions of the Northampton and the I2th inst. The battle of Queen's Regiments on Thursday, the Mame, which lasted from the the 17th, a force of some 400 morning of the 6th to the evening of the enemy were allowed to of the loth, had hardly ended in approach right up to the trench, the precipitate flight of the enemy occupied by a platoon of the when we were brought face to former regiment, owing to the face with a position of extra- fact that they had held up their ordinary strength, carefully en- hands and made gestures that trenched and prepared for defence D 3 100 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

by an army and a Staff which are the Aisne. Once across the Aisne thorough adepts in such work. the enemy had its right flank pro- " Throughout the 13th and 14th tected by the River Oise. It must that position was most gallantly also be constantly borne in mind attacked by the British Forces, that the chief railway line upon and the passage of the Aisne which the German Army depended for effected. This is the third day its communications into Germany the troops have been gallantly runs through the valley of the Oise holding the position they have from Belgium through Namur, Le gained against the most desperate Cateau, St. Quentin and Noyon. counter-attacks and a hail of Hence the effort of the French to cut

heavy artillery. the line along the Oise and the " I am unable to find adequate desperate battles in this district. words in which to express the The aim of the Allies was to work admiration I feel for their up the valley of the River Oise, magnificent conduct. which guarded the west, or right " The French armies on our flank, of the Germans, and to envelop right and left are making good their right wing. The result of several progress, and I feel sure that we days' fighting would be, perhaps, that have only to hold on with tenacity the Allies had advanced a degree to the ground we have won for or so higher up the German flank. a very short time longer, when Thus on September 14th the Allies the AlHes will be again in full had begun this flanking movement, of a beaten their St. pursuit enemy. extremity being beyond Just ; " The self-sacrificing devotion four days later this enveloping line of the British had reached and splendid spirit Roye ; by September Army in France will carry all 2ist it had reached right round to before it. Albert, north of Peronne, a position " (Sd,) J. D. P. French, it still occupied a week later. '* Field-Marshal. This effort of the Allies against the " Commanding - in - Chief, the right flank of the Germans was " British Army in the Field." countered by repeated endeavours on the of the latter to break Where Rivers Meet part through the centre of the Allies' line at Vitry Just as the junction of the Ourcq and Rheims. At the same time the and the Marne at Meaux made French at the eastern end of the line Meaux the key of the encounter tried to get round the German left during the battle of the Marne, so wing. But here the enemy succeeded the junction of the Oise and the in bending the French right wing Aisne at Compi^gne made Compiegne back (just as the French at the other of vital importance in the battle of end of the 100 miles line had forced THE BATTLE OF IHE RIVERS lOI the German right wing round), pierc- onslaughts. For instance on the after- ing, after repeated efforts, the Toul- noon of Tuesday, the 15th, they tried Verdun Hne of fortresses, which to break through between Vic-sur- flank Aisne and Soissons the guarded the French right along ; following the Meuse and advancing to, and day they advanced three times on St. Mihiel this the French near occupying, ; place Rheims, and on formed a salient, or projection, which Thursday, the 17th, again attacked gave the Germans the passage over the British in the neighbourhood of the Meuse. In other words a door Soissons, their losses being com- was opened in the Toul-Verdun mensurate with the terrible nature of barrier, and the French right wing the attacks. The Times Special Cor- was threatened by the German left respondent reports that no sacrifice wing with the same fate which the was grudged by the enemy, men being French left wing was, at the same literally thrown away to act as mere " time, threatening the German right dead weight. They hurled them wing. This situation, however, did down on us like a landslide," declared " not develop until the end of September. a soldier of the Allies, poured them out simply.'' After the attack on To Slaughter Led ! the night of Sunday, September 20th, Days passed in this battle, or south-east of Craonne 1,000 German congeries of battles, with hardly any wounded abandoned by the enemy perceptible change in the main fronts were found on the battlefield, "while of the armies indeed the so opposed ; between, trenches were overflowing with for example, September 22nd and their dead that in certain places the 29th almost a deadlock was reached French advance was impeded. It in the region between Noyon and the is estimated the Germans lost 7,000 Argonne. We have said that re- men in this fight alone." The officers peated attempts were made by the sacrificed their men without reason, Germans to pierce the Allies' centre, driving them again and again to the neighbourhoods of Soissons, that the charge as if they were blind is to say between the French and men. This was the kind of thing British forces, and of Rheims, being which marked the days of the long time after time chosen for these struggle. XII. A HISTORIC TUG-OF-WAR

BefoPvE resuming the story of the Again, while effective at a distance Aisne battle, or the Battle of the the i6-in. is harmless at close range, Rivers, as it has been called, owing to and at the mercy of a bayonet charge. the strategic importance of the Aisne, The officer noticed furthermore that the Oise, the Suippe and the Meuse, the shells burst nearly all too soon a word must be said about the huge or too late, and often not at all. i6-in. howitzers of the Germans, which At Close Quarters have played a considerable part, not only in reducing fortresses such as The French troops quickly grasped Liege, Namur and Antwerp, but also the best method of deaUng with these in the defence of the Aisne entrench- monsters. Once they have succeeded ments. An artillery officer who re- in passing the zone commanded by turned wounded to Paris from the their fire, they bring the handy front gave some interesting details 75-minimetre gun in action, sweep regarding the working and effect of away the German artillerymen, especi- these guns, dubbed by the British ally the engineer gun-layers, and then " soldiers Black Marias." charge. The Paris correspondent of The officer in question, while ad- The Times gave additional details mitting that if well served and em- showing how great is the attacldng ployed under proper conditions the power of the big howitzers, at their i6-in. gun can produce really disas- proper range. Facing the British trous effects, observed that the hand- position during the Aisne contest, " " ling and transport are so difficult that some of these Black Marias were " these results are rarely obtained. mounted over a canal. If a motor- Even thirty-six or forty horses har- car be spied speeding along the road, * ' nessed to a gun are unable to drag Black Maria drops a shell behind these gigantic pieces of ordnance its stem. The blast caused by the over the French roads soaked by the explosion is so great that nothing is autumn rains, while the mechanism left standing within forty or fifty feet, of the gun is so delicate that it is while the hole carved in the i*oad is so extremely difficult to replace immedi- large as easily to swallow m^an, motor ' ' ately the losses among the gun team. and all. Black^Maria dropped a 103 A HISTORIC TUG-OF-V/AR 103

shell the other day among a squad of more before a decision is reached, horses forty who were quietly stand- since, in truth, it now approximate 5 in ing a village secure from harm. somewhat to siege warfare. The Ger- The whole batch was blown to pieces, mans are making use of searchlights, while of a sergeant-major who was and this fact, coupled with their great standing near, only the leg and arm strength in heavy artillery, leads to were ever found. A general with his tlie supposition that they are em- staff was watching operations from ploying material which may have the shelter of a hay-rick. A motor- been collected for the siege of Paris.'* in car, fortunately empty, stood the * * * road alongside. Someone—perhaps a " On the 20th, nothing of Taube—must have noticed the group Sunday, * ' importance occurred until the after- of officers. Black Maria spoke, noon, when there v/as a break in and dropped a shell precisely in front the clouds and an interval of feeble of the car. The car completely dis- * sunshine, which, however, was hardly appeared—engulfed.' powerful enough to warm the soaking More Dispatches troops. The Germans took advantage of this brief of fine weather to We now return to the battle. On spell make several counter- September 24th the Press Bureau separate attacks against different points. These issued another descriptive account were all repulsed with loss to the (supplementing tlje narrative quoted but the casualties incurred in the preceding chapter) of the enemy ; us were no means In movements of the British Force and by by light. one section of our line the occu- of the French Armies in immediate firing of the trenches w^ere under the touch \\ith it. The following passages pants that heard a military are taken from this account : impression they band in the lines before "The enemy is still maintaining enemy's just It is now himself the front the attack developed. along whole ; and known that the German in order to do so is throwing into the infantry started their advance with bands fight detachments composed of units The offensive one from very different formations—the playing. against or two was renewed at dusk Active Army, the Reserve, and the points with no success. Landwehr—as is shown by the uni- greater forms of the prisoners recently cap- The Splendid Infantry tured. Our progress, although slow, " on account of the strength of the The brunt of the resistance has defensive positions against which we naturally fallen upon the infantry. are pressing, has in certain directions In spite of the fact that they have been continuous. But the pres^it been drenched to the skin for some battle may well last for some days days and their trenches have been deep 104 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR in mud and water, and in spite of to act as graves for five horses. The incessant night alarms and of the German howitzer shells are eight to ahnost continuous bombardment to nine inches in calibre, and on impact which they have been subjected, they they send up columns of greasy black have on every occasion been ready smoke. On account of this they are ' for the enemy's infantry when the irreverently dubbed Coal-boxes,' ' ' latter have attempted to assault, and Black Marias,' or Jack John- ' they have beaten them back with sons by the soldiers. Men who great loss. Indeed, the sight of the take things in this spirit are, it seems, Pickelkauben coming up has been a likely to throw out the calcula- positive relief after the long trying tions based on loss of moral so care- hours of inaction under shell fire. fully framed by the German military The object of the great proportion of philosophers." artillery the Germans employ is to beat down, the resistance of their enemy by a concentrated and pro- The prisoners recently captured longed fire, and to shatter their nerve appreciate the fact that the march on with high explosives before the in- Paris has failed, and that their forces fantry attack is launched. They are retreating, but state that the seem to have relied on doing this with object of this movement is explained us but have not done the officers as to withdraw ; they so, though by being it has taken them several costly ex- into closer touch with supports which periments to discover this fact. From have stayed too far in the rear. The the statements of prisoners, indeed, officers are also endeavouring to en- it appears that they have been greatly courage the troops by telling them disappointed by the moral effect pro- that they will be at home by Christ- duced by their heavy guns, which, mas. A large number of the men, despite the actual losses inflicted, has however, believe that they are beaten. not been at all commensurate with The following is an extract from one the colossal expenditure of ammuni- document : " tion, which has really been wasted. With the English troops we have difficulties. have a Cannot BE Moved great They queer way of causing losses to the enemy. " By this it is not implied that They make good trenches, in which their artillery fire is not good. It is they wait patiently. They carefully more than it is excellent. for their rifle good ; But measure the ranges .the British soldier is a difficult person fire, and they then open a truly hellish to impress or depress, even by im- fire on the unsuspecting cavalry. mense shells filled with high ex- This was the reason that we had such

plosives which detonate with terrific heavy losses. . . , According to our violence and form craters large enough officers, the English striking forces io6 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR are exhausted. The English people morning, we were attacked by im- never really wanted war." mensely superior English forces (one

From another source : brigade and two battahons), and " are brave and were of The English very turned out our positions ; the fight to the last man. . . . One of our fellows took five guns from us. It companies has lost 130 men out of was a tremendous hand-to-hand fight. 240." How I escaped myself I am not clear. A German Officer's Letter I then had to bring up supports on foot (my horse was wounded, and the The letter, also following referring others were too far in rear). Then to the on the was fighting Aisne, came up the Guard Jager Battalion, and circulated to the printed troops. 4th Jager, 65th Regiment, Reserve We do not it in full : give Regiment 13, Landwehr Regiments Letter found on a German Officer 13 and 16, and, with the help of the of the VUth Reserve Corps. artillery, drove back the fellows out Cemy, S. of Laon, of the position again. *' 17/9/14. Our machine-guns did excellent " My Dear Parents, . . . Our work. The English fell in heaps."

has the task of the ' corps holding Their Sense of " Honour heights south of Cerny in all circum- stances till the XV. Corps on our left Since certain attempts have been flank can grip the enemy's flank. On made in this country to pooh-pooh our right are other corps. We are the stories of German atrocities, and fighting mih the EngUsh Guards, to picture the Germans as fair and Highlanders, and Zouaves. The losses honourable enemies, the statements on both sides have been enormous. in the Despatch, from which we are For the most part this is due to the quoting, concerning their sense of *' " too brilliant French The honour are of peculiar value : artillery. " Enghsh are marvellously trained in After some cases of village fighting making use of the ground. One never which occurred earlier in the war it sees them, and one is constantly under was reported by some of our officers fire. The French airmen perform that the Germans had attempted to wonderful feats. We cannot get rid approach to close quarters by forcing of them. As soon as an airman has prisoners to march in front of them. flown over us, ten minutes later we The Germans have recently repeated get their shrapnel fire in our position. the same trick on a larger scale against have little in our the as is the We artillery corps ; French, shown by copy without it we cannot get forward. of the order printed below. It is " ' ' our division therein referred to as a ruse Three days ago took ; possession of these heights, dug itself but if that term be accepted, it is in, etc. Two days ago, early in the distinctly an illegal ruse. A HISTORIC TUG-OF-WAR 107

—Army -^September, 1914. reports that while a prisoner he saw General Staff. men who had been fighting subse- 3rd Bureau. quently put on Red Cross brassards. No. That the irregular use of the pro- *' During a recent night attack the tection afforded by the Geneva Con- Germans drove a column of French vention is not uncommon is confirmed prisoners in front of them. by the fact that on one occasion " This action is to be brought to the men in the uniform of combatant units notice of all our troops : have been captured wearing the Red " I. In order to put them on their Cross brassard hastily slipped over guard against such a dastardly ruse : the arm. The excuse given has been "2. In order that every soldier that they had been detailed after may know how the Germans treat a fight to look after the wounded. It their prisoners. Our troops must not is reported by a cavalry officer that forget that if they allow themselves the driver of a motor-car with a to be taken prisoners the Germans machine gun mounted on it, which he will not fail to expose them to French captured, was wearing the Red Cross.'* bullets. An Irishman's Evidence^ (Signature of Commander.) The abuse of the White " Flag by Further evidence has now been the Germans is corroborated by an collected of the misuse of the white Irish Guardsman, who was present flag and other signs of surrender at the fighting on the Aisne on Sep-

the action on the : during 17th, when, tember 14th ; he says " owing to this, one officer was shot. There were several regiments in- During the recent fighting also some volved in this affair—a company German ambulance wagons advanced of the Coldstream Guards, half a in order to collect the wounded. company of the Irish Guards, and a An order to cease fire was conse- lot of ConnaugHts and Grenadiers. quently given to our guns, which were While the fight was going on the Ger- firing on this particular section of mans in front of us hoisted the white ground. The German battery com- flag, and we all went forward to take at manders once took advantage of them prisoners. As soon as we got the lull in the action to climb up their- into the open there burst out a ring observation ladders and on to a hay- of fire from concealed artillery, and stack to locate our guns, which soon then the Germans seized their rifles afterwards came under a far more and joined in the slaughter. It was. accurate fire than to which any they awful. We were helpless ; caught had been to that time. in a the lot of us subjected up trap ; whole were " British A officer who was captured practically done in.*' by the Germans and has since escaped, This dastardly conduct had its io8 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

counterpart in another trick of the front" for four days, and dwelt at dnemy, viz., to hold up their arms some length with the parts played in token of surrender and then, when by espionage in the conduct of the the Alhes approach to take them war by the Germans. Apart from prisoners to resume their rifles and the more elaborate precautions made begin firing on them. At Soissons, in peace time for obtaining informa- the scene of so many fierce contests tion by paid agents, some of the during the battle of the Aisne, the methods adopted, said the Head-

Germans tried this trick with fatal quarters record, are as follows : " results to themselves. Six British Men in plain clothes signal to the field guns had to be saved and German lines from points in the hands Sergeant C. Meades, of the Royal of the enemy by means of coloured Berks Regiment, wrote in a letter lights at night and puffs of smoke to his wife s from ^ chimneys by day. Pseudo- " labourers working in the fields be- I and watched the Guards stopped tween the armies have been detected going out to attack the Germans. conve5dng information, and persons in They drove the Germans back again. plain clothes have acted as advanced Then the Scots Greys and the 12th scouts to the German cavalry when Lancers made a charge. It was a advancing. German officers and grand charge. I could see some soldiers in plain clothes or in French of the Germans on their dropping or British uniforms have remained knees and holding up their arms. in localities evacuated by the Germans Then as soon, as our cavalry got in order to furnish them with in- through the Germans picked up their telligence. One spy of this kind was rifles and started firing again. Our found by our troops hidden in a church cavalry turned about and charged tower. His presence was dis- back. It was no use the Germans only covered through the erratic move- putting up their hands a second ments of the hands of the church time. Our cavalry cut down every clock, which he was using to signal one the^/ came to. I don't think to his friends by means of an impro- there were ten Germans left out of vised code. Had this about two thousand." semaphore man not been seized it is probable that he would have to the German A Comparative Calm signalled artillery the time of arrival and the On September 28th the Press exact location of the headquarters Bureau issued another descriptive and staff of the force. High ex- account from Headquarters (supple- plosive shells would then have menting the narrative published on mysteriously dropped on to the build- the 24th) of the position. It recorded ing. Women spies have also been *' a comparative lull all along our caught, and secret agents have been A HISTORIC TUG-OF-WAR 109 found at rail-heads observing en- the exact spot and direction having trainments and detrainments/* been previously ascertained, the re- sult of the bombardment being com- As IN Manchuria municated by telephoning or by The French official explanation of signalling from elsewhere. In some the long-drawn-out battle, issued cases the howitzers fire from a point " from Paris, was that it assumes, far in the rear, their shells passing on a large part of the front, the char- over more advanced batteries." of a fortress to acter war, analogous Splendid Flying Men the operations in Manchuria. It may- be added that the exceptional power From the beginning of the war, of the artillery material, both of the splendid reconnaissance work has been heavy German artillery and the French done by the British and French 75-milUmetre guns, imparts special aviators and their services were in- value to the temporary fortifications valuable during the Battle of the which the two adversaries have estab- Aisne. A letter from a member of lished. It is then a question of the Royal Flying Corps attached carrying successive lines of entrench- to the British Expeditionary Force, ments, all of which are guarded by dated from the Front, September accessory defences, notably barbed 26th, and published in the Daily wire entanglements, with machine- Mail of October 7th, gives an admir- ' guns en cannoniere,^ In these cir- able idea of their daily experiences. cumstances progress can only be slow. Describing a typical day he writes : " It happens very frequently that At six o'clock you are just finishing attacks advance us only 500 metres breakfast. In less than an hour you to a kilometre a day." Briefly, it are up in the air 20 odd miles away was a dogged stand with short ad- with a battle going on under your vances. A number of quite separate very nose—hundreds of thousands of engagements would be going on at men in various positions pegging the same time without one part of away at each other from their various the line having much knowledge of trenches (a good many of them peg- what was happening elsewhere or ging away at you). '* whether progress was being made or It looks so funny from the air, " not. A battery," wrote Sir Alfred because you can see it all and both Sharpe, the Special Correspondent sides, whereas down below they can't " of the Daily Chronicle, may be see what they're firing at in a good five six miles. cases it is scientific firing at a range of or many ; merely " It may be in such a position, slaughter. A battery will perhaps with intervening hills over which the know that some of the enemy are shells pass, that those firing cannot entrenched in a certain area. It even see what they are firing at. will train its guns on the area without no IHE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR even perhaps seeing if their guns further increased by the heavy fain have effect. For instance, the other and cold which prevailed for some ten I saw guns dropping shell after or twelve days of this trying time. day " shell in a certain area and there The Battle of the Aisne has once wasn't a man within miles of it." more demonstrated the splendid spirit, In a second letter, dated September gallantry, and devotion which ani- 30th, the same writer describes "Archi- mates the officers and men of his bald/' the nick-name given to the Majesty's Forces." special German anti-air-craft gun, The Allies never slackened in '• which fires a certain kind of shrapnel their endeavour to turn von Kluck's shell, which bursts at a certain height. right flank, to elbow him off his As soon as they find your height they communciations with Belgium, and let off their shells about seven or von Kluck continued to do his ut- eight at a time, which burst all round most to foil their efforts. Move was you. Each shell is loaded with round met by counter-move. On Tuesday, bullets about the size of a marble, October 6th, however, the French and these shoot about when the official message contained significant shell explodes." news. It stated that large masses of cavalry, acting as a screen for new forces of and behind From Day to Day artillery infantry them, had appeared in the neighbour- There is no necessity, even if it hood of Lille and Armentieres. This were possible, to detail the situation news meant that the enemy was en- from day to day of the battle which deavouring to bring further forces began by being the Battle of the Aisne, upon the flank of the existing French since the changes were but slight. line, that is upon, if not behind, its Sir John French in his Despatch western extreme. dealing with the battle dated October

8th writes : " Von Kluck Active Attack and counter-attack oc- curred at all hours of the night and In other words it was now von day throughout the whole position, Kluck who was attempting to lengthen demanding extreme vigilance and still further the extension of this new permitting only a minimum of rest. great front north of the Oise which, The fact that between September 12th beginning at Compiegne, had crept to the date of this despatch the total up through Noyon, St. Quentin, numbers of killed, wounded, and Peronne, Arras, northwards until now missing reached figures amounting to it had reached Armentieres on the 561 officers and 12,980 men proves the Belgian frontier, a distance of some severity of the struggle. The tax 70 miles. The French official com- on the endurance of the troops was munique of October 6th, to which A HISTORIC TUG-OF-WAR III we have referred, said : "On effecting the release of large numbers our left wing the battle continues of troops held to their lines of com- with great violence. The opposed munication through Belgium (and fronts extend as far as the regions of always liable to sorties by the Belgian Lens and La Bass^e, and are pro- Army at Antwerp) and, secondly, longed by masses of cavalry which of completely occupying Belgium are in contact as far as the region with the fall of its last political and of Armentieres." government centre. Meanwhile, the On the same day the Press Bureau enemy's attempt to force the Meuse

issued a report to a like effect : at St. Mihiel, referred to in the previous " North of the Oise and at Lens chapter, had not succeeded and for there is hard fighting." At the same the moment the attempt to invest time the Germans made a determined Verdun on the French right flank attack on Antwerp with the hope of was abandoned. XIII. THE FALL OF ANTWERP

' The siege of Antwerp, one of the most old forts,' the original works by famous and beautiful cities in Europe, which the modern city was defended. the goal of innumerable ambitions and Strictly speaking, the scheme is not the victim of many wars, began on a ring, but three-quarters of a circle Monda}?", September 28th. Sacked in reposing upon the Scheldt, most of turn by Spanish and French, by the country behind or to the west of Catholics and Protestants, occupied which is not available for siege opera- during the centuries by Spanish, tions, because it can be flooded, and French and Austrians, besieged by because the last portion of it is both French and British forces, its foreign territory and Dutch. Finally, latest, and not least tragic, fate was a third set of defences, at an average to be bombarded by the Germans and of about ten to fifteen thousand yards to fall into tlie hands of the modern from the centre of the city, consisting Huns. Believed to be almost im- in a chain of modern forts, completes pregnable, its defences were con- the scheme." The river Nethe, a structed by the most renowned en- tributary of the Scheldt, runs east- gineer in Europe, General Brialmont. wards between the inner and outer which concrete and iron of the forts the of Nothing ring city's ; village could do to out the had Lierre is on the river Lierre keep enemy ; fort, been left undone, though it is doubtful Vv'avre St. Catherine, Waelhem, and whether the armament of the fortress the rest of the outer forts, are on had been kept up to date. the further side of the Nethe, so that when a breach in this outer was The Plan of Defence ring effected by the enemy, they had still The city was protected by three to get across the river in the rear, groups of works, described by Mr. the bridges across which had, of " " Hilaire Belloc in Land and Water course, been destroyed by the Belgian *' thus : First, immediately round its garrison after it retreated across the densely-inhabited portion the old con- stream. tinuous ditch or enceinte . . . next, The Outer Forts outside the suburb at ranges varying ing from 3,000 to 4,000 yards to the On Tuesday, September 29th, the heart of the city, you have the ring of German fire was chiefly concentrated ;i2 THE FALL OF ANTWERP 113 " on two of the outermost forts, Fort Black Marias.'' This force threw de Waelhem and Fort de Wavre St. its whole weight upon the line of the Catherine, the eleven-inch howitzers River Nethe, from the confluence of being employed. The following day the Grand Nethe and Petit Nethe at the attack extended to other forts Lierre, to the junction with the in the outer ring, notably Lierre. Rubel near Rumbot, and, as already Upon Thursday evening those forts stated, crossed the Nethe on the 6th. were still replying, but the next day, On the 7th the Press Bureau issued in October 2nd, a breach the outer the following significant statement : " ring was so far effected that the be- The Germans attacking Antwerp sieging army was able to reach the have pushed forward their positions River Nethe behind it, though, owing against considerable resistance by the to the splendid courage of the Belgian garrison." On the same day the soldiers, it was not until 4 a.m. of the Belgian Government removed to Os- morning of October 6th that the tend, the King still remaining with enemy succeeded in crossing the river his soldiers, whom from the first he and making good their footing be- had led and inspired. tween Lierre and Duffel. Thrice It was on Sunday, October 4th, during that night small detachments that the British reinforcements, con- had got across and were driven back sisting of three marine and naval or wiped out by the Belgians. From Brigades, with heavy guns, began to the to the 6th this effort to cross arrive 2nd ; by nightfall our men were the river went on.~ On the 4th the entrenched in front of the bridge which Germans succeeded in getting a pon- spanned the Nethe. Bearing the brunt toon completed, and came down in of the German attack, they held these solid m.asses to cross it. As they trenches until Tuesday morning. The came, every Belgian gun that could following statement, issued by the be turned on the spot was concen- Secretary of the Admiralty on October trated on them, and they were blown nth, covers the whole movements of blocks at a time the British force from the of its away ; nevertheless, time

the masses of men still came on. arrival : " At last the bridge was shattered to In response to an appeal by the bits, and the enemy fell back. Belgian Government, a marine bri- gade and two naval brigades, together " '* Men and Black Marias with some heavy naval guns, manned by a detachment of the Royal Navy, The attacking force was estimated the whole under the command of at 125,000 men at this date, well General Paris, R.M.A., were sent by provided with artillery, large numbers his Majesty's Government to partici- of field guns, some heavy pieces of pate in the defence of Antwerp during ii-inch, and one of the famous 16-inch the last week of the attack. 114 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

On the Nethe fought with great determination, but back *' were "gradually pressed by till the of last, Up night Monday numbers. In these circumstances the October 5th, the Belgian army and Belgians and British military authori- the marine brigade successfully de- ties in Antv^erp decided to evacuate fended the line of the Nethe River. the city. The British offered to cover But early on Tuesday morning the the retreat, but General de Guise Belgian forces on the right of the desired that they should leave before marines were forced by a heavy Ger- the last division of the Belgian man attack, covered by very powerful army. artillery, to retire, and in consequence " After a long night march to St. the whole of the defence was with- Gilles the three naval brigades en- drawn to the inner line of forts, the trained. Two out of the three have intervals between which had been arrived safely at Ostend, but owing strongly fortified. The ground which to circumstances which are not yet had been lost enabled the enemy to fully known, the greater part of the plant his batteries to bombard the 1st Naval Brigade was cut off by the The inner line of defences was city. German attack north of Lokeren, and maintained during Wednesday and 2,000 officers and men entered Dutch Thursday, while the city endured a territory in the neighbourhood of ruthless bombardment. The be- Hulst and laid down their arms, haviour of the Marines and Royal in accordance with the laws of neu- naval brigades in the trenches and in trality. The retreat of the Belgian the field was praiseworthy in a high army has been successfully accom- degree, and remarkable in units so plished. The naval armoured trains newly formed, and, owing to the pro- and heavy guns were all brought away. tection of the entrenchments, the " The naval aviation park having losses, in spite of the severity of the completed the attack on Diisseldorf fire, are probably less than 300 out of and Cologne already reported, has re- a total force of 8,000. The defence turned safely to the base protected could have been maintained for a by its armoured cars. The retreat but not longer period, long enough from Ghent onwards of the naval to allow of adequate forces being sent Division and of the Belgian army for their relief without prejudice to was covered by strong British re- the main situation. strategic inforcements. " The Brave Belgians Vast numbers of the non-com- batant population of Antwerp, men, "The enemy also began on Thursday women, and children, are streaming to press strongly on the line of com- in flight in scores of thousands munications near Lokeren. The westwards from the ruined and burn- Belgian forces defending this point ing city." THE FALL OP ANtWERP X15 frontier as far as Wilmansdonck. For A Trying Time a month past I have grown accus- The British troops in the line of tomed to the sight of streams of trenches nearest to the river Nethe refugees trailing over all the roads of had a most trying time on Monday, Belgium until the queer illusion has October 5th, exposed as they were in grown up that they are always the wide shallow trenches to a continuous same refugees. They look so pitiably and searching shrapnel fire with alike. But all the scenes on all the never a chance to use their rifles. roads for weeks past must be added After a time the men retired to a new together and multiplied twenty-fold line less exposed and better con- to resemble the spectacle of the roads structed half a mile back from the to Holland during the last two days. river. This line they held until the Hardly any migration in the history following morning, when they, to- of the Israelites, Kalmucks, or Tartars gether with the Belgian soldiers, can have equalled it. ** retired behind the inner line of forts. Two relieving features were the A British Reservist attached to extreme kindness of the Dutch people " H.M.S. Pembroke," who was in the at the frontier and the beautiful trenches, describes the Belgian fort weather. These reduced the mor- " guns as being outranged and out- tality to a minimum. But I saw " " the German terrible such as a in metalled ; huge pro- scenes, woman a jectiles crashed through walls and wheelbarrow in a virulent stage of destroyed fortifications as if they had scarlet-fever, another with a child just been made of papier-mache." born, and many aged and ill borne Once within the inner ring of forts by frail members of their families the British guns began to come into quite unfit for the task." and that their action, realising prey Across the Schelde was escaping from them, the Germans throughout the 6th made repeated On Wednesday, October 7th, the and determined efforts to break enemy at last succeeded in their effort across the Schelde along the line from to effect the passage of the Schelde Termonde to Wetteren, but were at Termonde, Schoonaerde and Wet- constantly repulsed by the Belgians. teren, and at midnight the bombard- The following day the exodus from ment of the city began, the German Antwerp began in earnest, and all summons to surrender having been Wednesday afternoon and during disdainfully rejected by General de Thursday morning the Civic Guard Guise. It was on .Thursday the went from house to house telling the stampede of the population increased *' inhabitants to flee. I walked out," in volume and intensity with every says The Times Special Correspondent, hour. The Times correspondent *' on the main road to the Dutch above quoted re-entering the city at ii6 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR " noon on that day, found it almost Thursday craft of every description empty." Besides the exodus by the were slipping down stream loaded with " roads to Holland I had seen a human beings until, as dusk fell, crowd estimated at 150,000 blocking chiefly by the light of the burning oil the ferry and the pontoon for the tanks, I saw the Civic Guard sink railway to St. Nicholas and Ghent half a dozen lighters, blocking the earlier in the day. These all disap- entrance to the inner basins of the peared, the last trains being gone docks. I myself boarded one of the and arrangements were made for last batch of lighters passing out, blowing up the pontoon bridge. where, in company with a party of " It was an extraordinary experience refugees and another correspondent, walking through the deserted streets. amid a cargo of gravel, corn, and All the windows were shuttered, and poultry, and lying in mid-stream, I many places along the roads were watched the indescribable scenes of littered with the debris of shell-fire. Thursday night. " Occasional figures were hurrying along The oil tanks still burned fiercely under the shelter of the walls while with dense masses of black smoke to

shells still broke around. I saw a the south of the city. As night fell corner knocked off a house a hundred other fires arose, some from shells, yards from the Cathedral. I saw a but most of them purposely started shell smash through the sheds on by the Belgians, destroying materials the water front, where the Harwich likely to be serviceable to the enemy. boat starts. I saw shells plough up We could count some dozen or fifteen the pavement of the street a little fires on the south-east side of the city. way in front of me, I saw a factory The glare of all was reflected on the chimney break and crumble, crashing overhanging clouds of black smoke on other roofs fifty yards away. against which the flash of exploding " German shells could reach every shells flickered constantly like light- * corner of the city, and the chief ning — The lightning of the foot- characteristic of the bombardment steps in the sky.' Much the heaviest was the haphazard way the fire was cannonade I have heard in all the directed on all parts of Antwerp, and fighting in Belgium went on from not concentrated anywhere, the object ten o'clock till midnight on Thursday seeming to be rather to terrorize than night, and the circumstances of the to destroy. So until Thursday night night and the flaring flames made a no great damage was caused. picture defying description." the defence The River Spectacle During Thursday night was discontinued, and the Allies " No less wonderful than the scene withdrew from the city. Throughout on the roads or in the city was the the day the sufferings of the flying spectacle on the river, where all day population were indescribable. Here TH8 FORTIFICATIONS OF ANTWERP^ ii8 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

is another glimpse of the terror in- of the fugitives, who were totally spired by the approach of the repre- ignorant of where their next night's " sentatives of German Kultur." lodging would be." A Stream of Suffering A Crescendo of Horror " From this moment onwards there The crescendo of horror reached its was no cessation in the stream of climax between the Thursday and wretchedness. We were assured that Friday mornings, when the aspect of 25,000 fugitives from German ferocity the doomed city resembled a scene had passed along one road, and that from the Inferno of Dante. A heavy " to black of not the^main|road from Antwerp pall smoke resembling well believe it. some Holland? andj^l can portentous awful eclipse," For many hours I watched the pitiful obscured the light, the darkness being procession. Every conceivable species emphasized by the flames from the of conveyances was utihzed for this burning buildings, and the bursting Belgian exodus. Roads were encum- of the enemy's incendiary shells. bered with cattle, Belgian cows and To the thunder of the German guns calves, so different in appearance and the shrieking of their bursting from the black and white Dutch shells was added the detonations of cows one sees in every pasture here, the Belgians, as they blew up any- were present in droves. It is said thing and everything likely to be that 200,000 cattle have thus entered of use to the besiegers, while the Holland, and these are at least a crash of faUing masonry and the source of milk supply for the homeless cries of the injured were punctuated wanderers. Intermingled with them by bombs exploding from aeroplanes, were people of both sexes and all ages the crackle of musketry, and the rip afoot. of machine guns. "All over the " Large country wagons were loaded southern section of the city," wrote \wiih little children, much as one sees the Daily News correspondent on the " them going to a school treat in Eng- Thursday, shells struck mansion, as the children and land ; but, young villa, cottage indiscriminately, were, they realized the tragic char- and the bright flashes of the explosion acter of the occasion, and journeyed lit the sky. '* in unchildhke silence. Many carts Then the fortress guns, the field were drawn by donkeys, and others batteries and the armoured trains by dogs. In some all the household opened out in one loud chorus, and possessions had been hastily piled. the din became terrific, while the One saw fowls, puppies, and canaries, reflection in the heavens w^as seem- jostling bandboxes, and bundles of ingly one huge tossing flame. From clothing. Blankets and bedding were the roof of my hotel the spectacle was conspicuous among the possessions an amazing one. The nerve-wracking THE FALL OF ANTWERP ri9

screech of the shells, the roof-tops sented, as it seemed to me, the of the city alternately dimmed, then tragedy of Belgium in all its horror. illuminated by some sudden red light I shall never forget the sight. Words which left the darkness blacker than fail to convey anything but a feeble before, and then the tearing out of picture of these depths of misery and roof or wall by the explosion, made despair. There the people stood in a picture which fell in no way short of dumb and patient ranks, drawn to Inferno." the quayside by an announcement that two boats would leave at eleven " A Desolate Ruin " o'clock for Ostend. And Ostend looks

* At 12.30 on Thursday afternoon, across to England, where lie the Mr. Lucien Arthur Jones, the Daily people's hopes. There were fully Chronicle correspondent, when the 40,000 of them assembled on the long bombardment had lasted over twelve quay, and all of them were inspired hours ascended to the roof of the by the sure and certain hope that cathedral, and from that point of they would be among the lucky ones " vantage surveyed the city. All who would get on board one of the the southern portion of Antwerp boats. Alas ! for their hopes. The appeared to be a desolate ruin. two boats did not sail, and when they Whole streets were ablaze, and the realised this a low wail of anguish flames were rising in the air to a rose from the disappointed multi- height of twenty and thirty feet. tude." Family parties made up the It was a scene of appalling grandeur, largest proportion of this vast crowd, but I could not help thinking of the husbands and wives with their groups harrowing scenes that were taking of scared children, old folk, grand- place almost as it were at feet." mothers and grandfathers of the my " The great oil tanks had been set on family, and these in their shaking fire by four bombs from a German frailty and the terror which they Taube, and a huge thick volume of could not withstand, were the most black smoke was ascending 200 feet pitiable objects in the great gathering " in the air : In all directions fire of stricken townsfolk." and flame and oil-laden smoke ! It A Fantastic Sight was hke a bit of Gustavo Dore*s idea of the infernal regions." On Thursday night the city pre- At dawn on Thursday immense sented a fantastic appearance, the crowds of men, women and children glare from the fires that had burst gathered along the quayside and at out in all directions being visible for the railway stations in the hope of many miles. The bombardment con- " escaping. In the dimness of break- tinued furiously throughout the night, " ing day," says Mr. L. A. Jones, this shells bursting in every direction ' ' gathering of les miserables pre- at the rate of thirty per minute. 120 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

Throughout the night the Belgian or two slow-moving stout Flemish soldiers passed in retreat through horses, many of the wagons having, the city, the last contingent leaving piled upon the bedding, as many as at 6 a.m. on of all carts of Friday morning. At thirty people ages ; 8 a.m. a shell struck the Town Hall, lesser degree of every kind from the and a quarter of an hour later another delivery vans of fashionable shops to shell shattered the upper storey, farm vehicles and wagons from the in the docks and hired breaking every window place. ; private carriages a.m. the cabs occasional doomed At 9 bombardment suddenly ; motor-cars, as the farm team ceased ; the city had capitulated, to the same pace ; and at 10.30 proclamations were dog-carts drawn by anything from posted up on the walls of the town one to four of these plucky Belgian urging the citizens to surrender any dogs, the prevailing type of which in their like hand- arms possession. When the looks almost pure dingo ; enemy entered he found a deserted trucks, push-carts, wheel-barrows, the fled city, population had from perambulators, and bicycles ; every- the Germans as from a pestilence. thing loaded as it had never been On Wednesday afternoon there were loaded before, and all alike creeping probably 400,000 or 500,000 people along in one solid unending mass, still in Antwerp. By Thursday at converting the long white roads into noon all but a few hundreds had de- dark ribands, twenty miles long, of parted. One hundred thousand fled, animals and humanity. A happy it is estimated, by the ferry, and thing it is that this is a flat country. trains and highways to St. Nicholas, Happier still that the weather has Lokeren, Ghent, Bruges and Ostend, been perfect. and not less than 250,000, probably The Foot Passengers many more, pushed out by the roads " by Wilmansdonck and Eeckeren to Between and around and filling the Dutch frontier. Nothing could all the gaps among these vehicles exceed the kindness of the Dutch went the foot passengers, each also and burdens of people, officially or individually. loaded with bundles clothes and household A Piteous Exodus every kind, goods, string bags filled with great The Times correspondent thus round loaves of bread and other vividly portrays this amazing and provisions for the road, children's piteous exodus : toys, and whatever possessions were " Moving at a foot's pace went most prized. Men and women, young every conceivable kind of vehicle : and old, hale and infirm, lame men great timber wagons, heaped with limping, blind led by little children, household goods topped with mat- countless women with babies in their tresses and bedding, drawn by one arms, many children carrying others THE FALL OF ANTWERP 121 not much smaller than themselves ; Admiral von Schroeder, who, sur- frail and delicate girls staggering rounded by a glittering staff, sat under burdens that a strong man on their horses in front of the Royal " shrink from a mile Palace in might carrying ; the Place de Meir. For well-dressed women with dressing five hours," says Mr. E. Alexander bags in one hand and a pet dog led Powell, correspondent of the New with the other in ; aged men bending York World, a remarkable descrip- double over their crutched sticks. tion of the German entry, reprinted " " Mixed up with the vehicles and in The Times, the mighty host the people were cattle, black and poured through the streets of the white Flemish cows, singly or in deserted city, while the houses shook: bunches of three or four tied abreast to the thunder of their tread. Com- with ropes, lounging with swinging pany after company, regiment after heads amid the throng. Now and regiment, brigade after brigade, swept again one saw goats. Innumerable past until the eye grew weary of dogs ran in and out of the crowd, watching the ranks of grey under trying in bewilderment to keep in the slanting lines of steel. As they touch with their masters. On carts marched they sang, the canyon formed were crates of poultry and chickens, by high buildings along the Place de and baskets containing cats. Men, Meir echoing to their voices roaring ' ' ' women, and children carried cages out the Wacht am Rhein and A with parrots, canaries, and other Mighty Fortress is our God.' " birds out of bundles its ; and, peeping Each regiment was headed by and string bags—generally carried by field music and colours, and when the elder members of the families— darkness fell and the street lamps were Teddy bears, golliwogs, and were lighted the shrill music of fifes children's rocking-horses. It was and rattle of drums and the tramp of impossible not to be touched by the marching feet reminded me of a torch- tenderness which made these wretched light election parade. Hard on the folk, already overburdened, struggle heels of the infantry rumbled artillery, to take with them their pets and battery after battery, until one won- their children's playthings." dered where Krupp found time or steel to make them. These were the A Saturday Parade forces that had been almost in con- Though a heavy German force had stant action for the last two weeks entered Antwerp on Friday night, and that for thirty-six hours had the bulk of the army did not enter poured death and destruction into the until late on Saturday afternoon, city, yet the horses were well groomed when 60,000 men passed in review and the harness well polished. Be- before General von Schutz, the mili- hind the field batteries rumbled quick- tary Governor of Antwerp, and firers, and then, heralded by a blare 122 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR of trumpets and the crash of kettle- other men in spiked helmets ranged drums, came the cavalr^^ cuirassiers themselves in a row across the hall. in helmets and breastplates of bur- nished steel, hussars in befrogged The Opened Door! jackets and fur busbies, and finally " the Uhlans, riding amid forests of After a quarter of an hour's delay lances under a cloud of fluttering the door of the dining-room opened pennons. and a portly Councillor appeared, * wiping his moustache. You have Uhlans and Bluejackets ' a message you wish to deliver ? he " ' But this was not all, nor nearly all. inquired. The message I am in- For after the Uhlans came bluejackets structed to give you. Sir,' said the of the naval division, broad-shouldered young man, clicking his heels sharply bewhiskered fellows with caps worn together and bowing from the waist, * rakishly and the roll of the sea in is that Antwerp is now a German their gait. Then Bavarian infantry city, and you are requested by the in dark blue, Saxon infantry in light General Commanding his Imperial blue, and Austrians in uniforms of Majesty's Forces so to inform your beautiful silver grey, and, last of all, towTispeople, and to assure them that a detachment of gendarmes in silver they will not be molested so long as and bottle-green." they display no hostility toward our Before the actual military occupa- troops.' " tion of Antwerp, says Mr. Powell, half The Burgomaster then went out a dozen motor-cars, filled with armed to the motor-car to obtain the best men wearing grey uniforms and spiked terms he could. General von Schutz helmets, entered the Porte de Malines informed him that, if the outlying and drew up before the Hotel de Ville. forts were immediately surrendered, The doorkeeper, in the blue and silver no money indemnity would be de- livery of the municipality, cautiously manded from the city, though all the opened the door in response to the merchandise in the warehouses would summons of a young officer in a be confiscated." *' voluminous grey cloak. I have a A correspondent who visited Ant- message to deliver to the Communal werp after the German occupation Council," said the young man pleas- was struck by the comparatively '* antly. The Communal Councillors small amount of damage done, his are at dinner and cannot be disturbed," general impression being that little of *' was the doorkeeper's reply. If mon- the town was destroyed. The city itself " sieur will have the kindness to take he described as dead." Blinds were '' a seat until they finish ? So the down in private houses, and where yoimg man in the spiked helmet seated there were no blinds the houses had himself on a wooden bench and the their shutters closed. XIV. THE FIGHT FOR THE CHANNEL

The fall of Antwerp was immediately of the Allies ran roughly from just followed by an attempt on the part east of Arras to the sea near Ostend, of the enemy to move along the sea a distance of some eighty miles. *' coast and occupy successively Ost- Nearly the whole of this Hne," " end, Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne writes Mr. Belloc, traverses a plain in order to command the North Sea most of which is dead level. The and the Straits of Dover. To effect exception is in a range of slight this purpose they used the large heights running i^ a dwindling crescent army released by the fall of Antwerp south of Ypres. From Lens north- and very strongly reinforced. Strategi- wards to above Armentieres you are cally no object was to be gained in the coal district—a mass of dirty this the of lanes and a of by attempt ; occupation gridiron railways and Dunkirk and Calais, even if achieved, canals. But from the north of this would be as useless from a military to the sea the complexity of such point of \iew as was the occupation country ceases and is replaced, especi- of Bruges and Ostend. Ostend, ally as the sea-coast is approached, Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne do by numerous very slow watercourses, not command the Straits of Dover both canalised and natural. Almost and the English Channel. The every field has its wet ditch." The British Fleet commands these and chief towns along the almost straight would have to be destroyed before line from Lille to Ostend are Ypres, the Belgian and French coast ports Dixmude and Nieuport, and the con- could be of any use to the Germans. tests around and in these towns were The policy of the enemy was political of the fiercest description. Dix- not military. They desired to frighten mude and Nieuport are on the River this country by their proximity to Yser which, canaHsed, empties into our coast and to cheer Berlin with the North Sea at Nieuport-Bains. It, the news of such proximity. Calais too, figures prominently in the " " was to make up for Paris. despatches relating to this period. was the A Line to the Sea Antwerp occupied by Germans on October loth. The When Antwerp fell, the left wing German troops at once began to 123 124 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR " on the of In to the last of the march westwards ; evening regard part the 14th they were reported in the above announcement by the War of and Thielt the Press Bureau has received neighbourhood Bruges ; Office, on the 15th -they were at Blanken- from an authentic source the following berghe, and at 10.20 on that morning description of the Belgian Army's entered Ostend, thus emerging on work, which will be read with pride, the shores of the North Sea. They both by the Belgians who have had to now began their march along the flee from their native land and by those coast, and on October 19th the French Allies amongst whom they are now communique reported that the Belgian finding temporary rest and shelter. " Army had repulsed attacks between For the last four days the Belgian Nieuport and Dixmude. Army have been in their trenches a line of some 30 kilometres, An Attack in Force holding with the greatest determination, On the night of October i6th, the against heavy odds. On several oc- Germans made an attack in force on casions they have made brave and the position of the French at the latter successful attacks against the German town. The assault, said The Times force attacking the position they correspondent, began about midnight. held, and have shown the soldierlike Large numbers of infantry advanced qualities that have distinguished the against the trenches outside the town : Belgian Army during the long period " The troops holding them were they have been fighting against su- outnumbered and were compelled to perior forces of the enemy in their retire on the town, where they held own country." on grimly in the outskirts. Rein- On the same day came the an- forcements had been sent for in the nouncement by the Secretary of the meanwhile. They arrived about Admiralty that : " ' dawn, a counter-attack was delivered, The monitors Severn,' Comman- ' the of fire der Eric A. Fullerton and with help artillery the J. ; Humber,' Arthur L. and Germans were driven back and the Commander Snagge ; * - trenches re-won." Mersey,' Lieutenant Commander Late on the night of October 21st, Robert A. Wilson, have recently been the Press Bureau issued the following engaged in operations on the Belgian inspiring statement : coast, firing on the right flank of the " Throughout yesterday the enemy German Army. " made vigorous counter-attacks against Owing to their light draught they the Allies' front, but were beaten have been able to contribute materi- back, suffering considerable losses. ally to the success of the operations The Belgian Army in particular dis- in this district, and they have already tinguished itself by its spirited and alpundantly justified their acquisition brave defence of its position. on the outbreak of war. THE FIGHT FOR THE CHANNEL 125 " In addition, detachments with his batteries and heavy guns. Yester- machine guns have been landed from day a considerable explosion, pro- these vessels to assist in the defence bably of an ammunition wagon, fol- of Nieuport, where they performed lowed upon a naval shot. The naval meritorious service." losses so far have been very small the done and More Details considering damage the important assistance rendered to The following day the Admiralty the Belgian left flank. All reports supplemented the foregoing with fur- received by the Admiralty show the ther details : courage and determination with which " On the i8th instant, requests for the Belgian Army, assisted by the naval assistance were made to the King in person, is defending the last Admiralty by the Allied Commanders. few miles of Belgian soil. The naval In consequence a naval flotilla, mount- operations are under the command ing a large number of powerful long- of Rear-Admiral the Hon. Horace range guns, came into action at L. A. Hood, C.S. M.V.O., D.S.O." daybreak on the 19th, off the Belgian England Expects ! coast, supporting the left of the Belgian Army and firing against the On Trafalgar Day the British right of the German attack which squadron bombarding the German they were, by their position, able to positions between Nieuport and Mid- enfilade. The Gei:mans replied with delkerke was in continuous action shells from their heavy guns, but for twelve hours. The action began owing to the superior range of the at six in the morning when the British Marine Artillery practically squadron steaming some two miles no damage has been done. The three ofl the shore shelled the enemy's monitors, which were building in trenches situated three miles inland. British ports for Brazil and were The sailors remained at their posts acquired on the outbreak of war, until six in the evening. The firing have proved particularly well-suited was rapid and incessant says Renter's to this class of operation. A heavy Special Correspondent at Dover, one bombardment of the German flank British vessel firing no fewer than has been maintained without inter- 1,000 lyddite and shrapnel shells. " mission, since the morning of the The fire of the squadron caused 19th and is being continued to-day. the greatest execution in the German Observation is arranged from the trenches and batteries among the shore by means of naval balloons, dunes, and between them the Allies' and all reports indicate that sub- vessels destroyed a German battery of stantial losses have been inflicted field artillery, dispersed a German upon the enemy and that the fire is bridging train collected to force the well-directed and effective against passage of the Yser, blew up an 126 tHE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR " ammunition column, killed General the German General Staff. At von Tripp and the whole of his staff the luncheon hour the officers were to the west of Westende, and by the seated at a table when a single shell fierceness of their fire compelled the penetrated the dining-room, killing enemy to evacuate its position before three officers and wounding others. Nieuport. Some of ^ the guns dis- Because of this incident, which is charged 14 shots a minute. The justifiable enough in war time, the damage done to the enemy was Germans are showing themselves clearly discernible from'^the vessels. unusually vindictive, and have pro- " An attempt on the part of the mised to shoot every English civilian enemy to get their range by sending falling into their hands." up an aeroplane which dropped smoke Meanwhile the efforts made by the balls was ineffective. At the end enemy to cross the Yser were of of the day the whole coast for a incredible violence, both artillery and distance of four miles from Nieuport infantry being incessantly in action. to Westende had been completely Furious attacks by day were followed evacuated and was a dense mass of by furious attacks by night. The black smoke and flame. It was losses were on a scale commensurate afterwards reported that in the action with the struggle. A despatch pub- the Germans lost at least 4,000 killed Hshed in the Daily Mail of October and wounded." 27th, stated there were 2,500 German bodies in the Yser Canal after the Persistently Attacked fighting in the night. Many of them Throughout the day our ships were had been drowned, others bayoneted. attacked an persistently by enemy Dark till Dawn submarine, and torpedoes were fired " " *' " without success at the Wildfire The night," we read, was a " and Myrmidon." Other British hell. From dark till dawn at vessels again attacked the submarine. almost every point of the line, man In the afternoon a British destroyer opposed man—sometimes at a few steaming straight into Ostend from hundred yards distance, but more the sea on a reconnoitring tour often in close grips, face to face. approached the Digue and was im- Men even wrestled and died by mediately fired on by three German drowning each other in the canal's machine guns. The destroyer, reports waters. The Germans had had orders Mr. M. D. Donohoe, the Special Corre- to get through that night, cost what it spondent of the Daily Chronicle, might. An officer of theirs who was replied, putting three shells through captured admitted this was so. The * ' the walls and windows of the Hotel delay of more than a week in Majestic on the sea-front which crossing this waterway had incensed happened to be the headquarters of the autocratic military mind of THE FIGHT FOR THE CHANNEL 127

* Germany. It must be crossed to- on steadily. Friday came and with night if it costs thousands of men.' it much-needed reinforcements. The That in effect was the order given, position was saved, the enemy was though the officer did not say this. thrown back 15 miles. Such briefly And the German soldiers, all credit is the story of the five days' battle to them, did their best. Probably at Ypres." of them their lives that 5,000 gave Among the Dunes night. They could not give more. Yet they failed. Thank God for On October 26th, The Times pub- that." lished a message from its Special Though eventually the enemy Correspondent in West Flanders dated crossed the Yser between Nieuport October 20th, which gave an admir- and Dixmude they were unable to able account of the fighting among do more than merely hold the south the dunes: from his graphic story bank, the Allies maintaining their we take the following passages : " line between the coast and Dixmude. For three days the cannon had Nowhere along the Yser did the boomed and battered over the sand- Germans attack with more vigour dunes and along the marshes of the that at Ypres, the centre of the line Yser, agonizing to hear. It became in Flanders. They numbered 250,000 intolerable to sit and listen hour after troops, and for five critical days were hour to the guns without knowing last held in check by^ the British : over what was going on. At on the and over again masses of the German fourth day, in company with a friend, infantry advanced within a few I managed to get up the coast to " the Yser flows hundred yards : There they halted Nieuport-Bains, where and poured in a volley. They had into the sea, and there at midday we no relish for a bayonet charge. Over found ourselves right at the edge of and over again men leapt from the the battle. " trenches and went at them with the Both these villages had been the bayonet. They fled, firing their rifles occupied by the Belgian infantry over their shoulders as they ran. day before we arrived. The Belgians Many hundreds were captured, and were trying to push up the coast thousands were mown down with and drive the Germans inland, sup- of British shell, with rifle, and machine gun ported by the guns a fire. Still their shell and shrapnel squadron firing off the coast. When rained upon our trenches. Fresh we reached the river at midday infantry were brought up. fighting was going on between the '* it and the of the The situation became critical ; two villages, guns seemed as if the defence of om: gallant warships and the guns of the Belgian men must be overborne by sheer field batteries were throwing their weight of numbers. Still they held shells among the attacking Germans.' 128 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

A Good View perfect hell of fire and smoke. The Germans it in the The correspondent gets permission captured morning, and since then cruisers and to observe the battle from the top destroyers floor have been shell after shell into skyHght window of a hotel : firing " it and our From our post on the roof the beyond. Through glasses we can see that some of the nearer whole battle area between Nieuport are and the coast was spread out before buildings roofless already; an of little red us, a terrible and wonderful sight. angry fringe tongues flickers round the To the left was the sea, with the gables. In the of smoke the dark hulls of the warships spitting back-ground drifting dark forms of fire and smoke. Immediately to our the church tower and the windmill stand right in a little birch wood a hundred up half veiled amid the ruin. Between yards away were the Belgian batteries Westende and all firing across the river. We could see Lombaertzyde the sky is flecked with shells. That is red flashes from the guris dart through bursting the trees which hid them, and the where the fighting is going on. The white balls wiiich burst in clusters reports would come crashing out, to shake the house to its foundations. are the shrapnel from the Belgian In front of the birch wood and the guns which are roaring from among the trees close guns runs the railway line into Nieu- by us. Now and again a of port, which is hidden from us, save great splash black smoke spurts the houses. Each of these for its church tower, by a grove of up among marks the of a shell trees. Beyond the railway line is the splashes bursting river, a broad ribbon of water from one of the warships out at sea. grey " with sHmy banks which dwindled Somewhere near that inferno, at out of sight in the direction of Nieu- Lombaertzyde, perhaps like ourselves on the of a is port, near which appears to be a top house, perched a bridge of boats. Across the river watcher marking where the shells from the there are the marshes. They are warships are falling. With him sits a his instrument bounded to our view on the right by telephonist, to his mouth. Each time a shell a scattered hne of buildings which bursts or the makes a marks the road from Nieuport to enemy move visible to the watcher he at his Lombaertzyde. Lombaertzyde itself glances and a Hes in the centre of the picture httle map gives message. The tele- transmits it more than half a mile away. To the phonist to headquarters, whence it is tele- left of it, and partially hidden by the repeated again by dunes and banks which curve round phone to the wireless station in the from the coast, is Westende. rear. The wireless operator notes it and flashes it out to the ships. Fire and Smoke - Thus, a few minutes after he has " Westende as we now see it is a fired his shot, the gunner out at sea THE FIGHT FOR THE CHANNEL 129 receives news of where his shell has Writing in the Berliner Tageblatt, fallen, regulates his aim, and fires Colonel Morath, the German military again at his invisible foe. This is writer, declared the battle be- modern war." tween Lille and Dunkirk to be the in the greatest war ; "the battle," At the Yser *' he said, is for us a question of life We have said the enemy crossed or death, because on the issue of this the Yser between Nieuport and Dix- encounter will depend the fate of the on the afternoon of in France." mude ; Sunday, German operations October were driven across 25th, they The Kaiser's Order again by the French infantry and the British monitors, sustaining heavy The Times correspondent at Copen- losses. It should be understood that hagen, in a message dated October " the Yser is not an ordinary river over 26th, said : It is stated from Berlin which engineers can throw a single that the Kaiser has categorically com- pontoon bridge. It is divided into manded that Calais shall be taken, three main channels between Nieuport quite irrespective of expenditure of and Dixmude which must all be life and material." The expenditure bridged successively before the enemy of life was so colossal that masses can claim to have secured the opposite of German dead were left unburied bank. The defence of the Yser adds on the ground and both banks of the fresh laurels to the imperishable Yser were lined with corpses, while renown of the Belgian Army. Con- down the red waters of the river fronted it is reported by at least two floated bodies of men and horses and army corps, they held their position all kinds of war equipment. The on the Yser for two weeks, fighting reinforcements of the enemy included without respite day and night. In nine lads fresh from school and spectacled " days' fighting their losses amounted patriarchs of seventy years. Five to about 10,000 dead and wounded, days ago I was at school, sir," said a the German losses being much heavier. terror-stricken German boy of fifteen The Belgian infantry were in the taken prisoner at Dixmude. trenches almost without repose for Mr. George Renwick, the Daily ten days with nothing to drink but Chronicle special correspondent, in a " the canal water, and little oppor- message dated North of the River " tunity to prepare a hot meal. Since Lys, Monday afternoon (October " the war began no fiercer onslaughts 26th), said : The attempted forward have been made than those the movement by the Germans in Bel- Belgian soldiers after weeks of fighting gium has completely failed. That were called upon to resist. They much is sure. All along the line the at never fought with greater verve and Allies have held their positions ; brilliance. certain parts they have pushed 130 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR forward, and as I write this are stated reached them. The force of the to be still advancing. I hear, from attack was doubled, and the Belgians a reliable source, however, that it is had to give way a little, after forty- likely another attack will be delivered eight hours of continuous fighting. by the Germans on the Belgian front. The Germans pressed forward to The tired troops of the Kaiser are encounter, not retiring Belgians, but said to have been strongly reinforced, oncoming, swarthy figures. Before and the Imperial order has gone they could recover from their surprise, forth that another attempt to batter those dusky soldiers were amongst down the Allies' line is to be made. . . . them. There was a short, sharp All reports agree that the enemy's encounter, and then a rapid German losses have been on a colossal scale." retreat. Fright and the deadly In- dian turned that retreat Belgians and Indians bayonets into nothing more dignified than a This correspondent told a stirring scamper to cover. Yet on came that story of the fighting of Belgians and soldiery which, till then, the Germans

Indians in the Flanders battle : had regarded as a m5^h. The re- '' The Germans had thrown enor- tiring troops were simply dug out of mous masses of troops against this the trenches in which they had particular part of the line. They taken shelter and driven backwards encountered the Belgians entrenched farther still by the well-aimed bullets and ready, and a stubborn encounter and the relentless steel of the East's began. Hour after hour it went on. finest fighters. Where the Germans The foe, too, could make no headway had hoped to break the line the against the gallant Belgians. So re- Indians turned the tide of battle, inforcements were poured to the and behind them followed the Bel- assistance of the attacking troops. gians. Ten thousand dead, it is de- Gradually it appeared as though clared, was what the Germans left ' numbers would tell. Hold on for behind them in that retreat." twenty-four hours and you will have Progress ! reinforcements. But hold on.' Such were the orders to the brave little At midnight on Tuesday, October Belgian force. So it settled down 27th, the French official communique " to do some dogged stone-walhng. reported progress on our part in the hours then of Twenty-four passed ; region to the south Dixmude." at the thirty ; thirty-fifth the Belgians An earlier official statement announced were still battling bravely. The for- continual progress between Ypres tieth found them still in their original and Roulers, so that it was evident positions. When forty-five had passed the enemy had been pushed back the Germans were beginning to along the whole of that section of despair, but just then heavy support the line between Dixmude and Ypres. THE FIGHT FOR THE CHANNEL 131

On the same day it was reported from wounded in Flanders was, at this Amsterdam that at some points on date, estimated at 125,000, and the the Yser Canal the enemy were total number of his forces in Belgium using the bodies of their dead to at 550,000. form bridges across, but had failed On Tuesday, November 3rd, the to reach the opposite side. enemy was still continuing his violent On Friday, October 30th, it was offensive on the whole line from the announced that in the latest naval Belgian coast into northern France, operations associated, with the battle especially between Dixmude and the on the line from Nieuport to Dix- River Lys, but the Allies, far from " mude, French torpedo-gunboats and being beaten back, slightly ad- destroyers bombarded the right wing vanced" their line. The presence of the German army in concert with of the Kaiser with the German forces the British ships. On Sunday, Novem- near Ypres emphasised the importance ber 1st, the Belgian army opened of the struggle to the enemy. In the the sluices of the River Yser betv/een unsuccessful attack which he in person Nieuport and Dixmude, drowned great superintended the London Scottish numbers of the enemy, and compelled covered themselves with glory. Gen- the German force, which at enormous erally, though the Germans were sacrifice had again crossed the Yser, assuming the offensive more strongly once more to withdraw. than ever, the AlHes were confident " It a terrible said of the of the was sight," an victory ; flooding officer to Mr. George Renwick, to country was proceeding, and the see the in their en- back Germans caught enemy being steadily pushed ; trenchments when the flood came whilst the Belgians, after three rushing in upon them : "in a flood months' fighting, were battling like of fire and water, in a perfect tornado men inspired. On the same day the " of terror . . . trench after trench Times correspondent wrote that re- was taken, and a deep wedge was ports of German dispiritedness and " " driven into the German positions." fatigue were too numerous to be The loss of the enemy in dead and disregarded." XV. BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES

All the desperate and gallant fight- But before we enter upon des- ing described in the preceding chap- cription, it is well to make clear the ters, illustrating the splendid qualities point that, by what has been called " of the Army, has been based really noiseless pressure," the Fleet was on the sea-guard of the Navy. The securing for us the fruits of a victory. presence of the troops at the front, Not only was our trade maintained, their reinforcements and all their but behind the secure shield of the necessary supplies have depended on Navy we created a new army, and the security of sea communications. called other forces from India and Within a week of the outbreak of the Dominions to our aid. Never war, the German mercantile flag dis- had there been such a great revelation appeared from the seas, while our own of Sea Power, and wherever through- food and raw materials continued to out the world we have fired a shot, arrive from every part of the globe. be it in Samoa, in the Bismarck Never had the world seen the like. Archipelago, in New Guinea, or in The Home Fleets had been the German Colonies elsewhere, even mobilised as a test in July. The to the ends of the earth, it has all First Fleet had always full comple- been done under the guard of the ments, and the Second and Third ships of the Grand Fleet keeping Fleets had been completed to full watch and ward over the waters of strength. Few of the men had re- the North Sea. turned to their homes when war The Modern Nelson became imminent. Those who had gone were immediately recalled, and The Navy k^ows much of Sir John so the Grand Fleet, commanded by Jellicoe, and trusts him, but the public Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, was con- had hardly heard of him. That is stituted. Almost unperceived, it because he is never theatrical, never slipped away from Portland and for seeks the limelight glare, never does weeks was not heard of again, though anything but his duty. Sir John many ships emerged into light in Jellicoe is the Nelson of the time— the fighting incidents which we shall really a Nelson-like man—brought describe. forward long ago for the critical hour 132 BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES 133

by Lord Fisher, the St. Vincent of phion," a light cruiser of 3,440 tons, the time. One made the and ten and several smaller I victory, carrying 4-in. the other achieves it, JelHcoe sticks guns, had sighted a suspicious mer- to his guns, for he is a great gunnery chant vessel, which proved to be the officer, and never fires broadsides in "Konigin Luise," of 2,163 gross ton- the papers. He is the embodiment nage, and a speed of twenty knots, a " of the Silent Navy." He was passenger ship of the Hamburg- first noted for his gunnery efficiency, Amerika Line, engaged in what proved and has come onward, gaining high to be the mine-laying of which so much credit at every step, to assume com- has since been heard. When chal- U mand just at the right hour. His lenged, the stranger refused to stop, ^ principle is to keep quiet, to hold and when a shot was fired across her everything ready, to grasp all sea bows she used her speed in an effort communications, to encourage and to get away. She had dropped a line support the enterprise of his officers, of mines about thirty miles from the and when the hour comes, to hit first, Suffolk coast, in the track of coastwise and to go on hitting. This is the commerce. The destroyers took up great principle of Lord Fisher, and the chase, but a stern chase is always Jellicoe is the living exponent of it. a long chase, and for many sea miles He showed his cool courage when he the destroyers pursued, getting into rescued a man from drowning, and range when about thirty miles from again when he himself went down in Antwerp. Their marksmanship was " the Victoria," then a young officer, splendid. One shot blew away the and was rescued among the very mine-layer's bridge, another did few. damage forward, and the third tore " He displayed the same courage off her propeller. The Lance," which in action, when he was badly wounded was quite new, was instrumental in in the relief of the Peking Legations. completing the destruction, and the " " '' " His first triumph in the war was when Lark and Linnet used their guns he bottled up the German Fleet. His effectively. The same evening the next, we hope, will be when he begins destroyers brought to Harwich the hitting on a large scale. twenty-eight wounded German sea- men, of whom four died. The First Blow The " Amphion " Lost

The veil which had shrouded the The next morning came the first Fleet after its departure from Port- British disaster. The "Amphion" land Roads was first lifted, after a (Capt. C. H. Fox), returning from her fortnight, by news that on the morn- cruise with the destroyers, touched a ing of August 5th, the Third Destroyer mine, said to have been of the " Flotilla, with the parent vessel Am- double sort, connected by a chain 134 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR " and doubtless laid the by Konigin A German Submarine Destroyed Luise." The bow of the cruiser is said to have come in contact with During this time the Fleet was the chain, and thus to have drawn ready for action, and its cruisers and up a mine on either side of her. flotillas were continually sweeping the A sheet of flame suddenly leapt sea. The German High Sea Fleet, up and enveloped the bridge, render- belying its name, was keeping snugly ing the captain insensible. But he in port, but mine-layers were busy soon recovered and ran to stop the under false colours, and disasters to engines. By this time the bows of the British and neutral vessels began ' vessel were flaming like a furnace, to occur. Meanwhile the First Light and it was impossible to reach the Cruiser Squadron, Commodore W. E. bridge or flood the fore magazine. Goodenough, was attacked by German The ship's back seemed to be broken, submarines on August 9th. No to of and she was already settling down damage was done any our ^ by the bows. But there was not vessels, but U15, a submarine built the slightest confusion. The men at Danzig, carrying about twelve fell in as if on parade with the utmost officers and men, was sunk by the " composure. It was a splendid ex- cruiser Birmingham," Captain A. A. ample of the discipline and courage of M. Duff, and the First Lord communi- the sea. The wounded were removed cated the fact to the Lord Mayor away from the fore part of the ship, the of Birmingham, saying the city would destroyers closed round, and twenty learn with pride that the success was minutes after the mine was struck, achieved by the cruiser named after it. the officers and men had left the This was the first recorded encounter "Amphion." Hardly had they done of a large vessel with a submarine so when a tremendous explosion in actual warfare. occurred on the fore The details of the event have not board, magazine ; blowing up, with the singular result been oflicially described, but a cor- that a shell fell in one of the rescuing respondent of the Scotsman gave an ac- boats, and killed two bluejackets count, which possessed an appearance and a rescued German sailor. Very of reahsm. He said the boats ap- " " shortly afterwards the Amphion proached showing only their peris- " " w^ent down. Captain Fox, who was copes, and that the Birmingham received by the King at Buckingham fired at the thin line of the periscope of Palace, and immediately appointed U15 and shattered it, blinding the " to the destroyer leader Faulknor," doomed submarine. Such a thing which replaced the lost cruiser, spoke is possible, yet it is doubtful whether in the highest terms of the coolness it really occurred. But the sub- and seamanlike skill of the officers marine received doubtless some find men of the sunken vessel. damage, and came to the surface. THE NORTH SEA MAP.

BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES 135

As the dark mass of her conning- of reinforcements and stores, and the " tower showed, the guns of the Bir- base for the recovery and distribution " mingham covered it, and in a of the wounded. The organization moment, according to this account, and management on both the naval the second shot of the fight was fired. and military sides were flawless. The The guns, no doubt, spoke to the army could not have left the country, submarine, but she is stated to have wherever it had to fight, without the been sunk by ramming. The effect guardianship of the Navy, and it has of the action upon the moral of the been picturesquely said that the enemy, so far as the submarine service seaman carries his comrade the soldier is concerned, was supposed to be on his back. The military machinery considerable, but, as subsequent would have worked in vain if the events proved, did not diminish the Grand Fleet had not been at sea, eagerness of German submarine with its gallant Naval Air Service officers to attack. scouting, taking charge of all British interests and it is true also The Army Landed afloat, that, however long the war may continue, But nothing stopped the transport the Navy will be the vital line upon of our troops to the Continent. Very which it will depend. It has been few people were aware of what was the Navy that has enabled the land in progress, except those immediately base of the troops on the Continent concerned. Sir John Jellicoe knew to be shifted from port to port in the situation, and enabled the Admir- France and Belgium to correspond alty to tell the military authorities with the movements of the armies. that the of and passage troops sup- The Hidden Danger plies would be safe. Our ships and destroyers were ready, and seaplanes But it is true, nevertheless, that the and airships of the Naval Air Service mine-laying activity of the Germans patrolled eastward of the Straits of in the North Sea had disastrous, Dover, the airships continuing their though really unimportant results. watch twelve hours continuously. A good many trawlers and drifters Seaplanes based on Ostend were were lost, and it was assumed that watching and no vessel could approach the Germans had laid a line of mines from the east unperceived. extending from the Suffolk to the Sir John French crossed to France Yorkshire coast, and from thirty to " in the light cruiser Sentinel," but fifty miles from the shore. The " no particulars were published of the Wilson liner Runo," bound from number and classes of warships and Hull to Archangel, was lost, and the transports engaged. Southampton Germans captured fifteen of our traw- was the chief port of embarkation, lers, and used them afterwards with as it has been since for the dispatch other fishing boats in the work of 136 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

mine-laying. But a stricter method disaster through telescopes. The of patrol was instituted, and very station officer at St. Abb's signalling soon the Admiralty were able to give station telephoned to the hfeboat assurance of safe so that officials to have the motor lifeboat passage ; food and other supplies from Den- launched. This was done, and follow- mark, Norway and other ports began ing in the lifeboat's wake were a to come in almost as freely as during number of steam and motor fishing time of peace. The most serious boats. On nearing the spot where " " loss to the Navy from the effect of the the Pathfinder had been blown up German mines was the sinking of the an enormous stretch of wreckage was " " old gunboat Speedy of 8io tons seen. In fact the water was densely on September 3rd. She had been strewn for about a mile and a half with engaged in fishery protection duties. wreckage of every conceivable des- ' ' ' ' . The Pathfinder had been The " Pathfinder " Sunk cription practically blown to pieces. Within " After the loss of the Speedy," about four minutes all trace of her was came, on September 5th, that of the lost, save the wreckage of her hull and " Pathfinder," a cruiser-scout of 2,940 her fittings strewn over the waters. tons, completed in 1905, and carrying The incident was a vivid illustration nine 4-inch guns, acting as parent of the suddenness with which disaster ship of a destroyer flotilla. She was occurs at sea. commanded Francis Mar- by Captain An Opportunity Lost tin Leake, an officer whose ancestors had served for many generations in When the war broke out the Ger- the Navy, one of them being Sir mans had in the Mediterranean *' John Leake, a distinguished Admiral the splendid battle-cruiser Goeben," in the time of Queen Anne. Happily completed only in 1 912 at Hamburg, a Captain Leake was saved among the vessel with 22,640 tons displacement, wounded, but about 250 officers and heavily protected, and carrying ten men were lost. The disaster occurred ii-in., twelve 5 •9-in., and some smaller near St. Abb's Head, and was at guns. She had attained a speed of first supposed to be due to a mine, 28-6 knots in her trials. With her " but afterwards it was announced that was the Breslau," a cruiser of 4,500 the loss was caused by a torpedo tons, completed at Stettin in 1912, discharged by a submarine boat. and carrying twelve 4-i-in, guns. The incident was seen from the shore, Her trial speed was 27 -5 knots. These the clear atmospheric conditions ships bombarded Bona and Philippe- affording even opportunity of wit- ville on August 4th, and then took nessing the movements of the war refuge at Messina, in Italian territorial vessels twenty miles seaward. Several waters. There were high hopes of people reported having seen the capturing them, but the British and BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES 137

French ships in the vicinity could not now fly the crescent flag. A sum of attack them in a neutral roadstead, some £2,000,000 was to be paid, which and taking advantage of their speed, is probably now being devoted to the they slipped out, eluded the vessels building of German submarines. The watching them, and ran to the Dar- officers and men, to the number of danelles. This was a sad disappoint- about 1,400, returned overland to ment and unfortunately the opportun- Germany, but some officers and a ity of adding these vessels to the nucleus of men remained in the ships British or French fleet was lost. Both under the Turkish flag. The Ger- cruisers remained in the Dardanelles, mans did not therefore lose very and were sold to the Turks, and they heavily. XVI. AT HELIGOLAND AND ELSEWHERE

Come, all ye jolly sailors bold. Taking Their Measure Whose hearts are cast in honour's mould, At this time our While English glory I unfold, daring young officers Huzza for the Arethusa ! were taking the measure and Her men are staunch testing the quality of the enemy, To their fav'rite launch, and many plans were discussed for And when the foe shall meet our fire, dealing a blow at the enemy. Three Sooner than strike we'll all expire hours after the On board of the Arethusa. outbreak of war two submarines, E6 and E8, were actually And, now we've driven the foe ashore. exploring the Bight of Heligoland, Never to fight with Britons more, and continued observations of these Let each fill his glass and other submarines were the basis To his fav'rite lass ; for the for a A health to our ofiicers plans great attack. captain and true. — And all that belong to the jovial crew On Friday, August 28th now a On board of the Arethusa. red-letter day in the naval calendar —the well-conceived stroke was most Although the German Fleet clung successfully delivered, which placed to the safety of its harbours, there in a brilliant light the splendid began to appear, about the middle of " " daring and wonderful seamanlike skill August, a certain liveliness in of British officers. The Admiralty the North Sea. Some German cruisers, " described the operations as a scoop- destroyers and submarines ventured ing movement,'' effected by a strong out, and, on August i8th, certain force of destroyers, headed by the boats of our First Destroyer Flotilla *' " light cruiser Arethusa (Captain were in action with one of the Reginald G. Tyrwhitt, Commander of enemy's cruisers. For about twenty flotillas), a vessel of a new and remark- minutes shells were flying all round ably swift and powerful class, a our boats, without ever a hit being sort of super-destroyer of 3,750 tons, made, but the flotilla had better steaming at 29 knots, carrying two luck, for two 4-in. shells struck the 6-in. and eight 4-in. guns. enemy, and put one of her guns out A Blow in the Bight of action, necessitating her being sent into dock. The object was to cut off the 138 AT HELIGOLAND AND ELSEWHERE 139

German light craft which were cruising the first encounter, the "Ariadne" off Wilhelmshaven, in the Bight of and her companions withdrew, and " HeHgoland, in order that they might then, in company with the Fearless," be engaged in the open sea. The the Light Cruiser Squadron went in " " " Arethusa led the destroyers in, and and sank the Mainz." was first attacked two German by A Homely Illustration cruisers, the firing lasting for 35 A lieutenant who was in one of minutes, opening at a range of 3,000 the a account of yards. She sustained considerable destroyers gave lively the action : damage and casualties, but drove off " Have ever noticed a rush the two German cruisers, one of which you dog in on a flock of sheep and scatter them. was seriously injured by her 6-in. It for the nearest and barks, and guns. The Germans were lured out, goes it goes so much faster than the flock as had been intended by the destroyers that it bunches with its com- which, as an officer said who was up the then barks at panions ; dog present, "put up the quarry in its another, and the sheep spread out lair." For that very reason, he wrote, " fanwise, so that all round in front of the fight did us of the destroyers the dog there is a semicircle of sheep more good than it did our big fellows, and behind him none. That was for my humble opinion, based on much what we did at 7 a.m., the 28th. limited observation, is that no ship The sheep were the German torpedo is really herself until she has been craft, who fell back just on the Hmits under fire. The second time she goes of range and tried to lure us within into action you may judge her fire of the Heligoland forts. Pas si character; she is not likely to do hete ! But a cruiser came out and well the first time. We normally * ' our Arethusa ;• had a all need to be stiffened, and then engaged they real heart-to-heart talk while we given a week or two to take it all ' looked on, and a few of us tried to in. After that we are set.' A shoot at the too, though it ship will always do better in her enemy our distance. were second action." was beyond We nearer and nearer Heligoland The enemy's cruisers were the getting '' " all the time ; there was a thick mist, Mainz" and Koln," each of about and I expected every minute to 4,250 tons, completed in 1910, and find the forts on the island bom- twelve -i-in. and four 2-i-in. carrying 4 ' ' us so Arethusa barding ; presently guns. The only advantage possessed " " drew after at least one by the Arethusa was that her two off, landing shell on the enemy." big guns were of 6-in. calibre. There good was also the German cruiser ''Ari- Going Merrily ! adne," an older vessel (1901) of 2,618 The fight continued with much *' tons, carrying ten 4-i-in. guns. After manoeuvring, and the saucy Are- 140 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR thtisa" suffered rather severely, some escaping submarine attack by high of her guns being disabled, and her speed and the use of the helm. reduced to lo and she speed knots, A Great Sight might have fared badly if the Battle- Cruiser Squadron had not arrived and Says our officer: "To see a real i " " driven off the Mainz," Koln" and big four-funneler spouting flame, ' " 'Ariadne in a sinkmg condition. But which flame denoted shells starting, " before this happened the Arethusa" and those shells not aimed at us " " and Fearless had rendered splendid but for us, was the most cheerful service in supporting and protecting thing possible. Even as Kipling's the destroyers, one of which belonging infantryman under heavy fire cries, ' to the submarines had been chased The guns, thank Gawd, the guns,' away. Then the destroyers found the when his own artillery had come into " " " Arethusa," but in a bunched up action over his head, so did I feel as

' ' ' state, in which they came under the those Big Brothers came careering fire of one of the German cruisers. across. " *' our Once in I hated it You would have supposed we were safety ; captain had done this sort of thing we had just been having our own all his life," says the officer we have imaginations stimulated on the subject " quoted • he gives me the impression of shells striking us, and now a few of a Nelson officer who has lived in minutes later to see another ship not a state of suspended animation since, three miles away reduced to a piteous but yet has kept pace with the times, mass of unrecognisability, wreathed in and is nowise perturbed at finding his black fumes from which flared out frigate a destroyer. We went full angry gusts of fire, like Vesuvius in ^ speed ahead at once at the first salvo eruption, as an unending stream of ^: offer shells to string the bunch out, and thus hundred pound burst on board ; less target, and the commodore from it just pointed the moral and showed the VArethusa' made a signal to us us what might have been ! The * ' to attack with torpedoes." Mainz was immensely gallant. The destroyers approached the The last I saw of her, absolutely enemy and fired their torpedoes in wrecked alow and aloft, her whole " succession. The Fearless," a light midships a fuming inferno, she had cruiser attached to the First Flotilla, one gun forward and one aft still ' then came up and engaged the spitting forth fury and defiance, like ** Mainz," and the destroyers joined a wild cat mad with wounds.' Our her. The narrived the Battle-Cruiser own four-funneled friend recom- Squadron and other cruisers. The menced at this juncture with a situation had become critical, and couple of salvoes, but rather half- the cruisers in effective ahead of big put blows. heartedly ; there straight

AT HELIGOLAND AND ELSEWHERE 141

in like before the us lordly procession, elephants swimming survivors ; ' walking through a pack of pi-dogs/ whaler got back an enemy's cruiser * ' * came the Lion/ Queen Mary/ came up and chased the Defender,' ' ' Invincible/ and New Zealand/ our and thus she abandoned her whaler. Great and their in an battle-cruisers. grim Imagine feehngs ; alone and uncouth as some antediluvian open boat without food, twenty-five monsters, how solid they looked, how miles from the nearest land, and that utterly earth-quaking 1 land the enemy's fortress, with nothing " We pointed out our greatest but fog and foes around them. Sud- aggressor to them, whom they could denly a swirl alongside, and up, if not see from where they were, and you please, pops his Britannic Ma- ' they passed down the field of battle jesty's submarine E4/ opens his with the little destroyers on their left conning tower, takes them all on and the destroyed on their right, and board, shuts up again, dives, and we went west while they went east, brings them home 250 miles ! Is not and turned north between the poor that magnificent ? No novel would four-funneler and her home, and just dare face the critics with an episode a little later we heard the thunder like that in it, except, perhaps, Jules " " of their for a then all all true ! But could guns space, Verne; and '/ E4 silence, and we knew. not accommodate the whole of the *^ ' ' ' ' The Mainz and Koln sank, thirty Germans picked up, and many * ' also the Ariadne and two des- of them were allowed to return to Ger- " " troyers. Others, only saved them- many in the Defender's whaler in selves by scattered flight. Individual charge of an unwounded German destroyers did not shrink from attack- lieutenant. The German authorities " the cruisers ing enemy's ; and two admitted that the British, without ' ' ' ' of them, the Laurel and Liberty stopping to consider their own danger, were knocked about a good deal. sent out lifeboats in order to save ' our men .' Gallant Lieut . -Commander A Dramatic Incident E. W. Keir was the hero of this " The destroyers exposed them- splendid episode, and with many of selves in endeavouring to save the his comrades he was mentioned very drowning German sailors, and the honourably in dispatches. * ' Defender was driven off actually " Fortunate and Fruitful " another German cruiser while en- by " gaged in this work. In this event The complements of the Mainz," " " " " happened the most romantic, dra- Koln and Ariadne and of the matic, and piquant episode that two destroyers known to have been modern war can ever show. The sunk, aggregated about 1,200 officers ' Defender,* having sunk an enemy, and men, all of whom, with the excep- lowered a whaler to pick up her tion of these thirty and about 300 142 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR wounded and unwounded prisoners, great events were recorded for some perished. Besides this there was the weeks. Strong squadrons and flotillas loss, which must have been severe, of the British Fleet swept through on board the German torpedo boats the North Sea and right up to the and other cruisers which did not sink Gennan coast without encountering during the action. The total British any opposition. Sir John Jellicoe casualties amounted to eighty-eight was in command, and a reconnais- killed and wounded, among whom, sance in force v/as made by the Fleet, however, were included two officers the services of mine sweepers being of exceptional merit, Lieut.-Com. employed. The Germans continued Nigel K. W. Barttelot and Lieut. Eric to follow a passive defence policy, and W. P. Westmacott. All the British their torpedo craft of various kinds ships were fit for service in a week or were less active after the affair in the '* ten days. The success of the opera- Hehgoland Bight. As regards the tion," as the Admiralty announced, mines laid by the Germans, it was " was due in the first instance to the pointed out unofficially that the information brought by the sub- autumn and winter gales would prob- marine officers, who had during the ably sweep most of them over to the past three weeks shown extraordinary German and Dutch coasts. Up to this daring and enterprise in penetrating time the wear-and-tear warfare had the enemy's waters." The command- worked out entirely to our advantage ing British officers engaged were Vice- from the point of view of material, Admiral Sir David Beatty, Rear- while in regard to the personnel there Admirals A. G. H. W. Moore and A. was the assurance of Mr. Churchill, H. Christian, and Commodores Roger given in a speech at the London Opera J. B. Keyes, Reginald G. Tyrwhitt, House, that under the strain put upon and William E. Goodenough. In them of continual watching and con- honour of the occasion the Admiralty stant attention to their duty under ordered that, in a conspicuous place war conditions, the health of the *' in the Arethusa," upon a brass plate, Fleet was much better after the should be placed the adapted verses declaration of war than in time of from an old ballad describing the peace, that the percentage of sickness " conflict of the Saucy Arethusa," with had been lower, and that there was " the French frigate Belle Poule," no reason why we should not keep up also the same of naval June 17th, 1778 ; that the words process control, ** Heligoland, August 28th, 1914," and .the same exercise of sea power should appear in gold lettering in the on which we had lived and were other vessels engaged. living, for what was almost an indefinite '* one of those Waiting on Events period. By dispensa- tions of Providence," said the First " After this brilliant action, no Lord, which appeal to the German AT HELIGOLAND AND ELSEWHERE 143 " " Emperor, the nose of the bulldog has up of the Magdeburg in the Gulf been slanted backwards, so that it of Finland on August 27th, in action " " can breathe with comfort without with the Russian cruisers Bogatyr " and Pallada." The go." German account letting " " " of this affair was that the Magde- The Hela Sunk " burg ran ashore in a fog on the Island Shortly afterwards the Germans of Odensholm, at the entrance of the suffered another loss. A brilUant Gulf of Finland. Owing to the thick young officer, Lieut. -Commander Max weather, the other warships in the K. Horton, in command of the sub- vicinity were unable to render assist- " marine E9," penetrated to the very ance. All efforts to refloat the vessel Bight of Heligoland, and on the having failed, the captain decided to morning of September 13th sank the sacrifice her, as a superior Russian " " " cruiser Hela.'' E 9 is one of the naval force was preparing to attack. latest British submarines and was Under heavy fire from the Russian only deUvered by Messrs. Vickers Fleet, the majority of the cruiser's " " early this year. The Hela was of crew were saved by torpedo boat 2,000 tons displacement, originally "V 26." Seventeen men were killed designed for twenty and a half knots. and twenty-one wounded. Eighty-five With an armament of four 3-4-in. were missing, including the captain. " " and six 4-pounder guns and three The Magdeburg was blown up. torpedo tubes, she was weaker than The Russian account stated that the " " " the Ariadne,"' of 2,645 tons, which Magdeburg ran aground in a fog. was sunk in the Heligoland affair. In the morning, when the fog lifted, Her complement numbered 168 officers the two Russian cruisers were sent and men. to look for her, and opened fire. The Fortime smiled upon Lieut.- German cruiser replied, but soon had Commander Horton, for it was he, in to cease firing. Russian shells des- the same boat, about a month later, troyed the funnels and caused an this time off the mouth of the Ems, explosion, which shattered the bows sank the German destroyer S 126. as far as the captain's bridge. Some The Germans lost yet another of the officers and crew were taken cruiser by the stranding and blowing prisoners. XVII. LOSSES AND GAINS AT SEA

" War is never made without loss, and Admiralty said, the lives lost were as it was on the morning of September usefully, as necessarily and as glori- 22nd that a really serious loss ously devoted to the requirements of fell upon the British Navy, when the service as if the loss had been " the armoured cruisers Aboukir," incurred in a general action." Some "Cressy*' and "Hogue" were sunk suspicious fishing craft were in the by torpedoes discharged by a German vicinity, and it was supposed that submarine some twenty miles from they concealed the approach of the the Dutch coast. The cruisers were submarine. vessels of 12,000 tons, each carrying How IT ALL Happened two 9-2 in., twelve 6-in., and some smaller guns, and they were com- The *'Aboukir'* was struck about manded, in the order in which they 6.25 a.m. on the starboard beam, are named, by Captains John E. heeling over and turning turtle, to Drummond, Robert W. Johnson and sink in about 35 minutes. As soon " " Wilmot S. Nicholson. They were as her damage was seen, the Cressy " " completed in 1901-2, and were obso- and Hogue closed in to render lescent, so that the loss of nearly assistance, getting out their boats, sixty officers and 1,400 men who and throwing overboard all mess- went down with them was far more stools and tables and other wooden serious than the loss of the vessels objects to enable the men in the themselves. Their assailant was the water to keep afloat, closing water- " submarine U 9," a vessel not of the tight doors, scuttles and deadlights. - newest class, commanded by Lieut. Strict discipline prevailed, and just " " Commander Otto Weddigen, who, in as some of the Aboukir's boats an account he gave of the affair, were approaching the other ships, " " said his task was not really difficult. the Hogue was struck by a The cruisers were engaged in pat- torpedo, apparently near the after rolling work as an essential part of the 9-2-in. magazine, for a second heavy arrangements by which the control explosion immediately followed the of the seas and the safety of the first. The ship heeled rapidly and country are maintained, and, as the finally turned keel up, and then M4 LOSSES AND GAINS AT SEA 145

sank at 7.55 a.m. Meanwhile, the was about 400 yards away and " " Cressy had been struck on the only her periscope showed above starboard side, and a second torpedo the waves. I took careful aim completed her destruction. She sank at her with a 12-pounder. The as her sisters had done, but a large shot went over by about 2 yards, number of men were saved by throw- and that gave me the range. I ing a target overboard. fired again and hit the periscope, It was believed at the time of the and she disappeared. Up she disaster that more submarines than came again, and this time part one were engaged, but doubt has since of her conning tower was visible. been thrown upon this. Mr. Albert So I fired my third shot and Dougherty, chief gunner of the smashed in the top of her conning- " Cressy," gave an excellent account tower. The men standing by " of the disaster in the Daily Chronicle. shouted, She's hit, sir," and then let out a cheer as An Eye-Witness great

the submarine sank ; and while " The he " was water," said, fairly she was going down two German and the were rough ships steaming sailors floated up from her, both line. I heard slowly in Suddenly swimming hard. a great crash, and saw the middle After that we shot at a the 'Aboukir,' over and ship, heeling trawler flying a Dutch flag which down Those aboard going rapidly. was a thousand yards away, and the ' ' came to the conclusion Cressy evidently a German boat in that she had been struck a by torpedo, disguise, directing the operations. and kept a sharp look-out for these She must have covered the missiles while to her assist- steaming approach of the enemy's sub- ance. The ' ' was Hogue closing up marines, and we trained our guns towards the with the jinking ship on her, hit her with the first shot of the were object assisting crew, who and set her on fire. I do not a dropping into the water, when know what her ultimate fate was. second crash was heard. The By this time we had already been ' ' also had been Hogue torpedoed. struck by one torpedo, but the The * ' closed to both Cressy ships damage was not in a vital spot, to save as of their men as many and we should have kept afloat ' Mr. continued : possible.' Dougherty all right. We saw another sub- The brave fellows calmly marine on our starboard side, awaited our approach. We drew and we made a desperate effort near, and at that moment some- to get her, but we failed, and '* one shouted to me, Look out, her torpedo got home in our engine *' " sir, there*s a submarine on our room. Then the Cressy be- " her. to this I will port beam ! I saw She gan turn over, and 146 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR " " say for the men, they acted Hke The Lowestoft and a division of British sailors, and those who destroyers, trawlers and boats saved died, died as Britons should. a considerable number. Captain Johnson was on the The Admiralty made comments on bridge, and in these critical the loss of these vessels, in which it was " " " " minutes he spoke some words of said that the Hogue and Cressy " advice to the crew. Keep cool, were sunk because they proceeded my lads, keep cool," he said in a to the assistance of their consort, thus ** steady voice. Pick up a spar, presenting an easy target to further my lads, and put it under your submarine attacks. The natural arm. That'll help you to keep promptings of humanity led to heavy " afloat until the destroyers pick losses which would have been you up." That was the last I saw avoided by a strict adherence to of Captain Johnson. He was military considerations." Modern one of the best—and loved by all naval war was presenting us with so his men. We were first torpedoed many new and strange situations at seven o'clock, and one torpedo that an error of judgment of this actually passed under our stern. character was pardonable. But it They were discharging torpedoes was necessary to point out for future at us while the water was thick guidance that the conditions which with drowning men. We sank prevail when one vessel of a squadron at 7.45, and when I dropped is injured in a minefield or is exposed into the sea, clinging to a bit of to submarine attack, are analogous to wood, there were men all around those which occur in an action, and me, and their spirit was splendid. that the rule of leaving disabled ships We shouted cheery messages to to their own resources is applicable, so one another, and I remember a far at any rate as large vessels are " seaman calling to me, It's a concerned. No act of humanity, long way to Tipperary this way," whether to friend or foe, should lead " of and I cried back, It is, if you're to a neglect the proper precautions " going to swim ! and dispositions of war, and no measures should be taken to save Afloat for Four Hours life which prejudiced the military Mr. Dougherty was afloat in the situation. Small craft of all kinds sea for four hours, and then the des- should, however, be directed by wire- troyers hove in sight. Numbers of less to close on the damaged ship men were near, all holding to pieces of with all speed. spar, according to the captain's in- The Commerce Destroyer structions, and the gunner yelled to *' them, Buck up, they're coming for Great efforts were made from the us." beginning of the war to run down

LOSSES AND GAINS AT SEA M7 the German cruisers and auxiliaries destroyed. Togo and the Cameroons which had escaped to sea. The were also captured, with much ship- " " Highflyer sank the big German ping in the Cameroon river. Indeed, " converted Hner Kaiser Wilhelm der save for German South-West Africa, " Grosse at the close of August —^which led to the Maritz incident, off the coast of West Africa. The and then the Beyers-De Wet in- " " cruiser Karlsruhe sank a number cident—the German Colonies were all of British merchant vessels in the captured. A combined Japanese and South Atlantic. The German cruiser British force engaged in operations " " Emden captured and sank many for the capture and occupation of ** British merchant vessels in the Bay Kiao-chau, and soon not a place in " of Bengal, and threw some shells into the sun will be left. The miserable " Madras, aftei-wards transferring her wretch who, in the Arabian Nights,'* activities to the Arabian Sea, and builds up a glowing future out of the later, by a daring surprise, she sale of the wares in his pedlar's tray, destroyed a small Russian cruiser and kicks it over with his foot, hardly and a French destroyer at Penang. compares with the German Emperor, For a time the British vessels in Indian who dreamed of a great world- waters were em.ployed in convoying dominion, and has lost it all by the ships bringing the Indian troops provoking war. " " to Marseilles. The Konigsberg A Stirring Fight discovered at Zanzibar the small, " " old cruiser Pegasus (Commander, One of the most stirring episodes J. A. Ingles) engaged in cleaning of the naval fighting was the sinking " engines and boilers. The cruiser, of the splendid German liner Cap " in company with the Astraea," Trafalgar," which was being em- had just destroyed Dar-es-Salaam, ployed as an auxiliary cruiser, in a the chief town in German East Africa, very gallant action. The ex-Cunard " " " but she was no match for the liner Carmania met the Cap " Konigsberg," which, finding her at Trafalgar," which was of about her a disadvantage, pounded her for own size, on September 14th, off the fifteen minutes and disabled her. east coast of South America, and The German Colonial empire was the action which followed will go rapidly crumbling away. New Zea- down to history as a brilliant achieve- land sent an expedition to seize ment for British naval arms. The " " the German possessions in Samoa. Carmania is of 19,524 gross ton- The Royal Australian Navy completed nage, with a speed of eighteen knots, the capture oi the German posses- and was laimched in 1905. The " " sions in New Guinea "and the Bismarck Cap Trafalgar was of 18,710 gross Archipelago and Marshall Islands. tonnage, with a speed of seventeen and Many wireless telegraph stations were a half knots, and was launched in 1908. 148 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR " " The Carmania was, like all the venge for the loss of the first-named Cunard vessels, a subsidised liner, held vessel on October 17th, when in the " at the disposal of the Government new light cruiser Undaunted," with " " for hire or purchase. Captain Noel four fine destroyers of the L " Grant, late of the battleship Irre- class, he sank four German destroyers sistible," commissioned her as a off the Dutch coast after an action warship on August 13th, Commander lasting about an hour. It was a James Barr, R.N.R., who was in brilliant piece of work, though the charge of her as a merchant vessel, Germans were completely outnum- remaining as second-in-command. bered. " " The Cap Trafalgar arrived at On the previous day, the old '* Buenos Ayres on August 6th with a cruiser Hawke," Captain P. E. cargo of guns for German merchant Tudor WiUiams, was sunk by the vessels there, having already mounted torpedo of a German submarine. '* " some herself. The action lasted one With her sister ship, the Theseus hour and forty-five minutes, when (which was unsuccessfully attacked the German ship capsized and sank, by a submarine), she was engaged in her survivors being rescued by an examination service, and about 400 empty collier. Of the crew of the valuable officers and men were lost. " " " " Carmania nine men were killed, A little later, submarine E 3 five seriously injured, and twenty- (Lieut.-Commander G. F. Cholmley,) one men slightly wounded. None was sunk by the Germans. of the officers were injured. The When the tide of battle on the First Lord sent the following tele- Continent rolled up to the Channel gram to Captain Noel Grant : — coasts, three gunboats, sometimes " Well done. You have fought a called monitors, taken over from the fine action to a successful finish." Brazilians at the beginning of the. " " The Cap Trafalgar made a good war, rendered magnificent service in fight, and was not sunk until after shelling the enemy's positions, in- a good deal of manoeuvring on the part flicting very great losses with their of Captain Noel Grant to bring his guns 6-in. guns and 47 howitzers. Com- to bear effectually on his adversary. mander E. J. A. Fullerton was in The German vessel went down with command.

colours flying, but not without in- During the whole of the hostilities flicting considerable damage upon the Royal Naval Air Service (Naval her assailant. Wing of the Royal Flying Corps) has been in the active use of PosTE AND Riposte occupied its airships, aeroplanes and seaplanes. Captain Cecil H. Fox, late of the While the Force was " Expeditionary Amphion/' and afterwards of the sent abroad a strong patrol to " " being Faulkner destroyer, had his re- the eastward of the Straits of Dover LOSSES AND GAINS AT SEA 149 was undertaken by both seaplanes retirement from the First Sea Lord- and airships. The airships patrolled ship, but if that was to be, then Lord between the French and English Fisher, beyond doubt, was the man coasts, sometimes for twelve hours to take up the reins. on end, while a temporary seaplane P.S. base was established at Ostend, and a patrol kept up between this place It should be added by way of and the EngHsh coast. By this postscript to these Naval Chapters means it was impossible for the^ that on August 27 th, when Ostend enemy's ships to approach the Straits was occupied by a force of Marines, a without being seen for very many miles. strong squadron of aeroplanes under On one occasion during one of the Wing-Commander Samson, complete airship patrols it became necessary with all transport and equipment, was to change a propeller blade of one of also sent over, the aeroplanes flying the engines. The captain feared it via Dover and Calais. Advanced would be necessary to descend for bases were established some distance this purpose, but two of the crew inland, and on several occasions skir- immediately volunteered to carry out mishes took place between armed this difficult task in the air, and motor-car supports and bands of cHmbing out on to the bracket carry- Uhlans. All these affairs were suc- ing the propeller shafting, they com- cessful. The naval armed cars and pleted the hazardous work of changing aeroplanes assisted French forces of the propeller's' blade 2,000ft. above artillery and infantry on several the sea. occasions. Commander Samson per- So generally has progressed the formed distinguished services in this naval fight, we losing a ship now and work. Captain Williams, R.M.A., was then, as we must while controlling also mentioned as having shown much " " the sea. The Hermes cruiser, an coolness and capability in a difficult old ship, was torpedoed by a sub- situation. Air reconnaissance by the marine in Dover Straits. Now Lord naval airmen extended for consider- Fisher is again at the Admiralty as able distances into the enemy's coun- First Sea Lord, and his vigour means try. Squadron-Commander Gerrard, an ever-tightening grip by our sea in command of a detached squadron power, especially in the North Sea, of aeroplanes, crossed the Rhine and where, indeed, special measures have made an attack on Dusseldorf . Good been taken to deal with the felonious work has been done in dropping strewing of German mines. Every- bombs on positions of mihtary im- body who knew Prince Louis of portance and railway communications, Battenberg's gifts as a sailor and his and at Diisseldorf an airship shed and services to the Navy regretted his the airship within were destroyed. XVIII. THE EASTERN CAMPAIGN

Distance does not always lend en- for movement. Now she has sur- chantment to the view. The very prised the world, and no countries distance of the warfare on the eastern more than Germany and Austria, by side of Europe has, in some measure, the quickness with which she got made it less spectacular, but, never- into her miUtary stride, no less than theless, it has been of transcendent by the splendid capacity of her army, importance on the whole course of which was, perhaps, unduly depreci- the great conflict. Nay, it may be ated as a result of the Russo-Japanese said of a surety that the operations War. It is clear that the common in East Prussia and Galicia in the enemy mxcant to strike a blow at early stages of the campaign directly Russia through Poland, and to seize and most vitally affected the position Warsaw, the capital. This part of in the western theatre of war. Every Russia is wedged in on the Silesian stunning blow struck by Russia in side of Germany, and along its the east resounded in the west, and southern extremity runs the Austrian the military defeats of Austria by the territory of Galicia. In fact, Warsaw Russian forces opened a new phase is in a direct line with Berlin, and of the war almost at the commence- obviously would be a point of Russian ment. concentration for a march on the German from which it is A Rapid " Steam-Roller " capital, 330 miles distant. laid bare the Defeat has precon- Plans that Went Wrong certed plans of Germany and Austria that were intended to check and The share of Austria in the cam- overwhelm the Russian hosts. The paign was, at a given moment, to enemies of Russia calculated too invade Poland, and every preparation incautiously upon the slow mobilisa- had been made beforehand towards tion of their northern adversary, and this end. Huge bodies of the flower in that they dug a pit for themselves. of the Austrian troops were massed All knew Russia to be mighty with in Gahcia, and they started on their her millions of armed men, but she ill-fated march on Warsaw. It was " " was compared to a steam-roller thought that slow- moving Russia 150 THE EASTERN CAMPAIGN 151

would be caught napping, but, as a Germany had left to Austria the matter of fact, the Russians had major part of the task of attempting secretly moved vast armies upon to break the power of Russia. The Galicia. They drove back and com- Germans were not in great force then pletely overwhelmed the Austrians. in north-east Prussia, but they had The military pride of the great dual massed a small force in Silesia on empire was, by a succession of swift the Russian frontier prepared to co- blows, humbled in the dust. operate with Austria in the march This denouement was the last thing on Warsaw. The Austrians made expected by either Austria or Ger- their main attack by invading many. The Germans had had their Poland towards Lublin, while another attention arrested by the descent of army made a flank attack through a Russian army on the north-east of Galicia. The Austrians were early Prussia. This force at first swept in the field, having been the first the Germans before it, and spread to mobilise, and, high-spirited, they consternation, which reached even to set out gaily on the way that was Berlin. Then the German Emperor, speedily to end in catastrophe. For " alarmed for his beloved East when the tumult and the shouting Prussia,'' hurried troops from the on the outbreak of war had died western side to stem the Russian tide away, it was found that the Russians there. The bulk of these reinforce- were moving with three large ments went, hpwever, to the wrong armies, under the Grand Duke quarter, as events showed. After Nicholas, Commander-in-Chief. One suffering a reverse, the Russian army in the north was descending on East in the north-east of Prussia biding Prussia. The main army, in the its time was content to fall back centre, was prepared to strike from before the fresh German troops. Warsaw, and later it fell to a portion The operations in that sphere could of this army to co-operate with the wait. Not so the real battles upon third Russian army, which had in- which the future of the great war vaded Galicia. would turn. These were being fought The First Big Battle in Poland and Galicia, where the Austrian armies were being crushed, First to get into action was the and the Germans that too late hast- northern Russian army, commanded ened to their aid shared in their by General Rennenkampf, who dis- disaster. The object of the Russians tinguished himself greatly in the was clearly to crush Austria first, and Russo-Japanese War. Almost within in that they well-nigh succeeded. twenty-four hours of the declaration of war Cossacks crossed the German How Hostilities Began frontier near Johannisburg, and at At the beginning of hostilities, other parts of north-east Prussia the 152 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

Russians crossed the border, driving An Artillery Duel the enemy's cavalry before them. A terrific artillery duel commenced These Cossack patrols penetrated ten at daybreak on August 20th. Both miles into German territory, and sides had many guns in action, but captured and burnt the railway the Germans were superior in the stations at Bialla and Borjimen, weight of metal, having brought thus cutting the railway communica- heavy artillery from the fortress in tions. All along the frontier the their rear. The Russian infantry Germans fell back, burning their were hurled to the attack, and right villages in their retreat. It was faced the storm of found that the inhabitants in many bravely they pro- jectiles that burst upon them as they places were armed, and their houses moved forward in skirmishing order. often loopholed. Even if caught with They were not checked the fierce arms in their hands, the German by fire of field and machine guns, but population was not treated with the with a gallant and irresistible rush atrocious cruelty that the Germans drove the out of his meted out to innocent women enemy positions one after another. It was a and children in the western war splendid exhibition of the stolid and arena. bravery determination of the Russian troops. Then came the capture of Gum- The German cavalry attempted to binnen and Insterburg in East Prussia. carry out counter-attacks, but The battle of Gumbinnen was the every time they were beaten back with first serious engagement in this part heavy loss. of the campaign. The Russians had been for several when advancing days Fighting All Day on August 19th a successful cavalry attack was made at Liedenthal, while The fight here mentioned lasted the infantry at the same time drove fourteen hours, and was only inter- out the enemy from Pilkallen. The rupted by the fall of night. Several Germans then retired to the west, positions were most fiercely contested, concentrating towards Gumbinnen, and were won first by one side and which has a population of about then by the other, but, in the end, all 15,000 and is seventy-two miles east the positions remained in the hands of the great German fortress of of the Russians. An entire brigade Konigsberg. The Russians, after at- of the enemy was annihilated by tending to their wounded and bring- machine-gun fire, some 3,000 dead ing up munitions, moved forward once being left on this part of the field. again. But the Germans had been The Russians captured thirty guns, reinforced from Konigsberg, and and, apart from the wounded, took offered a very stubborn resist- sixteen officers and 400 men prisoners. ance. At nightfall the Germans retreated Telihi Memeli BALTIC SEA

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•O/J/tK CHROKICLE" War Map drawn by G. W. BAGON &. CO,. Ltd., 127. Strand. London THE EASTERN WAR THEATRE AND FORTRESSES. 154 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR beyond Gumbinnen, from which the vain that the doctors protested, point- inhabitants had fled in terror. ing out that they were going to The Germans made great use of render assistance to the wounded of their artillery that day, and a striking both sides. The commander of the incident is related of a brave Russian German cavalry ordered the whole commander. As great havoc was equipment to be burned, and the being wrought by a Russian battery, medical staff to be sent as prisoners the enemy brought a concentrated to Pilkallen. On the way to the fire of howitzers and field guns to latter place the convoy was attacked play upon it. The commander of by Cossacks. The German escort the battery was mortally wounded, thereupon fled precipitately, scream- ** and he was carried back to the field ing in terrified tones : Cossacks ! " hospital where he expired after calmly Cossacks ! Such is the terror with giving directions for his burial and which these famous Russian horsemen the arrangement of his affairs. To are regarded. Unhappily in the con- his last breath he continued telling fusion a nurse was wounded. the to those around him of story Cigarettes in War the triumphant advance of the Rus- sian army, and his final words were, Meanwhile Pilkallen had been re- " I am quite satisfied. My battery is occupied by the Russians, and the in good hands." hospital staff made their way there. On the one of the An Hospital Incident following day medical officers magnanimously sup- So it was, for the battle meant the plied cigarettes to the German officers defeat and retreat of the Germans. who had commanded the escort, and While the fight was going on three who had been captured. Cigarettes German cavalry regiments had re- have been a great bond of union occupied Pilkallen, and it was the between combatants in this war. business of the Russians to expel It was on August 23rd that the them on the following day. They Russians made an attack on Inster- offered little resistance, and fled in burg, which is the junction of the disorder, flinging away their carbines railway leading north to Tilsit, west and lances as they rode off in hot to Konigsberg, south-west to the haste. The Russians captured four fortress of Thorn, and east to the officers and eighty men. Russian frontier at Wirballen. The There was, however, a disagreeable Germans made no attempt to hold hospital incident during the fighting their entrenched positions, and as round Pilkallen. Three Russian they fled a portion of the Russian field hospitals were m.oving towards army occupied the town. The Ger- the front when German cavalry m.an force then fell back on their called upon them to halt. It was in great fortress of Konigsberg with THE EASTERN CAMPAIGN 155

the Russian advance guard in hot on the population such as the Kaiser's these pursuit. During engagements troops, with much less justification, the Germans lost heavily in killed and ruthlessly carried out on the innocent wounded, while a large number of people of Belgium. prisoners were taken. a front of 100 the Covering miles, Marching Victoriously Russians continued to push their advance with great vigour, and Onwards day by day the Russians occupied Lyck, a frontier town, 55 continued to sweep victoriously along miles south of Gumbinnen The the north-east Prussian frontier, Germans abandoned, without firing driving the Germans before them. a shot, a fortified position on the General Rennenkampf in carrying out River Angerapp which runs through these operations with great energy the important railway centre of In- and judgment had evidently in his tersburg, and the track of their mind the effect that such an invasion hurried retreat was strewn with of Germany would have on the western shells, cartridges and shrapnels, theatre of war, and as events proved which they had thrown away in he was really calculating more upon their flight. this than any sohd immediate ad- The Russians in their advance in vantage to be reaped. The Russians East Prussia found that the inhabi- next occupied Angerburg, a town tants resorted to^all manner of tricks, thirty-two miles to the south of Inster- and showed considerable duplicity. burg. Fierce and successful battles There had been a prearranged plan were fought on August 23rd and 24th, of operations agreed upon between the in the region to the north of Nerden- German military authorities and some berg on the German frontier due south of the people. Sometimes when the of Konigsberg. The German fortified Russians entered a village, a cottage positions at Orlan and Frankenan, would mysteriously take fire. It forty -six miles south-east of was a signal to the enemy, for soon Konigsberg, were also forced by the the village was shelled by the Russians who attacked with hand Germans. grenades and bayonets, the 20th This signalling was afterwards pre- Corps of the German army being vented by sending cavalry ahead routed. The enemy fled to Osterode, to search all the cottages. Once abandoning cannon, machine guns, the Germans shelled and utterly caissons, and many prisoners. Oster- destroyed one of their own towns ode is on the Thorn-Insterburg that lay behind the Russian lines. railway, one of the chief strategic lines The flying inhabitants, old men and of Eastern Prussia. The Russians women, burned bridges behind them. likewise occupied the important Yet there were no savage reprisals fortified town of Allenstein, a great 156 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR railway junction leading to the for- arms, and with the population fleeing tresses of Thorn and Danzig. and burning their own villages as the It was for the time being a flowing Russians advanced, it is no wonder tide of victory for the Russians, who that the alarm spread to Berlin. were practically overrunning one side The German defeat wore the aspect of Eastern Prussia. Everywhere the of panic. The three German army Germans, unprepared for this Russian corps defeated at Gumbinnen had re- avalanche, were being beaten back, tired into the safety of the fortress and were flying in disorder. At of Konigsberg, which was threatened Soldau it is stated that the Germans with investment. Many of the people in retreating strayed into morasses of East Prussia were taking refuge in while the Rus- carried and were drowned ; BerHn, whither they the alarm- sians used the dead bodies of their ing tale of the oncoming Russian hosts foes as stepping-stones. The Russians breaking down the first line of German gave the world a superb exhibi- defence on the Masurian Lakes, and tion of quick and effective strokes carrying all before them in their in- at the enemy. Their cavalry dis- vading march. The result was seen tinguished itself in these rapid in a dispatch from the Kaiser in the marches, and the infantry carried western battlefield to his Coinlcil of position after position at the point Ministers in Berlin, charging them of the bayonet. with the immediate organisation of all One brilliant charge of the Russian possible relief for the population of Horseguards recalls that of the Light his beloved province of East Prussia, Brigade at Balaclava. The cavalry which was being invaded by the was ordered to attack the enemy, who Russians. What happened further, from a village was pouring in a and of greater importance, was that murderous artillery fire on the Rus- the Kaiser withdrew a portion of sian position. The first squadron his army from the western theatre rode straight for the guns, and were of war, and transferred it to Prussia mowed down by the galling fire. to stem the tide of the invasion. A second squadron followed, and were This was what had been calculated only saved by another squadron rush- upon by the Allies. The dashing ing on the enemy from the flank, and successful operations of General and sabring the gunners to right and Rennenkampf were designed to re- " to left. The Germans then ran lieve the German pressure in the like rabbits." Cold steel was not at west, and, at the same time, attracted all to their taste, as was shown over a large German force to Prussia, and over again. while by far the heaviest Russian attack was delivered The Kaiser Alarmed being actually on the Austrians, who were being Faced with this disaster to German crushed in Galicia. THE EASTERN CAMPAIGN 157

situation with a view to later A Changed Situation opera- tions. The German army was com- Certainly, with the arrival of the manded by General von Hindenburg, German reinforcements in Prussia, to whom the Kaiser, in honour of the a change came over the scene there. victory, awarded the Iron Cross of the From August 28th to September 7th first class. the Germans continued to bring up Rightly the Headquarters Staff of - - fresh troops, aided by their highly- the Russian Commander in Chief developed railway system. They described the reverse as purely local, strongly reinforced their line in the and pointed to the fact that the southern portion of eastern Prussia, rapid and energetic advance of and brought into action heavy ar- General Rennenkampf's army in East tillery from their forts. With con- Prussia, and the decisive successes of siderably superior numbers, they the Russians over the Austrian army, flung themselves on two Russian numbering over 1,000,000 men, forced army corps at Osterode. The power- the Germans to send back a con- ful Krupp siege guns, about which siderable portion of their troops from there had been some mystery, were the western frontier, which object, as used, and inflicted heavy losses on already indicated, was an important the Russians, who fought heroically, factor in these Russian operations in but had to retreat. In this fight East Prussia. General Samsonoff and several Poor German Shooting Russian staff officers fell. General Samsonoff was a very distinguished Here, as in the western war area, and popular officer, who commanded a poor opinion was formed of the a division of Siberian Cossacks in the shooting of the German infantry. It Russo-Japanese War. This defeat was the artillery and the aeroplanes was due not merely to the superior of the Germans that were most effect- numbers of the enemy, but also to ive. Their Zeppelins were not the superiority of the German siege of much account, as the Russians guns over the Russian field and horse brought down three of them. The artillery. aeroplanes, hovering over the Rus- The German attack began across the sians, dropped rockets to indicate Masurian Lakes, in a region of wooded their position, and this enabled defiles well known to them. They the German artillery to direct its advanced their right wing, threaten- fire straight into the Russian lines. ing to envelop large forces on the Bravely the Russians stood this front Nordenburg-Goldap-Suwalki,but withering hail of shrapnel raining General Rennenkampf's troops were down upon them, longing to get at the able to resist this manoeuvre, and enemy who was out of reach. But extricated themselves from a difficult of the German rifle fire the Russian 158 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR wounded '* A spoke contemptuously. Russians Fall Back whole battalion of Germans," said *' one wounded man, fired at a turn- Following the reverse at Osterode, ing motor-car that almost stood still, consequent upon the strong rein- and could not hit it. As for bayonets, forcements of the Germans, General the Germans could not endure the Rennenkampf gradually fell back, sight of them. A single company of and made a successful retreat to Russians put a whole regiment of the Kovno, well within Russian territory. the to cut him enemy to flight at the bayonet point, An attempt by Germans and the Germans ran helter-skelter, off through the Masurian Lakes failed, flinging down their rifles, ammunition, and, himself reinforced later, he was revolvers, and even boots, in their wild able to check the German advance. panic." He played his part well. He acted as Many are the stories told of indi- a magnet to draw a large force of vidual heroism during the Russian ad- Germans from the west, thus relieving vance in East Prussia. One wounded the pressure on the Allies in France in private, who was being carried away and Belgium, while the Austrians> on a stretcher had beside him a rifle their great battles with the Russians, " with a bayonet bent double. Why were only receiving scant measure of " is your bayonet bent ? asked an German support. When the secret " officer. I twisted it on a history of General Rennenkampf's German," replied the soldier, smiling incursion into north-east Prussia proudly. comes to be told, it will be found that A Polish soldier in hospital, who was it was a masterpiece of tactics. He lamenting that he had been brought was just to push forward as rapidly back from the front, was wounded in and as far as he could, and then retire, the foot, but he had concealed his drawing the Germans after him. wound, and took part in a bayonet Meanwhile, great events were going attack. Then he was wounded forward in Poland and Galicia. It in the hand, and was ordered to is time to speak of the crushing of there. hospital. the Austrian armies XIX. THE CONQUERING RUSSIANS

The story of the Russian campaign the Russian grip, even lost some of against the Austrians is one of un- their heavy artillery before it really varying and tragic success. The got into action, and the defeat of the soldiers of the Tsar marched tri- Austro-German armies became practi- umphantly from victory to victory cally a rout. It is officially stated in Poland and Galicia. Countless that their losses in Galicia in killed thousands of prisoners were taken, and wounded at this stage were not and large captures made of guns and less than a round quarter of a million stores, while enormous numbers of of men. Besides this, the Austrian wounded Austrians were left stricken prisoners taken numbered over on the field just as they had fallen. The 100,000, and the German prisoners battlefields abandoned by the Austro- were given as 5,000, though this was German forces were indeed scenes of represented as an under-estimate, and nameless horror,' covered with the referred only to one part of the dying and the dead trodden down in front, while the Germans were in headlong flight, and overspread with force with the Austrians in other the discarded weapons of war. The parts. Add to this 400 guns cap- very streams were choked with the tured and vast quantities of stores, slain till the waters overflowed, and and the Austro-German disaster is riderless horses, many of them apparent. wounded, careered wildly over the There was a brisk succession of desolated land. engagements right from the com- mencement, but in two Crushing the Austrians reality great battles decided the preliminary issues. It seemed, in fact, as if the Austrian These battles were long drawn out, army was being annihilated. When and extended over many days. One the Germans had at length realised centred around the Lublin district of the dire need for supporting their Poland, and the other was fought in Austrian allies, they made desperate Galicia, over a front of 100 miles, efforts to parry the Russian blow, but converging upon Lemberg, and ending it was too late. The Germans, in their in the capture of that place, and the haste to rescue the Austrians from re-naming of it Lvoff. 159 i6o THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

from the Austria's Big Armies enemy apprehended danger Russian army concentrating at War- At the outbreak of the war two saw for the invasion of Germany on huge Austrian armies were put in the Posen line to Berlin, and little motion, the one advancing from suspected that General Ivanoff, with Cracow into Poland and reaching great rapidity and secrecy, had Kielce, and the other moving along gathered a force in the south-east of the southern Polish frontier in Ga- Poland to strike from Rovno. It was licia, with the view of crossing into to this Russian army, commanded by Russia from the south-east and General Russky, a tall, silent man threatening the flank of the Russian wearing spectacles, who distinguished armies. Support was lent by Ger- himself at Mukden in the Russo- many with a force invading Russia Japanese conflict, that the early fruits from Silesia towards Warsaw, which of victory over the Austrians fell, and was the great objective of the com- culminated in the successful invasion bined enemies. These early German of Galicia and the driving of the enemy troops penetrated some distance into in disorder from Lemberg, the capital Poland, but were driven back after of the province. fighting at Kalish. The first Austrian Just twelve days after war was army in great force succeeded in tak- declared General Russky defeated the ing up a strong position on both sides Austrians at Berestechko, and the of the river Vistula, in Poland, be- enemy that had been bold enough to tween Kielce and Lublin. This great invade Russian territory were sent river of Poland, along with the San, a flying back across the border. Then tributary flowing from Galicia, and the Russians, turning the tables, the Bug further east, figured con- began the invasion of Galicia. The spicuously in the fighting that ensued. Russian cavalry crossed the frontier The advance patrols of the second by the Upper Bug and by the Styr, Austrian army, operating from Galicia, at points about sixty miles distant got so far as to cross the frontier, into from Lemberg. Poland at Berestechko. Cossack Exploit Invasion of Galicia In this frontier fighting an exciting Such in brief outline was the posi- story is told of how a force of Cossacks tion when the more serious operations wiped out two crack Austrian cavalry of the war began, and when General regiments, which had made an excur- Ivanoff, the commander-in-chief of the sion on Russian soil as far as Bielgoraj. Russian armies opposing the Austrian, The Cossacks, supported by a field commenced to move in earnest the battery, moved into a dense forest enormous masses of his troops that skirting the main road along which had been speedily mobilised. The the marauders would presently return.

THE CONQUERING RUSSIANS i6i

The country at the side of the road Russians captured fortified positions opposite the forest was a vast swamp. that brought them within thirty As the Austrian horsemen, towards miles of Lemberg. Then commenced evening, were trotting back to their a prolonged battle, in which the Aus- headquarters, they were suddenly trians fought desperately to check attacked from front and rear by the the advance of their formidable adver- Cossacks, while quick-firers hidden in sary. The Austrian army in this area the forest mowed them down on the numbered 250,000, and held a strong flank. The terrified horses and riders position in a country full of rivers. made for the marshes, the only way But General Russky delivered his open to them, but the animals strug- attack with great skill and energy. gled hopelessly in the soft ground, He threw his men forward by rapid while the Russian battery completed mxarches, and they had frequently the work of death. not more than three hours sleep of a The invading Russians crossed into night, and often transport trains were Galicia at Sokal, where they dislodged left behind in the hurry forward. an Austrian force from a strongly Staggering blows were delivered on the fortified position, and some soldiers Austrians and a final battle, lasting of the Landsturm, who defended the over seven days, drove them to head- forest of Sokal, fled v/ithout waiting long flight. the result of the engagement. On As a result of this battle, the the advance of the Russian Army, Russians were enabled to seize some the Grand Duke > Nicholas, as com- heavily fortified positions about ten mander-in-chief, issued an appeal to miles to the east of Lemberg, and the Ruthenians of Galicia, who are the then advanced towards the principal same people as the little Russians in forts. Here the Austrians made the Southern provinces. As the another stand, but were forced to Russians advanced into Galicia, they retreat in disorder, lea\dng behind came across the bodies of several them heavy and hght guns and even priests who had been hanged by the field kitchens. The Russian advance Austrians, showing the strong re- guard and cavalry pursued the fleeing ligious and race animosity that ani- enemy, who sustained enormous losses mated the Hapsburg troops. in killed, wounded and prisoners. The roads were encumbered mth Severe Day Battle abandoned artillery parks and con- This army of General Russky voys loaded vrith provisions of every marched straight for Lemberg. The kind. Some 200 guns were actually Austrians, though driven back to captured, and 30,000 prisoners. defend were Galicia, yet uncrushed, Lemberg Occupied and they offered considerable opposi- tion. After much hard fighting, the Recognising that the occupation F l62 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR of Lemberg by the Russian troops were hurled at the Austrian line, which was inevitable, the Provincial Govern- extended from Komenka to Halitch, ment removed its headquarters from with Lemberg as the centre, General the city, and Lemberg was left to its Russky being in command on the fate. It was closely surrounded on north, and that heroic and typically September 2nd, and the Russians Russian soldier, General Brusiloff, on entered it while the routed Austrians the south. The latter had for his were still in flight. The Russian objective the position at the junction staff, in view of the military import- of the Lipa and Dniester rivers, ance of the town, had made prepara- where the Austrians held the bridge- tions for its bombardment, and ex- head, which presently became the key pected a siege, but the Austrians in to Halitch. their panic left the ground strewn Here on September 3rd the great with rifles, ammunition, clothes, and diffused battle narrowed itself down even officers' swords, which had been to the real struggle. It was almost thrown away. Ambulances had been entirely a battle of infantry advancing used as vehicles to escape in, while the across the low-lying river levels, in woimded were abandoned, and the which lies the big Galician village of hospitals and houses in the town were Podhajeco, against a huge body of full of injured men. There was, Austrians strongly entrenched and however, no scarcity of food or medi- covered by strong forces of artillery. cal comforts, for Lemberg, the admin- The disposition of the latter had been istrative and military centre of a vast already disturbed by the previous province, provided rich supplies to day's artillery attack. the victors. At the same time, Won by the Bayonet after fierce fighting, the Russians occupied Halitch, on the Dniester, Nothing could have exceeded the miles south of which and steadiness of the sixty Lemberg, discipline . was defended by thirty forts. This Russian infantry under the terrific was an important centre of adminis- fire. In earlier forward movements tration second only to Lemberg. with a massed attacking force in the Thus the whole of Eastern Galicia, wooded lands east of the river they between the Russian frontier and the lost pretty heavily, but in spite of this, Carpathians, was in the hands of the and of the fact that they had already troops of the Tsar, been in action almost continuously This splendid victory was achieved for two weeks, their first actual assault after fighting that lasted for a fort- carried them right into the Austrian night, covering a front of more than position. The bridgehead was won a hundred miles. The outstanding by \the bayonet, but not without feature was the noble quality of the heavy losses. At this point the • Russian infantry. For two weeks they Austrians stood stubbornly. There THE CONQUERING RUSSIANS 163

was no panic at the onslaught, as at and to the Hungarian capital, Buda- Lemberg, and it was the seizure of pest, and, secure on their flank by crossing places on the river further holding Stryj and Halitch on the north, and the passage of large bodies south, this force was prepared of Russians, which finally made the to move on the great Austrian Austrian position untenable. fortress of Przemysl and thence to Further, the terrible severity of the Cracow, that other gi'eat citadel of fighting is dwelt upon in a letter from Austria on the German frontier. a general at the front in praise of Above all this victorious Russian General Radko Dmitrieff, formerly army was firmly established on the Bulgarian Minister at Petrograd, who flank and rear of the main Austrian was mentioned in despatches by the forces in South Poland, and gave valu- Grand Duke Nicholas as having able assistance in finally crushing them. himself in specially distinguished Poland Invaded command of a Russian army corps. This general says that for three days For while these successful opera- General Dmitrieff's corps never got tions were being carried on against any rest, and the fatigue was so over- Lemberg, the main Austrian army powering on the last day that the men had penetrated into Poland towards fell asleep under fire. One officer Lublin and Kholm with their right flank in their dropped off, and never woke through resting on Betz own all the tremendous bombardment, territory of Galicia just south-west Austrian rifle firing, and attempt to take his of Sokal. There were three trenches. When he finally awoke he groups forming the main army, and found himself before piles of dead, and numbering about a million men. on attempting to move he then first That on the left was commanded by learned that he was wounded, two General Dankl, that in the centre by toes having been cut clean off by General von Auffenberg, and that shrapnel fire during his sleep. Be- on the right by the Archduke Joseph tween sleeping and waking General Ferdinand. The Austrian forces Dmitrieff' s heroes held their ground which had thus invaded Poland had in a hail of shrapnel fire, varied with been able to occupy a position be- meeting the enemy's charges on the tween the Vistula and the Bug ex- trenches, until other troops came up tending from Lublin to Tomasoff on to their support, and the enemy re- the Galician frontier, with Kholm as tired in disorder. It was for this the centre. The invasion of the action that General Dmitrieff, was Austrians in this direction had been decorated for valour. stubbornly contested by the Russians, By the capture of Lemberg on who, however, as all their forces September 3rd the Russians com- were not on the scene could not do manded all the roads into Hungary more than check the enemy. F 2 164 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

- These fiercely contested engage- tured. In the Lublin district the ments, reported separately, were Austro-German troops were dislodged hailed as great Russian victories, and from their fortified positions, and re- successful though they were, they were tired south. Everywhere it was the really only the prelude to the second same tale. The enemy, who at first big battle of the war in this area, was on the offensive, was forced back which took place in the first fortnight with enormous losses after a succession of September. After his victory at of pitched battles. The Austrian Lemberg, General Russky was able to armies under Generals Dankl and von co-operate with the army in Poland Auffenberg were cut off from the army in inflicting a great defeat on the under the command of Archduke Austrian invaders. For this battle, Joseph Ferdinand. They were driven fought between Lublin and the frontier into the angle between the Rivers San of Galicia, the Austrians had been and Vistula, in marshy ground cut reinforced by the tardy arrival from up by streams, and guns and trans- the western theatre of war of several ports had to be abandoned in es- German army corps, variously caping across the San. The army of estimated at 300,000 men. As the Archduke Joseph Ferdinand, after a campaign was originally planned by severe defeat at Tomasorf, retreated the enemy the Germans ought to have to Ravarusska in Galicia, where the been pushing on vigorously from remnants of the Austrian force from for Silesia over the PoHsh frontier Lemberg joined it, together with Warsaw, but, as has been shov/n, they Germans, in an endeavour to make a were prevented carrying out this final stand, but the Russians, rein- design owing to the Russian invasion forced by the victorious troops of of north-east Prussia. General Russky, completely over- threw the Rout of the Invaders enemy, capturing many guns and prisoners. Over a million This battle, which raged for several men the Austrians sent to invade the days, resulted in the complete rout empire of the Tsar, and now the of the Austrian armies. An attempt remains of that great host were to break the Russian line between struggling by lonely and desperate Lublin and Kholm, a distance of 40 ways, through bog and peat and thick miles, failed. The Russians seized forest, towards their fortresses with documents containing an urgent ap- the Russians in hot pursuit over the peal from General Dankl for help San. from A German Germany. corps Stubborn Austrians that came to the aid of- the retiring Austrians was attacked by the Rus- More or less continuous, the fighting sians before it could cross the Vistula, that ended in this signal defeat had and thirty-six heavy guns were cap- gone on for about three weeks. The THE CONQUERING RUSSIANS 165

Austrians at first advanced in face distant gun-fire, and that same after- of an inferior force in Poland, and noon were in action against Austrian then, when, after the victory of infantry entrenched on a long line Lemberg, the Russians had con- which included the village of Miko- centrated their army in the north, laieff. They entered the village the the Austrian advance was gradually same night, the Austrians having turned into a retreat, which finally fallen back to a half-circle of small see. became the rout we steep hills which overlook the village. The Austrians, in the main, fought In the village some houses had been bravely and stubbornly, but the set on fire, but the flames had been Russians had skilled generals, su- extinguished by the villagers them- perior artillery, first-class cavalry, selves. above an un- and, all, infantry Rushing a Hill daunted and aflam.e for victory. The Austrian Slavs fought reluctantly Before daybreak on the following against the Russians. Again and again morning the attack on the hills com- a a or a Russian menced the Austrians Cossack, priest, ; occupying officer brought in a score of Poles them numbered 15,000, of which a or Czechs willing prisoners. Often large number were in a deeply wooded when Austrian Slavs and Russians gorge. Russian artillery swept the were in opposing entrenchments con- crest of the hill and shelled the versation began which ended with gorge with shrapnel. The Austrians the Austrians drof)ping their rifles, replied strongly, but once again and crossing to the Russian lines. showed that inferiority in speed and The remarkable feat of strategy accuracy of fire which all observers by which General Russky dealt a mention. swift, sharp blow on Lemberg, while Describing the shell-fire the officer the main Austrian army, relying on states that at any moment he could the slowness of Russian concentra- see more Russian shrapnel bursting tion, entered into the Lublin trap in in the air above the gorge than he Poland, indicates the new spirit ani- could count. At noon the position mating the Russian Army. The Tsar was stormed, his own company being conferred on General Ivanoff for among the attackers. The Russian " " deeds of arms the Order of St. infantry at the word of command Alexander Nevsky with Swords. rose with cheers repeated again and How well the Russians fought is again, and rushed the hill. The shown by the story of a wounded Austrian guns to their left cut them officer who went with his regiment about badly. He tells of a company by train from the south of Lemberg officer, badly wounded, who would to near Kholm. They were detrained not let two of his men stay behind to early one morning to the sound of carry him off. With a pool of his i66 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR own blood widening around him, he and looked on. Why they so calmly sat on the ground cheering on his allowed us to concentrate I cannot men from behind. imagine, unless it was for the reason The officer who gives this record that their scouting is very bad. " himself received a bayonet thrust in The first battle lasted twelve the left forearm as his regiment took hours, which were like hell. It was the first trench, and he killed his all a matter of who could hold out assailant with a revolver. At the the longer, and our soldiers, while same time the position was stormed one officer is left, can stand a loss of from the east, and the Austrians sur- 90 per cent, without retiring. Not rendered almost immediately. The another army in the world is capable gorge, he adds, was full of dead men of this. " lying in heaps on the slopes. Even Of one company of 240, only 15 at Halitch, where he was present, were left, and these still rushed to he had never seen so many dead in the attack. Of a group of ten, among an equal space. The troops gave the whom were a lieutenant of the " place the name of the Valley of Reserve and myself, six were blown Death." The Austrian general com- to pieces, while the lieutenant and I manding the division watched his were thrown to the ground, stunned men being disarmed. Presently Aus- and wounded, he in the leg and I in trian standards were brought up from the arm. This was the work of one the gorge, and at that sight the shell. " general drew his revolver and shot I must tell you that the Poles himself. are wonderful. The Polish women attend the wounded the landowners An Officer's Story ; give all they have to the troops and Another Russian officer who was the way in which the common people in the battle with the Austrians in treat our wounded makes the tears the Lublin district writes : start to one's eyes." " Our army corps fought on the Picturesque Horsemen line from Lublin to Kholm. The battles were long, stubborn, and Many stories are told, too, of the desperate, but we finally dislodged Cossacks in the field, those picturesque the Austrians. We pressed on them Russian horsemen, who carried little and they began to retire. Now I bags of apples in their saddles which hear, thank God, that they are they considered a good preventive utterly smashed. of both hunger and thirst. A Cos- " We were brought up swiftly sack has, indeed, such complete com- and went straight from the train to mand over his horse that at a word " " the firing fine. The Austrians, with the animal will drop dead under an army of 200,000 men, stood its rider, and spring up again the next THE CONQUERING RUSSIANS 167

instant when called upon. As cavalry so, that my Austrians followed me the Cossacks showed a marked superi- Hke'calves to our lines." over the Austrians and ority Germans, A Pathetic Episode and numbers of cases are cited in which Cossack horsemen transfixed A touching episode of the battle- with their lances horse and man field is related of Colonel Lopukhin, a together at a stroke. member of an ancient historic Russian A Cossack describing the fighting family, who commanded a regiment at Lublin reminds one of Dumas' of the famous Horse Grenadiers. famous musketeers. He says : After a fight the Colonel was receiving " Our squadron, fighting on foot, a report from one of his officers. made a running attack. Somehow The total of officers and men killed " I stopped. Feeling a sharp sensa- and wounded was given. Officers " " tion in left hand, I looked at it, killed, one." Who was it ? asked my " " and saw it bathed in blood. I stopped the Colonel. Cornet Lopukhin to bandage it with a handkerchief, was the reply. Never a muscle of pulling one end with my teeth and the the heroic commander's face moved. other with my right hand. He simply asked where the body was, " All of a sudden two Austrians and he went and kissed his dead son " started up beside me and pulled away without a tear. Then he said, Now it his my rifle. Ah, thinks I, sons of dogs ! back to duty." And was only But all right, I said, take it if it's son. your luck. Off they led me, and a Those on the spot bear witness to black word I said to myself. You the utter disorganisation of the crow, I said, you double-barrelled Austrian military administration, and in a blockhead ! They're leading you like their war commissariat was a sheep, and in the land of the heathen chaotic condition. Their armies were you'll sit till the world's end. now as we have seen in disorderly "But out we came to the hillside, retreat. General Russky, continuing Goro- and, slap, I flung myself to the his victorious march, occupied * west of ground and shouted : Lie down ! dek, an important position fortresses Lie down ! The Russians are coming Lemberg. The two Austrian and win shoot us all.' So down they of Jaroslav and Przemysl guarded the flopped. way to Cracow, but the Austrians " ' ' Where are the Russians ? they were unable to make any decided ' asked, and I said, There, hiding stand, and continued their flight, in the wood.' Then I crawled up fighting rearguard actions. Jaroslav to them, clapped my hands on the was set ablaze by Russian artillery, ' this rifle, and shouted, Lie still, you and on September 22nd strong- at sons of swine ! If you move I'll hold was carried by storm the point kill I of after two you.' And , frightened them the bayonet days' fighting. i68 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

they retire from one position, blowing A Great Fortress up bridges and arsenals behind them, than the Russians were again at their The strongest fortress in Galicia, heels. It was a pitiful plight for a Przemysl, standing astride the river once great army. They looted all San, was invested and isolated, while along the line of retreat, and seemed the Russians pushed on in pursuit to have lost all discipline. No won- of the Austrians who were retiring der, indeed, for many regiments had on Cracow, where they would come been so decimated that hardly any into touch with the main German officers were left. forces. From Lemberg to Przemysl While the pursuit of the demoral- is about fifty miles, and Cracow is ised Austrians was being continued about 100 miles further west. Jaro- through Galicia towards Cracow, slav stands thirty miles north of other Russian armies were gathering Przemysl. These two great fort- in Poland. And, at the same time, resses were supposed to be lions in the Germany was concentrating her forces, paths of the Russian advance, but in conjunction with Austria, for a they were obstacles quickly overcome, new invasion of Poland by fresh and the Russians in their onv/ard troops. But General Rennenkampf, sweep at the same time obtained the after his successful withdrawal before command of the passes of the Car- the German advance away in north- pathian mountains, thus opening the east Prussia, also became again an road into Hungary. aggressive Russian factor to be reck- In fact, the fleeing Austrians were oned with, and he took the offensive allowed no respite. No sooner did once more, as will be seen. XX. THE CLASH OF SLAV AND TEUTON

When General Rennenkampf, after veloping the Russian left flank and his rapid dash into Prussia, gradually reaching almost to Gumbinnen, and retired into Russia before a superior a severe fight ensued. The Russians force, he drew after him the German began to retire, but caused terrible army of General von Hindenburg, losses to the Germans. The manner which had defeated him at Osterode. in which General Rennenkampf dis- This was a strategic and wil}^ move engaged himself, and frustrated the on the part of the Russians, with- German^advance has all the attributes drawing a considerable Germ.an force of a victory. from the western front in France, A Daring Raid while the Austrians were being crushed in South Poland and Galicia. An exciting instance of this was a It has been well said that the German reconnaissance and raid, dashingly attack which che(iked the Russians carried out at Bialla among the hills in Prussia was a blow in the air. in the Masurian Lakes district, close It had no effect on altering the to the frontier. The expedition was course of the campaign, for, as we undertaken from Grajewo on the shall see. General Rennenkampf was border to Bialla among the lakes. able later to inflict a considerable It was a night march among small defeat on the enemy, who pursued wooded hills, and at dawn the Russian him into Russian territory. force was level with Bialla, where Something further may be said of the suspected German concentration General Rennenkamxpf's fighting on for the advance was taking place. the Prussian frontier during his re- The Cossacks rushed the outposts, treat. By September 7th the Ger- and forthv/ith in the glow of resplen* mans had brought from the west five dent sunrise the battle shaped itself. new army corps, which began to The Russian infantry took up its posi- envelop the Russian position. Re- tions under a tremendous artillery fire. " treating cautiously, General Rennen- From behind the town in the kampf occupied a defensive position. distance," says a Russian eye-witness, " On September 8th Russian patrols up went the aeroplanes, which dived discovered a considerable force en- forward over the Russians, circled 169 170 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

and returned but here are there is a round ; generous agreement that so many of the eternal fir woods of the Germans fought like heroes. " Eastern Europe that their task of One must do them justice," says " observation must have been all but the eye-witness quoted. Usually impossible. Each of them spluttered they flinch from the bayonet, but at from time to time into rocket signals BiaUa they stood to it. Our men —red for artillery, white for infantry. went in Hke an avalanche. I was The enemy had guns beyond all never prouder of my country than counting, and they spent ammunition when I saw our big, long-legged in- like water. A single mounted messen- fantrymen surge forward in that ger was enough to draw a shower of charge. There was no shouting. shells. They fired at everything and The pace was too hot. At the word nothing, and at all ranges. Two Red they were up on their feet and racing Cross doctors in our rear were killed, forward straight into the trenches. and some of the wagon drivers." Those trenches were a fearful sight afterwards. They were full, like the At Close Quarters great graves after a battle, with The fight lasted till late in the German dead, and the blood lay in afternoon. Russian officers — agreed pools literally in pools and puddles that the Germans fought gallantly. on the ground. Some of our men Again and again they attacked, only were splashed to the knees with it." to be driven back, and several times There was street-fighting in the the Russians ceased firing in order to town of Bialla afterwards, and among let the attackers approach. the scattered houses beyond. The In instance one a German detach- stone houses of these parts, with deep ment was permitted to come within trenches dug around them and barbed eight paces of the waiting Russian wire entanglements, became miniature infantrymen. In the ditch where fortresses, and each one had to be they lay, holding their fire, they taken separately. could see the faces and hear the Burying the Dead panting of the Germans running for- ward. The signal to fire was to be a The Germans never gathered at shot fired by the Russian captain. any time the size of the ridiculously Speaking all the time to his men, inferior Russian force which had warning them to wait for his signal, attacked them on this occasion. By let the he Germans approach till he nightfall the town was empty of could, as he explained, see their teeth, them. There seemed to be no civil and then only did he loose the terrible population left at Bialla. Among volley that cut them down in swathes. the stores to which the Russians set In the afternoon the trenches were fire before they left was a small carried by storm, and here again collection of handsome coffins. It THE CLASH OF SLAV AND TEUTON 171 appears that the bodies of Prussian are carrying out orders, know. General, officers above a certain rank are not that the blood of the innocent ones shall to be buried with the rank and file. fall on your head, and only yours." Here is a further episode worthy Civilian Treachery of a high place in the annals of heroism recorded in connection with TJiere was a good deal of treachery the Russian retreat through the to Russian troops shown by civilians Masurian Lakes district in East in East Prussia. At Tilsit, a border Prussia. A Russian battery was sur- town, on a market day when the place rounded on three sides by the enemy's was full of peasants, and Russian quick-firers and infantry. On the soldiers were standing in the market other side lay the lake. The ammuni- buying hay or watching the chaffer- tion of the Russians was exhausted. ing, a long train of carts with hay and In order to avoid capture the com- straw came to a halt in the square. mander ordered the battery to gallop The peasants hurried round them, over a decHvity into the lake. His snatched hidden rifles, and throwing order was obeyed, and he himself was off the hay and straw disclosed quick- among the drowned. firers, which showered bullets on the Not only had German reinforce- unsuspecting Russians. This trick ments been hurried to the scene by proved disastrous to Tilsit, for when rail to repel General Rennenkampf the Russian artillery got to work it but troops were landed at Memel made the town uninhabitable^ in the Baltic. But in vain was The Germans also repeatedly fired the attempt made to surround and on Red Cross hospitals and trains in cut off the Russian army. General East Prussia. During the Russian Rennenkampf retreated with guns retreat one Red Cross train was pur- and stores intact as far as Kovno, sued and fired on by Uhlans. The with the Gennans in his wake, and train stopped, and all who could fled. the way in which he carried out his Two nurses were badly wounded. retirement earned him the special Doctors and nurses on an ambulance thanks of the Tsar. train that retreated from Goldap Several German spies who were relate that they had to accomplish caught red-handed firing at Russian the journey with great speed, resting soldiers from windows at Insterburg only ten minutes at a time at inter- in Prussia were shot. Next day a vals of three hours. Their hospital German aeroplane scattered proclama- was fired on with shrapnel and rifle tions addressed to General Rennen- shots, and during the retreat, when a " kampf, stating Your troops are halt was made to bandage a wounded shooting peaceful inhabitants. If soldier, Germans fired on the hospital this is done without your knowledge, again. Later, fire was opened on the put an end to it, but if your troops train from a German farm. 172 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

was armies for the The Kaiser's Hunting Lodge massing large greater fight impending. Or possibly Some interesting stories were told the German Emperor thought to by wounded Russian soldiers returned follow up the success already achieved from East Prussia as to how they by General von Hindenburg against occupied the Kaiser's hunting estate General Rennenkampf, and by striking at Rominten, which is not far from a swift blow to'gain the sorely-needed the borders of Poland. A large prestige of a victory on Russian soil, quantity of stores of very remarkable and then to transfer this portion of quality was found here, particularly his army to harass the southern wines and canned goods, which the armies of his powerful adversary. Russians seized. For tactical reasons Napoleon's Precedent it was necessary to fell all trees in the magnificent park, while the game Anyhow this move on northern (which was abundant and comprised Poland was an ill-starred German many specially preserved varieties of enterprise. The country to the west deer, including the elk) was slaughtered of the Niemen was most unfavourable as provisions for the troops. From for German tactics. It is swampy the castle many objects of value were and full of little lakes and streams. formally captured, and were sent to The roads are bad at this rainy Russia. season of the year, and the Germans Naturally there was some disap- found it difficult to move their heavy pointment that a portion of Russian guns on motor lorries and their territory in Poland should be occupied armoured motors with quick-firers. by the advance of the German troops, This region is famous historically. but this seeming triumph of the Over 100 years ago Napoleon's armies enemy was short-lived. The Germans entered Russia at this place, but attempted the offensive on a large Napoleon had mid-summer weather, scale against General Rennenkampf and was not encumbered with the towards the river Niemen over a front heavy transports of a modern army. of about one hundred miles, ranging Perhaps Napoleon's precedent from Lomza in the south to Suwalki weighed with the Kaiser, who is in the north, with Grodno in the centre playing the role of a Napoleon. eastwards. For this grand attack Anyway, it is said that the German they had concentrated an army of Emperor directed in person this in- between 400,000 and 500,000 men. vasion of Russia. It may well be so, It is difficult to conceive what object seeing that his army was driven Germany had in making an advance back most disastrously in their at- in this quarter unless it was to cut tempt to force the passage of the the railway communications between river Niemen, which formed an ex- Petrograd and Warsaw, where Russia cellent line of defence for the Russians.

174 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

To do the Germans justice, the attack security, and lost thousands of men. was made with exceptional vigour, The rearguard of General Rennen- but it failed, and the enemy—or what kampf's army had been transferred remained of them—had to thread to the eastern bank on the previous their way back through a network day, and lay in ambush. When on of lakes and swamps. A retreating the following evening the Germans army cannot choose its route. It approached they were allowed to mvist go as it is driven. construct pontoon bridges without It was about the middle of Sep- opposition, but when their troops tember that the Germans, in force, were in the act of crossing, Russian crossed the frontier into Poland at guns, which had been skilfully posted several points from Stshutsin to and screened, opened a concentrated Suwalki, all converging on Grodno, fire upon them, and the enemy was the capital of a Russian province swept into the river. Hundreds of situated on the Niemen's right bank, bodies floated down the muddy waters. and 148 miles by rail north-east of The Germans replied with their artil- Warsaw. lery, and made another effort to cross, but once man was mown Bombs from Aeroplanes again every down by the terrible fire of the Count Borch, vice-governor of the Russian machine-guns. At length the town of Suwalki, who was the last enemy fell back eight miles, pursued to leave it when the Germans entered, by the Cossacks, who had crossed the relates that the enemy was preceded river on the German-made bridges. by three aeroplanes each of which One account states that 20,000 Ger- threw bombs into the town. The man corpses were carried down first fell in the street outside the the swollen river after this awful school and one wounded girl ; the slaughter. second, thrown at the killed station, An All-Night Struggle a woman, and the third, also thrown at the station, fell 600 paces away There was also in the struggle on and injured nobody. Two of the the Niemen a stirring all-night battle machines got away, but the third at Stredniki. Here the Russians oc- was shot down and captured. cupied an excellent position on the The severe battles in the region right bank. Firing began on the left of the Niemen river, which runs bank at three o'clock in the after- from Grodno to Kovno, lasted for noon. An hour later the battle 10 days. The object of the Germans concentrated at the confluence of was to gain possession of the river the river with the Dubissa. Russian and its crossings. They were trapped howitzers from the right bank pounded at one point on September 24th, the enemy. The battle continued all when proceeding to cross in fancied night, but towards dawn the fighting THE CLASH OF SLAV AND TEUTON 175 slackened and there were only iso- Russians had to engage the German lated rifle shots. The Germans fled, rearguards in numerous defiles, where leaving great heaps of dead, shattered the enemy was entrenched. Here wagons, automobiles, and motor- Russian infantry were strongly sup- cycles, which were all captured by ported by heavy artillery, and in- the Russians. flicted enormous losses on the enemy But the heaviest fighting took in the trenches and as he retreated. place at Augustowo, which is about The fighting extended over a wide 37 miles west from Grodno, and at front of broken country, which ren- Osowiec fort, guarding the railway dered it diflicult to maintain a junction where it crosses the Niemen, some of the separate detachments. 17 miles from Stshutsin on the German The battle of Augustowo ended on frontier. The battle of Augustowo October 4th in a complete victory began on September 25th with the for the Russian arms, and the enemy bombardment by the great German fled in disorder towards the frontier of guns of the Sopotskino region, followed Eastern Prussia, abandoning convoys, by an attack on Augustowo. At the guns, and even their wounded, and same time the Germans made great hotly pursued by their conquerors. efforts to pierce and break up the The reports of the Russian command- Russian forces near Druskeniki, a ers state that their troops in this watering place on the Niemen, 20 battle gave evidence of heroic valour miles north-west of Grodno. and extraordinary courage. Several without rest Forest Fights regiments fought any for a week, but they never shrank There were particularly desperate from the conflict. the of the conflicts for possession The Enemy Trapped northern outlets from the Augustowo forest. This large pine forest, stud- The Germans began the bombard- ded with lakes, is 24 miles long and ment of Osoweic fort, which is twenty- 35 miles broad, and it is intersected five miles ^ south of Augustowo, on by a canal connecting the Niemen September 26th. Finding no other with the Vistula. In the woods of way of approaching the fortress, they Augustowo, the Russian troops had marched along the road from Graevo, to advance almost without the support but they could not get their big guns of artillery. To the south of Augus- near, owing to the marshy nature of towo the hand-to-hand fighting was the ground. At a distance of nine especially fierce. The Russian flank- miles they commenced to shell the ing column settled the fate of the fortress, and sent forward their struggle. It crossed the canal near infantry with numerous machine- Borki Lock, and attacked from the guns. These could only get within west. North of Augustowo the four miles of the fort. The Russians, 176 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

who had used a captive balloon for bottles of champagne and brandy reconnoitring, made a sortie during looted in France—a double tell-tale, the night, and, marching by roads indicating at once where these German and paths of which the enemy were troops had come from, and how they ignorant, they completely enveloped had plundered the fair land of France. both the German wings. There was also a fierce battle at Imagining that they held all the Suwalki, which is forty-five miles practicable roads, the Germans had north of Osoweic, and an important concentrated their attention on the Government centre. Here the Ger- fortress and neglected their flanks. mans had concentrated large forces When the enveloping movement be- and had fortified the frontier. They came apparent, a fierce engagement were dislodged from the trenches ensued, the enemy being completely by frequent bayonet assaults. The at a disadvantage. The fortress guns armies were in close contact, and mowed them down on the open road, prisoners state that the German losses while the Russian infantry poured a at^ Suwalki were so great that only devastating fire into their wings. twenty men remained out of detach- The battle lasted thirty-six hours, and ments of a hundred. The Germans ended in the complete rout of the retreated before the Russian bayonets, Germans, who fled in disorder along and the line of retreat was covered the Graevo road, pursued by the vic- with corpses, some of the dead grasp- torious Russians. All the German ing the scabbards of their swords, and guns which had stuck in the marshy one gunner still holding a shell in his ground were captured. The road arms, stiff in death. from Graevo was strewn with the slain. The Kaiser's Escape Caught in a Bog Completely overthrown and stag- One German column, in escaping, gered by these defeats, the Germans got into a bog, and the Russians left the Russian territory "in a shelled the bog. The Germans, un- hurry," says the official report of the able to extricate themselves, sank Headquarters Staff of the Tsar's " deeper and deeper into the mire. army. At certain points," con- " Those who were not killed or wounded tinues the report, the retreat is in were engulfed. There were only the nature of a flight. We are about forty survivors of the column. vigorously pursuing the defeated A German officer shot himself rather enemy." The report concludes by " than surrender. So precipitate, indeed, stating that this German style of in- was the retreat from Osowiec that the vasion from Prussia has failed com- Russians captured the whole camp, pletely in Russia, and the enemy is and among the great quantity of now definitely leaving the limits and provisions left behind were many the provinces of Suwalki and Lomza." THE CLASH OF SLAV AND TEUTON ^11

Thus the Germans in Western failed. It is also related that a Russia, though inspired by the pres- number of German officers acting as ence and eloquence of the Kaiser, spies were captured attired in women's ^ having utterly failed in their attack, clothes. had for the most to retreat in part Germans Driven Out disorder through the marshy tract lying between the Niemen and East Following their helter-skelter re- * Prussia. Rain had fallen steadily, treat, the Germans attempted to and it is a land of bog and morass. hold fortified positions along the The losses of the German army of eastern Prussian frontier, from Wir- invasion were very heavy, being ballen (a Russian frontier station on estimated at 70,000. Whole regi- the line from Vilna to Konigsberg) ments were drowned in the Niemen, to Lyck, a distance of about seventy and siege artillery lost. It is declared, miles, being reinforced from the indeed, that the Kaiser, moving from garrison at Konigsberg. But they point to point, escaped with great were forced back, and Russian terri- difficulty from this debacle of his tory in this part was freed from the v/ho had been army. , invader, severely pun- The victory was a veritable triumph ished, and lost heavily in men, guns, for General Rennenkampf, v/ho was and stores. Then there came from greatly helped in his operations by the Berlin the announcement that General use of new heavy Russian artillery. von Mogen had replaced General von A new pattern Russian gun of large Hindenburg in Eastern Prussia. calibre and considerable mobility was General von Hindenburg had gone brought into the field for the first to take supreme control of the com- time. The Germans, expecting that bined Austro-German armies in the they had only ordinary field artillery south. At any rate, there is strong to meet, were surprised at the havoc evidence that the Kaiser himself had wrought by these new heavy guns. a considerable share in directing the Many efforts were made to kill futile invasion. It was reported that General Rennenkampf, according to he had addressed his troops in his the statement of an officer in a Russian customary inflammatory and high- paper. At Insterburg a German aero- flov/n language at Bromberg and plane dropped a sandbag, with a letter Thorn, two frontier towns of East addressed to General Rennenkampf, Prussia. right in front of the entrance to the Plaving driven the foe out of Army Staff's headquarters, showing Russian territory. General Rennen- that German spies had ascertained his kampf was now free once more to exact whereabouts. A Zeppelin one invade East Prussia from the north, night tried to destroy with bombs the and with this object he commenced hotel in which he was staying, but a movement with his army towards 178 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

AUenstein, which is sixty miles south- Warsaw. Here was to be fought west of Suwalki. Again the Prussian the greatest battle of all, with com- frontier was crossed by the Russians. batants numbered by millions. Further south the Gathering Armies again Russians, after their successful exploits in Meanwhile, to the south, events Galicia, had pushed on a force into were moving rapidly. The main Hungary, crossing the Carpathians at armies of Russia, directed from War- a point that brought them within saw, were massing in South Poland ninety miles of Budapest, the capital. to join their victorious brethren Such was the situation in the eastern coming on through Galicia. At theatre of war early in October, and Cracow the shattered Austrian armies at this exciting juncture, when the had gathered under the German tramp of millions of armed men was wing, and the Germans were con- echoing through the land, the Tsar, centrating right along the Polish amid much enthusiasm, took his frontier. The Austro-German forces departure from Petrograd for the had, indeed, boldly penetrated Poland front to await the ringing up of the for a considerable distance towards curtain on the next act. XXI. GREAT EVENTS ON THE VISTULA

While events on the north - west Fight for Warsaw frontier of Poland were hastening to the issue described, a veil was drawn The front of this great battle ex- over what was happening in South tended over 200 miles from the region Poland and Galicia. Not till the of Warsaw, along the Vistula and the great battle here had been joined San Rivers, as far as Przemysl, the was the curtain rung up to the invested Austrian fortress in Galicia, public gaze. Then it was found and then continued further south to that the Austro-German armies had the Dniester. It is calculated that been allowed to penetrate a consider- the German troops numbered 600,000 able distance into Poland, almost, in- of the active army, and 400,000 of the deed, to the gates of Warsaw, the reserve, and those of Austria probably capital. added another half-million, though it Here again the Russians displayed is difficult to gauge the strength of wily strategy of a cunning order. the Austrians, who were formed of They lured the enemy out into the remnants of their twice-beaten marshy, treacherous country, away Galician armies. from his lines of railway communica- The Germans had brought a large tion, and, once beaten, left him to number of men from the force that was struggle back over bad roads and defeated by General Rennenkampf. ground converted in many places into Quite clearly the Kaiser's object had quagmires by the heavy rains. The been to invade north-west Poland arid Germans had moved forward over a inflict a crushing defeat on General hundred miles inside the Russian Rennenkampf, and then to hurry the frontier, and the Austrians, in co- major part of his troops thence to operation, had marched from Cracow the scene of the great central battle in Gahcia. This Russian plan of in Poland. But the tables were drawing the enemy on before falling turned. All the same, the German upon him, bore a strong resemblance troops, dispirited by their failure, to the French scheme of campaign had to be moved to take part in the of General J offre. march on Warsaw. 179 i8o THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

These great combined Austro-Ger- would be taken on October 15th, the man armies, numbering altogether birthday of the German Empress, roughly a million and a half of men, and the event would form a fitting were under the command of General birthday present from the Emperor. von Hindenburg, while the Kaiser, The Russians, however, with per- rushing again from the western fect confidence, chose their own theatre, was flitting about, taking, battle-ground, and the moment for it may be safely assumed, a hand the conflict. There had been a in the game of military control. number of rearguard actions, but the It is stated, in fact, that the Kaiser, serious engagement did not begin till with characteristic presumption, took the middle of October. The fighting possession of the Tsar's shooting seat began at Sandomir, at the junction at Spala as his headquarters. The of the Vistula and the San, and Germans, in assuming the supreme gradually spread northwards along command, showed that they had no the left bank of the Vistula. The confidence in the Austrian military German right wing, covering a front commanders, and a scapegoat for of 20 miles from Opatow to Sandomir, the Austrian failures was found in was making for the Russian fortress of General von Auffenberg, who was de- Ivangorod, and their left wing to posed, while General Dankl, the only the north was aiming at Warsaw, Austrian leader v/hom the German and purposing to cross the Middle General Staff approved, was retained. Vistula. It was the German active While the Grand Duke Nicholas, as army, 600,000 strong, composed of com.mander - in - chief, directed the their best troops, that attempted to strategic plans of the Russians, he take Warsaw, and suffered defeat. had as able lieutenants in the Defeating the Spies field Generals Ivanoff, Russky, and Brusiloff. The fury of the battle was felt along the line of the Vistula from a An Imperial Birthday Present point just south of Warsaw. It was the There was some timidity at Warsaw object of the Germans to force the at first when the Germans were passage of the Vistula while they allowed to approach uncomfortably secured possession of Warsaw. They near to the capital, and a considerable got v/ithin 15 miles of the capital, number of the population were pre- and no wonder the population were pared for flight. The Kaiser, too, alarmed when the thunder of the guns baulked elsewhere, was ready for a reached their ears. The wiles of the triumphal entry into Warsaw. On Russians were here again apparent. German prisoners subsequently cap- The Grand Duke Nicholas misled the tured postcards w^ere found ready spies who infested Warsaw by leaving written, announcing that Warsaw the greater part of his army at a GREAT EVENTS ON THE VISTULA i8i distance, only throwing forward a outlying suburbs of Warsaw, and small force, and the Germans there- many of the inhabitants went out to fore attacked with confidence in the see the battle. Warsaw had been belief that the capital was inadequately seriously alarmed, for from German defended. The small Russian force sources false rumours had been spread held its own until the main body that the town v/as to be left to its of troops were rapidly transported by fate. Confidence was quickly re- rail through Warsaw, and hurled the stored when trainload after trainload Germans back. The laying of the of Russian troops were hurried through city open to capture was a consider- to the front even while the German able risk, but it was a bait to the guns were thundering in the ears of Germans, who were relying on their the terrified people. It proved a spy organisation. successful military manoeuvre. The Taking with them tow^ards the German attacking forces, relying on north a portion of the Austrian the information of their spies, were troops, the Germans on approaching caught at a tactical disadvantage. the outlying fortifications of Warsaw It was too late for them to change entrenched themselves, and brought their dispositions, which were well up many guns. After severe fighting known to the Russian commander. the German army on the night of German aeroplanes, which had been October 20th was forced to evacuate dropping bombs over the city, had its position, which had been most apparently failed to discover the elaborately fortified. The Russian Russian corps held in the leash in troops then took the offensive along readiness for this rush to the battle stretch of a large front, sweefHng fine. These bombs killed fifty people away the resistance of the German in Warsaw. rearguards, and driving them at the The Siberian regiments particularly point of the bayonet from forests and distinguished themselves in the fight- villages. The Germans, who had ing. Passing through the Polish occupied the roads leading to Warsaw, capital they were warmly cheered were thus utterly routed, and left by the people, who for the first time their wounded on the field of battle. made acquaintance with these splen- They had been expected to make a did warriors from the confines of stand in their strongly fortified posi- the Empire. They came fresh to the tion, but they were unable to resist fight, and being accustomed to the the Russian onslaught. Many pris- trackless forests of Siberia they did oners were taken. terrible execution with the bayonet the Germans in the forests west Terrified Citizens upon of Warsaw. During the engagement German This defeat entirely upset the plans shells reached some portions of the of the Germans. They had intended l82 THE GREAT BATTLES OF THE GREAT WAR

to force the passage of the Vistula a broad front, meeting with no resist- further south, and secure a crossing ance from the retreating Germans, for a force in the rear of the Russian who were being hotly pursued. The lines. But many of their troops south Russians succeeded in dividing the of Warsaw had to be hurriedly with- German armies, which were much drawn to parry, if possible, the blow harried in seeking to escape to their dealt by the Russians on the armies fortified line on the Warta, on the marching on Warsaw. frontier. All the German armies in It was at Ivangorod that the Poland were now in retreat. As a Germans sought to cross the Vistula, fitting sequel to these operations the which is a quarter of a mile wide at Tsar conferred the Order of St. George this point. They bombarded the on the Grand Duke Nicholas, on " fortress of Ivangorod with their heavy account of his valiant determination guns, but little damage was done, in the unflinching execution of the and the bridges were untouched. Russian plans, which has covered the With so wide a river and running Russian arms with glory." ten to twenty feet deep, the Germans Farther south, in the GaUcian area in their attack naturally would spare between the Vistula and the San, the bridges which they hoped to the Austrian troops, supported by cross, but it is remarkable that on German reserves, maintained, how- their retirement they left them stand- ever, a stubborn fight, and in Galicia, ing,whereby the Russians were enabled to the south of Przemysl, there was to advance. The garrison of the also sanguinary fighting with the fortress assisted in finally driving Austrians, but the advantage rested back the Germans. with the Russians, who took many On October 22nd the Russian Com- prisoners and guns. mander-in-Chief was able to report So November found the German that the Austro-German armies were main army in Poland beaten, and falling back on the Ivangorod and retreating towards the Polish frontier. Novo Alexandria roads, while the That was the main thing. Russia rapid retreat of the Germans from by her strategy had crushed the Warsaw continued. In the trenches forces of the active German army, before Ivangorod the Russians took and the German Reserves and the a large quantity of munitions of war Austrians only remained to be dealt which the German Reserve Guard with. The losses of the re-organised Corps had abandoned in its precipitate Austrian troops, who had previously flight. been so severely handled in Galicia, were enormous. The Austrian Russian Arms Victorious regi- ments were described as fighting in Continuing a vigorous offensive, the confusion, having been split up among Russian armies crossed the Vistula on various corps. GREAT EVENTS ON THE VISTULA 183 transferred to the western Baffled Germany theatre of war again, for the Germans have Again we see Germany, no less than prided themselves on these rapid Austria, baffled and defeated. The changes. The fortunes of the only success that Germany could battlefield, however, dashed all such claim from the commencement of the hopes. campaign was the reverse sustained And no more successful was a by General Rennenkampf in East renewal of German attacks from Prussia, and that was speedily north-east Prussia on the Russian avenged. What were Germany's frontier amid lakes and marshes. hopes in the powerful attack in this These attacks were once again beaten last great battle in Poland ? It may back by General Rennenkampf. No- have been thought that if the Austro- where, indeed, could the Kaiser's German armies secured the line of legions obtain a foothold, and the the Vistula the Russians could then Russians were speeding towards their be held in check by a smaller force, ultimate goal—the invasion of Ger- and so German troops could be many.

INDEX

Admiralty announcements, 124, 125. y French, Sir John, Dispatches of, 29, 30, 2)i 37-41, 44, 70, 82, 96-100, no. Aircraft incidents, 14, 33, 55, 79, 103, 109, 119. 149, 157, 171, 174, 177. i8i- French : German trenches flooded by the, 94. Aisne, Battle of the, 89-1 11. Government, Removal of, 57. Albert, King, and Royal Family, 10, 15, 55. Guns and gunnery v. German, 102, 109. Soldiers 81. Amiens, Retreat to, 45. praised, 32, Troops flood enemy's trenches, 94. Antwerp, Defence and fall of, 1 12-122. General S. Proclamation 20. Arnim, von, by, Galicia invaded, 160. Art saved and 68, 116, treasures, lost, 48, 85, German Crown Prince, Retreat and escape o 120, 172. 59-61. Mr,, on Louvain, 47. Asquith, Germans : Austrian Slavs join Russian forces, 165. Brutality and debauchery of, 85. Positions of the, 59. of the, 121. Battle scenes described by witnesses, 12, Rejoicings 18, Ruskin on the, 56. 13, 27, 41-44, 50, 55. 79-88, 92-96, loi, of, 24, 107, 108, 102, 108, 109, 115-122, 124-131, 139-141, Treachery 171. Tribute to, British, 127. 145-146, 166, 169. by {See also Daily ChrQuicls Correspondents.) Heligoland Government's removals, Bight, 138-143. Belgian 17, 113 " Humour of Atkins," 25. Belloc, Mr. Hilaire, on the War, 9, 39, 72, 76' Tommy 89, 112, 123. Huns, as a pattern, 47.

British Forces : Antwerp defended by, 113, 115. Jellicoe, Sir John, Appreciation of," 132, at 7 1 . Enemy's pretence ignoring, General : from Joffre, India, 130. Messages from, 80. German comment on, 28, 104-106. Supports General French, 41. Retreat tactics of, 30.

Brussels : Kaiser : conduct in, 18. Enemy's Escape of, 177. outlined, 19. History Statements of the, 36, 47, 56. 1 1 . Occupation of, 7-2 .^, ^ Kitchener, Lord, Statement by, 42. Burgomaster of Antwerp, 122. General von : of Brussels, 20. Kluck, Allies drive back, 7^-76, 79, 82. March on Paris, 58-60. Cambrai, Operations at, 34, 45. Krupp guns, of legeadary fame, 57. Calais, Kaiser's order respecting, 129.

Channel, for the, 1 Fight 23-131. Lemberg occupied, 161. Charleroi, Bombardment of, 22. Leraan, General : Cigarettes in war, 31, 154. First hero of war, 10. " Tribute to, by German ©fiicer, 14. Contemptible Little Army," t,6. Defence and fall Chronicle Liege, of, 7-16. Daily Correspondents' messages, 26, " 45. 5 5, 66, 77, 83, 108. Life or Death," A question of, 129. 185 i86 INDEX

Loncin Fort reduced, 13. Poincare, President, Proclamation by, 63.

Losses on Land and Sea : Poland invaded, 160, 163-183. Austrian, 159, 162, 164, 182. Press Bureau announcements, 74, 96-100, Belgian, 8. 103-109, III, 113, 124. British, 44, 133. 149. French, 22. German, 127, 129-131, 152, 159, 174, 177. Red Cross and White Flag, Abuse of, see Russian, 158. German Treachery. {See also Aircraft.) Refugees, Flight of, 65, 79, 114, 118-121. Rennenkampf, General, Victories of, 151, 169, Louvain ; 177. History of outlined, 47-49. Russians : Sack of, official and witnesses' reports, 50-54. Defeat of Austrians by, 159-168. Invasion of Prussia by, 150-158. Malines destroyed, 54. Occupation of Galicia by, 160-163. Marne, Battle of the, 70-78. Conflict Mons, at, 22-29. Smith-Dorrien, Sir H., Tribute to, by Sir John French, 44. Namur, Capture of, 23. Spies, see German Treachery. Naval Victories and Reverses, 133-149. Trafalgar Day fight, 125. OsTEND threatened, 123. Vistula, Operations near, 178-183. Paris : Abandoned by the citizens, 57, 65. Defeat of German Allies Advance upon, 57, 58. Warsaw, complete Official at, 183. announcements in, 62,, 67, 7^-77, no. Prepares for siege, 62-69. Yser, Defence of, 129.

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EDMUND DULAC SINDBAD THE SAILOR and other Stories from the Arabian Nights. Illustrated in Colour by Edmund Dulac. Price 15/- net. Edition de Luxe (500 copies) £2 2/- net. " Edmund Dulac is the incomparable illustrator of The Arabian Nights." With the possible exception of his famous illustrated edition of the of Omar Rubaiyat" " Khayyam, nothing he has ever done has exceeded in his Arabian " " popularity " Nights " illustrations. Sindbad the Sailor is a big book, Hke his original Arabian Nights " '* volume, and like his Stories from Hans Andersen," and it his Arabian " completes series. Some of the new are so Nights pictures quaintly humorous ; some exquisite as to make one hold one's breath. It is all a part of the real magic—the oldest magic—of which the pictures are full. KAY NIELSEN EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON. Old Tales from the Norse. Illustrated in Colour by Kay Nielsen. Uniform in size with ** In Powder and Crinoline," illustrated by the Artist. Price 15/- net. Edition de Luxe (250 copies) £2 2/- net. Kay Nielsen, the artist who illustrates this work, was un- young practically" known a year ago. But with the exhibition of his original drawings for In Powder and Crinoline," at the Leicester Galleries, he at once leapt into lasting fame. The tales included in this volume are by Asbjornsen, and are translated for the most part by Dasent, who has made the Norse fairy tales known all over the English-speaking world. The naive extravagance and whimsicality of these wonderful stories are exactly suited to Mr. Nielsen's marvellously fertile imagination. A. C. MICHAEL AN ARTIST IN SPAIN. Written and Illustrated with Paintings in Colour by " A. C. Michael. A companion volume to "An Artist in Egypt and "An Artist in Italy.'' Price 20/- net. Edition de Luxe (500 copies) £2 2/- net. This is a very handsome addition to a wonderfully successful series of Art Colour as Books, written, well as illustrated, by famous artists. Mr. Michael's apprecia- tion of the atmosphere and beauty of Spanish scenes is exceedingly skilful, and the bold, virile style of this great artist is pecuHarly suited to the subjects he has chosen. Mr. Michael has also a deep knowledge of modern Spanish Ufe and character. He has worked the there among people ; he has hved their Hves ; what he does not know about Spain and its people is hardly worth knowing. HODDER & STOUGHTON, Publishers, Warwick Square, London, E.C. HENRY NEWBQLT DRAKE'S DRUM; and other Poems of the Sea. By Henry Newbolt. Illustrated in Colour by A. D. McCormick. Price f5/- net. Edition de Luxe (250 copies) £2 2/- net. Here is the of the In a sense it is a vohime " patriotic gift-book year. companion to A Song of the English," illustrated in colour some years ago by W. Heath Robin- son. Henry Newbolt has sung—as no one else has—the glories of the British Navy from the days of Drake and Frobisher, right down to the present day of submarines. Mr. McCormick has most effectively caught the spirit of the verse, and his illustra- tions are not only fine interpretations, but also works of art. HERBERT BEDFORD THE HEROINES OF MEREDITH. Illustrated in Colour by Herbert Bedford. Price 15/- net. Edition de Luxe £2 2/- net. " No noveUst has rivalled Meredith in his to I have not appeal femininity." studied women more closely than I have men," wrote Meredith, but with more affection, a deeper interest in their enfranchisement and development." Mr. Bed- ford has painted for this book dehghtful miniat^ires in colour of all Meredith's heroines. All Meredith lovers will be keenly interested in Mr. Bedford's pictures. How he has Diana of the for and how does he justify his interpre- pictured " Crossways, example," tation ? The Heroines of Meredith is a most beautiful gift-book, full of lovely and most finished portraits. Mrs. PERCY DEARMER THE COCKYOLLY BIRD. Written and illustrated in Colour by Mrs. Percy Dearmer. Price 7/6 net. " This is the story of a play that, next to Peter Pan," is perhaps the most delight- ful play for children which has ever been seen on the stage. It was produced last year at the Royal Court Theatre with the greatest possible success, if one may judge by the shouts of happy laughter which rang through the theatre every afternoon. The story tells hov/ Kit climbed the globe that used to stand on the schoolroom table, and in this way reached the North Pole. At the North Pole he found Pen- Polar he to feel the guins and Bears ; and just when was beginning lonely CockyoUy Bird and the little black doll called Jum-Jum arrived in his new toy airship. Then they went to Japan and the Cannibal Islands and had all sorts of wonderful adven- tures. The last chapter tells how Kit woke up to find himself in his own nursery, with Lavinia quietly stitching at the table near. And when Mother came in later she found quite a different Kit awaiting her, for he had learned a great deal during his strange dream voyage.

Each volume is handsomely bound and boxed. Price 6/- net each. Illustrated in Colour by well-known Artists.

Many of the volumes are also bound in Leather. Price 10/6 net boxed.

RUbXiyXt of OMAR KHAYYAm. IHisstrated with Plates in Colour by Edmund Dulac. Boxed. Price 6/- net. A cheaper edition of Omar Khayyam illustrated with Edmund Dulac's world-famous pictures. The book is a thing of beauty from cover to cover.

HODDER tt STOUGHTON, Publishers, Warwick Square, Lo.n Da;v, E.G.

BOOK THIS IS^^^3BI.0W ,rr,^OFo* 25 CENTS &K INITIAL FINE ^^^^^

AND TO $1- p;,Y —___-.=.=== OVERDUE.

LD21-100^''^''^^ 297714

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY