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HISTORY 


I  If 


OF 


THE  WAR 


VOL.  XI. 


a  3 


PRINTING    HOUSE    SQUARE. 


PRINTED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  "THE  TIMES,' 
PRINTING  HOUSE  SQUARE,  LONDON. 


.917. 


D 

SO 

T5 

v.l 


CONTENTS   OF    VOL    XI. 


PAOK 

CHAPTER    CLXVII. 
BELGIUM  UNDER  GERMAN  RULE:  SEPTEMBER,  1914  TO  OCTOBER,  1916  ..         ..         1 

CHAPTER   CLXVIII. 
SCIENCE  AND  THE  HEALTH  OF  ARMIES  (II.)    . .         . .         . .         . .         •  •         . .       41 

CHAPTER    CLXIX. 
THE  SHIPPING  PROBLEM  :    AUGUST,  1914  TO  FEBRUARY,  1917 77 

CHAPTER    CLXX. 
THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  SOMME  (IV.)        ....  ....     117 

CHAPTER    CLXXI. 
THE  WORK  OF  THE  MERCANTILE  MARINE  (II.)  . .     167 

CHAPTER    CLXXII. 
FISHERMEN  AND  THE  WAR  (II.) 

CHAPTER    CLXXIH. 
THE  RUMANIAN  CAMPAIGN  OF  1916:  (I.)  TRANSYLVANIA     ..  ..197 

CHAPTER    CLXXIV. 

ITALIAN  OFFENSIVE  IN  THE  CARSO,  AUGUST  TO  DECEMBER,  1916: 
WAR  WITH  GERMANY 

CHAPTER    CLXXV. 
THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  SOMME  (V.) 

CHAPTER    CLXXVI. 

317 
PERSIA  AND  THE  WAR 

CHAPTER    CLXXVn. 
THE  END  OF  AMERICAN  NEUTRALITY   . . 

CHAPTER    CLXXVIII. 
THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  SOMME  (VI.) 

CHAPTER    CLXXIX. 
THE  RUMANIAN  CAMPAIGN  OF  1916  :    (II.)  To  FALL  OF  BUKAREST  ..     433 


THE  GERMAN  PEACE  CAMPAIGN  OF 


CHAPTER    CLXXX. 

DECEMBER,  1916          ..         ..         ..         ••     473 


CHAPTER    CLXVII. 

BELGIUM  UNDER  GERMAN  RULE  : 
SEPTEMBER,  i9i4-OCTOBER,  1916. 

BELGIUM  AFTER  THREE  MONTHS  OF  WAR — REMAINING  ELEMENTS  OF  BELGIAN  NATIONALITY — 
ORGANIZATION  OF  GERMAN  RULE — GOVERNOR-GENERAL  VON  DER  GOLTZ — FIRST  PROCLAMATIONS 
— UNLAWFUL  DECREES — POLICE  GOVERNMENT — SEIZURE  OF  HOSTAGES — RETURN  OF  REFUGEES 
AND  GERMAN  PROMISES — SUPPRESSION  OF  PERSONAL  LIBERTY — GOVERNOR-GENERAL  VON  BISSING 
— PENALTIES  FOR  LOYALTY — THE  BELGIAN  FRONTIERS  AND  ESCAPES  OF  BELGIANS — THE  EXECU- 
TION OF  EDITH  CAVELL — GERMAN  CENSORSHIP  AND  THE  PRESS — FLEMINGS  AND  WALLOONS — THE 
GERMAN  "  LIBERATION  OF  THE  FLEMINGS  " — GHENT  UNIVERSITY  FIASCO — CONTROL  OF  BANKING 
— FORCED  CURRENCY — CONTRIBUTIONS  AND  REQUISITIONS — GERMAN  SYSTEM  OF  PILLAGE — 
BEGINNING  OF  THE  DEPORTATIONS — BELGIAN  "  MORAL  " — PUNITIVE  TAXATION — CARDINAL 
MERCIER'S  PASTORAL  LETTER — THE  SPIRIT  OF  BELGIUM. 


THE  beginning  of  November,  1914, 
marked  a  new  stage  in  Germany's 
violation  of  Belgium.  The  German 
armies  had  crossed  the  frontier  on 
August  4,  three  months  before,  and  ever  since 
then  they  had  been  campaigning  on  Belgian 
soil.  In  August  Liege  fell,  Louvain  and  Brussels 
were  occupied,  the  Anglo-French  forces  were 
driven  back  into  France  in  the  battle  of  Mons- 
Charleroi,  and  the  Belgian  Army  contained 
within  the  forts  of  Antwerp.  Then  there  was 
a  check  in  Belgium  while  the  fate  of  France  was 
decided  on  the  Marne,  and  Belgian  sorties  from 
Antwerp  held  the  German  containing  force  from 
sending  reinforcements  to  the  southern  battle. 
But  in  October,  when  the  Germans  had  stemmed 
the  Anglo-French  counter-attack  at  the  Aisne, 
they  pushed  on  with  the  invasion  of  Belgium 
again.  Antwerp  fell,  after  a  week's  bombard- 
ment, on  October  9,  and  the  Provinces  of  East 
and  West  Flanders,  which  had  so  far  escaped 
invasion  behind  the  line  of  the  Scheldt,  were 
abandoned  to  the  conqueror.  The  Germans 
pressed  on  to  the  sea,  to  the  Yser,  to  Ypres. 
But  on  October  31  the  Battles  of  Ypres  and 
the  Yser  reached,  and  passed,  their  climax, 
and  the  Western  Front  became  as  stationary 
Vol.  XL— Part  131. 


in  its  Belgian  section  as  it  had  become  in 
France  a  month  before.  A  fragment  of 
Belgium,  not  one-fiftieth  part  of  the  whole 
national  territory,  was  definitely  saved  from 
German  conquest ;  the  rest  of  the  country  was 
as  definitely  in  the  Germans'  power.  And  as 
the  open  manoeuvring  of  the  armies  concen- 
trated itself  into  the  equilibrium  of  trench- 
warfare,  the  greater  part  of  the  conquered 
territory  passed  out  of  the  immediate  zone 
of  hostilities.  The  German  invasion  was 
over,  and  the  German  occupation  had  begun. 

The  occupied  territory  in  November,  1914, 
was  a  wreck  of  the  Belgian!  that  had  existed 
three  months  earlier.  In  August  Belgium 
had  been  one  of  the  most  densely  populated, 
industrious,  highly  organized,  well-governed 
countries  in  Europe.  All  these  factors  had 
made  its  prosperity,  but  now  all  were  gone. 
The  Government  had  gene  to  Havre,  in 
France ;  the  National  Bank  had  accepted 
the  hospitality  of  the  Bank  of  England,  and, 
warned  in  time  by  the  conduct  of  the  invader 
at  Liege  and  Hasselt,  it  had  taken  it*  notes, 
securities,  and  specie  with  it  across  the  sea. 
Foreign  trade  was  at  a  standstill,  for  the 
ports  had  passed  into  German  hands  and  were 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


cut  off,  like  the  German  ports,  from  the  trade 
Df  the  world.  Internal  communications  were 
IMwalysed  ;  such  railways  as  were  still  in  work- 
ing order  were  monopolized  by  the  German 
Army  Command  ;  but  traffic  was  chiefly 
paralyzed  by  the  German  terror.  During 
the  three  months  of  invasion,  more  than 
21,000  houses  had  been  burnt  down  in  five 
ulone  of  the  nine  provinces  of  Belgium,  and 
a  far  greater  number  pillaged — more  than 
16,000,  for  instance,  in  the  single  Province  of 
Brabant.  Of  the  civilian  population,  between 
5,000  and  6,000  men,  women,  and  children 
had  been  massacred,  some  singly  and  some 
in  batches,  some  by  clean  killing  and  some 


on  Land,  in  which  it  was  agreed  that  their 
property  should  be  treated  as  private  property. 
and  should  not  be  liable  to  seizure  by  the' 
Occupying  Power.  The  judicial  institutions 
of  Belgium  were  also  in  being.  The  Germans 
had,  indeed,  commandeered  the  great  Palais 
de  Justice  at  Brussels,  a  few  days  after  their 
entry  into  the  city  on  August  20,  and  turned 
it  into  a  place  d'armes — contrary  to  the  Con- 
vention of  Geneva,  for  the  building  had 
already  been  occupied  by  a  Red  Cross  Hospital, 
which  the  Germans  dissolved.*  But  the 
courts  still  sat  in  the  few  rooms  left  to  them, 
and  the  Brussels  Bar,  as  well  as  the  provincial 
Bars  in  the  other  Belgian  cities,  continued  tc 


YPKES. 


after  lingering  tortures,  some  in  frenzy  and 
some  in  cold  blood,  but  all  with  the  object 
of  terrorization  and  with  that  result.  Fleeing 
before  the  terror,  many  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  Belgians,  especially  of  the  middle  and  upper 
classes,  had  taken  refuge  in  Holland  and  the 
British  Isles. 

Yet  something  remained.  The  communal 
and  municipal  authorities,  with  their  high 
traditions  handed  down  from  the  Middle 
Ages,  were  still  at  their  posts.  By  an  emer- 
gency law  of  August  4  the  King  had  delegated 
to  them  the  Government's  powers  in  the 
contingency  of  invasion,  and  they  were  pro- 
teeteil  to  some  extent  by  an  article  (Sect,  iii., 
Art.  56)  in  the  Hague  Convention  of  1907 
concerning  the  Laws  and  Customs  of  War 


plead.  Another  body  which  survived  was 
the  Church,  though .  it  had  suffered  cruelly 
during  the  invasion,  for  the  fanatical  Lutheran 
regiments,  of  which  the  invading  army  was 
mainly  composed,  singled  out  the  priests 
and  monks  for  ill-treatment.  In  the  Dioceses 
of  Liege,  Namur,  Tournai,  and  Malines  at 
least  33  ecclesiastics  were  killed, f  and  in  the 
whole  of  Belgium  49  altogether.  But  the 
malice  of  the  Germans,  combined  with  t In- 
fine  conduct  of  the  Belgian  clergy,  who  had 


*  The  intruders  stole  the  hospital  equipment,  including 
11  stock  of  fine  wines,  the  gift  of  the  Belgian  legal  pro- 
fession. They  also  barbarously  damaged  the  interior  of 
the  building — the  marbles,  wood-work,  pietures.  and 
upholstery. 

f  Mentioned  by  name  in  Cardinal  Mercier's  Pastoral 
Letter,  Christmas,  1914. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


THE    PALAIS    DE    JUSTICE,   BRUSSELS. 
Inset  :  The  Interior  as  German  Barracks. 

sacrificed  themselves  for  their  flocks  and  thrown 
themselves   into  the   work  o£  the  Red  Cross, 
bridged    over    the    party    difference    between 
Liberal     and     Clerical,     which     had     divided 
Belgium     before     the     war,     and     made     the 
Church  a  rallying  point  for  the  nation.     The 
Belgians   were   fortunate,   too,   in   their  eccle- 
siastical  leaders— the   Bishops   of   Namur  and 
Liege,  and  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Malines 
—men  strong  in  personal  character  and  strong 
by  their  position  as  dignitaries   of   an  inter- 
national Church,  to  which  more  than  half  the 
population  of  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary, 
and    many    great    neutral    peoples,    belonged. 
There  were  also  private  corporations,  like  the 
Antwerp  Chamber  of  Commerce,  which  could 
keep  watch  on  the  economic  condition  of  the 
country,  though  they  could  not  retrieve  the 
ruin  which  the  invasion  had  caused,  and  which 
the  occupation  was  to  complete.      And,  lastly, 
there  was  the  great  body  of  workers  in  the 
industrial    towns,    who    had    been    unable    to 
emigrate   wholesale   like   the   people   of   other 
classes,   and   had   not   been   mobilized   in   the 
Army,    because    only    a    small    percentage    of 
tha     able-bodied     had     been     conscripted     in 
Belgium  before  the  new  military  law  of  1913, 
wiiile  the  invasion  had  spread  too  rapidly  for 
the  raising  of  volunteers. 

Thess   were   the   chief   elements   of   Beleian 


nationality  that  remained  in  the  occupied 
territory,  and  upon  which  German  rule,  as 
opposed  to  the  mere  terrorism  of  the  invading 
Army  Commands,  was  now  imposed.  The 
country  in  German  hands  was  divided  into 
three  zones.  The  "  Zone  of  Operations,"  in 
which  the  trenches  lay  and  the  fighting  went 
on,  was  completely  under  martial  law,  but  it 
was  only  a  few  miles  broad.  Behind  it  lay 
the  "  Etappen-Zone,"  or  Zone  of  Depots  and 
Lines  of  Communication,  on  which  the  fighting 
line  was  based.  This  zone  was  also  governed 
by  the  military  authorities,  but  their  govern- 
ment extended  to  civil  functions,  and  the 
Belgian  local  authorities  were  allowed  to 
subsist.  The  Etappen-Zone  covered  most  of 


THE     TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE 


i 


FIELD-MARSHAL    VON    DER    GOLTZ, 
First  German  Governor-General  in  Belgium. 

West  and  East  Flanders.  Lastly  there  was 
the  "  Zone  of  Occupation,"  extending  over 
the  rest  of  the  territory,  and  this  was  given 


a  semi-civil  German  administration  under  a 
Governor-General  at  Brussi ']-. 

In  the  Hague  Convention  of  1907  concerning 
the  Laws  and  Customs  of  War  on  Land,  the 
limits  of  "  Military  Authority  over  the  Territory 
of  the  Hostile  State  "  are  partially  defined. 
"  The  authority  of  the  power  of  the  State 
having  passed  de  facto  into  the  hands  of  the 
Occupant,"  it  is  laid  down  in  Article  43,  "the 
latter  shall  do  all  in  his  power  to  restore,  and 
ensure  as  far  as  possible,  public  order  and  safety, 
respecting  at  the  same  time,  unless  absolutely 
prevented,  the  laws  in  force  in  the  country." 
By  Article  45,  "  It  is  forbidden  to  force  the 
inhabitants  of  occupied  territory  to  swear 
allegiance  to  the  hostile  Power."  This  Con- 
vention had  been  ratified  by  Gerjnany,  and  in 
administering  her  "  Zone  of  Occupation  "  in 
Belgium  she  was  under  obligation  to  abide  by  it. 

For  their  first  Governor-General  in  Belgium, 
the  German  Government  selected  Field -Mar- 
shal Baron  von  der  Goltz  Pasha,  a  soldier  who 
had  made  his  reputation  in  Turkey.  He  was 
appointed  as  early  as  August  26,  and  on  Sep- 
tember 5  he  announced  himself  in  a  proclama- 
tion to  the  Belgians  : 

His  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  after  the 
occupation  of  the  greater  part  of  Belgian  territory,  ha« 
deigned  to  nominate  me  as  Governor-General  in  Bel- 
gium. 


PILLAGE    AT    ANTWERP. 


[From  n  German  photograph 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


By  His  Majesty's  command,  a  civil  administration  has 
been  established  under  my  Governor-Generalship.  .  . 

Every  act  of  hostility  on  the  part  of  the  population 
against  the  German  troops,  every  attempt  to  disturb 
their  communications  with  Germany,  or  to  embarrass 
or  interrupt  the  working  of  the  railways,  telegraphs  or 
telephones,  will  be  punished  very  severely.  Any  resist- 
ance or  revolt  against  the  German  Administration  will 
be  repressed  without  mercy. 

It  is  the  stern  necessity  of  war  that  punishment  for 
hostile  acts  must  strike  the  innocent  as  well  as  the 
guilty.  .  .  . 

Belgian  citizens  who  wish  to  attend  peaceably  to  their 
business  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  German  troops 


and  Decrees  for  the  Occupied  Belgian  Terri- 
tory." 

The  regime  thus  inaugurated  was  not  re- 
assuring. The  respect  for  patriotic  sentiments 
and  the  revival  of  economic  life  had  both  a 
fair  sound,  but  the  doctrine  that  "  the  innocent 
must  suffer  for  the  guilty "  was  a  direct 
repudiation  of  the  Hague  Convention  cited 
above,  which  provides,  in  Article  60,  that  "  no 
collective  penalty,  pecuniary  or  otherwise,  shall 


DINANT    AS    THE    GERMAN    GUNS    LEFT    IT. 


and  authorities.  As  far  as  can  be  done,  commerce  must 
be  started  again,  the  factories  set  at  work,  and  the 
harvests  gathered  in. 

The  announcement  was  followed  by  an 
appeal :  "  Belgian  citizens,  I  ask  no  one  to 
renounce  his  patriotic  sentiments.  But  I 
expect  of  you  all  a  reasonable  submission  and 
an  absolute  obedience  to  the  orders  of  my 
Government."  Then  came  a  decree :  "  The 
laws  and  decrees  issued  by  the  Governor- 
General  for  the  Occupied  Belgian  Territory 
will  be  drawn  up  in  the  German  language." 
These  documents  were  published  together  as 
the  first  number  of  the  Geselz-und  Verordnungs- 
blatt  fur  die  Okkupierten  Oebiete  Belgians,"  the 
official  German  title  of  the  "  Bulletin  of  Laws 


be  inflicted  on  the  population  on  account  of 
the  acts  of  individuals  for  which  it  cannot  be 
regarded  as  collectively  responsible."  And 
while  emphasis  was  laid  on  the  Governor- 
General's  intention  to  police  the  country  in 
the  interests  of  the  German  Army,  nothing  was 
said  about  "  respecting  the  laws  in  force  in 
the  country  "  or  "  defraying  the  expenses  of 
the  administration  of  the  occupied  territory 
to  the  same  extent  as  the  National  Govern- 
ment," which  were  the  duties  of  the  Occupying 
Power  under  the  Hague  Convention  of  1907 
by  the  Articles  defining  its  authority  (Articles 
43  and  48).  » 

The   expenses   of   administration   were   pro- 
vided for  later,  by  a  decree  of  November  12, 

131-2 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


in  which  it  was  announced  that  the  existing 
taxes  would  continue  to  be  levied,  and  that 
the  administration  would  be  paid  for  from  the 
proceeds,  as  the  Hague  Convention  prescribes. 
A  decree  of  December  23  confirmed  this 
expressly  for  the  year  1915,  though  its  correct- 
ness was  marred  by  a  supplementary  decree 
of  January  16,  1915,  in  which  "  German 
nationals,  and  nationals  of  States  not  at  war 
with  Germany,"  were  granted  "  special  facilities 
for  the  payment  of  communal,  provincial  or 
public  taxes  due  from  them  in  the  Occupied 


Executive  Acts  with  which  a  German  public  authority, 
or  a  person  of  German  nationality  whose  acts  bear  a 
public  character,  has  been  empowered  or  has  empowered 
others,  can  be  applied  in  Belgium  if  they  are  legalized  by 
the  chief  of  the  (civil)  administration  attached  to  the 
Governor-General. 

By  this  decree  Belgium  was  incorporated 
legislatively  in  the  German  Empire  as  uncon- 
ditionally as  it  would  have  been  by  formal 
annexation.  But  this  was  the  work  of  von 
Bissing,  who  succeeded  von  der  Goltz  at  the 
beginning  of  December,  1914.  Von  Biasing's 
first  act  was  to  define  his  position,  which  his 


A    TRAIN-LOAD    OF    LOOT    FOR    GERMANY. 


Territory,  or  even  the  partial  or  total  remission 
of  the  same."  But  "  the  laws  in  force  in  the 
country  "  were  never  acknowledged  as  binding 
by  the  Occupying  Authorities.  From  Novem- 
ber 8  onwards,  for  instance,  the  Belgian  law 
making  Greenwich  time  legal  time  in  Belgium 
was  set  aside,  and  German  time  substituted  for 
it,  by  a  regulation  of  von  Luttwitz,  the  Military 
Governor  of  Brussels.  This  petty  illegality, 
involving  nothing  worse  than  a  confusion  in 
the  registration  of  births  and  deaths,  was 
symptomatic  of  the  German  attitude,  and  the 
Governor-General  usurped  a  legislative  licence 
in  the  territory  within  his  zone,  which  cul- 
minated i"  the  decree  of  June  16,  ]91.">  : 


predecessor  had  never  cleared  up  after  his 
inaugural  proclamation,  in  a  decree  dated 
December  3  : 

DECREE 

Abrogating  the  (Belgian)  law  of  Aug.  4,  1914,  on  the 
delegation  of  powers  in  the  contingency  of  an  invasion 
of  tho  national  territory,  and  regulating  tho  exercise  <>! 
the  pmvors  which  belong  to  the  Provincial  (lovernors 
and  to  the  King  of  the  Belgians,  in  virtue  of  the  laws 
on  the  administration  of  tho  I'mvinces  and  Ccmmi:i  es, 

Art.  I. — The  law  of  Aug.  4  i-;  abrogated. 

Art.  2. — All  powers  belonging  to  the  Provincial 
(iiivornors  am  exorcised  by  tho  Military  Governors  of 
the  German  Empire.  The  president.-,  of  the  civil  govern- 
ment attached  to  the  {military)  Governors  deal,  in  their 
name,  with  the  current  business  of  provincial  adminis- 
tration, and  are  responsible  for  the  business  of  the 
Standing  Committees  (of  the  Provincial  Councils)  and 
for  presiding  over  them.  The  powers  belonging  to  the 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


King  of  the  Belgians  are  exercised  by  me,  in  my  capacity 
as  Imperial  Governor-General. 

Art.  3. — The  resolutions  passed,  since  the  law  of 
Aug.  4  came  into  force,  by  the  Standing  Committees  and 
Provincial  and  Communal  Councils,  will  only  be  valid 
if  they  are  ratified,  retrospectively,  by  the  authorities 
designated  in  Art.  2,  in  so  far  as  these  decisions  would 
have  had  to  be  ratified  by  the  Provincial  Governors  or 
by  the  King. 

BARON  VON  BISSINO, 

Governor -General  in  Belgium. 

Brussels,  Dec.  3,  1914. 

The  substitution  of  German  for  Belgian 
authority  in  the  occupied  territory  was  pro- 
claimed still  more  emphatically  in  a  decree  of 
January  4,  1915  : 

You  are  reminded  that  in  the  parts  of  Belgium  subject 
to  German  government,  as  from  the  day  when  this 
government  was  established,  only  the  regulations  of  the 
Governor-General  and  his  subordinates  have  the  force 
of  law. 

No  decrees  which  the  King  of  the  Belgians  and  the 
Belgian  Ministers  of  State  have  issued  since  this  date, 
or  may  issue  hereafter,  have  any  binding  force  within  the 
domain  of  German  government  in  Belgium.  I  am 
determined  to  secure,  by  every  means  at  my  disposal, 
that  the  powers  of  government  shall  be  exercised  exclu- 
sively by  the  German  authorities  established  in  Belgium. 
I  expect  Belgian  officials,  in  the  true  interests  of  their 
country,  not  to  refuse  to  continue  their  services,  especially 
as  I  shall  not  require  of  them  any  services  in  the  direct 
interests  of  the  German  Army. 

The  concluding  pledge  was  falsified  in  the 
event,  and  the  respect  for  the  Hague  Con- 
vention which  it  intimated  was  indeed  incon- 
sistent with  the  rest  of  the  decree.  In  claiming 
to  supplant  the  lawful  government  of  the 
country  instead  of  to  represent  it,  von  Bissing 
was  contradicting  the  whole  spirit  in  which  the 


GENERAL    VON    BISSING, 

Appointed  German  Governor-General  in  Belgium, 

December,  1914. 

Convention  was  framed  ;  the  military  element 
in  his  administration,  dominant  from  the 
beginning,  was  bound  to  oust  the  civil  move 
and  more,  and  German  authority  in  Belgium 
resolved  itself  into  terrorism  by  "  Special 
Military  Tribunals."  These  tribunals  were 
introduced  with  sinister  regularity  as  the 
sanction  of  the  administrative  decrees.  Con- 
demnation "  by  a  Military  Tribunal "  or 


COURT-MARTIAL 

On  a  man  and  boy  charged  with  assisting  Belgians  to  escape. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


Les  habitants  de  l»  ville  d  Andenne.  aprtw 
avoir  pmt«iU»  de  latin  intentions  paciflques. 
ont  but  une  surprise  ututre  BUT  noo  ironpoa. 
Ceet  avec  mon  consentement  quo  le  General 
en  chef  •  ftvt  brnler  toute  la  localit*  et  que 
cent  personnes  environ  ont  ete  fusilleea. 

Je  port*  ce  hit  a  la  oonnaJmanop  dp  la  Villc 
de  Liege  pour  que  le»  Liegeois  se  representent 
le  sort  dont  ila  aont  menaces,  sils  prenaieiit 
parpille  attitude. 

Enauite.  il  a  ete  trouvft  dans  nn  magasin 
darmes  a  Huy  des  projifttl««  •  rtntn-dum  •  dann 
le  genre  du  specimen  joint  a  la  present-- 
Au  ca«  qup  <~eln  arrivat  on  demandera  rigou- 
reusement  compt*  ch«[ue  fois  des  personnel 
-.Hon. 

Le  General-Command  • 

s  von  BULOW. 


PROCLAMATION 

recording  the  shooting  of  about  a  hundred  persons 

at  Andenne  for  an  alleged  traitorous  attack  on 

German  troops. 

"  according  to  Martial  Law  "  was  held  over  the 
Belgians'  heads  for  being  in  possession  of 
carrier  pigeons  after  September  15  (Proclama- 


tion of  September  13,  19141  :  infringing  the 
German  military  censorship  (Decree  of  Octo- 
ber 13) ;  evading  the  German  supervision  over 
Belgian  branches  of  banks  belonging  to 
countries  at  war  with  Germany  (November  26) ; 
dissuading  their  fellow-citizens  from  working 
for  the  German  authorities  (this  offence,  by  a 
decree  of  November  19,  was  within  the  Military 
Tribunals'  exclusive  competence)  ;  issuing 
bank  notes — "  the  attempt  "  being  "  punish- 
able in  itself  "  (December  22) ;  infringing  the — 
abrogation  of  the — right  of  assembly  (Janu- 
ary 17,  1915) ;  buying  French  paper  or  specie 
above  its  nominal  price  (May  22) ;  wearing, 
"  even  in  an  unprovocative  manner,"  the 
colours  of  Belgium  or  any  other  country  at  war 
with  Germany  or  her  Allies  (June  6). 

The  last -mentioned  prohibition  shows  the 
"  Police  State  "  erected  by  Germany  on  the 
ruins  of  Belgian  democracy  in  its  naked  un- 
loveliness.  Apart  from  its  inconceivable  trivi- 
.ality,  it  was  a  breach  of  von  der  Goltz's  under- 
taking that  "no  one  should  be  asked  to  re- 
nounce his  patriotic  sentiments."  But  the 
tyranny  struck  deeper  than  this.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1914,  the  following  was  posted  up,  in 
German,  French,  and  Flemish,  in  the  streets  of 
Brussels  : — 

NOTICE 

On  Oct.  28,  1914,  a  legally  constituted  Military 
Tribunal  pronounced  the  following  sentences  : 

1.  The  police-constable  DE  RYCKEKE  was  condemned 
for  having,  in  the  legal  exercise  of  his  duties,  attacked  an 


A    GERMAN    PATROL    IN    BELGIUM. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


authorized  agent  of  the  German  Authorities  ;  for  having 
in  two  instances  intentionally  inflicted  bodily  injury, 
with  the  aid  of  other  persons  ;  for  having  in  one  instance 
procured  the  escape  of  a  prisoner;  and  for  having 
attacked  a  German  soldier  ;  to 

FIVE  YEARS'  IMPRISONMENT. 

2.  The  police-constable  SEQHERS  was  condemned  for 
having,  in  the  legal  exercise  of  his  duties,  attacked  an 
authorized  agent  of  the  German  Authorities  ;  for  having 
intentionally  inflicted  bodily  injury  on  this  German 
agent ;  and  for  having  procured  the  escape  of  a  prisoner 
(all  these  offences  constituting  one  charge) ;  to 
THREE  YEARS'  IMPRISONMENT. 

The  verdicts  were  confirmed  on  Oct.  31,  1914,  by  the 
Governor-General  Baron  von  der  Goltz. 


This  German  police  government  in  Belgium 
stands  convicted  of  three  main  abuses  on  a 
general  view  : — 

(i.)  Its  decrees,  which  often  involved  ques- 
tions of  life  and  death  for  those  subject  to 
them,  were  not  properly  accessible  to  the 
Belgian  public.  Only  a  few  were  placarded 
in  the  streets ;  the  majority,  including  all 
those  of  more  complicated  contents,  were 
merely  published  in  the  Governor-General's 
"  Official  Bulletin  of  Laws  and  Decrees," 


GERMAN    DEFENCES    AT    THE    PALAIS   DE  JUSTICE,    BRUSSELS. 


The  City  of  Brussels,  not  including  its  suburbs,  has 
been  punished  for  the  assault  committed  by  its  police- 
constable  DE  RVCKERE  upon  a  German  soldier  by  an 
additional  war  contribution  of 

FIVE.  MILLION  FHANCS. 

BARON  VON  LC"TTWTTZ,  General, 

Governor  of  Brussels. 
Brussels,  Nov.  1,  1914. 

The  German  agent  whose  misadventure  the 
Military  Tribunal  and  the  Military  Governor 
of  Brussels  so  royally  redressed,  was  one  of 
those  "  police  out  of  uniform  "  or  spies  in  plain 
clothes  whose  business  was  to  sweep  the 
unwary  into  the  Tribunal's  net.  It  is  sufficient 
to  say  that  there  were  even  more  of  them  in 
Belgium  after  the  German  occupation  than  there 
were  before  the  war,  and  that  the  streets, 
cafes,  and  trams  were  picketed  by  them  as 
ubiquitously  as  in  Germany  itself. 


which  had  only  a  limited  and  official  circula- 
tion, and  even  in  this  the  exhaustive  publica- 
tion of  them  seems  only  to  have  been  pro- 
vided for  by  a  decree  of  December  23,  when 
the  German  Administration  had  been  four 
months  in  activity.  The  definitive  text,  more- 
over, was  drafted  in  German,  so  that  in  cases  of 
doubtful  phrasing  the  Belgians  had  to  interpret 
a  language  not  their  own. 

(ii.)  Both  offences  and  penalties  were  de- 
nned with  a  quite  inequitable  latitude.  On 
September  17,  1914,  for  instance,  the  Governor- 
General  gave  notice  that  "  anyone  approach- 
ing German  troops  or  advanced  posts  in  such  a 
way  as  to  present  the  appearance  of  spying 
upon  them,  will  be  shot  summarily."  This 
was  practically  a  licence  to  any  German  officer, 


10 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


however  subordinate,  to  shoot  without  in- 
vestigation any  Belgian  civilian  who  crossed 
the  path  of  the  unit  under  his  command.  In 
the  prescription  of  penalties,  "  a  heavy  fine," 
"  a  prolonged  imprisonment,"  "  penalties  of 
imprisonment,"  or  even  "  severe  penalties " 
without  further  specification,  .were  at  least  as 


put  into  practice.  The  following  are  three 
proclamations  by  Baron  von  der  Goltz  him- 
self :— 

(a)  It  has  happened  recently,,  in  regions  not  actually 
under  occupation  by  German  troops  either  in  weak 
detachments  or  in  force,  that  supply-columns  mid 
patrols  have  been  ambuscaded  by  the  inhabitants.  I 
draw  the  attention  of  the  public  to  the  fact  tlmt  a  list 


TEACHING    BELGIAN    CHILDREN    GERMAN    SONGS. 


common  formulas  as  the  exact  term  of  im- 
prisonment and  the  exact  amount  of  fine, 
which  modern  legislation  is  always  scrupulous 
in  defining.  Even  the  mode  of  trial  was  often 
no  more  explicit  than  "according  to  Martial 
law  "  »r  "  by  the  laws  of  War."  In  other 
coses  the  "  Military  Tribunals  "  were  expressly 
mentioned  ;  but  though  every  Belgian  in  the  ' 
occupied  territory  was  acutely  aware  of  their 
existence,  their  constitution  and  procedure 
were  never  made  public  by  the  Governor- 
General  by  whom  they  were  appointed,  so 
that  the  "  legally  constituted  "  tribunal,  which 
imposed  eight  years  imprisonment  and  five 
million  francs  fine,  according  to  the  proclama- 
tion cited  above,  was  really  an  arbitrary  body 
working,  behind  closed  doors,  upon  victims  over 
whom  it  had  no  title  but  force  to  jurisdiction, 
like  the  German  "  Wehmgerichte "  of  the 
Middle  Ages. 

(iii.)  The  punishment  of  the  innocent  for 
the  guilty,  forbidden  by  Article  50  of  the 
Hague  Convention  of  1907,  concerning  the 
Laws  and  Customs  of  War  on  Land,  but 
threatened  by  von  der  Goltz  in  his  inaugural 
proclamation  of  September  2,  was  reeularly 


has  been  kept  of  towns  and  communes  in  the  neighbour 
hood  of  which  such  attacks  have  taken  place,  and  that 
they  must  be  prepared  for  punishment  as  soon  as  German 
troops  come  within  reach  of  them. 

BARON  VON  DKR  GOLTZ.  Field-Marshal. 

Governor-General  of  Belgium. 
Brussels,  September  26,  1914. 

(6)  On  the  evening  of  September  25,  the  railway-track 
and  telegraph-wires  were  destroyed  on  the  line  Loven- 
joul- Vertryek.  In  consequence,  the  two  places  named 
were  called  to  account  on  the  morning  of  September  30, 
and  had  to  give  hostages.  In  future,  the  places  nearest 
the  spot  where  such  acts  have  occurred — whether  they 
are  parties  to  them  or  not — will  be  punished  without 
pity.  To  this  end,  hostages  have  been  taken  from  all 
places  near  railways  threatened  by  such  attacks,  and  at 
the  first  attempt  to  destroy  railway,  telegraph  or  tele- 
phone lines,  they  will  immediately  be  shot.  Moreover, 
all  troops  guarding  railways  have  been  ordered  to  shoot 
everyone  approaching  railway,  telegraph  or  telephone 
lines  in  a  suspicious  manner. 

BABON  VON  DEB  GOLTZ,  Field-Marshal, 

Governor-General  in  Belgium. 

Brussels,  October  1,  1914. 

(c)  A  generalisation  of  (6),  daced  Brussels. 
October  5,  declaring  that  the  places  affected 
"  will  be  punished  without  pity,  no  matter 
whether  they  are  guilty  of  these  acts  or  not," 
and  that  the  hostages  taken  <_"  will  imme- 
diately be  shot  at  the  first  attempt  at  the 
destruction  "  of  the  objects  afore-mentioned. 

It  may  be  added  that  these  raids  on  German 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


11 


communications,  for  which  such  ferocious 
collective  penalties  were  prescribed  by  von  der 
Goltz,  were  not  the  work  of  Belgian  civilians 
in  the  occupied  territory  under  his  govern- 
ment, or  of  any  Belgian  civilians  whatsoever, 
but  of  the  Belgian  Army,  which  was  still 
holding  out  in  Antwerp  at  these  dates,  and 
was  performing  entirely  legitimate  acts  of  war. 
The  seizure  of  hostages,  moreover,  by  which 
the  collective  punishment  was  applied,  is  not 
only  a  flagrant  injustice  in  itself,  but  has  been 
condemned  as  illegal  by  the  modern  authori- 
ties on  International  Law.  Yet  throughout 
the  occupation  as  well  as  the  invasion  of 
Belgium  the  Germans  seized  hostages  without 


of  the  administration  have  the  first  liability. 
From  the  panel  submitted  to  me  I  shall 
designate  the  persons  to  serve  as  hostages  from 
mid-day  to  mid-day.  A  hostage,  if  hot  re- 
placed in  good  time,  will  be  kept  another 
twenty -four  hours.  After  this  further  period, 
the  hostage,  if  not  replaced,  incurs  the  penalty 
of  death." 

These  were  the  general  characteristics  of 
von  der  Goltz's  and  von  Bissing's  regime. 
They  were  the  heads  of  a  "  Police -State,"  and 
they  revealed  the  purpose  of  their  government 
in  the  objects  to  which  they  applied  themselves, 
and  in  the  organs  they  created  to  carry  them 
out. 


A    GERMAN    SCHOOL  CLASS    IN    BELGIUM. 
A  typical  advertisement  of  the  blessings  of  German  rule. 


scruple,  and  often  inflicted  on  them  the  extreme 
penalty  for  acts  for  which  from  the  nature  of 
their  position  they  could  not  be  responsible 
themselves.  The  classic  seizure  of  hostages 
in  Belgium  was  by  a  certain  Major  Dieckmann 
in  the  Commune  of  Grivegnee,  a  suburb  of 
Liege.  In  return  for  "  permitting  the  houses 
in  Grivegnee  to  be  inhabited  by  the  persons 
who  lived  in  them  formerly,"  he  demanded 
from  the  Commune  a  panel  of  hostages  to  be 
held  by  him  for  twenty-four  hours  in  turn. 
"  Priests,  burgomasters  and  other  members 


The  first  object  of  the  German  authorities 
was  to  procure  the  return  of  the  refugees, 
whose  absence  not  only  embarrassed  them  in 
their  attempt  to  carry  on  the  government  of 
the  country  which  they  had  usurped,  but  was 
a  standing  indictment  of  the  barbarity  with 
which  they  had  conducted  their  invasion. 
They  were  particularly  anxious  to  get  back 
the  population  of  Antwerp,  which  had  fled  en 
masse  across  the  neighbouring  Dutch  frontier, 
and  had  been  given  hospitality  by  the  people 
of  Holland  ;  and  accordingly  they  let  it  be 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


ANTWERP:    CIVILIANS    COLLECTED    FOR    DEPORTATION    AND    THEIR    GUARD. 


known,  through  the  Netherlands  Legation  at 
Brussels  and  the  Netherlands  Consul -General 
at  Antwerp,  that  they  intended  to  restore 
"  normal  conditions  "  in  Belgium,  and  there- 
fore invited  the  refugees  to  return.  This 
overture  was  taken  up  by  the  local  Dutch 
authorities  in  the  frontier  districts,  who  were 
overwhelmed  with  the  difficulty  of  providing 
for  the  refugees,  and  believed  that  their  return 
would  be  to  the  refugees'  own  advantage,  as  it 
would  have  been  if  the  German  intentions  had 
been  sincere.  On  the  advice  of  their  Dutch 
hosts,  many  of  the  refugees  accepted  the 
German  invitation  and  returned  to  their  homes. 
Special  assurances  were  given  to  members  of 
the  Belgian  Oarde  Civique.  On  October  9, 
the  day  on  which  Antwerp  capitulated,  General 
von  Beseler,  who  commanded  the  besieging 
army,  assured  the  Belgian  delegates  negotiating 
with  him  that  "  Civic  Guards  who  had  been 
disarmed  would  not  be  treated  as  prisoners  of 
war,"  and  Lieutenant-General  von  Schiitz,  who 
was  appointed  German  Commandant  of  Ant- 
\u-rp  on  the  same  date,  pledged  himself 
explicitly  that  "  there  was  nothing  to  prevent 
the  return  of  the  inhabitants  to  their  homes. 
None  of  them  would  be  molested,"  and  that 
"members  of  the  Garde  Civique,  if  they  had 
been  disarmed,  could  return  in  complete 
security." 


On  October  16  the  same  pledge  was  given 
in  writing  by  the  German  Military  authorities 
at  Antwerp  to  General  van  Terwisga,  in  com- 
mand of  the  Dutch  Armies  in  the  field,  with 
the  addition  that  "  the  rumour  to  the  effect 
that  young  Belgians  would  be  taken  to  Ger- 
many was  entirely  without  foundation."  But 
the  most  solemn  pledges  of  all  were  given  to 
Cardinal  Mercier,  who,  since  the  Royal  Govern 
ment  had  retired  to  Havre,  had  become  the 
recognized  spokesman,  in  the  occupied  ter- 
ritory, of  the  Belgian  nation. 

Cardinal  Mercier  received  from  Baron  von 
Huene,  who  had  succeeded  General  von 
Schiitz  as  Governor  of  Antwerp,  a  written 
undertaking  that  "  Young  men  need  have  no 
fear  of  being  carried  off  to  Germany,  either  to 
be  enrolled  in  the  army  or  to  be  subjected  to 
forced  labour."  As  soon  as  Baron  von  der 
Goltz  arrived  at  Brussels  as  Governor-General, 
Cardinal  Mercier  asked  him  to  ratify  this 
pledge  and  to  extend  it  to  the  whole  territory 
under  his  administration.  "  The  Governor- 
General  retained  my  petition,"  the  Cardinal 
records,*  "  in  order  to  consider  it  at  his  leisure. 
The  following  day  he  was  gooc1  enough  to 
come  in  person  to  Malines  to  express  his 

*  Protest  ayainst  the  deportations,  urawn  up  by' 
Cardinal  Mercier  in  the  name  of  the  Belgian  Episcopate, 
and  dated  November  7,  1916. 


THE    TIMES    HISTOBY    OF    THE    WAE. 


13 


RUINED    MOUSES    IN    ANTWERP. 

approval,  and,  in  the  presence  of  two  aides- 
de-camp  and  of  my 'private  secretary,  to  con- 
firm the  promise  that  the  liberty  of  Belgian 
citizens  would  be  respected." 

On   the   strength   ot    these   pledges    a   con- 
siderable number  of  Belgian  refugees,  especially 


decree  of  January   15,  announced  a  resort  to 
forcible  measures. 

Belgians  gubject  to  direct  taxation  during  the  year 
1914,  who  since  the  beginning  of  the  war  have  voluntarily 
left  their  domicile  and  have  resided  more  than  two  months 
outside  Belgium,  are  to  pay  a  special  additional  tax, 
assessed  at  ten  times  the  total  of  the  taxation  aforesaid, 
unless  they  return  to  Belgium  before  March  1,  1915. 
Until  proof  to  the  contrary,  every  person  is  considered 
as  resident  outside  Belgium  who  has  not  remained  or  does 
not  remain  at  his  domicile  in  Belgium. 

This  was  the  first  article  of  the  Decree,  and 
it  was  further  provided  that  half  the  proceeds 
of  the  fine  were  to  go  towards  the  administra- 
tive expenses  of  the  occupied  territory, 
"  according  to  Articles  48  and  49  of  the  Hague 
Convention  concerning  War  on  Land,"  and 
half  to  the  commune  in  which  the  particular 
refugee  was  formerly  domiciled.  "  The  tax 
is  payable  on  April  15  at  latest,  and  recoverable 
by  distraint  after  the  expiry  of  that  date." 

But  this  arbitrary  spoliation,  crushing 
though  it  was,  did  not  bring  many  more 


REFUGEES    RETURN   TO   THEIR   RUINED 
HOME. 

from  Holland,  recrossed  the  frontier  into  the 
occupied  territory.  'But  those  who  hung 
back  were  not  encouraged  to  follow  this 
example  by  the  fashion  in  which  the  pledges 
were  observed.  The  guarantee  against  de- 
portation, it  is  true,  was  not  violated  openly 
and  on  a  large  scale  for  nearly  two  years,  but 
the  promise  of  "  normal  conditions "  and 
"  freedom  from  molestation "  was  a  dead 
letter  from  the  beginning.  By  the  end  oi 
1914  the  refugees  still  abroad  were  no  longer 
open  to  enticement,  and  von  Bissing,  in  a 


A    WALL    DIRECTORY. 
How  refugees  to  Holland  made  their  whereabouts 


known  to  their  friends. 


131—3 


14 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


refugees  within  von  Bissing's  fold.  The  German 
regime  in  the  occupied  territory  was  already 
so  onerous  that  those  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
Governor-General's  arm  were  content  to  save 
their  persons  from  it  at  the  price  of  their 
goods. 

The  suppression  of  personal  liberty  was  the 
next  concern  of  the  German  Administration. 


CARDINAL    MERCIER, 
Archbishop  of  Malines. 

The  Belgians  under  it — the  returned  refugees 
and  those  who  had  never  left  their  homes — 
were  systematically  isolated  from  one  another 
and  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  On  January  17, 
1915,  von  Bissing  signed  a  sweeping  decree  in 
restriction  of  the  right  of  assembly  : — 

Art.  I. — 1.  Open-air  meetings  are  forbidden. 

2.  Political  meetings  within  doors,  in  which  political 
questions  are  to  be  dealt  with  and  discussed,  are  equally 
forbidden. 

3.  For  any  other  public  or  private  meeting,  previous 
authorization  is  required,  which  must  be  applied  for  at 
least  five  days  in  advance.     The  grant  of  such  authoriza- 
tion is  within  the  province  of  the  local  military  comman- 
dant, or,  failing  him,  of  the   (civil)   head   of  the  arron- 
dis*omont. 

4.  Public  meetings  with  a  religious  object,  as  well  as 
private  meetings  o.f  a  purely  religious,  social,  scientific, 
professional  or  artistic  character,  are  exempted  from  the 
penalties  laid  down  in  Article  III.     For  such  meetings  no 
authorization  U  required. 

5.  In  the  event  of  the  conditions  laid  down  in  this 
article    being   infringed,    all    those    attending   the    said 
meeting  as  well  as  the  promoters.  <M  j;ut;/..-r^  and  execu- 
tive committees,  will  be  held  responsible. 

Art.  II. — All  clubs  and  societies  of  a  political  tendency, 

or  designed  for  the  discussion  of  political  objects,  are 

1.     The  formation  of  new  clubs  or  societies  of  this 

character    i-     forbidden.     The    officers,    founders    and 

members  of  surh  societies  will  be  liable  to  pennltie-. 

Art.  III. — Infringement  1 1  at  t  In-  'I'1'  rec  will  be  punished 
by  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  one  year,  or  by  a  fine 
«>1  not  in  itv,  than  5,000  francs. 

Infringements  are  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Military  Courts. 

BARON  VON  BISSINO,  Ooloncl-General, 

Governor-General  in  Belgium. 
Brussels,  January  17,  1916. 


This  general  assault  upon  the  right  ol 
assembly  was  reinforced  by  restrictive  measures 
in  detail.  Civilians  might  not  travel  from 
one  place  to  another  in  the  occupied  terri- 
tory without  a  special  passport,  and  all  the 
expense  and  delay  that  obtaining  a  passport 
entailed.  They  could  hardly  travel  by  train, 
for  the  railways  were  commandeered,  and 
sometimes  entirely  monopolized,  by  the  Gen  nun 
Army.  But  motor  cars,  too,  were  forbidden 
to  civilians,  and  then  bicycles  were  placed 
under  the  ban  as  well.  And  while  people 
were  thus  prevented  from  meeting  each  other 
in  person,  equal  care  was  taken  that  they 
should  not  communicate  from  a  distance. 
Telephones  and  carrier-pigeons  particularly 
exercised  the  Governor-General,  and  drew 
from  him,  on  December  22,  1914,  an  elaborate 
"  Recapitulatory  Notice/'  in  the  following 
terms  : — 

It  is  necessary  to  recall  attention  to  the  subjoined 
regulations  : — 

A. — The  right  to  possess  and  use  wireless  installations 
belongs  exclusively  to  the  German  troops.  Anyone  in 
Belgium  possessing  any  kind  of  wireless  installation  or 
having  knowledge  of  such,  must  immediately  give  notice 
of  the  same  to  the  German  authorities. 

B. — All  telephone  and  telegraph  installations  in 
Belgium  are  also  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  German 
authorities  and  the  German  troops,  as  well  as  the  func- 
tionaries of  communes,  canals  and  those  railways  which 
hsve  received,  for  certain  sections  of  line,  an  express 
written  permission  from  the  Governor-General  or  the 
military  railway  authorities.  Whoever  possesses  any 
telephone  or  telegraph  installation  in  working  order,  01 
has  knowledge  of  any,  must  immediately  give  notice  of 
the  same  to  tne  nearest  military  authority. 

The  only  exceptions  allowed  are  telegraph  installat  ions 
for  domestic  use,  which  work  exclusively  within  the 
interior  of  a  single  house,  and  are  not  connected  up  with 
any  wires  outside  the  house. 

C. — The  right  of  flying  pigeons  belongs  exclusively  to 
the  German  troops  and  authorities.  All  other  owners  of 
pigeons  must  conform  strictly  to  the  following  rules : — 

I.  Owners  of  pigeons  of  every  kind  arc  bound  to  keep 
their  pigeons  shut  up  in  the  pigeon-cotes  until  further 
orders.  .  .  .  No  distinction  is  made  between 
carrier-pigeons  and  others.  Anyone  letting'pigcons  loose 
is  punished  by  imprisonment  for  not.  more  than  thice 
months  or  a  fine  of  not  more  than  3,000  francs. 

1*.  Kvery  owner  of  pigeons  is  bound  to  furnish  the 
local  German  military  commandant,  or,  in  places  without 
a  garrison,  the  Belgian  communal  authorities,  with  a 
list  for  every  pigeon-cote,  indicating  the  colour  and  the 
marks  on  the  rings  (number,  year,  etc.)  of  each  pigeon 
separately.  The  Belgian  authorities  are  to  hold  these 
onstantly  "'  tli'1  disposal  of  the  German  military 
commissions  of  verification.  The  keys  of  the  jti^eon- 
cotc  must  be  constantly  at  the  dispoMl  ion  of  Ihc  verifiers. 
If  pigeons  happen  to  die,  the  owner  must  keep  their 
ring's  intact. 

"i.  The  transport  of  pigeons,  including  their  transport 
from  one  pigeon-cote  to  another,  is  wholly  forbidden. 
All  traffic  in  or  exchange  of  live  pigeons  is  likewise  for- 
bidden. Only  the  transport  of  dead  pigeons  is  autho 
rizecl  in  the  street  or  to  the  market.  Anyone  found 
carrying  a  live  pigeon  outside  the  pigeon-cote  will  be 
punished  with  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  one  year 
or  a  fine  of  not  more  than  10,000  fiancs.  .  .  . 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


15 


CARDINAL    MERCIER'S    PROTEST 
Read  in  the  presece     cf  a  German  Guard. 


8.  Infringements  of  this  regulation,  in  so  far  as  heavier 
penalties  are  not  prescribed,  will  be  punished  by  im- 
prisonment for  not  more  than  one  month  or  a  fine  of  not 
more  than  2,090  francs.  If  occasion  arises,  an  inquiry  on 
suspicion  of  espionage  will  also  be  opened.  .  .  . 
BABOS  VON  BISSINO, 

Qovernnr-Qeneral  in  Belgium. 
December  2  2,  1914. 

This  decree  might  have  been  thought  to  be 
exhaustive,  and,  indeed,  the  Governor-General 
seems  to  have  found,  after  two  years'  experience, 
that  mere  supervision  could  no  further  go, 
for  he  ordered  successively  "  the  total  destruc- 


tion of  all  pigeon-cotes  in  Flanders,"  and  the 
as  ertainment  of  the  "  juridical  status  "  (etat- 
civil)  of  all  pigeons  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 
Finally,  in  October,  1916,  he  forbade  any 
further  issue  of  pigeon  rings. 

These  regulations  affected  all  Bel<_n;:Ms 
within  von  Bissing's  territory,  but  members 
of  the  Garde  Civique  and  other  men  of  military 
age  who  had  not  been  called  upon  to  serve 
in  the  Belgian  Army,  were  placed  under 
special  restraints,  just  as  they  had  been  treated 


16 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


to  special  promises  to  induce  them  to  put 
themselves  in  the  Germans'  power.  The 
following  decree  was  signed  on  December  30, 
1914,  by  Colonel  von  Leipzig,  (civil)  head  of 
the  arrondissement  of  Brussels  : — 

All  Belgians  liable  to  military  service  in  the  years 
1912-5,  who,  for  whatever  reason,  were  never  called  to 
the  colours  before  the  war,  are  forbidden  to  go  beyond  a 
radius  of  five  kilometres  from  their  residence  without 
having  received  a  written  authorization  from  the  com- 
petent military  authority.  Men  liable  to  service  who 
have  left  their  domicile  without  the  aforementioned 


was  only  a  corollary  to  one  already  signed  by 
von  Bissing  himself,  to  this  effect :  — 

All  Belgian  laws  and  decrees  concerning  the. Army 
("  milice  ")  and  the  Garde  Civique  are  suspended. 

Infringements  of  what  is  prescribed  in  the  said  laws 
and  decrees,  committed  before  the  publication  of  the 
present  decree,  remain  unpunished,  and  involve  no 
prejudicial  consequences  for  the  party  committing  them. 

No  verification  of  the  observance  of  the  said  laws  and 
decrees  is  required  for,  among  other  things,  the  cele- 
bration of  a  marriage,  the  application  for  and  delivery  of 
a  passport  or  patent,  or  for  appointment  to  a  public, 
provincial  or  communal  office. 


NORTH 
SEA 

Zeebr 


R  E  FE  RENCE. 
Boundary  of 
occupied  Territory-.-.  — 
Provincial  Boundaries ....... 


French 
Territory 
'Annexed"by 
Decree  of 
Jan.3.1915 


Flemings  — 
Walloons 


Scale  of  Miles. 
0     5      10  20  3O          40 


MAP    SHOWING    THE    TERRITORY    OCCUPIED    BY    THE    GERMANS. 


authorization  and  are  absent  at  the  roll-call  will  In: 
severely  punished.  The  Burgomasters,  who  are  bound 
in  the  first  instance  to  keep  men  liable  to  military 
service  under  control,  will  likewise  be  responsible. 

'Ili>-  men  restricted  by  this  measure  were 
not  soldiers  by  any  possible  interpretation. 
They  had  not  only  not  been  mobilized  by  the 
Belgian  Government  since  the  war ;  they 
had  never  been  called  up  for  training  before 
it.  They  were  merely  men  whom  the  Belgian 
Government  might  have  trained  as  soldiers 
if  it  had  wished.  The  Burgomasters,  more- 
p,  had  no  special  control  over  them  and 
not,  therefore,  in  justice  be  made  res- 
ponsible for  their  actions.  But  this  decree 


The  present  decree  in  no  way  modifies  the  measures 
that  have  been  or  will  be  taken  by  the  Governor-General 
relative  to  the  supervision  of  former  members  of  the 
Army  and  the  Garde  Civique,  or  relative  to  the  recruit- 
ment of  the  (Belgian)  Army. 

BAKON  VON  BISSING,  General  of  Cavalry, 

Governor-General  in  Belgium. 
Brussels,  December  12,  1914. 

Belgians,  in  fact,  who  had  performed  any 
kind  of  military  or  semi-military  service, 
and  also  those  who  had  not,  if  they  happened 
to  be  of  military  age,  were,  on  the  one  hand, 
absolved  by  the  German  Administration  from 
their  duties  towards  the  Belgian  State  and 
indemnified  for  the  breach  of  these  duties 
(both  actions  being  entirely  beyond  the  com- 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


17 


VON    BISSING    (marked   x)    INSPECTING    BARBED    WIRE    FENCE    ON    THE    DUTCH 

FRONTIER. 


petence  of  the  Occupying  Power),  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  they  were  placed  under  special 
police  restrictions  on  account  of  the  very 
status  of  which  they  were  being  divested  by 
force.  But  they  were  not  merely  placed  under 
restrictions.  At  Ath,  for  example,  they  had 
to  present  themselves  every  morning  at  the 
German  barracks  and  perform  fatigue-duties 
for  the  garrison.  The  Germans  amused  them- 
selves by  picking  out  the  most  cultivated  of 
these  men  for  the  most  humiliating  tasks — 
filling  cellars  with  coal,  cleaning  out  latrines, 
and  carrying  dust-bins  through  the  streets. 
This  seemed  to  them  a  clever  method  of  sapping 
the  Belgian  national  spirit. 

But  while  carrying  out  these  measures  of 
internal  police,  von  Bissing  did  not  neglect  to 
secure  his  frontiers.  On  the  south  his  terri- 
tory marched  with  the  territory  also  under 
German  occupation  in  France,  and  here  he 
provided  himself  with  a  "  scientific  frontier  " 
by  annexing  a  salient  of  French  territory  to 
his  own. 

In  future  (he  decreed  on  January  3,  1915)  the  Belgian 
laws  concerning  customs  and  taxation  will  be  applicable 
in  that  portion  of  the  French  district  of  Givet-Fumay 
which  has  been  joined  to  my  Government.  (The  new 
frontier  towards  French  territory  follows,  from  Fumay, 


the  valleys  of  the  Mouse  and  the  Semoy  to  the  Belgian 
frontier,  south-east  of  Hautes-Rivieres.) 

East  of  him  he  had  the  Grand-Duchy  of 
Luxembourg,  also  under  forcible  occupation, 
and  a  portion  of  Prussia,  where  he  could  safely 
leave  the  police  work  to  the  local  authorities' 
zeal.  His  least  comfortable  frontier  was  on 
the  north,  where  he  bordered  on  the  free, 
neutral  country  of  Holland.  Von  Bissing 
never  forgot  the  welcome  which  the  Belgians 
had  received  in  Dutch  territory  in  the  days 
of  their  deepest  despair,  when  Antwerp  fell, 
and  he  took  particular  pains  to  make  this 
frontier  impenetrable. 

From  the  Meuse  to  the  sea  a  fence  of  electri- 
fied barbed  wire  was  gradually  erected  between 
Belgium  and  Holland.  Pickets  of  German 
Landsturmers  were  established  along  it  at 
intervals  ;  they  were  linked  with  one  another 
by  telephone  and  telegraph,  and,  to  assist  them 
in  keeping  watch,  all  undergrowth,  trees  and 
buildings  on  the  Belgian  side,  within  a  certain 
distance  of  the  wires,  were  levelled  with  the 
ground.  Behind  this,  again,  a  wider  frontier- 
zone  was  marked  out,  and  no  passport  admitted 
into  this  zone  any  Belgian  not  already  resident 
in  it.  Placards  were  posted  throughout  the 
occupied  territory  announcing  that  anyone 


18 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


PROCLAMATION 


l  «•  C-.il  4.  C.MT. 


d  .»(•«  •  Bra.Cfc.  • 


Mrtk,(;\>fcU,  lMU«Irirru  Brmril*.. 

J-j,n,.r  ttf  BEU  Kt  ll-IJ'.  <!•-  M*DtiKD.'v 
1  »u^-  Till  HJK7.  Pn*««,i  *  I..U- 
l^iio  ttCVEKt^t   Plufviro  a  Bruii-Bi'i 
ilWrt  LUIE?.    *>«-Ji  *  M.«». 


>.  -    ld>  BOD  U 


njw-  Inprrwlrv 


KV  dr    Briurllr*   part'  rrr  l*iK  •  b  i' 


[By  permission  from  "  Scrjps  of  Paper." 

PROCLAMATION 
Announcing  that  Edith  Cavell  had  been  shot. 

found  within  the  frontier-zone  at  night  would 
be  shot  without  warning. 

But  these  moral  and  physical  shackles  were 
forged  to  be  broken.  The  young  men  of 
Belgium  were  put  on  their  honour  to  serve 
their  country  by  von  Bissing's  spurious  abso- 


lution of  them  from  their  service  ;  they  were 
stimulated  to  set  foot  in  a  free  land  by  the 
barrier  so  laboriously  built  up  to  keep  them 
from  it.  During  the  whole  period  of  the 
German  occupation  they  braved  the  crossing 
of  the  frontier,  singly  or  in  small  parties,  at 
the  risk  of  their  lives.  Some  were  shot  by  the 
guards  or  electrocuted  in  struggling  through 
the  wires  ;  but  many  got  through  to  Holland 
and  on  to  England  and  Havre,  and  in  due  course 
to  the  trenches  on  the  Yser — von  Bisising's 
fourth  frontier — only  this  time  they  were  not 
on  the  German  side. 

In  making  their  escape  these  young  Belgians 
had  not  only  the  sympathy  of  their  com- 
patriots under  the  German  yoke,  but  their 
active  assistance,  though  the  consequences 
were  as  dangerous  to  these  helpers  as  to  the 
men  themselves.  The  crime  of  "  conducting 
soldiers  to  the  enemy,"  as  defined  by  Para- 
graph 90  of  the  German  Penal  Code,  was 
punishable,  under  Paragraph  58  of  the  German 
Military  Code,  with  death  ;  and,  by  Paragraph 
160,  the  penalty  applied,  under  a  state  of  war, 
to  foreigners  as  well  as  German  subjects.  The 
Belgians  and  other  citizens  of  Allied  countries, 
who  performed  this  "  War  Treason,"  as  the 
German  official  idiom  described  it,  were  quite 
aware  of  what  they  would  suffer  if  they  were 
discovered  ;  but  they  no  more  hesitated  to 
risk  their  lives  than  the  young  men  whose 
escape  they  made  possible.  The  most  famous 
of  these  patriotic  organizations  was  that  of 


YOUNG    BELGIANS    REPORTING    THEMSELVES    TO    THE    GERMAN    AUTHORITIES. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


19 


which  Edith  Cavell  was  a  member.,,  and  it  was 
for  the  part  she  took  in  it  that  she  was  put  to 
death.  The  story  of  Edith  Cavell's  secret 
trial  and  hurried  execution  has  been  recorded 
already*,  and  here  we  will  only  reproduce  the 
characteristic  proclamation  in  which  von 
Bissing  announced  the  accomplished  fact — 
with  the  object  (as  stated  by  Herr  Zimmer- 
mann,  then  German  Under-Secretary  for 
Foreign  Affairs)  of  "frightening  those  who 


The  Governor-General  of  Brussels  brings  these  facts  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  Public  that  they  may  serve  as  a 
warning. 

GENERAL  VON  Bissrao, 

The  Governor  oj  the  City. 
Brussels,  October  12,  1915. 

These  executions  (and  they  occurred  inter- 
mittently during  the  whole  period  of  the 
German  Occupation,  though  the  case  of  Edith 
Cavell  was  more  notorious  than  the  rest  in  the 
outer  world)  were  the  culmination  of  the 


WOULD-BE    TRAVELLERS    TO    HOLLAND    APPLYING    FOR    PERMITS. 


may  presume  on  their  sex  to  take  part  in 
enterprises  punishable  with  death."  Von 
Bissing's  proclamation  read  as  follows  : 

PROCLAMATION 

The  Tribunal  of  the  Imperial  German  Council  of  War 
sitting  in  Brussels  has  pronounced  the  following  sen- 
tences :— 

Condemned  to  Death  for  conspiring  together  to  com- 
mit Treason  : — 

Edith  Cavell,  Teacher,  of  Brussels  ; 
Philippe  Bancq,  Architect,  of  Brussels  ; 
Jeanne  de  Belleville,  of  Jlontignies  ; 
Louise  Thuiliez,  Professor  at  Lille  ; 
Louis  Severin,  Chemist,  of  Brussels  j 
Albert  Libioz,  Lawyer,  of  Mons  ; 
For  the  same  offence  the  following  have  been  con- 
demned to  15  years'  hard  labour  : — 

Hermann  Capiau,  Engineer,  of  Wasmes  ; 
Ada  Bodart,  of  Brussels  ; 
George  Derveau,  Chemist,  of  Paturages; 
Mary  de  Croy,  of  Bellignies. 

At  the  same  sitting,  the  Council  of  War  condemned  17 
others  charged  with  treason  against  the  Imperial  Armies 
to  sentences  of  penal  servitude  and  imprisonment  varyintr 
from  two  to  eight  years. 

The  sentences  passed  on  Bancq  and  Edith  Cavell  have 
already  been  executed. 

*  Vol.  VI.,  Chapter  CVII. 


German  police  campaign  against  the  rights  of 
the  individual.  But  social  institutions  as  well 
as  individuals  were  marked  out  for  repression, 
and  special  attention  was  paid  to  the  Press  and 
the  Banks.  In  these  less  personal  departments 
of  the  German  police  regime,  the  negative  aim 
of  repressing  Belgian  liberties  passed  over  into 
the  intensive  exploitation  of  Belgian  resources 
for  the  German  conduct  of  the  war. 

The  Censorship  in  the  occupied  territory 
was  established  by  a  comprehensive  decree  of 
October  13,  1914  :— 

1.  All  printed  matter,  as  well  as  all  other  reproduc- 
tions of  written  matter  or  of  pictures,  with  or  without 
letterpress,  or  of  musical  compositions  with  a  text  or 
commentaries  (in  print),  obtained  by  mechanical  or 
chemical  processes  and  intended  for  distribution,  must 
be  submitted  to  he  Censorship  of  the  Imperial  German 
Governor-Generalship  (Civil  Administration). 

Whoever  produces  or  distributes  printed  matter  of 
the  kinds  specified  in  Clause  1,  without  the  Censor's 
permission,  will  be  punished  according  to  Martial  Law. 
The  printed  matter  will  be  confiscated,  and  the  plates 
and  cliches  intended  for  reproduction  will  be  rendered 
unfit  for  use. 


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20 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


21 


The  posting,  exhibition  or  display  of  any  printed 
matter  prohibited  by  the  present  decree,  in  places  where 
the  public  is  able  to  take  knowledge  of  it,  is  considered 
equivalent  to  distribution. 

'2.  Theatrical  presentations,  recitations  of  all  kinds, 
whether  spoken  or  sung,  and  luminous  projections, 
whether  by  cinematograph  or  other  means,  may  not  be 
organized  until  the  pieces,  recitations  and  projections 
aforesaid  have  been  passed  by  the  Censor. 

Anyone  organizing  theatrical  presentations,  recita- 
tions or  luminous  projections  without  the  Censor's 
permission,  and  anyone  taking  part  in  any  way  in  such 
presentations,  recitations  or  projections,  will  be  punished 
according  to  Martia!  Law.  The  plates  and  films  will  be 
confiscated. 

This  decree  enters  into  force  immediately. 

BABON  VON  DER  GOLTZ,  Field-Marshal, 

Governor -General  in  Belgium. 

Brussels,  October  13,  1914. 

Von  der  Goltz's  intention  was  to  feed  the 
Belgians  exclusively  on  news  of  German  official 
manufacture.  The  Germans  themselves  had 
been  treated  in  this  way  by  their  rulers  from 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  a  systematic  mis- 
representation of  the  course  the  war  was  taking 
might  have  been  as  effective  for  disheartening 
Belgium  as  it  appears  to  have  been  for  encourag- 
ing Germany.  But  in  this,  as  In  other  depart- 
ments of  the  police  regime  in  the  occupied 
territory,  decrees  only  aroused  the  will  to 
resist  them.  To  begin  with,  the  leading  Belgian 
newspapers  all  suspended  publication  within 
the  German  zone,  and  either  transferred  their 
offices  to  London  and  le  Havre,  or  withheld 
further  issues  altogether  until  better  times. 
And  news  sheets  appeared  in  their  place  which 
were  most  unwelcome  to  the  German  Civil . 
Administration.  The  most  noteworthy  of  these 
was  La  Libre  Belgique,  which  was  printed  in 
the  occupied  territory  in  defiance  of  the 
Censor,  and  was  edited  with  great  spirit  and 
wit.  The  German  authorities  were  sensitive 
beyond  expectation  to  its  stings,  and  made 
ludicrously  earnest  efforts  to  run  its  authors  to 
earth.  Large  rewards  were  offered,  inoffensive 
people — including  girls  and  boys  and  priests — 
were  arrested  on  suspicion,  and  in  many  cases 
condemned  ;  but  La  Libre  Belgique  continued 
to  appear,  and  the  Germans  never  knew  whether 
they  had  merely  missed  the  culprits  altogether, 
or  caught  them  only  to  see  their  work  pass  on 
into  other  equally  courageous  hands.  There 
were  also  organizations  for  distributing  uncen- 
sored  news  through  the  occupied  territory, 
as  widespread  as  those  for  smuggling  out  the 
young  men  across  the  frontier.  Copies  of  The. 
Times  and  other  Entente  and  neutral  journal*- 
were  imported,  transmitted  from  hand  to  hand, 
and  copied  in  manuscript  by  a  regular  under- 
ground post.  And  in  this  struggle  of  wills  the 


Belgians  won.  The  German  Administration 
despaired  in  the  end  of  damming  the  leaks, 
and  authorized  several  Dutch  newspapers  to 
publish  and  circulate  an  edition  for  the  Occupied 
Belgian  Territory  (Dutch  and  Flemish  being 
practically  the  same  language).  The  papers 
thus  privileged  were  naturally  such  as  had 
shown  themselves  not  unfriendly  to  Germany  ; 
their  Belgian  edition  was  under  the  Governor- 
General's  Censorship  ;  and  the  power  to  with- 
draw the  privilege  granted  gave  the  Governor- 
General  a  considerable  influence  over  their 
selection  of  news  and  their  editorial  tone. 
Nevertheless,  the  admission  of  these  neutral 
journals  into  the  occupied  territory  was,  on 
the  Germans'  part,  a  genuine  confession  of 
defeat. 

I 

Von  Bissing  was  also  baffled  in  his  attempt 
to  manipulate  the  Press  in  Belgium  for  a 
positive  political  aim — the  destruction  of 
Belgian  unity,  by  setting  Fleming  against 
Walloon. 

Belgium,    like    Switzerland,    Great    Britain 
and  other  of  the  most  firmly-founded  national 
States  in  Western  Europe,  has  more  than  one 
national  language.     If  you  drew  an  imaginary 
line  across  Belgium,  West  and  East,  from  the 
French   frontier   just   south    of    Ypres   to   the 
Dutch   frontier  on   the   Mevise,   just   north   of 
Liege,  you  would  find  that  most  Belgians  living 
north   of   it  spoke   Flemish   as   their  mother- 
tongue,  and  most  of  those  living  south  of  it 
Walloon.     The  two  languages  are  entirely  dif- 
ferent ;    Flemish  is  a  Teutonic  dialect,  prac- 
tically the  same  as  Dutch,  while  Walloon  is 
Romance,  and  is  related  to  the  neighbouring 
dialects    in    France.     But    this    difference    of 
language  has  not  the  least  political  significance. 
The  linguistic  boundary  has  never  in  history 
been  a  political  frontier  ;    it  was  not  even  fol- 
lowed by  the  modern  provincial  demarcations, 
any  more  than  the  Border  between  England 
and   Scotland   follows   the   boundary   between 
the  English  and    Gaelic    languages.     The    dif- 
ference  of  language   was  so   little   felt   as   an 
administrative   difficulty    that    the    provinces 
cut  across  the  boundary  on  old  traditional  lines. 
Indeed,  none  of  the  important  divisions  within 
the  Belgian  people  coincided  with  the  division 
between    Fleming    and    Walloon.     There    was 
the  party  division  between  Liberal  and  Clerical, 
but  the  two  parties  were  very  evenly  balanced 
all  over  the  country.     There  was  the  economic 
division    between    Industry    and    Agriculture, 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


~1 


TRENCH    DUG    BY    THE    GERMANS    THROUGH    A    FLEMISH    COAST    VILLAGE. 


but  this  did  not  go  by  language  either.  Of  the 
industrial  centres  in  Belgium,  Charleroi  and 
Namur  and  Liege  lay  in  the  Walloon  area, 
Ghent  and  Antwerp  and  the  Campine  in  the 
Flemish.  The  Walloon  province  of  Luxem- 
bourg was  noted  for  its  peasant  proprietors, 
the  plains  of  Flanders  for  their  breed  of  horses 
and  their  intensive  market-garden  cultivation. 
The  Belgians  were  little  conscious  of  their 
linguistic  differences,  because  they  had  never 
persecuted  each  other  on  account  of  them. 
Brussels,  the  national  capital,  was  common 
ground  between  the  two  linguistic  areas  ;  the 
National  Government  seated  at  Brussels  em- 
ployed in  its  official  transactions,  not  the 
\Vulloon  dialect  any  more  than  the  Flemish, 
but  standard  French,  and  this  since  the 
foundation  of  the  kingdom,  and  for  reasons  of 
obvious  utility — French,  unlike  these  local 
dialects,  being  a  language  of  general  currency, 
l-'or  the  same  reason  the  educated  people  in 
nil  parts  of  the  country  were  in  the  habit  of 
'if-iiic  French  in  business  and  speaking  it  among 
themselves.  But  it  had  never  occurred  to  any 
Kcl^ian  authority  to  impose  French  where  it 
uas  not  voluntarily  adopted.  No  Belgian 
Ccivornmont  had  legislated  against  the  use  of 


Flemish  in  communal  administration  or  in 
education.  The  harmonious  subsistence  of 
the  two  languages  side  by  side  showed  that 
Belgium  was  a  tolerant,  enlightened,  demo- 
cratic country,  but  this  was  nothing  uncommon 
for  Western  Europe. 

To  the  German  mind,  however,  it  was  so 
uncommon  as  to  be  beyond  belief.  The  Ger- 
mans had  never  known  how  to  get  on  with 
populations  of  another  language,  as  the  French 
got  on  with  the  Alsatians,  the  English  and  the 
Lowlanders  with  the  Welsh  and  the  Gaels,  or 
the  Flemings  and  Walloons  with  one  another. 
The  Germans'  only  idea  of  living  in  the  same 
community  with  Alsatians  or  Danes  or  Poles 
was  to  turn  them  into  Germans  by  force  ;  to 
make  them  speak  German  and  do  things  in 
German  ways  ;  to  prohibit  their  mother-tongue 
in  their  local  government  and  their  schools. 
And  in  following  this  policy  the  Germans  had 
always  failed  ;  they  had  aroused  an  antagonistic 
national  feeling  in  the  populations  they  had 
tried  to  overbear,  just  as  they  were  now 
rousing  the  spirit  of  the  Belgians  in  the  occupied 
territory.  Prussia,  with  its  diversity  of  lan- 
guages, had  never,  like  Belgium,  Switzerland, 
or  Great  Britain,  become  a  united  nation.  It 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAE. 


23 


had  remained  a  Police-State,  in  which  the 
Government  tried  to  impose  the  language  of 
one  part  of  the  population  on  the  rest,  and  only 
succeeded  in  producing  a  morbid  consciousness 
of  linguistic  differences  among  them  all.  Under 
the  influence  of  this  failure  at  home,  the 
German  Administrators  of  Belgium  fastened 
upon  the  difference  between  Fleming  and 
Walloon  as  a  weak  spot  in  the  Belgian 
organism.  They  pictured  the  Flemings  as  an 
oppressed  race  in  suppressed  rebellion  against 
the  domination  of  the  Walloons,  as  the  Poles 
and  Alsatians  were  against  the  Germans  them- 
selves. They  knew  how  their  own  subject 
populations  prayed  for  a  liberator,  and  hastened 
to  pose,  themselves,  as  liberators  of  the  "  Flemish 
Nationality."  They  dreamed,  as  the  goal  of 
their  intrigue,  of  an  autonomous  Flemish 
principality,  carved  out  of  the  dead  body  of 
Belgium  by  Germany,  as  the  patroness  of  all 
Teutons,  at  the  expressed  desire  of  the  Flem- 
ings, and  with  the  applause  of  the  neutral 
world. 

The  first  step  was  to  create  an  "  atmos- 
phere," for  neither  the  Flemings  nor  the 
neutrals  had  found  their  own  way  to  the  proper 
point  of  view.  The  Flemings  had  fought 


shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  "  dominant " 
Walloons  for  the  preservation  of  Belgium,  and 
were  still  fighting  in  the  trenches  along  the 
Yser  ;  while  neutrals  were  far  from  perceiving 
the  liberators  of  the  Flemish  nation  in  the  vio- 
lators of  Belgian  neutrality.  But  the  German* 
were  convinced,  from  their  own  experience, 
that  a  "  Flemish  Problem "  must  be  there, 
and  that  they  had  only  to  rub  the  wound  to 
set  it  smarting. 

"The  Political  Department  at  Brussels,"  wrote  Pro- 
fessor von  Hissing,  of  Munich,  the  son  of  the  Governor- 
General,*  "  has  logically  dependent  upon  it  the  Flemish 
Bureau  and  the  Press  Bureau.  The  present  Governor- 
General  devotes  special  attention  to  Press  matters. 
Beyond  supplying  information  to  German  newspaper* 
and  following  the  foreign  newspapers,  collaboration  with 
the  native  Press  (with  the  assistance  of  the  Flemish 
Bureau)  also  falls  within  the  Press  Bureau's  province. 
A  number  of  Belgian  journals  .  .  .  appear  daily, 
arxi  are  in  enjoyment,  under  certain  fixed  conditions, 
of  all  the  liberties  that  are  possible.  .  .  ." 

One  of  the  journals  mentioned  in  Professor 
von  Bissing's  list  was  tha  Vlaamsche  Post  of 
Ghent,  and  this  was  the  organ  selected  and 
subsidized  by  the  Governor-General  to  be  the 
mouthpiece  of  his.  "  Flamandising "  policy. 
The  Vlaamsche  Post  started  a  campaign  for 

*  Suddeutsche  Monalshefte,  April,  1915. 


THE  GENTLE  GERMAN  :  SHOOTING  THE  CANARY  OF  A  LOOTED  HOUSE. 


24 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


wi 
Z 

< 
S 

at 
a 
O 

a 

- 
H 

Ex. 

O 


H 
Z 

a 
X 


a. 
O 

Z 

O 


u 
u 

O 


Flemish  autonomy.  Its  articles  were  repeated 
word  for  word  in  the  other  papers  promoted 
by  the  German  Administration  in  Belgium, 
and  were  e.  hoed  with  variations  in  the  German 
Press  and  in  the  pro-German  papers  in  Holland 
The  newspaper  campaign  was  supported  by  a 
deluge  of  pamphlets  in  Belgium,  Germany  and 
the  neutral  countries.  In  Belgium  these 
anonymous  effusions  were  deposited  during 
the  night  at  people's  front  doors. 

This  literary  propaganda  was  given  substance 
by  administrative  measures.  The  official  use 
of  the  French  language  in  Flemish -speaking 
districts  was  forbidden,  and  at  Ostend,  Bruges 
and  other  places  the  local  German  authorities 
went  so  far  as  to  order  all  shop  signs  or  adver- 
tisements in  French  to  be  removed.  Care 
was  taken  in  German  decrees  and  proclama- 
tions to  disguise  the  names  of  Belgian  cities 
(even  those  which  both  in  philology  and  in 
population  were  purely  Romance)  in  good 
"  Teutonic  "  forms — "  Namen  "  for  Namur, 
"  Doornyk  "  for  Tournai,  "  Luttich  "  for  Liege, 
and  so  on.  Passing  from  pedantry  to  perse- 
cution, the  Germans  removed  "  Walloon " 
functionaries  in  "  Flemish  territory "  from 
their  posts,  and  forbade  the  use  of  French  in 
schools.  At  a  higher-grade  school  at  Hasselt , 
for  instance,  in  the  Province  of  Limburg,  the 
teachers  were  not  only  forbidden  to  give  lessons 
in  French,  but  might  not  even  talk  French 
to  their  pupils  out  of  school,  with  the  result 
that  the  parents,  anxious  that  their  children 
should  be  familiar  with  both  the  national 
languages,  removed  them  from  the  school 
altogether  and  had  them  taught  privately  at 
home.  But  so  little  had  the  Germans  learnt 
from  their  educational  failures  in  Prussian 
Poland  that  they  designed,  as  the  master- 
piece of  their  Flemish  policy,  the  foundation  of 
a  "  Flemish  University  "  at  Ghent. 

After  eighteen  months  of  intensive  Press 
preparation,  the  Flemish  University  was 
opened  with  a  flourish  of  trumpets  on  Octo- 
ber 21,  1910.  The  German  Administration 
announced  that  the  restrictions  on  railway 
travelling  would  be  waived  in  favour  of  all  true 
Flemings  who  wished  to  attend  the  ceremony. 
They  were  gratified  by  the  flood  of  applications, 
not  only  from  the  Flemish  districts,  but  from 
all  the  occupied  territory,  and  von  Bissing 
found  his  route  congested  when  he  journeyed 
to  Ghent  on  the  appointed  day.  He  only  met 
one  party  going  in  the  opposite  direction — they 
were  2,000  Flemings  from  Ghent  itself  who 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


were  being  deported  to  forced  labour  in  Ger- 
many under  the  decree  of  October  3,  and  who 
had  been  packed  off  before  their  national 
festival  by  the  over-zealous  local  German 
authorities.  But  when  von  Bissing  alighted 
at  Ghent  station  and  proceeded  towards  his 
university  buildings,  his  fellow-travellers  melted 
away.  They  had  availed  themselves  of  the 
German  Railway  Bureau's  generosity,  not  to 
hear  their  Governor-General's  inaugural 
speech,  but  to  visit  their  Belgian  friends 


them  unsaid.  His  subordinates,  searching  for 
an  artist  to  design  a  commemorative  medal, 
could  not  find  a  Fleming  in  Ghent  who  would 
execute  the  commission,  and  the  school 
children,  who  had  been  given  a  special  holiday 
in  honour  of  their  national  liberation,  appeared 
at  school  as  if  nothing  unusual  were  hap- 
pening. They  were  turned  back  at  the  door 
by  German  gendarmes,  but  they  had  made 
their  protest. 

"  The  organization."  continued  von  Bissing, 


GERMAN    "KULTUR"    IN    BELGIUM: 
A  performance  of  Goethe's  "  Iphigenie  "  in  the  open-air  theatre  of  the  Citadel  of  Namur. 


Von  Bi--sing  delivered  his  discourse  to  a 
select  German  audience,  including  the  Bavarian 
Minister  of  Education  and  representatives  of 
the  Federal  States  and  of  the  Imperial  Chan- 
cellor. 

"To  secure  the  re-opening  of  the  University,"  the 
Governor-General  is  reported  to  have  said,  "  I  appealed 
in  Germany  to  a  Commission  appointed  to  assist  my 
Civil  Administration.  Working  hand  in  hand  with  the 
Flemings  and  well  counselled  by  German  and  Dutch 
friends,  this  Commission  has  settled  the  appointments 
and  created  the  organization  for  our  new  educational 
institution,  without  departing  far  from  the  former 
Belgian  organization.  Thus  Germans  and  Flemings  have 
found  themselves  working  together,  in  mutual  confidence 
and  perfect  understanding." 

At  the  moment  these  words  were  issuing 
from  the  Governor-General's  lips,  incidents 
were  occurring  that  must  have  made  him  wish 


"  and  especially  the  organization  of  the  tech- 
nical faculties,  will  be  completed  in  the  course 
of  next  year."  But  1917  had  hardly  begun 
before  the  Flemish  University  of  Ghent  was 
closed.  The  contingent  of  genuine  students, 
54  at  the  beginning,  dwindled  with  each 
month,  and  there  was  little  edification  in  a  body 
of  "  Flemish  "  professors  of  whom  the  majority 
were  Dutch.  "The  God  of  War,"  declaimed 
von  Bissing  in  his  peroration,  "  has  held 
Flanders  at  the  font  with  his  sword  drawn. 
May  the  God  of  Peace  be  kind  to  her  during 
the  long  centuries  to  come." 

Von  Bissing's  oratory  betrayed  the  German 
vision  of  an  "  Autonomous  Flanders  "  under 
permanent  German  tutelage,  when  the  "  tern- 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


A    FOOD    QUEUE    OF    IMPOVERISHED    BELGIANS. 


porary  "  German  occupation  of  Belgium  should 
be  brought  to  an  end  by  the  signing  of  peace. 
But  he  burst  his  own  bubble  by  drawing  a 
retort  from  the  Flemings  themselves. 

Prominent  Flemings  explained,  in  indignant 
letters  to  the  neutral  Press,  that  the  real 
Flemish  movement  was  of  a  purely  cultural 
and  social  character.  It  existed  to  enrich  the 
life  of  Belgium  by  re-creating  for  her  a  literature 
in  the  Flemish  language  ;  preserving  for  her 
the  monuments  of  Flemish  art  and  architecture 
(which  German  weapons  had  been  destroying 
at  Louvain  and  Malines  and  Termonde  and 
Ypres) ;  reviving  for  her  the  romantic  tra- 
ditions of  the  Flemish  Middle  Ages ;  and 
improving  the  conditions  of  life  of  her  Flemish 


peasants  and  workmen  at  the  present  day. 
The  Teutonic  origin  of  their  language  no  more 
beguiled  them  into  suffering  German  violence 
gladly  than  it  beguiled  the  Dutch  or  the 
English  or  the  Danes. 

"It  requires  no  extraordinary  perspicacity,"  wrote 
M.  van  Caulewaert,  Editor  of  the  Vrij  Belyie,  &  Belgian 
newspaper  in  the  Flemish  language  which  had  emigrated 
to  The  Hague,  "to  understand  that  the  German  Govern- 
ment is  attempting  to  make  use  of  the  Flemish  Move- 
ment  exclusively  for  the  two  objects  which  I  shall 
enumerate — to  sow  dissensions  between  Belgians  and  to 
find  a  pretext  for  continuing,  after  the  war,  to  interfere 
in  our  internal  politics.  But  these  two  objects  blend 
into  a  single  aim — to  turn  Belgium  into  a  permanent 
acquisition  of  the  German  Empire.  We  know  the 
German  idolatry  of  self  and  gospel  of  national  egotism  ; 
and  we  also  know  enough  of  the  sorrowful  history  of  the 
Danish  people — related  to  the  German  people,  like  our- 
selves, by  race — to  keep  us  on  our  guard." 


GERMANS    IN    OCCUPATION    OF    A    BELGIAN    CHATEAU. 

A  Landsturm  Regiment,  under  command  of  Herr  Naumann-Hofer,  a  Radical  Reichstag  Deputy,  at  the 
looted  Chateau  of  M.  Davignon.  former  Minister  of  Foreign   Affairs. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


27 


"  What  do  you  think  of  the  Belgians  who 
have  gone  with  the  Germans  ?  "  the  Belgian 
socialist,  -Canaille  Huysmans,  was  asked  by  a 
representative  of  the  Danish  paper  Poli'iken, 
in  allusion  to  the  editors  of  the  Vlaamsche  Post 
and  the  lonely  professors  at  Ghent.  "  I  think," 
M.  Huysmans  answered,  "  that  they  will  be 
wise  to  get  themselves  naturalized  in  Ger- 
many." Such  was  the  Flemish  retort  to  the 
German  project  for  Flanders  after  the  war. 

These  were  some  of  the  ramifications  of 
German  Press  policy  in  the  occupied  territory. 


nize  and  modify  the  whole  conduct  of  the  banks' 
affairs.  "  The  costs  of  control  will  be  charged  in 
proportion  to  their  funds  upon  the  banks 
superintended."  By  a  further  decree  of 
November  30  the  Commissary-General  was 
authorized  to  extend  his  control  by  delegating 
it  to  assistants — "  the  cost  of  this  likewise  to  be 
charged  upon  the  enterprises  under  surveil- 
lance " — and  these  assistant  commissaries  were 
to  be  "  given  notice  in  good  time  of  each  Board 
Meeting  or  General  Assembly." 

In  the  meantime  all  banks  in  the  occupied 
territory   whatsoever   had   been   forbidden    to 


RETURN    OF    A 

The  control  of  banking  was  also  a  much  studied 
department  of  police,  and  this  merged  into  a 
systematic  appropriation  of  the  country's 
material  resources. 

By  a  decree  of  September  18,  1914,  von  der 
Goltz  ordered  all  banks  or  branches  of  banks  in 
th<>  occupied  territory,  of  which  the  central 
management  was  in  countries  at  war  with 
Germany,  to  wind  up  their  affairs  immediately, 
"  the  remaining  cash  balance  to  be  deposited 
for  the  duration  of  the  war  in  a  place  hereinafter 
to  be  designated."  A  German  Commissary- 
General  was  appointed  to  superintend  the 
execution  of  this  decree,  with  power  to  scruti- 


FORAGING    PARTY. 

make  payments  to  England,  Ireland  and  France, 
by  a  decree  of  November  3,  which  was  extended 
on  the  28th,  "  by  way  of  reprisals,"  to  Russia 
and  Finland.  It  was  notified,  however,  that 
"  this  prohibition  does  not  extend  to  payments 
'  intended  for  the  benefit  of  German  nationals." 
"  All  legal  and  contractual  consequences,"  the 
decree  continued,  "  which  might  be  involved  in 
the  non-execution  of  contracts  made  with 
persons  domiciled  in  the  countries  designated, 
are  considered  null  and  void.  The  debtor  may 
clear  himself  by  consigning  the  sums  owing 
from  him  to  his  creditor's  account  at  the 
Treasury  of  the  German  Civil  Administration. 


28 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


Whoever  infringes,  or  attempts  to  infringe,  the 
regulations  of  Article  1  will  be  punish. •< I 
according  to  Martial  Law." 

On  December  22  the  monopoly  of  issuing 
bank-notes  was  transferred,  by  von  Bissing, 
from  the  National  Bank  of  Belgium,  to  which, 
under  Belgian  law,  it  legitimately  belonged,  to 
tho  Socifti  Gintrale  de  Belgique,  and  another 
commissary,  though  this  time  one  of  Belgian 
iiat  ionality,  was  appointed  to  the  new  Depart- 
ment of  Issue.  In  a  notice  appended  to  this 


appointed  by  the  Belgian  Government."  It  is 
superfluous  to  point  out  on  which  side  the 
illegal!. y  lay. 

"  My  Civil  Government,"  von  Bissing  con- 
cluded, "  in  cooperation  with  the  Soci&te 
GMrale,  will  also  inquire  into  the  measures  to 
be  taken  in  order  to  restore  the  General  Savings 
Bank  and  its  depositors  to  possession  of  their 
property  at  present  unlawfully  detained  at  the 
Bank  of  England."  The  only  measure  under 
this  head  which  is  revealed  by  a  perusal  of  the 


BELGIAN    WOMEN    SACK-MAKING    FO  <    THE    GERMANS    IN    A    FACTORY    AT 

BRUSSELS. 


decree,  von  Bissing  assumed  the  part  of  the 
"  honest  broker."  He  complained  bitterly  that 
the  National  Bank  had  transferred  its  assets  to 
England,  had  refused  to  remit  them  to  the 
oei-iipie.l  territory  when  requested  (by  von 
His  ing)  to  do  so,  and  had  been  so  unpatriotic 
i  s  to  lend  the  same  to  the  Belgian  Government 
at  Havre,  "  a  procedure  on  the  part  of  the 
National  Bank  of  Belgium  and  the  Belgian 
Mini-it  ry  "f  Finaii*  e  which  was  contrary  to  law 
mid  statute-/'  "For  all  these  reasons,"  the 
Covernor-Ceiic'ral  continued,  "I  find  myself 
obliged  to  withdraw  from  the  National  Bank  of 
H'/</'<iiii  the  privilege  of  issuing  bank-notes,  and 
to  depose  the  Governor  and  Commissary 


"  Bulletin  of  Laws  and  Decrees  "  is  the  appoint- 
ment, as  member  of  the  General  and  Executive 
Councils  of  the  Belgian  Savings  Bank,  of  a 
certain  Dr.  Hjalmar  Schacht,  by  a  decree  of  von 
Bissing's  dated  January  16,  1915.  Before  the 
war  Dr.  Schacht  was  "  publicity  "  director  of 
the  Dresdner  Bank  in  Berlin.  The  know- 
ledge that  their  savings  had  been  consigned,  in 
default,  to  this  Teutonic  gentleman's  care,  must 
have  done  much  to  console  the  depositors  for 
the  removal  of  them  beyond  the  sea. 

But  the  "  cooperation  "  between  the  German 
Civil  Government  and  the  Societe  Genfrale  was 
not  destined  to  endure,  for  two  years  later,  on 
September  3,  1916,  we  find  von  Bissing  address- 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


,  j 


BELGIAN  ..WOMEN    LABOURERS  AT  THE  MAR1EMONT-BASGOUN    COAL    MINES 
WORKING    UNDER    GERMAN    GUARDS. 


ing  an  ultimatum  to  the  latter  in  the  following 
terms  : — 

I  have  to  inform  you  that  I  must  consider  our  nego- 
tiations broken  off  if  you  refuse  to  submit,  on  your  own 
responsibility,  a  proposition  for  the  transfer  to  Germany 
of  your  balance  in  paper-marks.  I  refuse  your  demand 
to  communicate  with  le  Havre,  and  I  give  you  till 
Monday,  September  4,  1916,  midnight  (German  time), 
to  inform  me  in  precise  terms  whether  you  are  disposed 
to  transfer  your  balance  in  paper-marks  to  Germany. 

If  you  refuse  to  send  your  balance  in  paper-marks 
to  the  German  banks,  then  you  are  conducting  your 


affairs  in  a  manner  contrary  to  German  interests,  ana 
in  this  case  I  have  received  a  mandate  to  place  yoni 
Bank  under  sequestration.  If  you  oppose  sequestra- 
tion by  passive  resistance,  there  will  be  no  course  left 
for  me  but  to  wind  up  the  Bank  by  force.  .  •  • 

During  the  course  of  to-morrow  you  have  time  to 
weigh  the  heavy  consequences  of  such  measures  for 
your  Bank  and  for  your  country.  I  order  you  to  call 
your  General  Council  to-morrow,  so  that  you  may  be 
in  a  position  to  forward  me  a  declaration  binding  upon 
them  before  the  expiration  of  the  time-limit.  .  .  . 

The  profession  of  banking  in  the  occupied 
territory  under  von  Hissing's  stewardship  had 


CIVILIANS    IMPRISONED    FOR    TRIVIAL    OFFENCES    EMPLOYED    IN 
ROAD-MAKING    FOR    THE    GERMANS. 


30 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


• 


become  a  form  of  "  working  for  the  King  of 
Prussia."  A  cruder  act  of  financial  tyranny  was 
the  imposition  of  the  German  mark.  On 
October  3,  1914,  the  following  decree  was 
published  by  von  der  Goltz  : — 

German  money  (coin  or  paper)  must  be  accepted  as 
tender  in  the  Occupied  Belgian  Territory,  at  the  rate, 
until  further  notice  of  1  Mark  as  the  equivalent  of  a 
minimum  of  1.26  Franca. 

Inasmuch  as  the  German  mark  had  only  been 
worth  1.15  Belgian  francs  before  the  war,  and 
steadily  depreciated  on  the  international  money 
market  as  the  war  continued,  this  forced 
currency  at  an  inflated  value  was  a  comprehen- 
sive confiscation  of  private  property,  which 
infringed  the  provisions  of  the  Hague  Conven- 
tion of  1907  under  Article  46.  On  November  15, 
1914,  von  der  Goltz  had  occasion  to  decree  that 
this  compulsory  rate  of  exchange  might  not  be 
repudiated  by  private  agreement,  and  on 
May  22,  1915,  von  Bissing  took  the  comple- 
mentary step  of  threatening  "  anyone  buying, 
or  attempting  to  buy,  French  gold,  silver, 
nickel  or  paper  at  a  price  in  excess  of  the 
nominal  value"  with  "imprisonment  for  not 
more  than  a  year  and  a  fine  of  not  more  than 
10,000  francs."  But  all  these  measures  of 
spoliation,  though  effective,  were  indirect,  and 
were  far  from  contenting  the  Occupying  Power. 


GERMAN  SOLDIERS  TILLING  THE  LAND 
IN   BELGIUM. 

The  Hague  Convention  of  1907,  concerning 
the  Laws  and  Customs  of  War  on  Land,  is 
explicit  on  the  subject  of  War  Contributions. 
In  Article  49  it  is  laid  down  that  "  if,  in  addition 
to  the  taxes  "  previously  payable  to  the  State, 
"  the  Occupant  levies  other  money  contribu- 
tions in  the  occupied  territory,  they  shall  only 
be  applied  to  the  needs  of  the  Army  or  of  the 
administration  of  the  territory  in  question." 
But  this  Convention,  to  which  the  German 
Government  was  pledged,  was  irreconcileable 
with  their  designs  upon  Belgian  resources,  and 
it  became  evident  that  von  Bissing  meditated 
a  notable  violation  of  it  when  he  published 
(once  more  in  excess  of  his  legitimate  powers) 
the  following  decree  : 

Concerning  the  Summoning   of  the   Provincial   Councils 

in  Special  Session. 

Art.  1. — The  Provincial  Councils  of  the  Belgian 
Provinces  are  summoned  by  these  presents  in  special 
session  for  Saturday,  December  19,  1914,  midday 
(German  time)  .  .  . 

Art.  3. — .  .  .     The  session  will  be  opened  and  closed 
in  the  name  of  the  Imperial  German  Governor-General. 
Art.  4. — The  session  will  not  last  more  than  one  day. 
The  sitting  will  be  behind  closed  doors. 

The  sole  subject  of  discussion,  of  which  the  assembly 
is  hound  to  take  exclusive  cognizance,  is  :  "  Ways  and 
means  of  meeting  the  war  contribution  charged  upon 
the  Belgian  population.*' 

Art.  5. — The  proceedings  are  valid  without  regard  to 
the  number  of  members  present. 

BARON  VON  BISSING. 

Governor -General  in  Belgium. 
Brussels,  December  8,  1014. 

The  sequel  to  the  decree  was  an  order  : 

A  War  Contribution,  amounting  to  40,000,000  francs, 
to  be  paid  in  monthly  instalments  over  the  course  of  a 
year,  is  imposed  on  the  population  of  Belgium. 

The  payment  of  these  sums  devolves  upon  the  Nine 
Provinces,  which  are  held  collectively  responsible  for 
the  discharge  of  it. 

The  two  first  instalments  are  to  be  paid  up,  at  latest, 
on  January  15,  1916,  and  the  following  instalments 
on  the  10th,  at  latest,  of  each  following  month,  to  the 
Viold  Army  Treasury  of  the  Imperial  Governor-General- 
ship  at  Brussels. 

In  case  the  Provinces  have  to  resort  to  the  issue  nf 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


31 


bonds  in  order  to  obtain  the  funds  necessary,  the  form 
and  terms  of  these  bonds  will  be  settled  by  the  Imperial 
Commissary-General  for  the  Banks  in  Belgium. 
BARON  VON  BISSINO, 

Governor -General  in  Belgium. 
Brussels,  December  10,  1914. 

Month  by  month  from  the  date  of  the  order 
this  crushing  toll  was  paid.  It  was  iniquitous 
both  in  amount  and  in  assessment — in  amount 
because  it  was  infinitely  in  excess  of  what  was 
required  for  the  administration  of  the  country 
and  the  maintenance  of  the  occupying  army, 
even  if  the  expenses  of  administration  had  not 
been  covered  already,  as  they  were  covered, 
by  the  ordinary  revenues  of  the  Belgian 
Exchequer,  which  the  Germans  continued  to 
raise.  It  was  iniquitous  in  its  assessment 
because,  to  begin  with,  an  important  part  of 
West  Flanders,  one  of  the  Provinces  saddled 
with  collective  responsibility,  was  not  in 
German  hands,  and  therefore  not  amenable  to 
German  exactions.  But  spoliation  under  this 
head  had  at  any  rate  its  definite  limits.  A 
specific  sum  was  demanded  within  a  specific 


and  of  such  a  nature  as  not  to  involve  the  inhabitants 
in  the  obligation  of  taking  part  in  military  operations 
against  their  own  country. 

Such  requisitions  and  services  shall  only  be  demanded 
on  the  authority  of  the  commander  in  the  locality 
occupied. 

Contributions  in  kind  shall  as  far  as  possible  be  paid 
for  in  ready  money  ;  if  not,  a  receipt  shall  be  given, 
and  the  payment  of  the  amount  due  shall  be  made  as 
soon  as  possible. 

To  this,  too,  Germany  was  pledged,  and 
again  her  pledge  was  incompatible  with  her 
intentions.  It  is  impossible  to  reconcile  the 
Convention  with  the  principle  laid  down  by  the 
German  Headquarters  Staff  on  August  27, 1914: 

The  Landsturm  will  be  called  out  to  secure  the 
lines  of  communication  and  for  the  supervision  of 
Belgium.  The  country,  placed  under  German  adminis. 
tration.  will  have  to  provide  for  military  requirements 
of  all  kinds,  in  order  to  afford  relief  to  German  territory. 

The  application  of  this  principle  was  the 
chef  d'ceuvre  of  German  organization  in  the 
occupied  territory.  Germany  appropriated, 
without  compensation,  the  total  material 
resources  of  the  country,  and  this  was  done  by 
methodical  steps. 


PIGS    FOR    GERMANY    REARED    IN    BELGIUM. 


time  ;  if  the  Provincial  authorities  could  raise 
it,  the  country  was  quit.  It  was  incomparably 
less  onerous  than  requisitions  in  kind,  which 
the  German  administration  inflicted  in  detail 
till  it  had  stripped  Belgium  bare. 

Requisitions,  as  well  as  war  contributions, 
are  dealt  with  in  the  Hague  Convention  of  1907, 
under  Article  52,  and  their  limits  are  defined  in 
a  corresponding  sense. 

Requisitions  in  kind  and  services,  it  is  set  forth,  shall 
not  be  demanded  from  local  authorities  or  inhabitants 
oxccpt  for  the  needs  of  the  Army  of  Occupation.  They 
shall  be  in  proportion  to  the  resources  of  the  country, 


The  first  step  was  to  prohibit  exports — the 
export  of  "  horses,  cattle,  pigs,  sheep  and  all 
kinds  of  foodstuffs,"  for  instance,  by  a  decree 
of  September  30,  1914,  and  of  "all  kinds  of 
fodder  "  by  a  decree  of  December  27.  "  Dis- 
obedience," it  was  announced.  "  will  be 
punished  by  confiscation."* 

*  The  opposite  policy  was  adopted  in  the  case  of 
articles  of  which  the  Central  Empires  possessed  a  surplus. 
For  example,  on  December  10,  1914,  von  Biasing 
signed  a  decree  forbidding  the  import  of  salt  into  the 
occupied  territory  from  countries  at  war  with  Germany, 
thus  giving  a  monopoly  of  imoort  to  the  German  and 
Austrian  salt-producers. 


82 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


The  second  step  was  to  take  a  census  of  all 
that  the  country  contained.  Returns  of  agri- 
lultural  produce  were  demanded  by  von  der 
Goltz  in  a  decree  of  November  1,  1914  :  "  Pro- 
duce not  notified  within  a  term  of  10  days  will 
be  confiscated.  The  public  is  reminded,  by 
the  present  notice,  of  the  prohibition  upon 
exports  already  in  force."  On  December  11 
the  same  order  was  extended  to  "  benzine, 
petrol,  glycerine,  oils  and  fats  of  all  kinds, 
raw  rubber  and  rubber  waste,  pneumatic 


commodities  was  placed  under  the  control  of 
the  Commissary  at  Brussels  of  the  Berlin 
Ministry  of  War,  under  sanction  of  confiscation. 
Finally,  Article  III.  enacted  that : — 

The  Commissary  of  the  Ministry  of  War  may  decide 
that  stocks  of  any  of  the  commodities  enumerated  in 
Art.  1  are  to  be  ceded  in  full  property  either  to  the 
German  Empire  or  to  a  third  party,  in  return  for  their 
money  value.  The  value  of  the  commodities  will  be 
settled  definitely  by  a  commission  appointed  by  the  Ministry 
o}  War  at  Berlin. 

Thus  the  German  principle  of  Requisitions 
amounted  to  this,  that  Germany  placed  an 


REQUISITIONED    CATTLE. 


automobile  tyres,"  and  other  commodities. 
"  The  military  authority  is  to  decide  whether 
the  goods  notified  shall  be  bought  or  left  free 
for  commerce  and  private  use.  In  case  of 
omission  to  notify,  the  goods  will  be  confiscated 
to  the  profit  of  the  State,  and  the  offender 
punished  by  the  military  authority."  On 
January  25,  1915,  again,  both  order  and 
penalty  were  applied  to  a  comprehensive  list 
of  metals,  this  time  unambiguously  "  with  a 
view  to  eventual  purchase." 

But  the  third  step  had  already  been  taken  in 
a  decree  of  October  26,  1914.  The  first  article 
of  this  decree  was  an  enumeration  of  materials 
and  commodities  of  every  conceivable  kind, 
which  was  afterwards  largely  augmented  by 
decrees  of  November  15  and  December  20.* 
My  tin-  second  article  the  export  of  all  these 


•  And  by  constant  subsequent  decrees — e.g.,  on 
O.-iobiT  7.  1916  (compounds  of  sulphur);  onAugust  10 
and  October  17,  1916  (rubber) ;  on  April  22  and  Septem- 
ber 3d.  1'IIIi  (steel). 


embargo  on  the  total  wealth  of  the  occupied 
territory,  made  an  inventory  of  it  at  leisure, 
and  then  compelled  the  private  owners  of  it 
to  part  with  anything  that  the  German  Govern- 
ment or  private  German  firms  (the  "  third 
parties  "  provided  for)  had  a  mind  to  take,  in 
return  for  whatever  compensation,  in  whatever 
form  and  at  whatever  date,  the  German  Ministry 
of  War  saw  fit  to  assign.  And  this  requisitioning 
was  merely  a  supplement  to  the  indiscriminate 
pillage  of  the  three  months  of  invasion,  and  to 
the  direct  contribution  in  money  which  was 
wrung  out  of  the  country,  month  by  month,  so 
long  as  the  occupation  endured. 

These  general  Requisitioning  Decrees  were 
acted  upon  energetically.  Every  timber  mer- 
chant, for  example,  in  the  occupied  territory 
was  served  with  the  following  notice  : — 

Whatever  stock  you  hold,  either  on  your  own  account 
or  on  other  people's,  of  five  to  nine  centimetre  pine 
joists,  of  the  maximum  breadth  and  not  less  than  four 
metres  in  length,  or  of  pine  planks,  likewise  of  the 
m  ixim'im  breadth  and  not  less  than  four  metres  in 


THE    TIMES    H1STUUY    OF    THE    WAR. 


83 


length  by  approximately  2j  centimetres  thickness, 
are  seized  or  requisitioned  by  the  German  Army  Depart- 
ment, and  will  shortly  be  exported  to  Germany. 

You  are  responsible  for  the  preservation,  warranty, 
and  insurance  of  the  goods.  The  price  will  be  fixed 
later  by  the  Ministry  of  War  at  Berlin. 

There  were  certain  things  in  Belgium  which 
the  Germans  coveted  particularly.  Quantities 
of  horses,  for  instance,  of  the  famous  Belgian 
breed  were  stolen  during  the  invasion,  and  in 
October,  1914,  a  special  Commission  was  sent 
by  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  at  Berlin  to  lay 
hands  on  the  rest.  This  Commission  toured  the 
occupied  territory  methodically  and  held 
compulsory  inspections  of  horses  from  place  to 
place.  The  following  proclamation  is  a  specimen 
of  their  work  : — 

General  Dep6t  for  Horses. 

The  Commission  for  the  purchase  of  horses  will  sit 
on  Monday,  November  3,  at  3  o'clock  (4  o'clock  German 
time),  at  the  Grand*  Place,  Thuillies. 

All  harness  and  saddle  horses,  as  well  as  yearling 
foals,  must  be  brought  before  the  Commission. 

Harness  horses,  must,  if  possible,  be  provided  with 
their  working  harness.  Purchases  will  be  paid  for  in 
ready  money  a»id  without  rebate. 

THE  OFFICER  IN  CHARGE  OF  THE  CENTRAL  DEPST  FOB 

HORSES. 

For  the  German  Governor -Generalship. 
Any  persons  neglecting  to  bring  their  horses  before 
the  Commission  will  be  liable  to  have  their  stock  requisi- 
tioned without  compensation. 

The  horses  so  seized  were  transported  to 
Germany  and  sold  at  auction  to  the  German 
farmers  under  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture's 
auspices.  The  German  newspapers  in  the  winter 
of  1914-5  were  full  of  advertisements  of  such 
sales.  Another  object  of  German  covetousness 
was  the  standing  timber,  especially  walnut. 


REQUISITIONED    METAL. 

which  was  felled  wherever  found,  whether  it  was 
the  property  of  the  State,  of  the  Communes,  or 
of  private  individuals.  Leather  was  also  much 
sought  after,  and,  later  on,  again,  it  was  found 
that  the  rails  and  rolling-stock  of  the  Belgian 
light  railways  (chemins  de  fer  vicinaux)  served 
excellently  for  bringing  up  ammunition  to  the 
German  artillery  on  the  western  front.  This 
network  of  light  railways  had  been  laid  in 
Belgium  during  recent  years  at  a  great  capital 
outlay,  and  was  an  integral  factor  in  the 
country's  economic  life.  It  brought  the  products 
of  intensive  agriculture  to  the  urban  markets 
and  enabled  the  workmen  to  reach  the  mines 
and  factories  from  the  villages  in  a  wide  radius 
round.  But  the  Germans  did  not  hesitate  to 
dismantle  these  railways  in  one  section  of  the 
occupied  territory  after  another.  An  even 
more  deadly  form  of  spoliation  was  the  seizure 


GERMAN    SOLDIERS    COLLECTING    OLD    METAL    FOR    MUNITION    WORKS. 


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THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


35 


of  machinery,  which  was  simply  removed  from 
private  factories  in  Belgium  and  sent  by  rail  to 
Germany  to  be  set  up  in  factories  there.  Textile 
machinery  was  especially  raided,  much  of  it 
being  extremely  costly  and  also  impossible  to 
replace  within  any  calculable  period  ;  so  that 
the  industry  of  the  country  was  crippled,  and 
the  industry  of  Germany  correspondingly 
strengthened,  by  an  act  of  sheer  robbery,  not 
only  for  the  duration  of  the  war,  but  for  the 
period  of  reconstruction  to  follow. 

These  seizures  were  robbery  in  the  precise 
sense  of  the  word.  The  Hague  Convention  pre- 
scribes that  "  contributions  in  kind  shall  as  far 
as  possible  be  paid  for  in  ready  money  ;  if  not, 
a  receipt  shall  be  given,  and  the  payment  of  the 
amount  due  shall  be  made  as  soon  as  possible." 
Payment  in  ready  money  was  indeed  fraudu- 
lently promised  in  many  of  the  German  decrees 
and  proclamations  under  which  the  seizures 
were  made.  But  when  the  goods  were  in  the 
Germans'  hands,  the  owners  were  invariably 
paid  in  vouchers  only,  and  these  only  for  a 
fraction  of  the  real  value  of  the  "  requisitioned  " 
object.  Owners  of  horses,  for  instance,  were 
given  vouchers  for  half,  a  third,  or  a  quarter  of 
the  current  price  ;  owners  of  trees  were  given 
vouchers  for  10  francs  for  timber  worth  100  to 
150  francs  in  the  market.  Owners  of  machinery 
were  often  given  no  vouchers  at  all. 

These  various  branches  of  robbery  were 
consolidated  into  one  system  by  von  Bissing  in 
the  following  proclamation,  dated  January  13, 
1915:— 

In  pursuance  of  my  proclamation  of  the  9th  inst. 
I  have  ordered  that,  from  January  15,  1915,  onwards, 
in  the  part  of  Belgium  under  my  Government,  requisi- 
tions without  payment  in  ready  money  shall  not,  as  a 
rule,  be  made. 

If,  in  exceptional  cases,  payment  in  ready  money  it* 
impossible  and  the  requisition  nevertheless  indispens- 
able in  the  interests  of  the  (military)  service,  a  formal 
requisition  voucher  will  be  given.  As  far  as  possible, 
printed  forms  made  out  as  below  will  be  used  for  this 
purpose  : — 


Requisition  Voucher. 

The  undersigned  declares  hereby  that  X., 
at ,  on  the ,  191—,  has,  upon  requisi- 
tion, delivered  to  the  German  Army  goods 

to    the    value    of   . 

(Sura  in  words). 

Specification   of  goods  delivered. 
(Stamp.)  (Date.) 

(Signature,  rank  and  unit.) 

Payable    at     the    Treasury    of    the    Military 
Government  of  the  Province 
.  at 


For  Brussels,  special  regulations  are  in  force. 

This  order  does  not  apply  to  the  wholesale  stocks  of 
rioods  detained  by  the  Military  Administration  at  Antwerp 
and  various  other  places.  For  these,  special  measures 
will  be  taken. 

This  proclamation,  in  which  von  Bissing 
professed  to  regulate  the  payment  of  requisi- 
tions in  ready  money,  simply  confirmed  the 
robbery  already  practised.  The  price  of  his 
promise  of  cash  payment  in  future  was  the 
repudiation  of  payment  of  any  kind  for  goods 
seized  in  the  past— not  only  during  the  three 
months  of  invasion,  but  during  the  first  two 
months  and  a  half  of  peaceful  occupation  under 
his  own  and  von  der  Goltz's  government.  And 
even  this  shadowy  promise  for  the  future  was 
only  extended  to  a  fraction  of  the  property 
threatened,  for  the  great  bulk  of  the  available 
resources  of  the  occupied  territory  was  con- 
centrated in  the  stocks  at  Antwerp  and  other 
places  which  were  specially  excepted  from  the 
provisions  of  the  decree. 

On  March  18,  1915,  the  Acting  President  of 
the  Antwerp  Chamber  of  Commerce  addressed 
a  report  on  the  seizure  of  these  stocks  to  the 
Inter-Communal  Committee  of  the  City,  in 
which  the  following  table  of  Requisitions  was 
worked  out,  up  to  date  : — • 


Value    In 

Material.           francs  of  goods 

Price. 

Payment. 

requisitioned. 

Grain  1     13,000,000 

Settled 

Made 

Linseed       .  . 

2,450,000 

Settled      at 

Made 

Oil-cakes     .  . 

5,000,000 
(whole  stock) 

25  percent,  loss 
Satisfactory 

Made  in  part 

Nitrates      .  . 

4,000,000 

Not  settled 

Not  made 

Animal  and  Vege- 
table Oils 
Petrol  and  Mineral 

(whole  stock) 
6,000,000 
(whole  stock) 
3,000,000 

Not  settled 
Settled     for 

Made  in  part 
Made  for  the 

the  most 

most  part 

Wool    .  .  '   .  .     .  .         «,000,000       Not  settled 

Not  made 

Cotton  1,300,000       Not  settled 

Not  made 

Rubber        .  .      .  .         10.000,000        Not  settled 
Foreign  Leather          20,000,000        Not  .settled 

Not  made 
Not  made 

Hair     
Ivory  (luxuries) 

1,150,000       Not  settled 
785,000        Not  settled 

Not  made 
Not  made 

Wood  

500,000       Settled  tor 

Made  for  the 

the  most 

most  part 

part 

Cocoa  

2,000,000        Notsettled 

Not  made 

Coffee  

275,000 

Not  settled 

Not  made 

Rice     2,000,000 

Settled 

Not  made 

Wines  1,100,000       Partly  settled 

Partly  made 

You  are  expressly  reminded  that  only  those  voucher** 
will  be  honoured  which  shall  have  been  given  after 
January  14,  1915. 


The  total  came  to  85,000,000  francs,  of  which 
only  20,000,000  francs  had  been  paid  ;  and  of 
the  65,000,000  francs  still  owing,  60,000,000 
represented  the  value  of  goods  for  which  the 
price  had  not  yet  been  settled  by  the  Ministry 
of  War  at  Berlin.  These  were  the  figures 
when  Antwerp  had  not  yet  been  six  months 
in  German  hands. 

The  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
further  pointed  out  in  his  Report  that  the  figures 
in  question  only  concerned  stocks  of  raw 
materials,  and  did  not  touch  the  requisitions. 


36 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


from  Belgian  industrial  concerns,  of  raw 
materials,  plant,  and  manufactured  products, 
nor  again  the  requisitions  of  manufactured 
products  from  the  warehouses  of  the  great 
importing  and  exporting  firms.  Since  Antwerp 
was  one  of  the  most  important  centres  of  dis- 
tribution for  the  European  Continent,  the 
goods  in  bond  there  were  of  great  bulk  and 
diversity — "  matches,  type-writers,  children's 
toys,  motor-cars,  ingots  of  metal,  bales  of 
cotton,  wool  and  jute,  colonial  and  tropical 
products."  These  goods  were  carried  off 
wholesale  to  Germany.  And  when  the 
Germans  did  not  find  it  convenient  to  trans- 
port them  for  the  moment,  they  placed  them, 
until  further  notice,  under  embargo.  The 
stocks  thus  held  up  and  withdrawn  from 
trade  and  industry  were  in  some  cases  far 
larger  than  those  actually  taken.  By  the 
table,  for  instance,  the  Germans  had  contented 
themselves  with  requisitioning  275,000  francs 
worth  of  coffee,  but  they  had  placed  the  total 
stock  in  Antwerp  under  embargo,  and  the  value 
of  this  was  60,000,000  francs. 

But  that  was  not  the  limit  of  German  exploita- 
tion. Having  drained  Belgium  of  her  material 
wealth,  the  Occupying  Power  laid  hands  on 
her  human  labour,  and  this  second  field  of 
spoliation  was  deliberately  approached  through 
the  first.  In  stripping  Belgium  of  her  resources, 
the  Germans  brought  about  the  paralysis  of 
her  economic  life.  Her  factories  had  to  shut 
down,  her  workmen  were  thrown  out  of 
employment,  and  unemployment  gave  the 
pretext  for  deportation. 

The  history  of  the  Belgian  Deportations — 
the  infamous  decree  of  October  3,  1916,  the 
steps  by  which  the  Occupying  Authorities 
calculatingly  prepared  for  it,  and  the  inhuman 
fashion  in  which  they  carried  it  out — are  beyond 
the  province  of  the  present  chapter.  It  shall 
only  be  stated  here  that  in  the  Deportations 
the  Germans  found  the  limit — not  of  their 
violence  and  injustice,  nor  of  their  physical 
power,  for  they  could  deport  the  Belgians' 
bodies  as  easily  as  their  goods— but  the  limit 
of  their  will-power  over  the  wills  of  other  men. 

Krnn,  beginning  to  end  of  the  German 
Occupation,  the  will  of  the  Belgian  people 
was  never  broken.  On  the  contrary,  it 
n -covered  from  the  shock  of  the  first  treacherous 
onslaught,"*  and  hardened  under  the  pressure 
of  the  police-regime  which  von  der  Goltz 
and  von  Bissing  imposed.  Every  class  and 


profession,  every  corporation  and  institution, 
found  its  leader,  often  its  martyr,  to  uplift 
its  spirit.  The  King  and  Queen,  driven  from 
the  Belgian  capital,  but  never  from  Belgian 
soil,  were  an  inspiration  to  the  whole  nation 
on  both  sides  of  the  Yser.  Brussels  gave  her 
Burgomaster  Max.  By  September  26,  1914, 
Max  was  deported  to  a  Silesian  fortress — his 
coolness,  courtesy,  and  unflinching  fortitude 
in  office  were  too  damaging  to  German  prestige 
— but  in  five  weeks  he  had  set  the  communes 
and  municipalities  a  standard  which  they 
sustained  for  years.  The  Bar  gave  Theodor, 
the  senior  counsel  to  the  Brussels  Court  of 
Appeal.  M.  Theodor  was  deported  to  Ger- 
many without  trial,  and  was  only  released 
after  seven  months  imprisonment,  by  the 
intervention  of  the  King  of  Spain.  His 
health  was  broken,  but  he  had  made  a  protest 
against  the  usurpation  of  judicial  powers 
which  the  German  Administration  could  not 
live  down.  The  Church  gave  Mercier,  who 
upheld  a  freedom  of  speech  which  the  German 
censorship  could  not  countervail,  and  published 
indictments  which  no  Governor-General  could 
answer.  The  working-class  gave  the  strikers 
who  refused  to  work  for  the  German  Army  at 
Malines  and  Luttre  and  Sweveghem,  and  the 
exiles  who  sang  their  national  hymns  in  the 
trains  that  were  carrying  them  to  Germany. 
This  national  will  could  never  be  bent  to 
German  service,  or  brought  to  acknowledge 
the  title  of  the  Occupying  Power.  Two 
spiritual  forces  were  face  to  face,  and  the  issue 
between  them  was  expressed,  again  and  again, 
in  the  utterances  of  their  protagonists. 
Thus  spake  von  der  Goltz  : — 

The  German  Empire,  Austria-Hungary  and  Turkey 
are  not  to  be  considered,  as  regards  the  Occupied  Terri- 
tory of  Belgium,  as  foreign  or  enemy  powers.  .  .  . 

Anyone,  therefore,  who  attempts  to  hinder  by  con- 
straint, threats,  persuasion,  or  other  means,  in  the 
performance  of  work  destined  for  the  German  Autho- 
rities,  any  persons  willing  to  perform  such  work,  or  any 
contractors  commissioned  by  the  German  Authorities 
to  perform  such  work,  will  be  punished  with  imprison- 
ment. 

The  Military  Tribunals  are  alone  empowered  to  take 
cognizance  of  misdemeanours  under  this  head.  .  . 
I:  MI.  is  VON  DER  Goi/rz,  Field-Marshal, 

Governor-General  in  Belgium. 

Brussels,  November  4,  1914. 

Thus,  again,  spake  von  Bissing  : — 

The  Chief  of  the  Arrondissement  of  Malines  has  in- 
formed me  that  his  proclamation  of  May  25  (1915) 
has  not  induced  a  sufficient  number  of  skilled  workmen 
to  return  to  work  at  the  Arsenal.  ...  I  am,  there- 
fore, obliged  to  punish  the  town  of  Malines  and  its 
neighbourhood,  by  stopping  all  means  of  communication 
until  a  sufficient  number  of  workmen  at  the  Arsenal 
have  returned  to  work  again. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


37 


I,  therefore,  decree  that : 

If  by  Wednesday,  June  2,  at  10.0  a.m.  (German 
time),  500  of  the  workmen  formerly  employed  at  the 
Arsenal  .  .  .  do  not  present  themselves  for  work,  the 
following  restrictions  upon  communication  will  come 
into  force  on  June  3,  at  6.0  a.m.  : 

(A)  The  Railway  Authorities  will  prevent  any  pas- 
sengers travelling  from  the  following  stations.  .  .  .     All 
civilians  will  be  forbidden,  under  threat  of  punishment, 
to  set  foot  in  the  stations  in  question. 

(B)  All  vehicular  traffic,  bicycle,  and  motor  traffic  or 
traffic  on  waterways  and  light-railways,  including  through 
traffic,    will   be   forbidden   in   the   following   area.  .  .  . 
The  rails  of  the  light-railways  will  be  taken  up  at  the 
boundaries  of  the  area  thus  delimited.  .  .  . 

(D'  The  Passport  Office  will  be  closed. 


With  regard  to  this  matter,  I  hereby  give  notice  that 
I  shall  repress,  by  every  means  in  my  power,  such  con- 
spiracies, which  can  only  disturb  the  good  understanding 
existing  up  to  the  present  moment  between  the  said 
officials  and  the  population. 

I  shall  hold  the  communal  authorities  responsible  in 
the  first  place  for  the  increase  of  such  tendencies,  and  I 
further  give  notice  that  the  people  themselves  will  be  to 
blame  if  the  liberty  hitherto  accorded  them  in  the  widest 
fashion  has  to  be 'taken  from  them  and  replaced  by 
restrictive  measures  rendered  necessary  by  their  own 
fault. 

(Signed) 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  COUNT  VON  WESTARP, 

The  Commander  o/  the  Depot. 
Ghent,  June  10,  1915. 


STRIPPING    BELGIUM    OF    HER    TIMBER. 


If  the  economic  life  of  Malines  and  the  neighbourhood, 
which  I  have  taken  special  pains  to  foster,  should  suffer 
gravely  from  the  measures  aforesaid,  the  fault  and  the 
responsibility  will  lie  with  the  workers  at  the  Arsenal, 
in  being  so  short-sighted  as  to  let  themselves  be  influenced 
by  agitators. 

The  Governor-Generals  were,  however,  con- 
stitutionalists compared  with  the  commandants 
in  the  "  Etappen-Zone  "  under  purely  military 
rule.  Here  is  a  proclamation  of  June  10,  1915, 
by  von  Westarp,  Etappen-Kommandant  of  the 
great  Flemish  city  of  Ghent : — 

By  order  of  his  Excellency  the  Inspector  of  the  Depot, 
I  bring  the  following  to  the  notice  of  the  communes. 

The  attitude  of  certain  factories  which,  under  the 
pretext  of  patriotism  and  relying  upon  The  Hague  Con- 
vention, have  refused  to  work  for  the  German  Army, 
proves  that  amongst  the  population  there  are  tendencies 
aiming  at  the  creation  of  difficulties  for  the  officials  of  the 
Cerman  Army. 


But  von  Westarp  was  surpassed  by  his 
colleague,  Hopfer,  at  Tournai.  Hopfer  had 
called  on  the  Municipality  to  furnish  him  with 
a  list  of  unemployed,  to  be  deported  to  Germany 
and  made  to  work  in  German  service  there,  and 
the  Municipality  had  courteously  but  firmly 
refused  "  to  provide  arms,"  as  it  expressed  it, 
"  for  use  against  its  own  children."  To  this 
municipal  resolution  General  Hopfer  made  the 
following  reply  : — 

Tournai..  October  23,  1916. 
No.  17404. 
Mob.  Et.  K.S.  des  IBIK. 

PUNITIVE  TAXATION. 

(ReJ.     Your  letter  of  October  20th,   1916.     No.  7458.) 

In  permitting  itself,  through  the  medium  of  Municipal 

Resolutions,  to  oppose  the  orders  of  the  German  Military 

Authorities  in  the  occupied  territory,  the  City  is  guilt; 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY-  OF    THE    WAR. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    01'    THE    WAN. 


39 


of  an  unexampled  arrogance  and  of  a  complete  misunder- 
standing of  the  situation  created  by  the  state  oi  war. 

The  "  clear  and  simple  situation  "  is  in  reality  the 
following  : — 

The  Military  Authorities  order  the  City  to  obey. 
Otherwise  the  City  must  bear  the  heavy  consequences, 
as  I  have  pointed  out  in  my  previous  explanations. 

The  General  Commanding  the  Army  has  inflicted 
on  the  City — on  account  ot  its  refusal,  up  to  date,  to 
furnish  the  lists  demanded — a  punitive  contribution 
of  200,000  marks,  which  must  be  paid  within  the  next 
six  days,  beginning  with  to-day.  The  General  also  adds 
that  xintil  such  time  as  all  the  lists  demanded  are  in 
his  hands,  for  every  day  in  arrear,  beginning  with 
December  31st,  1916,  a  sum  of  20,000  marks  will  be 
paid  by  the  City. 

(Signed) 

HOPFEK,  Major-General, 
Etappen-Kommandant. 

Thus  the  Germans  did  their  worst,  but  the 
Belgians  knew  how  to  defeat  them.  At  Malines, 
for  instance,  not  a  single  workman  returned  to 
the  Arsenal,  and  after  10  days  von  Bissing 
had  to  remove  his  interdict,  because  the  suspen- 
sion of  traffic  was  preventing  his  own  garrisons 
in  the  neighbourhood  from  receiving  their 
supplies,  and  the  Landsturmers  were  unwilling 
to  go  short  in  order  that  Belgian  workmen 
might  be  "  brought  to  reason."  Von  Bissing 
covered  his  retreat  with  a  lie  and  a  threat : — 

As  a  sufficient  number  of  workmen  have  now  presented 
themselves  at  the  railway  workshops  at  Malines,  the 
measures  of  coercion  decreed  by  my  proclamation  of 
May  30  last  will  be  discontinued  from  midnight  on  the 
night  of  June  11—12.  I  reserve  to  myself  discretion  for 
instantaneously  restoring  these  measures  to  force  if  the 
number  should  diminish  again  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
impede,  in  the  shops,  the  work  necessary  for  the  main- 
tenance of  traffic  on  the  Belgian  railways. 

But  the  truth  was  known  all  over  the  occupied 
territory  within  a  week,  and  was  emphasized 
by  another  victory  for  the  workmen  at  Sweveg- 
hem,  near  Courtrai,  where  they  were  being 
treated  to  the  same  tactics,  because  they 
refused  to  make  barbed  wire  for  the  German 
trenches  on  the  Western  Front.  Von  Bissing 
actually  cut  off  communications  at  Sweveghem 
on  the  same  day  that  he  allowed  traffic  to  be 
resumed  again  at  Malines,  and  the  Burgomaster 
of  the  Commune  was  compelled  to  sign  a 
proclamation  in  the  following  terms  : — 

First-Lieutenant  von  der  Knesebeck,  the  Etappen- 
Kommandant,  constrains  the  Burgomaster  of  Sweveghem 
to  urge  the  workmen  at  the  wire  factory  of  M.  Bakaert 
to  go  on  with  their  work,  and  to  explain  to  them  that  a 
matter  vital  to  the  Commune  is  at  stake.  The  workmen 
may  rest  assured  that,  after  the  war,  they  will  incur  no 
responsibility  for  having  continued  their  work  in  the 
wire  factory,  considering  that  they  have  been  forced 
to  do  so  by  the  German  military  authority.  If  there 
should  be  any  responsibility,  I  take  it  entirely  upon 
myself.  If  work  is  started  again,  all  punishments  will 
cease. 

TH.  TROVE, 

Burgomaster. 


But  the  workmen  read  between  the  Burgo- 
master's lines,  and  the  only  responsibility  which 
weighed  with  them  was  one  which  neither  he 
nor  the  Etappen-Kommandant  could  take  off 
their  shoulders.  For  them  the  "  vital  matter 
at  stake  "  was  to  do  their  duty  as  citizens  of 
Belgium,  and  they  maintained  their  resistance 
till  they  beat  the  Governor-General  as  signally 
as  their  comrades  in  the  railway  shops  at 
Malines. 

The  Germans  were  discomfited  in  little 
things  and  big.  A  little  thing  was  the  prohibi- 
tion against  wearing,  "  even  in  an  unprovocative 
manner,"  the  colours  of  Belgium  and  her  Allies, 
which  produced  a  festival  of  ivy  leaves — Bel- 
gium's national  tree.  The  ivy  leaves  were  sold 
in  the  streets  ;  they  were  worn  in  hats  and 
button-holes  ;  the  horses  had  them  on  their 
harness  ;  and  the  Germans  had  to  shut  their 
eyes.  A  proclamation  against  ivy  leaves  would 
have  been  too  embarrassing  a  document  for 
von  Bissing's  "  Bulletin  of  Laws  and  Decrees." 

A  big  thing  was  the  victory  of  Cardinal 
Mercier,  in  his  Pastoral  Letter  of  Christmas, 
1914.  In  this  address  to  the  clergy  of  his 
diocese,  the  Cardinal  made  a  precise,  documented 
statement  of  some  of  the  crimes  of  the  German 
Invasion,  condemned  them  in  restrained  and 
unanswerable  words,  and  bade  his  fellow- 
countrymen  take  courage  in  the  magnificent 
sacrifice  which  their  country  had  made,  and  the 
hopes  of  restoration  which  the  future  held  in 
store. 

As  soon  as  a  copy  of  this  Pastoral  came  under 
the  German  authorities'  eyes,  they  arrested  the 
diocesan  printer  of  the  Archbishopric  of  Malines 
and  condemned  him  to  a  fine  of  500  marks,  or 
imprisonment  for  30  days.  Perquisitions  were 
made  for  published  copies  at  Malines,  Antwerp, 
Brussels,  and  even  in  the  villages  ;  the  cures 
were  forbidden  to  read  the  letter  from  the 
pulpit,  and  several  were  arrested  for  refusing 
to  pledge  themselves  not  to  do  so.  On  Satur- 
day, January  2,  1915,  an  official  summons 
reached  the  Cardinal  to  appear  before  the 
Governor-General  the  same  morning.  On 
Sunday,  January  3,  the  Governor-General 
forbade  him,  by  telegram,  to  go  to  Antwerp, 
where  he  was  to  have  celebrated  a  service  in 
the  Cathedral.  On  Monday,  January  4,  a 
German  officer  handed  him  a  memorandum 
from  the  Governor-General,  in  which  von 
Bissing  put  on  record,  among  other  things,  that 
the  permission  formerly  granted  to  Cardinal 
Mercier  to  visit  his  fellow-bishops  in  Belgium, 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


was  now  withdrawn.  Von  Biasing's  last  move- 
was  a  communique,  launched  from  his  Press 
Bureau,  to  the  effect  that  "  Cardinal  Mercier's 
pastoral  letter  had  been  subjected  to  no 
restrictions,"  and  this  the  Cardinal  answered  by 
a  circular  letter  in  Latin  to  his  clergy,  dated 
January  10,  in  which  he  exposed  von  Hissing's 
communiqui  as  "  contrary  to  the  truth." 

The  following  proclamation,  posted  in  Alost 
and  other  towns  of  the  Occupied  Zone,  shows 
how  the  Germans  sought,  at  all  costs,  to  silence 
Mercier's  voice  : — 

The  Burgomaster  is  to  inform  the  cures  of  the  com- 
mune that  they  may  not  read  Cardinal  Mercier's  Pastoral 
Letter  aloud,  inasmuch  as  it  may  neither  be  printed  nor 
put  in  circulation.  The  leaflet  in  which  the  Cardinal 
testifies  that  he  has  not  withdrawn  anything  in  his 
Pastoral  Letter  is  to  be  destroyed.  The  Kommandantur 
is  under  orders  to  inflict  severe  penalties  in  the  case  of 
any  infringement  of  this  proclamation. 

THE  GERMAN  KOMMANDANTCR. 

Alost,  January  23,  1915. 

The  Germans  were  right.  It  was  worth  their 
while  to  strip  off  the  mask  and  expose  their 
own  methods  in  Belgium  for  the  lie  and  tyranny 
that  they  were,  if  they  could  by  any  means 
prevent  Cardinal  Mercier  from  revealing  to  his 
countrymen  and  the  world  the  Belgian  people's 
unconquered  soul.  The  Germans  were  beaten, 


and  at  every  crisis  in  the  history  of  the  Occupa- 
tion the  Cardinal  made  his  voice  heard  as 
courageously  as  in  the  last  days  of  1914  ;  but 
perhaps  nothing  he  subsequently  said  or  wrote 
expressed  so  powerfully  as  the  following 
sentences  in  that  first  Pastoral  letter  the  spirit 
against  which  German  methods  could  not 
prevail :— 

The  rights  of  conscience  are  sovereign.  It  would 
have  been  unworthy  of  us  to  take  refuge  in  a  mere  show 
o;  resistance. 

We  do  not  regret  our  first  enthusiasm  ;  we  are  proud 
of  it.  Writing,  in  a  tragic  hour,  a  solemn  page  of  our 
national  history,  we  have  desired  that  page  to  be  sincere 
and  glorious 

We  shall  know  how  to  endure,  as  long  as  endurance 
is  necessary.  .  .  . 

Trial,  in  the  hands  of  the  Divine  Omnipotence,  is  a 
two-edged  sword.  If  you  rebel  against  it,  it  will  wound 
you  to  death  ;  if  you  bow  your  head  and  accept  it,  it 
will  hallow  you.  .  .  . 

Let  us  earn  our  liberation.  Let  us  hasten  it  by 
our  courage,  even  more  than  by  the  prayers  of  our 
lips.  .  .  . 

The  Power  which  has  invaded  our  soil  and  momen- 
tarily occupies  the  greater  part  of  it,  is  not  a  legitimate 
authority.  Therefore,  in  the  secret  of  your  heart, 
you  owe  it  neither  esteem,  nor  attachment,  nor  obedi- 
ence. 

The  only  legitimate  Power  in  Belgium  is  that  which 
belongs  to  our  King,  to  His  Government,  and  to  the 
Representatives  of  the  Nation.  The  King  is  the  only 
authority  we  acknowledge.  He  alone  has  a  right  to 
the  affection  of  our  hearts,  and  to  our  loyalty. 


[By  pfrmtssion  o/  "  I. an  1  (u 

THE    PROMISE. 
From  the  Cartoon  by  Louis  Raemaekers. 

The  British  Government  has  repeatedly  assured  Belgium  that 

•  shall  never  sheath  the  sword  until   she  has  recovere  1  all 

and  more  than  all  that  she  has  sacrificed. 


CHAPTER   CLXVIII. 


SCIENCE  AND  THE  HEALTH  OF 

ARMIES  (II). 

GERM-KILLERS — THE  SEARCH  FOR  THE  IDEAL  ANTISEPTIC — THE  BLOOD  STREAM — DARIN'S  SOLU- 
TION— METHOD  OF  TREATMENT — MEDICAL  RESEARCH  COMMITTEE'S  WORK — DISCOVERY  OF 
"  FLA  VINE  " — ITS  IMPORTANCE — THE  FIGHT  AGAINST  "  SPOTTED  FEVER  " — IDENTIFICATION  OF 
THE  GERMS — PREPARATION  OF  A  SERUM — REMARKABLE  RESULTS — THE  REDUCTION  OF  MORTALITY 
—THE  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  DYSENTERY — "  BISMUTH  EMETINE  " — TYPHOID  FEVER — TYPHUS  IN 
SERBIA — EPIDEMIC  JAUNDICE — JAPANESE  RESEARCH — NEW  VIEWS  OF  MEDICINE. 


IN  an  earlier  chapter*  an  account  has  been 
given  of  the  wonderful  strides  which  were 
made  during  the  early  months  of  the  war 
in  the  recognition  and  treatment  of  disease.  It 
was  shown  that  the  chief  enemy  in  those  days 
was  blood  poisoning  in  wounds,  of  which  indeed 
there  was  a  great  epidemic  extending  over  the 
whole  European  continent,  and  it  was  ex- 
plained in  what  manner  that  epidemic  was 
brought  under  control.  Again,  the  work 
accomplished  against  preventable  diseases  like 
typhoid  fever  was  described  and  an  account 
was  given  of  the  very  successful  mission  under 
Lieut. -Colonel  Leiper  to  find  out  the  cause  of 
Bilharzia  in  Egypt. 

These  early  efforts,  as  was  indicated,  saved 
the  Army  from  any  serious  harm  by  disease  ; 
they  laid  the  foundations  for  future  work  ; 
they  were  an  inspiration  and  an  encourage- 
ment to  the  host  of  toilers  in  this  most  impor- 
tant and  difficult  field.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
refer  again  to  the  vital  character  of  the  infor- 
mation which  they  furnished,  but  if  a  clear  idea 
of  later  developments  is  to  be  gained  some 
indication  must  be  given  of  the  directions  in 
which  that  information  was  faulty. 

In  the  first  place  it  was  soon  evident  that, 
though  the  epidemic  of  blood  poisoning  in 
wounds  had  been  controlled,  it  had  not  been 
mastered.  Valuable  lives  were  still  being  lost 
in  spite  of  all  precautions,  and  none  of  the 

»  Vol.  VI.,  Chapter  XCVII. 
Vol.  XI.— Part  132.  1 


methods  devised  had  attained  to  the  ideal  which 
every  surgeon  saw  clearly  in  front  of  him. 

Thanks  to  the  researches  of  Sir  Almroth 
Wright,  many  misconceptions  with  regard  to 
the  cleansing  and  healing  of  wounds  had  been 
swept  away.  The  old  method  of  treating  a 
wound  was  to  apply  to  it  some  more  or  less 
powerful  germ  killer  and  hope  that  by  this 
means  inflammation  would  be  prevented.  Sir 
Almroth  Wright  pointed  out  the  simple  fact 
that  the  germ-killing  substances  in  general  use 
were  as  damaging  to  the  tissues  of  the  patient 
as  they  were  to  the  invading  microbes. 

The  importance  of  this  fact  is  at  once  evident 
when  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  in  the  last  issue 
it  is  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  wounded  man 
which  protect  him  against  the  germs  of  blood 
poisoning.  In  his  tissues  are  qualities  of  re- 
sistance and  antagonism  to  disease  germs  which 
when  exercised  freely  afford  a  high  degree  of 
safety.  But  an  interference  with  these  powers  of 
protection  which  does  not  at  the  same  time  com- 
pletely destroy  the  invaders  makes  the  second 
case  of  the  wounded  man  worse  than  the  first. 

It  was  thus  possible  to  show  that  antiseptics, 
as  used  in  the  beginning  of  the  war,  were 
inefficient  because  they  inflicted  damage  upon 
the  resisting  powers  of  the  patients  and  because 
they  did  not  penetrate  into  the  recesses  of  the 
wounds  where  the  germs  lurked.  This  state- 
ment was  of  a  revolutionary  character  and  was 
hotly  assailed,  but  no  successful  attempt  was 


42 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


43 


made  to  refute  it.  Attempts  to  find  better 
antiseptics  were,  however,  made  on  every 
hand. 

The  work  on  the  healing  of  wounds  thus 
begun  was  continued  with  zeal,  and  at  a  later 
date  a  number  of  important  conclusions  became 
possible.  It  was  pointed  out,  in  the  first  place, 
that  the  great  work  of  Metehnikoff  must  be 
given  its  due  share  of  consideration.  Metehni- 
koff had  shown  how  certain  of  the  white  cor- 
puscles in  the  blood  are  in  reality  ''  warrior 
cells  "  which,  at  the  coming  of  danger,  go  out 
in  battalions  to  repel  and  destroy  the  invading 
microbes.  This  "  battle  of  the  blood "  had 
been  for  many  years  one  of  the  wonders  of 
medicine,  and  the  truth  of  Metchnikoff's  views 
had  been  proven  to  the  hilt.  Again  and  again 
observers  had  seen  that  strange  marshalling  of 
the  fighting  forces  in  answer  to  what  was  called 
a  "  chemiotactic  influence,"  a  subtle  call  trans- 
mitted along  all  the  blood-ways  of  the  body. 
They  had  watched  the  hastening  of  the  white 
armies  by  a  million  paths  to  the  scene  of  battle. 
They  had  seen  these  fearless  defenders  cast 
themselves  bodily  upon  the  enemy  and  by  the 
enemy  be  stricken  in  their  tens  of  thousands. 
Finally,  they  had  observed  the  coming  of 
victory  when  the  white  warrior  cells,  the 
phagocytes,  were  able  to  swallow  up  and 
digest  the  bodies  of  their  foes. 

The  warrior  cells  came,  travelling,  in  the 
blood  stream.  For  a  time  Metchnikoff's  work 
focused  attention  so  completely  upon  the 
warrior  cells  that  the  properties  of  the  blood 
stream  were  neglected.  For  a  considerable 
period  before  the  war,  however,  this  had  been 
remedied  and  attention  had  been  re-directed 
to  the  importance  of  .the  blood  stream.  It  was 
now,  during  the  war,  demonstrated  again  that 
the  efficiency  of  the  work  of  the  warrior  cells 
depended  in  great  measure  upon  the  state  of 
the  blood  fluid  or  serum. 

In  other  words,  there  were  qualities  in  a 
man's  blood  serum  which  were  of  equal  im- 
portance to  him  with  the  fighting  capacity  of 
his  warrior  cells.  The  chief  of  these  qualities 
was  called  the  "  anti-tryptic  power  " — that  is 
to  say,  the  power  of  antagonizing  the  action 
of  a  ferment  called  trypsin.  When  the  hostile 
germ  began  its  attack  it  found  itself  in  circum- 
stances inimical  to  its  safety  and  well-being. 
It  found  itself  in  a  wound  flooded  with  blood 
serum  having  a  high  "  anti-tryptic  power  "— 
a  power  acting  directly  against  its  tendency 
to  grow  and  multiply,  and  it  found  also  a  host 


of   warrior   cells   moving    in    this    anti-tryptic 
serum  to  attack  it. 

But,  curiously  enough,  the  body  of  each 
warrior  cell  contained  a  quantity  of  the  fer- 
ment trypsin.  So  long  as  the  warrior  cell  lived 
this  trypsin  was  fighting  on  the  side  of  the 
patient,  for  by  means  of  it  the  warrior  cell  was 
able  to  digest  the  germs  it  had  swallowed. 
But  if  the  warrior  cell  died,  then  the  trypsin 
escaped  out  into  the  blood  serum,  where  it 
came  in  contact  with  the  anti-tryptic  power  to 
which  reference  has  been  made.  Trypsin  and 
anti-tryptic  power  cancelled  one  another.  The 
blood  serum  was  deteriorated  as  a  fighting  force, 
for  its  anti-tryptic  power — or,  in  other  words, 
its  anti-bacterial  power — was  lowered. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  invading 
germs,  therefore,  anything  tending  to  kill 
white  warrior  cells  was  of  the  utmost  help. 
By  this  means  not  one  but  two  enemies  were 
disposed  of  ;  the  warrior  cell  itself  was  killed, 
and  the  dead  body  of  the  warrior  cell  helped, 
because  of  its  store  of  trypsin,  to  weaken  the 
fighting  anti-tryptic  quality  of  the  blood  serum. 

This  fact  was  evidently  of  vital  importance. 
This  mysterious,  small  "  laboratory  "  fact 
meant,  clearly  enough,  the  lives  or  the  deaths 
of  fighting  men,  the  value  of  whom  to  their 
country  was  very  great.  Any  agents  which 
hindered  these  protective  forces  of  nature  was 
an  agent  hindering  the  healing  of  wounds  and 
the  recovery  of  wounded  soldiers.  It  was 
thus  an  agent  hindering  the  march  of  armies 
and  giving  help  to  the  enemy. 

This  was  the  essence  of  the  indictment  of  anti- 
septics. It  could  be  and  was  shown  that  the 
vast  majority  of  the  antiseptics  in  use  killed 
white  warrior  cells  more  easily  than  they  killed 
germs.  Thus,  though  they  might  kill  some  of 
the  germs,  they  also  created  a  favoxirable 
"  atmosphere  "  for  germ  growth,  and  so  for 
blood  poisoning.  Worse  still,  by  coagulating 
the  lymph  and  serum  on  the  surface  of  the 
wound  they  actually  made  a  covering  for  the 
germs  under  which,  in  a  blood  serum,  robbed  of 
its  anti-tryptic  power,  they  could  breed  and 
flourish. 

The  immediate  result  of  these  investigations 
was  a  reaction  against  antiseptics  of  the  old 
order — carbolic  acid,  iodine,  and  others.  In- 
stead surgeons  began  to  devote  themselves  to 
considering  in  what  way  they  could  encourage 
and  promote  the  rapid  flow  of  blood  serum,  or 
"  lymph,"  from  wounds,  so  that  the  hostile 
germs  would  be  continually  bathed  in  fresh, 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR 


OPEN-AIR    HOSPITAL    IN    A    WOOD    IN    FRANCE 


[French  official  pMograpk. 


active  serum,  with  undiminished  anti-tryptic 
power. 

Clearly  the  best  way  to  achieve  this  end  was 
to  open  up  all  wounds  thoroughly  so  as  to 
expose  the  microbes  as  much  as  possible,  and 
to  drain  them  thoroughly  so  as  to  carry  away 
all  diminished  blood  serum  and  al!  dead 
warrior  cells,  and  replace  them  by  the  out- 
flowing fresh  serum  and  cells.  It  was  suggested 
that  the  liberal  use  of  very  dilute  salt  water 
("normal  saline  solution")  along  with  citrate 
of  soda  greatly  helped  this  work  by  preventing 
coagulation  of  the  serum  in  the  wound,  and  by 
promoting  a  free  oozing  of  serum  from  the 
wound  walls. 

This  new  surgical  technique  was,  of  course, 
a  vast  improvement  upon  the  old  technique, 
for  it  was  founded  upon  definite  scientific 
principles  applied  after  careful  research.  Very- 
soon  the  effects  of  it  became  evident  in  the 
reduced  casualties  from  blood  poisoning  and 
in  the  increased  attention  paid  to  the  subject 
by  all  surgeons  and  scientific  workers.  Never- 
theless, nil  effort  to  kill  the  germs  in  situ  was 
not  abandoned.  It  was  felt  that  while  every 
effort  should  be  made  to  give  the  powers  of 
nature,  the  white  warrior  cells  and  the  anti- 
tryptic  power  of  the  blood,  free  play,  at  the 


same  time  every  effort  should  also  be  made 
to  devise  means  of  killing  the  germs  without 
harming  the  white  warrior  cells.  In  other 
words,  there  began  at  once  the  search  for  the 
ideal  antiseptic. 

It  had  been  laid  down,  as  the  result  of  the 
early  work,  that  the  ideal  antiseptic  when 
found  must  conform  to  certain  definite  terms. 
These  terms  were  : 

(1)  Great  potency  against  all  germs  in  the 
presence  of  blood  serum. 

(2)  No  harmful  effect  on  the  white  warrior 
cells. 

(3)  Absence  of  irritant  action  on  living  tissues 
in  general,  so  that  it  might  be  applied  to  delicate 
surfaces  such  as  mucous  membranes. 

(4)  A  suitable  stimulant  action  on  repairing 
tissues  so  that  healing  be  encouraged. 

(5)  Non-poisonous  to  any  tissue  of  the  body. 
Thus,  even  if  strychnine  was  the  most  potent 
antiseptic    known,  its   effects   on   the   nervous 
system  would  absolutely  preclude  its  use. 

These  five  terms  were,  it  will  be  seen,  of  a 
most  exacting  kind  and  investigators  might 
well  pause  to  consider  whether  it  was  possible 
to  satisfy  them.  The  need,  however,  was  great, 
for  the  wounds  of  war  were  all  poisoned  wounds, 


THE    TIMES    HI3TOEY    OF     THE    WAR. 


45 


and  every  day  saved  from  the  time  occupied  by 
healing  represented  an  added  efficiency  in 
fighting  force. 

The  first  serious  attempt  to  produce  an  ideal 
antiseptic  has  already  been  mentioned.  The 
substance  was  hypochlorite  of  soda,  and  it  was 
presented  by  Dr.  Dakin  under  the  title  of 
Dakin's  Solution,  and  also  independently  by 
Professor  Lorrain  Smith  and  his  co-workers. 
The  further  developments  of  Dakin's  Solution 


deserve  to  be  recorded,  for  they  were  of  great 
importance  both  from  the  medical  and  the 
military  point  of  view. 

Dakin's  Solution  originally  consisted  of  140 
grammes  of  dry  carbonate  of  soda  dissolved  in 
10  litres  of  water  to  which  200  grammes  of 
chloride  of  lime  and  40  grammes  of  boric  acid 
had  been  added.  This  solution  was  very 
favourably  reported  upon  and  many  surgeons 
began  to  use  it.  Finally  the  distinguished 


AN    OPERATION    BY    JAPANESE    SURGEONS    IN    FRANCE. 


46 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


French  surgeon.  Dr.  Alexis  Carrell,  began  a 
series  of  cases  on  the  solution  at  his  hospital  at. 
Compiegne,  near  the  French  front  line.  Carrell, 
however,  adopted  a  modification  of  the  original 
jolution  introduced  by  Daufresne,  which  con- 


-      ' 


- 


DR.   ALEXIS    CARRELL, 
Inventor  of  the  new  method  of  sterilizing  wounds. 

tabled  no  boric  acid  and  a  smaller  proportion 
of  hypochlorite. 

Carrell's  success  depended  to  a  great  extent, 
upon  his  technique,  but  there  was  no  question 
that  the  antiseptic  was  also  of  great  value, 
even  if  it  did  not,  as  we  shall  presently  see, 
satisfy  all  the  five  terms  of  the  ideal  antiseptic. 
Carrell  based  his  system  upon  very  early 
treatment  of  wounds.  He  advised  that  at  the 
advanced  dressing  station  just  behind  the  lines 
the  skin  surrounding  all  wounds  should  bo 
treated  with  tincture  of  iodine  as  an  early 
measure.  If  the  wound  was  small  or  narrow 
an  injection  into  the  course  of  it  of  Dakin's 
Solution  was  recommended  ;  if  wide  and  freely 
open  it  could  be  packed  with  swabs  soaked  in 
the  solution,  but  the  value  of  these  procedures 
was  problematical. 

At  the  Casualty  Clearing  Station  the  patient 
was  anaesthetised  and  his  wound  thoroughly 
treated.  Bullets  nnd  pieces  of  shell  were 
removed.  The  solution  was  then  injected  into 
the  wound  and  the  cavity  of  the  wound  com- 
pletely filled  with  it.  Some  remarkable  appara- 
tus was  used  in  irrigating  the  wound.  This 
consisted  of  a  number  of  indiarubber  tubes 


arranged  in  connexion  with  a  single  supply 
tube,  like  the  teeth  to  the  stem  of  a  cornb, 
and  perforated  with  many  small  holes.  The 
tubes  were  introduced  into  the  cavity  of  the  , 
wound  so  as  to  allow  the  solution  to  be  well 
sprayed  into  it ;  they  were  kept  in  position  by 
means  of  strips  of  gauze.  The  antiseptic 
solution  was  introduced  into  the  wound  every 
two  hours  by  the  nurse,  who  by  releasing  a 
stop-cock  allowed  just  sufficient  solution  to  fill 
the  wound  full. 

The  solution  was  found  to  be  non-irritating, 
and  thus  it  fulfilled  one  at  least  of  the  terms  of 
the  ideal  antiseptic.  It  was  also  possessed  of 
great  powers  of  dissolving  away  dead  tissue  and 
so  of  cleaning  the  wound.  Further,  it  certainly 
destroyed  the  poison  thrown  out  by  the  germs, 
and  thus  reduced  the  chances  of  damage  to  the 
affected  man. 

No  doubt  could  be  felt  that  this  hypo- 
chlorite solution  marked  a  great  stride  in 


PATHOLOGICAL    MUSEUM    OF    THE 
BLAND-SUTTON    INSTITUTE. 

antiseptic  treatment.  Indeed,  the  proof  was 
given  in  the  fact  that,  after  wounds  had  been 
treated  by  it  for  relatively  short  periods,  it  was 
found  possible  to  stitch  them  up.  The 
character  of  this  advance  is  vinderstood  when 
it  is  remembered  that  in  the  early  days  of  the 
war,  in  the  days  of  the  Marne  and  Ypres,  it 
would  have  been  criminal  folly  to  stitch  up  any 
wound,  no  matter  how  clean  it  might  look. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


There  was  a  saying  in  those  days  that  surgical 
needles  and  sutures  should  be  abolished  from 
the  British  Army  as  a  greater  danger  than  the 
shells  and  bayonets  of  the  enemy. 

This  stitching  up  of  newly  cleansed  wounds 
naturally  aroused  a  great  deal  of  interest,  and 
many  surgeons  investigated  the  matter.  The 
eminent  Belgian  surgeon,  Dr.  Depage,  stated 
that  the  transformation  which  occurred  in  his 
results,  thanks  to  the  new  method,  was  very 
impressive,  that  immediate  complications  be- 


In  virulent  infections  the  number  of  microbes 
counted  at  the  beginning  of  treatment  was 
often  very  great,  and  frequently  the  "  bacterial 
chart "  would  show  oscillations  about  this 
period.  But  the  tendency  of  the  chart  was 
always  downwards  ;  there  was  "  a  descent  of  the 
bacterial  curve."  The  curve,  as  a  rule,  arrived 
at  zero  after  from  five  to  25  days  of  treatment, 
the  rate  depending  naturally  upon  the  depth 
and  character  of  the  wound.  When  the 
bacterial  chart  arrived  at  zero  the  wound  was 


[Official  photograph. 


SERBIAN    DRESSING    STATION    IN    A    MONASTERY. 


came  more  and  more  rare,  and  that  suppura- 
tions disappeared  completely.  Efforts  were 
made  to  test  the  results  obtained  by  examining 
to  see  whether  any  germs  remained  alive  in  the 
wounds  after  they  had  been  cleaned  by  the 
solution.  A  method  was  adopted  by  which  the 
number  of  microbes  present  in  a  wound  during 
the  stages  of  its  evolution  towards  healing  were 
counted  ;  it  was  thus  possible  to  make  com- 
parisons between  cases  treated  by  means  of 
Dakin's  Solution  and  cases  treated  by  other 
means.  Thus  what  were  called  "  bacterial 
charts  "  could  be  drawn  up  which,  at  a  glance, 
showed  the  course  of  the  cleansing  of  the  wound 
«i  germs,  just  as  a  temperature  chart  shows  the 
course  of  a  fever. 


stitched  up.  Dr.  Depage  reported  upon  the  re- 
sults of  137  wounds  stitched  up  after  complete 
cleansing  as  follows  : 

(a.)  Complete  success,  112.  In  these  cases  heal- 
ing was  perfect  on  the  whole  extent  of  the  wound 
and  no  inflammation  of  any  kind  was  observed. 

(6.)  Partial  success,  23.  In  these  cases  some 
slight  inflammation  occurred. 

(c.)  Failures,  2.  Both  these  cases  were 
stitched  up  rather  soon,  but  quickly  recovered 
on  being  re-treated. 

As  these  cases  included  wounds  of  soft  tissues, 
wounds  of  bones  and  joints  and  amputation 
stumps,  the  results  were  good.  Reports  from 
other  surgeons,  notably  Drs.  Dohally  and 
Dumas,  Professors  Poyel,  Turner  and  Chutre, 


48 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


confirmed  them.  Indeed,  it  was  stated  that 
under  the  Carrell  treatment  a  soldier's  stay 
in  hospital  was  very  appreciably  shortened, 
and  that  men  were  able  to  be  discharged 
in  from  four  to  six  weeks  who  would  have 
required  no  less  than  from  three  to  six 
months'  treatment  under  former  methods. 
Professor  Chutre  stated  that  he  was  forced  to 
do  one  amputation  where  formerly  20  had  been 
nece-sary  and  where  there  had  been  10  deaths 
there  wa  now  only  one. 

The  importance  of  this  does  not  need  to  be 
emphasized.  Clearly  the  loss  by  death  or  from 
permanent  or  partial  disability  increased  the 
economic  and  military  value  of  every  indi- 
vidual. Decrease  in  earning  power  was  in  pro- 
portion to  the  permanent  disability  sustained, 
and  the  machinist  or  skilled  mechanic  who 
suffered  the  loss  of  an  arm  became  doubly  a  loss 
to  his  community,  first  by  reason  of  the  pension 
to  which  he  was  entitled,  and  secondly  by  the 
diminution  of  his  productive  capacity.  The 
employment  of  the  Carrell  method  and 
Dakin  Solution  shortened  convalescence  and 
minimized  pain  ;  it  appreciably  reduced  the 
cost  of  hospital  maintenance  and  the  strain 
imposed  on  doctors  and  nurses. 


Excellent  and  valuable  as  these  results  were, 
they  did  not  save  the  Dakin  solution  from  criti- 
cism by  bacteriologists,  who  applied  to  it  the 
rigorous  tests  laid  down  in  respect  of  the  "  ideal 
antiseptic."  Notwithstanding  its  undoubted 
bactericidal  powers,  Dakin's  Solution  did  not 
entirely  satisfy  these  requirements.  It  was 
very  poisonous  to  genus,  but  it  was  also 
poisonous  to  the  white  warrior  cells  ;  in  fact,  its 
value  lay  probably  more  in  its  power  to  destroy 
the  toxines  thrown  out  by  the  genus  of  blood 
poisoning  than  in  its  power  to  kill  the  germs 
themselves. 

Investigation  therefore  proceeded,  and  efforts 
were  redoubled  to  discover  a  substance  which 
should  prove  a  still  nearer  approach  to  the  ideal. 
These  efforts  were  directed  along  lines  which 
the  work  of  Ehrlich  had  made  familiar  to 
medical  science.  Briefly  what  was  aimed  at 
was  a  substance  having  a  "  selective  affinity  " 
for  germs.  Just  as  the  sportsman  condemns 
the  unsportsmanlike  practice  of  "  firing  into 
the  brown  "  and  demands  that  each  "  gun  " 
shall  select  his  bird  and  account  for  it  cleanly, 
so  the  workers  in  this  field  provisionally  con- 
demned the  method  of  using  any  antiseptic 
which  injured  the  patient  as  well  as  the  microbes-. 


OPERATING    THEATRE    OF    LORD    TREDEGAR'S    YACHT 

INTO    A    HOSPITAL    SHIP. 


•LIBERTY,"    CONVERTED 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


49 


WHERE     CROSS    AND    CRESCENT    WORK 

SIDE    BY    SIDE. 
Arrival  of  a  Red  Crescent  train  in  Cairo. 

They  desired  to  possess  a  method  which  would 
enable  them  to  single  out  their  microbe  from 
its  human  surroundings  and  dispose  of  it  with 
speed  and  certainty.  They  demanded,  in  short, 
a  sighted  rifle  to  replace  the  blunderbuss  of 
earlier  days. 

The  quest  was  difficult,  but  not  perhaps  so 
hopeless  as  may  at  first  sight  appear.  The 
thing  had  been  done  already.  It  was  Ehrlich's 
object  to  discover  a  substance  capable  of 
destroying  the  germ  of  syphilis,  the  Spirochaete 
pallida,  without  in  any  way  harming  the 
tissues  of  the  infected  individual.  So  well  did 
he  achieve  his  object  that  salvarsan,  "  606," 
came  to  be  universally  recognised  as  a  sighted 
rifle  of  very  great  accuracy.  In  almost  every 
case  the  bullet  could  be  relied  upon  to  find  its 
intended  billet. 

Remarkable  as  this  was,  it  was  not  the  full 
measure  of  the  accuracy  which  had  already  been 
obtained  by  the  use  of  the  drugs  of  the  aniline 
dye  series  of  which  salvarsan  is  a  member. 
This  accuracy  had  actually  been  increased  and 
developed  so  that  it  was  possible  to  "  hit  "  not 
only  a  particular  germ  but  even  a  small  part 
of  a  particular  germ.  An  allied  parasite,  the 
trypanosome  of  sleeping  sickness,  for  example, 
is  a  small  animal  cell  having  two  nuclei  or 
"  nerve  spots  "  in  it.  One  of  the  nuclei  is 
situated  in  the  body  of  the  trypanosome  and 
the  other  is  situated  in  its  tail  and  is  thus 
known  as  the  "  caudal  nucleus." 


As  the  result  of  investigation  it  was  found 
that  .a  particular  drug  was  able  to  attack  the 
tail  nucleus  without  in  any  other  way  affecting 
the  activity  or  virulent  character  of  the  try- 
panosome. All  that  happened  was  that  try- 
panosomes  exposed  to  this  drug  lost  their  tail 
nuclei.  The  experiment  was  carried  out  by 
inoculating  a  mouse  with  the  parasites  and  treat  • 
ing  it  with  minute  doses  of  the  drug.  A  most 
remarkable  fact  was  that  when  re-inoculated 
into  other  mice  which  had  not  been  treated 
with  the  drug  the  parasites  remained  without 
the  tail  nucleus.  In  other  words,  a  process  of 
germ -evolution  had  been  carried  out. 

Here,  then,  was  an  indication  of  the  extra- 
ordinary degree  of  accuracy  it  was  possible  to 
obtain  if  only  the  right  drug  could  be  found 
for  the  purpose  in  hand.  The  purpose  in  hand 
was  the  destruction  of  the  various  bacteria 
which  are  found  in  most  ordinary  war -wounds, 
notably  the  so-called  cocci — the  streptococcus, 
the  slapfif/lococcus,  and  also  the  bacillus  coli 
commiinis  and  other  forms. 

The   work   was   carried    out    at    the   Bland- 


60 


THE    TIMES    HlSTOliY    OF    THE    WAR. 


STREPTOCOCCI    IN    PUS. 

Sutton  Institute  of  Pathology  of  the  Middlesex 
Hospital  by  Dr.  C.  H.  Browning,  Director  of  the 
Institute,  and  his  assistants,  Drs.  Kennaway 
and  Thornton  and  Miss  Gulbransen,  and  their 
report  was  presented  to  the  Medical  Research 
Committee  under  the  National  Insurance  Act. 

This  work  began  with  a  clear  recognition  of 
the  defects  of  other  antiseptics.  In  the  first 
place  Dr.  Browning  satisfied  himself  that  one 
of  the  reasons  why  ordinary  antiseptics  failed 
was  that  they  entered  into  combination  with 
materials  in  the  blood  in  the  same  manner  in 
which  iron  enters  into  combination  to  form 
rust.  Let  it  be  supposed  that  a  piece  of 
iron  of  a  certain  strength  is  required  for  a 
purpose,  but  that  in  process  of  performing  that 
purpose  half  the  iron  is  rusted  away,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  purpose  will  not  be  efficiently  per- 
formed. More  than  half  the  ordinary  anti- 
septics were  "  rusted  away  "  by  means  of  the 
materials  in  the  blood  and  tissues  which  com- 
bined with  them  and  rendered  them  inert. 

In  the  second  place  it  was  found  that  the 
ordinary  antiseptics  destroyed  the  life  of 
the  cells  of  the  patient's  body  and  prevented 
or  inhibited  the  attacking  power  of  the  white 
warrior  cells,  thus,  as  has  been  explained, 
depriving  the  patient  of  one  of  his  most  im- 
portant weapons  in  combating  local  infection. 

Thirdly,  the  antiseptics,  by  destroying  the 
patient's  tissues,  produced  layers  of  dead 
material  which  acted  as  screens  to  the  germs 
lying  under  them  and  protected  these  germs, 
thus  affording  them  every  chance  of  growth  and 
action.  Finally,  the  antiseptics  were  deficient 
in  penetrating  power,  and  so  did  not  reach  the 
deep-seated  microbes  in  wounds. 


STAPHYLOCOCCI    IN    PUS. 

The  first  step  was  to  test  all  the  best  known 
antiseptics — and  this  will  give  some  idea  of  the 
vast  amount  of  careful  and  detailed  work 
accomplished — according  to  a  definite  plan. 
The  series  tested  included  carbolic  acid,  mercury 
perchloride  ("corrosive  sublimate"),  iodine, 
Dakin's  Solution  and  Daufresne's  modification 
of  Dakin's  Solution,  and  chlorine  water.  The 
three  points  specially  investigated  were  the 
effects  of  these  antiseptics  on  the  work  of  the 
white  warrior  cells,  their  effect  upon  the  body 
tissues  of  the  patient,  and  the  difference,  if  any, 
of  their  action  upon  germs  in  water  and  in 
blood  serum. 

In  regard  to  carbolic  acid  it  was  found  that 
it  acted  as  well  in  blood  serum  as  in  water,  but 
that  while  1  part  in  250  dilution  was  required  to 
kill  cocci,  1  part  in  500  dilution  prevented  the 
action  of  the  white  warrior  cells.  That  is  to 
say  that  long  before  the  strength  necessary  to 
kill  the  germs  had  been  reached  the  beneficial 
action  of  the  warrior  cells  had  been  interfered 
with. 

In  the  case  of  iodine  matters  were  even  worse, 
for  while  iodine  killed  cocci  in  strength  1  part 
in  10,000  dilution  if  the  cocci  were  in  water,  it 
would  not  kill  them  at  this  strength  if  they 
were  in  blood  serum,  i.e.,  if  they  were  in  their 
natural  surroundings.  In  that  case  a  strength 
of  1  part  in  700  was  necessary.  On  the  other 
hand,  iodine  prevented  the  action  of  the  white 
warrior  cells  in  strengths  of  1  part  in  3,500. 
Here,  again,  long  before  the  antiseptic  was 
strong  enough  to  do  the  cocci  any  harm,  it  had 
tlirown  the  patient's  own  mechanism  of  defence 
out  of  working  order. 

"  Corrosive    sublimate,"    or    perchloride    of 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


51 


mercury,  was  next  tested,  it  being  a  prime 
favourite  with  surgeons.  This  substance  killed 
cocci  in  strengths  of  1  part  in  1,000,000  in  water ; 
but  in  blood  serum  strengths  of  1  part  in  10,000 
were  required,  the  potency  of  the  antiseptic 
falling  actually  100  times  on  account  of  loss  by 
combination  with  materials  in  the  blood.. 
Corrosive  sublimate  prevented  the  action  of 
the  white  warrior  cells  at  strengths  of  1  part 
in  7,000  dilution.  This  antiseptic,  therefore, 
killed  cocci  in  blood  at  a  less  strength  than  that 
at  which  it  prevented  warrior  cell  activity,  and 
so  approached  nearer  to  the  ideal  antiseptic 
than  either  carbolic  acid  or  iodine.  The 
difference  between  concentration  of  1  part  in 
10,000,  at  which  it  killed  cocci,  and  1  part  in 
7,000,  at  which  it  interfered  with  warrior  cell 
action,  was  not  very  great,  and  also  it  was  a 
powerful  poison  for  all  the  tissues. 

The  results,  with  the  modification  of  Dakin's 
Solution  referred  to,  in  CarrelPs  work  were  that 
while  it  killed  cocci  in  strengths  of  1  part  in 
4,000  in  water,  as  reckoned  by  its  content  in 
"  available  "  chlorine,  strengths  of  1  part  in 
1,000  were  required  in  blood  serum.  On  the 


other  hand,  warrior  cell  activity  was  prevented 
at  strengths  of  1.  part  in  4,000. 

The  immense  importance  of  this  work  does 
not  need  to  be  emphasized.  Here  was  proof 
that  all  the  best  known  and  most  valued 
antiseptics  actually  defeated  the  work  of  the 
warrior  cells  of  the  blood  before  they  began  to 
accomplish  their  own  work — the  destruction 
of  the  germs.  Yet,  in  spite  of  this,  there  could 
be  little  doubt  that  one  of  these  antiseptics, 
Dakin's  Solution,  was  a  valuable  help  to  surgery. 
How  much  more  valuable  would  not  the  help 
be  of  a  substance  free  from  detrimental  action 
upon  the  warrior  cells. 


1HE    BLAND-SUTTON    INSTITUTE    OF    PATHOLOGY:    EXTERIOR    AND 
BACTERIOLOGICAL    LABORATORY. 

132-3 


52 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


The  ground  having  been  cleared,  efforts  were 
now  directed  to  testing  a  series  of  aniline  dye? 
which,  in  a  general  way,  were  known  to  possess 
antiseptic  powers.  It  is  not  necessary  to  detain 
the  reader  with  details  of  this  work.  Various 
substances,  among  them  "  malachite  green," 
"  crystal  violet  "  and  "  brilliant  green,"  were 
investigated,  and  then  finally  Dr.  Browning 
arrived  at  "  flavine." 

The  results  of  the  tests  of  this  remarkable 
substance  showed  at  once  that  a  new  sphere 
had  been  entered.  In  the  first  place  flavine 
proved  to  be  exactly  a  hundred  times  more 
powerful  as  a  destroyer  of  cocci  in  blood  serum 
than  in  water.  This  was  in  marked  contradis- 
tinction to  the  action  of  "  corrosive  sublimate," 
which  was  a  hundred  times  less  powerful  in  blood 
serum  than  in  water.  Again,  flavine  killed  cocci 
in  serum  in  strengths  of  1  part  in  200,000,  while 
it  did  not  interfere  with  the  action  of  the  white 
warrior  cells  until  strengths  of  1  part  in  500  had 
been  reached.  That  is  to  say,  that  cocci  were 
killed  by  this  drug  400  times  as  easily  as  warrior 
cells  were  affected,  or  in  other  words  that  you , 
had  to  multiply  the  lethal  dose  for  cocci  by  400 
before  you  could  make  any  adverse  impression 
upon  the  patient's  own  mechanism  of  defence. 
Flavine  was  also  by  far  the  most  potent  anti- 
septic known  against  bacillus  coli,  an  important 
organism  which  causes  suppuration,  especially 
in  connexion  with  the  bowel  ;  suppurative  ap- 
pendicitis is  a  condition  in  which  bacilli  coli  is 
responsible  for  most  of  the  evil. 

Thus  of  all  the  antiseptics  examined  flavine 
was  far  and  away  the  best.  It  had  great  anti- 
septic power  combined  with  practically  no 
toxic  power  toward  the  warrior  cells,  and  it 
was  entirely  free  from  irritating  qualities  so 
far  as  the  patient's  tissues  were  concerned. 
The  next  step  was  to  put  it  to  the  test  of  actual 
use  in  wound  surgery. 

The  results  happily  bore  out  the  scientific  data 
in  a  very  complete  manner,  and  under  clinical 
test  it  was  evident  that  the  claims  made  on  its 
behalf  had  been  substantiated.  It  proved 
entirely  non-irritating  to  patients'  tissues,  and 
there  were  no  ganeral  or  local  ill-effects  from 
its  use.  On  the  other  hand,  wounds  healed  up 
with  surprising  rapidity  when  it  was  used. 

In  one  case  a  wound  of  the  hand  had  been 
un-ler  medical  care  for  two  weeks.  The  third 
fing,»r  of  the  hand  was  at  least  twice  its  normal 
si/.e  :  it  was  livid,  the  skin  was  shiny,  and  there 
were  two  open  sores  upon  it.  It  seemed  certain 
that  the  finger  must  }>e  lost.  An  operation 


was  performed,  and  flavine  applied  to  the 
finger.  The  result  was  that  within  14  days 
there  was  no  trace  of  suppuration,  and  the 
finger  had  resumed  its  normal  size.  In  another 
case,  also  a  hand  wound,  treatment  had  been 
continued  for  three  weeks.  The  hand  was  as 
thick  as  it  was  broad,  and  there  was  a  sore  in  the 
palm.  Flavine  was  syringed  in  and  boric 
fomentations  used,  and  in  three  days  the  hand 
resumed  its  normal  size. 

A  case  of  gunshot  wound  of  the  arm  was 
operated  on  in  France,  an  amputation  being 
performed.  The  "  stump "  became  heavily 
infected,  but  after  treatment  by  flavine  for 
one  week  the  wound  became  clean.  A  re- 
amputation  was  then  performed,  and  this 
healed  up  healthily  without  any  inflammation. 
In  another  case  a  leg  had  been  removed,  and 
the  stump  had  become  very  dirty.  Treatment 
with  "  eusol  " — i.e.,  one  of  the  hypochlorite 
solution* — was  carried  out  for  three  weeks 
without  definite  result.  After  four  days' 
treatment  with  flavine  the  wound  had  entirely 
ceased  to  give  trouble,  and  it  quickly  healed  up. 

In  shrapnel  wounds  a  clean  surface  might 
always  be  expected  in  four  or  five  days.  The 
absence  of  any  deterrent  effect  from  the  drug 
on  the  process  of  healing  and  repair  of  the 
tissues  was  also  revealed  in  every  instance. 
Thus  flavine  actually  satisfied  all  the  tests  of 
the  ideal  antiseptic  ;  it  had  (1)  great  potency 
against  germs  in  the  presence  of  blood  serum  : 
(2)  no  deleterious  effects  on  the  white  warrior 
cells  ;  (3)  no  irritant  action  on  living  tissues  in 
general,  so  that  it  could  be  applied  to  delicate 
surfaces  such  as  mucous  membranes  ;  (4)  a 
suitable  stimulating  effect  on  the  repair  of  the 
tissues  ;  and  (5)  no  poisonous  effect  upon  any 
'special  tissue.  It  was,  in  short,  the  weapon  of 
precision  which  had  been  so  eagerly  sought. 

White  this  great  work  was  going  on,  other 
work  had  been  begun  in  connexion  with  one  of 
the  deadliest  diseases  known  to  medicine — 
etrehro-spinal  fever,  popularly  called  "  spotted 
fever."  "  Spotted  fever  "  is  the  dread  of  armies, 
for  it  tends  to  break  out  whenever  large  bodies  of 
menarecongregatedtogether.  Soonafter  the  great 
recruiting  campaign  began  in  England  in  the 
first  period  of  the  war,  and  the  new  formations 
were  sent  out  to  be  trained,  this  scourge  made 
its  appearance.  Cases  were  reported  from  all 
parts  of  the  country.  Many  deaths  occurred. 
The  utmost  anxiety  prevailed,  the  more  so 
because,  in  the  public  rnind,  the  disease  was 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


53 


CHEMOTHERAPEUTFC  LABORATORY. 


protected.  The  defending  forces  lacked  almost 
everything  which,  in  this  war,  makes  for  victory. 
Yet  the  assaults  of  the  enemy  were  so  severe 
that  counter-attack  was  absolutely  necessary. 

Time  was  short,  and  the  work  to  be  accom- 
plished apparently  very  great.  Happily,  in 
this  case  as  in  so  many  other  cases,  Sir  Alfred 
Keogh,  the  Director-General  of  the  Army 
Medical  Services,  saw  the  right  thing  to  do, 
and  did  it  at  once  with  all  his  might.  He  decided 
upon  a  great  mass  attack  upon  the  stronghold  of 
the  enemy,  and  he  resolved  to  enlist  in  this 
attack  the  very  best  brains  which  the  scientific 


BLAND-SUTTON   INSTITUTE:   CHEMICAL 
LABORATORY. 

regarded  as  being  very  infectious.  Its  sudden 
onset,  the  extreme  severity  of  the  symptoms, 
the  dramatic  character  of  some  of  these  symp- 
toms— instantaneous  blindness  and  deafness, 
for  example — caused  it  to  be  regarded  with 
lively  terror. 

Very  soon  it  became  evident  that  a  serious 
epidemic  was  to  be  feared  unless  instant 
measures  were  taken  to  cope  with  the  trouble. 
Unhappily,  knowledge  of  the  disease  was  frag- 
mentary and  unsatisfactory,  and  no  cure 
worth  the  name  of  cure  was  known  to  medical 
science.  Beyond  the  fact  that  an  organism 
could  be  found  in  the  fluid  surrounding  the 
brain  and  spinal  cord,  and  that  this  fluid  was 
usually  greatly  increased  in  amount  so  that 
pressure  was  exerted  on  the  brain,  there  was  no 
authentic  information.  The  battle  began  with 
the  enemy  strongly  entrenched  and  powerfully 


SEROLOG1CAL  LABORATORY. 

world  was  able  to  offer  him.  In  January,  1915, 
he  invited  the  Medical  Research  Committee 
to  assist  him,  and  a  plan  of  campaign  wr.s 
immediately  drawn  up. 

It  was  manifest  in  the  first  place  that,  as 
knowledge  of  the  character  of  the  disease  was 
faulty  and  inaccurate,  it  was  necessary  not  only 
to  provide  for  the  immediate  application  in 


54 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


preventive  work  of  what  was  certainly  known, 
but  also  to  arrange  for  organized  research  work 
to  improve  knowledge  and  make  further 
administrative  action  possible. 

The  Medical  Research  Committee  therefore 
appointed  Dr.  Mervyn  Gordon,  assistant  patho- 
logist to  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital,  who  had 
formerly  done  the  chief  work  in  England  in 
connexion  with  the  disease,  to  be  their  bacterio- 
logist, and  they  further  supplied  him  with  expert 
help.  They  placed  him  face  to  face  with  his 
problem  and  they  left  him  to  solve  it  on  behalf 
of  the  War  Office  and  the  country  as  best  he 
might.  Dr.  Gordon  was  gazetted  Lt. -Colonel 
on  his  appointment. 


MENINGOCOCCI, 
From  a  case  of  cerebro-spinal  meningitis. 

In  point  of  fact  a  great  declaration  of  war 
upon  one  of  the  most  dangerous  and  implacable 
of  the  foes  of  armies  had  been  made.  The 
enemy,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  was  well  en- 
trenched ;  the  attacking  force  lacked  almost 
everything  except  support  and  a  good  courage. 
So  the  war  began.  Colonel  Gordon,  like  a  wise 
general,  sat  down  and  put  the  facts  he  had 
already  gathered  about  this  enemy  on  paper 
before  him.  One  thing  was  certain.  Extensive 
bacteriological  observations  made  during  pre- 
vious outbreaks  of  the  disease  had  shown  that 
no  matter  in  what  country  it  appeared  it  was 
invariably  associated  with  the  presence  of  one 
particular  germ,  the  so-called  meningococcus  of 
WciehseUmum.  This  meningococcus  had  come 
to  be  regarded  as  the  cause  of  the  disease. 

Another  point,  about  which  some  definite 
information  existed,  was  that  previous  outbreaks 
had  seemed  to  indicate  that  the  chief  mode  of 


the  spread  of  the  disease  was  by  healthy 
"  carriers,"  who  carried  the  germ  in  their  noses 
and  throats  but  did'  not  themselves  show  any 
symptoms.  These  carriers  were  exceedingly 
liable  to  infect  other  people.  It  was  thought 
that  the  average  time  of  "  carrying  "  the  germ 
in  this  way  was  about  three  or  four  weeks. 

Possessed  of  this  rather  slender  information, 
Colonel  Gordon  came  to  the  conclusion  that  his 
first  duty  was  to  isolate  every  case  as  it  arose, 
to  segregate,  etc.,  all  "  contacts,"  i.e.,  people  who 
might  have  been  in  contact  with  the  cases 
before  they  actually  took  ill,  and  who  might 
therefore  be  harbouring  the  infection,  and  to 
make  careful  examinations  of  all  the  bacteria 
present  in  the  noses  and  throats  of  these 
"  contacts." 

The  aim  was  to  check  the  disease  without 
disturbing  the  organization  of  the  troops  more 
than  might  be  absolutely  necessary,  for  those 
were  the  fierce  days  of  1915  when  England  was 
calling  for  men  to  defend  her  at  Neuve  Chapelle , 
on  the  second  battlefield  of  Ypres,  at  Festubert 
and  at  Loos.  It  was  decided  that  all  those 
who  were  found  to  be  free  from  the  meningo- 
coccus were  to  be  returned  to  duty  with  the 
smallest  possible  delay  ;  those,  on  the  other 
hand,  who  were  found  to  harbour  in  their 
nasopharynx  any  micro-organism  indistinguish- 
able from  the  meningococcus  were  to  be  kept  in 
isolation  until  such  time  as  they  were  free  from 
it. 

It  was  not  perhaps  a  dramatic  plan  of  cam- 
paign; but  it  was  an  eminently  common-sense 
one.  The  methods  were  old — isolation,  segrega- 
tion, bacteriological  examination.  No  "  bril- 
liant new  method  "  was  included  in  the  scheme. 
But  what  was  included  in  the  scheme  was  a  deter- 
mination that  it  should  be  carried  out  with 
vigorous  thoroughness  and  that  it  should  ex- 
pand with  expanding  knowledge.  The  question 
of  preventive  inoculation  was  considered,  only 
to  be  put  aside.  There  was  not  enough  know- 
ledge available  to  justify  the  proceeding. 

The  next  step  was  to  issue  as  orders  these 
first  lines  of  attack,  and  a  War  Office  memoran- 
dum was  accordingly  sent  out  giving  full  in- 
structions to  the  medical  officers  in  charge  of 
the  troops.  It  was  insisted  that  the  orders  be 
most  strictly  followed,  and  it  was  soon  found 
that  where  they  were  strictly  followed  it  was 
possible  to  release  70  per  cent,  of  the  "  contacts  " 
within  twenty-four  hours  and  the  majority  of 
the  rest  within  a  further  interval  of  from  two 
to  four  days.  This,  as  will  be  seen,  was  a  great 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


65 


step,  for  it  gave  security  without  any  serious 
interference  with  military  training. 

It  was  necessary,  however,  to  have  certain 
facilities.  In  the  first  place  a  practical  method 
of  identifying  the  meningococcus,  then  a  series 
of  laboratories  within  easy  access  of  the  various 
military  camps  all  over  the  country,  finally 
bacteriologists  to  work  in  the  laboratories  who 
svere  capable  of  identifying  the  meningococcus, 
and  laboratory  assistants  to  help  them. 

This  meant,  of  course,  a  big  organisation. 
It  meant  that  a  "  G.H.Q."  was  essential,  a 
General  Head-Quarters  which  should  form  an 
administrative  centre  and  also  a  research  centre; 
it  meant,  too,  that  the  needs  of  the  "  front  " 
must  be  met  by  local  stations  ;  these  must  again 
be  supplemented  by  one  or  two  laboratories 
capable  of  being  rushed  at  short  notice  to  a 
storm  centre. 

A  Central  Cerebro-Spinal  Laboratory  was 
accordingly  equipped  at  the  Royal  Army  Medi- 
cal College,  and  37  district  laboratories  were 
started  or  co-opted  at  points  throughout  the 
country  where  it  had  been  decided  at  the  War 
Office  that  they  were  likely  to  be  of  most 
service.  The  central  laboratory  supplied  the 
district  laboratories  with  the  necessary  material 
for  examining  cases— for  example,  swabs — and 
also  with  the  necessary  "  media  "  for  growing 


cultures  of  the  bacteria.  By  this  means  the 
materials  were  able  to  be  obtained  with  greater 
speed  and  also  economy  was  effected  in  their 
preparation. 

The  Central  Laboratory,  or  G.H.Q. ,  how- 
ever, was  by  no  means  intended  to  be  a  dis- 
tributing station  only.  It  was  also  to  serve 
as  a  training  school  for  new  workers,  a  kind  of 
cadet  establishment.  Advice  was  rendered, 
and  courses  of  instruction  in  the  disease  were 
given  to  officers  of  the  Royal  Army  Medical 
Corps  sent  for  the  purpose.  Further,  non- 
commissioned officers  and  men  of  the  Royal 
Army  Medical  Corps  were  also  trained  at  the 
Central  Laboratory  in  the  making  of  media, 
swabs,  and  other  appliances. 

Finally,  the  Central  Laboratory  had  its 
Intelligence  Department,  or  Research  Depart- 
ment, where  knowledge  about  the  enemy  was 
gathered  and  investigations  into  his  modes  of 
attack  were  carried  out.  The  district  labora- 
tories were  formed  on  a  plan  elaborated  at  the 
War  Office  by  Colonel  Horrocks  and  Surgeon  - 
Colonel  Reece.  The  laboratories  were  placed 
in  carefully  and  specially  chosen  sites,  though 
if  accommodation  was  already  available  it  was 
made  use  of. 

The  personnel  of  the  Central  Laboratory 
was  a  matter  of  anxious  care,  for  upon  this 


THE    MOTOR    LABORATORY. 


56 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


clearly  depended  in  great  measure  the  success 
of  the  campaign.  Major  Hine  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  media  and  supply  department 
and  the  training  of  laboratory  assistants.  He 
also  assisted  in  the  training  of  officers,  and  he 
was  in  charge  of  the  Motor  Laboratory  which 
waited  to  be  sent  to  places  of  special  pressure. 
Further,  he  looked  after  the  accounts.  Other 
workers  were  Mr.  E.  C.  Murray,  Lieutenant 
Tulloch,  Captain  R.  R.  Armstrong,  Captain 
Davies,  and  Captain  Martin  Flack.  In  the 
hands  of  Colonel  Gordon,  as  Commander-in- 
Chief,  remained  the  direction  of  the  whole 
effort  and  also  the  carrying  out  of  .special 
research  work. 

The  campaign  was  now  opened.  Means  had 
been  found  to  isolate  every  case  of  the  disease, 
to  segregate  every  "  contact,"  and  to  examine 
the  bacteria  present  in  the  nose  and  throat  of 
every  contact  in  order  to  determine  whether  or 
not  he  harboured  the  meningococcu*  The  next 


SALINE 
SOLUTION 
OF   RABBITS 
BLOOD 


APPARATUS  FOR  THE  PREPARATION  OF 

CULTURE    MEDIUM    FOR   THE   GROWTH 

OF    MENINGOCOCCI. 


step  was  to  study  and.  if  possible,  improve  the 
methods  of  identifying  the  jneningococcun,  and 
distinguishing  it  from  the  many  other  similar 
cocci  which  inhabit  the  nose  and  throat,  but 
which  are  not  the  cause  of  "  spotted  fever.'" 

It  was  known  that  one  peculiarity  of  the 
meningococcus  was  that  it  would  not  grow 
upon  a  culture  medium  called  "  Nasgar  "  if  the 
temperature  was  kept  at  23°  centigrade.  This 
however,  was  a  somewhat  difficult  method  to 
apply,  and  so  another  test  was  taken  into  con- 
sideration. This  was  known  as  the  "  agglu- 
tination test."  The  agglutination  test  depends 
on  the  fact  that  if  a  man  has  become  infected 
with  a  disease  his  blood  at  once  develops  an 
antidote  to  that  disease.  If  the  antidote  is 
strong  enough  the  man  recovers,  if  not  he  dies. 
The  antidote  has  the  power  to  kill  the  bacteria 
of  the  disease.  Thus  if  a  drop  of  blood  of  a 
patient  suffering  from  "  spotted  fever "  is 
brought  into  contact  with  some  of  the  germs 
of  the  disease,  the  ineningococci,  those  germs 
will  be  killed.  On  the  other  hand,  if  a  drop  of 
the  blood  of  a  healthy  man  which  contains,  of 
course,  no  antidote,  is  added  to  them  the 
germs  will  not  be  affected.  The  destruction  of 
the  germs  by  the  antidote  is  spoken  of  n,s 
"bacteriolysis."  The  antidote  serum  has  the 
property  of  causing  the  germs  to  gather  into 
clumps.  This  is  known  as  agglutination. 

Clearly  this  method  of  agglutination  forms  a 
double  test.  On  the  one  hand,  it  will  tell 
whether  or  not  a  patient  has  got  a  particular 
disease — Kloes  his  blood  agglutinate  the 
bacteria  of  that  disease  ?  On  the  other  hand, 
it  will  distinguish  the  bacteria  of  one  disease 
from  the  bacteria  of  all  other  diseases,  for  only 
the  bacteria  of  the  actual  disease  under  con- 
sideration will  be  agglutinated  by  the  blood 
of  a  man  affected  by  the  disease.  All  other 
bacteria  will  remain  unaffected. 

Upon  a  property  akin  to  this  power  to 
agglutinate  had  been  founded  the  treatment 
by  sera — notably  the  treatment  of  diphtheria 
by  anti-diphtheria  serum  ;  in  this  ca  e  the 
poisons  of  the  diphtheria  bacilli  are  acted  on 
by  the  antoxic  serum  and  neutralized.  An 
attempt  had  also  been  made  to  use  a 
serum  against  the  meningococous  of  "  spotted 
fever "  —  that  is  to  say,  to  use  some  of 
the  antidote  developed  in  the  blood  of  an 
infected  person  or  animal  in  order  to  kill  the 
infection  in  the  blood  of  some  other  infected 
person  or  animal.  But  while  the  serum  or 
blood  antidote  against  diphtheria  had  proved 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


57 


an  unqualified  success,  the  serum  or  blood 
antidote  against  "  spotted  fever "  was  most 
unreliable  and  unsatisfactory. 

It  was  the  first  business  of  the  Central 
Laboratory  to  ask  why  the  anti-meningococcutt 
serum  had  failed.  The  question  was  re-stated, 
some  available  serum  being  brought  into  con- 
tact with  meningococci  from  the  epidemic.  The 
serum  entirely  failed  to  destroy  the  meningo- 
cocci as  it  would  have  destroyed  them  had  it 
possessed  antidotal  powers  to  their  poisons. 
The  obvious  inference  was  that  the  animal 
from  which  this  serum  had  been  obtained  had 
not  been  infected  with  the  same  kind  of  menin- 
gococcus  as  that  with  which  the  soldiers  in  this 
epidemic  were  infected. 

This  at  once  opened  up  the  question  whether 
there  might  not  be  several  types  of  the  meningo- 
coccal  germ,  each  capable  of  producing  the 
disease,  but  each  sharply  differentiated  from 
the  others.  The  intelligence  department  of 
the  Central  Laboratory  became  exceedingly 
busy  with  this  idea  at  once,  as  busy  as  the 
intelligence  department  of  a  great  army  in  its 
work  of  identifying  enemy  units. 

But  it  was  not  only  the  intelligence  depart- 
ment which  became  busy.  No  matter  how 
many  types  of  meningococci  there  might  be,  the 
immediate  necessity  was  a  serum  powerful  as 
an  antidote  against  the  type  found  in  this 
epidemic.  The  first  thing,  therefore,  which  it 
was  needful  to  do  was  to  prepare  such  a 
serum. 

The  preparation  of  a  serum  is  no  easy  or 
rapid  work.  In  order  to  carry  it  out  an 
animal  hati  to  be  slowly  "  immunized  "  or  ren- 
dered insusceptible  to  the  particular  germs 
against  which  the  serum  is  to  act — that  is  to 
say,  an  animal  has  to  be  given  very  minute  doses 
of  the  disease  poison  from  tim  to  time  until 
its  blood  develops  a  great  quantity  of  antidote 
to  the  poison  and  it  can  tolerate  huge  doses 
without  trouble.  (A  comparable  process  is 
that  by  which  a  man  accustoms  himself  to  the 
use  of  tobacco  and  opium.  A  few  drops  of 
laudanum  will  kill  a  novice  at  opium-taking  ; 
de  Quincey,  on  the  other  hand,  was  able  to 
swallow  half-a-pint  of  the  drug  at  a  time.) 

It  w  is  usually  considered  necessary  to  devote 
a  month  or  six  weeks  to  the  immunizing 
of  an  animal  from  which  a  serum  was  to  be 
obtained.  But  the  needs  of  the  soldiers  in  th) 
"spotted  fever  "  epidemic  were  far  too  urgent 
to  allow  of  this  long  delay.  A  quicker  method 
of  serum  preparation  must  be  found,  an  "  in- 


THE  AGGLUTINATION  TEST 
For  ascertaining  the  presence  or  absence  of 
meningococci  in  suspected  cases.  Tubes  1  and  3 
positive  (tube  3  has  been  shaken  to  show  the 
flocculi  of  agglutinated  cocci),  Tube  2  negative 
result. 

tensive  "  method,  capable  of  giving  results  in  a 
short  space  of  time. 

Happily  some  work  had  already  been  per- 
formed on  this  subject.  It  had  been  found 
that  if  a  rabbit  was  "  saturated  "  with  "  spotted 
fever  "  poison  it  did  not  necessarily  succumb 
at  once.  If  the  "  saturation  "  was  carefully 
controlled  the  rabbit  recovered,  and  its  blood 
very  quickly  gained  an  antidotal  power.  A 
series  of  experiments  was  therefore  planned 
for  the  purpose  of  proving  this  statement,  upon 
the  accuracy  of  which  clearly  many  lives 
might  depend. 

Major  Hine  found  that  serum  with  a  high  anti- 
dotal or  agglutinating  power  could  be  obtained 
in  eight  days  by  giving  a  young  rabbit  three 
doses  of  1,000,000,000  killed  meningororci 
into  a  vein  at  intervals  of  an  hour  on  the  first 
day.  Thus  at  once  a  plentiful  supply  of  serum 
which  could  be  prepared  by  means  of  the  germs 
actually  found  in  the  patients'  bodies  became 
available.  There  was  no  longer  the  fear  that  th« 


58 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


serum  might  be  powerful  only  against  some 
form  of  germ  which  was  not  present  in  the 
epidemic  and  powerless  against  the  form  which 
was  present.  The  new  serum  was  "  made  to 
measure,"  if  the  expression  may  be  used  ;  it 
was  bound  to  fit,  though  whether  it  would 
actually  be  able  to  effect  cures  remained  to  be 
proved. 

The  intelligence   department  of  the  Central 


Laboratory  met  with  very  considerable  success 
in  its  early  efforts  to  identify  the  types  of 
enemy  which  were  being  encountered.  No  one 
unacquainted  with  bacteriological  methods  can 
have  any  idea  of  the  amount  of  patience  and 
care  needed  for  this  work — detective  work  of 
the  very  subtlest  kind.  These  doctors  were  not 
looking,  be  it  remembered,  for  a  new  germ  ; 
they  were  looking  for  differences  between  germs 


THE    INTERIOR    OF    THE    MOTOR    LABORATORY, 
Fitted  with  incubators,  sterilizers,  microscope,  blowpipe,  chemicals,  tools,  &c. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


which  appeared  under  the  microscope  to  be 
exactly  the  same,  which  acted  in  the  same 
manner  and  which  produced  the  same  disease. 

It  is  often  difficult  enough  to  distinguish 
be  i ween  members  of  the  same  family.  How 
much  more  difficult  to  distinguish  between 
minute  particles  of  living  matter  requiring  the 
highest  powers  of  the  microscope  for  their 
detection !  Yet  the  task  was  undertaken  in  the 
full  assurance  that,  given  energy  and  patience, 
it  could  be  accomplished.  Modern  bacterio- 
logy had  placed  many  clues  in  the  hands  of 
these  detectives  of  disease. 

The  first  step  was  to  determine  whether 
certain  cocci  which  looked  exactly  like  the 
meningococci  and  which  had  been  found  in  the 
throats  and  noses  of  suspected  "  carriers  "  of 
"  spotted  fever  "  were  or  were  not  identical  with 
the  meningococci  of  the  outbreak.  A  first  in- 
vestigation was  carried  out  upon  six  separate 
cocci.  Of  these  four  were  typical  meningococci 
(meningococcus  I.,  II.,  III.,  and  IV. )  taken  from 
recent  cases  of  "  spotted  fever."  The  fifth  was 
a  coccus  indistinguishable  from  the  meningo- 
coccus  in  shape  and  method  of  growing.  It 
came  from  the  throat  of  an  officer  who  was 
suspected  of  being  a  "  carrier."  The  sixth 
coccus  came  from  the  throat  of  a  soldier  who 
suffered  from  an  inflammation  of  his  throat  at 
that  time  prevalent  in  a  certain  regiment.  It 
was  also  indistinguishable  from  -the  true 
meningococcua. 

The  first  step  was  to  prepare  a  serum  by 
treating  a  rabbit  with  one  of  the  four  meningo- 
cocci from  the  declared  cases  of  "  spotted 
fever."  This  was  done,  the  rabbit  being  given 
a  number  of  doses  of  meningococcus  No.  I. 
until  its  blood  had  produced  a  powerful  anti- 
dote. In  this  antidote-containing  rabbit 
serum  a  few  of  each  of  the  four  meningococci 
from  the  declared  cases  of  "  spotted  fever " 
were  now  placed.  The  rabbit  serum,  of  course, 
at  once  agglutinated  the  meningococcus  No.  I. 
by  means  of  which  its  antidotal  power  had  been 
developed.  But  it  also  destroyed,  and  with 
equal  facility,  meningococci  Nos.  II.,  III.,  and 
IV.  The  presumption  was,  of  course,  that 
meningococci  I.,  II.,  III.,  and  IV.  were  germs 
of  identical  type  or  strain,  and  that  what  was  an 
antidote  for  any  one  of  them  was  an  antidote 
for  all. 

Next  the  cocci  from  the  throat  of  the  officer 
suspected  of  being  a  "  carrier  "  were  placed  in 
the  serum.  They  were  affected  to  a  certain 
extent,  but  not  so  much  as  the  meningococci 


had  been.  In  order  to  determine  whether  they 
were  being  affected  by  the  antidote  agglutinin 
itself,  or  only — as  frequently  occurs — by  some 
other  substance  in  the  serum,  the  serum  in  which 
they  had  been  placed  was  now  used  again,  some 
meningococci  from  the  "  spotted  fever  "  cases 
being  put  into  it.  This  serum  which  had  been 
used  to  test  the  cocci  from  the  officer's  throat 
was  then  found  to  be  just  as  powerful  as  ever 
against  the  meningococci  from  the  "  spotted 
fever  "  cases.  In  other  words,  it  had  not  lost 
any  of  its  specific  power  as  a  result  of  dealing 
with  the  cocci  from  the  officer's  throat  (which 
would  have  occurred  had  these  been  identical 
with  the  true  meningococci  of  "  spotted  fever.") 
That  is  to  say,  in  the  case  of  the  cocci  from  the 
officer's  throat  the  key  had  not  fitted- the  lock 
and  so  none  of  the  goods  had  been  stolen.  The 
goods  were  all  there  when  a  key  which  did  fit 
the  lock  was  used. 

In  the  sixth  case — the  coccus  from  the 
throat  of  the  soldier — exactly  the  same  thing 
happened  as  had  happened  in  the  fifth  case. 
None  of  the  special  antidote  was  used  up.  It 
was,  therefore,  a  fair  conclusion  that  while  all 
the  four  meningococci  (Nos.  I .  IT.,  III.  and  IV.) 
were  identical,  the  two  cocci  which  appeared 
exactly  like  the  meningococci  belonged,  in  fact, 
to  a  different  family  and  category. 

But  there  was  a  second  conclusion  to  be 
drawn,  and  one  of  very  great  practical  im- 
portance. As  has  already  been  stated,  there 
was  an  "  anti-meningococcal  serum "  on  the 
market  at  the  time  when  this  work  began. 
That  serum  had  been  prepared  from  meningo- 
cocci taken  from  "  spotted  fever  "  cases  in  an 
earlier  epidemic.  Presumably  it  was  potent 
against  these  meningococci  from  which  it  had 
been  prepared.  But  it  was  not  potent  against 
the  meningococci  of  this  outbreak.  Therefore 
at  least  two  separate  types  of  true  meningo- 
cocci existed,  each  type  being  able  to  cause  the 
disease  "  spotted  fever." 

The  next  step,  therefore,  was  to  collect  a 
large  number  of  true  meningococci  from  a  large 
number  of  different  cases  in  different  parts  of 
the  country  and  to  compare  them  so  as  to  find 
out  whether  in  this  particular  outbreak  all  were 
of  the  same  breed  or  not.  Thirty -two  different 
"  strains "  of  meningococci  were  accordingly 
obtained,  and  a  rabbit  was  prepared  in  the  usual 
way  against  one  of  the  32  strains.  Then  one 
by  one  each  of  the  32  strains  was  tested  by 
means  of  the  serum  of  the  prepared  rabbit. 

The  result  was  that  the  antidote  containing 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


PREPARATIONS    FOR    VACCINATION 

rabbit  serum  prepared  by  means  of  one  of  the 
32  strains  of  meningococci  was  found  to  destroy 
19  out  of  the  32  strains.  The  remaining  13 
strains  were  not  destroyed,  and  did  not  use  up 
any  of  the  antidote.  Accordingly  the  19 
meningococci  were  grouped  together  and  classed 
as  Type  I. 

Next,  another  rabbit  was  prepared  with  one 
of  the  remaining  13  strains  of  meningococci 
which  were  not  affected  by  the  antidote  con- 
taining serum  of  the  first  rabbit.  Each  of  the 
32  strains  of  meningococci  was  tested  by  means 
of  the  serum  of  this  second  rabbit,  with  the 
result  that  eight  of  them  were  destroyed,  and 
the  remaining  24  were  not  affected.  The  eight 
strains  of  meningococci  which  were  destroyed  by 
this  second  serum  were  grouped  together  and 
classed  as  Type  II. 

j  There  thus  remained  five  strains  of  nifiiin- 
gococci  out  of  the  original  32  which  had  not 
been  affected  by  either  the  first  or  second 
antidote-containing  sorum.  A  third  rabbit 
was  accordingly  prepared  in  the  same  way  by 
means  nf  one  of  these  five  remaining  strains  of 
meningococci.  and  all  the  32  strains  were  tested 
in  the  resulting.'  serum.  It  was  found  that  only 
four  strains  of  meningococci  were  destroyed  by 
this  third  serum.  These  four  strains  belonged 


AGAINST    TYPHOID    IN    FRANCE. 

to  the  still  unclassified  group  of  five  strains 
which  had  been  unaffected  by  the  first  and 
second  antidote-containing  sera.  They  were 
therefore  classified  as  Type  III. 

That  left  one  strain  only  unclassified.  A 
fourth  rabbit  was  prepared  with  this  one  strain, 
and  the  whole  32  strains  were  tested  by  means 
of  the  serum  which  resulted.  Only  one  strain 
was  destroyed — the  strain  by  means  of  which 
the  rabbit  had  been  prepared.  This  strain 
was  therefore  classed  as  Type  IV. 

Thus  of  the  32  meningococci  investigated 
there  were  found  to  be  19  of  Type  I.,  8  of 
Type  II.,  4  of  Type  III.,  and  1  of  Type  IV. 
Here,  then,  was  the  answer  to  the  question  why 
the  serum  which  was  on  the  market  at  the 
beginning  of  the  epidemic  was  useless.  It  was 
useless  because  it  was  a  serum  containing  the 
antidote  to  a  type  met  with  only  seldom  in 
this  epidemic.  In  order  to  be  of  any  vise  a 
serum  must  clearly  contain  the  exact  antidote 
of  the  type  of  meningococcus  actually  present 
in  the  case  treated  by  it. 

This  was  a  discovery  of  enormous  importance 
and  of  revolutionary  character.  It  meant  that 
a  new  epoch  in  the  diagnosis  and  treatment  of 
this  terrible  disease  had  been  opened.  The  old 
days  of  groping  in  darkness,  of  bitter  disap- 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


61 


INOCULATING    FRENCH    SOLDIERS    TO    THE    MUSIC    OF    A    GRAMOPHONE. 


pointment  with  serum  treatment  in  one  case  and 
lively  hope  in  another  (depending  on  whether 
the  serum  used  matched  the  type  of  germ 
present),  were  past  for  ever.  Exact  knowledge 
ushered  in  the  period  of  exact  methods  of 
attack.  Already  tho  intelligence  department 
of  the  Central  Laboratory  had  justified  itself 
by  getting  into  close  touch  with  the  enemy. 

The  first  investigation,  to  which  reference 
has  been  made,  had  shown  that  some  suspected 
carriers  had  cocci  in  their  throats  which  did  not 
react  to  one  type  of  seriun  prepared  by  means 
of  some  true  meningococci.  This  investigation 
was  now  carried  a  stage  farther,  and  all  the 
meningococcus-like  organisms  which  had  been 
secured  from  suspected  carriers  were  examined 
by  means  of  the  four  separate  types  of  sera. 
Each  serum  related  to  one  special  type  of 
germ.  The  result  was  that  while  several  of 
these  cocci  were  incriminated  as  belonging  to 
one  or  other  of  the  four  types,  the  majority 
were  acquitted. 

Here,  then,  was  a  simple  and  a  rapid  method 
of  dealing  with  any  case  which  might  arise.  As 
soon  as  the  man  was  suspected  of  being  a' 
carrier  of  the  disease  a  swab  must  be  taken 
from  his  throat  and  all  the  germs  in  his  throat 


grown  on  culture  media.  These  germs  must 
then  be  tested  by  means  of  the  four  "  type 
sera."  If  they  happened  to  be  destroyed  by 
any  one  of  these  sera  then  they  would  be  classed 
as  belonging  to  the  type  to  which  the  serum 
that  destroyed  them  belonged  ;  if  they  did  not 
happen  to  be  destroyed  by  any  one  of  these 
type  sera,  then  the  patient  could  be  acquitted 
forthwith. 

This  knowledge  was  rapidly  disseminated 
from  G.H.Q.  to  the  various  fronts.  By  the 
financial  assistance  of  the  Medical  Research 
Committee  outfits  containing  specimens  of  each 
of  the  four  types  of  meningococci  and  also  sam- 
ples of  each  of  the  four  type  sera  were  dis- 
patched with  full  directions  how  to  use  them 
to  the  district  laboratories.  It  was  urged  that 
the  exact  type  of  meningococcu^  present  in 
cases,  carriers  and  contacts,  should  be  deter- 
mined in  every  instance.  Sera  for  treatment  of 
each  of  the  types  were  also  prepared  and  sent 
out. 

The  main  issue  had  now  been  settled — that 
there  were  four  types  of  this  mcningococnu. 
But  it  remained  to  settle  some  lesser  questions 
upon  which  the  full  success  of  the  work  depend- 
ed. The  first  of  these  related  to  the  distri- 


62 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


[French  official  photograph. 


LIEUTENANT    BEUXIN,    ANALYST    TO    THE    FRENCH    ARMY,    EXAMINING 

GERMAN    PROJECTILES. 


bution  of  the  types  throughout  the  country. 
It  was  found  that  the  meningococci  coming 
from  military  cases  during  1915  were  chiefly 
specimens  of  Type  I.  at  first,  but  that,  as  the 
outbreak  progressed,  Type  II.  became  more 
abundant.  When  the  disease  declined  during 
the  summer  of  1915  several  specimens  of  Type 
III.  were  met  with,  and  the  solitary  specimen 
of  Type  IV.  which  was  found  also  dated  from 
the  late  stages  of  this  1915  outbreak.  It  was 
also  noted  that  when  the  disease  returned  in 
the  last  months  of  1915  first  of  all  Type  I. 
reappeared,  to  be  shortly  succeeded  by  Type 
II.,  which  then  became  the  predominant  type. 
The  epidemic  of  1916,  however,  was  remarkable 
for  an  increase  in  the  number  of  cases  due  to 
Type  IV.  A  relatively  large  number  of  cases  of 
Type  II.  were  met  with  in  the  London  district. 

The  next  question  was  :  Does  more  than  one 
type  of  meningococcus  occur  in  the  fluid  sur- 
rounding the  brain  in  any  one  case  of  "  spotted 
fever  "  ?  The  answer  was  obtained  by  collect- 
ing a  number  of  cases  and  testing  the  bacteria 
found  in  them  by  means  of  the  type  sera.  In 
every  instance  in  which  the  brain  fluid  was 
examined  in  this  way  one  type  of  meningococcus 
and  one  type  only  was  discovered. 

This  important  discovery  settled  the  diffi- 
culty of  "  mixed "  infections  and  gave  the 
doctor  treating  "  spotted  fever  "  the  assurance 
that  in  any  one  case  he  had  but  one  type  of 
germ  to  fight  against.  It  was  soon  followed 
by  the  discovery  that  the  type  found  in  the 
brain  fluid  was  also  always  the  same  as  the 


type  found  in  the  nose  and  throat  of  the  same 
patient. 

This,  again,  was  of  the  highest  importance, 
because  it  had  come  to  be  recognized  that  this 
disease,  "spotted  fever,"  begins  when  the 
germ  makes  its  way  from  throat  or  nose  through 
the  skull  to  the  brain  fluid.  Here  was  con- 
firmation of  that  view.  Moreover,  when 
suspicion  rested  upon  a  case  it  was  now  only 
necessary  to  examine  a  swab  from  the  throat — 
a  much,  easier  matter  than  drawing  fluid  off 
from  brain  and  spinal  cord.  On  the  result  of 
the  examination  of  the  throat  swab  a  diagnosis 
could  be  made  forthwith  and  treatment 
begun,  thus  saving  valuable  time  and  affording 
the  patient  a  much  better  chance. 

Further,  the  fact  that  the  meningococcus 
was  found  to  be  always  present  in  the  naso- 
pharyngeal  secretion  at  the  beginning  of  an 
attack,  and  that  it  was  constantly  of  the  same 
type  as  the  meningococcus  in  the  brain  fluid, 
indicated  unmistakably  that  every  case  of 
''spotted  fever  "  was  in  reality  an  instance  of  a 
carrier  developing  the  disease.  The  fact 
that  if  the  germs  obtained  from  any  case  were 
inoculated  into  animals,  these  animals 
invariably  became  infected  with  the  same 
type  as  that  injected  into  them,  and  never 
harboured  any  other  type,  was  convincing 
proof  that  in  this  disease  "type  breeds  true," 
or.  in  other  words,  that  while  Types  I.,  II.,  III., 
and  IV.  produce  much  the  same  symptoms 
in  the  people  they  infect,  they  are  nevertheless 
entirely  distinct  and  different  organisms  which 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


63 


never  in  any  circumstances  "  change  into  " 
other  forms,  but  which  always  maintain  their 
own  characteristics. 

This  work  furnished,  as  will  be  seen,  weapons 
against  the  disease  which  were  bound  to  prove 
successful  if  used  with  courage  and  care.  Not 
a  moment  was  lost  in  bringing  the  full  force  of 
the  new  knowledge  to  bear  upon  the  disease. 
The  following  example  shows,  indeed,  how 
thoroughly  and  even  unsparingly  the  know- 
ledge was  applied. 

An  outbreak  of  the  fever  was  notified  from 
a  large  garrison  town  in  the  spring  of  1916. 
Captain  Armstrong,  at  that  time  attached  to 
the  Central  Laboratory,  was  sent  down  to 
assist  in  the  identification  of  carriers.  He 
took  immediate  and  what  might  at  one  time 
have  been  regarded  as  drastic  steps.  He 
proceeded  to  swab  not  only  the  immediate 
contacts — i.e.,  persons  who  had  been  in  contact 
with  victims  oi  the  disease  during  the  incuba- 
tion period — but  also  a  very  large  section  of  the 
entire  garrison  who,  so  far  as  could  be  ascer- 
tained, had  not  been  in  direct  contact  with  the 
actual  cases.  "  In  this  way,"  runs  the  report 
of  Colonel  Gordon  to  the  Medical  Research 
Committee,  "  he  and  his  assistants  examined 
the  naso -pharynx  of  some  10,000  men,  the  vast 
majority  of  whom  had  been  in  no  direct  contact 
with  the  cases.  As  the  result  of  this  extensive 
swabbing,  Captain  Armstrong  provisionally 
isolated  410  men  as  being  carriers  of  an 


organism  closely  resembling  the  meningo- 
coccus.  At  this  point  Captain  Armstrong  was 
unavoidably  detached  for  duty  elsewhere,  and 
Lieutenant  W.  J.  Tulloch,  K.A.M.C.,  attached 
to  the  Central  Laboratory,  was  sent  down 
in  the  motor  laboratory  to  investigate  .  .  .  th> 
cocci  present  in  the  naso-pharynx  of  the  men 
provisionally  placed  in  isolation  by  Captain 
Armstrong."  Of  these  410  men,  86  had 
become  free  of  suspicious  organisms  by  the 
time  of  Lieutenant  Tulloch's  first  visit  and  were 
discharged.  All  of  the  remaining  324  yielded 
meningococcus-like  organisms.  When  these 
organisms  were  tested  by  means  of  sera 
Types  I.,  II.,  and  IV.  (the  types  found  present 
in  this  outbreak)  no  less  than  103  showed  no 
specific  effect,  i.e.,  they  were  not  affected  by 
the  sera.  The  men  carrying  these  unaffected 
organisms  were  accordingly  set  free.  The 
remaining  221  cocci  showed  definitely  positiv 
results,  and  it  was  found  possible  in  the  case  of 
193  of  these  to  relegate  them  to  their  exact 
type  forthwith.  The  results  were  as  follows  : 

Specimens  examined,  193 ;  Type  I.,  30 ; 
Type  II.,  72  ;  Type  IV.,  71. 

The  report  concluded  :  "  Evidence  of  the 
efficacy  of  Captain  Armstrong's  work  is  afforded 
by  the  fact  that  in  spite  of  the  large  number  of 
men  examined  in  this  infected  garrison,  no 
single  instance  came  to  notice  of  a  man  passed 
by  him  as  a  negative  either  developing  the 
disease  or  transmitting  it  to  another." 


PASTEUR    INSTITUTE    AT    ALGIERS. 
Preparation  of  Serum. 


\ 


64 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


A  routine  procedure  was  now  established 
in  all  cases  of  outbreak.  When  information  of 
a  suspected  case  of  "  spotted  fever  "  was  re- 
ceived, and  if  the  case  was  already  in  hospital, 
details  as  to  his  unit  were  ascertained  at  once  by 
telephone.  If  the  unit  was  in  the  London  area, 
the  immediate  contacts  were  segregated  by  tele- 
phone pending  investigation  of  the  case.  If  it 
appeared  in  the  least  degree  probable  that  the 
case  was  one  of  cerebro -spinal  fever,  a  quantity 
of  fluid  was  at  once  drawn  off  from  the  fluid  sur- 
rounding the  brain  and  spinal  cord.  A  quantity 


at  once,  i.e.,  rubbed  over  a  layer  of  medium  in  a 
glass  dish  so  as  to  convey  the  germs  on  the 
swab  to  the  medium  for  hatching  and  growth  ; 
the  "plates"  were  carried  in  heated  water — 
jacketed  tins  supplied  for  the  purpose.  Actual 
cases  of  the  disease  were  treated  in  special 
wards  ;  positive  carriers  were  sent  to  isolation 
wards  at  another  military  hospital. 

The  treatment  of  actual  cases  was  carried 
out  under  the  care  of  Captain  A.  C.  E.  Gray, 
and  by  means  of  the  new  polyvalent  serum 
called  the  "  Millbank-Lister  Institute  Serum." 


PASTEUR    INSTITUTE    AT    ALGIERS. 
Triturating  the  Vaccine. 


of  serum  was  then  injected  into  this  brain  fluid 
— what  is  known  as  a  polyvalent  serum  being 
used,  i.e.,  a  mixture  of  the  four  sera  for  Types  I., 
II.,  III.,  and  IV.,  so  that  no  matter  which  type 
of  germ  was  present,  it  would  be  attacked  at  once 
while  bacteriological  investigation  was  going  on. 
A  naso-pharyngeal  swab  was  also  taken. 

The  "  hospital  contacts  "  were  determined 
by  various  considerations.  If  the  case  had 
been  admitted  but  a  few  hours  it  was  thought 
sufficient  to  swab  the  patients  in  the  two  or 
three  beds  on  either  side,  and  in  the  four  or 
five  beds  opposite,  together  with  the  nurses  and 
orderlies  ;  but  if  the  case  had  been  longer  in  the 
wards,  a  more  complete  examination  was  carried 
out. '  Regimental  contacts  were  dealt  with  in 
the  same  way.  AH  swabs  were  "  plated " 


The  patient  got  his  first  dose  of  this  serum 
when  the  fluid  was  drawn  from  his  spine.  A 
second  dose  and  a  third  at  intervals  of  24  hours 
were  given  as  soon  as  he  reached  the  special 
wards,  and  this  irrespective  of  the  amount  of 
improvement  which  had  taken  place.  Generally 
speaking,  a  case  of  average  severity  required 
from  four  to  six  doses,  very  severe  cases  from 
six  to  ten  doses,  while  cases  which  failed  to 
improve  before  ten  doses  of  serum  had  been 
given  usually  proved  fatal.  The  injections 
were  continued  xintil  the  patient's  temperature 
had  been  normal  for  at  least  two  days. 

It  was  found  that  if  treatment  was  begun 
before  the  seventh  day  of  the  disease  the  mor- 
tality was  about  13  per  cent.,  whereas  if  it  wns 
begun  on  the  third  day,  or  earlier,  the  mortality 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


was  only  9  per  cent.  The  vast  importance  of 
early  diagnosis  was  thus  made  evident,  and 
the  careful  work  accomplished  to  enable  early 
diagnosis  to  be  made  justified  to  the  full. 

These  mortality  percentages — 13  and  9— 
are  seen  in  their  true  light  when  they  are  com- 
pared with  the  mortality  percentages  from 
this  disease  which  prevailed  before  the  Mill- 
bank-Lister  serum  was  available.  In  those 
days  the  mortality  percentage  varied  from  40 
to  60  per  cent.,  the  course  of  the  disease  was 
much  more  protracted,  the  symptoms  much 


Two  parts  of  this  three-fold  problem  had 
now  been  solved.  A  method  of  examining 
and  segregating  contacts  had  been  devised 
and  what  amounted  to  a  cure  of  the  disease — if 
given  early  enough — had  been  found.  In  order 
to  complete  the  work  it  was  necessary  to 
devise  some  means  of  curing  carriers  and 
rendering  them  safe. 

The  carrier  problem  had  for  long  been 
one  of  the  most  perplexing  of  all  medical  pro- 
blems. It  was  known,  for  example,  that  many 


more  severe,  and  the  complications  and  after 
troubles  more  frequent. 

This  reduction  of  mortality  from  60  per 
cent.,  the  worst  of  the  old  figures,  to  9  per  cent., 
the  best  of  the  new  ones,  represented  one  of  the 
greatest  triumphs  in  the  medical  history  of  the 
war  ;  it  represented  sheer  achievement,  for  the 
victory  had  been  won  step  by  step  against 
what  seemed  like  overwhelming  odds.  The 
immediate  fruits  of  the  victory  were  very 
many  lives,  and  these  frviits  would  con- 
tinue to  be  gathered  indefinitely  until  this 
fell  plague  was  finally  stamped  out.  To 
put  the  matter  in  concrete  form  a  single  figure 
may  be  given  :  out  of  the  33  military  cases 
which  were  treated  by  serum  in  the  London 
district  alone  in  1916  only  three  died. 


PASTEUR    INSTITUTE    AT    ALGIERS. 
Filling  phials  with  Vaccine. 

an  epidemic  of  typhoid  fever  owed  its  origin  to 
a  carrier,  yet  it  was  almost  impossible  to  cure 
many  of  these  carriers.  Again,  there  were 
diphtheria  carriers  who  were  a  danger  to  all 
with  whom  they  came  into  contact.  These 
also  constituted  a  serious  difficulty.  Finally, 
the  "  spotted  fever "  carrier  promised,  if  he 
was  allowed  to  go  his  way  uncured  and  un- 
supervised,  to  be  the  author  of  fresh  epidemics 
and  outbreaks. 

This  was  no  idle  threat,  as  the  following 
cases,  histories  of  which  were  presented  to 
th )  Medical  Research  Committee,  show  : 

"  Sapper  B.  returned  from  France  on 
April  9,  1916,  and  had  been  complaining  of 
headache  and  pains  in  the  back  and  legs  while 
in  the  trenches  a  few  days  previously.  There 


66 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


\v  is  no  evidence'  that  he  had  had  any  menin- 
gitis. Two  days  after  his  arrival  one  of  his 
children  was  taken  ill  and  removed  to  a  general 
hospital  \iith  symptoms  of  cerebro-spinal 
meningitis.  Next  day  another  child  was  taken 
ill,  and  removed  to  an  isolation  hospital,  where 


PASTEUR    INSTITUTE    AT    ALGIERS. 
Closing  phials  of  Vaccine. 

he  died  of  the  disease.  The  father  was  now 
isolated,  and  found  to  be  a  carrier  of  Type  II. 
meningococcus.  A  few  days  after  removal  the 
first  child  was  discharged  after  what  was 
termed  an  '  abortive  '  attack  of  cerebro-spinal 
meningitis.  He  was  then  fetched  by  his  sister. 
Up  till  then  the  sister  had  been  quite  well. 
She  did  not  subsequently  see  her  father  at  close 
quarters,  but  on  the  following  Sunday  she  was* 
taken  ill  in  the  morning  and  died  within  24 
hours.  A  swab  from  the  child  having  the 
'  abortive '  attack  showed  the  presence  of 
Type  II.  meningococcus  in  the  naso-pharynx. 
There  had  been  no  cerebro-spinal  fever  in  the 
borough  for  eighteen  months  until  these  cases 
occurred." 

An  t-vi-ii  me  PIT  striking  case  was  the  fol- 
lowing :  "The  patient  developed  the  disease 
ut  ...  Military  Hospital  after  he  had  Ix-m 
t  he.v  for  two  months  on  account  of  an  accident. 
Of  the  four  positive  contacts  three  were  of  the 
sunn-  typ'  ii-  the  i-nsr.  Two  of  these  were  in 
tin'  beds  on  cither  side  of  the  case,  and  the 


other  was  the  staff  nurse  of  the  ward.  All  the 
available  evidence  went  to  show  that  the  nurse 
was  a  chronic  carrier,  and  inquiry  revealed  the 
fact  that  she  had  started  nursing  in  the  ward 
within  two  months,  arid  had  been  nursing 
several  cases  of  meningitis  a  year  before,  and 
had  not  been  swabbed  subsequently.  It  seemed 
probable  that  the  case  was  infected  by  this 
staff  nurse."  The  nurse  remained  a  carrier. 
The  one  positive  contact  who  harboured  a 
meningococcus  of  a  different  type  could,  of 
course,  be  excluded  from  the  group.  He  was 
perhaps  a  carrier  on  his  own  account,  for  in  all 
outbreaks  it  was  found  that  the  carriers  greatly 
outnumbered  the  cases. 

Many  efforts  were  made  to  treat  the  carriers, 
and  these  included  an  iodine  and  menthol  spray 
for  the  nose  and  throat,  "  eusol,"  chlorine  water, 
and  "  chloramine."  It  might  have  been  ex- 
pected that  any  of  these  efforts  would  succeed, 
for  the  meningococcus  is  one  of  the  least  resistant 
of  all  bacteria  to  disinfectants.  Unhappily  it 
was  found  that  the  results  of  treatment  were 
disappointing,  not  to  say  discouraging.  On 
the  assumption  that  the  reason  for  this  was 
the  failure  of  the  douches  and  sprays  to  reach 
the  lodging-places  of  the  germs,  it  was  decided 
to  attempt  a  new  method  of  administration — 
the  breathing  of  a  steam-laden  atmosphere 
into  which  the  drug  had  been  introduced  in  the 
form  of  fine  droplets  floating  as  a  cloud,  mist 
or  nebula.  The  drug  selected  for  use  was 
"  chloramine,"  as  it  had  proved  the  most 
efficacious,  and  a  small  "  inhalation  chamber  " 
was  secured  for  the  work. 

This  chamber  was  a  room  of  1,050  cubic  feet 
capacity,  kindly  put  at  the  disposal  of  the 
investigators  by  Sir  David  Bruce,  Commandant 
of  the  Royal  Army  Medical  College.  A  Lingner 
Spray  was  employed.  It  was  found  that  when 
5  per  cent,  of  chloramine  was  being  sprayed 
the  atmosphere  was  too  pungent  for  the  com- 
fort of  those  in  the  chamber,  "  but  with  2  per 
cent,  the  atmosphere  could,  during  the  spring 
months,  be  tolerated  easily  for  five  minutes, 
and  by  some  for  20  minutes  or  longer  The 
atmosphere  during  these  tests  became  so 
dense  that  it  was  not  possible  to  see  across  the 
room,  but  this  steam-laden  air  when  inhaled 
through  the  nostrils  caused  a  not  uncom- 
fortable flow  of  secretion,  and  the  chloramine 
impinging  on  the  mucous  membrane  of  the 
naso-pharynx  produced  a  pleasant  tingling 
sensation." 

Observations  were  first  made  on  two  carriers, 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


67 


THE    LINGNER  ATOMIZER. 

and  it  was  found  that  if  they  breathed  deeply 
and  steadily  the  meningococcus  was  temporarily 
destroyed  in  their  naso-pharyngeal  secretion 
within  five  minutes.  In  one  of  the  carriers, 
however,  the  meningococcus  reappeared.  Both 
then  had  a  further  treatment,  and  both  were 
rid  of  the  meningococcus  as  a  result  of  it. 

This  was  so  satisfactory  that  it  was  decided 
to   subject   thirteen   chronic   and   troublesome 
carriers,   who   had   been  under  treatment  for 
periods    varying    from    three    to    17   months, 
to  the  inhalations.      In  the  event,  10  of    the 
chronic  carriers  were  cured,  the  longest  period 
occupied  in  treatment  being  13  days,  and  the 
shortest  four.    Inhalations  were  carried  out  daily 
for  15  to  20  minutes.     Three  cases  did  not  clear 
up,    but   of    these,  two  .were   too   nervous   to 
inhale     properly,     and    the    third    could    not, 
tolerate  the   drug.     It  was   concluded,   there, 
fore,  that  in  chloramine  given  by  means  of  a 
steam  spray  in  an  inhalation  chamber  a  means 
was  available  of  getting  rid  once  and  for  all 
of  chronic    carriers   of  "spotted  fever."     This 
final  discovery  may  be  said  to  have  ended  the 
campaign  as  a  whole. 

While  the  campaign  against  "  spotted  fever  " 
was  being  pressed  forward,  another  campaign 
against  another  disease  which,  if  less  fatal,  was 


no   less   threatening,   was   in   progress.      This 
disease   was   dysentery,   brought    into     Great 
Britain  from  the  Eastern  Mediterranean  in  the 
bodies  of  a  large  number  of  soldiers.     These 
soldiers  had  had  the  disease  themselves,  and 
had  so  far  recovered  from  it  as  to  look  and  feel 
fairly  well ;    but  there  was,  nevertheless,  good 
reason  to  regard  them  as  carriers.     Unhappily, 
when  the  rush  of  men  from  the  East   began 
there    was    no    existing    organization    staffed 
and    equipped    for    the    diagnosis    of    dysen- 
tery.     The    diagnosis    of    dysentery   depends 
upon  the   finding  of   the   so-called  Entamceba 
histolytica.     This    is     a    small    protozoon     or 
animalcule  which  inhabits  the  bowel,  in  which 
it  moves  about,     So  long  as  it  remains  in  the 
bowel  the  patient  is  a  danger  to  himself  and 
others. 

The  military  authorities  quickly  realized 
that  active  steps  must  be  taken  to  deal  with 
these  dysentery  carriers,  who  were  arriving  in 
great  numbers.  It  was  evidently  necessary  to 
obtain  specialist  help  at  once  ;  but  unfortu- 


THE    FALMOUTH    ATOMIZER. 


68 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


nately  the  number  of  persons  available  in 
England  who  were  competent  to  make  the 
requisite  examinations  and  to  produce  records 
of  scientific  value  was  very  small  in  relation  to 
the  sudden  call  for  this  particular  knowledge 
and  skill. 

The  Army  authorities  therefore  called  to  their 
assistance  the  Medical  Research  Committee, 
just  as  they  had  done  in  the  case  of  "  spotted 
fever,"  and  immediate  steps  were  taken  to 
plan  out  a  campaign. 

The  difficulties  to  be  faced  were  very  for- 
midable. The  amoeba  which  causes  the  dysen- 
tery is  very  difficult  to  find  and  also  difficult  to 
recognize.  It  was  easy  to  see  that  if  those  who 
were  deputed  to  search  for  it  proved  incom- 
petent much  more  harm  than  good  would  result. 
Men  who  were  in  fact  infected  would  be  passed 
as  healthy,  and  on  being  liberated  from  super- 
vision would  almost  certainly  act  as  spreaders 
of  the  disease. 

The  first  step,  then,  was  to  collect  together 
all  the  competent  investigators  whose  work 
could  be  relied  upon,  and  to  set  them  to  train 
other  people  to  carry  on  the  work.  This,  as 
will  be  seen,  was  a  step  similar  to  that  taken 
by  Colonel  Gordon  in  the  case  of  "  spotted 
fever."  It  was  a  necessary  preliminary  to  a 
mass  attack  on  the  disease.  The  people  selected 
for  training  were  not  doctors — doctors  were 


too  scarce  at  the  time,  but  they  were  students 
of  science  who  had  already  acquired  apti- 
tude in  microscopic  work.  The  majority 
were  zoologists,  botanists  and  bacteriologists. 
None,  however,  had  had  any  training  in 
protozoology.  Yet  they  were  all  eager  to 
acquire  proficiency  and  thus  as  a  class  of 
learners  were  very  much  above  the  average. 

The  instruction  was  given  at  the  Wellcome 
Bureau.  Each  day  a  number  of  suspected 
specimens  from  various  hospitals  arrived  at  the 
Bureau  for  protozoological  examination.  The 
examinations  were  all  made  by  experts  and  the 
findings  recorded.  Then  each  member  of  the 
class  also  examined  the  specimen.  Thus  it 
was  possible  for  the  learners  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  all  the  difficulties  and  puzzles, 
and  mistakes  did  not  escape  detection. 

The  Medical  Research  Committee  placed  the 
direction  of  the  work  in  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Clifford  Dobell,  lecturer  in  protistology  in  the 
Imperial  College  of  Science,  and  it  was  under 
his  care  that  the  workers  referred  to  were 
trained.  A  study  of  the  records  of  cases 
available  at  the  beginning  of  the  work,  indeed, 
convinced  Mr.  Dobell  that  the  very  first,  and 
most  important,  step  was  to  make  sure  that 
every  examiner  for  the  amceba  of  dysentery  was 
competent  to  do  his  or  her  work.  Only  by 
securing  that  the  detectives  knew  their  business 


LABORATORY    IN    THE    SANATORIUM    AT    BLIGNV    FOR    THE    TREATMENT 

OF    CONSUMPTION. 
Microscopic  examination  of  patients'  sputa. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


69 


BACTERIOLOGICAL    ANALYSIS. 
Looking  for  cholera  bacillus. 


could  it  be  secured  that  the  amoeba  would  not 
in  any  instance  escape  detection.  Indeed  it 
was  stated  definitely  at  the  time  in  a  report 
that  "  examinations  made  by  persons— ^how- 
ever skilled  they  may  be  in  other  matters — who 
have  not  served  their  apprenticeship  to  the 
actual  work  itself,  possess  no  scientific  value 
whatsoever,  and  that  for  the  average  worker  a 
practical  training  of  not  less  than  four  to  six 
weeks  is,  even  under  the  most  favourable 
conditions,  requisite.  The  errors  committed 
by  an  examiner  with  little  or  no  previous  ex- 
perience are  such  as  I  could  not  have  believed 
possible,  if  I  had  not  actually  encountered  them ; 
and  in  cases  where  the  health  of  the  patient  is 
at  stake  it  is,  I  believe,  almost  better  that  no 
examination  at  all  should  be  made  than  that 
it  should  be  made  by  an  incompetent  or  in- 
experienced person." 

This  definite  statement  had  an  immediate 
effect.  It  disposed  of  the  idea  that  casual 
examinations  meant  anything  ,at  all,  and  it 
proved  that  this  question  of  the  dysentery 
carrier  was  a  much  bigger  question  than  had 
been  supposed — and  probably  a  much  more 
urgent  question. 

But  not  only  was  it  necessary  to  have  com- 
petent examiners  ;  it  was  also  necessary  to 
have  frequent  examinations.  As  soon  as  the 


work  of  examination  was  begun  in  earnest  at 
the  laboratory  to  which  the  military  hospitals 
sent  their  specimens,  it  was  found  that  in  many 
instances  one  specimen  would  prove  negative — 
i.e.,  no  amoabse  would  be  found  in  it ;  yet 
another  specimen  taken  from  the  same  patient 
at  a  later  date  would  contain  the  amrebse, 
perhaps  in  large  numbers.  The  following 
table  shows  this  very  clearly  (the  cases  werj 
untreated  when  examined) : 


NUMBER  OP  EXAMINATIONS. 


Case. 


Amoebae 

Amoeba; 

found. 

not  found. 

Total. 

5 

17 

22 

12 

1 

13 

1 

22 

23 

6 

15 

21 

22 

21 

43 

A 
B 

C 
D 

E 


That  is  to  say,  that  in  five  cases  122  examina- 
tions were  made,  and  at  thes3  examinations 
amoebae  were  found  only  46  times.  Yet  all 
of  these  patients  were  infected,  and  had  any 
one  of  them  been  allowed  to  go  free  disaster 
might  conceivably  have  followed.  In  the  cas> 
of  patients  undergoing  treatment  by  "  emetine," 
a  drug  prepared  from  ipecacuanha,  examina- 
tions were  nearly  always  negative,  yet  it  wai 
found  that  as  soon  as  treatment  stopped  tha 
amoebae  reappeared  in  very  many  of  these 
cases.  It  was  therefore  concluded  that  at  the 
time  of  this  treatment  negative  examinations 


70 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


had  no  value  whatsoever,  and  should  be  discon- 
tinued. When  they  became  valuable  was 
after  treatment— as  a  test  of  the  effects  of 
treatment.  It  was  reported  : 

"  In  more  than  50  per  cent,  of  uncured  cases 
the  return  has  taken  place  (i.e.,  the  effects  of 


ENTAMCEBA  HISTOLYTICA. 

treatment  have  disappeared)  by  the  end  of  the 
first  week.  By  the  sixteenth  day  after '.treat- 
ment more  than  90  per  cent,  have  returned  to 
normal  " — that  is  to  say,  show  the  amoebae  as 
before — "  but  in  some  cases  as  many  as  20  days 
may  possibly  elapse  before  the  effects  of  treat- 
ment disappear.  Consequently,  the  value  of 
a  negative  examination  made  during  the  first 
three  weeks  after  treatment  increases  with  the 
increase  of  the  interval  of  time  intervening 
between  it  and  the  end  of  treatment." 

It  does  not  need  to  be  pointed  out  that  this 
discovery  was  also  of  very  great  value.  In  the 
first  place  the  praises  of  emetine  as  a  "  cure  "  of 
amoebic  dysentery  had  been  loudly  sung,  and 
an  impression  was  abroad  that  if  a  patient  had 
a  few  doses  of  this  drug  he  was  all  right  and 
might  be  dismissed.  That  false  and  dangerous 
view  was  refuted  and  disproved,  and  thus  a 
great  calamity  undoubtedly  prevented.  Again 
the  way  was  opened  up  for  a  thorough  test  of 
the  drug  and  for  work  upon  other  drugs  which 
mi^ht  give  better  results.  Meantime  some 
rules  were  laid  down  for  the  guidance  of 
medical  officers  handling  these  cases,  one  of 
which  was  -that  untreated  cases  should  be 
subjected  to  six  examinations  on  six  separate 
days  at  least  before  being  pronounced  free 
from  amoebiB.  (This  was  a  minimum  ;  a 
greater  number  of  examinations  was  not  at 
fiiv-t  possible  owing  to  pressure  of  work  and 


time.)  As  regards  treated  cases,  no  negative 
examination  made  during  or  just  after  treat- 
ment was  to  be  accepted.  Six  examinations 
in  all  were  to  be  made,  the  first  three  or  four 
days  after  treatment,  the  next  a  week  later, 
the  next  four  in  the  following  week. 

The  next  work  was  to  investigate  and  deal 
with  the  problem  of  treatment.  By  treatment 
was  meant  only  those  methods  which  aimed  at 
ridding  a  patient  of  his  infection — in  other 
words,. at  disinfecting  him  of  his  amoebae.  (It 
should  be  noted  that  other  amoebae  than  the 
Entamceba  histolytica  were  found.  The  Entamceba 
histolytica  was,  however,  the  cause  of  dysentery.) 
The  infected  person  was  very  seldom  ill  ;  he 
was  a  "  carrier  " — he  might  not  even  have 
"  had  dysentery "  at  all.  Amoebae  were 
found  almost  as  frequently  in  wounded  men  as 
in  old  dysentery  cases.  "  Cure,"  therefore, 
meant  always,  and  only,  complete  riddance  from 
the  Entamceba  histolytica,  and  "  relapse  "  meant 
that  some  specimen  from  the  patient  had  been 
found  to  contain  the  amoeba — even  one  amoeba  ! 

As  a  beginning,  the  old-established  drug 
emetine  was  put  to  test.  About  this  drug  all 
kinds  of  favourable  reports  had  been  made  ; 
unhappily  all  the  reports  were  based  upon  an 
insufficient  number  of  examinations,  and  also 
upon  examinations  made  while  treatment  was 
being  carried  on.  These  reports  were  therefore 
of  little,  if  of  any,  practical  value.  It  was 
necessary  to  begin  all  over  again.  This  was  done, 
and  the  following  conclusions  were  formulated  : 

(1)  Emetine  injected  hypodermically  in  small 
quantities  (less  than  10  grains  in  total  amount) 
very  rarely  rids  a  carrier  of  Entamceba  histolytica . 

(2)  Full  courses  of  the  drug  (10-12  grains  or 
more)  are  successful  in  about  one-third  only  of 
the  cases  treated. 

(3)  Betreatment — with      equal      or      larger 
amounts   of  the  drug — of  patients  who  have 
already  received  full  courses  of  treatment  offers 
little  hope  of  success. 

Happily  at  the  time  when  this  distinctly 
unfavourable  report  upon  emetine  was  being 
worked  out  another  drug  was  becoming  known. 
This  was  known  as  "  bismuth  emetine."  This 
drug  owed  its  origin  to  the  remarkable  work  of 
Dr.  H.  H.  Dale.  It  gave  most  excellent 
results,  as  the  following  table  shows  : 

Cases  treated  with  bismuth  emetine  24 

Certain  cures         ...          ...          ...  14 

Uncertain  cures    ...          ...          ...  9 

Besult  uncertain  ...          ...          ...  1 

Certainly  not  cured         ...          ...  0 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


71 


The  tests  made  were  exceedingly  searching. 
Several  of  these  cases  were  subjected  to  a  very 
large  number  of  examinations,  one  of 'them  30, 
another  34,  another  51,  the  period  of  examina- 
tion extending  over  132,  107  and  67  days 
respectively.  Yet  in  the  words  of  the  investi- 
gator "  the  results  so  far  have  been  uniformly 
successful."  Two  of  the  cured  cases  had 
received  large  doses  of  the  old  emetine  un- 
successfully. The  new  drug  was  found  to  bs 
just  as  effective  against  acute  dysentery  as 
against  the  "  carrier  "  type.  Large  doses  were 
found  to  be  necessary — not  less  than  36  to  40 
•grains  in  daily  doses  of  3  to  4  grains. 

Thus  were  three  remarkable  triumphs 
achieved  during  the  year  1916 — the  discovery  of 
an  ideal  antiseptic,  flavine  ;  the  tracking  down 
of  the  four  different  germs  which  cause  "  spotted 
fever "  (cerebro -spinal  meningitis),  and  the 
preparation  of  a  serum  against  each  of  them 
with  resulting  drop  in  death-rate  from  40-60  per 
cent,  to  9  per  cent.  ;  and,  finally,  the  discovery 
of  a  drug  capable  in  the  great  majority  of  cases 


of  curing  the  dysentery  carrier.  The  work  upon 
flavine  was  largely  individual,  depending  upon 
Dr.  Browning's  own  extensive,  indeed  un- 
rivalled, knowledge  of  the  chemistry  of 
the  aniline  drugs  ;  the  other  two  works 
were  examples  of  the  "  method  of  mass 
attack "  which  Sir  Alfred  Keogh,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  Medical  Research  Committee, 
introduced  during  the  war.  It  was  his  idea, 
when  a  great  disease  problem  presented,  to  fling 
against  it  every  available  force  and  so  conquer 
it  once  and  for  all ;  physicians,  surgeons, 
bacteriologists.physicists,  pathologists,  chemists 
were  all  enlisted  in  these  campaigns.  The 
success  of  these  campaigns  furnished  the 
justification  of  the  method  employed. 

It  would  not  be  possible  to  bring  this  chapter 
to  a  close  without  a  reference  to  the  result  of  the 
great  campaign  against  typhoid  fever,  the  lines 
of  which  have  already,  in  an  earlier  chapter, 
been  dealt  with.  Typhoid  fever,  as  was  then 
pointed  out,  has  ever  been  the  supreme  dread 
of  armies.  In  the  Boer  War  there  were  20,000 
casualties  as  a  result  of  it,  and  twice  as  many 


A    TOXIGOLOGICAL    LABORATORY    IN   A   FIELD-HOSPITAL  ON   THE   SOMME. 


72 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


IN    A    PARIS    DISPENSARY. 
The   Laboratory. 


victims  as  there  were  victims  to  enemy  shot  and 
shell.  The  same  thing  held  good  of  almost 
every  other  war  in  history. 

In  this  war,  with  its  millions  of  soldiers,  there 
were  not  2,000  cases  of  the  fever,  and  on 
February  13,  1917,  Sir  Alfred  Keogh  was  able 
to  tell  an  audience  in  London  that  only  five 
cases  of  the  disease  were  to  be  found  in  the 


British  Army.  Sir  Douglas  Haig  also  testified 
to  the  fact  that  the  forces  under  his  command 
were  free  from  preventable  disease.  That 
these  miraculous  results — for  they  cannot  be 
regarded  as  anything  else — were  due  to  the 
policy  of  inoculation  adopted  at  the  beginning 
of  the  war  no  man  could  doubt. 

Another  notable  scientific  triumph  was  the 


DRESSING    A    WOUNDED    MAN    IN    A    SHELTER. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


70 


ridding  of  Serbia  of  typhus  fever.  Reference 
has  already  been  made  to  the  beginning  of  the 
gallant  struggle  made  against  this  most  deadly 
disease.  The  struggle  was  entirely  successful, 
and  its  success  fully  bore  out  the  idea  that  lice 
were  the  means  of  transmitting  this  disease. 


vestigators,  Inada  and  Ito,  reported  the  dis- 
covery of  a  spirochaete  in  the  liver  of  a  guinea 
pig  which  had  been  injected  with  the  blood  of 
a  patient  who  was  suffering  from  epidemic 
jaundice.  In  1915  these  authors  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  this  spirochsete  was  the  cause 


A    SERBIAN   WELL. 

The  devoted  band  of  scientific  workers  who 
went  out  to  fight  the  plague  worked  upon  this 
idea.  They  made  it  their  business  to  prevent 
spread  by  preventing  the  transit  of  lice  from 
infected  to  uninfected  persons  and  so  destroying 
ths  means  of  spread  so  far  as  possible.  Before 
Serbia  was  finally  invaded  the  great  epidemic 
had  been  conquered. 

One  further  piece  of  scientific  work  remains 
to  be  dealt  with — the  discovery  of  the  cause  of 
the  so-called  Weil's  disease,  or  epidemic 
jaundice.  This  disease  broke  out  among  the 
troops  in  the  East  and  also  in  Prance,  and  for 
a  time  its  true  character  was  not  guessed.  The 
disease  had  first  been  described  by  Weil  in  1886. 
It  was  characterized  by  jaundice,  fever,  and 
haemorrhages,  and  it  was  apparently  of  an 
infectious  character.  The  disease  broke  ovit  in 
Eastern  Japan  in  1914,  and  178  patients  were 
reported.  The  Japanese  outbreak  led  to  some 
important  bacteriological  work  and  two  in- 


TROUSERS   AS  IMPROVIZED  FILTER 
IN    MESOPOTAMIA. 

of  Weil's  disease,  and  later  they  found  that  the 
blood  of  patients  recovering  from  the  disease 
contained  antidotes  against  the  spirochaete 
they  had  discovered.  This  latter  piece  of  in- 
formation showed  that  the  spirochaete  was, 
in  fact,  the  cause  of  the  disease,  and  that 
recovery  took  place  only  when  an  antidote  had 
been  produced  by  the  blood.  Further,  the 
investigators  were  able  to  show  that  when  they 


74 


////:    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


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THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAB. 


15 


injected  the  blood  of  patients  with  Weil's 
disease  into  guinea  pigs  tha  animals  developed 
the  disease  and  showed  spirochsetes  in  their 
livera  and  blood.  It  was  found  possible  to 
pass  the  infection  from  animal  to  animal  and 
in  one  strain  they  reached  actually  50  genera- 
tions. 

It  was  at  one  time  supposed  that  the  mode  of 
infection  in  this  disease  was  by  the  mouth 
But  Ito  and  Ohi  were  able  to  communicate  the 
disease  to  animals  by  applying  material  infected 
by  the  spirochsetes  to  uninjured  skin.  That 
led  to  the  idea  that  possibly  infection  occurred 
through  the  skin.  In  support  of  this  rather 
interesting  view  it  was  found  that  the  disease 
was  frequent  in  men  working  in  a  certain  part 


ously  under  the  microscope.  The  screwing 
movements  of  the  syphilis  germ  were  not 
seen,  but  the  movements  from  side  to  side  of 
one  end  which  Inada  described  were  seen. 
The  spirochsetes  could  only  be  seen  by  refracted 
light,  and  this  gave  them  a  peculiar  appear- 
ance, rather  resembling  a  string  of  brilliants. 

Efforts  were  at  once  made  to  treat  cases  of 
the  disease  in  animals  with  salvarsan  ("  606  "). 
But  unhappily  this  drug,  which  had  proved  so 
potent  against  the  very  similar  spirochsete  of 
syphilis,  was  useless  against  the  spirochsete  of 
jaundice,  the  so-called  spirochcete  ichter?- 
hcemorrhagica.  The  work  of  devising  some 
lethal  weapon  against  the  new  microbe  was, 
therefore,  begun,  and  efforts  were  made  to  solve 


TYPHOID  BACILLI  SHOWING  FLAGELL^.         SPIROCHyETE  ICHTERO-H/EMORRHAGICA 


of  a  coal  mine,  and  that  when  the  accumulated 
water  was  pumped  out  of  ths  mina  there  was 
no  further  case  in  that  part  of  the  mine.  There 
were  more  cases  in  wet  than  in  dry  mines,  and 
men  working  on  the  surface  did  not  contract 
the  disease. 

The  cases  which  broke  out  in  France  were 
at  firs;  supposed  to  be  ordinary  jaundice.  But 
when  two  fatal  cases  of  very  deep  jaundice 
were  noted  near  one  another  the  matter  was 
regarded  as  suggestive  and  investigations  were 
made  by  Captains  Stokes  and  Ryle,  R.A.M.C. 
(Journal  of  the  Royal  Army  Medical  Corps). 
These  investigations  led  to  the  finding  of  the 
spirochsete  in  the  blood  of  the  patients  and  so 
to  the  confirming  o  the  work  of  the  Japanese 
investigators. 

These  spirochsetes  were  not  unlike  the  famous 
spirochcete  pallida,  the  germ  of  syphilis.  They 
wen;  actively  mobile  and  lashed  about  vigor- 


the  riddle.  Meanwhile,  further  knowledge  of 
the  character  and  habit  of  the  spirochsete  was 
being  gained.  The  idea  that  it  could  penetrate 
the  skin  and  so  gain  access  to  the  blood  was  be- 
coming accepted — some  workers  with  the  spiro- 
chsete had  unhappily  become  victims  to  it. 
Further,  good  grounds  for  supposing  that  the 
germ  was  an  inhabitant — possibly  a  normal  in- 
habitant— of  the  body  of  the  rat  had  been  found. 
The  rats  presumably  infected  the  trenches  which 
they  inhabited  in  great  numbers.  The  soldiers 
then  touched  the  infected  places,  and  thus  the 
germ  was  able  to  gain  an  entrance  to  their  bodies. 
Here,  again,  the  wonderful  new  detective 
work  of  the  scientist  traced  a  deadly  germ,  and 
convicted  it  as  the  cause  of  a  disease.  If  no 
cure  was  forthcoming  at  once,  means  of  pre- 
vention were  made  available  by  the  new 
knowledge  obtained.  Trenches  from  which 
cases  had  come  were  dealt  with  in  a  very 


Till-:     T/.UKX     HISTOEY    <)!•'     THK     \\'AH. 


BRITISH    SICK    AND    WOUNDED    ON    BOARD    SHIP. 


thorough  manner,  and  every  effort  made  to 
keep  down  the  rats  inhabiting  them.  In  this 
way  the  epidemic  was  checked. 

In  earlier  chapters  dealing  with  the  health 
of  armies,  efforts  have  been  made  to  point  out 
how  enormous  was  the  influence  exercised 
upon  the  men  by  these  devoted  efforts  to 
preserve  their  health.  No  more  need  be  said 
upon  that  subject.  But  it  must  be  pointed 
out  that  this  scientific  work,  begun  by  the 
Army  for  the  Anmy,  had  a  vast  effect  upon  the 
attitude  of  the  civil  population  to  research 
It  inaugurated  a  new  conception  of  medicine  ; 
it  introduced  new  methods  of  attacking  and 
resisting  disease  ;  the  sure  knowledge  that  by 
mass  attack  upon  these  lines  any  disease  could 


be  mastered  and  stamped  out  gained  cur 
rency.  All  manner  of  workers  began  to  demand 
that  Army  methods  should  be  applied  to  the 
problems  of  home  life — the  syphilis  problem  and 
the  problem  of  consumption.  In  the  case  of 
syphilis  a  beginning  was  indeed  made  forth- 
with, partly  as  a  result  of  the  findings  of  the 
Royal  Commission,  and  partly  as  a  result  of 
public  pressure.  Thus  the  services  of  the  Royal 
Army  Medical  Corps  were  not  only  for  the  war 
— they  were  for  all  time.  In  the  Medical 
Research  Committee  the  British  people  had  an 
assurance  that  the  good  work  would  be  carried 
on  in  peace  as  in  war,  until  one  by  one  the 
fortresses  of  disease  should  be  assaulted  and 
forced  to  surrender. 


CHAPTER    CLXIX. 

THE  SHIPPING  PROBLEM  : 
AUGUST,    1914  FEBRUARY,    1917. 

EFFECT  OF  WAR  ON  SHIPPING  UNFORESEEN — TIMID  POLICIES— FIRST  STEPS  IN  REQUISITIONING — 
RISE  IN  FREIGHTS — EXCESS  PROFITS — CAUSES  of  TONNAGE  SCARCITY — PORT  CONGESTION — CONTROL 
OF  THE  FROZEN  MEAT  INDUSTRY — LICENSING  OF  VOYAGES — IMPORTANT  COMMITTEES — ASQUITH 
GOVERNMENT  HESITATIONS — RESTRICTION  OF  IMPORTS — SHIPPING  PROFITS — COAL  FOR  FRANCE 
AND  ITALY — MR.  LLOYD  GEORGE  APPOINTS  A  SHIPPING  CONTROLLER — SIR  JOSEPH  MACLAY'S 
TASK — FIRST  REFORMS — THE  LOAD  LINE — STANDARDIZED  SHIPS — THE  EMPLOYERS'  FEDERATION 
— EXPEDITING  CONSTRUCTION — POOLING  or  LABOUR — SHIPBUILDING  ABROAD — WOODEN  SHIPS — 
— CANADA — SECOND-HAND  SHIPS — AUSTRALIAN  PURCHASES — SHIPPING  FUSIONS — NEUTRAL  SHIP- 
PING— INTER-ALLIED  CHARTERING  EXECUTIVE — INSURANCE.  ^ 


WHEX  war  broke  out  no  owner 
could  possibly  have  foreseen  the 
full  extent  of  the  changes  which 
were  to  be  brought  about  in  the 
British  mercantile  marine  within  30  months. 
Such  academic  discussions  as  there  had  been 
in  the  years  of  peace  as  to  the  probable  effect 
on  British  shipping  of  a  war  with  Germany 
had  been  confined  practically  to  the  expectation 
that  a  few  British  merchant  ships  would  be 
sunk  by  German  cruisers  before  the  British 
Navy  was  fully  able  to  assert  its  complete 
mastery  over  the  enemy  fleet.  British  owners 
had  reason  enough  to  know  that  tho  fighting 
spirit  was  abroad  in  Germany  in  the  aggressive 
extension  of  the  German  shipping  services, 
encouraged  and  subsidized  by  the  State,  but 
they  sometimes  thought  that  Germany  would 
achieve  best  what  she  wanted  by  an  active 
trade  war.  In  any  case,  they  argued  in  the 
British  business  stylo  so  prevalent  before  the 
Great  War  that  foreign  politics  were  no  con- 
cern of  theirs  but  of  the  statesmen,  who, 
presumably,  were  awake.  , 

Thus   scarcely   a     merchant    ship    had   ever 
been  modelled  with  military  purposes  in  view. 
One  owner,   perhaps,   with   the  South  African 
Vol.  XI.— Part   133. 


campaign  in  mind,  had  favoured  a  particular 
type  of  ship,  partly  owing  to  its  suitability  for 
carrying  men  and  horses,  but  one  among  many 
hundreds  was  a  negligible  fraction.  Yet  the 
owner  who  had  been  gifted  with  marvellous 
foresight  would  have  seen  scores  of  merchant 
ships  transporting  millions  of  men  across  the 
waters  and  laden  with  horses  and  guns  and 
equipment  and  coal  and  stores.  He  would 
have  seen,  as  more  and  more  vessels  were 
gradually  requisitioned  by  the  State,  freights 
rise  to  levels  such  as  could  never  have  been 
visioned  in  his  wildest  dreams.  He  would  have 
seen,  it  is  true,  the  German  cruiser  menace 
dealt  with  quickly  by  the  British  Navy,  but  he 
would  have  seen  a  more  insidious  form  of 
warfare  instituted,  because  the  enemy,  in 
practising  it,  put  aside  all  considerations  for 
the  safety  of  civilians,  whether  belonging  to 
belligerent  or  neutral  nations,  and  gloated 
while  the  victims  drowned. 

As  the  expert  manager  of  shipping  foresaw 
so  little,  the  ordinary  business  man  could  have 
had  small  inkling  of  what  was  coming.  He 
did  not  foresee  that  the  Army  would  have  to 
absorb  millions  of  men,  putting  a  heavy  strain 
on  industry,  and  that  the  scarcity  of  labour 


77 


'////v     TIMM    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


[Ellivtt  &  Fry,  pkolo. 

LORD    INCHCAPE,    G.C.M.G., 
Chairman    of    the    P.    &    O.    Company. 

at  the  docks  and  on  the  railways  would  bring 
about  great  congestion  and  consequently  most 
serious  delays  to  shipping.  He  did  not  foresee 
that  many  imports,  including  even  food  sup- 
plies, would  have  to  be  prohibited  and  drastic 
restrictions  be  placed  on  others  because  of  the 
scarcity  ot  tonnage. 

The  statesman,  too,  could  have  had  little 
idea  of  how  events  would  shape  themselves. 
It  wa?  understood  that  in  the  early  days  of 
the  war  a  general  scheme  of  requisitioning  was 
submitted  to  the  Admiralty,  but  was  vetoed. 
Thenceforward  for  nearly  two  and  a  half  years 
such  statesmanship  as  was  shown  towards 
what  became  known  as  the  shipping  problem 
was  fumbling  and  amateurish.  At  the  Board 
of  Trade  was  a  President  who,  by  heredity 
and  early  business  experience,  should  have 
been  steeped  in  shipping  lore,  and  the  country 
should  have  been  infinitely  the  gainer  by 
that  circumstance.  Yet  Mr.  Walter  Runciman, 
with  good  intentions,  industrious  and  self- 
confident,  entirely  failed  throughout  to  cope 
with  the  issues  ruis,  il.  iheru  was  little  sign 
of  any  leading  on  the  part  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  but  there  were  so  many  committees 
formed— so  many  cooks  each  with  his  finger 


in  the  pie— that  it  was  difficult  to  say  whoso 
\\as  really  th"  responsibility  for  the  chaos 
into  which  shippinj:  was  allowed  to  drift.  All 
that  was  done  to  relieve  the  situation  was 
done  in  each  instance  only  after  there  had 
been  strong  public  agitations.  Steps  were 
pointed  out  to  Mr.  Asquith's  Government 
which  it  refused  to  take  or  ignored.  It  was 
only  after  the  formation  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George's 
Government  in  December,  1916,  that  it  became 
clear  that  a  firm  grip  had  at  last  been  secured  on 
the  shipping  problem.  The  measures  taken 
were  very  lite,  but  obviously  this  was  a  case 
in  which  they  were  better  late  than  never. 

It  was  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  just 
before  the  war  there  was  more  shipping  afloat 
than  was  actually  required  for  the  world's 
needs.  So  great  was  the  surplus  that  schemes 
were  actually  mooted  for  laying  up  tonnage. 
When,  therefore,  the  Admiralty  first  began  to 
requisition  vessels  for  war  purposes,  mam- 
owners  accepted  the  terms  with  alacrity,  and 
some  were  known  to  be  delighted  that  their 
ships  were  requisitioned  at  rates  substantially 
above  those  previously  ruling  in  the  market. 
These  terms  were  agreed  upon  between  the 
Admiralty  and  a  number  of  committees  formed 
of  the  owners  of  the  different  classes  of  tonnage, 
over  all  of  which  Lord  Inchcape,  G.C.M.G.. 
Chairman  of  the  P.  &  O.  Company,  presided. 
They  provided  scales  of  hire  for  liners  of  varying 
speed,  cross-Channel  steamers,  oil-tank  vessels, 
large  and  small  cargo  steamers,  and  colliers. 
"  The  shipowners,"  wrote  Lord  Inchcape  to 
Lord  Mersey,  the  President  of  the  Admiralty 
Transport  Arbitration  Board  which  had  been 
set  up,  "  have  responded  loyally  to  the  de- 
mands of  the  country,  and  have  placed  all  their 
resources  ungrudgingly  at  the  service  of  the 
Government  in  this  national  emergency.  The 
shipowners'  foresight  and  enterprise  have 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Government  a 
splendid  fleet  of  transports  which  have  for 
years  been  run  without  anything  in  the  shape 
of  Government  aid."  And  he  added,  "  bur, 
inasmuch  as  the  rates  and  conditions  agreed 
upon  were  in  all  cases  arrived  at  by  a  process 
of  give  and  take,  and  by  an  honest  determina- 
tiori  to  arrive  at  a  fair  and  friendly  settlement, 
I  venture  to  express  the  hope  that  the  Admiralty 
will  not  regard  thorn  as  in  any  sense  a  maximum 
which  is  capable  of  reduction,  and  at  the  same 
time  I  trust  that  the  shipowners  will  not  look 
upon  them  as  a  minimum  on  which  increases 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


79 


may  be  built,  as  any  dispute  of  this  kind 
on  either  side  would  inevitably  lead  to  a  re- 
opening of  all  the  questions  and  considerations 
which  led  up  to  our  recommendations."  Some 
of  the  rates  in  the  course  of  time  were  modified, 
hut  the  terms  then  agreed  upon  formed  the  basis 
on  which  practic.illy  the  whole  of  the  British 
mercantile  marine  had,  by  the  beginning  of 
1917,  come  under  requisition  to  the  Government. 

The  rates  scheduled  were  based  on  the  gross 
tonnage,  whereas  rates  of  charter  in  the  market 
are  usually  based  on  deadweight  carrying 
capacity.  A  representative  rate  for  cargo 
steamers  under  the  agreement  with  the  Govern- 
ment was  about  lls.  per  gross  ton  per  month, 
equivalent  to  about  7s.  on  the  deadweight. 
Before  the  war,  owners  had  been  earning 
about  5s.,  and  in  the  first  few  weeks  after  the 
outbreak  of  hostilities  vessels  were  actually 
chartered  at  3s.  ;  so  the  terms  seemed  satis- 
factory enough.  But  a  new  factor  was  soon 
introduced,  namely,  a  sharp  rise  in  working 
expenses  caused  by  increases  in  wage  charges, 
great  advances  in  .the  cost  of  coals,  which  be- 
came more  and  more  accentuated,  and  dearer 
Stores  of  all  descriptions. 

Within  a  few  months  owners  were  regarding 


the  requisitioning  terms  which  had  become 
known  as  the  Blue  Book  rates  as  almost 
absurdly  low,  although  there  was  never 
any  dovibt  of  the  rates  leaving  a  substantial 
surplus  over  working  costs  in  respect  of  existing 
tonnage.  The  Government  felt  compelled  to 
explain  with  what  care  the  vessels  of  individual 
owners  were  requisitioned,  the  plan  being  to 
take,  as  far  as  possible,  the  same  proportion 
from  each  fleet,  so  that  no  undue  "  hardship  " 
was  inflicted  on  particular  owners  by  excessive 
demands.  This  attitude  was  adopted  so 
assiduously  that  in  February,  1916,  the  Director 
of  Transports  considered  it  appropriate  to  ad- 
dress a  letter  to  owners  in  an  apologetic  strain, 
suggesting  certain  reflections  for.  their  con- 
sideration, which  he  hoped  would  reconcile 
them  to  having  their  ships  employed  in  Govern- 
ment service.  The  following  extract?  are 
illuminating,  as  indicating  the  ideas  which 
prevailed  at  that  time  : 

An  owner,  who  has  at  the  moment  done  more  than 
the  average  of  service  may  reflect  that  the  result  may 
be  a  freedom  from  requisitioning  at  a  later  date  which 
may  fully,  or  more  than  fully,  compensate  him.  He 
will  doubtless  also  reflect  that,  in  any  event,  the  help 
he  has  been  asked  to  give  can  scarcely  be  considered 
an  excessive  contribution  to  the  naval  and  military 
requirements  of  the  war,  in  view  of  the  extent  to  which 


COALING    LINERS. 


80 


THE    TIMES    HISTCHiY    OF    THE    WAX. 


his  profit,  in  re,|>eet  ot  hi-  in".-  vessels,  ha    bean  InonaMd 

tlireetly  by  \v;ir  eoiiilit  ions.  an<!  hv  the  ine\  if  nhli.'  re- 
strietions  of  tonnage  n-snltin^  from  reiiuisitinninf!.  It 
i*  hoped  that  if  "II  miner-  I«-<ir  these  considerations 
in  mind  they  will  very  nirely  timl  it  necessary  to  make 
representations  to  the  department  (which  will  have 
alrealy  eotisiilered  the  employment  of  the  vessels  and 
the  owner's  share  "l  iBrvioe)  to  eatieel  requisitions  that 
may  have  been  served  to  them. 

The  phrasing  of  tlie  letter  shows  that  there 
was  every  desire  to  treat  owners  very  gently 
and  generously. 

Foreign  owners  did  not  foresee  any  moro 
than  most  British  owners  what  was  coining. 
This  was  proved  by  the  fact  that  in  the  autumn 
of  1914  a  few  .British  owners  were  able  to 
charter  neutral  vessels  at  extremely  low  rates, 
the  neutral  owners  in  some  cases  stipulating 
that  their  vessels  should  be  chartered  for  not 
less  than  twelve  months.  Those  British  owners 
who  had  sufficient  foresight  to  enter  into  these 
transactions  were  able  to  make  very  large 
profits  on  the  transactions. 

Since  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  re- 
quisitioning of  vessels  had  been'  the  main 
influence  in  causing  a  scarcity  of  shipping  for 
commerco.  The  fast  and  largo  liner  was 
required  to  \>o  fitted  out  as  an  armed  merchant 
cruiser,  a  transport,  or  a  hospital  ship.  Colliers 
were  required  to  accompany  the  Fleet  .and 


cargo  ships  to  carry  supplies   1'or  the   nrn 
and    to    bring    commodities    over    which     the 
Government  took  control,  such  us  sugar  and. 
later,  wheat. 

By  the  end  of  1914  the  withdrawal  of  ton- 
n.iL'r  was  affecting  freights.  The  grain  freight 
from  Argentina  rose  from  12s.  6d.  per  ton  at 
the  end  of  July,  1914,  to  50s.,  as  compared 
with  37s.  6d.  per  ton,  which  was  th*  highest 
point  reached  during  the  "  boom  "  year  of 
1912.  The  freight,  however,  was  to  advance 
fir  further  throughout  1915  and  1916.  By 
the  end  of  1915  the  Argentine  freight  advanced 
to  130s.,  and  during  1916  to  183s.  6d.,  repre- 
senting as  compared  with  the  low  rate  of  1914 
an  increase  of  171s.  In  normal  years  L'.V. 
would  have  been  regarded  as  a  very  satis- 
factory rate,  so  that  compared  even  with  (his 
the  highest  freight  touched  in  1916  represented 
a  sevenfold  increase.  Early  in  1917  the 
position  was  taken  closely  in  hand,  and  rates 
were  brought  down  to  a  rather  lower  basis.  A 
large  proportion  of  these  abnormally  high 
freights  went,  of  course,  to  the  Government  in 
the  form  of  excess  profit  taxation  ;  indeed,  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  this  policy  stimulalcd 
the  rise.  For  instance,  on  September  20, 
the  day  before  the  announcement  by 


uuuueu 

'),  1  <»i:, 
jy    Mr.    f 


SHIPPING    COAL    AT    GRIMSBY. 


THE    TIMES    H1STOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


81 


COAL  TIPS  AT  SWANSEA. 
McKenna,  then  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
of  an  excess  profit  tax  of  50  per  cent.,  the 
Argentine  rate  was  57s.  6d.  a  ton.  Within  a 
month  it  had  risen  to  70s.,  and  by  the  end  of 
that  year  to  120s.  Other  rates  also  moved  in 
the  samo  direction,  showing  the  influence  of 
the  taxation.  On  the  same  day  of  1915  the 
rate  for  wheat  from  the  Atlantic  ports  of  the 
United  States  to  the  West  of  England  was  9s. 
a  quarter;  by  October  20  it  had  risen  to  12s., 
and  by  the  end  of  the  year  to  16s.  It  sub- 
sequently advanced  to  20s.,  the  highest  point 
reached  in  1916.  On  September  20,  1915,  the 
rate  for  coals  from  Cardiff  to  the  West  of  Italy 
was  32s.  as  compared  with  about  7s.  6d.  a  ton 
before  the  war  ;  within  a  month  it  had  advanced 
to  42s.  6d.,  and  by  the  end  of  the  year  to  65s., 
subsequently  rising  to  lOOo.  The  excess  profit 
taxation  gave  owners  an  opportunity  of 
arguing  that  the  rise  in  the  rate  was  com- 
paratively harmless,  since  the  bulk  of  the 
profits  went  to  the  Government.  Yet  the 
amount  remaining  to  them  was  very  substantial 
indeed.  There  was  also  an  impression  pre- 
vailing that  the  Government  did  not  look 
altogether  unfavourably  on  these  high  freights, 
because  they  meant  such  large  contributions 
to  the  Exchequer.  But  if  high  freights  were 
really  regarded  as  a  convenient  means  of 
taxation,  the  system  was  undoubtedly  an 
unfair  one  to  many  classes  of  the  population. 
By  a  real  system  of  control  there  is  no  doubt 
that  it  could  have  been  avoided,  and  the  monev 


TIPPING    A    COAL    TRUCK. 

paid  by  consumers  in  respect  of  high  freights, 
part  of  which  was  retained  by  shipowners, 
would  have  been  available  for  direct  con- 
tribution to  the  State. 

The  chief  causes  of  the  short  supply  of 
shipping  available  for  commerce  may  now  be 
recounted.  The  outstanding  reason  was  the 
requisitioning  of  a  very  large  proportion  of 
tonnage  for  Government  services  ;  and,  in  this 
connexion,  first  the  Dardanelles  Campaign  and 
then  the  Salonika  Expedition  threw  a  very 
heavy  burden  on  the  mercantile  marine.  The 
imperious  demands  of  the  fighting  departments 
had  naturally  to  be  met — sometimes  at  very 
short  notice — and  as  the  war  progressed  ship 
after  ship  had  to  be  withdrawn  from  commerce, 
producing  great  disturbance  in  particular  trades. 
Precisely  what  proportion  was  requisitioned 
from  time  to  time  was  not  exactly  stated, 
but  indications  were  given  on  various  occasions, 
and  especially  in  Parliament  in  February,  1917. 

133-2 


82 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


LOADING    WHEAT    IN    AUSTRALIA. 


On  February  13,  Lord  Curzon.  a  member  of  the 
War  Cabinet,  indicated  that  the  bulk  of  British 
shipping  was  so  requisitioned.  On  the  following 
day  Sir  Leo  Chiozza  Money,  Parliamentary 
Secretary  to  the  Shipping  Controller,  pointed 
out  that  it  was  not  true  to  say  that  three- 
quarters  of  our  shipping  was  engaged  in  the 
services  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  since  the 
vessels  so  employed  were  occupied  in  many 
commercial  services  as  well  as  those  of  the 
nation.  The  75  per  cent,  which  had  been 
described  as  being  engaged  in  naval  or  military 
service  for  ourselves  and  our  Allies  referred  to 
miscellaneous  services,  and,  in  addition,  some 
of  the  major  services  of  the  population  were 
included  in  the  75  per  cent.  The  carrying  of 
ore,  and  of  wheat  and  sugar,  the  most  essential 
supplies  for  the  people,  alone  accounted  for 
12  per  cent,  of  the  tonnage  which  had  been 
<|i 'scribed  as  employed  in  national  service. 

Since  so  large  a  proportion  of  shipping  was 
in  direct  Government  service  obviously  much 
doj>ended  upon  the  use  which  was  made  of  it. 
There  was  from  the  beginning  of  the  war  a  great 
deal  of  criticism  of  the  Government  Depart- 
ments concerned,  on  the  ground  that  the  most 
efficient  use  was  not  being  made  of  the  tonnage 


requisitioned,  and  on  December  23,  1915.  Mr. 
Balfour,  then  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  did 
not  dispute  that  there  was  waste,  but  he 
maintained  that  it  was  unavoidable.  He 
reasoned  that  the  Admiralty  Transport  Depart- 
ment was  a  department  and  nothing  but  a, 
department  for  obtaining  for  the  Army,  and 
for  tho  Navy  in  a  secondary  degree,  but 
primarily  and  mostly  for  the  Army,  the  shipping 
necessary  for  the  conveyance  of  troops  and 
supplies.  "  The  Army,"  he  continued,  "  say 
we  want  such  and  such  ships,  or  rather  they 
say  we  want  so  many  thousand  men  conveyed 
from  such  and  such  a  place  to  another  place. 
We  want  for  the  supply  of  those  troops  so  many 
tons  conveyed,  so  many  horses  conveyed,  and 
so  many  hospital  ships  provided,  and  all  the 
Admiralty  Transport  Department  has  to  do — 
and  it  is  no  light  matter,  it  is  very  difficult  and 
responsible  work— is  to  provide  that  tonnagi- 
and  provide  it  as  far  as  it  can  with  fairness  ii> 
the  shipping  trade — a  very  difficult  operation — 
and  with  as  little  inconvenience  to  those  who 
are  engaged  in  carrying  on  the  shipping  industry 
as  may  be.  .  .  .  The  Director  of  Transports  is 
perpetually  urging  upon  those  who  use  the 
tonnage  that  it  should  be  utilized  economically 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


and  that  transports  should  be  unloaded  with 
speed  and  returned  as  soon  as  possible.  It  is 
the  Army  and  the  Admiralty,  regarded  as 
fighting  departments,  which  requisition  ;  it  is 
the  Army  and  Navy  that  manage  the  loading 
and  unloading  of  transport  at  home  and 
abroad.  It  is  not  fair  or  just  to  throw  upon  a 
department  which  has  no  power  to  deal  with 
this  question  any  responsibility  for  such 
wastage  as  may  have  occurred."  He  con- 
tinued : 

The  Department  of  the  Admiralty  is  not  and  cannot  bo 
made  responsible  for  the  fact  that  a  particular  transport 
is  kept  three  weeks  when  she  might  perhaps  have  been 
kept  only  for  a  week.  The  result  is  very  serious,  but  it 
is  not  the  fault  of  the  Admiralty  or  the  Board  of  Trade, 
and  I  have  not  yet  discovered  a  thoroughly  satisfactory 
method  of  dealing  with  it.  Something  is  being  done, 
however,  but  it  can  only  be  done  through  the  people 
responsible  for  the  military  operations.  If  a  General 
says,  "  I  am  very  sorry  that  this  or  that  ship  should  be 
detained,  but  detained  she  must  l>e  in  the  military 
interests  of  the  expedition,"  what  am  I  to  say  ?  What 
is  the  Secretary  for  War,  or  the  Transport  Department, 
or  the  Board  of  Trade,  to  say  ?  They  cannot  say  any- 
thing except,  "  Please  be  as  economical  with  the  tonnage 
as  you  can,  because  it  is  of  national  importance  that  as 
much  as  possible  should  be  available  for  the  general 
purposes  of  the  country." 

I  hope  the  House  will  see  that  I  have  been  perfectly 
candid  and  that  I  have  shown  where,  in  my  opinion,  the 
shoe  pinches.  If  you  can  suggest  a  method  of  dealing 
with  the  situation  which  gets  over  the  difficulty  I  shall 
be  most  happy  to  consider  it.  I  do  not  think  it  can 


be  dealt  with  by  central  control  here.  AH  that  can  be 
done  is  to  press  upon  those  who  have  to  conduct  these 
military  operations  the  extreme  desirability  of  saving 
the  tonnage  in  the  general  interests. 

The  position  was  not  left  until  the  end  of  the 
war  entirely  in  this  distinctly  unsatisfactory 
state,  as  will  be  shown  later. 

Another  primary  cause  of  the  short  supply 
of  tonnage  was  the  very  serious  delay  at  all 
ports  owing  to  congestion.  When  ships  were 
delayed  for  months  in  port,  either  waiting  for 
berths  or  alongside  the  docks  while  discharge 
proceeded  very  slowly,  whereas  in  ordinary 
times  they  would  have  been  able  to  discharge 
and  load  again  within  a  few  days,  it  was  obvious 
that  the  carrying  capacity  was  terribly  cur- 
tailed. The  public  probably  never  had  any  real 
perception  of  the  extent  to  which  the  short 
supply  was  due  to  these  delays,  and  even  ship- 
owners who  did  understand  what  they  meant 
encountered  the  greatest  difficulty  in  getting 
any  measures  adopted  to  effect  an  improve- 
ment. The  difficulty  was  due  mainly  to 
the  withdrawal  of  very  large  numbers  of  dock 
workers  and  railway  men  for  the  Army,  and 
also  quite  noticeably  to  Customs  regulations 
introduced  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  goods 
from  reaching  the  enemy.  Lack  of  organization 


[French  Official  phdograpli. 

UNLOADING    DRIED    COD    FROM    NEWFOUNDLAND    AT    FECAMP. 


84 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAIL 


in  shipping  large  quantities  of  commodities 
controlled  by  the  Government  was  also  a 
factor. 

Then  the  substitution  of  long  voyages  for 
short  distance  passages  was  also  a  factor.  For 
instance,  whereas  the  bulk  of  our  sugar  supplies 
before  the  war  merely  had  to  be  brought  across 
the  North  Sea  from  Germany,  directly  this 


source  of  supply  ceased  sugar  had  to  be  brought 
from  the  East  and  West  Indies  and  Centra! 
America.  Then  the  locking  up  of  so  large  a 
proportion  of  the  German  Mercantile  Marine  in 
home  and  neutral  ports  had  left  more  work  for 
neutral  vessels  to  do.  New  demands,  moreover, 
were  made  upon  shipping.  Thus,  there 
was  a  formidable  fleet  of  ships  allocated 


H1HBBBMBHHHBBBHB 


FLOATING    ELEVATOR. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


35 


to  bring  foodstuffs  for  the  Belgian  popu- 
tion  organized  by  the  Commission  for 
Relief  in  Belgium.  There  were  also,  as 
is  well  known,  large  shipments  of  munitions 
from  the  United  States  to  England  and  the 
other  European  ports  of  the  Allies,  and  there 
were  shipments  of  supplies  from  the  United 
States  to  Vladivostok,  for  Russian  account ; 
while  the  detention  owing  to  ice  of  many  vessels 
during  the  winter  of  1914-15  at  Archangel  should 
have  been  avoided.  The  closing  of  the  Panama 
Canal  in  consequence  of  a  "  slide  "  from  the 
end  of  September,  1915,  until  the  middle  of  the 
following  March,  came  at  a  critical  time  and 
by  prolonging  voyages  accentuated  the  short 
supply.  All  the  time  the  sinking  of  ships  by  the 
enemy  continued,  increasing  periodically  in 
numbers  for  a  time  as  fresh  campaigns  were 
started.  Some  figures  given  by  Lord  Curzon  in 
the  House  of  Lords  on  February  13  are  interest- 
ing. He  stated  that  in  July,  1914,  there  were 
3,890  vessels  of  over  1,600  tons  gross,  with  a 
total  of  16,850,000.  On  January  31,  1917,  the 
total  number  was  3,540  and  the  total  tonnage 
just  under  16,000,000.  Thus,  in  30  months  of 
the  war  the  net  loss  of  this  class  of  vessel  from 
all  causes  in  the  British  Mercantile  Marine 
amounted  to  only  from  5  to  6  per  cent,  of  the 
gross  tonnage.  The  figures  would  have  been 
more  valuable  if  a  line  had  not  been  drawn  at 
1,600  tons,  because  a  large  number  of  vessels 
of  smaller  tonnage  are  very  useful. 

The  German  submarine  campaign  could  have 
been  encountered  with  equanimity  if  the  ship- 
yards of  the  country  had  been  freely  available 
to  undertake  mercantile  work.  Owing,  how- 
ever, to  very  large  demands  made  upon  the 
shipbuilding  resources  of  the  country  by  the 
Admiralty,  the  output  of  merchant  tonnage 
was  reduced  to  very  small  proportions.  Even 
the  normal  wastage  of  tonnage  due  to  ordinary 
marine  perils  could  not  be  made  good. 

Just  as  the  main  cause  of  the  scarcity  of 
shipping  was  due  to  Government  requisitioning, 
so  was  the  extraordinary  rise  in  freights. 
Directly  the  Government  began  to  requisition 
shipping  in  the  early  days  of  the  war,  rates  for 
free  tonnage  advanced.  As  more  and  more 
tonnage  was  removed  from  the  market,  the 
competition  for  what  was  left  increased  until 
any  free  vessels  could  get  practically  any  freight. 
When  vessels  engaged  in  regular  trades  were 
ift  (uisitioned,  their  owners  went  into  the  market 
and  chartered  "  tramp  "  steamers  to  take  their 
place— a  procesr-  which  was  quite  the  most 


effective  method  of  forcing  up  freights,  and  was 
humorously  described  as  the  "  snowball 
system."  For  every  vessel  required  by  the 
Government  two  were  disturbed.  The  most 
unfortunate  effect  of  the  Government's  policy 
was  the  benefit  it  conferred  on  neutral  shipping. 
The  more  British  vessels  were  requisitioned,  the 
higher  the  freights  which  neutrals  could  demand. 
Yet  the  latter  would  have  been  well  satisfied 
in  the  early  months  of  the  war  with  rates 
of  hire  for  long  periods  which  later  came 
to  be  regarded  as  ridiculously  low.  Even  if 
large  numbers  had  not  been  chartered  by  the 
British  Government  at  these  low  rates,  it  was 
obvious  that,  with  all  British  shipping  undor  the 
control  of  the  Government,  rates  for  neutral 
vessels  would  never  have  risen  to  such  extra- 
ordinary levels.  In  normal  times  owners  had 
experience  of  the  depressing  effect  on  freights 
of  diverting  ships  into  a  particular  trade.  So 
what  had  been  done  in  a  comparatively  small 
way  by  private  owners  as  an  ordinary  incident 
of  business  could  have  been  done  on  a  large 
scale  by  a  Government  authority  backed  by- 
vast  resources. 

Although  for  nearly  two  and  a  half  years  no 
bold  policy  was  adopted,  measure  after  measure 
was  introduced  and  committee  after  committee  , 
created.  The  problem  was  never  dealt  with  | 
as  a  whole  but  piecemeal :  all  was  patch -work.  P 
Some  of  the  steps,  taken  generally  after  the 
need  for  some  improvement  had  become  obvious 
to  the  merest  layman,  may  now  bo  described. 
The  first  decision,  which  represented  one  of  the 
few^fcjjpntaneous  acts  of  the  Government,  was 
to  requisit'ioji  the  services  of  a  number  of  ship- 
owners to  assist  the  Transport  Department  of 
the~~Admiralty. Their  duties  were  understood 
to~1>e  to  advise  the  officials  as  to  the  suitability 
of  tonnage  for  particular  work  and  to  acquire 
vessels,  as  far  as  possible,  in  proportion  to  the 
size  of  the  fleets  belonging  to  the  different 
ownerships.  From  time  to  time  the  services 
of  other  owners  were  enlisted  for  this  depart- 
ment, which  at  the  outbreak  of  war  was  quite  a 
small  one.  No  doubt,  although  owners  were 
merely  acting  in  an  advisory  capacity  to  the 
Transport  Department,  their  services  were  yet 
of  great  value. 

One  of  the  most  successful  measures  adopted 
throughout  the  war  was  carried  out  at  the 
instigation  of  owners  themselves,  and  provided 
for  the  requisitioning  of  the  whole  of  the 
insulated  spaces  in  British  steamships  trading 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


between  Australia  and  Now  Zealand  ami 
England.  This  was  put  into  effect  by  an 
Order  in  Council  issued  in  April,  1916,  and  \va.-. 
followed  in  May  l>y  a  similar  order  applicable  to 
the  insulated  steamers  in  the  South  American 
trade.  It  was  plain  to  owners  that,  unless 
such  measures  were  adopted,  there  would  be 
no  limit  to  the  rise  in  freights  for  the  carriage 
of  frozen  and  chilled  meat.  There  was  plenty 
of  meat  overseas,  and  the  supply  in  England  was 
regulated  solely  by  the  amount  of  freights, 
and  it  was  known  that  foreign  firms  were  pre- 
pared to  pay  almost  any  price  for  tonnage.  The 
Board  of  Trade  approved  the  scheme  and  rates 
wore  agreed  upon  amounting  to  only  about 
l|d.  a  Ib.  as  compared  with  Id.  per  Ib.  before 
the  war.  The  following  account  of  the  measures 
taken  was  given  in  the  annual  report  of  Messrs. 
W.  Weddel  A  Co.  for  1915 : 

The  importance  of  frozen  meat  in  connexion  with  the 
conduct  of  the  great  war  was  made  abundantly  manifest 
in  the  course  of  1914  ;  but  it  was  not  until  the  beginning 
of  1915  that  the  British  Government  took  the  steps 
necessary  to  secure  what  was  practically  complete  control 
of  the  industry  at  all  stages.  The  requisitioning  of  the 
output  of  the  freezing  works  of  Australia  and  New 
Zealand,  by  agreement  with  the  Australasian  Govern- 
ments, on  terms  more  or  less  acceptable  to  the  producers, 
secured  the  main  supplies  produced  within  the  British 
Umpire  ;  while  the  simple  expedient  of  commandeering 
the  British  refrigerated  mercantile  marine  effectually 


secured  control  of  foreign  supplies— primarily  of  South 
America,  and  indirectly  of  North  America  and  all  outside 
sources.  These -important  steps,  far-reaching  in  their 
consequences,  were  taken  with  a  view  to  guaranteeing 
the-  necessary  supplies  not  only  for  the  British  Army  and 
<_'fHi'rul  publir,  but  also  for  the  French  Army,  and, 
latterly,  for  the  Italian.  They  involved  fundamental 
changes  in  the  methods  of  carrying  on  a  Y;IM  trade  which 
has  been  built  up  painstakingly  during  the  past  30  years. 
In  order  to  attain  the  objects  of  the  Board  of  Trade  and 
the  U'nr  Olli.-e,  existing  contracts  were  left  unfilled  or 
unceremoniously  cancelled  ;  steamers  were  diverted  on 
short  notice  from  their  intended  routes  ;  the  established 
modes  of  buying  and  of  selling  were  entirely  altered  ; 
freedom  of  contract  ceased  to  exist  ;  and  at  every  stage 
the  industry  became  regulated  and  controlled  at  the  wilt 
of  the  authorities,  untrammelled  by  any  ordinary  con- 
siderations of  Joss  or  profit. 

In  the  spring  of  1915  a  further  measure  of 
control  was  introduced  in  a  request  that  all 
o\raers  should  keep  the  Admiralty  informed 
of  the  movements  of  al!  their  ships.  E-irly 
in  that  summer  a  scheme  was  instituted  on 
behalf  of  the  Indian  Government  for  buying 
and  importing  Indian  wheat.  The  freight 
arrangements  were  put  in  the  hands  of  a  well- 
known  broker,  who  was  successful  in  re- 
taining the  rates  upon  a  comparatively  low 
basis.  Little  more  was  done  until  the  following 
November,  when  three  committees  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  Government.  The  first  com 
inittee  WAS-£OJ_  dealing^  with  the  congestion  _at 
the  ports,  which  had  then  become  a  very 


FILLING    SACKS    WITH    WHEAT    FROM    FLOATING    ELEVATOR. 


THE     TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


87 


[French  Official  rhntofrapli. 

FLOUR  FROM    AMERICA. 


DISCHARGING 

serious   matter.     Its   duties  were   described   in 
the  official  announcement  as  follows  : 

The  Prime  Minister  has  appointed  a  Committee  to 
inquire  into  difficulties  and  congestion  arising  from  time 
to  time  at  harbours,  ports,  and  docks  (including  dock- 
sheds  and  warehouses)  in  the  United  Kingdom.;  to 
regulate  the  work  and  traffic  thereat  ;  to  coordinate  the 
requirements  of  all  interests  concerned  so  as  to  avoid  so 
far  as  possible  interference  with  the  normal  flow  of  trade  ; 
to  decide  all  questions  relating  to  the  difficulties  and 
congestion  aforesaid  that  may  be  referred  to  them  : 
and  to  give  directions  to  all  executive  bodies  at  the 
harbours,  ports,  and  docks  for  carrying  their  decisions 
into  effect. 

Lord  Inchcape  was  chairman,  and  the 
following  were  members,  of  the  Board  :  Mr. 
Graeme  Thomson  and  Major  T.  H.  Hawkins 
(Admiralty),  Brigadier-General  the  Hon.  A.  R. 
Monta  Stuart  Wortley  (War  Office);  Sir 
Frederick  Bolton,  Mr.  J.  G.  Broodbank,  Sir 
Sam  Fay,  Sir  Edward  H.iin  and  Sir  A.  Norman 
Hill,  and  the  secretary  was  Sir  Frederick 
Dumayne,  Board  of  Trade. 

The  committee  was  thus  representative  of 
the  Admiralty,  the  War  Office,  shipping 
companies,  dock  companies  and  the  railways. 
It  soon  set  to  work  to  deal,  among  other  things, 
with  a  great  loss  and  delay  resulting  from  the 


JACK'S    FLOUR    SUPPLY. 

various  formalities  which  had  to  be  observed 
before  goods  could  be  exported,  owing  to  tho 
lack  of  Customs  Officers  at  the  docks  with  any 
discretionary  powers.  It  had  frequently  hap- 
pened that  vessels  had  to  sail  with  a  largp 
amount  of  empty  space,  leaving  hundreds  of 
tens  of  cargo  in  the  sheds  marked  "  Not 
passed  by  Customs."  A  special  form  of 
Shipping  Note  was  introduced,  which  was  found 
considerably  to  facilitate  shipments. 

The  second  committee  was  for  the  licensing  of 
ships,  the  principle  being   that,  as  ships  were 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


[French  Official  Photograph. 

SPANISH    SAILING    VESSELS    BRINGING    ORANGES. 


urgently  required  in  British  trade,  the  voyages 
of  British  ships  between  foreign  ports  should  be 
subject  to  scrutiny.  The  desire  not  to  interfere 
until  absolutely  necessary  with  ships  trading 
abroad  had  been  reasonable  since,  before  the 
war,  Great  Britain  had  acted  as  carrier  for  tin- 
world,  and  the  profits  earned  by  such  trading 
were  especially  useful  during  the  war  as  an 
.•instance  to  foreign  exchange  questions.  The 
committee  was  able  to  relieve  the  situation  by 
refusing  licences  for  voyages  to  ports  known  to 
be  seriously  congested.  The  chairman  of  this. 


committee  was  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir)  Maurice  Hill, 
who  in  January,  1917,  was  appointed  a  judge  in 
the  Probate,  Divorce  and  Admiralty  Division  of 
the  High  Court,  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Justice 
Bargrave  Deane,  resigned,  and  it  included 
Mr.  F.  W.  Lewis,  deputy  chairman  of  Furness, 
Withv  &  Co.,  as  vice-chairman,  Mr.  H.  A. 
Sanderson  (the  president  of  the  International 
Mercantile  Marine  Co.,  and  chairman  of  the 
Oceanic  Steam  Navigation  Co.),  Mr.  Schole- 
field,  a  shipowner  of  Newcastle,  Mr.  Purdie  of 
Glasgow,  and  Mr.  Burton  Chadwick  of  Liver- 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


89 


pool.  This  committee  proved  a  workmanlike 
body  and  steadily  earned  an  excellent  reputa- 
tion for  dealing  expeditiously  with  applications. 
The.  principle  of  ship  licensing  was  developed 
further  in  March,  1916,  when  it  was  made 
applicable  to  all  ships  of  over  500  tons  gross 
trading  to  and  from  the  United  Kingdom. 
This  committee  was  now  able  to  assist  in  the 
relief  of  the  congestion  at  British  ports  by 
refusing  licences  to  ports  where  it  was  known 
ships  could  not  be  dealt  with  quickly,  in  the 
same  way  as  had  already  been  done  in  the  case 
of  foreign  ports. 

The  third  committee  was  made  responsible 
for  the  requisitioning  of  ships  for  the  carriage 
of  foodstuffs.  It  was  presided  over  by  Mr. 
J.  H.  Whitley,  M.P.,  and  included  the  three 
owners  who  had  been  advising  the  Transport 
Department  of  the  Admiralty — namely,  Mr.  T. 
Royden,  deputy-chairman  of  the  Cunard  Com- 
pany, Mr.  E.  G.  Glover,  previously  known  as  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Glover  Bros.,  ship  and 
insurance  brokers,  and  Mr.  R.  D.  Holt,  M.P.,  the 
Liverpool  owner.  The  policy  of  the  committee 
was  to  direct  owners  to  load  their  vessels  in 
trades  where  tonnage  was  especially  wanted, 
leaving  them  to  accept  the  full  market  rates. 
Thus  a  number  of  vessels  were  released  from 
Admiralty  service  on  condition  that  they 
loaded  wheat  in  North  America.  There  were 
still  signs,  however,  of  confusion  and  the  lack 
of  any  firm  grip  on  the  situation. 

For  instance,  on  November  3,  1915,  the 
Board  of  Trade  informed  owners  that,  with  a 
view  to  encouraging  imports  <5f  wheat,  vessels 
loading  in  North  America  not  later  than 
December  15  should  be  exempt  from  requisi- 
tion (a  well-known  bait)  on  arrival  at  a  United 
Kingdom  port.  They  were  to  be  free  to  start 
on  another  voyage,  which  need  not  necessarily 
be  a  North  Atlantic  voyage,  after  discharge  of 
fjirgo.  One  effect  of  this  attractive  offer  had, 
however,  not  been  foreseen.  Owners  who 
could  not  take  advantage  of  it  as  their  trade 
was  not  in  the  North  Atlantic  also  applied 
for  the  exemption  of  their  vessels  because  they 
considered  that  these  were  being  equally  well 
employed  elsewhere. 

No  doubt  there  would  have  been  distinct 
difficulty  in  drawing  a  line,  so  within  two  days 
tins  privilege  was  cancelled.  The  issue  and 
withdrawal  of  this  order  followed  very  closely 
upon  the  issue  and  withdrawal  by  the  Board 
of  Trade,  ''  after  further  consideration  p,nd 
discussion,"  of  a  far-reaching  clause  which 


it  had  been  proposed  to  have  inserted  in  bill? 
of  lading,  but  which  had  quickly  been  seen  by 
merchants  and  brokers  to  be  quite  unworkable. 
These  two  little  incidents  naturally  confirmed 
the  opinion  which  was  then  being  very  strongly 
expressed  by  many  business  men,  that  the 
authorities  were  still  only  groping,  and  were 
still  intent  on  patching  wherever  a  particularly 
blatant  evil  became  exposed,  instead  of  dealing 
with  the  p'roblem  as  a  whole.  What,  it  was 
felt,  was  obviously  needed  was  not  a  multi- 
plicity of  committees  co-equal  in  authority  and 
overlapping  each  other,  but  one  supreme 
central  expert  authority  who,  while  availing 
himself  of  the  best  advice,  would  be  able  to 
know  what  he  could  and  could  not  do. 

The  Times  consistently  urged  the  pressing 


MR.   F.  W.  LEWIS, 
Deputy  Chairman  of  Furness,  Withy  &  Co. 

need  for  more  effective  control.   On  January  17, 
1916,  its  Shipping  Correspondent  wrote  : 

Before  the  war,  there  was  in  one  direction  work  for, 
say,  100  ships  to  do,  and,  since  wastage  during  peace 
was  comparatively  unimportant,  it  mattered  little  to 
the  nation  whether  these  100  ships  were  in  the  hands 
of  one  or  of  ten  owners.  But  now,  though  there  is  still 
work  for  100  ships,  there  are,  say,  only  60  ships  to  do  it. 
It  is  vitally  important  that  every  ton  measurement  of 
sjmeo  shall  be  put  to  the  most  effective  use  for  the 
benefit  of  the  whole  nation.  The  point  is,  therefore, 
whether  the  most  efficient  work  will  be  got  out  of  all 
these  ships  if  they  are  still  in  the  hands  of  10  British 
owners,  each  with  his  own  ideas,  and  each  intent  on 

133-3 


90 


THE    TIMES    HISTOliY    OF    THI-:     WAR. 


doing  the  best  he  can  for  himself,  or,  if  they  are  con- 
trolled by  one  supreme  authority.  No  competent 
shipping  manager  can  have  any  doubt  on  the  matter. 

The  supreme  expert  authority  would  be  able  to  take 
a  comprehensive  view  of  the  work  which  our  imaginary 
100  ships  used  to  perform,  and  would  admit  that  it  was 
useless  to  expect  the  60  ships  now  left  to  do  the  whole 
of  it.  Consequently,  the  authority  would  have  to 
decide  which  trades  were  essential  to  the  country,  and 
which,  in  view  of  the  circumstances,  could  best  be 
spared.  The  supreme  authority  would  discover  all 
sorts  of  anomalies  in  the  present  conditions.  Inquiry, 
for  instance,  might  be  made,  whether  it  was  in  the  best 
interests  of  the  country  that  great  volumes  of  space 
in  British  ships  should  now  be  used  for  transporting 


loss  of  his  commission  on  management,  since  all  would 
be  paid  on  the  same  generous  scale,  whatever  work 
their  ships  were  doing.  The  supreme  authority  would 
interfere  as  little  as  possible  with  the  management  of 
the  ships,  but  the  one  aim  always  before  it  would  be  the 
use  of  the  ships  in  the  best  interest  of  the  country.  It 
would  hold  a  watching  brief  for  the  nation.  Instead  of 
ollicials  of  the  Transport  Department  of  the  Admiralty 
the  President  and  officials  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  the 
Indian  and  Colonial  Governments,  the  Advisory  Com- 
mittee to  the  Transport  Department  of  the  Admiralty, 
the  Ship  Licensing  Committee,  and  the  Committee  for 
Requisitioning  Ships  for  the  Carriage  of  Foodstuffs,  and 
various  other  bodies  all  overlapping  each  other  and 
bringing  about  no  real  improvement,  there  would  be  one 


UNLOADING   FROZEN   MEAT. 


cheap  American  motor-cars  from  New  York  to 
Australia.  Many  other  questions  might  with  ad- 
vantage be  examined.  There  is  only  one  authority 
which  could  exercise  such  a  beneficent  inauenco, 
and  that  is  an  expert  shipping  authority  appointed  by 
the  Government.  There  is  only  one  way  in  which  such 
authority  could  be  exercised,  and  that  is  by  hiring  all 
ships  to  the  State  for  the  period  of  the  war. 

The  particular  rate  of  hire  then  advocated 
was  one  based  on  the  cost  price  of  the  ship. 

The  State  (it  was  pointed  out)  can  afford  to  treat  the 
shipowner  very  generously.  It  could  afford  to  pay  the 
owner  a  handsome  percentage  of  the  original  cost  of  the 
ships,  after  some  allowance  for  depreciation,  and,  in 
addition,  it  could  afford,  in  order  to  encourage  the  owner  to 
i-iintiimi!  to  give  his  Ix-st  attention  to  the  management  of 
the  ship-,  a  commission  on  the  profits.  The  owners 
would  1*  asked  to  manage  their  ships,  just  as  at  present,  ; 
hut  when  the  Admiralty  wanted  a  ship  there  would  be 
11. me  of  the  forcing  up  of  freights  which  is  tho  immediate 
effect  of  the  present  system  of  requisitioning. 

No  owner  would  "suffer  "  through  having  his  ship 
withdrawn  for  Admiralty  work,  except  possibly  from  tin- 


supreme  authority  with  which  the  control  of  British 
shipping  in  the  best  interests  of  the  nation  for  the  period 
of  the  war  would  rest. 

On  the  following  day  it  was  pointed  out : 

Owners  manage  their  own  ships  according  to  their 
individual  ideas,  and  not  solely  with  the  aim  of  putting 
them  to  the  best  po.ssible  use  in  the  service  of  the  State. 
Sailings  are  maintained,  although  the  particular  trades 
may  be  very  quiet ;  while  in  other  trades  there  are  not 
nearly  sufficient  vessels.  Obviously,  only  a  supreme 
authority  would  be  able  to  see  all  the  trades  in  their 
proper  perspective,  and  could  provide  that  ships  should 
he  allotted  to  the  routes  in  which  they  were  most 
urgently  needed. 

Again,  on  January  19  it  was  pointed  out 
that  "  high  shipping  authorities  are  convinced 
that  the  gain  in  efficiency  from  a  central  control, 
such  ns  has  been  described  in  The  Times  during 
the  past  few  days,  would  be  very  substantial 
indeed." 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


91 


The  agitation  could  not  be  ignored,  but  Mr. 
Runoiman,  the  then  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  still  hesitated  to  take  drastic  measures. 
In  the  House  of  Commons  on  January  19  he 
said : 

There  is  a,  serious  shortage  of  the  world's  tonnage 
as  compared  with  the  world's  requirements.  We 
went  fully  into  the  question  of  commandeering  the 
whole  of  British  tonnage  in  order  to  regulate  freights, 
and  came  to  the  conclusion  (a  conclusion  which  is,  I 
believe,  confirmed  by  all  the  experts  who  have  studied 
the  question)  that  this  particular  remedy  would  only 


is  assured."  Although  the  functions  of  this 
body  were  never  more  closely  defined,  the 
genera!  assumption  was  that  it  was  to  exercise  a 
general  sort  of  supervision  over  the  whole  of 
British  shipping,  and  that  the  appointment  of 
the  committee  was  intended  to  be  a  reply  to  the 
demand  for  closer  .control.  The  composition 
of  the  committee  was  criticized  on  the  ground 
that  Lord  Curzon,  the  Chairman,  had  no  direct 
knowledge  of  shipping,  that  Mr.  Royden  and 
Mr.  Lewis,  whose  ability  no  one  doubted,  were 


AUSTRALIAN   MEAT   IN   COLD  STORAGE. 


aggravate   the   shortage    of   tonnage   available    for   the 
United  Kingdom  and  the  Allies. 

By  January  27  the  Government  had,  how- 
ever, come  to  the  conclusion  that  some  form  of 
centralized  control  was  required,  and  the  then 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trade  announced 
that,  in  order  that  tonnage  should  be  allocated 
to  the  best  advantage  of  the  Allied  Govern- 
ments, the  Government  was  to  be  assisted  by 
a  small  body  consisting  of  Lord  Faringdon,  Mr. 
Thomas  Royden,  and  Mr.  F.  W.  Lewis,  presided 
over  by  Lord  Curzon,  who  had  accepted  the 
invitation  of  the  Prime  Minister  to  undertake 
this  duty.  It  was  added  that  "all  the  expert 
committees  dealing  with  these  complex  and 
many-sided  shipping  problems  are  in  the  closest 
touch  with  each  other  so  that  full  cooperation 


already  advisers  of  the  Government  on  shipping, 
and  that  the  experience  of  Lord  Faringdon, 
then  better  known  as  Sir  Alexander  Henderson, 
Chairman  of  the  Great  Central  Railway  Com- 
pany, had  been  gained  mainly  in  railway 
management  and  finance.  Consequently  there 
was>  no  addition  to  the  councils  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  any  fresh  force  recognized  as  a  leader 
of  the  shipping  industry.  It  was  not  until  tho 
end  of  the  year,  on  December  4,  1916,  that  Mr. 
Asquith.  then  Prime  Minister,  appointed  Sir 
Kenneth  Anderson,  K.C.M.G.,  one  of  the 
managers  of  the  Orient  Line,  to  be  a  member 
of  the  "  Shipping  Control  Committee." 

On  January  27,   1916,  the  President  of  the 
Board  of  Trade  also  announced  that  the  Govern- 


92 


THE  TIMES  HISTORY  OF  THE  HM/,'. 


incut  hail  decided  to  cut  down  some  of  the 
imports  less  essential  for  national  existence, 
which  then  occupied  space  in  vessels  arriving 
in  port  or  prevented  vessels  being  used  for  more 
urgent  purposes.  Paper,  paper  pulp  and  grass  for 
making  of  paper  were  the  first  subjects  for  the 
jperation  of  this  policy  because,  it  was  stated, 
of  their  great  bulk  and  influence  on  tonnage. 
Mr.  Runciman  explained  that  he  had  been  in 
conference  with  the  paper-makers  and  news- 
paper proprietors  and  had  had  the  benefit 
of  their  views.  In  order  to  conserve  the 
internal  sources  of  the  raw  material  of  paper, 
the  export  from  this  country  of  rags  and  waste  - 
paper  was  prohibited.  On  February  16,  1916, 
the  appointment  of  a  Royal  Commission  was 
announced,  with  Sir  Thomas  Whittaker  as 
chairman,  to  grant  licences  for  the  importation 
of  paper  and  paper-making  materials,  the 
intention  being  to  cut  down  the  supplies  by 
one-third.  In  continuation  of  this  policy 
the  importation  of  a  large  number  of  other 
articles  and  materials  of  a  bulky  nature  was 
shortly  afterwards  prohibited  except  under 
licence,  including  raw  tobacco,  of  which  there 
were  very  large  stocks  in  this  country  ;  many 


building  materials;  furniture  woods  and 
veneers ;  and  some  fruits.  Special  Com- 
missions were  appointed  to  deal  with  each 
trade.  Further  very  drastic  restrictions  on 
imports  were  announced  by  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
as  Prime  Minister  on  February  23,  1917. 
These  proposals  involved  the  prohibition  of 
imports  of  certain  fruits,  foreign  teas,  coffer 
and  cocoa,  rum,  and  a  number  of  manufactured 
articles,  and  a  reduction  of  paper  and  paper- 
making  materials  by  a  half,  and  a  very  formid- 
able curtailment  of  many  other  commodities. 
The  policy  of  limiting  imports  to  necessities 
was  obviously  a  right  one,  for  whatever 
system  was  adopted  of  controlling  tonnage  it 
was  clear  that  there  were  not  sufficient  ships 
to  carry  on  the  commerce  of  the  country 
on  the  same  scale  as  in  pre-war  times.  The 
main  cause  of  the  scarcity  of  tonnage  for  ordin- 
ary commerce  was  the  large  amount  of  shipping 
directly  in  Government  service.  The  public 
which  had  to  suffer  by  the  restriction  of  trade 
was  justified  in  urging  that  the  utmost  efficiency 
should  be  secured  from  the  vessels  removed 
from  commerce.  A  number  of  extraordinary 
cases  of  the  ineffectual  use  of  requisitioned 
vessels  had  been  quoted,  indicating  what 
appeared  to  the  commercial  mind  flagrant 
instances  of  waste.  Still,  nobody  doubted  the 
strain  thrown  on  the  Transport  Department  of 
the  Admiralty,  and  there  was  every  desire  to 
give  it  full  credit  for  the  highly  important  and 
successful  part  it  had  taken  in  arranging  for 
the  transport  of  enormous  numbers  of  men  and 
s -applies  overseas.  While  the  restrictio  s  of 
imports  were  being  put  into  operation  in  1910, 
freights  were  still  rising,  and  th?  profits  of 
shipping  companies,  us  publicly  announced, 
were,  as  a  rule,  very  large  indeed.  The^e 


TORPEDOED    WITHOUT   WARNING  :  THE   END   OF   AN   UNARMED  "sHuT 


THE    TIMES    H1STOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


HOME   WITH 
A  battered  steamer 

profits,  not  unnaturally,  created  a  good  deal 
of  unrest,  especially  among  labour.  Ship- 
owners generally  came  in  for  some  very- 
sharp  criticism,  which  in  all  cases  -was  not 
<|iiit<>  justified.  A  number  of  owners  had  in 
tin'  parly  days  of  the  war  made  it  quite  clear 
that  they  did  not  want  to  make  extraordinary 
profits  out  of  the  war  ;  by  enterprise  and  good 
management  they  had  established  successful 
!>u*in"-is;-s  yielding  satisfactory  returns,  and  the 


HONOUR: 
making  for  port. 

idea  of  benefiting  from  the  national  misfortune 
was  repugnant  to  them.  It  cannot,  however, 
be  said  that  this  was  the  attitude  adopted  in«all 
quarters.  The  arguments  in  justification  of 
high  profits  were,  usually,  that  the  returns  in 
some  of  the  years  preceding  the  war  had  been 
poor,  and  that  there  was  no  agitation  on  the 
part  of  the  public  when  shipowners  had  been 
unable  to  make  both  ends  meet.  Then  it  was 
argued  that  shipowners  were  quite  helpless — 


94 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF     THE     WAR. 


I  luit  the  cvtr.iordinary  freights  were  forced 
upon  them  by  merchants  out -bidding  each 
other  for  tonnage  ;  in  other  words,  that  there 
mis  no  g.iiusaying  the  law  of  supply  and 
demand.  It  was  even  advanced,  further,  that 
high  freights  were  actually  a  benefit,  since  they 
acted  as  a  restraint  on  imports,  only  those 
commodities  which  could  bear  high  rates  being 
imported.  There  was,  of  course,  a  limit  to.be 
put  to  this  argument,  for,  if  it  was  merely  a 
question  of  high  freight,  many  "  luxuries  " 
could  bear  much  higher  rates  than  what  were 
regarded  as  the  necessaries  of  the  poorer  classes. 
Finally,  there  was  always  the  argument  at  the 
back  that  high  freights  were  a  convenient  means 
of  taxing  the  people  every  time  they  bought 
bread,  since  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  excess 
profits  went  to  the  State.  On  September  21, 
1915,  this  excess  profit  taxation  had  been  fixed 
at  50  per  cent.,  and  in  the  following  April  it 
was  raised  to  60  per  cent.  The  weakness  of 
this  argument  of  high  taxation  was,  however, 
that  the  larger  the  amount  that"  went  to  the 
State  the  larger  the  amount  which  was  retained 
by  the  shipowners  themselves.  Thus  it  hap- 
pened that  within  a  very  short  time  of  the  first 
imposition  of  the  excess  profit  taxation  freights 


rose  to  such  an  extent  that  the  50  per  cent, 
(hen  allowed  to  be  retained  by  owners  exceeded 
the  whole  100  per  cent,  before  the  tax  was  in 
troduced.  It  was  to  be  regretted  that  during 
the  war  shipowners  did  undoubtedly  earn  a  bad 
name  as  "  profiteers."  All  did  not  deserve  it, 
but  all  were  tarred  with  the  same  brush.  The 
public  had  no  means  of  discriminating,  and  any 
owner  who  was  inclined  to  take  up  an  in- 
dependent line  was  thought  by  his  fellow- 
owners  to  be  rendering  a  dis-service  to  the 
shipping  industry.  It  was  common  for  British 
owners,  quite  effectively,  to  point  to  the  even 
larger  profits  which  were  earned  by  neutrals, 
but  they  shut  their  eyes  to  the  fact  that 
under  the  British  system,  or,  rather,  lack  of 
system,  the  neutral  was  benefiting  far  more  than 
the  British  owner.  The  enormous  strengthen- 
ing of  the  neutral  owner's  position  was  indeed 
one  of  the  serious  and  permanent  results  of 
the  shipping  muddle.  This  was  proved  again 
and  again  by  the  fact  that  neutrals  were  able 
to  pay  far  higher  prices  for  new  tonnage  than 
British  owners.  They  paid  enormous  prices 
for  ships  in  the  United  States,  and  even  placed 
orders  in  the  British  Empire,  as  in  British 
Columbia  and  in  the  Allied  country,  .Japan. 


A  BUSY    TIME  AT  THE    BONDED   WAREHOUSES. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


85 


[Official  Photograph. 

DOCKERS   IN   KHAKI    UNLOADING   FROZEN   MEAT   AT   LIVERPOOL. 

In  order  to  assist  in  the  relief  of   congestion  at   the    ports  Transport  Workers'  Battalions    were  formed. 


It  was  a  pity  that  the  criticism  to  which 
owners  were  exposed  was  not  always  taken  in 
good  part.  An  angry  outburst  by  Sir  Walter 
Runciman,  in  February,  1916,  at  the  annurJ 
meeting  of  the  Moor  Line  (Ltd.),  which  had 
disclosed  very  large  profits,  portrayed  a 
spirit  which  was  not  very  helpful  in  solving 
a  problem  that  had  even  then  become  of  extreme 
importance  to  this  country  and  her  Allies.  In 
the  course  of  his  speech  Sir  Walter  said : 

There  is  a  comic  as  well  as  a  serious  side  to  some  of 
the  denunciation  to  which  we  are  subjected,  which  is 
ojways  exhilarating  when  the  irrepressible  self-styled 
"  expert  "  of  shipping  matters,  with  h'3  head  whirling 
with  abstract  notions,  abandons  himself  with  tragic 
solemnity  to  the  task  of  teaching  successful,  well- 
informed  men  who,  notwithstanding  their  human 
failings,  are  at  all  events  a  national  asset,  how  they 
.should  carry  on  an  industry  that  the  self-styled 
"experts"  may  have  lamentably  failed  to  make  a 
success  of.  This  class  of  person  has  a  mania  for  im- 
parting knowledge  they  do  not  in  any  degree  uiidoi1- 
stand.  Let  it  be  understood  that  I  am  speaking 
of  types  ;  some  of  them  are  superlatively  ignorant  of 
every  commercial  instinct.  Their  assurance  stuns  the 
imagination,  and  their  pitiful  panaceas  indicate  the  mind 
of  a  quack.  They  are  like  unto  a  tub  when,  filled  to 
overflowing,  all  at  once  the  bottom  falls  out. 

Shipowners  were  occasionally  apt  to  overlook 
the  fact  that  the  rise  in  freights  had  reached 


such  proportions  that  every  single  person  in  the 
country  was  vitally  affected,  and  that  a  policy 
of  laisser  faire  could  not  be  condoned. 

At  about  this  time  there  was  a  very  strong 
feeling  on  the  subject  of  the  high  prices  ruling 
for  coal  in  France  and  Italy.  With  a  large 
proportion  of  the  French  coalfields  in  the  hands 
of  the  German  Army,  France  became,  to  a  very 
considerable  extent,  dependent  upon  British 
supplies.  The  position  in  Italy  was  even  more 
serious,  because  Italy,  having  no  coalfields  of 
her  own,  was  absolutely  dependent  upon  Great 
Britain,  except  for  a  little  which  she  was  able 
to  get,  by  means  of  British  ships,  from  the 
United  States.  It  has  already  been  shown 
that  the  coal  freight  from  Cardiff  to  Genoa  had 
risen  from  about  7s.  6d.  before  the  war  to  100s. 
in  March,  1916,  so  that  fabulous  prices  had  to  be 
paid  by  consumers  in  Italy.  For  some  time 
arrangements  had  been  made  for  supplying  the 
essential  services  of  the  Italian  Government 
\vith  coals,  but  this  special  arrangement  did  not 
affect  many  industries  and  private  consumers. 
In  May,  1916,  a  scheme  was  devised  for  reducing 
the  selling  price  of  coal  in  France.  This  in- 
volved the  fixing  of  the  prices  at  which  coal  was 


96 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAIL 


sold  at  the  pit's  mouth,  the  middlemen's 
charges  and  the  freights,  so  that  the  whole  chain 
of  transactions  from  the  selling  of  the  coal 
until  it  reached  the  consumer  was  intended  to 
be  controlled.  The  new  prices  and  freights  came 
into  operation  on  June  1,  1916.  The  prices  for 
coal  represented  reductions  of  from  40  to  50 
per  cent,  below  those  ruling  at  the  time  for 
prompt  delivery,  and  the  freights  reductions 
.somewhat  similar.  The  commission  of  the 
exporters  was  fixed  at  5  per  cent,  in  addition 


owing  to  the  greater  length  of  voyage  and  the 
larger  type  of  ship  employed,  but  in  the  autumn 
a  similar  scheme  was  prepared  for  Italian  ports. 
Unfortunately,  owing  partly,  it  must  be 
admitted,  to  the  submarine  campaign,  neither  of 
these  schemes  worked  entirely  smoothly.  It  was 
reported  that  French  firms,  in  order  to  secure  ton- 
nage, had  paid  higher  freights  than  those  pro- 
vided for  in  the  limitation  scheme.  The  attitude 
seemed  to  be  that  it  was  better  to  pay  heavily 
for  the  coals  than  not  to  get  them  at  all.  Early  in 


THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   A   SHIPYARD  :  THE   SITE   AND   A   TEMPORARY  WHARF. 


to  the  f.o.b  price,  with  a  maximum  of  Is.  per 
ton.  The  elaboration  of  this  scheme  involved 
a  great  deal  of  work  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Runci- 
man,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  it  was 
significant  that  shortly  afterwards  he  had  a 
serious  breakdown  and  had  to  rest  for  two 
months.  It  cannot  be  said  that  Mr.  Asquith's 
Government  was  quick  to  act  in  this  serious 
matter  of  the  cost  of  coal  in  France  and 
Italy,  and  more  might,  at  any  rate,  have 
been  done  earlier  in  explaining  the  position. 
An  important  fact  was  that  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  coal  shipping  trade  with  the 
Continent  was  done  by  neutrals,  and  that 
the  problem  of  neutral  shipping  was  dis- 
tinct from  that  of  the  British  mercantile 
marine.  gThe  shipping  difficulties  of  Italy  were 
also  more  serious  than  those  of  France, 


1917  the  situation  was  again  tackled,  and  the 
limitation  freights  were  considerably  advanced. 

With  the  formation  of  Mr.  I.loycl  George's 
Government  in  December,  1916.  n  ne\v  Ministry 
\\iis  unrated,  that,  of  shipping,  und  a  Shipping 
Controller  appointed,  a  position  the  need  of 
which  had  been  so  consistently  urged.*  The 
choice  fell  upon  Sir  Joseph  Maclay,  a  successful 
Glasgow  owner  who  was  comparatively  little 
known  to  the  English  public.  His  function  M.I-.. 
in  a  sentence,  to  ensure  that  all  British  shipping 
was  used  to  the  best  possible  advantage  of  the 
nation.  Sir  Joseph  Maclay  was  admitted  in 
shipping  circles  to  know  et  least  as  much  about 
the  efficient  management  of  cargo  steamers  as 
any  owner  in  the  United  Kingdom.  He  had  a 

*  See  Vol.  XI.,  p.  369. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


97 


THE    BEGINNINGS   OF    A    SHIPYARD: 
Part  of  the  Site. 

reputation  of  being  an  extreme,^  hard  worker, 
and  tho  appointment  was  generally  regarded 
as  a  good  one.  His  powers  had  to  be  denned, 
and  it  was  understood  that  by  the  middle  of 
February,  1917,  his  functions  had  been  satis- 
factorily arranged.  By  his  own  wish  he  was  not 
a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  having 
explained  that  lie  considered  he  could  do  his 
work  better  outside.  Ho  was,  however,  repre 
sented  there  by  Sir  Leo  Chiozza  Money,  Parlia- 


THE    OLD   SLIPS.     INSET:  AN  EXCAVATOR. 


98 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


mentary  Secretary  to  the  Ministry  of  Shipping 
Control.  Replying  in  the  House  of  Commons 
on  February  13  to  a  question  as  to  whether  the 
Controller  exercised  authority  over  ships  em- 
ployed in  Government  service,  the  Parlia- 
mentary S"crrtary  said  : 

They  are  used  with  our  knowledge,  and,  as  it  were, 
if  I  may  call  it  with  our  consent.  Of  course,  it  is  a  matter 
of  goodwill  between  the  different  departments,  and 
that  goodwill,  I  am  happy  to  say,  exists  and  will  continue 
tu  I'xist,  and,  as  long  as  it  docs  exist,  there  cannot  be  any 
real  difficulty  with  regard  to  what  I  may  call  the  connect- 
ing link  between  the  Ministry  of  Shipping  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  Admiralty  on  the  other.  The  Minister  of 
Shipping  knows  that  certain  ships  are  being  used,  for 
example,  as  colliers,  and  he  has  power,  and  indeed 
authority,  to  satisfy  himself  that  those  colliers  are  being 
properly  used,  but  there,  of  course,  his  authority  ends. 
The  Admiralty  alone  can  in  actual  employment  use  these 
colliers. 

Regarding  the  functions  of  the  Controller, 
the  Parliamentary  Secretary  said : 

Of  course,  as  the  House  is  aware,  when  the  Ministry 
of  Shipping  was  formed,  my  right  hon.  friend  found 
i-xisting  a  considerable  number  of  bodies — committees, 
ftnd  so  on — which  had  been  framed  and  very  properly 
framed  by  the  late  Government  in  order  to  deal  with 
different  phases  of  this  great  problem.  All  these 
threads  are  being  drawn  together  under  the  Ministry  of 
SI  lipping,  and  I  hope  it  will  be  true  to  say  that  in  a  very 
short  space  of  time  we  shall  have  drawn  them  together, 
and  that  we  shall  then  be  able  to  grapple  with  a  proper 
organization.  We  have  been  handicapped  in  this 
matter,  because  we  have  been  worse  housed, -if  that  is 
possible,  than  any  other  Ministry  of  the  Government. 
We  are  not  so  fortunate  as  to  possess  a  gilded  hotel. 
Nevertheless,  we  do  hope  now  that  we  shall  take  up  our 
residence  in  a  modest  and  unassuming  building  which 
is  rtot  inappropriately  situated,  where  water  used  to  run 
in  St.  James's  Park. 

On  February  21  Sir  Edward  Carson,  now 
First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  announced  that 
the  whole  of  the  Transport  Department,  except 
so  far  as  it  was  concerned  with  naval  transport 
and  the  duty  of  naval  transport  to  the  Army, 
had  been  entirely  taken  over  by  the  ShippingCon- 
troller.  The  Advisory  Committee  to  the  Trans- 
port Department  had  resigned  shortly  after 
the  appointment  of  the  Shipping  Controller. 

There  were  soon  ,-iigns  that  the  Controller  was 
losing  no  time  in  getting  to  work  and  ensuring 
that  all  possible  use  was  made  of  the  available 
tonnage.  One  little  scheme,  indicative  of  the 
attention  being  given  to  the  problem,  which 
was  announced  just  a  fortnight  after  his 
appointment,  provided  that  all  owners  of  what 
arc  known  as  shelter-deck  steamers  should, 
where  it  was  practicable,  utilize  the  shelter- 
deck  for  cargo  and  get  the  load-line  re-assigned. 
It  had  always  been  open  to  owners  to  have  this 
••lung;  made,  and  some  had  done  so  in  peace 
and  others  earlier  in  the  war.  It  was  estimated 
that  if  the  change  were  made  in  all  shelter-deck 
Meamers  the  carrying  capacity  of  the  British 


Mercantile  Marine  would  be  increased  by  some 
250,000  tons,  but  there  were  some  obvious  cases 
in  which  nothing  was  to  be  gained  by  the 
alteration.  What  the'  Controller  did  after 
consultation  with  the  surveyors  of  the  Board 
of  Trade  and  the  registration  societies  was  to 
make  compulsory  the  use  of  these  spaces,  not  in 
all  cases,  but  in  every  appropriate  case.  It  had 
been  held  that,  subject  to  any  necessary  altera- 
tions in  the  structure  of  the  ships  being  carried 
out  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  surveyors,  the 
change  could,  as  a  rule,  be  made  with  absolute 
safety.  If  an  owner  thought  the  change  inadvis- 
able for  technical  reasons  his  case  would  be 
considered  on  its  merits.  This  particular 
change  was  due  largely  to  the  elimination  of 
some  of  the  lighter  cargoes.  When  in  peace  time 
vessels  were  carrying  comparatively  light 
cargoes  the  raising  of  the  load-line  would  not 
have  enabled  them  to  carry  a  ton  more  cargo, 
which  was  prescribed  only  by  the  cubic 
capacity  of  the  ship.  Another  little  innovation 
was  the  granting  of  permission  to  owners  that, 
as  an  exceptional  war  measure,  they  might  load 
vessels  in  the  River  Plate  down  to  what  is  known 
as  the  Indian  summer  mark,  provided  that 
when  the  ships  reached  .northern  latitudes, 
between  October  and  March  inclusive,  their 
winter  marks  were  immersed.  As  the  quantities 
of  grain  shipped  from  South  America  normally 
amount  to  some  millions  of  tons  annually  and  t  his, 
change  represented  an  addition  of  about  ti  per 
cent,  to  the  carrying  capacity  of  ships,  it  was  dis- 
tinctly important.  Attention  was  also  imme- 
diately concentrated  on  improving  the  con- 
ditions at  the  ports  where  shipping  was  again 
being  held  up  by  congestion,  caused  especially 
by  railway  troubles,  and  the  policy  which 
liad  already  been  adopted  under  the  old 
regime  for  substituting  shorter  voyages  for 
longer  voyages,  where  this  was  possible,  was 
carried  out  still  further.  Many  more  ships 
were  requisitioned  to  be  employed  in  trades 
where  they  were  most  urgently  needed,  so  that 
in  February,  1917,  the  position  approximated 
to  a  general  requisition.  . 

But  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  Shipping 
Controller's  plans  was  the  Isying  down  of  a  large 
programme  of  standardized  cargo  ships.  The 
possibilities  of  building  a  large  number  of 
standard  ships  in  this  country  seems  to  have 
found  its  genesis  in  an  article  which  appeared 
in  The.  Times  of  February  25  showing  what  was 
being  done  in  the  United  States.  This  was 
followed  up  by  a  number  of  other  articles. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


99 


It  was  then  pointed  out  that  there  would 
obviously  be  economy  of  money  in  manu- 
facturing the  parts  for  ships  on  a  large  scale. 
The  following  advertisement  from  an  American 
newspaper  was  quoted  : — 

Stock  cargo  steamships,  7,200  tons  d.w.  capacity. 
Classification  100  Al.  Br.  Lloyd's.  Scotch  boilers, 
Triple  expansion  engines.  Speed  10  J  knots,  Hi  knots 
on  oil  fuel. 

We  have  recently  purchased  7,500  tons  of  steel  ship 
plates  and  shapes,  with  options  for  more,  and  with 
deliveries  to  assure  completion  and  delivery  of  1,720  d.w. 
steamship  in  the'last  quarter  of  1016;  one  more  ship 
in  14  months  and  one  in  16  months,  and  one  of  our 
stock  cargo  steamships  about  each  month  hereafter. 

One  or  more  of  our  stock  cargo  steamships  are  now  for 


to  terms.  There  are  even  still  serious  difficulties,  owing 
to  the  rise  in  costs,  in  the  way  of  the  completion  of 
mercantile  tonnage  contracted  for  and  started  before  the 
war,  and  these  difficulties  are  indicative  of  those  which 
hinder  the  making  of  now  contracts.  In  some  cases  the 
builders  stipulate  for  very  wide  prices,  offering  to  accept 
less  if  costs  prove  to  be  less  than  the  maximum  they 
name,  and  they  will  guarantee  no  dates  for  delivery. 
The  owners  are  chary  of  placing  orders  when  everything 
is  so  uncertain,  and  the  result  is  an  unsatisfactory 
deadlock. 

This  is  where  the  intervention  of  the  State  would 
be  of  advantage.  Having  arranged,  by  some  means, 
for  the  completion  of  tonnage  now  unfinished,  the  State 
could  itself  place  orders  for  new  construction.  The 
first  point  in  favour  of  a  State  programme  is  that  for 
both  sentimental  and  financial  reasons  the  men  are 
reluctant  to  handle  any  but  Government  work.  The 


WITH    DECKS    AWASH   A    STEAMER    STRUGGLES   BACK   TO    PORT    AFTER    STRIKING 

A    MINE. 


sale  to  the  highest  responsible  bidders.  Prospective 
purchasers  of  cargo  steamships  are  invited  to  submit 
written  proposals  for  the  purchase  of  one  or  more  of 
our  stock  cargo  steamships.  Offers  of  purchase  from 
responsible  bidders  will  be  filed  in  the  order  received, 
and,  subject  to  prior  sale,  will  be  acted  upon  in  that 
order.  Sales  will  be  closed  at  terms  and  times  to  be 
fixed  by  our  Board  of  Directors. 

On  February  28.  1910,  an  article  developing 
the  idea  of  standardization  was  published  in 
The  Times,  which,  as  an  indication  of  the  con- 
ditions then  prevailing  and  of  what  happened 
nearly  a  year  later,  may  be  reproduced  as 
follows  : 

It  is  generally  admitted  that  nothing  will  so  relieve  the 
present  serious  position  as  new  construction.  Yet 
builders  and  owners  are  finding  it  very  difficult  to  come 


second  reason  is  thai  by  standardization  the  work  could 
be  greatly  expedited.  There  would  obviously  be  diffi- 
culties, if  the  matter  were  left  to  private  enterprise, 
in  getting  owners  to  agree  to  a  standard  specification 
which  wonld  not  exist  in  the  case  of  a  Government 
committee  including  representatives  of  owners,  naval 
architects,  shipbuilders,  and  engine-builders. 

Generally  the  hull  of  a  ship  can  be  built  at  the  present 
time  more  rapidly  than  the  engines  and  boilers  to  go  into 
it.  The  great  bulk  of  the  work  on  the  hull  must  be  done 
in  the  yard  where  it  is  being  built,  but  it  should  be 
perfectly  practicable  to  exj>edite  work  on  the  engines 
by  increased  subdivision  and  standardisation.  For 
instance,  time  might  be  saved  by  sending  the  engines 
across  from  the  East  Coast  or  any  other  centre  to  the 
Clyde,  while  the  boilers  might  be  built  in  the  Midlands. 
But  vessels  built  under  such  arrangements  would  have 
to  conform  to  the  same  specifications  and  their  parts 
be  made  interchangeable. 

The  present  proposal  is  for  the  State  to  arrange  to 


100 


////•;    TIMES    H1STOKY    OF    THE    WAR. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


101 


build  100  or  whatever  number  of  whips  may  be  deter- 
mined. They  should  probably  be  of  one  or,  possibly, 
two  types.  If  it  were  resolved  to  build  more  types  they 
should  be  built  in  blocks. 

It  is  proposed  that  these  vessels  when  built  should  be 
allotted  to  owners  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  ships 
they  have  lost  through  enemy  acts.  The  State  would 
take  the  profits  and  the  owner  to  whom  the  ships  were 
entrusted  would  be  paid  management  commission  on 
them.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  war  the  vessels  would  ba 
sold  by  auction,  and  if  the  short  supply  of  tonnage  proves 
then  to  be  as  great  as  now  seems  probable,  there  would 
be  very  little  chance  of  any  loss  falling  on  the  State. 

The  type  of  ship  recommended  is  a  cargo  steamer 
about  8,000  tons  deadweight,  serviceable  for  many 
trades.  The  exact  details  of  measurement  and  speed 
would  be  determined  by  the  committee,  which  should  be 
prepared  to  sacrifice  ruthlessly  all  luxuries  and  even 
conveniences  which  add  to  the  labour  and  time  required 
for  construction.  It  is  questionable,  for  example,  whether 
in  the  present  circumstances  electric  light  should  be 
installed.  This  and  other  conveniences  could  be  added 
without  great  expense  when  the  vessels  came  into  the 
possession  of  their  ultimate  owners. 

Such  is  the  scheme  broadly  outlined.  It  is  a  matter 
for  deliberate  consideration  whether,  if  some  such  plan 
be  not  adopted,  this  country  is  not  running  a  serious  risk 
of  finding  itself  unable  to  carry  not  only  the  cargoes  it 
ought  to  be  able  to  carry,  but  even  the  bare  necessities 
for  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  war  of  finding  its  mercantile  marine  at  the  mercy 
of  the  German  interned  ships  and  of  the  neutral  fleets 

Replying  to  a  question  in  the  House  of 
Commons  on  March  7,  1916,  Mr.  Runciman 
said  tbat  his  attention  had  been  called  to  the 
question  of  standardization  and  that  it  was 
having  his  careful  consideration,  a  stereotyped 
form  of  reply  to  which,  unfortunately,  the 
public  had  become  well  accustomed  in  connexion 
with  the  shipping  problem. 

In  June,  1916,  however,  the  standardiza- 
tion scheme  received  strong  support  in  the 
formation  of  a  Standard  Ship  Building  Com- 
pany to  work  at  Chepstow,  River  Wye. 
This  company  was  very  powerfully  backed, 
as  appears  from  the  fact  that  the  capital 
was  subscribed  by,  among  others,  such  com- 
panies as  the  P.  &  O.  and  British  India,  the 
New  Zealand  Shipping,  Orient  Steam  Navi- 
gation, Federal  Steam  Navigation,  Furness, 
Withy  &  Company,  Shire  Line  (Turnbull, 
Martin  &  Co.),  A.  Weir  &  Company,  Harris 
&  Dixon  (Ltd.),  Trinder,  Anderson  &  Com- 
pany, Bethell,  Gwyn  &  Company,  and  Birt, 
Potter  and  Hughes  (Ltd.).  The  Chairman 
was  Mr.  James  Caird,  head  of  Turnbull, 
Martin  &  Company,  and  the  Vice-Chair- 
man Mr.  John  Silley,  Managing  Director  of 
R.  &  H.  Green  and  Silley  Weir  (Ltd.),  one  of 
the  oldest  and  most  famous  shipbuilding  and 
ship  repairing  companies  in  the  country.  Unfor- 
tunately, the  scheme  was  much  handicapped  by 
the  difficulty  of  securing  sufficient  skilled  labour. 
On  August  15,  however,  the  company  took  over 


the  engineering  firm  of  Messrs.  Edward  Finch 
&  Co.  (Ltd.),  which  was  originally  formed  to 
build  Brunei's  bridge  over  the  Wye,  and  a  new 
company  was  formed,  entitled  Edward  Finch 
&  Co.  (1916)  (Limited).  In  spite  of  labour 
difficulties  three  slipways  were  prepared  in 
this  yard,  and,  early  in  1917,  two  3,300  ton 
cargo  steamers  were  being  built  there.  It 
was  hoped  that  by  the  end  of  the  year  five 
new  steamers  would  be  put  into  the  water 
from  this  yard,  in  addition  to  18  smaller 
vessels,  all  of  which  were  urgently  needed. 
The  first  four  slips  for  building  steamers 
up  to  10,000  tons  in  the  Standard  Company's 
new "  yard  were  being  prepared.  A  special 
feature  of  the  scheme  was  the  planning  of  a 
garden  city,  and  a  considerable  progress  was 
being  made  early  in  1917  with  the  construction 
of  cottages  under  licence  from  the  Ministry  of 
Munitions.  It  wa?  known  that  the  Directors 
felt  much  indebted  to  the  assistance  given  not 
only  by  this  Ministry  but  also  by  the  Admiralty 
and  the  Board  of  Trade.  Every  assistance  in 
forwarding  the  scheme  was  also  rendered  by  the 
Oreat  Western  Railway  Company. 

Towards  the  end  of  1916  it  was  understood 
that  the  P.  &  O.  Company  had  had  plans  drafted 
for  a  number  of  standard  cargo  vessels  to  be 
built  in  various  yards,  and  Mr.  John  Latta,  a 
well-known  owner,  was  urging  in  The  'limes 
( lovernment  construction.  Then,  shortly  after 
the  new  Ministry  of  Shipping  had  been  created, 
it  was  announced  that  the  Shipping  Controller 
had  himself  in  view  a  large  programme  of 
standard  cargo  vessels  to  be  built  for  account 
of  the  State.  It  became  known  that  they 
were  to  be  single-deck  steamers  designed  for 
purely  cargo-carrying  purposes,  and  that  one 
batch  of  them  would  be  400  ft.  in  length, 
52  ft.  in  beam,  with  a  depth  of  31  ft.,  and  a 
deadweight  carrying  capacity  of  about  8,200 
tons.  They  were  to  be  distinctly  utilitarian 
in  character,  having  practically  no  super- 
structure, and  with  nothing  in  their  construc- 
tion that  was  not  absolutely  necessary  for 
their  efficient  handling  and  for  the  carrying 
of  general  or  bulk  cargoes.  The  fact  that  they 
were  to  be  standardized  in  design  would  facili- 
tate the  obtaining  of  materials,  as  well  as 
increase  the  speed  of  construction,  and  some 
of  the  firms  with  whom  contracts  had  been 
placed  estimated  that,  given  adequate  supplies 
of  material  and  a  sufficiency  of  steadily  working 
labour,  the  vessels  could  be  completed  within 
six  or  seven  months.  Standardization  was  to  be 


102 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


applied,  not  only  to  the  hulls,  but  also  to  the 
propelling  machinery,  and.  as  far  as  possible, 
to  all  tin-  auxiliaries  and  parts.  The  recipro 
catine  cnt-'incs  decided  upon  were  of  a  typo 
which  had  proved  thoroughly  trustworthy  and 
could  be  turned  out  to  pattern  by  any  marine 
engineering  firm,  the  arrangements  being  such 
that  any  particular  set  of  engines  need  not 
necessarily  be  reserved  for  any  particular  hull. 
If  a  hull  wa~  ready  anywhere,  and  a  set  of 
engines  ready  somewhere  else,  these  might  be 
brought  together  to  form  one  ship,  so  that  the 
delays  caused  by  hulls  being  ahead  of  engines, 
or  engines  ahead  of  hulls,,  would  be  very  largely 
avoided. 

In  his  preliminary  work  the  Shipping  Con- 
troller was  greatly  assisted  by  the  co-operation 
of  the  Shipbuilding  Employers'  Federation,  and 
it  was  a  fortunate  coincidence  that,  just  about 
the  time  when  he  was  appointed,  the  head- 
quarter; of  the  Federation  were  being  removed 
to  London.  Until  then  the  Federation  had 
joint  offices  at  Glasgow  and  Newcastle,  with 
joint  secretaries,  one  in  each  city,  but  the  great 
increase  in  the  amount  of  business  which  had 


to  be  done  in  London  made  it  necessary  for 
the  co-ordination  of  the  work  of  the  Federation 
that  it  should  have  one  headquarters  office  and 
that  this  should  be  in  the  Metropolis.  On 
December  28  the  announcement  was  made  that 
Sir  Joseph  Mat-lay  had  appointed  a  committee 
to  advise  him  on  all  matters  connected  with  the 
acceleration  of  merchant  ships  under  construc- 
tion and  nearing  completion,  and  the  general 
administration  of  a  new  merchant  shipbuilding 
programme  should  be  undertaken  by  him.  The 
composition  of  the  committee  wa=  as  follows  :— 
Mr.  George  J.  Carter  (of  Messrs.  Cammell, 
Laird  &  Co.,  Ltd.),  President  of  the  Shipbuilding 
Employers'  Federation  (Chairman) ;  Mr.  W.  S. 
Abell  (Chief  Surveyor  to  Lloyd's  Register  of 
Shipping)  ;  Mr.  F.  N.  Henderson  (of  Messrs. 
D.  &  W.  Henderson  &  Co.,  Ltd.) ;  Mr.  James 
Marr  (of  Messrs.  J.  L.  Thompson  &  Sons,  Ltd.) ; 
Mr.  Summers  Hunter  (of  the  NorthrEastern 
Marine  Engineering  Co.,  Ltd.);  Mr.  C.  J.  O 
Sanders  (of  the  Marine  Department,  Board  of 
Trade)  ;  and  Mr.  W.  Rowan  Thomson  (of 
Messrs.  D.  Rowan  &  Co.,  Ltd.),  President  of  the 
North -West  (Clyde)  Engineering  Trades'  Em- 


A    LINER    PASSING    THROUGH    THE    PANAMA    CANAL. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


103 


FRUIT    FROM    GREECE    AT    NEWCASTLE. 


ployers'  Association.  Mr.  A.  R.  Duncan, 
secretary  to  the  Shipbuilding  Employers' 
Federation,  was  appointed  secretary. 

By  appointing  the  President  of  tlje  Employers' 
Federation  as  Chairman  of  his  Advisory  Com- 
mittee and  its  new  secretary  as  his  secretary, 
Sir  Joseph  Maclay  at  once  enlisted  in  his 
service  all  the  machinery  of  the  Federation 
and  all  its  capacity  of  getting  into  touch,  on  the 
shortest  possible  notice,  with  every  department 
of  the  industry.  On  February  1 1  the  statement 
was  made  that  the  Shipping  Controller  had 
appointed  Mr.  A.  Wilkie,  M.P.,  secretary  of  the 
Shipwrights'  Society,  and  Mr.  John  Hill, 
secretary  of  the  Boilermakers'  Society,  to  advise 
his  department  on  labour  questions.  It  must  be 
admitted  that  in  some  quarters  there  was  some 
little  apprehension,  both  amongst  shipowners 
and  builders,  regarding  the  probable  effects  of 
the  policy  of  standardization  on  the  future  of 
their  particular  industries.  These  critics  failed 
to  give  full  recognition  to  the  fact  that  this 
policy  was  essentially  a  war  policy,  prompted  by 
the  extreme  importance  of  producing  the  largest 
number  of  cargo  vessels  within  the  shortest 
possible  time.  Even  in  peace  time  certain 
builders  had  steadily  concentrated  on  particular 
types,  but,  if  time  had  been  no  object,  no  one 


would  have  advocated  many  of  the  yards 
bringing  all  their  work  to  a  common  level.  No 
doubt  the  best  results  were  to  be  achieved  by 
individuality.  Owners  settled  upon  particular 
types  and,  from  the  point  of  view  of  commercial 
competition,  there  was  no  real  reason  why  they 
should  share  their  experience,  knowledge,  and 
judgment  with  their  competitors.  In  the 
critical  times  through  which  the  country  was 
passing  all  such  considerations,  however,  needed 
to  be  jettisoned.  That  is  one  of  the  reasons  why 
a  large  programme  of  new  construction  could 
only  be  carried  out  by  the  Government.  No 
one  could  doubt  that  the  Committee  which  Sir 
Joseph  Maclay  formed  to  advise  him  was  an 
extremely  able  and  representative  one.  Further, 
no  shipowner  could  doubt  that  the  ships  which 
were  planned  would  be  extremely  useful  for 
carrying  bulk  cargo,  even  after  the  end  of 
the  war.  They  were  of  a  type  thoroughly  suit- 
able for  carrying  coal,  the  principal  export  of  the 
country,  and  for  bringing  home  grain  from  North 
and  South  America,  the  Black  Sea  and  India. 

Coupled  with  this  Government  programme  of 
new  ship  construction  was  a  scheme  for  ex- 
pediting the  large  number  of  vessels  already  in 
course  of  completion.  A  feature  of  the  quarterly 
shipbuilding  returns  issued  by  Lloyd's  Register 


104 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


AUCTION    SALE    OF    THE    PRIZE    SHIP    "  PRINZ    ADALBERT." 

This    ex-Hamburg-Amerika  liner,  of  6,000  tons,  was  sold  at  the  Baltic  Exchange  on  January  17,  1917, 

for  £152,000. 


was  the  large  amount  of  shipping  under  con- 
struction and  the  very  small  amount  actually 
launched.  Vessels  in  various  stages  of  construc- 
tion were  left  untouched  for  months,  mainly 
owing  to  the  fact  that  labour  had  been  diverted 
to  naval  work.  A  certain  amount  of  delay  was 
also  caused  by  difficulties  of  finance.  Material 
intended  for  merchant  ships  had  been  requi- 
sitioned for  naval  work,  and  consequently 
builders  informed  owners  that  they  could  not 
complete  the  ships  on  the  terms  contracted  for 
either  before  the  war  or  in  the  early  months  of 
hostilities.  Gradually,  however,  these  difficulties 
were  overcome,  partly  owing  to  the  good  offices 
of  the  Board  of  Trade.  Owners  paid  very  large 
sin r is  for  the  expedition  of  their  ships  and  the 
Government  intimated  that  such  ships  should 
be  allowed,  as  far  as  possible,  to  take  advantage 
of  the  full  market  rates.  They  should  not,  except 
in  the  case  of  extreme  national  urgency,  be 
requisitioned  at  the  Blue-Book  rates.  Special 
difficulties  cropped  up  in  the  case  of  the 
refrigerated  steamers,  partly  owing  to  the 
exceptional  cost  of  such  vessels  and  partly  owing 
to  the  fact  that,  when  completed,  they  would 
like  till  the  other  meat  ships,  be  requisitioned 
by  the  Government.  Still,  even  in  these  excep 


tional,  but  important,  instances  an  agreement 
was  finally  concluded. 

Tn  the  House  of  Commons  on  November  15, 
1916,  Mr.  Runciman  stated  that  the  shipyards 
of  the  country  could,  in  a  normal  year,  with  all 
labour  available  and  all  engine  works  operating 
at  full-time,  put  very  nearly  2,000,000  gross 
tons  of  shipping  into  the  water.  The  country 
had  then  only  lost  2,250,000  tons  by  all  risks 
since  the  war  began,  and  all  the  depredations 
on  shipping  could  have  been  far  more  than 
made  good  if  the  shipyards  and  engine  works 
were  producing  their  maximum.  Unfortunately, 
they  were  not  doing  so.  By  the  middle  of 
1915  the  production  of  new  tonnage  in  Great 
Britain  had  reached  a  minimum.  Tn  the  quarter 
ending  June  30,  1915,  only  the  trivial  amount 
of  80,000  tons  gro^.s  had  been  completed.  A 
•very  large  number  of  engineers,  fitters,  and 
mechanics  had  been  recalled  from  the  Colours 
and  a  number  of  men  were  drawn  out  of  some 
of  the  yards  which,  were  mailing  munitions. 
It  was  hoped  that  by  the  end  of  1916  the  six 
months'  output  would  approach  500,000  tons, 
a  very  large  advance  on  what  was  expected  at 
the  end  of  the  summer,  but  it  was  pointed  out 
that  the  country  would  have  to  go  on  with 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


increasing  rapidity  if  it  was  to  hold  its  own. 
Mr.  Runciman  then  stated  that  arrangements 
had  been  made  with  shipbuilders  on  the  Wear 
to  provide  for  the  pooling  of  the  whole  of  their 
skilled  labour,  so  that  they  could  concentrate 
their  attention  on  some  of  the  vessels  nearest 
completion,  taking  them  one  after  the  other. 
It  was  hoped  to  extend  the  system  by  negotia- 
tion on  the  Tyne,  the  Clyde,  and  similar  ports. 
"  By  mobilizing  our  labour  in  that  way,"  he 
said,  "  we  shall  get  most  even  with  the  shortage 
which  at  present  exists."  That  the  gravity  of 
the  situation  was  realized  appears  from  the 
following  passage  : — 

We  shall  have  to  take  a  plunge  in  this  matter,  and  my 
own  view  is  that  the  most  urgent  thing  at  this  moment 
is  the  construction  of  merchant  vessels.  I£  there  is 
to  be  a  comparative  shortage  for  a  time— I  hope  only  for 
a  short  time — in  some  of  those  branches  of  the  Army, 
these  men  will  be  put  to  their  best  use  for  turning  out 
vessels  and  engines  which  will  add  to  the  merchant 
vessels  of  ourselves  and  Allies. 

The  underlying  principle  of  this  pooling 
scheme  was  that  of  treating  all  shipyards  and 
engineering  shops  in  one  district  as  one  large 


establishment,  within  which  men  and  materials 
might  be  handled  and  utilised  as  they  would 
be  by  a  single  firm.  On  December  23 — after 
the  formation  of  the  new  Government — The 
Times  announced  that  at  the  instance  of  the 
Marine  Department  of  the  Board  of  Trade 
a  similar  voluntary  scheme  to  that  reached  on 
the  Wear  had  been  concluded  on  the  Tyno  with 
thorough  goodwill  on  the  part  of  masters  and 
men.  The  following  statement  on  this  ques- 
tion of  new  construction,  made  in  the  course  of 
a  speech  by  the  Parliamentary  Secretary  to  the 
Ministry  of  Shipping  Control  in  the  House  of 
Commons  on  February  13,  sheds  light  on  the 
position  at  the  beginning  of  1917  : 

A  very  larpe  amount  of  tonnage  is  already  under  con- 
struction, and  I  should  like  in  this  connexion,  in  the 
absence  of  my  right  honourable  friend,  the  ex-President 
of  the  Board  of  Trade — and  I  am  sure  my  right  honour- 
able friend  the  Shipping  Controller  would  like  me  to  do 
so — to  pay  a  tribute  to  the  work  he  did  in  that  connexion 
before  he  left  office.  That  is  to  say,  we  found  a  consider- 
able amount  of  new  construction  proceeding.  The 
larger  that  amount  the  smaller,  of  course,  our  immediate 
programme.  We  are  accelerating  every  suitable  vessel 
by  every  means  in  our  power,  and  we  are  retarding  the 
construction  of  any  vessel  which  does  not,  in  our  opinion, 


THE    MARBLE    HALL    AT    THE    BALTIC    EXCHANGE. 


105 


////•;    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


\\c\\  servo  tho  national  interests  at  this  time.  For 
example,  your  passenger  liner  is  put  back,  while  your 
tramp  is  put  forward.  If  we  have  been  able  to  accelerate 
(In-  aeeeleration  which  was  already  in  progress  when  we 
eame  into  ofliee,  it  is  because  my  right,  honourable 
friend  the  Shipping  Controller  has  nothing  else  to 
think  of,  whereas  my  right  honourable  friend  tho 
Member  for  Dewsbury  (Mr.  Runciman)  had  many 
other  tilings  to  think  of  as  well.  Surely,  therefore, 
there  is  something  to  be  said  for  the  formation  of  a 
Mini-try  of  Shipping,  if  it  has  to  be  said.  Xow,  with 
regard  to  new  construction,  it  is  true  to  say  that  a 
considerable  programme  is  now  actually  in  progress. 
A  very  large  amount  of  tonnage  has  actually  been 
ordered. 

That  short  statement  puts  clearly  one  aspect 
of  the  case  for  the  formation  of  a  Shipping 
Ministry,  with  nothing  else  to  concentrate 
on  but  shipping,  which  had  been  so  consistently 
urged.  Shipping,  hitherto,  had  been  one  of 
the  many  public  services  which  the  Board 
of  Trade  had  attempted  to  supervise,  but  it  had 
long  been  obvious  that  the  best  results  could 
not  possibly  be  secured  without  undivided  expert 
attention.  That  the  permanent  officials  of  the 
Board  of  Trade  had  in  their  respective  spheres 
done  much  good  work  was  well  recognized. 

While  merchant  shipbuilding  in  the  country 
had  naturally  fallen  to  very  small  proportions, 
the  shipbuilding  industry  abroad  had  received 


an  enormous  impetus,  especially  in  the  United 
States.  According  to  an  official  statement 
issued  by  the  Bureau  of  Navigation  at  Washing- 
ton, the  output,  for  the  first  nine  months  of 
1916,  of  ocean  steel  merchant  tonnage  by  the 
American  shipyards  exceeded  by  30,000  tons 
the  British  production.  There  were  built  in 
American  shipyards  in  1916,  1,163  merchant 
vessels  of  520,847  tons  gross,  which  were 
officially  numbered  for  American  shipowners, 
and  accordingly  at  the  end  of  that  year  were 
either  in  trade  or  were  about  to  engage  in  trade. 
There  were  also  built  50  vessels  of  39,392  tons 
gross  for  foreign  owners,  making  a  total  output 
of  1,213  vessels  of  560,239  tons  gross  for 
the  12  months.  This  production  compared 
with  614,216  tons  gross  built  during  the 
12  months  ended  Juno,  1908,  but  the  out- 
put for  that  year  was  mainly  for  the  Great 
Lakes,  whereas  most  of  the  tonnage  for  1916 
was  built,  for  the  ocean  foreign  trade.  Except- 
ing in  1908,  the  output  of  1916  had  not  been 
exceeded  since  the  fiscal  year  1855,  when 
583,450  tons  gross  were  built,  all  being  of  wood 
except  seven  iron  vessels  of  1,891  tons  gross. 
The  very  large  total  for  1916  compared  with 
1,216  vessels  of  only  215.602  tons  built  in  1915. 


PRHSSING    WOOL   IN    AUSTRALIA    FOR   EXPORT. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


107 


DISCHARGING   MAIZE   INTO   LIGHTERS. 


An  interesting  feature  of  construction  in 
North  America,  yaq  +1™  revival  Of  wooden  ship^ 
building^-  Letters  asking  for  information  were 
sent  by  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Navigation 
to  145  builders  of  wooden  vessels,  and  replies 
received  from  the  principal  builders  showed 
that  on  December  1,  1916,  there  were  building, 
or  under  contract  to  be  built,  116  vessels  of 
156,615  tons  gross,  thus  averaging  1,350  tons 
each.  Only  vessels  of  500  tons  gross  were  taken 
into  account.  Of  the  total  number,  67,  of  109,775 
tons,  were  to  be  fitted  with  engines,  and  the 
majority  of  these  were  being  built  at  the  ports 
on  the  Atlantic  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  coasts 
and  on  Puget  Sound  and  Colombia  River.  A 
number  of  wooden  vessels  were  also  being  built 
in  Canada,  some  of  them  for  West  Indian  trade. 
The  revival  of  wooden  shipbuilding  was  attri- 
buted entirely  to  the  war  and  the  consequent 
demand  for  tonnage  of  all  descriptions,  the  high 
prices  of  steel  and  iron,  and  the  difficulty  of 
securing  metal  at  many  centres  where  wood 
was  available.  Wooden  ships  can  be  built 
capable  of  being  driven  by  oil  at  7  or  8  knots, 
and  there  is  no  question,  as  the  maritime 
history  of  Great  Britain  has  shown,  of  their  great 
strength.  Many  wooden  ships  have  remained 
seaworthy  for  100  years.  This  movement  in  the 
United  States  contained  a  speculative  element, 
for  owners  were  evidently  calculating  on  the 


maintenance  of  high  freights  for  a  sufficiently 
long  period  to  cover  the  cost  of  construction. 
The  position  of  wooden  tonnage  when  con- 
ditions again  became  normal  at  the  end  of  the 
war  could  only  then  be  conjectured. 

Ship  construction  in  Canada  showed  at  one 
time  an  anomalous  state  of  affairs.  It  was 
pointed  out  in  The  Times  that  large  cargo 
steamers  of  8,800  tons  and  7,000  tons  dead- 
weight were  building  at  Vancouver  and  Montreal 
respectively,  all  for  Norwegian  account.  In  a 
telegraphed  reply  published  on  November  28, 
Mr.  Alfred  Wallace,  Chairman  of  the  Wallace 
Shipyards  (Ltd.),  Vancouver,  defended  the 
action  of  Canadian  builders  in  accepting  such 
orders,  pointing  out  that  his  company  would 
much  prefer  to  build  steamers  for  British  rather 
than  for  foreign  account.  It  had  offered  con- 
tracts to  several  British  owners  at  prices  lower 
than  the  contracts  to  the  Norwegians  and  had 
invariably  been  refused  on  account  of  the  high 
price  and  long  delivery.  One  London  firm  had 
replied  that  it  could  do  better  at  home.  The 
cost  of  material  on  the  Pacific  Coast  was 
excessive,  owing  to  railway  freight  and  the 
high  cost  of  and  scarcity  of  labour.  The  Pacific 
yards  of  the  United  States  were,  he  added,  full, 
mainly  for  Norwegian  account.  British  owners 
would  not  pay  Pacific  Coast  prices.  By  taking 
Norwegian  orders  money  was  brought  into 


108 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


Canada,  assisting  the  national  finances  ;  yards 
were  equipped  to  compete  with  American 
builders  when  conditions  were  again  normal  ; 
a  permanent  industry  on  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Coast  \\ascre.ited  :  business  was  brought  under 
the  British  flag  ;  and  yards  were  provided  which 
were  equipped  for  naval  construction  and 


A  GIANT  CRANE. 

repairs.  Commenting  on  this  statement,  Tin 
Times  remarked  that  "Mr.  Wallace  will,  we 
think,  agree  that  the  publicity  given  to  this 
question  will  have  served  its  purpose  well  if  it 
results  in  the  whole  of  the  shipyards  of  the 
Empire  being  thoroughly  mobilized  for  the 
purpose  of  replenishing  the  British  mercantile 
marine,  which  has  already  been  seriously 
depleted.  That  there  should  be  such  a  complete 
mobilization,  in  spite  of  any  difficulties  of  high 
making  costs,  there  can  be  no  doubt."  On 
January  30  it  was  intimated  in  The  Times 
that  Wallace  Shipyards  (Ltd.)  was  again 
prepared  to  accept  contracts  from  British 
owners  for  steamers  of  from  7,500  to  8,000 
tons  deadweight  to  be  built  according  to 
buyers'  specifications.  The  company,  it  was 
stated,  could  undertake  to  deliver  a  steamer  of 
this  type  in  September,  and  one  each  month 
thereafter.  It  was  notable,  further,  that  in  the 
House  of  Lords  on  February  13,  1917,  Lord 
Cnrzon  declared  that  the  Government  was 
using  every  effort  to  build  new  ships,  and  not 
merely  new  ships  at  home,  where  a  large 
programme  was  on  the  slips,  but  to  secure  extra 


shipping  by  arrangements  with  the  Dominions 
and  Dependencies  and  with  Allied  States. 

The  enormous  increase  in  ship  construction 
in  the  United  States  was  recognized  early  in 
1916  by  the  creation  of  an  American  Committee, 
of  Lloyd's  Register,  with  headquarters  in  New 
York,  for  the  purpose  of  supervizing  building 
and  carrying  out  periodical  surveys.  The 
Committee  was  a  powerful  one  representative 
of  shipping  companies  and  insurance  institutions 
in  the  United  States. 

In  Japan  also  the  yards  were  fully  employed, 
and  very  high  prices  were  paid.  The  Japanese 
industry  was  handicapped  by  the  difficulty  of 
securing  steel.  Shipments  from  England  had 
to  be  prohibited  owing  to  the  insistent  demands 
of  the  munition  works  for  supplies,  naturally 
causing  disappointment  in  Japan,  and,  in  view 
largely  of  the  high  freights,  steel  products  of 
the  United  States  cost  very  heavy  prices  to  be 
laid  down  in  Japan.  Here,  again,  as  in  Canada 
and  the  United  States,  neutrals  were  able  to 
outbid  British  firms.  As  an  indication  of  the 
prices  which  were  paid,  a  cargo  steamer  ready 
for  sea  was  bought  by  Norwegians  in  September 
1916,  for  £200,000,  which  was  equivalent  to 
£40  a  ton  on  the  deadweight.  Before  the  war 
such  a  steamer  could  have  been  built  in  Great 
Britain  for  £6  or  £7  a  ton.  For  another  new 
Japanese  steamer  of  5,100  tons  deadweight 
£190,000  was  paid,  equivalent  to  about  ^37  a 
ton.  Yet  another  striking  example  was  that 
of  a  steamer  built  in  Japan  for  delivery  in  the 
autumn  of  1916  at  a  contract  price  of  about 
£100,000,  which  before  delivery  was  re-solrl 
for  £375,000,  showing  a  profit  to  the  original 
buyer  of  £275,000,  and  representing  a  price  of 
£35  a  ton.  In  connexion  with  the  output  of 
the  Japanese  yards,  the  statement  of  Lord 
Curzon  on  February  13  respecting  buying  for 
this  country  in  oversea  yards  has  already  been 
quoted. 

With  freights  >i,t  enormous  levels  and  pri< •>•• 
for  new  ships  prodigious,  it  was  natural  that 
fabulous  prices  should  also  be  paid  for  second- 
hand vessels.  Neutral  ships  could  always 
command  higher  prices  than  British  because 
they  were  free  from  the  risk  of  requisit  ion  by  tho 
British  Government.  Gradually,  however,  one 
neutral  nation  after  another  placed  restrictions 
on  the  transfers  of  ships  outside  the  country, 
so  that  the  market  became  rather  limited. 
The  great  bulk  of  the  British  sales  were  carried 
out  by  private  treaty,  but  a  number  of  vessels 
were  sold  at  auction.  Among  these  «cre 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


109 


the  prize  vessels  and  these  auctions  naturally 
created  great  interest.  As  an  indication  of  the 
upward  trend,  the  ex-Norddeutscher  Lloyd 
liner,  Schlesien.  of  5,500  tons,  which  was  sold 
by  Messrs.  Kellock's  at  a  prize  auction  in 
January,  1915,  for  £65,200,  was  subsequently 
resold  eight  months  later  for  £120,000.  Many 
examples  of  the  enormous  prices  might  be 
cited.  As  an  instance,  the  prize  steamer, 
Polkerris,  of  943  tons  gross,  built  at  Rostock 
in  1889,  was  sold  on  the.  Baltic  Exchange  in 
February,  1916,  for  £26,000,  equivalent  to  more 
than  £27  10s.  per  ton  gross.  As  the  German 
steamer  Adolf  she  was  captured  soon  after 
the  outbreak  of  war  and  was  taken  into  Gib- 
raltar. There  she  was  offered  at  auction,  but 
as  £2,050,  the  highest  offer  made,  was  thought 
by  the  authorities  to  be  too  low  she  was  with  - 


on  her  on  account  of  a  Lloyd's  survey  which 
was  due,  and  for  renewals.  Before  the  war 
£2  a  ton,  or  a  total  of  about  £4,000,  might, 
perhaps,  have  been  paid  for  her  for  breaking-up 
purposes.  This  sale  was  by  order  of  the 
Admiralty,  for  the  vessel  was  seized  at  Alex- 
andria while  under  Greek  managership,  and 
was  condemned  on  account  of  Turkish  interest. 
The  auctioneer  made  a  special  point  of  the  fact 
that  she  was  built  of  iron,  "  since  an  iron  steamer 
her  age  would  be  better  than  a  steel  steamer 
of  the  same  age." 

At  various  periods  just  before  the  intro- 
ductions of  new  Budgets  the  shipping  sale 
market  became  very  quiet.  The  market 
became  particularly  inactive  at  the  end  of 
1916  and  early  in  1917  on  a  statement  by  the 
Prime  Minister  with  reference  to  the  ' '  nationali- 


UNLOADING  TIMBER. 


drawn  from  the  sale  and  was  then  employed 
in  British  Government  service.  Right  down 
to  nearly  the  end  of  1910  very  high  prices 
continued  to  be  paid.  Thus,  on  November  22 
of  that  yew,  for  the  old  iron  prize  steamer 
Xicolaos,  of  2,047  tons  deadweight,  the  high 
price  of  £29,250  was  bid  at  auction  on  the 
Baltic  Exchange,  representing  more  than  £14 
a  ton.  The  steamer  was  built  39  years  before, 
the  boiler  was  reported  to  have  been  new  22 
years  before,  and  it  was  understood  that  some 
thousands  of  pounds  would  have  to  be  expended 


zation  "  of  shipping.  On  January  30  four  good 
British  steamers  out  of  five  which  were  offered 
at  auction  at  the  Baltic  Exchange  failed  to 
find  buyers.  If  they  had  been  put  up  for 
auction  a.  few  months  previously  undoubtedly 
all  would  have  been  sold  for  very  handsome 
prices.  The  fifth  was  sold  for  a  price  certainly 
not  equal  to  some  of  those  paid  in  1915.  In 
the  middle  of  February  the  Shipping  Controller 
announced  that  all  sales  of  British  ships  were 
not  to  be  completed  without  his  sanction. 
Negotiations  for  the  purchase  of  British  «hips 


110 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR 


THE   DOCK   OFFICES,  LIVERPOOL. 

by  British  subjects  might  proceed,  subject  to 
the  approval  of  the  Controller  being  obtained 
before  the  purchase  was  finally  effected.  All 
negotiations  respecting  non-British  ships  were 
to  be  suspended  for  the  time  being. 

Of  all  the  purchases  wliirh  were  effected 
during  the  war  one  completed  on  behalf  of  tho 
Commonwealth  Government  in  June,  1916, 
created  most  interest.  Tho  difficulty  of  obtain- 
ing tonnage  to  transport  the  products  of  Aus- 
tralia to  the  ports  of  the  United  Kingdom  and 
those  of  the  Allied  countries  had  long  been 
apparent,  and  it  was  stated  on  behalf  of  the  Com- 
monwealth Government  that  the  high  rates  of 
freights  which,  except  where  controlled  by 
Admiralty  requisition  or  Admiralty  influence, 
threatened  to  become  prohibitive,  made  action 
necessary.  It  was  well  known  that  Mr.  Hughes, 


PRINCE'S  LANDING  STAGE,  LIVERPOOL. 

Prime  Minister  of  Australia,  encountered 
difficulties  in  arranging  for  ships  to  transport 
the  Australian  wheat  crop  when  he  arrived  in 
this  country  in  March,  1916,  and  his  troubles 
became  greater  during  his  visit  owing,  in  a 
large  degree,  to  the  Imperial  Government's 
shipping  policy.  The  price  of  Australian 
wheat  in  this  country  was  under  the  influence 
of  the  price  of  the  Canadian  varieties,  although 
it  was  always  able  to  command  a  premium 
of  ft  few  shillings  a  quarter.  One  of  the 
Government's  numerous  committees  set  itself 
to  beat,  down  the  North  Atlantic  freight, 
which  it  did  most  effectively  by  directing  a 
large  number  of  vessels  into  the  North  Atlantic 
trade.  The  price  of  Australian  wheat  landed 
in  this  country  fell  in  accordance  with  the  fall 
in  Nortli  American  wheat,  but  the  Australian 
freight  did  not,  with  the  result  that  after  allow- 
ing for  all  transport  charges,  etc.,  the  price 
quoted  was  perilously  near  tho  point  at  which 
the  cost  of  growing  the  wheat  in  Australia 
would  not  have  been  covered.  The  home 
shipping  authorities  having  thus,  in  the  in- 
terests of  the  public  at  home,  incidentally 
"queered"  the  Australian  Government's  mar- 
ket, it  might  have  seemed  that  their  obvious 
course  was  to  meet  them  in  some  way.  There 
wa"  no  indication  of  their  having  done  so.  Mr. 
Hughes  was  told  that  ships  were  employed 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


Ill 


to  greater  advantage  than  in  bringing  wheat 
from  Australia,  which  was  then  probably  true. 
But  it  was  unreasonable  to  expect  the  Common- 
wealth Government  to  stand  by  and  see  its 
crop  rot,  while  enormous  supplies  were  being 
drawn  from  the  United  States,  and  it  was  false 
economy  to  refuse  Mr.  Hughes  the  loan  of 
ships  and  drive  him  to  seize  them  practically 
by  force.  Undaunted  by  the  rebuff,  Mr. 
Hughes  set  to  work  very  quietly  to  buy  15 
ships,  the  announcement  of  the  purchase  not 
being  made  until  after  he  had  actually  sailed 
from  England  on  his  return  to  Australia.  Ten 
of  the  15  vessels  were  bought  from  Messrs. 
Barrell's  Strath  Line.  All  were  good,  service- 
able and  modern  cargo  steamers,  with  an 
average  deadweight  capacity  of  between  7,000 
and  8,000  tons.  It  was  understood  that  for 
the  larger  vessels  about  £140,000  was  paid, 
representing,  on  a  deadweight  of  about  7,500 
tons,  a  value  of  about  £19  a  ton.  Before  the 
war  the  value  of  such  ships  as  were  bought 
might  perhaps  have  been  estimated  at  an 
average  price  of  about  £4  per  ton.  Tt  was 
stated  that  the  primary  intention  of  the  scheme 
was  the  transport  of  Australia's  products  to 
the  world's  markets,  but  that  the  vessels  would, 


of  course,  be  run  and  managed  in  a  similar 
manner  to  those  owned  by  private  companies, 
and  would  be  required  to  show  a  reasonable 
profit.  This  policy  was  subsequently  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  after  discharging  cargoes  in 
Great  Britain  some  were  sent  across  the  North 
Atlantic  to  load  general  cargoes  of  United 
States  manufactures.  By  being  transferred 
from  the  home  registry  to  that  of  Australia, 
the  earnings  of  the  ships  were  no  longer  subject 
to  the  Imperial  income-tax  and  excess  profit 
taxation  and  so  should  prove  a  good  invest- 
ment for  the  Australian  Government.  The 
scheme  was  naturally  not  liked  by  British 
owners,  and  the  purchase  caused  considerable 
disturbance  in  the  Australian  trade.  How- 
ever, in  the  autumn  the  strong  line  adopted  by 
Mr.  Hughes  was  vindicated  to  some  extent, 
at  any  rate,  in  an  announcement  by  Mr.  Runci- 
man  that  a  large  purchase  of  Australian  wheat 
had  been  made  and  that  a  number  of  steamers 
had  been  requisitioned  to  proceed  to  load 
wheat  in  Australia  at  Blue-Book  rates. 

During  1916  a  number  of  important  shipping 
fusions  were  carried  out.  At  the  end  of  June  a 
provisional  agreement  was  entered  into  for  an 


TRAVELLING  CRANES   IN   A   LONDON   DOCK. 


112 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


[French  official  photograph. 


SPANISH  WINE   FOR   THE    FRENCH   ARMY. 


SUPPLIES  FOR   THE   BRITISH   ARMY  IN   FRANCE. 


[Official  photograph. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


113 


amalgamation  between  the  P.  and  O.  Company 
and  the  New  Zealand  Shipping  Company, 
which  owned  the  Federal  Line.  The  P.  and  O. 
had  in  the  early  months  of  the  war  absorbed 
the  British  India,  and  as  the  New  Zealand  and 
Federal  Companies  had  worked  in  close  agree- 
ment with  the  British  India  in  the  Australian 
trade,  this  further  arrangement  seemed  natural 
enough.  It  was  understood  that  the  directors 
of  the  companies  had  in  view,  when  carrying 
out  this  arrangement,  the  expectation  of 
attacks  on  British  trades  from  German  com- 
panies after  the  war.  Immediately  before 


number  of  shares  in  the  Prince  Line  were  also 
purchased  in  the  open  market.  The  Prince  Line 
,  consisted  of  37  steamers  of  a  very  useful  type. 
At  about  the  same  time  an  agreement  was 
carried  through  for  the  sale  of  the  London  and 
Northern  Steamship  Company  to  Messrs. 
Pyman,  Watson  and  Co.,  of  South  Wales.  The 
fleet  consisted  of  16  very  useful  steamers  of 
54,000  tons  gross,  and  the  price  paid  for  the 
business,  all  the  assets,  and  the  managing 
interest  amounted  to  rather  over  £2,000,000. 
In  the  middle  of  October  arrangements  were 
completed  whereby  Sir  John  Ellerman,  Chair 


A  SHIP-LOAD  OF   STEEL  FROM   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


the  outbreak  of  war  the  German  lines  had 
announced  their  intention  of  entering  into 
the  direct  trade  with  New  Zealand,  and  dis- 
cussions with  British  owners  were  actually 
stopped  by  the  war.  The  amalgamation  of 
the  P.  &  O.  and  New  Zealand  Companies 
meant  that  the  combined  fleets  of  the  companies 
amounted  to  228  steamers,  of  1,386,589  tons 
gross. 

Towards  the  end  of  August,  1916,  a  brief 
announcement  was  made  that  Furness,  Withy 
&  Company  (Ltd.)  had  acquired  a  preponderat- 
ing interest  in  the  Prince  Line  (Ltd.).  Little 
was  disclosed  as  to  this  transaction,  but  the  view 
generally  accepted  in  shipping  circles  was  that 
the  managing  interest  of  Mr  James  Knott,  the 
founder  of  the  Line,  was  acquired,  together  with 
shares  by  private  negotiation,  and  that  a  large 


man  of  the  Ellerman  Line.=,  acquired  the  whole 
of  the  shares  of  Messrs.  Thos.  Wilson,  Sons  &  Co. 
(Ltd.),  the  Wilson  fleet  consisting  of  nearly 
80  steamers  of  about  200,000  tons.  As  explain- 
ing this  transaction  the  announcement  was  made 
that  it  had  been  evident  for  some  time  to  those 
concerned  in  the  management  of  the  Wilson 
Line  that  definite  steps  would  have  to  be  taken 
to  provide  for  the  future  of  the  business,  which 
was  an  extremely  important  one  for  the  Port 
of  Hull.  A  large  number  of  the  Wilson  ships 
had  been  lost  during  the  war,  and  it  was 
essential  that  the  various  lines  served  by  the 
company  should  be  efficiently  carried  on  after 
peace  was  concluded. 

In  the  autumn  of  1916  an  agreement  was 
completed  between  the  Anchor  Line  (Henderson 
Bros.,  Ltd.)  and  the  Donaldson  Line  (Ltd.)  for 


114 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


a  fusion  of  the  interests  of  the  two  companies  in 
ih"  passenger  and  cargo  service  between 
Clnsgow  and  Canada.  A  new  company  was 
fanned  with  the  title  of  the  Anchor-  Donaldson 
Line,  with  Sir  Alfred  Booth  as  chairman.  The 
Cunard  Company  already  held  a  controlling 
interest  in  the  Anchor  Line  and  had  acquired 
the  shipping  interests  of  t  he  <  'aiuidian  Northern 
Company,  so  that  this  latest  arrangement  meant 


MR.   EDWARD   F.    NICHOLLS, 

Chairman  of  the  Institute  of  London  Underwriters, 
1915  1917. 

a  linking  up  of  the  Cunard,  Anchor,  Canadian 
Northern,  and  Donaldson  Lines.  The  two 
other  big  groups  representing  the  passenger 
interests  in  the  Canadian  trade  then  consisted 
of  the  Canadian  Pacific  and  Allan  Lines  and 
of  the  White  Star  and  Dominion  Companies. 
The  desirability  of  effecting  consolidations 
among  British  companies  could  be  appreciated. 
Before  the  war  there  was  far  too  little  cohesion 
among  the  British  lines,  which  were  conse- 
quently at  a  disadvantage  in  facing  the  solid 
front  presented  by  the  German  companies 
Sales  of  shipping  made,  however,  in  order 
primarily  that  owners  might  retire  from  busi- 
ness with  large  fortunes,  were  in  a  different 
category.  By  the  disposals  of  fleets  or  single 
ships  owners  were  able  to  escape  taxation,  anil 
it  had  to  be  remembered  that  ownerships  which 
ha>  I  bought  ships  at  enormous  prices  during  the 


war  would  not  be  in  the  most  advantageous 
position  to  meet  competition  after  the  war. 
Those  ownerships  which  would  be  most  favour- 
ably circumstanced  would  be  those  which  had 
written  down  their  fleets  to  very  low  levels. 

St  ress  was  repeatedly  laid  by  British  owners 
on  the  difficulty  of  dealing  with  neutral  shipping, 
but  even  this  problem  proved  by  no  means 
insc  iluble.  Early  in  the  war  it  was  being  pointed 
out  in  The  Times  that  Great  Britain  was  very 
far  from  being  at  the  mercy  of  neutral  owners. 
A  large  amount  of  neutral  tonnage  had  always 
found  employment  in  British  trade,  and  other 
markets  we^e  very  few.  Practically  the  only 
bulk  cargo  available  for  neutral  vessels  from 
Europe  was  British  coal.  Neutral  vessels  were 
accustomed  to  bunker  in  England,  and  to  some 
authorities  the  question  of  supplying  such 
bunkers  to  neutrals  seemed  to  resolve  itself  in  toa 
simple  business  proposition.  British  miners  were 
exempted  from  military  service  because  of  the 
importance  of  the  coal  industry  to  the  country, 
and  it  was  obviously  reasonable  that  the  first 
call  on  supplies  should  be  for  British  industries, 
British  ships,  and  neutral  ships  which  were 
engaged  in  British  trade.  In  official  quarters 
there  was  at  first  great  reluctance  to  exercise 
even  the  smallest  discrimination  in  this  matter, 
but  gradually  the  principle  came  to  be  fully 
recognized  that  all  the  facilities  of  British  ports 
and  shipyards  must  be  reserved  for  those  who 
were  employing  their  ships  to  the  advantage 
of  the  British  Empire. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  trading  with 
British  ports  was  extremely  profitable  to 
neutral  vessels.  There  was  for  a  long  time 
absolutely  no  restriction  on  rates,  the  first 
effort  in  this  direction  being  the  limitations 
schemes  covering  the  shipment  of  coal  supplies 
to  France  and  Italy.  British  merchants  reck- 
lessly outbid  each  other  for  tonnage,  caring 
little  or  nothing  what  they  paid,  since  they 
could  always  rely  on  passing  on  the  cost  of  the 
high  freights  to  the  consumer.  Some  respon- 
sibility in  this  matter  undoubtedly  rested  with 
the  British  representatives  of  neutral  owner- 
ships, who,  actuated  by  ordinary  business 
considerations,  not  unnaturally  did  their  best 
to  secure  the  highest  rates  for  their  foreign 
clients.  The  evil  of  this  bidding  had  long 
been  felt  and  early  in  1917  the  Board  of  Trade 
took  the  matter  in  hand.  By  an  Order  in 
Council  published  on  January  12  official  per- 
mission was  required  to  be  obtained  before 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


115 


any  neutral  ship  could  be  chartered,  and  even 
before  the  purchase  of  any  goods  from  abroad 
exceeding  1,000  tons  in  weight  could  be  com- 
pleted. An  Inter-Allied  Chartering  Executive 
was  formed,  with  the  object  of  ensuring  that 
all  charters  of  foreign  vessels  by  private  firms 
wore  in  the  best  interests  of  the  allied  nations. 
An  office  was  opened  close  to  the  Baltic  Ex- 
change in  charge  of  two  well-known  brokers, 
and  the  system  adopted  was  found  to  work 
very  smoothly.  Shipbrokers  immediately 
showed  some  alarm  at  the  restriction  imposed, 
but  it  was  soon  apparent  that  their  interests  were 
protected.  The  Executive  acted  as  a  channel 
through  which  the  chartering  of  vessels  to  bring 
grain  for  account  of  the  Royal  Commission 
was  effected.  Important  services  were  ren- 
dered in  this  connexion  by  Messrs.  Furness, 
Withy  &  Co.,  who,  it  was  stated,  received  no 
profit,  direct  or  indirect,  in  respect  of  their 
work.  Early  in  January  an  offer  was  made  by 
the  British  Government  for  the  use  of  Greek 


shipping  during  the  war  and  for  six  months 
afterwards.  The  terms  provided  for  a  rate  of 
hire  of  30  shillings  per  ton  deadweight  per 
month,  as  compared  with  about  seven  shillings 
paid  by  the  British  Government  for  British 
vessels,  and  for  acceptance  of  the  war  insurance 
of  the  Greek  vessels  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment. 

In  the  same  month  the  limitation  rates  to 
France  and  Italy  were  revised,  and  it  then 
became  clear  that  something  would  have  to 
be  done  for  improving  the  insurance  facilities 
for  neutrals.  Most  neutral  nations  had  their 
own  war  insurance  schemes,  of  varying  scope, 
but  a  very  large  amount  of  insurance  since  the 
outbreak  of  war  had  been  placed  in  the  London 
market  The  rates  on  British  ships  and  their 
cargoes  had  always  been  subject  to  the  British 
influence  of  the  Government  insurance  schemes 
but  there  was  not  the  same  influence  at  work 
respecting  neutral  vessels.  The  services  of 
British  underwriters  throughout  the  war  had 


UNDERWRITERS'   ROOM   AT    LLOYD'S. 


116 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


Keen  extremely  valuable,  Imt  naturally  rates 
in  the  open  market  were  the  subject  of  indi- 
vidual judgment  and  were  governed  by  con- 
siderations of  profit  and  loss.  On  February  7, 
1917,  The  Times  announced  that  a  new 
scheme  of  war  insurance  for  neutral  vessels 
was  to  be  put  in  operation  at  once,  applicable 
to  neutral  vessels  engaged  in  carrying  essential 
cargoes,  such  as  foodstuffs,  munitions,  materials 
for  munitions  and  coal  to  allied  ports.  It 
was  operated  by  a  number  of  leading  companies. 
The  rates  represented  a  very  considerable 
reduction  on  those  hitherto  current,  and  the 
scheme  provided  for  the  fixing  of  the  values 
to  be  insured.  These  were  on  a  very  high 
basis,  rising  from  £25  per  gross  ton  for  steamers 
built  between  1875  and  1881  to  £40  a  ton  for 
vessels  built  in  1911  and  later. 

An  enormous  amount  of  business  was  effected 
during  the  war  in  the  Marine  Insurance  market, 
and  by  the  beginning  of  1916  the  congestion 
and  delays  at  Lloyd's  had  become  so  serious 
that  it  was  obvious  that  measures  would  have 
to  be  adopted  to  improve  the  conditions.  As 
from  March  1,  1916,  a  separate  office  with  a 
staff  of  women  clerks  was  inaugurated,  the 
plan  being  that  the  policies  should  be  stamped 
with  the  names  of  the  various  syndicates 
instead  of  being  signed  by  hand  as  hitherto. 
More  than  50  women  clerks  were  at  once 
installed,  and  it  was  found  that  the  pressure 
of  work  on  underwriters  and  brokers  was 


immediately  relieved.  It  had  frequently  hap- 
pened under  the  old  system  that  policies  had 
been  passing  from  hand  to  hand  for  several 
weeks.  Under  the  new  plan  policies  were 
available  on  the  same  day  or  the  next.  While 
the  amount  of  business  was  greatly  incr< •:'.->  il 
the  staffs  of  the  ollices  naturally  becr.me  more 
and  more  reduced.  In  many  ways  under- 
writers were  able  greatly  to  assist  commerce 
and  incidentally  they  helped  to  carry  out  the 
Government's  regulations,  published  from  time 
to  time,  respecting  oversea  trailing.  The  strain 
imposed  on  underwriters  during  the  war  wr*s 
heavy,  but  they  had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that  the  pre-eminence  of  London  as  the  insur- 
ance market  of  the  world  was  accentuated. 

This  chapter  will  have  shown  that,  difficult 
though  the  position  had  become  early  in  1917, 
the  whole  shipping  problem  was  then  being 
closely  tackled  in  a  way  that  had  never  been 
attempted  before.  Measures  were  being  actively 
adopted  to  ensure  that  more  efficient  and 
effect  ive  use  was  made  of  the  tonnage  available 
for  naval,  military  and  commercial  purposes, 
construction  was  being  expedited,  and  more 
advantage  was  being  taken  of  the  extensive 
insurance  facilities  of  the  country.  The  evils 
of  the  old  lax  methods  were  not  to  be  eradicated 
in  a  day,  but  there  were  at  last  ample  signs 
that  no  thought,  skill  and  energy  would  be 
spared  to  keep  the  situation  well  under 
control. 


CHAPTER  CLXX. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  SOMME  (IV.). 

POSITION  ON  AUGUST  22 — GERMAN  "  MORAL  " — •  FIGHTING  OF  AUGUST  24— WILTS  AND  WORCESTEHS 

AT  THIEPVAL — FRENCH  GAINS — GERMAN  COUNTER-ATTACKS — ALLIED  OFFENSIVE  OF  SEPT.  3-6 

FEINTS  ON  THE  ANCHE — THE  MAIN  ATTACK — THE  FALL  OF  GUILLEMONT — THE  FRENCH  OPERATIONS 

-GENERAL  MICHELER'S  ARMY — SEPTEMBER  9 — THE  IRISH  AT  GINCHY — HEAVY  GERMAN  LOSSES 

FRENCH  SUCCESSES  ON  SEPTEMBER  12 — THIEPVAL  AND  THE  "  WUNDERWERK  " — SEPTEMBER  14— 
FRANCO-BRITISH  COOPERATION  AND  PREPARATIONS— POSITION  ON  SEPTEMBER  15. 


THE  events  of  the  Battle  of  the  Somrne 
up  to  the  evening  of  August  22  have 
been  already  related  in  Chapters 
CLI.,  CLIV.  and  CLXV.  We  had 
made  considerable  progress,  but  the  country 
had  still  to  be  reached  over  which  manoeuvre 
battles  might  be  fought  unhindered  by  en- 
trenchments prepared  months  beforehand,  and 
where  the  Allies  might  fairly  hope  that  the 
superior  moral  of  their  troops  would  ensure  the 
defeat  of  the  enemy.  As  early  as  July  30  the 
Germans  had  begun  to  appreciate  the  dangers 
which  would  arise  if  their  lines  were  pierced 
between  the  Ancre  and  the  Somnie.  An 
Order  of  the  Day  of  that  date,  signed  by  the 
German  General  in  command,  had  run  as 
follows  : 

Within  a  short  space  of  time  we  must  be  prepared  for 
violent  attacks  on  the  part  of  the  enemy.  The  decisive 
battle  of  the  war  is  now  being  fought  on  the  fields  of  the 
.Somme.  It  must  be  impressed  on  every  officer  and  man 
up  at  the  front  line  that  the  fate  of  our  country  is  at 
stake  in  this  struggle.  By  ceaseless  vigilance  and  self- 
sacrificing  courage  the  enemy  must  be  prevented  from 
gaining  another  inch  of  ground.  His  attacks  must 
break  against  a  wall  of  German  breasts. 

The  German  General  was  right ;  the  glorious 
retreat  from  Mons  and  the  fighting  on  the  Marne 
nad  shown  that  in  open  country  the  British 
and  French  Armies  were  superior  to  his  troops. 

A  letter  written  by  a  prisoner  of  the  German 
X  Tilth  Corps  shows  how  the  battle  of  the 
Somme  was  regarded  by  the  German  rank  and 
Vol.  XI— Part  134.  117 


file,  and  the  straits  to  which  the  foe  was  reduced. 
"  We  are,  indeed,  no  longer  men,  but  as  it  were 
half-living  creatures."  Other  prisoners  con- 
firmed the  statement  and  showed  that  previous 
battles  compared  with  that  on  the  Somme 
were  "  child's  play."  One  slightly  wounded 
German,  who  before  the  war  had  been  manager 
in  the  grill-room  of  a  well-known  London  hotel, 
and  who  had  fought  against  the  Russians  on 
the  Eastern  Front,  observed  :  "  I  suppose  they 
will  send  me  back  to  England  under  circum- 
stances very  different  from  those  in  which  I 
left  London  more  than  two  years  ago.  Well, 
I  am  quite  ready  for  the  change — anything  to 
be  out  of  the  awful  hell  in  which  I  have  lived 
here."  "Here"  was  Delville  Wood.  "At 
first,"  he  remarked,  "  I  was  confident  that  we 
must  win — everybody  thought  so.  But  we 
had  not  reckoned  on  your  fleet,  which  I  know 
has  got  us  by  the  throat.  .  .  .  We  cannot  win. 
Neither,"  he  added,  with  affected  hopefulness, 
"  I  think,  can  you  and  your  Allies.  It  is  true 
that  it  is  we,  and  not  you,  who  are  now  on  the 
defensive ;  but  we  are  far  from  being  exhausted, 
and  I  think  that  before  long  you  will  have  to 
make  terms  with  us.  If  you  don't,  and  it's 
going  to  be  a  fight  to  the  finish,  then  all  I  can 
say  is  God  help  everybody  !  "  These  state- 
ments, which  might  be  supported  by  many 
others,  showed  how  greatly  the  moral  of  the 
Germans  had  been  affected.  On  the  other 


IIS 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


119 


hand,  our  soldiers  were  full  of  confidence  and 
elated  by  their  successes. 

At  9  p.m.,  on  August  22,  a  desperate  effort 
was  made  by  the  enemy  to  recover  the  trenches 
wrested  from  him  south  of  Thiepval.  The 
waves  of  German  infantry  reached  and  entered 
them  in  places,,  but  their  success  was  short- 
lived. Counter-attacks  promptly  disposed  cf 
all  who  had  penetrated,  or  drove  the  survivors 
back.  A  second  assault  at  1  a.m.,  on  the 
night  of  tho  22nd-23rd,  was  equally  futile. 
Our  artillery  and  infantry  fire  wrought  terrible 
execution  among  the  charging  lines  which  were 
lit  up  by  the  light  of  their  own  flares.  Both 
attempts  resulted  in  heavy  losses  to  the  enemy, 
without  any  gain. 

While  tnese  operations  were  in  progress  the 
German  artillery  kept  up  a  severe  fire  against 
High  Wood  and  Bazentin-le-Petit.  The  Ger- 
man aeroplanes  in  the  evening  had  shown 
unwonted  activity  They  had  been  engaged 
by  our  airmen,  and  at  least  four  machines 
destroyed.  Others  were  driven  down  badly 
damaged,  or  pursued  to  their  aerodromes,  while 
ours  suffered  no  casualties.  An  aerial  re- 
connaissance was  completely  successful,  and 


^Official  photograph. 

A    TRENCH  NEAR  THIEPVAL. 
bombing  raids  were  carried  out  by  us  against 
sundry  points  of  importance. 

During  the  23rd  we  resumed  the  offensive 
south  of  Thiepval  and  secured  200  yards  of 
German  trench,  straightening  our  line  arid 
improving  our  position  in  this  region.  The 
counter-battery  work  of  our  guns  was  this  day 
very  effective.  The  enemy's  artillery  in  three 
different  areas  was  silenced,  and  it  was  re- 
ported that  a  score  of  direct  hits  had  been 
made.'  Our  gunners  had  some  time  since 


overtaken  and  were  now  outclassing  in  accuracy 
the  enemy's,  and  the  German  ammunition 
showed  signs  of  deterioration,  as  the  percentage 
of  blind  shells  discharged  by  the  hostile  artillery 
was  steadily  rising.  "  Duds,"  as  our  men 


[Official  photograph. 

A    GERMAN    "DUD"    LANDS    IN    A 
TRENCH    NEAR  THIEPVAL. 

called  them,  were,  however,  not  always  a  disad- 
vantage when  they  came  from  our  own  guns. 
One  of  our  officers,  when  ascending  the  parapet 
of  a  German  trench,  felt  a  shell  from  a  .British 
gun  drop  immediately  behind  him.  Fortunately 
it  did  not  explode,  but  the  shock  of,  impact  on 
the  ground  lifted  him  over  the  parapet  on  to  a 
German,  whom  he  speedily  took  prisoner  ! 

As  the  sun  was  sinking,  the  sky,  which  for 
four  days  had  been  bright  and  cloudless, 
became  overcast,  and  a  steady  rain  commenced 
to  fall.  At  8.45  p.m.  the  German  batteries 
concentrated  their  fire  on  the  ground  gained 
by  us  between  Guillemont  Station  and  the 
quarry,  the  capture  of  which  has  been  already 
recounted.  When  the  gun-fire  lifted,  a  body 
of  infantry  advanced  with  the  greatest  deter- 
mination and  reached  the  British  parapet.  A 
sharp  and  fierce  struggle  ensued,  and  then,  as 
was  usual  in  hand-to-hand  combats,  the 
enemy  broke,  leaving  behind  him  many  dead 
and  wounded. 

At  12  30  a.m.  on  Thursday,  August  24,  the 
German  artillery  repeated  the  bombardment, 
but  no  infantry  assault  materialized.  In  the 
course  of  the  same  day,  on  the  battlefield  oi 
Loos,  a  German  raid  was  repulsed  by  us  near 
the  celebrated  Hohenzollern  Redoubt,  and 
north-west  of  La  Bassee  some  of  our  trooos 
successfully  entered  the  enemy's  trenches. 

Meanwhile,  north  of  the  Somme  the  German 
guns  had  violently  bombarded  the  French 
front  lines  and  communication  trenches  north 


120 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


and  south  of  Maurepas,  while  south  of  the  river, 
after  intense  artillery  preparation,  the  enemy 
had  launched  attacks  against  the  troops  of  our 
Allies  in  and  south-east  of  Soyecourt  Wood. 
They  were  all  repulsed.  Adjutant  Donne  on 
the  23rd  brought  down  his  fifth  and  sixth 
German  aeroplanes.  The  former  fell  in  the 
direction  of  Moislains,  north-east  of  Peronne, 
the  latter  in  the  region  of  Marche-le-Pot, 
north-west  of  Chaulnes.  Four  other  enemy 
machines  were  severely  damaged  by  French 


found  on  the  person  of,  a  prisoner  of  the  German 
125th  Regiment  captured  about  this  date.* 
"  During  the  day,"  he  wrote,  "  one  hardly 
dares  to  be  seen  in  the  trench  owing  to  tho 
British  aeroplanes,  which  fly  so  low  that  it  is  a 
wonder  they  do  not  come  and  pull  us  out  of 
our  trenches."  Forgetful  of  the  glowing 
pictures  painted  by  his  superiors  of  the  exploits 
of  German  airmen,  he  indulged  in  some  bitter 
reflections.  "Nothing  is  to  be  seen,"  lie 
grumbled,  "  of  our  German  hero  airmen,  and 


THE    SITE    OF   THlEPVAL. 


cial  photograph. 


machine-gun  fire,  and  another  was  destroyed 
near  Rove. 

The  events  of  the  23rd,  above  described, 
naturally  did  not  figure  in  the  German  com- 
munitjut  of  the  24th.  That  veracious  docu- 
ment deserves  to  be  quoted  : 

North  of  the  Somme  yesterday  the  fresh  efforts  of  the 
•TH-niv  during  the  evening  and  night  failed. 

The  British  attacks  were  again  directed  against 
the  -  ili'-ni  between  Thi6pval  and  I'ozieres  and  our 
positions  at  Guillemont. 

At  Maurepas,  especially  to  the  south  of  that  village, 
strong  enemy  forces  were  repulsed  after  fighting  which 
was  at  some  points  severe. 

On  Thursday,  August  24,  the  weather  again 
turned  fine,  and  the  aerial  supremacy  of  the 
Allies  was  once  more  pronounced.  What  our 
command  of  tho  air,  coupled  as  it  was  with 
so  marked  a  superiority  of  our  artillery,  meant 
to  the  enemy,  and  how  it  affected  his  moral 
may  be  gathered  from  the  diary  kept  by,  and 


yet  their  ratio  is  supposed  to  be  81  to  29  ! 
The  fact  that  the  British  are  one  thousand 
times  more  daring  is,  however,  never  men- 
tioned. One  can  hardly  calculate  how  much 
additional  loss  of  life  and  strain  on  the  nerves 
this  costs  us.  I  often  feel  doubtful,"  he 
added,  "  regarding  the  final  issue  of  our  good 
cause  when  such  bad  fighters  are  here  to 
champion  it." 

The  weather  conditions  being  so  favourable, 
it  was  decided  by  the  Allied  Commanders  to 
make  three  new  thrusts  into  the  German  lines, 
one  on  the  left  towards  Thiepval,  the  second 
in  the  centre  at  Delville  Wood,  and  the  third 
on  the  right  in  the  Maurepas  region.  The 
advance  between  Authuille  Wood  and  Mouquet 
Farm  on  Thiepval  was  entrusted  by  Sir 

*  Morning  Pott,  August  28. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


121 


'         ' 


THE    WILTSHIRE    MEN    GOING    TO    THE    FRONT. 


[Official  pkotcgrap't. 


Hubert  Gough  to  the  Wilts  and  Worcester?. 
In  the  reduction  of  the  position  still  retained 
by  the  enemy  on  the  upper  eastern  fringes  of 
Delville  Wood,  units  of  the  Rifle  Brigade  were 
to  take  part.  The  French  were  to  capture 
the  last  ruins  in  Maurepas,  to  which  the  Ger- 
mans were  clinging,  and  to  extend  their  line 
northwards  to  the  Clery-Combles  railway, 
southwards  to  Hill  121.  Opposing  the  Wilts 
and  Worcesters  were  detachments  of  the 
Prussian  Guard ;  while  the  5th  Bavarian 
Reserve  Division  and  the  1st  Division  of  the 
Prussian  Guard,  commanded  by  the  Kaiser's 
second  son.  Prince  Eitel  Friedrich,  confronted 
the  troops  of  our  gallant  Allies.  To  save  the 
Thi6pval  salient,  to  prevent  the  British  from 


Delville  Wood  reaching  the  summit  of  the 
ridge  over  which  ran  the  Longueval-Flers- 
Ligny-Tilloy-Bapaume  road,  to  check  any 
eastward  movement  along  the  ridge  on  Ginchy 
and  Combles  and  to  stop  the  forward  movement 
of  the  French  through  Maurepas  on  Combles, 
the  Germans  had  concentrated  every  available 
battery  and  man.  Their  guns,  though  in  num- 
bers inferior  to  those  of  the  Allies,  were  numer- 
ous. The  front  of  battle  was  the  8-mile  line 
which  ran  from  Authuille  to  Maurepas. 

Between  the  Wilts  and  Worcesters  and  the 
village  of  Thiepval,  hidden  by  the  tree- 
crowned  ridge,  lay  a  long  trench  which  had 
been  named  by  the  enemy  after  their  idol, 
Hindenburg.  Into  this,  protected  by  a  maze 


[Official  photograph. 

MEN    OF    THE    WILTSHIRE  REGIMENT    ADVANCING    TO    THE    ATTACK. 

134—2 


122 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    W.I  I!. 


WORCESTERS   RESTING    IN    A    HARVEST    FIELD. 


[Official  Pkatagrtpk. 


of  trenches,  there  ran  back,  at  its  western  end, 
a  perfectly  straight  trench.  Another  trench 
the  "  Koenigstrasse,"  itself  joined  by  another, 
commemorated  the  recovery  of  Lemberg. 
Where  the  Koenigstrasse  met  the  Lemberg 
trench  there  were  strong  redoubts.  Our 
troops,  ensconced  behind  their  parapets,  had 
to  cross  300  yards  of  sloping,  open  ground. 
Towards  the  right  a  glimpse  could  be  obtained 
of  the  ruins  of  Mouquet  Farm.  Away  on  the 
,left  was  the  shattered  wood  of  Authuille. 

Under  the  blazing  autumnal  sun  officers  and 
men  were  posted  in  the  trenches,  smoking 
pipes  and  cigarettes,  and  watching  the  huge 
shells  bursting  from  time  to  time  above  their 
heads.  The  novelty  of  the  shells  had  worn 
off,  and  they  attracted  little  attention.  "  Worse 
than  the  rats  are  these  infernal  flies,"  a 
lieutenant  was  heard  to  say,  as  he  tried  to 
puff  them  off  with  tobacco  smoke.  A  breeze 
blowing  from  left  to  right  slightly  mitigated 
the  stifling  heat.  Nothing  betrayed  to  the 
foe  that  an  assault  in  this  area  was  imminent. 
He  for  his  part  was  grimly  silent.  Now  and 
then,  however,  a  head  cautiously  thrust  above 
the  parapet,  and  rapidly  withdrawn,  showed 
that  the  Hindenburg  trench  was  still  tenanted. 
Hut  for  the  rush  through  the  air  and  explosion 
of  an  occasional  shell,  there  was  nothing  which 
showed  visibly  tin1  preparations  for  the  struggle 
about  to  begin. 


The  hours  passed  by,  and  the  sun  WHS 
reaching  the  western  horizon,  when  suddenly 
the  whole  scene  was  transformed  with  lightning- 
like  rapidity.  In  a  moment,  volley  after 
volley  of  heavy  shells  was  poured  forth  from 
our  batteries  against  the  devoted  sector  to  be 
assaulted.  The  noise  from  the  guns  was 
deafening,  and  was  echoed  by  that  of  the 
exploding  shells  as  they  burst  on  the  German 
lines,  throwing  up  into  the  air  clouds  of  smoke 
mingled 'with  earth  from  the  parapets  which 
they  struck.  Blown  slowly  eastward  by  tli" 
light  breeze  which  rent  the  mist  here  and  there 
asunder,  there  were  revealed  masses  of  timbers 
and  the  shattered  bodies  of  the  German 
soldiers  who  had  held  their  front  trenches 
thrown  up  into  the  air.  Ever  and  anon  a  pro- 
jectile would  reach  a  shell  store  and  blow  it  up 
with  a  mighty  crash,  accompanied  by  flaim ••< 
which  lit  up  the  neighbourhood  like  lurid 
lightning. 

"  Magnificent,  splendid,"  was  the  cry  of  n 
French  officer  who  saw  the  display.  "  How 
grand  are  your  guns."  Above  the  rushing 
shells  and  beyond  the  smoke  of  their  explo- 
sions flew  our  aeroplanes  watching  and  signalling 
back  the  effect  of  our  gun-fire.  Regardless 
of  the  bursting  shrapnel  fired  at  them  by  the 
anti-aircraft  guns,  the  white  puffs  of  which 
could  be  seen  surrounding  our  gallant  airmen, 
the  latter  swept  backwards  and  forwards  as 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


123 


they    calmly    carried     out    their    observation 
duties. 

Ten  minutes  was  the  time  allowed  for  the 
intensive  bombardment  of  the  Hindenburg, 
Koenigstrasse,  and  Lemberg  trenches.  By  this 
time  the  German  artillery,  roused  to  a  per- 
ception of  what  was  about  to  happen,  had  got 
to  work,  and  was  pounding  our  front  line 
trenches  and  placing  barrages  in  front  and 
behind  them.  The  order  was  now  given  to 
the  Wilts  and  Worcesters,  and  wave  after  wave 
of  them  dashed  forward.  On  approaching 
the  Hindenburg  trench  a  gap  of  some  50  yards 
separated  Worcesters  from  Wilts.  Into  this 
gap  pressed  groups  of  Prussian  Guards,  and  a 
fierce  bombing  and  bayonet  struggle  took 
place.  The  Prussians  were  killed,  wounded, 
or  taken  prisoners.  One  of  the  Wilts  officers — 
an  expert  shot — snatched  up  a  rifle  and  shot 
five  of  the  enemy  bombers  dead.  A  sergeant 
of  the  same  regiment  ran  along  the  top  of  the 
parapet  of  the  trench  bombing  the  Germans  in 
it.  Some  of  the  Prussians  issued  from  their 
dug-outs  and,  refusing  to  surrender,  put  up  a 
plucky  but  unavailing  fight.  On  the  left  the 
maze  of  trenches  was  cleared,  snipers  and 
Lewis  guns  silencing  the  machine  gunners, 
and  the  redoubts  at  the  junction  of  the  Koenig- 
strasse and  Lemberg  trenches  were  rushed. 
Altogether  it  was,  in  the  characteristic  language 


of  the  soldiers  engaged,  "  a  very  fine  and  a 
very  pretty  show."  We  had  penetrated  to  a 
depth  of  300  yards  on  a  front  of  a  little  under 
half  a  mile,  and  were  within  650  yards  of  the 
southern  outskirts  of  Thiepval  itself.  Over 
200  prisoners  had  been  taken.  How  many 
of  the  Prussian  Guard  lay  dead  and  wounded 
in  the  torn  and  twisted  ground  captured  was 
not  ascertained.  Our  losses,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  relatively  insignificant.  "  We 
evacuated  portions  of  our  advanced  trench 
north  of  Ovillers,  which  were  completely 
destroyed,"  was  the  comment  of  the  German 
Higher  Command  on  this  action.  To  cover 
this  admission  of  defeat,  it  was  stated  in  the 
German  communique  of  the  25th  that  "  re- 
peated Anglo-French  attacks  were  delivered 
simultaneously  yesterday  evening  on  our  (the 
German)  entire  front  from  Thiepval  to  the 
Somme,"  and  that  between  "  Thiepval  and 
the  Foureaux  (High)  Wood  the  enemy  attacks 
collapsed  with  great  loss." 

In  the  "  sector  Longueval-Delville  Wood," 
the  German  communique  admitted  that  the 
Germans  had  suffered  a  reverse,  which  was  a 
mild  expression  for  what  had  really  happened. 
The  enemy  garrison  holding  the  northern  and 
eastern  fringes  of  the  wood  and  the  adjacent 
orchards  was  disposed  in  three  lines  of  trenches, 
all  strengthened  with  redoubts  and  provided 


WORCESTERS    GOING    TO    THE    FRONT. 


[Official  photograph. 


124 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


[Official 


HEAVY  WORK  ON  A  MUDDY  ROAD. 


•with  dug-outs.  The  foremost  trench  was  well 
within  the  wood,  and  to  reach  it  broken  tree- 
trunks  and  craters  had  to  be  crossed.  The 
second  trench  was  on  the  edge  of  the  wood — 
shallow  and  lightly  held.  It  served  only  as  a 
support  to  the  first.  The  third  was  very 
formidable.  Though  tho  Germans  had  not 
had  time  to  construct  their  deep  dug-outs  for 
the  infantry,  they  had  connected  with  trenches 
a  number  of  dug-outs  formerly  occupied  by  the 
gunners  of  the  batteries  which,  in  the  early 
stages  of  the  Battle  of  the  Somme,  had  fired 
over  Delville  Wood  at  our  troops  advancing 
up  the  ridges.  At  the  extreme  eastern  angle  of 


the  wood  was  a  strong  redoubt  garrisoned  by 
some  50  men.  Unlike  the  Prussian  Guard  at 
Thiepval,  the  Germans  anticipated  an  attack 
in  this  quarter.  Before  the  time  fixed  for  it, 
our  troops  were  subjected  to  a  very  heavy 
bombardment  of  8  in.  and  5.9  in.  shells.  This 
did  not,  however,  succeed  in  deterring  us  from 
delivering  the  blow.  It  was  preceded  by  a 
hurricane  of  shells  of  all  calibres  which  churned 
up  the  edges  of  the  wood  and  wrecked  the 
German  positions  in  the  open.  When  the 
guns  were  supposed  to  have  done  their  work, 
the  British  left  their  trenches,  and  advanced 
against  tl  e  enemy's  position.  On  the  left  or 


LONDON  GUNNERS    LOADING    A    HEAVY    GUN. 


[Official  photograph' 


THE    TIMES    HISTOBY    OF    THE    WAR. 


125 


western  side  of  the  wood  progress  was  delayed, 
when  the  open  country  was  reached,  by  an 
enfilading  machine  gun.  An  officer  with  a 
small  group  of  his  men  hastily  built  a  barricade 
which  received  the  stream  of  bullets,  and  our 
troops  on  the  right  coming  x:p  soon  put  it  out 
of  action.  Then  the  advance  continued  some 
500  yards  along  and  on  both  sides  of  the 
Longueval-Flers-Bapaume  road  to  the  summit 
of  the  ridge,  whence  they  looked  down  on  the 
village  of  Flers,  our  machine  guns  greatly 
assisting  the  operation.  It  was  reckoned  that 
we  had  sprinkled  the  ground  north  of  the 


actual  arrangement  of  the  four  companies  of 
the  battalion,  which  may  be  regarded  as  typical 
of  the  method  usually  employed  by  our  infantry 
on  such  occasions. 

We  have  just  finished  our  "act"  in  ft  part  of  the 
so-called  "  Great  Push,"  and,  as  perhaps  you  already 
guess,  I  am  still  alive  !  I  will  tell  you  a  little  about 
it. 

For  the  last  fortnight  we  have  been  working  day  and 
night  in  preparation  for  an  offensive  of  our  own.  I  and 
my  two  platoons  were  to  bo  in  the  fourth  line,  two  com- 
panies going  over  first,  then  one  company,  and  then 
mine  in  reserve  to  come  in  for  all  the  shelling  and  dig 
communications  up  to  the  front  line.  There  was  to  be 
a  bombardment,  and  at  5.45  we  were  to  go  over. 

At  3  p.m.  we  were  all  in  our  places  ;  all  knew  exactly 


GERMAN    PRISONERS, 

wood  with  no  less  than  999,500  bullets  on  that 
day,  an  expenditure  of  ammunition  which  five 
years  before  would  have  been  regarded  as  impos- 
sible and  foolish. 

The  attack  on  the  left  had  met  with  little 
resistance.  On  the  right,  in  the  direction  of 
Ginchy,  the  fight  went  on  after  sunset,  and  well 
into  the  next  day,  until  the  redoubt  at  .the 
north-eastern  angle  of  the  wood  and  the  other 
posts  of  the  enemy  were  in  our  possession. 
Thus  the  way  from  this  point  to  Combles  vi& 
Ginchy  was  opened.  Of  the  nature  of  the 
fighting  a  vivid  idea  is  given  by  an  officer's 
letter.  It  is,  moreover,  valuable  as  showing  tbe 


GRAVE    AND    GAY. 

their  own  job,  and  all  waited  for  the  minutes  to  go  by. 
Quarter  to  four  came  at  last,  and  our  heavies  started. 
Immediately  the  German  lines  became  a  mass  of  earth, 
bits  of  trees  being  tossed  about  in  the  air  like  the  foam 
on  giant  waves — in  fact,  it  looked  for  all  the  world  like  a 
heavy  sea,  only  the  waves  were  of  earth.  When  the  last 
10  minutes  came,  intense  fire  was  started.  The  ground 
rocked  and  swayed  in  the  frightful  din  and  force  of 
explosions,  and  every  one  was  deaf  and  dazed  by  the 
roar. 

Finally,  after  what  seemed  years  ot  waiting,  5.45 
came,  and  I  stood  up  and  watched  the  two  first  com- 
panies go  over,  all  strolling  perfectly  in  line,  all  calmly 
smoking,  while  the  few  German  survivors  ran  out  like 
msn  demented,  with  hands  up,  yelling  for  mercy  with 
the  usual  cry  of  "  Kamerad,  Kamerad  !  "  Then  the 
Huns  started  to  barrage  our  old  front  line  in  which  I  and 
my  two  platoons  were  crouching.  Shells  fell  all  round  us. 
Two  or  three  times  I  was  completely  cieaiened,  saw  yellow 


126 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


o 
z 

H 

X 

o 


Q 

z 

•< 
as 
6 

H 
Q 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


127 


and  red,  pot  knocked  down  by  the  concussion,  and  still 
didn't  get  hit. 

My  time  came,  and  we  went  on  to  do  our  job  of  digging, 
right  in  the  middle  of  all  the  shelling.  I  got  the  men 
started  and  then  just  waited  to  get  blown  to  bits.  I  saw 
shells  falling  amongst  small  groups  of  men,  and  sometimes 
German  prisoners ;  sometimes  our  men  were  simply 
scattering  to  pieces  in  the  air.  Then  a  curious  thing 
happened.  All  of  a  sudden  rapid  rifle  fire  and 
machine-gun  fire  opened  into  us,  and  I  gave  the  order  to 
drop  tools,  fix  bayonets,  and  get  into  position  to  meet  an 
attack,  or,  if  necessary,  to  attack.  I  thought  our  front 
line  had  been  broken,  but  couldn't  be  certain  what  had 
happened,  for  everything  was  smoke  and  flying  earth 
with  trees  falling  and  being  blown  skywards. 

I  gave  the  order  to  crawl  forward  towards  the  firing, 
dud  then  I  saw  that  about  30  Germans  with  a  machine- 


gun  was  pushed  over  the  crater's  edge  dfid 
wiped  out  the  gun.  team.*  In  addition  to  our 
successes  in  the  Thiepval  and  Delville  Wood 
regions,  our  airmen  had  engaged  and  driven 
down  damaged  a  number  of  enemy  aeroplanes, 
and  several  trains  had  been  hit  on  the  Germaa 
lines  of  communication. 

While  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson's  troops  were 
slowly  debouching  from  Delville  Wood  on  Flers 
and  Ginchy,  the  French,  after  a  two -days'  bom- 
bardment of  terrific  intensity,  attacked  on 
August  24,  at  5  p.m.,  the  Germans  who  still 


[Official  photograph. 

A    TRENCH    COUNCIL:    TWO    GENERALS    AND    THEIR    STAFFS    AT    THE    FRONT. 


gun  had.  after  surrendering,  taken  up  their  arms  again, 
and  were  firing  at  us.  I  felt  something  burn  my  neck, 
but  took  no  notice.  We  crawled  steadily  forward  and 
then  started  throwing  bombs.  Again  I  felt  something 
burn  my  back  and  I  shot  the  German  who  had  fired  at 
me.  About  three  minutes  later  the  Germans  surren- 
dered to  me,  and  although  I  was  going  to  order  my  men 
to  kill  them  all  for  their  treachery,  I  thought  better  of  it, 
got  hold  of  their  captain,  and  got  some  information  out  of 
him  in  French,  and  then  sent  them  back  under  escort. 

Two  companies  of  the  enemy,  from  the 
direction  of  Ginchy,  counter-attacked  during 
the  night  (24th-25th),  but  were  driven  back 
by  machine-gun  fire.  The  Lewis  gun  was 
proving  invaluable.  For  example,  the  Germans 
had  a  machine  gun  concealed  in  a  crater.  It 
held  up  the  advance  at  this  point  until  a  Lewis 


lurked  in  part  ol  Maurepas  and  the  trenches 
north  and  soutn  ot  the  village.  The  left  wing 
of  the  assaulting  infantry,  assisted  by  a 
British  demonstration  south  of  Guillemont, 
swarmed  over  the  Maurepas-Ginchy  road  and 
penetrated  to  the  north  of  the  Clery-Combles 
railway.  In  the  centre  the  Germans  were 
cleared  from  the  ruins  still  defended  by  them 
in  Maurepas  and  from  two  lines  of  trenches 
in  the  open  ground  beyond.  South-east  of 
Maurepas  our  Allies  got  astride  of  Hill  121. 
The  First  Division  of  the  Prussian  Guard  had, 

*  The  Lewis  gun  can  bo  fired  from  the  shoulder — i.e.. 
it  is  a  one-man  weapon.  The  Maxim  cannot  bo  so 
employed. 


128 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


THE    FRENCH    ATTACK    ON   MAUREPAS :   PASSING    A    BARBED-WIRE    FENCE. 


under  the  eyes  of  Prince  Eitel  Friedrich,  suf- 
fered a  bloody  reverse.     Eight   field  guns,  10 
machine-guns,    and   some    600   prisoners    had 
been  captured,  and  the  French  line  had  been 
advanced  200  yards  on  a  front  of  a  mile  and  a 
quarter.     At   8   p.m.    the   French   dug   them- 
selves in  and  awaited  counter-attacks.     One 
came  during  the  night.       As  the  western  side 
of    Hill    121    commanded    Maurepas,    it    was 
natural  that  the  Germans  should  make  every 
effort    to    recover    it.     The    enemy's    masses 
advanced    boldly,    but    under    the    shell    and 
machine-gun  fire  were  unable  to  attain  their 
object.     Reluctantly  the  German  Higher  Com- 
mand   had    to    content    itself    by    circulating 
another    false    statement :     "  The     village    of 
Maurepas,"    it    admitted,    "  is    at   present   in 
French  hands,  but  between  Maurepas  and  the 
Somme  the  French  attack  met  with  no  success." 
Hill  121  is  between  Maurepas  and  the  Somme. 
So  cowed  was  the  enemy  by  his  experiences 
on  the  24th  that,  apart  from  some  fighting  in 
the    neighbourhood    of    Delville    Wood,     no 
attempt  was  made  to  recover  the  lost  positions 
till  late  on  the  25th,  when  at  7  p.m.  the  German 
batteries     bombarded     the     British     first-line 
trenches  along  the  greater  portion  of  our  front 
south  of  the  Ancre  until  early  in  the  morning 
of  Saturday,  August  26,  and  at  7.45  p.m.  the 
Prussian  Guards  were  thrown  in  two  waves  at 
the   Wilts   and   Worcesters.     The  attack   was 
pressed  with  determination,  but  repulsed  with 
heavy  loss  to  the  foe.     We,  on  the  other  hand, 
made  further  progress  to  the  east  of  Mouquet 
Farm,  and  also  along  the  Courcelette-Thiepval 
road.     At  the  right  extremity  of  our  line  the 
British  trenches  west  of  Guillemont,  between 
the   Quarries  and  the   Montauban-Guillemont 
road,  were  ineffectually  attacked.     At  10  p.m. 
a  German  reconnaissance  in  the  direction  of 


Hill  121  was  dispersed.  The  British  counter- 
batteries'  that  day,  the  25th,  destroyed  or 
damaged  many  of  the  enemy's  positions,  and 
the  French  artillery,  as  usual,  had  been  active 
with  good  effect. 

On  Saturday,  August  26,  the  fighting  con- 
tinued round  Mouquet  Farm,  and  in  the 
evening  we  captured  200  yards  of  German 
trench  north  of  Bazeiitin-le-Petit,  and  a 
machine-gun.  The  weather  had  again  become 
bad,  and  the  Allied  operations  were  con- 
sequently hindered.  A  heavy  storm  overtook 
eight  of  our  aeroplanes,  and  five  machines  did 
not  return  to  their  aerodrome. 

On  Sunday,  August  27,  there  was  considerable 
artillery  activity  on  both  sides,  and  we  gained 
some  ground  north-west  of  Ginchy.  This 
period  of  relative  rest  was,  according  to  the 
German  communiques,  one  of  constant  fighting, 
in  which,  according  to  their  own  account,  the 
Germans  were  successful.  Thus  the  commuit  irjiie 
of  August  27  was  to  the  following  effect  : 

North  of  the  Somme,  yesterday  morning  and  during  the 
night,  the  British,  after  strong  artillery  preparations, 
made  repeated  attacks  south  of  Thiepval  and  north-west 
of  Pozieres,  which  were  repulsed  partially,  after  hitter 
hand-to-hand  fights.  Wo  captured  one  officer  and  GO 
men. 

Advances  north  of  Bazentin-Ie-Potit  and  grenade 
fighting  at  the  Foureaux  Wood  were  also  unsuccessful 
for  the  enemy. 

In  the  Maurepas-CIery  sector  the  French,  after  a  vio- 
lent artillery  fire  and  the  use  of  flame  throwers,  brought 
up  strong  forces  to  an  unsuccessful  attack.  North  of 
Clery  we  repulsed  parties  which  had  penetrated  there. 

South  of  the  Somme  grenade  attacks  west  of  Vcrmand- 
ovillers  were  repulsed. 

On  Monday,  August  28,  in  spite  of  the  vile 
weather,  we  gained  a  little  ground  eastward  of 
Delville  Wood,  and  some  minor  enterprises 
near  Mouquet  Farm  were  successful.  Our 
long-range  guns  hit  troops  and  wagons  in  dif- 
ferent places  between  Miraumoiit  and  Bapaume. 
The  next  day,  Tuesday,  August  29,  in  the 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


129 


afternoon  a  heavy  storm  burst,  but  neverthe- 
less we  continued  to  gain  ground  between  the 
western  outskirts  of  Guillemont  and  Ginchy. 
Between  Delville  Wood  and  High  Wood  hostile 
defences  were  captured,  and  south-east  of 
Thiepval  further  progress  was  made  and  a 
machine-gun  captured.  An  attack  by  the 
enemy  near  Pozieres  windmill  was  dispersed, 
and  during  the  night  of  the  29th- 30th,  West 
Australians  and  men  from  New  South  Wales 
went  at  a  run  over  the  slippery  clay  and 
entered  Mouquet  Farm,  and  trenches  north-east 
of  it.  There  was  some  close  hand-to-hand 
fighting,  after  which  our  men  returned  to  their 
own  lines.  The  bad  weather  continued  on 
the  30th,  and  the  only  incident  of  note  was 
our  capture  of  a  small  salient  south  of  Martin- 
puich,  taking  prisoners  4  officers  and  120  men. 
In  the  evening  the  rain  ceased. 

The  importance  of  the  British  gains  in  High 
Wood  and  Delville  Wood  was  too  well  under- 
stood by  the  German  leaders  for  them  to 
resign  themselves  patiently  to  the  loss  of  that 
sector,  the  key  to  the  crest  of  the  main  ridge. 
On  Wednesday,  August  30,  every  gun  that 
could  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  British  lines 
between  Bazentin-le-Petit  and  Longueval, 
poured  out  shells  throughout  the  day,  and 
towards  evening  an  attack  was  launched  on  our 
trenches  in  the  vicinity  of  High  Wood.  Caught 
by  machine-gun,  trench-mortar,  and  artillery 
fire,  the  enemy's  troops  hesitated,  and  then 


drew  back  into  their  shelters,  leaving  behind 
them  heaps  of  killed  and  wounded.  Even 
fresh  troops  could  not  stand  such  punishment. 
That  the  spirit  of  many  of  the  Germans  on  the 
battlefield  was  shaken  may  be  gathered  from 
a  German  regimental  order  dated  the  next 
day,  which  was  subsequently  secured  by  us. 

I  must  state  with  the  greatest  regret  that  the  regiment* 
during  this  change  of  position,  had  to  take  notice  of  the 
sad  fact  that  the  men  of  four  of  the  companies,  inspired  by 
shameful  cowardice,  left  their  companies  on  their  own 
initiative  and  did  not  move  into  line.  To  the  hesitating 
and  fainthearted  in  the  regiment  I  would  say  the  follow- 
ing :  "  What  the  Englishman  can  do  the  German  can  do 
also,  or  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Englishman  really  is  a 
better  and  superior  being,  ho  would  bo  quite  justified  iu 
his  aims  as  regards  this  war,  namely,  the  extermination 
of  the  German.  There  is  a  further  point  to  be  noted. 
This  is  the  first  time  we  have  been  in  the  line  on  the 
Somrae,  and,  what  is  more,  we  are  there  at  a  time  when 
things  are  more  calm.  The  English  regiments  opposing 
us,  as  has  been  established,  have  been  in  the  firing  lin  • 
for  the  second,  and  in  some  cases  even  for  the  third  Uiu  •. 
Heads  up  and  play  the  man.** 

In  another  order,  bearing  the  date  of  Septem- 
ber 18,  which  was  found  in  a  captured  dug- 
out, there  was  the  following  passage  : 

Proofs  are  multiplying  of  men  leaving  the  position 
without  permission  or  reporting,  and  hiding  at  the  rear. 
It  is  our  duty,  each  at  his  post,  to  deal  with  this  fact  with 
energy  and  success. 

The  next  day,  Thursday,  August  31,  after 
an  intense  bombardment,  no  less  than  five 
attacks  were  made  on  a  front  of  some  3,000 
yards  between  High  Wood  and  Ginchy. 
Four  times  the  British,  in  their  muddy,  water- 
logged trenches,  beat  off  the  Germans,  but 


S 


THE    FRENCH    ATTACK    ON    MAUREPAS:    CROSSING    A    DESERTED    TRENCH. 

134—3 


130 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


their  fifth  charge  was  more  successful.  On 
the  north-west  of  Delville  Wood  \v<>  were 
obliged  to  give  ground,  and  our  advanced  posts 

A    LOOK-OUT. 


day  before.  On  September  2,  the  only  infantry 
action  consisted  of  some  bombing  encounters. 

During  both  days  the  British,  French,  and 
German,  artillery  was  active,  and  on  Saturday 
the  enemy's  guns  discharged  large  numbers  of 
gas  shells  at  our  positions.  South  of  Estrees 
the  Germans  recovered  some  trenches  lost  by 
them  to  our  Allies  on  August  31. 

There  were  also  a  considerable  number  of 
aerial  combats.  On  September  1  a  British 
airman  encountered  a  squadron  of  twelve 
Rolands.  It  dived  in  amongst  them,  firing  a 
drum  of  ammunition  from  its  machine  gun, 
and  broke  up  their  formation.  Then  the 
British  pilot  swiftly  placed  himself  beneath 
the  nearest  enemy  machine,  and  another 
drum  was  discharged  at  it  from  below.  The 
Roland,  badly  damaged,  plunged  to  earth, 


NEAR  DELVILLE   WOOD:    BRINGING  UP 
STONE    FOR    REPAIR    OF    TRENCHES. 

beyond  the  north-east  of  this  point  were  forced 
some  distance  back.  At  one  part  a  few  of  the 
enemy  penetrated  into  the  wreckage.  All, 
with  the  exception  of  21,  who  were  taken 
prisoners,  were  promptly  killed. 

The  time  had  now  come  for  a  further  advance 
against  the  German  lines  from  Ginchy  to 
Clery-sur-Somme,  and,  south  of  the  Somme, 
from  Barleux  to  Chilly.  While  the  prepara- 
tiniis  for  it  were  in  progress,  the  British  and 
French,  except  at  one  or  two  points  along  the 
front  of  battle,  desisted  from  any  infantry 
offensive.  Hut  on  the  night  of  Friday,  Septem- 
ber 1,  we  recovered  the  trenches  north-west  of 
Delville  Wood  taken  from  us  by  the  enemy  the 


A    WATER-LOGGED   TRENCH. 

south-east  of  Bapiumie.  Another  company  of 
hostile  machines  flew  to  avenge  their  comrade. 
The  British  aeroplane  attacked  one  of  the 
enemy's,  which  went  down  and  landed  in  a 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


131 


[Official  photograph. 

A    STORM-TOSSED    AEROPLANE    LANDS    UPSIDE    DOWN. 

In  this  accident,   however,   no  one  was  hurt,  nor  was  the  machine  badly  damaged. 


gap  between  two  woods.  After  battling  with 
the  rest  arid  expending  all  his  ammunition, 
the  lieutenant  in  charge  of  the  British  machine 
returned  safely  to  his  base.  The  same  evening 
another  lieutenant,  single-handed,  attacked  a 
German  group  of  eight  aeroplanes  in  the  air 
over  Bapaume.  One  was  sent  spinning  down- 
wards to  its  destruction.  On  September  1  the 
French  aeronauts  accounted  for  four  German 
machines,  Adjutant  Dorme  bringing  his  ''  bag  " 
up  to  eight,  by  emptying  at  close  quarters  his 
machine  gun  into  a  German  aeroplane  above 
Combles.  It  came  crashing  to  the  ground  east 
of  the  village.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Germans 
claimed  to  have  put  out  of  action  on  Saturday 
six  of  the  Allied  aeroplanes. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  certain  that  on 
Saturday  four  more  German  aeroplanes  were 
badly  damaged  in  encounters  with  the  French, 
and  that,  to  distract  the  German  commanders, 
numerous  British  and  French  bombarding 
squadrons  crossed  the  German  lines  and 
dropped  bombs.  A  naval  aeroplane  in  the 
afternoon  bombarded  the  shipbuilding  yards 
at  Hoboken,  near  Antwerp.  The  French 
squadrons  once  more  visited  the  railway 
station  of  Metz-Sablons,  throwing  86  120  rnm. 
bombs  on  the  buildings  and  railway  trenches, 
and  60  bombs  of  the  same  size  on  military 
establishments  north  of  Metz.  Two  hundred 
and  ten  bombs  were  allotted  to  the  stations  of 
Maizieres-les-Metz,  Conflans,  Sedan,  and  Autun 


le-Roman,  and  to  the  cantonments  and  depots 
at  Guiscard,  Ham,  Monchy-Lagache,  Nesle, 
and  Athies.  These  raids  were  a  fitting  pre- 
lude to  the  great  battle  which  was  to  be  joined 
the  next  day,  Sunday,  September  3,  between 
the  Ancre  and  the  region  south  of  Chaulnes. 

Up  the  roads  leading  to  the  hostile  fronts 
streamed  countless  motor-lorries  carrying 
ammunition  and  supplies.  The  main  and 
light  railways  were  full  of  trains.  Concealment 
of  our  intentions  from  the  Germans  was  im- 
possible. They  were  aware  that  we  were 
about  to  attack,  and  made  their  arrangements 
to  meet  us.  Reinforcements  from  the  Eastern 
and  from  other  sections  of  the  Western  front 
were  being  brought  by  train  or  motors  or  were 
marching  to  the  line  Bapauine-Roye.  In 
anticipation  of  the  coming  onslaught  the 
German  artillery  on  Saturday  and  throughout 
the  night  of  September  2-3  hurled  myriads  of 
projectiles  on  spots,  like  the  Trones  Wood, 
where  they  suspected  that  the  British  or 
French  were  concentrating  the  troops  about  to 
take  part  in  a  struggle  which  might  prove  to 
be  decisive.  Most,  if  not  all,  of  the  Prussian 
Guard  had  been  brought  up,  and  so  dangerous 
did  the  German  Higher  Command  consider 
the  position  to  be  that  in  the  Guillemont  region 
alone  they  massed  the  whole  of  the  2nd 
Bavarian  Corps,  and  the  llth  and  56th  Divi- 
sions. 

The   first   step  of   the  new  Allied   offensive 


132 


THE    TIMES    H1STOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


V^s 

' 


J  Photograph. 
MACHINE   GUNNERS   PREPARED  FOR  AN   ATTACK  UNDER  COVER  OF   POISON-GAS. 


was  taken  during  Sunday,  Monday,  Tuesday 
and  Wednesday,  September  3,  4,  5  and  6. 
It  was  preceded  by  a  bombardment  even 
more  severe  than  any  which  had  preceded 
it.  Feint  attacks  were  also  made  on  both 
sides  of  the  Ancre  and  near  Thiepval. 
Throughout  the  night  of  September  2-3  an 
almost  continuous  zone  of  fire  seemed  to  stretch 
for  30  miles  south  of  the  Ancre.  The  horizon, 
to  watchers  in  the  background,  appeared 
to  be  ablaze.  When  day  broke  the  German 
lines  were  seen  everywhere  blotted  out  by  the 
fumes  from  exploding  shells,  amid  which  could 
here  and  there  be  seen  thrown  up  into  the  air 
the  masses  of  timber,  brick,  and  the  various 
materials  used  by  the  Germans  in  constructing 
their  defences.  From  behind  the  lines  squad- 
rons of  aeroplanes  rose  and  engaged  one  another 
above  the  dull  and  gas-laden  atmosphere. 

Dawn  was  breaking  when  the  momentary 
cessation  of  our  guns  far  off  on  the  left  beyond 
Thiepval  indicated  that  Sir  Hubert  Gough's 
troops  were  advancing  against  the  Germans 
north  and  south  of  the  Aiicre.  As  in  the 
battle  of  July  1,  Sir  Douglas  Haig  had  hoped 
by  a  demonstration  against  the  northern  face 
of  the  Thiepval  salient  to  deceive  the  enemy's 
leaders  as  to  his  intentions.  The  position  to  be 
assaulted  was  indeed  formidable.  From  the 
river-bed  the  ground  rose  on  the  left  to  the 
ridge,  in  a  crease  of  which  lies  Beaumont 
Hamel,  on  the  right  to  the  Thiepval  plateau. 


Under  Beaumont  Hamel  were  huge  caves  filled 
with  the  German  reserves,  many  of  whom  had 
also  shelter  in  the  trenches  and  dug-outs  on  the 
slopes  of  the  Ancre  Valley. 

The  destructive  bombardment  had  wrecked 
the  German  parapets,  filled  in  their  trenches, 
blocked  up  the  entrances  to  their  dug-outs, 
and  converted  the  ground  to  be  traversed  into 
a  collection  of  pits  formed  by  the  craters  of  the 
exploding  shells.  The  British  north  of  the 
Ancre  speedily  crashed  through  the  first  and 
second  German  lines,  sweeping  away  all  opposi- 
tion. But  on  the  right,  south  of  the  Ancre, 
the  attack  was  held  up  by  shell  fire,  and  soon 
the  troops  north  of  the  river  were  enfiladed  by 
machine-gun  fire  and  artillery  fire  and  counter- 
attacked. As  the  day  wore  on  it  was  seen  that 
no  advantage  would  be  gained  by  their  remain- 
ing in  the  conquered  area.  They  were  slowly 
withdrawn,  and  the  bombardment  was  once 
more  renewed. 

Almost  simultaneously  with  the  attack  in 
this  region,  the  Anzaca  assaulted  the  southern 
face  of  the  Thiepval  salient  at  Mouquet  Farm, 
now  a  waste  of  battered  rubbish  lying  amonp 
broken  tree-trunks.  They  were  opposed  by 
the  Reserve  Regiment  of  the  1st  Division 
of  the  Prussian  Guard.  The  struggle  was  of 
the  most  stubborn  and  bloody  description. 
Through  shrapnel  and  machine-gun  fire  the 
Anzac  soldiers  came  to  grips  with  the  Kaiser's 
picked  troops.  Into  one  of  the  rbomy  under- 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


133 


ground  villas  a  party  of  our  men  descended. 
It  was  apparently  untenanted,  and  the  Anzacs 
were  leisurely  appropriating  some  of  the  cigars 
left  by  the  late  occupants  when  a  number  of 
Germans  entered  and  called  upon  them  to 

surrender.     "  Surrender  be  d d  !  "  was  the 

reply.  "  Surrender  yourselves  !  "  Bombs  were 
flung  at  and  by  the  intruders,  and  in  the  smoke - 
filled  cavern  the  combatants  swayed  to  and  fro 
for  several  minutes.  Finally  the  surviving 
Anzacs  got  the  upper  hand  and  emerged  into 
the  open,  driving  before  them  a  few  wounded 
and  cowed  prisoners.  The  result  of  the 
Mouquet  Farm  action  was  that  at  the  end  of 
it  our  troops  were  well  beyond  the  ruins  and 
on  the  high  ground  to  the  north-west,  and 
were  holding  the  position  won.  There  they 
were  ineffectually  counter-attacked  on  the  next 
day. 

The  actions  on  both  banks  of  the  Ancre  and 
at  Mouquet  Farm  in  the  early  hours  of  Sep- 
tember 3  were,  as  mentioned,  feints  on  the  part 
of  the  British.  It  was  at  noon  that  the  main 
attacks  of  the  British  and  French  were  delivered 
north  and  south  of  the  Somme.  The  position 
held  by  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson's  troops,  who 
were  facing  east,  ran  from  the  east  of  Delville 
Wood  southward  to  near  Guillemont  Station, 


and  thence  by  the  quarry  at  the  western  edge 
of  Guillemont  to  near  the  head  of  the  ravine 
which  runs  westward  from  Angle  Wood. 
Sir  Henry's  immediate  objectives  were  Ginchy, 
Guillemont,  and  the  German  trenches  from 
Guillemont  through  Wedge  Wood — a  small 
patch  of  trees — to  the  redoubt  of  Falfemont 
Farm  which  faced  Angle  Wood.  Behind 
Falfemont  Farm  and  east  of  Ginchy  and  Guille- 
mont lay  on  high  ground  a  long,  narrow  wood, 
Leuze  Wood,  the  northern  end  of  which  was 
known  as  Bouleaux  Wood.  Here  among  the  as 
yet  untouched  trees  the  German  reserves  were 
hidden.  From  the  lower  end  of  Leuze  Wood  a 
narrow  spur  500  yards  long  extends  south- 
westwards.  Wedge  Wood  was  in  the  valley  on 
the  Guillemont  side,  Falfemont  Farm  at  the 
end  of  the  spur.  Beyond  and  below  Leuze 
Wood  in  a  deep  wooded  valley  was  Combles. 
To  facilitate  the  French  movements  from 
Maurepas  towards  the  heights  east  of  Combles, 
Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  at  9  a.m.  had  launched 
an  attack  against  Falfemont  Farm.  Our 
troops  reached  the  farm,  but  could  not  hold  it. 
This  strong  outpost  of  the  enemy  was  not  taken 
till  the  morning  of  September  5. 

While  the  Germans  were  clinging  desperately 
to  Falfemont  Farm,  the  Irish,  Londoners  and 


HEAVY   FRENCH   ARTILLERY  AND   MOTOR  LORRIES   ON  THE  WAY  TO  THE  FRONT. 


184 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


North  Countrymen,  at  noon  on  Sunday, 
;i-.-Miilted  Cuillemont  and  the  fortified  areas 
north  and  south  of  the  ruined  village,  in  which 
the  only  thoroughfare  now  discernible  was  the 
.-liirlitly  depressed  highway  running  through 
the  centre  of  the  shapeless  heaps  of  masonry 
to  Leuze  Wood  and  Combles.  This  highway 
was  crossed  500  yards  east  of  Guillemont  by  a 
sunken  road  connecting  Ginchy  with  Wedge 
Wood,  and  along  the  sunken  road  were  rows  of 
deep  dug-outs,  especially  on  the  south-western 
and  southern  sides  of  the  village.  One  wrecked 
and  battered  barn,  all  of  Guillemont  that 
remained,  served  to  guide  the  British  to  their 
objective.  Every  other  edifice  in  the  village 
had  long  before  been  pounded  into  shapeless 
fragments,  or  resolved  into  dust.  Expecting 
the  attack,  the  German  artillery  had  discharged 
at  our  front  lines  in  the  morning,  among  other 
projectiles,  a  large  number  of  gas  shells. 


The  garrison  of  Guillemont  consisted  of 
Prussian  Guards  and  Hanoverians.  They  had 
been  driven  into  their  subterranean  refuges 
by  the  storm  of  shells  which  preceded  the 
British  advance.  Some  of  the  defenders  who 
ventured  to  show  their  heads  were  blinded  by 
the  smoke,  dust  and  fumes.  In  such  a  murky 
atmosphere  the  periscope  was  useless.  Nothing 
could  be  seen,  and  little  heard  but  ear-splitting 
explosions.  Then,  accompanied  by  a  wild 
burst  of  cheering  and  the  shrill  wailing  of 
the  war-pipes,  waves  of  Irishmen  burst  over 
the  northern  section  of  Guillemont.  The 
first,  second,  and  third  lines  of  the  enemy 
were  passed  and  the  sunken  road  beyond 
reached  in  one  rush.  To  the  right  of  the 
Irish,  Londoners  and  North  Countrymen 
moved  coolly  forward  at  the  heels  of  the 
advancing  barrage  of  shells.  The  combination 
of  Celtic  and  English  troops  was  irresistible. 


°  .  .  .   ™°  >P°°    German  Trenches  A~_ 

10MetreContours(328Ft)    Wire  Entanglements  +*** 


MAP    ILLUSTRATING    THE    OPERATIONS    AROUND    GUILLEMONT   AND    GINCHY. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


135 


•JBWK  f  _        *  J^t      sf      ,     '."   '  - 

*  -  /V        '  •»'     ' 

v  -  < •   '  ^  »     . 


%*••,'..• 


THE   RUINED    STATION 

Prussians  and  Hanoverians  who  had  emerged 
from  their  holes  and  were  firing  at  the  backs 
of  the  Irish  were  taken  in  flank  by  platoons  of 
an  English  battalion  engaged  in  methodically 
rounding  up  the  enemy  in  the  quarry  and 
southern  section  of  Guillemont.  A  hollow 
road  leading  south-west  from  Guillemont  was 
cleared  of  the  Germans.  There  150  corpses 
were  afterwards  counted  and  numbers  of 
prisoners  taken.  The  quarry  north  of  it  gave 
considerable  trouble,  as  the  defenders  kept 
below  ground  until  the  assailants  had  passed, 
after  which  they  emerged  and  fired  at  the  backs 
of  the  British  pressing  eastwards.  A  detach- 
ment was  speedily  directed  to  storm  the  quarry, 
and  soon  cries  of  "  Kamerad  !  "  and  "Mercy  !  " 
told  that  the  task  had  been  accomplished. 
Meanwhile  from  Guillemont  station  our  men 
had  swept  round  the  northern  edge  of  the 
village,  and  from  Arrow  Head  copse  to  the 
south  other  British  troops  had  pushed  up  to 
meet  them.  At  last  the  village  which  had  so 
long  resisted  us  was  taken,  and,  undeterred  by 
machine-gun  fire  from  Ginchy,  Wedge  Wood 
and  Falfemont  Farm,  Irish  and  English  pressed 
on,  cleared  out  the  Germans  from  their  refuges 
along  the  sunken  road,  and  dug  themselves  in. 
_The  German  73rd,  76th  and  164th  Regiments 
had  ceased  to  exist.  The  headlong  flight 
of  some  Hanoverians  was  bitterly  com- 
mented on  by  a  Prussian  officer  who,  however, 


[Official  photograph. 

AT    GUILLEMONT 

had  permitted  himself  to  be  taken  prisoner  : 
"  They  run  well,"  he  said  to  his  captors,  "  they 
will  be  in  Berlin  before  I  am  in  England  !  "  Of 
the  prisoners,  some  forced  into  the  open  by 
sulphur  bombs  were  weeping.  Six  out 
of  43  occupants  of  a  dug-out  on  the 
Ginchy-Wedge  Wood  road  sobbed  as  they 
crawled  into  the  presence  of  a  bombing  party, 
and  begged  for  quarter.  An  officer — spectacled 
and  elderly — went  on  his  knees  before  a  British 
sergeant.  Many  Germans  offered  watches  and 
trinkets  in  the  hope  of  saving  their  lives.  But 
it  was  explained  to  them  that  British  soldiers 
were  not  thieves. 

The  capture  of  Guillemont  was  succeeded  by 
the  seizure  of  Ginchy,  and  the  systematic 
bombardment  of  Leuze  Wood,  but  in  the  after- 
noon and  evening  the  Germans  counter- 
attacked at  Ginchy  and  Guillemont.  They 
succeeded  in  recovering  the  former,  but  were 
repulsed  with  terrible  loss  at  Guillemont. 
Meanwhile  north  of  Delville  Wood  and  away  to 
the  north-west  of  it  in  High  Wood  we  had 
gained  ground.  Rain  again  fell  in  the  evening 
and  impeded  the  advance. 

The  next  day,  Monday,  September  4,  Sir 
Henry  Rawlinson's  offensive  was  resumed. 
Through  the  night  and  the  morning  of  the  4th 
the  bombardment,  now  chiefly  directed  against 
Ginchy,  Leuze  and  Wedge  Woods  and  Falfe- 
mont Farm,  had  continued.  The  rain  ceased 


136 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


and  the  sun  shone  on  the  battlefield.  Ginchy 
was  assaulted,  and  at  3  p.m.  our  troops  from 
the  sunken  road  charged  into  Wedge  Wood, 
and  carried  it  and  the  trench  beyond  it.  Falfe- 
mont  Farm — or  rather  its  site — was  also 
attacked  from  the  north  and  south  and  momen- 
tarily taken.  Suddenly  a  solid  line  of  Prussian 
Guards  emerged  from  Leuze  Wood  and 
charged  over  the  high  ground  towards  A  Veil};  • 
Wood  and  the  farm  which  lay  on  the  slope  of  the 
ridge  opposite  Angle  Wood.  As  the  oncoming 
infantry  reached  the  edge  of  the  ravine  it  was 
swept  by  shrapnel  and  riddled  by  machine-gun 
fire.  After  a  desperate  struggle  Wedge  Wood 
remained  in  our  possession,  but  Falfemont 
Fann  was  reoccupied  by  the  enemy.  Mean- 
while parties  of  our  men  from  the  sunken  road 
had  penetrated  into  Leuze  Wood,  and  many 
hardly  fought  combats  had  taken  place  in  the 
ruins  of  Ginchy. 

On  the  morning  of  Tuesday,  September  5, 
Falfemont  Farm  was  taken,  but  the  Germans 
were  still  entrenched  in  the  greater  part  of 
Ginchy,  where  attack  and  counter-attack  had 
succeeded  one  another  in  rapid  succession.  By 
the  evening  of  the  same  day  we  held  Leuze 
Wood  firmly,  and  it  was  completely  cleared  of 
the  Germans  the  next  day.  We  had  by  then 
advanced  on  a  front  of  two  miles  to  an  average 
depth  of  nearly  one  mile.  We  had  disposed  of 
thousands  of  the  enemy,  including  large  num- 
bers of  prisoners,  and  many  machine-guns. 
Seldom  had  the  tenacity  of  the  British  soldier 
been  exhibited  to  greater  advantage  than  in 
this  four  days'  battle. 

The  battle  of  the  Somme  during  this  period 
was  equally  memorable  in  the  annals  of  our 
gallant  Ally.  North  of  the  river  at  noon  on 
September  3,  when  the  British  were  advancing 
against  Guillemont,  General  Fayolle,  after  a 
tremendous  bombardment,  flung  his  infantry 
at  the  German  trenches  from  the  northern 
environs  of  Maurepas,  to  'the  western  outskirts 
of  Clery-sur-Somme  (a  length  of  3J  miles). 
The  2nd  Bavarian  Corps,  stimulated  by  Hinden- 
burg's  recent  visit,  barred  the  way,  but  th  • 
onset  of  the  poilus  was  irresistible.  They 
drove  the  enemy  up  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Combles  Valley  almost  to  the  northern  edge  of 
Combles  ;  they  stormed  Le  Forest  and  carried 
tin-  German  trenches  between  it  and  Clery- 
sur-Somme.  They  also  in  places  crossed  the 
<  'ombles-Clery-sur-Somme  road.  The  latter 
village  was  taken,  and  a  German  counter- 


attack south  of  Le  Forest  was  caught  under  tht-» 
fire  of  French  batteries  and  completely  dis- 
persed. Two  thousand  unwounded  prisoners, 
14  guns,  and  50  machine-guns  were  captured  in 
this  most  successful  action.  During  the  night 
the  French  gains  were  consolidated,  and  the 
next  day  the  advance  was  continued.  The 
French  forward  movement  east  of  Le  Forest 
outflanked  the  Hcpital  Farm  and  occupied  the 
crest  of  the  ridge  to  the  west  of  the  Bois 
Marrieres.  Several  sorties  from  Combles  were 
broken  by  machine-gun  fire  and  by  artillery 
barrages.  Five  hundred  more  prisoners  and 
10  machine-guns  were  brought  in  by  the 
victors.  During  the  night  torrential  rain 
hindered  the  operations,  and  the  enemy  took 
advantage  of  the  lull  to  attempt  a  counter- 
attack. Debouching  from  the  wood  of  Anderlu, 
north  of  Le  Forest,  he  endeavoured  to  pierce 
the  new  French  line  between  Combles  and 
Le  Forest ;  but  the  artillery  and  machine-guns 
soon  stopped  it.  On  Tuesday,  September  5, 
the  French  reached  the  vvestern  border  of 
Anderlu  Wood,  captured  the  Hopital  Farm  and 
the  Rainette  Wood,  entered  the  Marrieres  Wood, 
north-east  of  Clery-sur-Somme,  and  occupied 
the  end  of  the  ridge  across  which  runs  the 
road  from  Clery  to  Bouchavesnes.  South  of  the 
Somme,  Omiecourt,  at  the  edge  of  the  river 
bank,  was  taken  and  the  southern  brought 
into  line  with  the  northern  sector.  The  Colo- 
nial troops  carried  the  village  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet  in  40  minutes.  The  remnant 
of  the  enemy's  garrison  endeavoured  to  escape 
but  were  stopped  at  the  level  crossing  of  the 
Bapaume-Peronne  light  railway  and  forced  to 
surrender.  By  this  time  24  heavy  and  8  field 
guns,  2  bomb  mortars,  2  trench  guns,  a  depot  of 
150  mm.  shells,  a  captive  balloon,  and  numerous 
machine-guns  had  been  wrested  from  the 
Germans.  During  Wednesday,  September  6, 
nothing  of  importance  occurred  on  the  French 
front  north  of  the  Somme,  but  in  the  night  of 
the  6th-7th,  violent  counter-attacks  were 
made  on  the  French  garrison  in  the  trenches  at 
Hopital  Fann.  They  were  all  stopped  by 
artillery  barrages. 

Thus,  by  the  evening  of  September  6,  Sir 
Henry  Rawlinson's  right  wing  ran  from  the 
western  edge  of  Ginchy  through  Leuze  Wood 
to  the  edge  of  the  ridge  overlooking  Combles, 
and  the  extremity  of  General  Fayolle's  left 
wing  was  across  the  Combles  Valley,  in  the 
woods  just  south  of  the  village.  Thence  the 
French  line  went  south-westwards  through 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


137 


S 
ce 
< 
b 

h> 

Z 

o 

S 

H 


at 
H 

3- 
< 
U 


188 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


'W-»--  TSSr  /'  &   ^^feJ^J--**® 
^A^^ym^T^^ 


'fi&ralfenant     /&: 

;  rt-  Hiapdfecou 


KlS      smv*m 

•terpign^  B™"* 


Scale  of  Miles 
'4   '4  %   I  2 

Heights  in  Metres. 


THE  GROUND  OVER  WHICH  THE  FRENCH  ADVANCED. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


139 


the  wood  of  Anderlu  by  Hopital  Farm  into 
the  wood  of  Marrieres.  Thence  it  turned 
southwards  and  touched  the  Somme  just  east 
of  Clery-sur-Somme.  The  reduction  of  Com- 
bles  and  the  advance  on  Sailly-Sallisel  would 
not  long  be  delayed.  Through  Clery-sur- 
Somme  the  French  Commander  was  also  in  a 
position  to  aim  a  blow  at  Mt.  St.  Quentin,  the 
northern  key  to  Peronne,  and  the  P6ronne- 
Bapaume  highway. 

While    Sir    Henry    Rawlinson    and    General 
Fayolle  were  moving  on  Combles,  the  French 


Somme,  the  French  south-west  of  Barleux 
carried  three  trenches  and  advanced  over  a 
mile  to  the  outskirts  of  Berny  and  Deniecourt. 
Farther  south  they  secured  Soyecourt,  cap- 
turing a  battalion,  and  also  progressed  farther 
in  Vermandovillers,  where  there  were  sanguinary 
encounters  in  and  around  the  church. 

At  2  p.m.  the  new  French  Army,  under 
General  Micheler,  came  into  action,  but  it  was 
not  till  approaching  5  p.m.  that  a  breach  was 
made  in  the  German  lines  slightly  north  of 
Chilly.  Through  it  poured  the  victorious 


AFTER    THE    CAPTURE    OF    GUILLEMONT:    THE   RETURN    OF  THE   IRISH  BRIGADE. 


south  of  the  Somme  had  not  been  idle.  On 
Monday,  September  4,  Fayolle's  right  wing,  in 
conjunction  with  a  new  French  Army,  deployed 
south  of  Vermandovillers,  and  delivered  battle 
between  Barleux  and  Chilly,  a  village  south  of 
Lihona,  along  a  front  of  over  12  miles.  Barleux, 
attacked  since  July,  again  and  again  had  held 
out,  and  at  the  opening  of  the  battle  the 
French  line  ran  from  the  west  of  Barleux  south- 
westwards  to  Belloy-en-Santerre,  then  to  the 
west  of  Soyecourt  and  through  the  north- 
western portion  of  Vermandovillers  by  the 
Soyecourt -Lihons  road  to  the  district  west  of 
Chilly.  After  a  very  severe  bombardment 
analogous  to  those  which  had  been  such  a 
feature  of  the  recent  fighting  north  of  the 


French  infantry,  and  by  5  p.m.  the  enemy  had 
retired  to  his  second  position,  leaving  behind 
him  1,200  prisoners  and  several  guns  and 
machine-guns.  The  whole  of  Chilly  was  aban- 
doned to  the  French,  who  also  seized  Hill  86 
and  entered  the  western  fringes  of  Chaulnes 
Wood.  South  of  Chilly  the  French  heavy 
artillery  caught  and  dispersed  enemy  troops 
moving  along  the  Liaucourt-Fouches  road. 
During  the  day  2,700  prisoners  had  been  cap- 
tured south  of  the  Somme,  and  the  French  had 
made  an  appreciable  advance  towards  the 
Pe>onne-Roye  high  road.  Six  counter-attacks 
delivered  by  troops  hurried  up  from  the  Roye 
region  were  beaten  off,  chiefly  by  shell  fire,  and 
the  French  were  left  to  consolidate  during  the 


140 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAlt. 


night  their  new  positions,  which  turned  out 
very  wet.  Several  assaults  in.  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Belloy  were  repulsed,  and  100  more 
prisoners  secured. 

Tuesday,  September  5,  was  another  success- 
ful day  for  our  Allies  in  the  operations  south  of 
the  Somme.  Massed  charges  of  the  Germans 
occurred  at  numerous  points,  notably  between 
Barleux  and  Belloy  and  between  Belloy  and 
Soyecourt.  They  were  made  in  vain,  and  the 
French,  after  inflicting  heavy  losses  on  the 


and  advanced  as  far  as  the  .southern  projection 
of  the  park.  The  French  wore  now  across  the 
Barleux-Chaulnes  road,  arid  their  guns  were 
able  to  dominate  Barleux  from  the  south  as 
well  as  from  tho  north.  The  northern  portion 
of  Vermandovillers  was  completely  cleared  of 
the  enemy  as  far  as  the  Vermandovillers- 
Estrees  road,  and  the  Etoile  Wood  was  captured. 
South  of  Vermandovillers  the  troops  of 
Micheler's  Army  expelled  tho  Germans  from 
the  long  plateau  north  of  the  Chilly -Hallu  road 


LIGHT    RAILWAY    BEHIND    THE    FRENCH    LINES. 


enemy,  retained  their  hold  on  the  ground  they 
had  captured.  East  of  Soyecourt  our  Allies, 
driving  the  enemy  before  them,  reached  the 
north-western  and  southern  borders  of  Denie- 
court  Park,  which,  with  its  chateau,  had  been 
strongly  fortified,  and  between  Soyecourt  and 
Chilly  they  carried  a  salient  and  numerous 
works  south  of  Vermandovillers.  The  total 
prisoners  taken  had  now  risen  to  4,047,  in- 
cluding 55  officers.  Counter-attacks  in  tho 
Berny-en-Santerre  and  Deniecourt  regions  were 
smashed  by  barrages. 

On  Wednesday,  tho  6th,  in  the  afternoon, 
the  right  wing  of  General  Fayolle's  Army 
stormed  German  trenches  south-oast  of  Belloy, 
carried  most  of  the  village  of  Berny-en-Santerre 


and  attacked  the  enemy  trenches  on  the  eastern 
slopes  at  the  foot  of  which  ran  the  Chaulnes- 
Koye  railway.  Round  the  junction  of  the 
Amiens-St.  Quentin  and  Roye  -  Chaulnes- 
Peroniie  railways  the  struggle  raged  till  6  p.m. 
The  entrenchments  here  ware  particularly 
strong,  but  the  French  succeeded  in  storming 
them.  At  sunset  our  Allies  were  within  a  few 
hundred  yards  of  Chaulnes  station.  Their 
artillery  had  crushed  a  sugar  factory  with 
munition  depots  north  of  it,  and  east  of  Chilly 
tho  troops  of  a  Saxon  Division,  hurried  up 
from  the  Aisne  front,  had  met  with  a  bloody 
reverse.  Later  tho  Germans  debouched  from 
Horgny,  and  attacked  again  and  again  betw-een 
Barleux  and  Berny :  but  artillery  barrages 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


141 


prevented  them  from  reaching  the  French 
lines.  In  the  day's  fighting  400  and  more 
prisoners  had  been  captured. 

During  the  night  of  the  6th-7th  16  French 
bombarding  aeroplanes  dropped  heavy  bombs 
on  Villecourt,  a  village  on  the  Somme,  - 
between  Peronne  and  Ham,  on  Athies,  through 
which  passes  the  Peronne-Ham  highroad,  and 
on  Roisel,  a  station  between  Peronne  and  Cam- 
brai,  and  the  enemy  vainly  attacked  the  French 
between  Berny  and  Chaulnes.  Four  times  his 
artillery  deluged  the  French  positions  south 
of  Vermandovillers  with  high  explosive  and 
shrapnel  shell,  and  after  each  bombardment 
the  Germans  in  masses  advanced  to  recover 
the  ground  lost  by  them  in  the  course  of  the 
preceding  days.  At  no  point,  however,  were 
they  successful.  Two  hundred  more  prisoners 
were  captured,  and  on  the  7th  our  Allies 
carried  some  more  trenches  east  of  Deniecourt. 

Thus,  between  September  4  and  7, 
Generals  Fayolle  and  Micheler  south  of  the 
Somme  had  cut  the  Roye-Peronne  railway, 
loosened  the  hold  of  the  Germans  on  Chaulnes, 
and  driven  a  wedge  into  the  enemy's  zone  of 
fortifications  between  Chaulnes  and  Barleux. 
Xorth  of  the  Somme  the  French  from  Clery 
had  moved  nearer  to  Mont  St.  Quentin, 
which  defended  Peronne  from  an  attack  down 
the  Bapaume-Peronne  road  and  the  guns  on 
which  protected  the  fortified  village  of  Barleux. 
The  left  wing  of  General  Fayolle  now  extended 
northwards  from  the  east  of  Clery  to  the 
southern  environs  of  Combles. 

Across  the  Combles  valley  the  right  wing  of 
Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  on  September  7  stretched 
from  Falfemont  Farm  by  the  wood  of  Leuze 
to  the  western  outskirts  of  Ginchy.  Generals 
Fayolle  and  Micheler  now  suspended  their 
offensive,  while  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  made 
preparations  for  the  storming  of  Ginchy  and 
the  expulsion  of  the  Germans  between  Ginchy 
and  the  Bois  des  Bouleaux,  the  long  strip  of 
woodland  running  north-eastwards  out  of  the 
wood  of  Leuze.  These  preparations  were 
made  on  the  7th  and  8th,  during  which  there 
was  fighting — on  the  8th — round  Mouquet 
Farm,  in  High  Wood  and  at  Vermandovillers, 
whore  the  French  advanced  and  captured  50 
prisoners. 

In  beautiful  but  misty  weather  Sir  Henry 
Rawlinson  struck  his  blow  on  Saturday, 
September  9,  in  the  presence  of  the  British 
Premier,  Mr.  Asquith,  who  had  been  spending 


GENERAL    FAYOLLE    AND    HIS     CHIEF 
OF   THE    STAFF. 

some  days  in  the  Somme  area.  The  troops 
detailed  for  the  operation  were  drawn  from 
Ireland  and  England.  The  line  of  battle  ran 
from  the  north-east  of  Pozieres  by  High  Wood 
and  Ginchy  to  Leuze  Wood. 

After  the  usual  intense  preliminary  bombard- 
ment the  troops  at  4.45  p.m.  went  forward 
over  their  parapets.  On  the  southern  side  of 
the  Pozieres-Bapaume  road  towards  Martin- 
puich  they  carried  a  series  of  trenches  and  cap- 
tured 62  unwounded  prisoners.  Soon  after 
9  p.m.  the  victors  beat  off  a  counter-attack, 
inflicting  heavy  losses.  The  attack  in  High 
Wood  was  also  successful,  our  men  advancing 
300  yards  on  a  600  yards  front.  It  was,  how- 
ever, the  assaults  on  Ginchy  and  the  ground 
from  Ginchy  to  Leuze  Wood  which  were  the 
crowning  triumph  of  the  day. 

Ginchy  and  the  area  south-east  of  it  were 
defended  by  fresh  troops,  the  19th  Bavarian 
Division  supplying  the  garrison  of  the  village, 
and  troops  of  the  185th  Division  lining  the 
trenches  from  Ginchy  to  the  north-western 
end  of  Leuze  Wood.  At  4.45  p.m.  the  Irish 


142 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR 


A    PATROL    IN    CHAULNES    WOOD. 


made  for  Ginchy.  The  ruins — especially  those 
of  a  farm  near  the  centre  of  the  village — 
bristled  with  machine-guns.  This  attack  was 
graphically  described  by  an  officer  who  took 
part  in  it.  He  wrote  : 

We  were  in  reserve.  The  front  line  was  some  500 
or  600  yards  higher  up  the  slope  nearer  Ginchy.  We 
knew  that  a  big  attack  was  coming  oft  that  day,  but 
did  not  think  we  should  be  called  upon  to  take  part. 
Accordingly,  we  settled  down  for  the  day,  and  most 
of  the  men  slept.  I  felt  quit*  at  home,  as  I  sat  in  the 
bottom  of  the  deep  trench,  reading  the  papers  I  had 
received  the  previous  day  from  home.  I  went  through 
The  Times,  and  was  much  interested  in  its  Japanese 
Supplement,  for  the  memories  it  brought  back  of  many 
happy  days  in  Dai  Nippon  were  vivid  ones. 

It  was  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  we 
first  learned  that  we  should  have  to  take  part  in  the 
attack  on  Ginchy.  We  were  ordered  to  move  up 
into  the  front  line  to  reinforce  ;  none  of  us  knew  for  a 
certainty  whether  we  were  going  over  the  top  or  not, 
but  everything  seemed  to  point  that  way.  Our  shells 
bursting  in  the  village  of  Ginchy  made  it  belch  forth 
smoke  like  a  volcano.  The  Hun  shells  were  bursting 
on  the  slope  in  front  of  us.  The  noise  was  deafening. 
I  turned  to  my  servant  O'Brien,  who  has  always  been  a 
cheery,  optimistic  soul,  and  said,  "  Well,  O'Brien, 
how  do  you  think  we'll  fare  ?  "  and  his  answer  was  fur 
once  not  encouraging.  "  We'll  never  come  out  alive, 
sir,"  was  his  answer.  Happily  we  both  came  out 
alive. 

It   was  at  this  moment,  just  as  we  were  debouching 

on  to  the  scragged  front  line  of   trench,  that  we  beheld 

a  scene  which  stirred  and  thrilled  us  to  the  depths  of 

our  souls.     The  great  charge  of  the  Irish  had   begun, 

and  we  had  come  up  in  the  nick  of  time.     Mere  won  Is 

fail  to  convey  anything  like  a  true  picture  of  tlip 

hut  it  is   burned  into  the  memory   of  all   th,..r 

who  were  there  and  saw  it.     Between  the  outer  frin .:•• 

.it  Cincliy  and  tlio  front  line  of  our  own  trenches  is  X<> 

Man's  Land,  a  wilderness  of  pits  s0  close  together  that 


you  could  ride  astraddle  the  partitions  between  any 
two  of  them.  As  you  look  half  right,  obliquely  down 
along  No  Man's  Land,  you  behold  a  groat  host  of 
yellow-coated  men  rise  out  of  the  earth  and  sur^o 
forward  and  upward  in  a  torrent — not  in  extended 
order,  as  you  might  expect,  but  in  one  mass.  There 
seems  to  be  no  end  to  them.  Just  when  you  think  tho 
flood  is  subsiding,  another  wave  comes  surging  up 
the  bend  towards  Ginchy.  We  joined  in  on  the  left. 
There  was  no  time  for  us  any  more  than  the  others 
to  get  into  extended  order.  We  formed  another  stream 
converging  on  the  others  at  the  summit. 

By  this  time  we  were  all  wildly  excited.  Our  shouts 
and  yells  alone  must  have  struck  terror  into  the  Huns. 
who  were  firing  their  machine-guns  down  the  slope. 
But  there  wag  no  wavering  in  the  Irish  host.  W<» 
couldn't  run.  We  advanced  at  a  steady  walking 
pace,  stumbling  here  and  there,  but  going  ever  onward 
and  upward.  That  numbing  dread  had  now  left  me 
completely.  Like  the  others  I  was  intoxicated  with 
the  glory  of  it  all.  I  can  remember  shouting  and 
bawling  to  the  men  of  ray  platoon,  who  were  only  too 
eager  to  go  on. 

The  Hun  barrage  had  now  been  opened  in  earnest, 
and  shells  wore  falling  here,  there,  and  everywhere 
in  No  Man's  Land.  They  were  mostly  dropping  on  our 
right,  but  they  were  coming  nearer  and  nearer,  as  if 
a  screen  were  being  drawn  across  our  front.  I  kn"w 
that  it  was  a  case  of  "  Now  or  never,"  and  stumbled 
on  feverishly.  We  managed  to  get  through  the  barni_'! 
in  the  nick  of  time,  for  it  closed  behind  us,  and  after 
that  we  had  no  shells  to  fear  in  front  of  us. 

I  mention  merely  as  an  interesting  fart  in  psychology 
how  in  a  crisis  of  this  sort  one's  mental  faculties  ar.3 
sharpened.  Instinct  told  us  when  the  shells  were 
coming  gradually  closer  to  crouch  down  in  the  holes 
until  they  had  passed.  Acquired  knowledge,  on  the 
other  hand — the  knowledge  instilled  into  one  by  lectures 
and  books  (of  which  I  have  only  read  one — rjamelv.  • 
Making's  "  Company  Training") — told  us  that  it  was 
safer  in  the  long  run  to  push  ahead  before  the  enemy 
got  our  range,  and  it  was  acquired  knowledge  that 
won. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


143 


And  hero  another  observation  I  should  like  to  make 
by  the  way.  I  remember  reading  somewhere — I  think 
it  was  in  a  book  by  Winston  Churchill — that  of  the 
Kattle  of  Oradurraan  the  writer  could  recollect  nothing 
in  the  way  of  noise.  He  had  an  acute  visual  recollec- 
tion of  all  that  went  on  about  him,  but  his  aural  recol- 
lection was  nil ;  he  could  only  recall  the  scene  as  if  it 
were  a  cinematograph  picture.  Curiously  this  was 
my  own  experience  at  Ginchy.  The  din  must  have  been 
deafening  (I  learned  afterwards  that  it  could  be  heard 
miles  away),  yet  I  have  only  a  confused  remembrance  of  it. 

How  long  we  were  in  crossing  No  Man's  Land  I 
don't  know.  It  could  not  have  been  more  than  five 
minutes,  yet  it  seemed  much  longer.  We  were  now  well 
up  to  the  Boche.  We  had  to  clamber  over  all  manner 
of  obstacles — fallen  trees,  beams,  great  mounds  of 
brick  and  rubble — in  fact,  over  the  ruins  of  Ginchy. 
It  seems  liko  a  nightmare  to  me  now.  I  remember  seeing 
comrades  falling  round  me.  My  sense  of  hearing  returned 
to  me,  for  I  became  conscious  of  a  new  sound — namely, 
the  pop,  pop,  pop,  pop  ot  machine-guns,  and  the  con- 


tinuous crackling  of  rifle  fire.  By  this  time  all  units 
were  mixed  up,  but  they  were  all  Irishmen.  They 
wore  cheering  and  cheering  liko  mad.  There  was  a 
machine-gun  playing  on  us  near  by,  and  we  all  made 
for  it. 

At  this  moment  we  caught  our  first  sight  of  the  Huns. 
They  were  in  a  trench  of  sorts,  which  ran  in  and  out 
among  the  ruins.  Some  of  them  had  theic  hands 
up.  Others  were  kneeling  and  holding  their  arms 
out  to  us.  Still  others  were  running  up  and  down 
the  trench  distractedly  as  if  they  didn't  know  which 
way  to  go,  but  as  we  got  closer  they  went  down  on 
their  knees,  too.  To  the  everlasting  good  name  of 
the  Irish  soldiery,  not  one  of  these  Huns,  some  of 
whom  had  been  engaged  in  slaughtering  our  men  up 
to  the  very  last  moment,  was  killed.  I  did  not  see  a 
single  instance  of  a  prisoner  being  shot  or  bayoneted. 
When  you  remember  that  our  men  were  worked  up  to 
a  frenzy  of  excitement,  this  crowning  act  of  mercy 
to  their  foes  is  surely  to  their  eternal  credit.  They 
could  feel  pity  even  in  their  rage. 


TRANSPORTING    A    HEAVY    FRENCH    GUN. 


[French  official  photograph. 


Ill 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


By  this  time  we  had  penetrated  the  German  front 
line,  and  were  on  the  first  flat  ground  where  the  village 
once  stood  surrounded  by  a  wood  of  fairly  high  trees. 
There  w-is  no  holding  the  men  back.  They  rushed 
through  Gincliy,  driving  the  Huns  before  thorn.  The 
Hun  dead  wore  lying  everywhere,  some  of  them  having 
been  frightfully  mangled  by  our  shell  fire.  We  dug 
in  by  linking  up  the  shell  craters,  and  though  the  men 
were  tired  (some  wanted  to  smoke  and  others  to  make 
tea)  they  worked  with  a  will,  and  before  long  we  had 
got  a  pretty  decent  trench  outlined. 

I  heard  that  when  Captain  'a  company  rushed 

•  trench  to  our  right,  round  the  corner  of  the  wood, 
a  German  officer  surrendered  in  great  style.  He 
atood  to  attention,  gave  a  clinking  salute,  and  said 
in  perfect  English,  "Sir,  myself,  this  other  officer 

and  10  men  are  your  prisoners."  Captain  said, 

"  Right  you  are,  old  chap  ! "  and  they  shook  hands, 
the  prisoners  being  led  away  immediately.  So  you 
see  there  are  certain  amenities  of  battlefields.  I  believe 
our  prisoners  were  all  Bavarians,  who  are  better  man- 
nered from  all  accounts  than  the  Prussians.  They 
could  thank  their  stars  they  had  Irish  chivalry  to  deal 
with. 

The  trench  (between  ours  and  the  wood)  was  stacked 
with  German  dead.  It  was  full  of  dt'iria,  bombs,  shovels, 
and  what-not,  and  torn  books,  magazines,  and  news- 
papers. I  came  across  a  copy  of  Schiller's  "  Wallen- 
6t«in." 

Our  men  are  very  good  to  tho  German  wounded. 
An  Irishman's  heart  melts  very  soon.  3n  fact,  kindness 
and  compassion  for  the  wounded,  our  own  and  the 
enemy's,  is  about  tho .  only  decent  thing  I  have  seen  in 
war.  It  is  not  at  all  uncommon  to  see  a  British  and 
German  soldier  side  by  side  in  the  same  shell-hole, 
nursing  each  other  as  best  they  can  and  placidly  smoking 
cigarettes.  A  poor  wounded  Hun  who  hobbled  into 


our  trench  in  the  morning,  his  face  badly  mutilated 
by  a  bullet — he  whimpered  and  moaned  as  piteou^ly 
as  a  child — was  bound  up  by  one  of  our  officers,  who  took 
off  his  coat  and  set  to  work  in  earnest.  Another  Boche, 
whose  legs  were  hit,  was  carried  in  by  our  men  and  put 
into  a  shell-hole  for  safety,  where  he  lay  awaiting  the 
stretcher-bearers  when  we  left.  It  is  with  a  sense  of 
pride  that  I  can  write  this  of  our  soldiers. 

The  first  advance  of  the  Irish  carried  them 
to  the  main  road  running  through  tho  centre  of 
the  village.  The  soldiers  on  the  left  reached  it 
in  eight  minutes,  those  on  the  right  were  held 
up  by  machine-gun  fire.  A  trench  mortar  was 
hurriedly  brought  forward,  and  the  Germans 
forced  to  evacuate  the  emplacement.  Another 
trench  mortar  silenced  the  mitrailleuses  in  the 
ruins  of  the  farm  above  mentioned.  At 
5.30  p.m.  a  second  rush  carried  the  Irish  out 
into  the  open.  They  pushed  up  the  Ginchy- 
Morval  road  about  800  yards  to  the  farther 
edge  of  the  plateau.  Thence  they  looked 
down  on  Morval.  To  the  right  of  Ginchy  the- 
English  troops  had  been  no  less  successful. 
They  had  seized  over  1,000  yards  of  trencher 
from  a  point  just  south  of  the  Guillemont- 
Morval  tramway  to  the  south-west  corner  of 
Bouleaux  Wood.  Over  500  prisoners  were 
taken  on  that  and  the  succeeding  dayt°,  and 


A    SHELL-HOLE    AS    COVER    FOR    A    FIELD-GUN. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


145 


COLLECTING    THE    WOUNDED    NEAR    GINCHY    AFTER    THE    BATTLE. 


the  total  of  prisoners  captured  since  July  1 
was  raised  to  over  17,000.  The  French,  who 
on  Saturday  carried  a  small  wood  and  part  of 
a  trench  east  of  Belloy,  made  fresh  progress 
east  of  Deniecourt,  and  repulsed  an  attack 
north  of  Berny.  Since  September  3  in  the 
region  south  of  the  Somme  they  had  secured 
7,600  German  privates  and  some  100 
officers 

As  a  result  of  the  efforts  of  Sir  Henry  Raw- 
linson's  Army,  and  particularly  of  the  Irish 
troops  from  Connaught,  Leinster  and  Munster, 
of  the  Rifle  Regiments  and  the  regiments  from 
Warwickshire,  Kent,  Devonshire,  Gloucester- 
shire, Surrey,  Cornwall,  and  from  Wales  and 
Scotland,  the  British  line,  from  September  3  to 
September  9  had  been  pushed  forward  on  a 
front  of  6,000  yards  to  a  depth  varying  from 
300  to  3,000  yards.  The  enemy  had  lost  all 
his  observation  posts  on  the  main  ridge  with 
ths  exception  of  those  in  High  Wood  and  north 
and  north-east  of  Ginchy.  He  was  being 
forced  mora  and  more  to  rely  on  reports  from 
a3roplan3s  and  captive  balloons  for  the  direc- 
tion of  his  still  very  powerful  artillery.  We, 
on  the  other  hand,  had  now  a  clear  view  of 


Couraelette,  Martinpuich,  Flers,  Lesboeufs, 
Morval  and  Combles,  the  knots  as  it  were  in 
the  next  chain  of  defences  between  the  British 
and  the  Bapaume-Peronne  highway.  By  our 
victorious  offensive  through  Ginchy  and  the 
Leuze  Wood  we  dominated  Combles  and, 
consequently,  were  in  a  position  materially  to 
assist  the  left  of  General  Fayolle  in  its  pro- 
jected advance  on  both  sides  of  the  Bapaume- 
Peronne  road  towards  Sailly-Sallisel.  From 
the  eastern  edge  of  the  wood  of  Leuze  to  that 
important  highway  was  but  a  distance  of  two 
miles  and  a  half,  and  batteries  established  in 
the  wood  would  be  able  to  enfilade  the  German 
guns  in  the  Bois  St.  Pierre  Vaast  seeking  to 
impede  the  movement  of  Fayolle  on  Sailly- 
Sallisel,  while  from  Ginchy  a  direct  thrust  at 
the  last  named  village -fortress  might  be  made 
through  Morval  by  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson. 
Gradually  the  enemy  was  being  pushed  into 
the  low-lying  ground  in  the  apex  of  the  triangle 
Albert-Bapaume-Peronne,  the  western  side  of 
which  was  formed  by  the  Amiens -Cambrai,  the 
eastern  by  the  Ham -Arras  chaussee.  The  base 
of  the  triangle,  almost  to  the  gates  of  Peronne, 
was  already  in  the  possession  of  the  Allies,  and 


146 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


they    wore    on    the    ridge    above    Martinpuich 
half-way  up  the  western  side. 

Perceiving  the  imminent  danger  he  was 
running  of  having  his  main  line  of  communica- 
tion with  Peronne  cut  by  Sir  Henry  Rawlin- 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  REMOVING  A 
CAPTURED    HOWITZER. 

son's  troops  debouching  through  Ginchy,  the 
enemy,  about  noon  on  Sunday,  September  10, 
attacked  north  of  the  village  and  was  bloodily 
repulsed.  A  second  attempt  later  in  the  day 
was  equally  unsuccessful.  Small  detachments 
of  German  infantry  made  ineffectual  efforts  to 
recover  the  trenches  lost  near  Mouquet  Farm 
in  the  vicinity  of  Pozieres.  Over  350  more 
prisoners  and  3  machine-guns  captured  during 
the  last  24  hours  were  brought  in  by  our 
men. 

While  General  Baron  von  Marschall  and 
General  von  Kirchbach  were  vainly  striving  to 
relax  the  grip  of  the  British  on  the  ridges  between 
Thiepval  and  Combles,  south  of  the  Somme, 
General  von  Quast  during  the  night  of  Septem- 
ber 9-10  launched  several  attacks  in  the  sector 
Barleux-Belloy.  The  flammenwerjer  were  once 
more  employed,  and  the  enemy  managed  to  enter 
one  of  the  French  trenches.  He  was  speedily 
ejected  by  a  vigorous  counter-attack,  and  four 
of  his  machine-guns  were  captured.  To  the 
south-west  of  Berny,  to  the  east  of  Deniecourt, 
and  to  the  south  of  Vermandovillers,  German 
bombers  advanced  against  the  French  lines, 
which  had  been  previously  subjected  to  severe 
shelling.  Fierce  hand-to-hand  struggles  en- 
sued. Finally  the  Germans  were  thrown  back 
all  along  the  front,  leaving  behind  a  large 
number  of  dead.  On  Sunday,  the  10th,  two 
more  attacks  were  made  south-west  of  Berny. 


Both  failed  completely.  During  the  night  of 
the  10th- llth  the  enemy,  undeterred  by  his 
heavy  losses,  delivered  a  series  of  charges 
south  of  the  Somme.  From  Berny  to  the 
region  Chaulnes-Chilly,  no  less  than  five 
attacks,  in  which  the  bombers  were  accom- 
panied by  bearers  of  flammenwerfer,  were  made. 
The  French  artillery  and  mitrailleuses  scattered 
and  thinned  the  advancing  masses,  the  sur- 
vivors of  whom  sullenly  retreated  to  their  own 
trenches.  Meanwhile  the  French  airmen  had 
not  been  inactive.  On  the  preceding  Saturday, 
Adjutant  Dorme  had  brought  down  his  ninth 
aeroplane,  which  fell  at  Beaulencourt,  south  of 
Bapaume.  Four  other  German  machines  were 
damaged — one  in  the  region  of  La  Maisonnette, 
the  others  to  the  north  and  east  of  Peronne. 
On  Saturday  night  a  squadron  dropped  480 
bombs  on  the  stations  and  enemy  depots 
in  the  region  of  Chauny,  south-east  of  Ham, 
an  important  point  on  the  railway  in  the  Oise 
Valley,  and  another  squadron  of  18  machines 
bombed  military  establishments  at  Ham  on 
the  Somme  and  between  Ham  and  Peronne. 

On  Monday,  September  11,  the  ascent  of  16 
German  balloons  north  of  Ginchy  gave  visible 
evidence  that  the  Germans  were  no  longer  able 
to  direct  their  guns  from  posts  on  the  ground 
at  this  point.  The  day  passed  almost  unevent- 
fully save  for  the  furious  artillery  duels.  Our 
heavy  guns  caused  two  large  conflagrations  in 


A   WAGON   IN  DIFFICULTIES. 

an  ammunition  depot  at  Grandcourt  on  the 
Ancre,  north-east  of  Thiepval.  During  the 
night  our  trenches  between  Mouquet  Farm 
and  Delville  Wood  were  heavily  shelled.  The 
battle-field  round  Guillemont  and  Ginchy  was 
a  gruesome  sight.  German  corpses  lay  thickly 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


147 


MR.    LLOYD    GEORGE    AT    THE    FRONT,  \OfftUftoUfapk, 

With  (from  left  to  right)    M.  Thomas,   Sir  Douglas  Haig  and  General  Joffre. 


about  the  roads  and  craters.  In  one  place 
straight  rows  of  dead  men  clad  in  "  field-grey  " 
showed  where  a  massed  counter-attack  had 
been  caught  by  our  machine-guns.  The 
twisted  iron  frame  of  a  goods  wagon,  the 
foundations  of  the  railway  station,  and  the 
concrete  base  of  an  observation  post  were  now 
the  sole  indications  that  Guillemont  had  ever 
existed.  South  of  the  Somrne  the  French  with 


grenades  beat  off  a  German  attack  east  of 
Beiloy,  and  our  Allies  captured  an  enemy 
trench  south  of  the  cemetery  of  Berny. 

The  British  having  had  time  to  consolidate 
their  positions  from  Ginchy  to  Leuze  Wood, 
from  which  positions  they  menaced  Morval  and 
Combles,  General  Fayolle  decided  to  advance 
his  left  wing  between  Combles  and  the  Somme. 

On  Tuesday,  September  12,  while  Mr.  Lloyd 


14* 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


FRESH    PRISONERS    ARRIVING    AT    A    "CAGE." 


[Official  photograph. 


George  was  visiting  the  rear  of  the  British 
salient,  and  desultory  fighting  was  proceeding 
in  High  Wood  and  east  of  Ginchy,  the  turning 
movement  which  was  designed  to  sever  Combles 
from  Sailly-Sallisel  and  to  place  the  French 
astride  of  the  Peronne-Bapaume  road  began. 
It  was  preceded  by  a  terrific  two  days'  bom- 
bardment of  the  enemy's  lines,  west  and  east  of 
the  road.  These  consisted  of  a  belt  of  entrench- 
ments descending  from  Morval  to  the  banks  of 
the  Somme.  Behind  them  on  the  road  the 
villages  of  Rancourt,  due  east  of  Combles,  and 
Bouchavesnes,  due  east  of  Maurepas,  had  been 
organized  for  defence  with  characteristic  Ger- 
man thoroughness.  Rancourt  was  just  in 
front  of  the  largo  wood  of  St.  Pierre  Vaast.  On 
the  country  road  from  Combles  to  Rancourt, 
the  farm  of  L,e  Priez  had  been  converted  into 
a  small  subterranean  fortress.  Between  Clery- 
sur- Somme  and  Peronne  was  the  Canal  du 
Nord,  which,  after  crossing  the  Bapaume- 
Peronne  road  north  of  Mont  St.  Quentin, 
entered  the  river  at  Halle.  Parallel  with, 
close  to,  and  east  of  the  canal  flowed  the  Tor- 
tille,  a  little  tributary  of  the  Somme. 

On  the  morning  of  the  12th  the  French  were 
on  the  western  slopes  of  the  little  plateau,  the 
summit  of  which  was  76  metres  high,  and  at 


whose  eastern  foot  ran  the  Canal  du  Nord. 
Thence  their  line  ascended  just  west  of  the  long 
patch  of  woodland  known  as  the  Bois  de  Mar- 
rieres,  and  curved  north-westwards  to  the  Bois 
d'Anderlu  and  the  southern  outskirts  of  Combles. 
The  front  from  which  the  advance  started, 
when  at  12.30  p.m.  the  guns  lifted,  was  nearly 
four  miles  long.  So  admirably  had  the  French 
artillery  done  its  work  that  within  half  an  hour 
the  whole  of  the  enemy's  battered,  crater- 
pitted  trenches  were  in  the  possession  of  our 
Allies.  On  the  left  the  infantry  debouching 
from  the  wood  of  Anderlu  passed  round  the 
Priez  Farm  and  reached  a  little  chapel  600 
yards  or  so  in  front  of  Raneourt.  Simul- 
taneously the  troops  on  Hill  111  mounted  the 
western  slopes  of  the  plateau  between  them 
and  the  Bapaume-Peronne  road  and  seized  the 
summit  of  Hill  145.  The  Germans  rallied  behind 
a  ruined  windmill  west  of  the  road.  Meanwhile 
the  troops  who  had  traversed  the  wood  of 
Marrieres,  which  they  did  not  do  till  4.30  p.m., 
the  garrison  there  putting  up  a  plucky  fight, 
came  up  on  the  right,  and  the  French  guns 
placed  a  barrage  east  of  the  high  road  and 
prevented  reinforcements  coming  up  to  the  aid 
of  the  broken  enemy.  To  check  the  oncoming 
French,  masses  of  Germans  charged  out  of 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


149 


Combles  and  Fregicourt.  Another  barrage  of 
shells  stopped  this  flank  attack.  After  several 
hours  of  stubborn  fighting  the  Bapaume- 
Peronrie  road  was  gained.  The  French 
seized  houses  at  the  southern  end  of  Ban- 
court,  and  deployed  along  the  road  as  far 
as  Brioche,  south-west  of  Bouchavesnes. 
The  hamlet  of  Brioche  was  carried,  and, 
pivoting  on  it,  the  remainder  of  the  French 
forces  advanced  eastwards,  the  troops  from 
the  Clery  region  capturing  the  plateau  of 
Hill  76,  and  saw  below  them  the  Canal 
du  Nord  and  beyond  it  the  Peronne- 
Bapaume  highway.  Not  content  with  these 
successes  and  with  the  capture  of  1,500  prisoners 
including  numbers  of  officers,  towards  8  p.m. 
the  French  crossed  the  highway  and  assaulted 
Bouchavesnes.  After  two  hours  of  severe 
hand-to-hand  fighting  the  ruins  of  the  village 
were  seized.  The  troops  concerned  in  this 
brilliant  little  episode  worts  the  6th  Brigade  of 
Chasseurs  (comprising  the  6th  and  27th  Chas- 
seurs and  the  28th  Alpine  Chasseurs),  a  bat- 
talion of  the  44th  and  one  of  the  133rd  Infantry. 
During  the  night  some  units  of  a  division 
which  had  been  rushed  up  from  the  Verdun 
district  were  hurled  at  the  Hill  76  plateau. 
Mont  St.  Quentin,  menaced  by  the  French 
in  Bouchavesnes,  would  be  in  great  danger 
if  the  plateau  was  not  recovered.  Time 
after  time  the  German  columns  crossed  the 
canal  and  swarmed  up  the  eastern  slopes  only 
to  be  driven  back  in  hopeless  confusion. 

At  daybreak  on  Wednesday,  September  13, 
the  French  resumed  the  offensive  up  the  road 
from  Bouchavesnes  to  the  village  of  Haut- 
Allaines,  north-east  of  Mont  St.  QuentSn. 
They  stormed  the  German  positions  on  the 
western  slopes  of  the  plateau  of  Hill  130  and 
the  farm  of  the  Bois  1'Abbe,  which  was  half 
a  mile  east  of  the  Bapaume-Peronne  roac'. 
At  the  same  time,  in  the  direction  of  Combles, 
they  cleared  the  Germans  from  the  six  suc- 
cessive trenches  round  the  Le  Priez  Farm, 
which  itself  was  carried  on  the  14th.  In  the 
two  days'  fighting  over  2,500  prisoners  had 
been  taken,  and  in  Bouchavesnes  alone  10 
pieces,  several  of  them  heavy  guns,  and  40 
machine-guns. 

Enraged  at  their  defeat  the  German  leaders 
counter-attacked  throughout  the  13th.  Two 
regiments  were  sent  against  the  Farm  of  Bois 
I'Abbe.  The  defenders  at  first  gave  way,  but 
the  chasseurs  with  irresistible  elan  swept  the 
enemy  from  the  wrecked  building.  Hill  76  was 


also  the  scene  of  stubborn  encounters.  For 
hours  the  fighting  went  on,  but  at  last  the 
plateau  remained  in  French  hands.  South  of 
the  Somme  on  the  same  day,  in  the  hope  of 
retrieving  his  signal  defeat  north  of  the  river, 
the  enemy  advanced  again  and  again  at  various 
points.  He  was  everywhere  repulsed,  a  com- 
pany west  of  Chaulnes  being  wiped  out  by  the 
French  fire. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  battles  of 
September  9,  12,  and  13  had  materially  im- 
proved the  Allied  chances  of  breaking  right 


GENERAL  BARON  VON  MARSGHALL, 
One  of  the  German  Commanders  on  the  Somme. 


150 


THE    TIMES    HIXTUUY    OF    THE    WAR. 


through  the  German  lines  north  of  the  Somme. 
Cniiibles  was  now  under  the  fire  of  the  British 
from  tlu-  west  and  north-west,  and  under  that 
of  the  French  from  the  south  and  south-east. 
A  section  of  the  Bapaume-Peronne  road  was 
firmly  held  by  our  Allies,  and  Mont  St.  Quentin 
could  be  attacked  from  the  north  and  north- 
east as  well  as  from  the  west.  Mont  St.  Quentin, 
350  feet  high,  was,  indeed,  protected  by  the 
Tortille  on  the  north  and  the  Somme  on  the 
south-west,  but  it  would  be  difficult  henceforth 
for  the  Germans  to  send  supplies  of  ammunition 
and  guns  to  its  defenders,  for  most  of  the  roads 


The  progress  towards  Thiepval  had  already 
been  considerable,  but  between  us  and  that 
village  there  lay  an  intricate  organization  of 
trenches,  produced  by  the  strenuous  exertions 
of  the  past  two  years.  The  key  of  this  position, 
an  elaborate  stronghold  embodying  the  highest 
examples  of  the  engineer's  art,  was  the  central 
kernel  known  to  the  Germans  as  the  W under  - 
werk  behind  the  Hohenzollern  Trench  and 
600  yards  in  front  of  Thiepval.  It  was  placed 
on  the  spur  which  runs  south-eastwards  from 
Thiepval  towards  Authuille,  and  dominated 
to  a  considerable  extent  the  surrounding 


THE    COMMANDANT    PERSONALLY    INSPECTS    THE    DEFENCES. 


leading  to  the  hill  were  under  the  direct  fire  of 
French  batteries.  Nor  had  the  Germans  any- 
where between  the  Ancre  and  Chilly  gained 
counter-balancing  successes.  During  the  night 
of  the  12th-13th  they  had  been  repulsed  near 
Mouquet  Farm,  and  on  the  13th  the  British 
had  pushed  ahead  north  of  Ginchy.  On  the 
14th  there  was  a  lull — the  lull  which  precedes 
the  storm — on.  the  British  front,  and  the 
French  beat  off  attacks  north  and  south  of 
Bouchavesnes,  and  south  of  the  Somme 
advanced  by  bombing  east  of  Belloy.  The 
situation  was  decidedly  promising  for  the 
Allies. 


country.  The  main  value  of  this  fortification, 
beyond  its  intrinsic  strength,  was  the  fact  that 
from  it  the  Germans  could  sweep  the  ground 
to  "  Sky  Line "  trench  and  Mouquet  Farm. 
It  was  plain,  therefore,  that  before  any  advance 
could  be  made  by  the  British  up  the  valleys 
on  either  side  of  the  spur  it  was  necessary  to 
capture  it.  Moreover,  before  our  centre  could 
move  towards  Courcelette  and  Martinpuich 
the  Germans  had  to  be  expelled  from  these 
advanced  posts,  whence  our  troops  moving 
to  the  assault  of  the  Courcelette  sector  could 
be  struck  in  flank. 

The  Wwnderwerk  itself  had  formed  the  target 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


151 


/^German  Trenches 


PLAN  OF  THE  "  WUNDERWERK"  AND  ADJOINING   GERMAN   TRENCHES. 


ol  our  artillery  for  the  previous  fortnight  with 
the  usual  result.  So  far  as  concerned  the 
works  above  ground,  it  had  been  beaten  and 
blown  out  of  existence  and  many  of  the  dug- 
outs had  been  destroyed  or  seriously  damaged. 
Yet  some  still  remained  which  afforded  shelter 
to  many  of  the  garrison,  and  in  the  trenches 
before  and  around  it  which  had  escaped  to  some 
extent  the  devastating  fire  of  our  guns,  the 
enemy  was  hanging  on  in  some  strength,  and 
it  was  recognized  that  the  Germans  rightly 
attached  great  importance  to  this  part  of  their 
line.  It  was  part  of  Sir  Hubert  Gough's  task 
to  capture  it,  and  it  was  determined  that  the 
operation  was  to  be  carried  out  on  the  evening 
of  September  14. 

Before  our  infantry  advanced  to  the  assault 
the  usual  tornado  of  projectiles  swept  over  the 
doomed  spot.  Suddenly  our  artillery  increased 
their  range  and  formed  a  barrage  behind  the 
Wunderwerk  to  keep  back  the  enemy's  supports. 
The  effect  of  this,  combined  with  the  havoc 
wrought  on  the  actual  position,  had  a  double 
effect.  The  remains  of  the  unhappy  garrison 
had  seen  their  comrades  falling  all  around 
them,  and  knew  that  their  retreat  could  only 
be  made  through  a  veil  of  shell-fire.  Many  of 
them  fled  before  the  British  infantry  closed 
with  them  ;  others  remained  to  put  up  a  really 
good  hand-to-hand  fight.  It  was  not  of  long 
duration.  Our  men  had  come  on  swiftly  and 
with  determination,  and  soon  cleared  out  their 
opponents  and  drove  such  of  them  as  survived 
and  did  not  surrender  into  the  barrage  which 
few  lived  to  pass  through.  The  German 


casualties  were  very  heavy,  ours  but  a  few, 
while  the  total  advance  we  made  was  along  a 
line  of  900  yards  and  a  depth  of  350.     The 
Wunderwerk  and  the  trenches  connected  with 
it  on  the  spur  were  in  our  hands  and  an  advance 
on  Mouquet  Farm  and  Courcelette  could  now 
be  proceeded  with  without  fear  of  flank  attack. 
No  sooner  were  our  troops  in  the  German 
position  than  they  began  to  turn  it  into  a 
stronghold    for    themselves.     The    nature    of 
their  task  may  be  judged  from  the  statement 
of  a  sapper.     "  The  Germans,"  he  said,   "  do 
not  stay  in  their  trenches  any  more.     These 
are  so  badly  blown  up  that  we  have  to  dig 
them    anew."     The    enemy    appreciated    that 
they  had  been  deprived  of  an  important  point 
which  it  was  probable  that  we  should  endeavour 
to   hold   at   any  cost.     Counter-attacks   were, 
therefore,  made,  and  although  these  did  not 
actually  take  place  till  the  next  evening,  as 
they  had  no  practical  relation  to  the  fighting  on 
the  15th  they  may  here  be  disposed  of.     En- 
deavours to  recover  the  lost  ground  were  made 
twice  by  the  Germans.     One  took  the  shape  of  a 
direct  attempt  to  turn  the  British  out  of  the 
captured  position,  but  this  failed  completely  ; 
indeed,  it  could  scarcely  be  regarded  as  serious. 
The  assailants  came  on  in  half-hearted  fashion 
and  made  no  effort  to  come  to  close  quarters. 
Indeed,    they    contented    themselves    with    a 
stationary  and  harmless  bombing  when  quite 
a  hundred  yards  from  our  newly  occupied  line. 
The  only  result  was  a  numerous  series  of  harm- 
less explosions  in  front  of  the  British  trench 
which    were    totally    devoid    of    effect    on    it 


152 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


Against  our  loft  a  more  rational  assault  was 
delivered.  Here  the  position  was  more  favour- 
able, for  the  German  trench  on  the  north- 
\\estem  side  of  the  Thiepval  slope  lapped  round 
the  line  we  held  and  this  somewhat  outflanked 
it.  Moreover,  the  distance  between  the  two 
opposed  lilies  \\as  small,  and  the  attacking 
troops  were  able  to  get  well  within  bombing 
range  from  almost  the  first  onset.  The  con- 
flict lasted  for  some  time  and  was  severe. 
There  does  not  seem  to  have  been  any  actual 
collision  between  the  hostile  forces  ;  the  fighting 
was  conducted  chiefly  if  not  entirely  with 
bombs,  we  alone  using  up  1,500.  But  eventu- 


GENERAL    VON    KIRCHBACH, 
One  of  the  German  Commanders  on  the  Sonime. 

ally  the  enemy  was  driven  back,  and  he  then 
allowed  us  to  consolidate  the  conquered 
position  without  further  hindrance. 

On  Friday,  September  15,  both  Allies  had 
arranged  for  a  further  conjoint  attack.  Sir 
Douglas  Haig  had  ordered  Sir  Hubert  Cough's 
army,  which  formed  the  left  wing  of  the  British 
in  the  ensuing  battle,  and  was  now  on  high 
ground  in  the  Thiepval  salient  with  its  left 
centre  secured  by  the  capture  of  the  W under- 
werk,  to  act  as  a  pivot  to  the  4th  Army  on  its 
right  commanded  by  Sir  Henry  Rawliason. 
The  latter  was  to  direct  his  efforts  to  the  rear- 
most of  the  enemy's  original  systems  of  defence 
between  Le  Sars  on  the  Albert -Bapaume  road 
and  Morval.  If  be  were  successful,  the  left  of 


the  attack  would  be  extended  to  embrace  the 
villages  of  Martinpuich  and  Coureelette.  As 
soon  as  the  advance  had  reached  the  Morval 
line,  the  left  of  the  British  would  be  brought 
across  the  Thiepval  ridge  in  lino  with  the 
Fourth  Army. 

To  the  right  of  the  British,  General  Fayolle 
was  to  continue  the  line  of  advance  from  the 
slopes  south  and  east  of  Combles  to  the  Somme, 
directing  his  main  efforts  against  the  villages 
of  Rancourt  and  Fr6gicourt,  so  as  to  complete 
the  isolation  of  Combles  and  open  a  road  for 
the  attack  on  Sailly-Sallisel.  By  this  time  the 
whole  of  the  forward  crest  of  the  main  ridge 
from  Mouquet  Farm  to  the  Delville  Wood,  a 
distance  of  9,000  yards,  was  held  by  the  British, 
giving  them  a  clear  view  over  the  slopes  beyond. 
East  of  Delville  Wood  to  Leuze  Wood,  which 
is  a  thousand  yards  from  Combles,  we  held  a 
line  of  3,000  yards,  while  farther  east  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Combles  Valley  the  French 
had,  as  previously  narrated,  successfully  gained 
ground.  The  centre  of  our  line  was  well  placed, 
but  on  the  British  flanks  there  were  still  diffi- 
cult positions  to  be  won.  Ginchy,  which  had 
been  taken,  is  situated  on  the  plateau  running 
towards  Lesboeufs  and  to  the  east  of  Ginchy 
the  ground  drops  somewhat  steeply  towards 
Combles.  North  of  Combles,  but  a  little 
below  the  edge  of  the  plateau,  stood  the  village 
of  Morval,  commanding  a  wide  field  of  fire  in 
every  direction.  It  was  an  obstacle  to  the 
French  advance  through  Fregicourt  on  Sailly- 
Sallisel.  From  Leuze  Wood  the  British  right 
would  have  a  distance  of  2,000  yards  to  cross, 
passing  over  the  valley  which  intervenes 
between  the  wood  and  Morval.  Combles  itself 
was  strongly  fortified  and  held  by  a  large 
garrison  and,  although  dominated  from  the 
Leuze  Wood,  and  by  the  French  left  on  the 
heights  across  the  valley,  still  remained  so 
serious  an  obstacle  that  it  was  best  to  avoid 
taking  it  by  direct  assault  and  to  render  it 
untenable  by  both  armies  pressing  forward 
along  the  ridges  on  either  side  of  it. 

The  direct  capture  of  Morval  from  the  south' 
presented  considerable  difficulty,  that  of  Sailly- 
Sallisel,  which  was  about  3,000  yards  to  the 
north  of  the  French  left,  was  an  even  harder 
task,  for  the  advance  had  to  be  made  along  a 
line  flanked  on  one  side  by  the  strongly  fortified 
wood  of  St.  Pierre  Vaast  and  over  the  Combles 
Valley,  which  was  dominated  by  the  German 
work  on  the  high  ground  to  the  west. 

It  will  be  seen  how  necessary  it  was  to  have 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


158 


GENERAL    FAYOLLE. 
Commanded  a  French  Army  on  the  Somme. 


close  cooperation  between  the  Allied  armies  to 
make  the  sufficient  progress  on  the  British  right 
without  which  the  advance  of  Sir  Douglas 
Haig's  centre  was  impossible.  At  the  time 
when  this  operation  commenced  the  Fifth 
Army  followed  a  line  back  some  distance  from 
Mouquet  Farm  down  the  spur  which  went 
between  Pozieres,  and  then,  crossing  the  inter- 
vening valley,  mounted  the  Thiepval  ridge  to 
the  Wunderwerk,  which  wo  hud  captured  on 


the  evening  of  September  14.  It  will  be  seen 
what  an  important  point  of  support  this  formed 
for  any  further  advance  against  Thiepval.  In 
this  direction  General  Gough  had  since  July  3 
been  making  methodical  progress  in  which 
great  skill  and  patience  had  been  displayed, 
and  had  considerably  improved  his  position. 
For  the  moment  it  was  not  an  essential  part  of 
the  plan  of  operations  to  capture  Thiepval 
itself  by  a  sudden  rush,  which  would  only  have 


154 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAI!. 


GENERAL    MICHELER, 

Commanded  a  new  French  Army  south  of  the 

Somme. 

been  successful  at  the  price  of  heavy  casualties. 
An  advance  in  the  direction  of  Courcelette 
would  indirectly  threaten  the  Germans  on  the 
high  ground  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Thiepval 
and  render  the  capture  of  this  village  easier. 

What  direction  was  the  French  Army  to 
take  to  connect  with  the  British  forward 
movement  and  facilitate  the  advance  towards 
Bapaume  ?  Plainly  it  was  desirable,  after 
Rancourt  and  Fregicourt  had  been  won,  to 
capture  the  wood  of  St.  Pierre  Vaast  and  to 
gain  the  height  on  which  Sailly-Sallisel  was 
situated. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Battle  of  the  Somme 
the  French  line  extended  from  a  point  near 


Hardecourt  across  the  Somme  by  Dompienv. 
and  Fay,  to  the  east  of  Lihons  and  west  of 
Chilly.  Since  July  1  General  Fayolle  had 
made,  a  considerable  inroad  into  the  German 
fortified  belt  north  and  south  of  the  Somme. 
The  French,  as  related,  had  taken  Maurepas 
and  reached  the  southern  outskirts  of  Combles 
and  were  also  at  Priez  Farm,  across  the  country 
road  which  ran  from  Combles  to  Rancourt, 
\\  hich  was  on  the  summit  of  the  plateau  over- 
looking the  narrow  valley  at  the  northern  end 
of  which  was  Combles.  South  of  Rancourt 
our  Allies  had  severed  the  main  road  running 
between  Peronne  and  Bapaume  by  occupying 
Bouchavesnes.  Along  the  right  bank  of  the 
Somme  the  French  had  pushed  their  way 
through  Curlu  and  Clery-sur-Somme  until 
they  were  within  a  few  thousand  yards  of 
Mont  St.  Quentin,  which  is  close  to  Peronne  on 
the  south  side  of  the  Tortille. 

Sir  Henry  Rawlinson,  after  clearing  itie 
Bouleaux  Wood — the  northern  end  of  the 
wood  of  Leuze — was  to  push  on  towards 
Morval,  while  the  French  from  Priez  Farm 
would  advance  on  Fregicourt,  the  fortified 
hamlet  between  Combles  and  Rancourt.  South 
of  Fregicourt  was  a  collection  of  trenches 
which  had  to  be  carried,  and  to  the  west  of 
this  point  a  trench  ran  north-westwards  and 
joined  the  southern  defences  of  Morval.  From 
this  trench  another  behind  Fregicourt  went 
westwards  to  Combles  station.  Combles  was 
a  strongly  fortified  point  possessing  vast 
underground  caverns  extending  under  the 
village  over  an  area  of  nearly  400  yards. 

Rancourt,  a  straggling  village  traversed  by 
the  Bapaume-Peronne  highway,  was  defended 
on  the  south  by  a  network  of  trenches,  on  the 
west  by  the  works  at  Fregicourt  and  on  the 


TRENCH    CUT    THROUGH    A 
RUINED    VILLAGE. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


155 


east  by  the  wood  of  St.  Pierre  Vaast,  through 
which  was  cut  a  road  from  Kancourt  to  Manan- 
court, and  Etricourt.  The  wood  of  St.  Pierre 
Vaast  and  the  Vaux  Wood  to  the  east  of  it  had 
been  treated  by  the  German  engineers  in  the 
same  way  as  the  woods  of  Mametz,  Tr6nes 
and  Delville.  Entrenched  on  several  lines, 
entangled  with  barbed  wire,  freely  provided 
with  communications,  they  formed  together 
a  most  formidable  defence,  with  the  village  of 
Manancourt  in  support.  At  the  northern 
edge  of  the  wood,  close  to  Sallisel  and  Sailly- 
Sallisel,  the  ground  was  almost  on  a  level 
with  the  highest  point  north  of  Ginchy.  Be- 
yond Sailly-Sallisel  the  ridge  rapidly  descended 
towards  Bapamne.  Between  Rancourt  and 
Sailly-Sallisel  a  German  trench  crossed  the 
high-road 

Taking  the  foregoing  into  consideration 
and  looking  at  the  map,  it  will  be  seen  that  if 
the  French  secured  Fregicourt  they  had  turned 
both  Combles  and  the  St.  Vaast  Wood  and 
thus  facilitated  the  acquisition  of  the  defensive 
group  formed  by  the  two  woods  and  the  village 
of  Manancourt.  Once  this  was  gained,  with  the 
ridge  line  in  the  Allies'  possession,  they  would 
have  before  them  the  more  gentle  slopes 
descending  to  the  north. 

South  of  the  Somme,  while  the  British  and 
General  Fayolle  were  making  their  advance 
north  of  the  river,  General  Micheler  was  to 
advance  between  Barleux  and  a  point  south 


of  Vermandovillers,  a  front  of  between  7 
and  8  miles.  Here  the  French  had  to  deal 
with  a  strong  line  of  German  defences  based 
upon  the  fortified  villages  of  Barleux,  Berny, 
Deniecourt,  Soyecourt,  and  Vermandovillers. 
Of  these  Soyecourt  had  already  been  captured, 
but  the  remainder  still  formed  an  unbroken 
chain  of  strong  posts.  Deniecourt  was '  of 
special  value  to  the  Germans.  It  consisted 
of  the  village  of  that  name,  together  with  the 
country  house  and  park  belonging  to  the 
Comte  de  Kergorlay.  The  house  itself  had 
long  been  reduced  to  ruins,  but  these  had 
been  utilized  to  form  a  most  formidable  keep 
with  the  park  defences  to  the  German  position 
in  this  part  of  their  line.  Barleux  stood  at  the 
bottom  of  a  narrow  valley  dominated  by  high 
ground,  of  which  the  French  held  the  northern 
and  western  sides.  The  French  trenches 
then  ran  across  flat  ground  for  a  mile  and  a  half 
and  crossed  the  Barleux  road  at  Berny-en- 
Santerre.  The  retrenchment  formed  by  this 
latter  village  in  the  German  position  had,  so 
far  as  its  outer  edge  was  concerned,  been 
occupied  by  French  troops  since  the  early  days 
of  September,  but  they  had  not  been  able  to 
penetrate  beyond  a  little  park  at  the  east  end 
of  the  village. 

Berny-en-Santerre  was  a  point  of  consider- 
able tactical  interest  to  the  Germans.  I  'laced 
at  the  entrance  of  a  long,  narrow  valley,  which 
ran  for  a  distance  of  3  miles  to  the  Somme 


THB    FIGHT    IN    THE    CEMETERY     AT    CURLU. 


1.3G 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


north  of  Briost,  it  completely  commanded  it. 
The  valley  cut  across  the  German  lines,  which 
were  hero  almost  parallel  with  the  Soinnie.  If 
the  French  could  occupy  Berny-en-Santerre 
mid  the  valley  they  would  cut  the  German 
position  in  two,  A  mile  farther  to  the  west  was 
1  Viiiecourt,  already  described,  and  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  beyond  it  Soyeeourt.  The 
village  of  Vermandovillers  stood  in  the  re- 
entering  angle  of  the  French  front. 

The  front  of  battle  from  Thiepval  to  Chilly, 
measuring  20  miles  as  the  crow  flies  and 
about  25  along  the  actual  trench  front, 
may  be  looked  upon  as  divided  into  three 
sections.  One  of  these  was  south  of  the  Somme 
from  Barleux  to  Chilly,  and  it  was  here  that 
General  Micheler  commanded  what  may  be 
regarded  as  the  right  flank  of  the  operations. 
The  troops  of  General  Fayolle  extended  the 
French  line  from  Barleux  across  the  Somme 
at  Omiecourt  and  thence  to  the  wood  of 
Douage,  where  it  joined  on  to  the  British 
forces. 

The  history  of  the  operations  hitherto  given 
shows  that  these  three  groups — the  British, 
Fayolle  and  Micheler — had  not  attacked 
simultaneously,  but  that  each  in  accordance 
with  the  plan  laid  down  by  the  supreme  com- 
manders had  operated  to  some  extent  inde- 
pendently— one  at  a  time,  each  having  its  own 
special  objectives.  On  the  15th,  however, 


this  was  changed,  for  the  whole  force  of  the 
Allies  moved  forward  at  the  same  time  from  the 
line  Thiepval  to  Vermandovillers  in  a  combined 
endeavour  to  thrust  the  enemy  back  over  the 
whole  front  of  attack. 

The  fighting  described  in  this  chapter  repre- 
sented considerable  gain  of  ground,  with  the 
noteworthy  feature  that  there  w  vs  a  distinct 
falling  off  in  the  resisting  power  of  the  Ger- 
mans. This  was  shown  not  only  by  the 
increasing  number  of  unwounded  prisoners, 
but  also  by  the  fact  that  our  successes  were 
obtained  with  diminished  losses,  proving 
clearly  that  the  enemy's  power  of  continued 
contest  was  not  what  it  had  been. 

A  force  which  feels  it  is  being  beaten  is  apt 
to  have  recourse  to  means  very  often  futile,  but 
which  it  fondly  hopes  may  have  some  useful 
effect.  Such  was  the  case  with  the  Germans. 
To  hide  bombs  just  before  abandoning  trenches 
which  go  off  when  trodden  on  may  cause  a  few 
casualties,  but  can  produce  no  useful  military 
results.  Still  less  justifiable  is  the  employ- 
ment of  the  old-fashioned  man-trap,  probably 
known  to  some  of  our  readers  as  an  object  of 
curiosity  in  a  museum.  This  enlarged  rat-trap 
will  break  the  leg  of  a  soldier  who  manages  to 
get  caught  in  it,  but  such  dastardly  devices  as 
these  bring  in  time  their  own  revenge.  They 
infuriate  the  men  who  see  these  atrocities,  and 
they  punish  them. 


ONCB   A   DWELLING,    NOW   A  STABLE. 


CHAPTER    CLXXI. 


THE  WORK  OF  THE 
MERCANTILE  MARINE  (II). 


THE  TONNAGE  PROBLEM — VITAL  IMPORTANCE  or  THE  MERCANTILE  MARINE — SOME  STATISTICS — 
SIR  JOHN  JELLICOE'S  TRIBUTE — INCIDENTS  OF  THE  SUBMARINE  WAR — THE  RAPPAHANNOCK — 
THE  NORTH  WALES — THE  CITY  or  BIRMINGHAM — THE  ARTIST — THE  CALEDONIA — SEIZURE  OF 
MERCHANT  CAPTAINS — GERMAN  RUSES — THE  ARMING  OF  MERCHANT  SHIPS — THE  CLAN  MACLEOD 
—THE  CALIFORNIA — THE  ARABIA — GERMAN  MINES  AND  MINELAYERS — THE  MALOJA — AIR  ATTACKS 
— GERJMAN  RAIDERS — THE  SOUTHPORT. 


IN  an  earlier  chapter  *  some  account  was 
given  of  the  vital  part  taken  in  the  Great 
War  by  the  mercantile  marine,  and  the 
gallantry  and  heroism  displayed  by  the 
officers  and  men  of  the  merchant  navy  when 
faced  by  unprecedented  perils.  It  has  also  been 
fully  explained  how,  an  important  proportion 
of  the  British  mercantile  tonnage  having  been 
requisitioned  for  the  naval  and  military  pur- 
poses of  ourselves  and  our  Allies,  the  balance 
remaining  over  had  become  barely  sufficient 
for  the  essential  needs  of  civil  life  in  the  British 
Isles.  It  was  obligatory,  therefore,  that  re- 
liance should  to  a  large  extent  be  placed  upon 
neutral  shipping  for  help  in  bringing  to  th3.se 
shores  the  necessary  food  supplies  and  raw 
materials  for  our  manufactures.  The  enemy 
had  quickly  realized  the  situation,  and  when 
he  had  failed  to  effect  any  considerable  success 
with  his  submarines  in  a  war  of  attrition  upon 
the  ships  of  the  Navy  and  their  auxiliaries, 
his  attention  was  directed  to  the  commercial 
traffic.  The  earlier  attempts  of  the  German 
submarines  to  bring  about  a  blockade  of  the 
British  Isles  by  the  wanton  destruction  of 
passenger  liners  and  traders  and  fishing  craft, 
both  Allied  and  neutral,  have  also  been 
described,  and  it  has  been  seen  how  the  cam- 
paign was  met  and  foiled  by  the  inexhaustible 

»  Chapter  CXX.,  Vol.  VII. 
Vol.  XI.— Part  135.  157 


resourcefulness,  ingenuity,  and  courage  shown 
by  the  seamen  of  the  regular  Navy  and  mercan- 
tile marine  alike.  In  this  chapter  the  narra- 
tive of  the  enemy  operations  against  comv- 
mercial  sea-borne  traffic  is  carried  down  to  the 
early  spring  of  1917,  when  they  attained  great 
intensity  and  virulence. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  following  accounts 
of  selected  instances  of  attacks  upon  merchant 
ships  during  the  period  under  review  that, 
although  the  German  methods  varied  con- 
siderably, their  treatment  of  the  crews  of  the 
ships  destroyed  was  substantially  the  same  in 
every  case.  Ships  were  almost  always  attacked 
without  warning  ;  the  unfortunate  seamen  and 
passengers,  if  there  were  any,  were  seldom 
s;iven  sufficient  time  to  take  to  their  boats, 
and  they  were  left  to  reach  the  shore  as  best 
they  could.  Sometimes  the  distance  from 
land  was  so  great  that  the  majority  of  the 
survivors  perished  before  succour  came.  Some- 
times the  Germans  shelled  the  boats  as  they 
left  their  stricken  ships,  murdering  the  occu- 
pants in  the  most  cold-blooded  manner.  No 
respect  for  the  custom  of  the  seas,  the  laws  of 
man,  or  the  dictates  of  humanity  restrained  the 
barbarity  of  the  callous  Germans.  The  one 
feature  which  stood  out  in  bright  relief  against 
this  picture  of  black  cruelty  was  the  heroism, 
the  devotion,  and  the  endurance  of  the  brave 


158 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAIL 


and  hardy  mariners.  They  never  failed,  in 
face  of  even,'  danger,  and  indescribable  suf- 
fering, to  exhibit  the  splendid  discipline  of 
their  calling  and  the  unquenchable  courage  of 
their  race. 

During  1916  there  came  about  a  distinct 
change  in  the  general  attitude  of  Great  Britain 
towards  the  merchant  navy.  The  value  and 
importance  of  the  work  of  the  trading  vessels 


THE    DISTINGUISHED   SERVICE    CROSS. 
(Full  size.) 

and  their  sturdy  crews  had  always  been  more 
or  less  recognized,  but  during  this  year  the 
growing  scarcity  of  carrying  tonnage,  owing 
to  the  enlarged  demands  upon  the  shipowners 
for  military  requirements  and  the  extended 
activities  of  the  enemy  submarines,  had  far- 
reaching  effects,  especially  in  the  rise  of  food 
prices  and  the  shortage  of  certain  staple  com- 
modities. This  condition  of  things  brought 
home  to  the  people,  not  merely  the  important, 
but  the  vital,  nature  of  the  work  of  our  merchant 
seamen  Previously  the  average  British  citizen 
had  regarded  them  as  valuable  :  he  was  now 
compelled  to  realize,  if  he  had  not  already  done 
so,  that  they  were  indispensable.  In  the 
House  of  Commons  on  November  15,  1910, 
Mr.  Hunciinan,  then  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  spoke  of  the  question  of  sea  transport 
as  being  the  key  to  the  w;;r  situation  and  as 
the  A. B.C.  of  European  politics.  "I  must 
sav,  '  he  de.-lared,  "  that  if  wo  are  succo.ssfullv 


to  victual  our  people  throughout  the  remaining 
period  of  the  war,  it  is  also  absolutely  essential 
to  regard  shipping  as  labour  is  regarded,  as 
serving  the  national  interests,  not  only  when 
flying  the  fighting  colours  but  when  it  is 
carrying  food  over  here."  In  other  words,  it 
was  not  only  as  a  reserve  for  the  fighting  Navy, 
both  as  regards  men  and  vessels,  and  as  a 
means  for  the  conveyance  of  troops  and  mili- 
tary requirements  of  all  kinds,  that  the  mer- 
chant service  came  to  be  accepted  by  the 
public  generally  as  an  essential  part  of  the  life 
of  the  nation,  but  also  in  its  everyday  capacity. 
This  recognition  was  signalized  when  it  was 
announced  in  the  London  Gazette  on  Decem- 
ber 22,  1910,  that  the  King  had  been  graciously 
pleased  to  approve  the  award  of  Decorations 
and  Medals  to  a  number  of  officers  and  men  of 
the  British  mercantile  marine  "  in  recognition 
of  zeal  and  devotion  to  duty  shown  in  carrying 
on  the  trade  of  the  country  during  the  war." 
There  followed  the  names  of  11  merchant 
captains  who  were  awarded  the  Distinguished 
Service  Cross,  and  seven  quartermasters,  fire- 
men, and  the  like,  who  received  the  Dis- 
tinguished Service  Medal.  In  addition,  73 


THE    DISTINGUISHED   SERVICE    MEDAL. 

(Two-thirds  scale.) 

officers  and  men  had  their  names  published  in 
the  Gazette,  "  as  having  received  an  expression 
of  commendation  for  their  services,"  and  six 
officers  were  granted  commissions  as 
Lieutenants  in  the  Royal  Naval  Reserve.  The 
Council  of  the  Mercantile  Marine  Service 
Association  expressed  the  opinion  that  these 
awards  were  merely  a  preliminary  to  further 
recognition  of  British  merchant  seamen,  "  who 
have  gone  to  sea  with  wonderful  regularity, 
notwithstanding  the  increased  risks  from  mines 
and  torpedoes — cruel  instruments  which  do 
not  distinguish  between  neutral  and  belligerent, 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


159 


combatant  and  non-combatant.  When  the  veil 
is  lifted,"  this  message  concluded,  "  the  noble 
part  that  has  been  played  in  the  war  by  the 
masters,  officers,  and  men  of  the  British 
merchant  service  will  surprise  many  even  of 
those  who  think  they  know  the  seaman  and  the 
dogged  courage  of  his  race." 

Speaking  on  the  Navy  Estimates  on 
February  21,  1917,  Sir  Edward  Carson,  the 
new  First  Lord,  quoted  from  a  return  brought 
up  to  October  30,  1916,  dealing  with  transport 
operations  at  sea  since  wax  began.  In  regard 
to  personnel,  the  total  numbers  which  had  been 
moved  up  to  that  date  across  the  seas  had  been 


of  vessels  engaged  in  purely  foreign  trade,  and 
we  had  merely  kept  the  skeleton  of  that  con- 
nexion alive.  Then  there  were  cargo  liners, 
loading  on  berth,  and  tramps  chartered  to 
liner  companies  while  loading  on  berth — their 
total  being  588.  That,  said  Mr.  Runciman, 
was  not  a  large  number  to  keep  alive  the  con- 
nexion between  this  country  and  other  coun- 
tries :  a  mere  skeleton  of  the  organization 
necessary.  Lastly,  there  were  the  free  tramp 
steamers  which  were  able  to  go  out  and  take 
the  high  rates  prevailing,  and  which  numbered 
233.  Only  about  60  of  this  number  were 
engaged  in  carrying  food.  Mr.  Runciman  eon- 


KHAKI    AT    THE    DOCKS:  TRANSPORT   WORKEKS'  BATTALION   HANDLING  SUPPLIES. 


8,000,000  men,  and,  although  he  regretted  to 
say  there  had  been  two  or  three  untoward 
incidents,  when  the  vast  domain  of  sea  over 
which  they  were  moved  was  considered  he 
thought  it  might  be  said  that  these  men  were 
transported  almost  without  mishap.  In  regard 
to  supplies  and  explosives,  9,420,000  tons  had 
been  moved,  with  47,504,000  gallons  of  petrol, 
and  over  1,000,000  horses  and  mules.  The  sick 
and  wounded  moved  also  numbered  over 
1 ,000,000.  So  much  for  the  ships  on  "  war 
work."  As  regards  those  which  were  retained 
in  the  carrying  trade  of  the  Empire,  Mr. 
Runoiman.  then  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  in  a  speech  on  October  17,  1916,  said 
there  were  297  vessels  employed  permanently 
abroad,  because  we  had  to  provide  for  our  not 
being  entirely  out  of  the  shipping  business  after 
the  war.  In  normal  times  there  were  thousands 


tinned  :  "  I  have  given  the  House  a  total  which 
reaches  1,118  vessels,  which  are,  for  good 
national  reasons,  free  to  trade  where  they  will. 
Out  of  a  total  merchant  fleet  of  nearly  10,000 
vessels,  only  1,100  ocean-going  vessels  are  free 
to  conduct  their  own  operations.  Then  what 
of  the  re.st  ?  There  is  a  very  large  number  of 
vessels  engaged  in  the  service  of  the  Army 
imd  Navy.  The  Foodstuffs  Requisitioning 
Committee  has  a  very  large  number  of  vessels 
under  requisition.  There  are  steamers  trading 
on  behalf  of  the  Allied  Governments,  steamers 
trading  on  behalf  of  the  Colonies." 

The  knowledge  that  the  number  of  ships 
for  bringing  food  to  the  British  Isles  was  much 
less  than  in  normal  times  obviously  increased 
the  determination  of  the  enemy  to  prosecute 
their  submarine  war.  Earlier  chapters  have 
shown  the  dauntless  spirit  in  which  the  mer- 


160 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


HOISTING    CARGO    ABOARD. 


KHAKI    AT    THE    DOCKS:    TRANSPORT    WORKERS    UNLOADING    FLOUR. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


161 


chant  seamen  withstood  the  first  attacks. 
That  spirit  was  in  no  way  lessened  by  the  more 
virulent  and  brutal  methods  to  which  the 
Germans  descended.  They  failed  entirely  to 
intimidate  or  terrorize  the  British  merchant 
seamen,  whose  conduct  elicited  many  notable 
tributes. 

King  George,  in  acknowledging  through  his 
Secretary,  Lord  Stamfordham,  the  receipt  of 
a  copy  of  the  Imperial  Merchant  Service  Guild 
Gazette  on  July  14,  1910,  said  that  he  felt  sure 
"  the  country  at  large  joins  with  him  in  appre- 
ciating the  noble  services  rendered  by  the 
officers  and  men  of  the  merchant  service  since 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  the  heroism  dis- 
played by  those  who  have  risked  and  often 
given  their  lives  in  carrying  out  their  arduous 
duties."  Admiral  Sir  John  Jellicoe,  speaking 
at  the  Fishmongers'  Hall  on  January  11,  1917, 
also  referred  to  the  merchant  service  in  the 
following  terms  : 

Without  our  mercantile  marine  the  Navy — and,  indeed, 
the  nation — could  not  exist.  Upon  it  we  have  been 
dependent  for  the  movement  of  our  troops  oversea — 
over  seven  millions  of  men  having  been  transported1 — 
together  with  all  the  guns,  munitions,  and  stores  required 
by  ths  Army.  The  safeguarding  of  these  transports, 
both  from  the  attack  of  such  surface  vessels  as  have  been 
at  large  and  from  submarine  attack,  has  been  carried 
out  by  the  Navy.  We  have  had  to  draw  also  upon  the 
personnel  of  the  mercantile  marine,  not  only  for  the 
manning  of  the  transport  ships,  but  also  very  largely 
for  the  manning  of  the  whole  of  our  patrol  and  mine- 
sweeping  craft,  nearly  2,500  skippers  being  employed 
as  skippers  R.N.R.  The  number  of  R.N.R.  executive 
officers  has  increased  almost  fourfold  since  the  outbreak 
of  war.  Indeed,  it  is  impossible  to  measure  fully  the 
debt  which  the  country  owes  to  our  mercantile  marine. 

In  the  old  days  it  used  to  be  said  that  there  was 
jealousy  between  the  mercantile  marine  and  the  Royal 
Navy,  but  whatever  may  have  been  the  case  then, 
there  is  no  room  now  in  the  Navy  for  anything  but  the 
most  sincere  admiration  and  respect  for  the  officers  and 
inon  of  the  mercantile  marine.  I  think  I  know  sufficient 
of  those  officers  and  men  to  believe  that  the  feeling  is 
reciprocated.  Those  of  us  who  have  been  closely 
associated  with  the  officers  and  men  who  man  our  armed 
merchant  vessels  and  patrol  craft  have  realized  from  the 
first  day  of  the  war  how  magnificent  were  their  services, 
how  courageous  their  conduct,  and  how  unflinching  their 
devotion  to  duty  under  the  most  dangerous  conditions. 
The  Vilue  of  the  services  of  the  officers  and  men  of  the 
mercantile  marine  goes  a^so  far  beyond  their  work  in 
armed  vessels.  When  one  thinks  of  the  innumerable 
cases  of  unarmed  ships  being  sunk  by  torpedo  or  gun  fire 
far  from  land,  in  a  heavy  sea,  with  the  ship's  company 
dependent  upon  boats  alone  for  their  safety,  one  is  lost 
in  admiration  of  the  spirit  of  heroism  of  those  who  not 
only  endure  dangers  and  hardships  without  complaint, 
but  are  ever  ready  to  take  the  risks  again  and  again  in 
repeated  voyages  in  other  ships. 

Similarly,  Sir  Edward  Carson  on  February  21, 
1917,  in  dealing  with  the  submarine  menace, 
said  it  was  wearying  work  to  read  of  the  boats 
with  frozen  corpses  that  were  brought  in  from 
ships  torpedoed  without  notice,  yet  he  was 


encouraged  by  the  fact  that  he  had  not  heard 
of  one  sailor  who  had  refused  to  sail.  That, 
he  declared,  was  what  was  going  to  win  the  war. 

To  come  now  to  some  of  the  most  stirring 
examples  of  the  way  in  which  the  mercantile 
marine  employed  in  pursuit  of  its  ordinary 
trade  withstood  the  stress  of  the  intensified 
German  submarine  war,  reference  may  first 
be  made  to  a  series  of  cases  of  which  the 
details  were  officially  published.  The  Furness- 
Withy  liner  Rappahannock,  a  steamer  of 
3,871  tons,  built  in  1893,  and  fitted  with  wire- 
less telegraphy,  left  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  for 
London  on  October  17,  1916,  and  should  have 
arrived  at  the  end  of  the  month.  The  only 
other  news  received  concerning  her  was  a 
statement  in  the  Berlin  official  wireless  report, 
on  November  8,  to  the  effect  that  she  had  been 
sunk.  She  was  evidently  torpedoed  without 
warning,  and  the  37  men  in  her  crew 
all  drowned.  In  announcing  the  loss  the 
Admiralty  said  :  "  If  the  crew  were  forced  to 
take  to  their  boats  in  the  ordinary  way  it  is 
clear  that  this  must  have  occurred  so  far  from 
land,  or  in  such  weather  conditions,  that  there 
was  no  probability  of  their  reaching  the  shore. 
The  German  pledge  not  to  sink  vessels  '  without 
saving  human  lives  '  has  thus  once  more  been 
disregarded,  and  another  of  their  submarines 
has  been  guilty  of  constructive  murder  on  the 
high  seas." 

On  December  29,  1910,  the  Admiralty  drew 
attention  to  another  case,  if  anything  more 
brutal  in  its  details,  the  sinking  of  the  4,342- 
ton  steamer  Westminster,  built  in  1905  and 
belonging  to  the  Westminster  Shipping  Co., 
the  crew  of  which  vessel  were  fired  upon  while 
in  their  boats.  The  official  statement  said : 

The  degree  of  savagery  which  the  Germans  have 
attained  in  their  submarine  policy  of  sinking  merchant 
ships  at  sight  would  appear  to  have  reached  its  climax 
in  the  sinking  of  the  British  steamship  Westminster, 
proceeding  in  ballast  from  Torre  Annunziata  to  Port  Said. 
On  December  14  this  vessel  was  attacked  by  a  German 
submarine,  without  warning,  when  180  miles  from  the 
nearest  land,  and  struck  by  two  torpedoes  in  quick 
succession,  which  killed  four  men.  She  sank  in  four 
minutes. 

This  ruthless  disregard  of  the  rules  of  international 
law  was  followed  by  a  deliberate  attempt  to  murder  the 
survivors.  The  officers  and  crew,  white  effecting  their 
escape  from  the  sinking  ship  in  boats,  were  shelled  by  the 
submarine  at  a  range  of  3,000  yards.  The  master  and 
chief  engineer  were  killed  outright  and  their  boat  sunk. 
The  second  and  third  engineers  and  three  of  the  crew 
were  not  picked  up,  and  are  presumed  to  have  been 
drowned. 

Groat  Britain,  in  common  with  all  other  civilized 
nations,  regards  the  sinking  without  warning  of  merchant 
ships  with  detestation,  but  in  view  of  the.avowed  policy 

135-2 


it;-2 


•/'///•:     77.W/W    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


THE    S.S.  "WESTMINSTER":    TORPEDOED    WITHOUT    WARNING. 


of  the  German  Government,  and  their  refusal  to  consider 
the  protests  of  neutrals  it  is  recognized  that  mere 
protests  are  unavailing.  The  captain  of  the  German 
submarine  must,  however,  have  satisfied  himself  as  to 
the  effectiveness  of  his  two  torpedoes,  and  yet  proceeded 
to  carry  out  in  cold  blood  an  act  of  murder  which  could 
not  possibly  be  justified  by  any  urgency  of  war,  and 
can  only  be  regarded  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  as  a  further 
proof  of  the  degradation  of  German  honour. 

In  a  wireless  message  dated  January  17  the 
German  Government  attempted  to  refute  the 
statements  contained  in  the  British  Admiralty 
commwiiqu^.  These  particulars  were  based 
on  the  statements  of  the  survivors  made  on 
oath,  but  on  receipt  of  the  German  denial 
the  survivors  were  minutely  cross-examined, 
and,  as  a  result  of  this  further  investigation, 
the  facts  remain  unchanged.  The  vessel  was 
torpedoed  without  warning  and  struck  by  two 
torpedoes.  The  survivors  of  the  explosion 
took  to  the  boats  and  were  shelled  by  the  sub- 
marine, the  captain  and  the  chief  engineer 
being  killed  by  shell-fire.  Furthermore,  this 
cross-examination  elicited  the  fact  that  no 
other  ship  was  in  sight  when  the  submarine 
opened  lire,  and  the  only  surviving  boat 
was  not  picked  up  until  27  hours  later. 
The  statement  in  the  German  submarine 
officer's  alleged  report  that  rescue  by  the  sub- 
marine uas  made  impossible  by  the  approach 
of  a  patrol  steamer  must,  therefore,  be  regarded 
as,  fiction.  The  British  Admiralty  had  nothing 


further  to  add  to,  and  nothing  to  modify  in, 
its  original  communique. 

It  proved  only  too  true,  as  the  Admiralty 
remarked,  that  mere  protests  were  unavailing. 
On  January  4  they  had  again  to  inform  the 
country  of  a  further  case  of  callous  disregard 
for  the  lives  of  non-combatant  seamen.  The 
British  steamship  North  Wales,  proceeding  in 
ballast  from  Hull  to  Canada,  was  reported  by 
the  German  Wireless  on  November  9,  1910, 
as  having  been  torpedoed.  Beyond  one  piece 
of  varnished  wood  marked  "  North  Wales," 
found  in  Sennen  Cove,  and  bodies  washed 
ashore  on  the  Cornish  coast,  nothing  further 
was  heard  of  her,  and  it  was  presumed  that  the 
crew  took  to  their  boats  in  the  gales  raging 
at  the  time,  and  were  all  drowned.  In  the 
destruction  of  another  and  larger  vessel,  th;> 
City  of  Birmingham,  about  three  weeks  after 
the  North  Wales,  there  was  exemplified  splendid 
conduct  by  all  on  board,  including  some  women 
passengers.  The  facts  relating  to  the  loss 
of  this  Kllerman  liner,  of  7,498  tons,  were 
published  by  the  Admiralty  on  February  ">, 
1917,  as  follows: — 

The  Hritish  steamship  City  of  Birmingham  was 

torpe.l I  without,  warning  on  November  L'7  lust  l.y  an 

enemy  submarine  when  l^li  miles  from  the  nearest  land. 
Slie  curried  a  crew  of  145  and  170  pa-scngers.  of  whom  !M> 
were  \\omcii  imil  children. 

The  torpedo  struck  the  ship  abreast  the  afterholcl,  mill 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


168 


so  heavy  was  the  explosion  that  the  ship  at  once  began 
to  settle  by  the  stern.  One  of  the  lifeboats  was  blown  to 
pieces.  Engines  were  .stopped  and  steam  allowed  to 
escape  from  the  boilers,  while  everybody  assembled 
at  their  stations  for  abandoning  the  ship. 

A  heavy  swell  was  running,  but  within  10  minutes 
of  tne  explosion  all  boats  had  been  lowered  and  all  the 
passengers  and  crew  were  clear  of  the  ship.  In  accord- 
ance with  British  sea  tradition,  the  master,  Captain 
\V.  J.  Haughton,  remained  on  board  until  the  ship  sank 


under  him  ;  lie  wa*  picked  up  half  an  hour  later  by  one 
of  the  boats. 

The  conduct  of  the  crew  and  passengers  was  admirable 
throughout.  The  master  reports  that  the  women  took 
their  places  in  the  boats  *'  as  calmly  as  if  they  were  going 
down  to  their  meals,"  and  when  in  the  boats  they  began 
singing. 

Three  hours  later  the  boats  were  picked  vip  by  a 
hospital  ship  [reported  at  the  time  to  have  been  the 
Letitia],  and  the  passengers  and  crew  mustered.  It  was 


\    TORPEDO    ON    ITS    FATEFUL    MISSION. 

Torpedoes  usually  travel  beneath  the  surface  :  this  one  is  exceptionally  high  in  the  water. 


104 


y/Wf;s     ///STOflY    OF    THE    WAH. 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


165 


THE   "CITY    OF    BIRMINGHAM,"    TORPEDOED:    LOWERING    THE   BOATS. 


then  found  that  the  ship's  doctor,  the  barman,  and  two 
lascars  were  not  among  the  survivors  and  had  presumably 
been  drowned. 

A  shocking  case  of  men  suffering  from  being 
exposed  in  open  boats  in  mid-winter  was  made 
known  by  the  authorities  on  January  31,  1917. 
Four  days  earlier,  or  on  the  morning  of  Saturday, 
January  27,  the  British  steamship  Artist, 
when  48  miles  from  land,  in  a  heavy  easterly 
gale,  was  torpedoed  by  a  German  submarine. 
In  response  to  her  appeal  sent  by  wireless, 
"  S.O.S.  ;  sinking  quickly,"  auxiliary  patrol 
craft  proceeded  to  the  spot  and  searched  the 
vicinity,  but  founrl  no  trace  of  the  vessel  or  her 


succour.  Those  of  them  who  perished  during 
those  three  days  of  bitter  exposure  were 
murdered,  and  to  pretend  that  anything  was 
done  to  ensure  their  safety  would  be  sheer 
hypocrisy.  As  the  Admiralty  pointed  out, 
the  pledge  given  by  Germany  to  the  United 
States  not  to  sink  merchant  ships  without 
ensuring  the  safety  of  the  passengers  and  crews 
had  been  broken  before,  "  but  never  in  cir- 
cumstances of  more  cold-blooded  brutality." 

The  foregoing,  it  will  be  noticed,  were  cases 
in  which,  as  far  as  the  available  information 
showed,  the  merchant  vessels  were  attacked  by 
torpedo,  and  usually  without  warning.  This 


GERMAN    SUBMARINE    FITTED    WITH    WIRELESS    SIGNALLING    APPARATUS. 


survivors.  Three  days  later  the  steamship 
Luehana  picked  up  a  boat  containing  16  of  the 
survivors.  The  boat  had  originally  contained 
23,  but  seven  had  died  of  wounds  and  exposure 
and  were  buried  at  sea.  The  surviving  16 
were  landed,  and  of  these  five  were  suffering 
from  severe  frostbite  and  one  from  a  broken  arm. 
The  crew  had  been  forced  to  abandon  their 
ship  in  open  boats,  in  a  mid-winter  gale,  and 
utterly  without  means  of  reaching  land  or 


method  of  destruction  was  by  no  means  general, 
however,  being  very  costly,  inasmuch  as  the 
submarines  had  only  a  limited  carrying  capacity 
for  torpedoes,  and  when  these  missiles  had  been 
expended  a  return  to  some  base  or  depot  became 
necessary  if  the  vessels  had  no  other  means  of 
waging  their  unlawful  war  on  the  trade. 

In  cases  where  for  any  reason  the  submarines 
refrained  from  torpedoing  vessels  at  sight 
- — and  also  from  the  torpedoed  ships  if  it  was 


166 


////•:     Y7.W/-:x    1IIS70HY     OF     THE    WAIL 


practicable — the    flermans    inaugurated. 
'hue     clurinv'     IJHii.     the     practice     of     taking 
prisoners   the   captains    <>f    the   merchantmen, 
perhaps  with  a  view  to  giving  them,  if  possible, 
the   status    of   eon  i  bat  ants.     On   December    4 
1  !)!<>,    the    Anchor    liner    Caledonia,    of    9,22:5 
tons,    was    sunk    in    the    Mediterranean,    and 
her    master,    Captain    James    Blaikie,    taken 
prisoner    in    this    way.     On   the    10th   it    was 
alleged    in    an    official    Berlin    telegram    that 
the   Caledonia  endeavoured   to  ram   the   sub- 
marine without  having  previously  been  attacked 
by  the   latter.     Fears  were   aroused  lest   this 
announcement  was  an  attempt  to  justify  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world  another  judicial  murder  of  an 
English  mercantile  marine  captain,  as  Captain 
Charles  Fryatt,  of  the  City  of  Brussels,  had  been 
executed  in  the  previous  July.  *  Representations 
were  therefore  made  to  the  Government  that 
the  Germans  should  be  informed  that  if  any 
harm  was  done  to  Captain  Blaikie,  one  of  their 
officer  prisoners  of  high  rank  would  be  shot 
forthwith.     On  December  14  it  was  announced 
that  the  American  Ambassador  at  Berlin  had 
been  asked  to  report  at  once  any  action  the 
Germans   contemplated    against    the   captain, 
and  on  the  19th  the  welcome  news  was  received 
that    the    German    Foreign    Office    had    given 
a  personal  assurance  to  the  Charge  d' Affaires 
of  the  United  States  in  Berlin  that  Captain 
Blaikie  would  not  share  the  fate  of  Captain 
Fryatt.     The    German    Admiralty    considered 
t  he  Caledonia  as  an  armed  cruiser,  and  therefore, 
that  in  attempting  to  ram  the  submarine  Cap- 
tain Blaikie  was  only  doing  his  duty.     Early  in 
January    news    was    received    from    Captain 
Blaikie  stating  that  he  was  quite  well.     It  was 
subsequently   reported   that   he   was   detained 
in    a    military    officers'    camp    at    Friedberg. 
Hessen. 

A  few  weeks  before  the  destruction  of  the 
Caledonia  a  group  of  steamers,  including 
neutrals,  had  been  destroyed  in  the  Atlantic 
by  U  49,  and  their  captains  taken  on  board 
the  submarine,  but  later  they  were  released, 
and  were  then  able  to  give  an  account  of  their 
experiences  in  the  "  black  hole  "  of  a  German 
under-water  craft.  Captain  Arthur  Patterson, 
of  the  British  steamer  Setonia,  was  in  the 
submarine  for  eight  days  ;  Captain  Yellugsen, 
of  the  Norwegian  ship  Balto,  for  seven 
days ;  and  Captain  Frederick  Curtis,  of  the 
American  steamer  Columbian,  for  six.  ( 'aptaiii 

*  rimpicr  run., 


Curtis  gave  the  following  account  in  an  inter- 
view : — 

My  ship  carried  n  cargo  of  about  !l,000  tons  and  a 
•rcw  of  109.  We  were  all  saved.  I  stopped  on  the 
lem:md  of  the  submarine,  whose  commander  orders! 
ne  to  abandon  my  ship  with  the  crew  immediately, 
vhich  we  did  without  other  baggage  than  two  satchel.- 
vith  documents  and  money. 

Submarine  U  49  at  once  fired  two  torpedoes  at  the 
Columbia.!,  which  immediately  sank.  The  crew  were 
left  in  the  lifeboats,  while  1  was  taken  on  board  the 
submarine,  which  plunged  immediately  afterwards. 

I  was  taken  into  the  c|uartermastcr's  small  cabin, 
where  I  found  tha  captains  of  the  Setonia  and  Kalto. 


CAPTAIN    JAMES    BLAIKIE. 

After  me  came  the  captain  of  the  Norwegian  ship, 
Foidalo. 

The  cabin  was  very  small.  It  contained  a  little 
folding  table,  a  folding  chair  and  three  wall  bunks. 
All  were  permeated  with  the  odour  of  benzine.  There 
was  no  communication  with  the  exterior  cabin.  It 
was  absolutely  dark  both  by  night  and  day. 

We  were  given  each  morning  a  few  morsels  of  black 
bread,  a  cup  of  coffee,  and  a.  small  portion  of  bad  butter. 
At  noon  we  had  stew  made  of  canned  meat  and  s<mj». 
Supper  was  at  10,  consisting  of  coffee  or  tea,  with  butter 
or  marmalade.  Hours  passed  in  this  narrow  prison, 
very  long  and  disagreeable.  The  captain  of  the  submarine 
was  a  man  about  36,  while  the  crew  of  40  snilorx  were 
all  very  young  and  were  dressed  in  shiny  leather  clothing. 

The  merchant  captains  were  allowed  at 
intervals  between  the  operations  of  the  sub- 
marine to  go  on  deck  and  smoke  a  cigarette. 
They  were  watched  by  members  of  the  crew 
armed  with  revolvers,  but  when  they  went 
below  the  crew  put  aside  their  weapons.  Then- 
was  only  one  chair  in  the  cabin,  which  the 
captains  used  in  turn  ;  otherwise  they  lay 
down  in  their  bunks.  Towards  noon  on 
November  9  the  submarine  signalled  to  the 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY     OF    THE    WAR. 


167 


DAMAGE    TO    A   SHIP'S   BOWS    BY  MINE. 

Swedish  steamer  Varing,  13  miles  off  the  Spanish 
port  of  Camarina,  and  this  vessel  took  on 
board  the  captains  and  landed  them. 

A  variant  of  this  procedure  was  observed  in 
the  case  of  an  unnamed  steamer  which  was 
stopped,  ordered  to  take  on  board  survivors 
of  three  other  vessels,  and  then  compelled  to 
follow  the  submarine  for  three  days.  The 
three  vessels  were  the  British  steamer  Auchen- 
crag,  of  Glasgow,  which  was  sunk  on  January  12, 
1917,  with  the  loss  of  four  of  her  crew  ;  the 
sailing  vessel  Kilpurney,  of  London,  of  1,944 
tons  ;  and  the  Danish  steamer  Omsk,  of 
Copenhagen,  1,574  tons.  There  were  84  mem- 
bers of  the  crews  of  these  three  vessels,  who 
were  apparently  left  in  open  boats.  Another 
steamer  was  then  stopped,  as  already  men- 


tioned, and,  having  rescued  the  shipwrecked 
crews,  was  forced  to  follow  the  course  of 
the  submarine  from  9  a.m.  on  January  13  to 
midnight  on  January  16.  The  submarine  then 
helped  herself  to  the  cargo  of  this  steamer,  and 
what  she  could  not  or  did  not  wish  to  take  for 
her  own  use  was  ordered  to  be  discharged 
overboard.  Then  she  made  off.  Many  anec- 
dotes of  the  tricks  and  methods  of  the  sub- 
marines could  be  related.  On  January  5, 
1917,  the  correspondent  of  The  Times  at 


REPAIRING    A    SHIP    DAMAGED    BY    A 
MINE. 


HOLE    IN    A    SHIP'S    SIDE    MADE    BY   A 
MINE. 

Amsterdam  reported  that  German  submarines 
were  sending  out  the  "  S.O.S."  wireless  signal 
to  lure  British  vessels  to  destruction.  The 
Telegraaf  learnt  from  an  officer  of  a  large 
steamer  of  an  important  Dutch  line  that  on 
the  journey  from  the  Dutch  East  Indies  he 
received,  while  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  an  "  S.O.S." 
message.  Proceeding  to  the  place  indicated, 
he  found  a  German  submarine,  which  was  not 
in  distress,  and  the  captain  of  which  expressed 
regret  that  it  was  a  Dutch  and  not  a  British 
vessel  which  had  arrived.  He  said:  "We 
don't  want  you  to  save  our  souls.  We  want 
the  British  to  save  our  souls." 

There  were  other  ruses  adopted  by  the 
Germans  to  lure  the  merchant  ships  to  their 
destruction,  and  such  tricks  necessitated  in- 
creased caution  and  alertness  on  the  part  of 
the  oftiooTS  and  men  of  the  latter.  On  Decem- 


Ifi8 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAIL 


her  10,  1916,  the  Danish  steamer  Gerda  was 
stopped  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay  by  U  46.  The 
captain  was  ordered  to  come  on  board  the 
submarine  with  his  papers.  Ho  was  detained, 
and  a  prize  crew  of  six  men  and  a  lieutenant 
was  placed  in  the  Gerda.  They  replaced  the 
Danish  by  German  colours,  and  gave  out  that 


THE    ANCHOR    LINER   "CALIFORNIA." 
Sunk  by  submarine,  February  7,  1917. 

the  vessel  would  be  taken  to  Hamburg  as  a 
prize.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  her  course  was  set 
in  a  south-westerly  direction,  and  the  steamer 
was  used  as  a  decoy  to  attract  other  victims 
for  the  submarine,  which  followed  the  Gerda. 
In  the  next  two  days  three  steamers  were  sunk. 
Each  time  the  Gerda  approached  a  ship  she 
hoisted  the  Danish  flag,  but  after  sinking  the 
vessel  the  German  flag  was  rehoisted.  The 
Gerda  was  also  used  as  a  depot  for  the  crews  of 
the  sunken  ships,  the  number  on  board  her 
increasing  to  62.  On  the  19th  the  fresh  water 
gave  out,  and  being  then  off  Cape  Finisterre 
the  Germans  entered  the  bay  east  of  Finisterre 
within  the  territorial  limits.  All  on  board  the 
captured  vessel  were  then  ordered  into  the 
boats.  They  were  forbidden  to  take  any 
extra  clothes  or  other  possessions,  a  German 
officer  standing  at  the  head  of  the  gangway 
with  a  revolver  to  see  that  this  order  was  com- 
plied with.  Nautical  instruments  and  certain 
other  articles  were  then  stolen  by  the  Germans 
and  taken  into  the  submarine,  after  which 
the  Gerda  was  towed  outside  the  territorial 
limit  and  sunk. 

In  other  cases  some  curious  anecdotes  were 
related  about  the  methods  of  the  submarine 
crews.  The  captain  of  the  Spanish  steamer 
Gaeta,  which  was  sunk  about  the  middle  of 


Jiimuvry  off  the  north  coast  of  Spain,  reported 
that  the  Germans  removed  all  the  provisions 
from  his  ship,  and  before  leaving  handed  him 
a  card  bearing  the  words,  "  The  U  44  sank 
the  Gaeta."  There  were  other  examples  of 
German  swagger,  as,  for  instance,  when  an 
American  ship,  stopped  off  the  coast  of  Corn- 
wall, was  spared,  and  her  commander  given  a 
certificate  showing  that  his  ship  had  been 
granted  ''  permission  "  by  the  German  sub- 
marine captain  to  sail  up  the  English  Channel. 
Au  amusing  sidelight  upon  the  conscience  of  a 
German  submarine  commander  was  forthcoming 
when  a  ship's  boat,  containing  the  master  and 
crew  of  a  small  vessel,  reached  Guernsey  in  the 
last  week  of  December,  1916.  The  master  had 
been  "  submarined  "  for  the  second  time,  and 
the  commander  of  the  submarine  was  the  man 
who  had  sunk  his  first  vessel.  On  the  first 
occasion,  among  the  valuables  retained  by  the 
German  officer  was  the  master's  gold  watch, 
but  after  sinking  the  second  vessel  he  recog- 
nized the  master  and  returned  the  watch. 
Some  three  weeks  after  this  the  daily  list  of 
losses  included  the  three  vessels,  two  British 
and  one  Danish,  which  have  already  been 
referred  to.  The  crews  were  hurriedly  ordered 
into  their  boats,  and  one  of  the  latter,  belonging 
to  the  British  steamer  Auchencrag,  capsized 
and  drowned  four  men.  Yet  the  Germans 
found  time  to  help  themselves  to  the  stores  of 
their  victims,  including  40  cans  of  whisky. 

The  deeds  of  heroism  on  the  part  of  the 
merchant  seamen  which  light  up  the  cruel  and 
grim  record  of  the  submarine  war  are  in- 
numerable. It  must  suffice  to  mention  one, 
which  the  Royal  Humane  Society  deemed 
worthy  of  the  award  of  their  Stanhope  Gold 
Medal  and  £5  as  the  most  gallant  feat  of  the 
year.  The  hero  was  John  Paxton,  a  fireman 
in  the  steamship  Swedish  Prince,  which  vessel 
was  attacked  by  a  submarine  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean on  August  17,  1916.  In  the  hurry  to 
abandon  the  ship  Pa's: ton  was  left  on  board 
with  three  other  men.  There  was  a  high  wind 
and  a  heavy  sea  was  running,  but  Paxton  by 
his  gallantry  saved  all  three  of  these  men.  He 
jumped  overboard,  and  called  to  the  first  man 
to  follow.  He  then  swam  with  him  to  the 
nearest  boat.  The  two  other  men  were  rescued 
in  the  same  manner.  This  gallant  deed  is  a 
reminder  of  the  heroism  which  inspires  all 
classes  of  our  merchant  service,  whether  on 
deck  or  below.  The  situation  of  the  engine- 
room  complement  in  ships  attacked  by  torpedo 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


169 


is  one  calling  for  a  high  degree  of  courage,  yet 
the  men  never  shirked  their  duty.  When  the 
Italian  steamer  Unione,  for  instance,  was  tor- 
pedoed on  April  10,  1916,  the  vessel  sank  so 
quickly  that  all  the  firemen  lost  their  lives. 
Some  were  probably  killed  by  the  explosion, 
but  the  remainder  had  no  chance  to  reach  the 
deck  before  the  vessel  foundered. 

In  devising  measures  for  meeting  the 
piratical  onslaught  of  the  German  submarines 
the  British  and  Allied  Admiralties  could  count, 
as  Lord  Lytton  said  in  the  House  of  Lords  on 
February  13,  1917,  on  "no  one  sovereign 
remedy  for  dealing  with  the  subject,  no  one 
panacea  which  can  be  used  to  clear  the  seas 


of  these  pests."  The  danger  was  one  which 
could  only  be  met  by  the  successful  com- 
bination of  a  very  great  number  of  measures, 
and  by  the  cooperation  of  all  branches  of  the 
Service,  and  also  of  the  public.  One  im- 
portant step  which  was  attended  by  good 
results  was  that  of  arming  the  merchant  ships. 
The  policy  was  adopted  by  the  Coalition 
Government,  as  stated  by  Lord  Lytton  on 
February  13.  It  was  rapidly  pushed  forward 
by  the  new  National  Ministry,  and  the  rate  of 
progress  at  which  merchant  ships  were  pro- 
vided with  guns  was  very  much  increased. 
When  he  spoke  on  the  Navy  Estimates  on 
February  21,  1917,  Sir  Edward  Carson  was  able 


THE   SINKING    OF    THE    "CALIFORNIA." 


135—3 


170 


THE    TIM  IK    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


to  say  that,  in  the  previous  two  months,  the 
number  of  armed  merchant  ships  had  increased 
by  47'5  per  cent.  He  added  : 

I  do  not  know  thai  Unit  rcmvrys  to  you  the  amount  <>f 
work  that  was  involved.  \Vo  had,  in  the  first  place,  to 
get  guns  in  competition  with  the  Army.  We  had  to  get 
tin-  mountings,  and,  above  all,  we  had  to  get  the  gun 
ratings.  All  I  cau  say  is  that  the  increase  in  the  arming 
of  the  merchant  ships  is  going  on  better  and  better  each 
wrnk.  \\  hrn  I  tell  the  House  the  percentage,  .so  far  as 
I  can  gather,  of  the  number  of  armed  merchantmen  and 
unarmed  merchantmen  that  have  escaped  the  sub- 
marine menace,  they  will  .see  how  right  we  were  to 
throw  our  whole  force  and  power  into  carrying  out  this 
arming.  As  far  as  I  can  gather,  of  armed  merchantmen 
that  escape  there  are  about  70  or  75  per  cent.,  and  of 
unarmed  merchantmen  24  per  cent.  Therefore,  you 
will  see  how  important  is  every  gun  you  get  and  every 
ship  you  arm. 

These  figures  show  how  well  the  merchant 
seamen  adapted  themselves  to  the  new  condi- 
tions, and  what  good  use  they  made  of  the 
weapons  with  which  they  were  provided. 
The  guns,  of  course,  would  have  been  useless 
without  trained  crews  to  handle  them,  and 
captains  of  nerve  and  judgment  as  well  as 
daring  to  decide  when  and  how  to  open  fire. 
There  was  at  least  one  case  on  record  where 
the  mere  appearance  of  a  gun  in  .a  merchant 
ship  was  sufficient  to  scare  away  her  submarine 
antagonist.  This  was  in  the  case  of  the 


SURVIVORS    OF    THE  "CALIFORNIA." 

Mr.  Kesson,  the  Chief  Officer,  giving  an  account  of 

the  torpedoing  of  the  ship. 


SURVIVORS    OF    THE    "CALIFORNIA." 

The  three  children  (Margaret  Little,  aged  9;  Mary, 

aged  3,  and  Andrew,  13  months),  whose  mother  and 

eldest  sister  were  drowned 

Harrison  Line  steamship  Director,  and  the 
incident  happened  on  January  25,  191(i. 
According  to  the  statement  of  a  horseman  of 
New  Mexico,  on  his  arrival  at  New  York  on 
March  14,  the  Director  was  bound  for  Liverpool, 
and  when  about  200  miles  from  the  Irish  coast 
sighted  a  submarine  some  distance  astern, 
endeavouring  to  overhaul  the  liner.  For  two 
hours  the  submarine  hung  on,  in  spite  of  the 
best  speed  that  the  engineer  of  the  Director 
was  able  to  get  out  of  her. 

A  typical  case  in  which  a  British  steamer 
baffled  a  submarine  by  means  of  a  gun,  and 
damaged  if  she  did  not  sink  her  under-water 
antagonist,  occurred  on  the  evening  of  July  15, 
1916,  near  Algiers,  as  reported  in  The  Times 
on  August  7  and  8,  1910.  Captain  David 
Thomson,  master  of  the  steamship  Strathness, 
sent  to  his  employers  the  following  extract  from 
the  ship's  log  describing  his  encounter  : — 

July  15,  6.0  p.m. — Saturday  a  terrific  explosion 
occurred  on  port  side  of  steamer  nearly  amidships , 
heaving  water  and  smoke  over  the  top  bridge,  making 
steamer  shake  and  tremble.  I  thought  it  was  a  torpedo, 
hut  could  see  no  submarine  about.  A  few  minutes  after- 
wards shots  were  fired  by  submarine,  but  we  could  not 
make  out  his  position.  At  last  gunner  made  him  out 
astern,  and  we  commenced  firing  at  him.  His  shots 
were  going  right  over  us,  and  landing  in  the  water  a  few 
yards  ahead  ;  one  shot  nearly  got  us,  dropping  in  the 
water  a  few  yards  astern  of  steamer. 

At  onr  sixth  shot  submarine  was  hit,  and  also  with 
our  seventh,  when  a  big  explosion  with  fire  was  caused 
in  the  submarine.  Then  firing  ceased,  and  submarine 
disappeared,  which  I  have  no  doubt  was  sunk  by  our 
lire.  Altogether  the  submarine  fired  about  15  shots, 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


171 


but  none  took  effect.  We  fired  seven  shots,  and  two 
hits  were  made.  Great  credit  is  due  to  the  gunners 
for  the  way  in  which  they  worked,  especially  the  remark- 
able marksmanship  they  made  at  the  submarine.  Engines 
were  opened  full  out  and  zigzag  courses  were  steered. 
Latitude  37.05  N.,  longitude  3.38  E.,  where  submarine 
was  sunk  or  disappeared. 

A  contrast  to  the  foregoing  action,  and  one 
which  shows  equally  the  stubborn  and  dauntless 
•qualities  of  the  British  merchant  seaman  and 
the  brutality  of  the  Germans  when  they  have  a 
helpless  foe  to  deal  with,  is  afforded  by  the 
circumstances  attending  the  loss  of  the  steam- 
ship Clan  MacLeod,  sunk  on  December  1,  1915. 
Captain  H.  S.  Southward,  who  had  to  spend 


P.    &    O.   LINER    "ARABIA." 

Photographed  after  she  was   struck,  and  while  her 

boats  were  alongside.       An   upturned   boat  can   be 

seen  at  her  stern. 

four  months  in  hospital  recovering  from 
wounds,  stated  on  his  return  home  in  April, 
1916,  that  a  submarine  was  sighted  at  7.45  a.m., 
opened  fire  about  an  hour  later,  and  an  hour  and 
ten  minutes  after  this  had  closed  to  within 
half  a  mile  of  the  steamer.  Realizing  that  he 
•could  not  save  his  ship,  Captain  Southward 
hoisted  the  international  signal  of  surrender, 
stopped  the  engines,  and  rounded  to.  To  his 
surprise  the  submarine  began  to  shell  the 
bridge,  doing  considerable  damage.  He  was 
himself  struck  by  the  first  shell.  The  Germans 
then  began  to  shell  the  boats  and  boat  crews, 
killing  nine  men,  wounding  six  (three  fatally) 
and  smashing  the  starboard  boats.  Captain 
Southward,  summoned  on  board  the  submarine, 
found  the  commander  in  a  furious  rage  because 
the  liner  had  not  stopped  immediately.  The 
British  master  replied  to  a  question  on  the 
point  that  he  wanted  to  save  his  ship  if  possible. 
Tho  German  officer  then  said  :  "  I  can  shoot 
you  0fifranr.-lire.ur,"  and  the  captain  answered, 
"  I  don't  think  so."  The  former  then  said  : 
"  You  are  assisting  my  enemy,"  and  the  reply 
was,  "  1  am  your  enemy."  In  the  only  two 
boats  which  remained,  the  survivors  set  sail 


for  Malta.  The  lifeboat,  with  Captain  South- 
ward and  5'"*  men,  was  picked  up  at  0  p.m.  on 
December  2,  but  the  cutter,  with  the  chief 
officer  and  19  men,  remained  adrift  until  2  a.m. 
OP  December  4,  having  thus  been  tossed  about 
for  the  greater  part  of  three  days  and  three 
nights. 

It  is  not  surprising  that,  with  such  untold 
hardships  and  dangers  confronting  them,  the 
risks  of  which  they  accept  cheerfully  every  day 
of  their  lives,  there  should  have  been  expressed 
many  tributes  of  praise  to  the  merchant  seamen, 
and  a  desire  to  afford  them  greater  recognition. 
As  the  Daily  Mail  said  early  in  1916  :  "  If  for 
these  men  there  is  no  Westminster  Abbey  at 
the  last,  let  us  at  least  know  them  and  be  able 
to  take  off  our  hats  to  them  in  their  life." 
Lord  Beresford  shortly  afterwards  remarked, 
at  a  meeting  of  the  Mercantile  Marine  Service 
Association,  that  "  he  did  not  think  the 


THE   "ARABIA"  SINKING. 

recognition  of  the  Mercantile  Marine  was 
sufficient,  or  what  it  ought  to  be  ;  he  did  not 
think  they  got  their  due.  .  .  .  There  ought  to  be 
a  special  decoration  for  the  Mercantile  Marine. 
.  .  .  They  had  to  remember  that,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  transports,  which  were  convoyed, 
every  mercantile  ship  that  left  port  or  went  to 
any  of  their  vast  Dominions  over  the  sea  was 
in  greater  danger  than  a  transport  or  man-of- 
war,  because  she  was  unprovided  with  convoy, 
and  they  knew  this  was  the  class  of  vessel  that 
their  barbarous  adversaries  liked  to  sink  with- 
out warning. " 

Tho  value,  as  an  example  to  their  crews  and 
passengers,  of  the  admirable  coolness  and  calm 
courage  shown  by  mercantile  officers  when  their 
ships  were  overtaken  with  disaster  cannot  be 


17-2 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


spoken  of  too  highly  When  the  Anchor  liner 
California  was  torpedoed  without  warning  on 
February  7,  1917,  and  remained  afloat  for  only 
seven  minutes,  the  captain,  in  accordance 
with  British  tradition,  did  not  leave  his  post 
on  the  bridge  until  the  vessel  sank  beneath 
liim.  A  number  of  the  officers  also  stood  bv 


the  sinking  vessel  even  after  the  boats  had 
rilled,  and  they  had  then  to  plunge  overboard 
to  save  themselves  from  being  carried  down  by 
the  suction  of  the  huge  hull.  Similarly,  when 
the  P.  and  O.  steamer  Arabia  was  destroyed, 
also  without  warning,  in  the  Mediterranean 
on  November  6,  1916,  an  Eastbourne  doctor 


w 

,,$ 


SURVIVORS    FROM    THE    "ARABIA.' 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


173 


WHITE    STAR    LINER    "CYMRIC." 


who  was  011  board,  saicl  :  "  What  one  must  be 
proud  of  was  the  calmness,  discipline,  and  self- 
possession  with  which  officers,  crew,  and 
passengers  gathered,  without  the  least  con- 
fusion, at  their  pre-ordained  places.  It  seemed 
rather  a  rehearsal  of  what  was  to  be  done  in 
case  of  disaster  than  a  disaster  itself.  .  .  * 
A  touching  spectacle,  on  which  the  Allies  must 
be  congratulated,  was  the  appearance  on  the 
horizon,  practically  from  all  direction?,  15 
minutes  after  the  alarm  call,  of  five  Allied 
steamers,  rushing  .at  full  speed  to  our  rescue, 
and  reaching  us  three- quarters  of  an  hour  later." 
Although  the  ship  had  4S7  passengers,  including 
169  women  and  children,  on  board,  every  one 
was  saved.  Of  the  crew,  two  engineers  alone 
were  missing,  and  were  believed  to  have  been 
killed  by  the  explosion  ;  all  the  rest  were  picked 
up.  When  the  Marina,  a  Donaldson  liner,  was 
torpedoed  on  October  28,  1910,  Captain  Browne 
and  his  chief  engineer  both  remained  on  board 
until  the  last.  They  then  jumped  for  a  boat, 
but  missed  it,  and  were  drowned.  Some  of  the 
survivors  of  this  ship  were  adrift  for  31 J  hours 
in  pouring  rain  before  being  picked  up.  In  one 
boat  during  that  time  the  occupants  had  only 
three  biscuits  and  a  bit  of  bully  beef  each. 

The  following  anecdote  is  related  in  connexion 
with  the  sinking  of  the  White  Star  liner  Cymric 
on  May  8,  1916,  in  which  all  the  crew,  except 
five  killed  by  the  explosion  of  the  torpedo,  were 
saved.  James  Rogers,  a  trimmer,  said  that  he 
was  in  a  ooat,  which  was  smashed,  and  the  nine 
men  in  it  thrown  into  the  water,  but  they  were 
nil  rescued.  They  had  to  sit  nine  and  a  half 


hours  in  an  open  boat  with  their  clothes  wet 
through.  "  The  Germans  have  missed  me 
again,"  said  a  cheery  member  of  the  crew. 
"  I  was  in  the  Southland  when  she  was  torpedoed 
in  the  Mediterranean  last  September."  "  Had 
enough  "i "  he  was  asked.  "  Not  me,"  he 
replied,  "  I  shall  be  off  again  as  soon  as  I  can 
get  a  berth."  This  readiness  of  the: seamen 
to  volunteer  for  further  service  was  exemplified 
in  scores  of  instances.  In  fact,  the  men 
accepted  it  as  a  matter  of  course.  The  sea  was 
their  calling,  and  whatever  its  perils  they 
would  face  them.  As  Dr.  Macnamara  said  on 
February  15,  1917  :  "  There  had  been  nothing 
finer  in  the  history  of  the  war,  crowded  though 
it  was  with  deeds  of  herosim  on  the  part  of  the 
Army  and  Navy,  than  the  way  in  which  the 
officers  and  men  of  the  Merchant  Service  had 
carried  on  their-  duties,  and  this  they  would 
continue  to  do  in  spite  of  Germany's  latest 
threat  of  unrestricted  savagery.  The  nation 
could  never  hope  to  -repay  them  sufficiently, 
and  any  sacrifice  which  civilians  could  make 
was  insignificant  compared  with  that  made  by 
those  men." 

This  chapter  has  so  far  dwelt  chiefly  upon 
the  dangers  to  the  mercantile  marine  from  the 
submarine  war,  which  was  the  greatest  menace 
confronting  the  traders.  It  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  there  were  other  means  employed 
by  the  enemy  to  destroy  or  injure  them,  ^ome 
no  less  callous  and  brutal  in  their  application. 
The  laying  of  mines  in  the  track  of  peaceful 
shipping  continued,  and  when,  owing  to  the 


174 


T1MKS    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


decree  of  control  asserted  over  the  trade  routes 
by  the  British  Navy,  it  was  no  longer  possible 
to  pursue  this  policy  to  any  large  extent  by 
surface  vessels,  the  Germans  designed  a  special 
type  of  submarine  to  do  it.  A  specimen  sub- 
marine minelayer  was  the  UC  5,  exhibited  in 
the  Thames  in  July  and  August,  1916  ;  another 
was  the  UC  12,  which  fell  into  Italian  hands. 


UC5. 
A  German  mine-laying  submarine. 

Mines  were  also  dropped  by  the  disguised 
raiders  of  armed  mercantile  type  sent  out  by 
the  Germans. 

The  P.  &  O.  line  Maloja  was  among  the 
principal  victims  of  mines  during  1916.  She 
was  destroyed  off  Dover  on  February  27,  and  of 
the  411  lives  on  board  155  were  lost.  The 
explosion  caused  great  damage,  the  captain 
remarking  at  the  inquest  that  he  saw  boats, 
davits,  and  d&bris  going  up  into  the  air,  while 
the  poop  was  blown  up.  He  ordered  the  ship 
to  be  stopped  and  the  engines  reversed,  to  take 
way  off  the  ship  and  enable  the  boats  to  be 
lowered.  A  few  seconds  later  the  ship  began 
rapidly  to  pick  up  stern  way,  and  the  order  was 
given  to  stop  engines,  but  it  could  not  be 
executed  as  the  engine-room  was  by  that  time 
flooded.  With  the  ship  going  eight  or  nine 
knots  astern  it  was  not  possible  to  lower  boats 
safely,  besides  which  she  had  a  list  of  about 
75  degrees.  Had  the  engines  stopped  every 


one  would  have  been  saved.  There  were  some 
pathetic  cases  of  loss  among  the  passengers. 
An  accountant  in  the  National  Bank  of  India 
was  returning  to  India  after  a  holiday  in 
England,  during  which  he  had  been  married. 
His  wife  was  accompanying  him,  and  they 
both  slid  off  the  .sinking  vessel  just  after  he  had 
put  a  lifebelt  on  her.  The  wife  was  picked 
\\\>  after  being  in  the  sea  for  25  minutes;  the 
husband  was  drowned.  Several  military  officers 
taking  passage  in  the  ship  also  lost  their  lives. 

Another  species  of  attack  of  which  the 
merchant  steamers  had  to  run  the  gauntlet 
was  that  from  the  air.  ff  this  method  was  not 
so  deadly  as  the  under-vvater  attacks,  it  was 
severely  trying  to  the  nerves  of  the  seamen. 
loth  as  they  were  to  admit  anything  of  the 
kind.  One  of  the  earliest  affairs  of  the  kind 
occurred  about  7  a.m.  on  the  morning  of 
March  23,  1915,  when  the  Teal,  a  small  steamer 
on  a  voyage  from  Amsterdam  to  Londcu,  was 


PICKING   UP  THE   CREW   OF   A   SUNKEN 
VESSEL. 

attacked  by  a  Taube  aeroplane.  According 
to  the  account  of  one  of  the  officers,  when  the 
Teal  was  between  the  Schouwen  and  the  North 
Hinder  Lights,  the  first  mate,  who  was  in  charge 
at  the  time,  saw  an  aeroplane  coming  up  on 
the  stern.  Near  the  Teal  was  a  fishing  trawler 
which  sent  up  a  five-star  rocket,  apparently  as 
a  signal  to  the  airman  and  his  observe! .  The 
Flushing  steamer,  which  was  two  or  three  miles. 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


175 


off  and  must  easily  have  seen  all  that  happened, 
kept  on  her  course,  taking  no  notice  whatever. 
As  soon  as  the  Taube  came  up  to  the  Teal  the 
first  mate  changed  his  course.  A  bomb  was 
dropped,  but  missed  the  steamer  by  about 
40  yards,  raising  a  great  column  of  water.  A 
second  bomb  fell  on  the  opposite  side  to  the 
first.  The  Taube  then,  after  making  a  wide 
circle,  dropped  two  more  bombs  in  quick  suc- 
cession. But  as  the  mate  was  steering  a  zig-zag 
course  they  were  eluded.  Two  or  three 
minutes  later  the  observer  in  the  Taube  opened 


a  captured  enemy  vessel  trading  under 
the  British  flag.  She  left  Hartlepool  on 
January  31,  1916,  on  a  voyage  south,  and  when 
she  was  at  anchor  off  the  Kentish  Knock  on 
the  following  evening  a  Zeppelin  appeared 
right  over  the  vessel  and  dropped  an  explosive 
bomb,  which  struck  the  sliip  amidships.  She 
sank  within  a  couple  of  minutes,  all  on  board 
being  lost.  It  was  on  the  morning  after  this 
that  Zeppelin  L  19  was  found  floating  in  the 
North  Sea  by  the  late  Skipper  W.  Martin,  of  the 
trawler  King  Stephen  from  Grimsby,  which 


STEAM    YACHT    AS    MINE-SINKER. 


fire  down  on  the  Teal  with  a  machine-gun,  but 
without  success.  Then  a  number  of  steel  darts 
were  dropped,  one  of  which  struck  the  vessel 
but  did  no  damage.  Finally  the  Germans 
opened  fire  again  with  their  machine-gun,  firing 
at  least  another  dozen  rounds,  but  they  had 
no  more  success  than  before,  and  gave  up  the 
attempt,  having  bombarded  the  Teal  for  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour. 

There  were  also  the  dangers  facing  the 
merchant  seamen  from  Zeppelins.  Like  the 
aeroplanes,  very  few  of  these  monsters  suc- 
ceeded in  destroying  any  trading  vessels.  This, 
however,  was  not  for  want  of  trying,  but 
because  of  the  lack  of  precision  and  reliability 
in  their  weapons.  One  ship  sunk  by  a  Zep- 
pelin was  the  coasting  collier  Franz  Fischer, 


rather  pointed  to  the  probability  that  the  same 
airship  may  have  been  responsible  for  the 
murderous  attack  on  a  humble  collier  the  night 
before. 

In  the  outer  seas  the  disguised  raiders  sent 
out  by  the  Germans  had  a  very  limited  success. 
Only  two  of  the  attempts  made  in  1916  to  put 
such  raiders  on  to  the  trade  routes  came  to 
anything,  the  Mowe  making  several  captures 
in  January  and  February,  and  a  second  vessel 
of  the  same  character  being  sighted  in  the 
North  Atlantic  on  December  4.  The  crews  of 
the  victims  of  these  craft  were  taken  at  first 
on  board  the  raiders,  and  later  transferred  to 
one  of  the  captured  vessels  delegated  to  act  as 
a  tender.  The  conditions  of  confinement  were 
not  of  the  most  satisfactory  kind,  and  the 


176 


'/•///•;     TIM  US    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


behaviour  of  the  Germans  was.  as  usual,  callous 
and  at  times  brutal,  but  nothing  could  "  down  " 
the  spirits  of  the  Briti-h  seamen.  Captain 
Andersen,  of  the  Norwegian  steamer  Hallbjorg, 
one  of  the  ships  sunk  by  the  second  raider, 
said  that  the  merchant  seamen  were  by  no 
means  downhearted,  and  from  morning  to 
night  they  would  sing  "  Tipperary  "  and  other 
songs.  The  victims  of  the  raider,  who  were 
landed  at  Pernamburo  in  January,  1917, 
declared  that  they  were  closely  confined, 
poorly  fed,  and  subjected  to  much  suffering 
while  on  board  the  German  vessel,  and  also 
the  steamer  Saint  Theodore,  which  was  con- 
verted into  a  "  prison  ship."  It  was  also 
stated  that  100  lascars,  taken  from  captured 
vessels,  were  compelled  to  work  in  the  raider's 
stokehold,  being  told  that  the  German  stokers 
were  released  for  other  work.  Whenever  a 
merchant  ship  was  captured  in  daylight  moving 
pictures  were  taken  of  the  event,  according  to 
the  captain  of  the  steamship  Radnorshire,  who 
said  that  the  German  captain  told  him  he  had 
orders  to  spare  all  passenger  ships  and  vessels 
not  carrying  big  cargoes.  This  British  captain 
also  stated  that  he  and  his  men  were  kept  in 
the  raider's  port  bow  practically  without  air, 
and  compelled  to  sleep  for  five  days  with 
"  roughnecks."  At  length  the  Japanese  ship 
Hudson  Maru  was  utilized  to  send  them  into 
Pernambuco,  with  barely  enough  water  and 
sea  biscuits  to  complete  the  voyage. 

A  fitting  episode  to  conclude  this  chapter  is 


that  of  the  escape  of  the  Cardiff  steamship 
Southport,  which  is  not  only  amusing,  but 
illustrates  that  never-failing  resource  which 
lias  carried  the  British  merchant  sailor  through 
so  many  stiff  ordeals.  This  vessel  was  at 
Kusai,  an  island  in  the  east  of  the  Caroline 
group,  formerly  in  the  possession  of  Germany, 
on  September  4,  1914,  when  a  party  from  the 
German  gunboat  Geier  boarded  her.  They 
hoisted  the  German  flag,  damaged  and  removed 
parts  of  the  machinery,  and  left  after  taking 
the  vessel's  papers.  The  Geier  then  went 
elsewhere  to  try  and  hold  vip  other  merchant- 
men. No  sooner  had  she  gone  than  the 
engineers  of  the  Southport  set  to  work  to  effect 
temporary  repairs.  They  were  successful,  and 
on  September  30  it  was  reported  from  Brisbane 
that  the  steamer  had  reached  there  safely 
after  a  slow  voyage  from  the  Carolines.  If 
ever  the  Geier  went  back  to  Kusai,  her  officers 
must  have  reflected  that  they  had  not  taken 
adequate  measure  of  the  British  seaman's 
character.  They  were  like  the  bold  German 
magistrate  at  Naurn  Island,  another  ex-German 
possession  in  the  Pacific,  who  when  war  was 
declared  took  a  boat's  party  off  to  the  British 
steamer  Messina  and  demanded  to  be  taken  on 
board.  "  By  whose  orders  ?  "  asked  the  mate. 
"  By  order  of  his  Imperial  Majesty  the  German 
Emperor,"  replied  the  pompous  magistrate. 
The  mate  gave  a  loud  laugh,  and,  ordering  full 
speed  ahead,  the  Messina  quickly  reached  the 
open  sea. 


CHAPTER  CLXXII. 

FISHERMEN  AND  THE  WAR   (II) 

A  PREVIOUS  CHAPTER — SKIPPERS  AND  FISHERMEN,  R.N.R. — ACTIVITY  OF  BRITISH  FISHINC;  VESSELS 
- — CASUALTIES — HEAVY  WAR  LOSSES — ADVENTURE  ON  A  GERMAN  SUBMARINE — THE  FISH  SUPPLY 
• — A  PRISONER  OF  WAR — "SUBMARINE  BILLY" — THE  WORK  OF  PATROLLERS  AND  MINE -SWEEPERS 
— FISHERMEN'S  ROLL  OF  HONOUR — ACTS  OF  HEROISM — SPORADIC  LAWLESSNESS — OUT  OF  BOUNDS 
— PROFIT  AND  Loss  OF  FISHING — PRICES  OF  FISHING  VESSELS — LIFE-SAVING — A  FISH  YARN 

— SPECIAL  FUNDS  AND  AGENCIES 


IN  Chapter  CXXI.  the  organization  of 
fishermen  as  mine -sweepers  and  patrollers 
in  connexion  with  the  Royal  Navy  was 
described,  and  their  wonderful  and  effec- 
tive work  was  dealt  with  ;  the  system  of 
fishing  which  existed  before  the  war  was  ex- 
piained,  and  an  account  was  given  of  the  great 
changes  that  hostilities  necessitated  in  carrying 
on  this  vast  enterprise  on  which  such  an  im- 
portant part  of  the  supply  of  the  nation's  food 
depended  It  was  shown  how  priceless  an 
asset  were  the  men  of  the  deep-sea  grounds 
and  the  in-shore  waters — the  fleeters  and  the 
single  boaters,  and  to  what  an  enormous 
extent  the  materiel  and  personnel  of  the  fishing 
industry  had  been  used  by  the  naval  authori- 
ties in  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war  at 
sea.  Details  were  given  which  showed  how 
extensive  and  far  reaching  were  the  operations 
of  the  one-time  fishermen  ;  but  it  was  not 
until  the  beginning  of  1917  that  Admiral 
Jellicoe  publicly  stated  that  the  number  of 
\essels  of  all  classes  comprising  the  British 
Navy  was  nearly  4,000,  nnd  that  the  personnel 
of  the  mercantile  marine  had  been  largely 
drawn  upon  for,  amongst  other  things,  "  the 
manning  of  the  whole  of  our  patrol  and  mine- 
sweeping  craft,  nearly  2,500  skippers  being 
employed  as  skippers  R.N.R."  The  public 
had  been  previously  allowed  to  know  that 
100,000  fishermen  were  serving  with  the  Navy. 
In  addition  to  these  mine-sweepers  and  patrol- 


lers. fishermen  were  going  to  sea,  taking  all  th? 
risks  of  ruthless  warfare,  enduring  all  the 
privations  of  an  exceptionally  severe  winter, 
and  doing  their  business  of  catching  fish  and 
sending  or  taking  it  to  market.  In  those  hard, 
dangerous  gales  there  were  many  casualties  of 
various  sorts,  including  the  toll  of  wandering 
mines  ;  skippers  and  men  suffered  acutely 
from  exposure  to  the  piercing  wind  and  freezing 
sleet  and  spray  ;  there  were  many  torn  and 
bleeding  hands  at  work  on  icy  trawls  and  war- 
like warps  and  other  sinister  contrivances — but 
the  skippers  and  men  endured  it  all  heroically 
and  stoically,  and  were  apt  curtly  and  gruffly 
to  belittle  their  tribulations,  and  to  declare  that 
hardship  was  only  part  of  the  day's  work,  and 
that  the  fisherman  was  used  to  it,  just  as  he 
was  used  to  being  drowned. 

Two  and  a  half  years  after  the  outbreak  of 
war  about  75  per  cent,  of  the  first-class  fishing 
boats  were  on  Admiralty  service,  including  all 
the  big  steamboats  ;  and  the  majority  of  the 
fishermen  had  joined  the  Navy.  Yet  in  spite 
of  these  immense  calls  the  work  of  fishing, 
mostly  by  single-boating,  but  also  with  a 
modified  form  of  fleeting,  went  on,  and  with  so 
much  success' that  the  supply  of  fish  had  dropped 
only  about  30  per  cent,  below  the  normal. 

The  work  of  the  2,500  skippers  and  the 
100,000  fishermen  was  of  every  sort  that  can 
fall  to  a  powerful  and  well-organized  auxiliary 
in  time  of  war.  When  first  enrolled  the  fisher- 


178 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


Q 
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THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


17!) 


men  were  soon  busily  employed  as  mine- 
sweepers and  patrollcrs  in  armed  trawlers  ; 
they  did  transport  work  in  distant  waters,  and 
they  maintained  in  splendid  fashion  their  fine 
tradition  as  some  of  the  most  skilful  life-savers 
afloat.  There  was  no  disaster  of  any  descrip- 
tion, from  a  mined  or  torpedoed  battleship 
such  as  the  Formidable  to  a  submarined  ship 
like  the  Lusitania  or  a  lost  leviathan  like  the 
Britannic,  in  connexion  with  which  one  or 
more  trawlers,  sail  or  steam,  did  not  do  some 
uoble  work  of  saving  life. 

The  North  Sea  at  the  outset  of  the  war  gave 
ample  scope  for  the  exercise  of  the  skill  and 
energy  of  the  sweepers  and  patrollers  ;  but 
later  the  area  of  usefulness  was  enormously 
extended,  and  fishermen  who  had  never  known 
a  change  on  the  bleak  and  dangerous  banks 
were  operating  in  the  romantic  regions  of  the 
Mediterranean,  the  Adriatic  and  the  Ionian 
Sea  ;  sunny  skies  in  winter  replaced  the  grey 
gloom  of  the  Dogger,  and  when  notorious  bad 
weather  zones  were  entered  they  came  as  a  not 
unwelcome  change  to  the  deep-sea  men  to 
whom  bad  weather  and  peril  were  inseparable 
from  a  hard  existence. 

While  the  German  fishing  vessels  were  im- 
prisoned in  a  cramped  area  by  the  British 
blockade,  and  the  fishing  port  of  Altona  had 
its  crowded  trawlers,  the  British  fishing  craft 
of  every  sort  were  at  large  upon  the  seas  in 
numerous  capacities.  Fine  big  new  trawlers 
were  launched  and  immediately  put  in  com- 
mission ;  as  lads  at  seaports  came  of  age  they 
gravitated  to  the  toilsome  calling  of  their  fathers, 
so  keeping  up  the  supply  of  new  and  needed 
blood  ;  while  from  decaying  fishing  ports  old 
men  once  more  adventured  with  fresh  life  and 
hope,  and  wooden  smacks  that  had  grown  into 
being  in  the  'sixties  were  reaping  the  sea's 
great  harvest,  and  fetching  fancy  prices  when 
put  up  for  sale  Built  in  1866,  a  wooden  smack 
was  sold  for  about  £400,  although  before  the 
war  such  a  craft  as  she  secured  no  offers,  except 
as  firewood. 

Old-time  crews  manned  old-time  smacks,  so 
that  when  they  were  met  at  sea  they  might 
almost  have  been  mistaken  for  contemporaries 
of  Vanderdecken  and  his  spectral  band  on 
board  the  Flying  Dutchman.  A  remarkable 
case  in  point  was  afforded  by  the  drifter  Success 
of  Lowestoft.  She  was  manned  by  seven 
hands  and  their  total  ages  came  to  478  years. 
The  "  boy  "  was  62  years  old  ;  but  he,  was  a 
mere  juvenile  compared  with  the  oldest  member 


of  the  crew,  whose  years  were  75.  The  skipper 
was  68,  and  other  ages  were  72,  69,  68  and  64. 
That  these  old  smacksmen  were  capable  of 
sustained  and  profitable  effort  was  shown  by 
the  way  in  which  they  handled  their  nets  and 
did  the  hard  work  of  their  vessel.  They 
proudly  boasted  that  they  had  had  a  good  season, 
and  expressed  regret,  tinged  with  pity, .  that 


A    TRAWLER    IN    PORT. 

the   authorities   considered   them    too    old    to 
bear  the  "  lighter  "  duties  of  a  man-of-war. 

The  fisherman  went  forth  to  fish  literally 
with  his  life  in  his  hands,  regardless  of  the 
region  in  which  he  lived — north,  south,  east  or 
west.  In  the  beginning  the  danger  zone  was 
well  defined.  It  was  mostly  in  the  North  Sea, 
but  extended  until  it  embraced  the  whole  of 
the  coasts  of  the  British  Isles,  and  submarines 
and  mines  became  an  ever  present  menace  to 
the  fishermen.  The  enemy  appeared  in  most 
unlikely  places.  One  winter  day,  at  a  sleepy 
old-world  fishing  port,  brown-sailed  smacks 
which  had  put  to  sea  were  observed  to  stagger 
back  in  very  odd  ways,  taking  every  course, 
apparently,  except  the  right  one.  It  was  not 
until  the  first  skipper  landed  that  the  explana- 
tion was  available,  and  it  was  that  he  had  seen 
a  submarine  laying  mines  with  the  object  of 
cutting  off  the  smacks'  return  to  harbour.  The 
mines  had  been  scattered  across  the  mouth  of 
the  romantic  bay  ;  but  the  watchful  skipper 
had  seen  the  cowardly  act  and  had  promptly 


180 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


niven  tin-  alarm  and  piloted  his  comrades 
through  tho  iminfested  areas  back  to  port.  His 
sharpness  and  skill  undoubtedly  did  much  to 
avert  loss  of  life  and  ship.  Submarines  and 
mines  were  the  cause  of  the  posting  as  missing 
of  many  fishing;  vessels.  There  were  many 


CAPTAIN    PILLAR 

of  the  Brixham  trawler  "  Provident,"  decorated 
by  the  King  with  the  Distinguished  Service  Medal. 

mute  tragedies  of  the  home  seas  in  connexion 
with  the  great  army  of  British  fishermen  who 
were  keeping  up  the  food  supply  of  the  country. 
And  what  was  happening  in  western  waters 
was  taking  place  far  more  frequently  in  the 
North  Sea. 

There  had  been  since  the  outbreak  of  war 
verv  heavy  losses  of  fishing  vessels  through 
enemy  attacks  while  peacefully  pursuing  their 
calling.  These  attacks  on  fishermen  and  their 
helpless  craft  appealed  with  special  force  to  the 
"  brave  German  hearts,"  as  their  proud  com- 
patriots called  them  ;  and  in  the  new  campaign 
of  ruthlessness  they  had  heavy  bags  to  their 
discredit. 

The  commander  of  a  submarine  who  wrote  a 
.etter  to  his  brother,  a  military  officer  shortly 
afterwards  captured  on  the  Somme,  said : 
"  For  four  months  I  have  not  been  able  to 
renew  my  stock  of  torpedoes.  I  am,  therefore, 
obliged  to  attack  traders  with  my  guns — a  very 
risky  proceeding  now  that  the  British  and 
French  boats  defend  themselves.  A  single 
shot  well  placed  might  easily  send  us  to  the 
bottom.  .  .  .  My  submarine  is  an  old  crock. 
I  wish  I  could  get  command  of  one  of  our  now 
submarine-cruisers  As  it  is  known  that 
my  boat  is  not  much  good  I  am  not  given 
anything  very  difficult  to  do.  I  am  generally 


after  fishermen  and  sailing  boats  and  run  very 
little  risk."  A  typical  raid  such  as  is  referred 
to  in  this  letter  was  made  upon  the  Brixham 
fishing  fleet  on  November  28,  1916.  At  2  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  in  broad  daylight,  a  submarine 
rose  to  the  surface  among  the  trawlers  and 
began  her  murderous  work  against  the  helpless 
fishermen.  She  opened  fire  upon  the  Provident, 
Skipper  William  Pillar,  who  was  the  gallant 
seaman  to  whom  so  many  of  the  crew  of  the 
battleship  Formidable  owed  their  lives  after 
that  ship  was  torpedoed.  The  shells  from  the 
submarine  brought  down  the  jib  of  the  Provi- 
dent, and  also  parted  her  topsail  halyards. 
After  the  first  shot,  the  crew  took  to  their  boat, 
and  the  submarine  then  came  in  close  enough 
to  put  a  bomb  in  the  Provident,  which  sank  her. 
Then  the  raider  opened  on  the  Amphitrite, 
whose  skipper,  William  Norris,  declared  in  an 
interview  that  after  his  crew  had  taken  to  their 
boat  they  were  still  shelled  from  the  submarine. 
The  boat  was  not  more  than  100  yards  astern 
of  the  Amphitrite  when  the  Germans  opened 
fire.  Failing  to  hit  with  the  two  shells  directed 
at  the  boat,  the  submarine  resumed  her  shelling 
of  the  trawler.  The  third  vessel  attacked  was 
the  Lynx,  and  her  crew,  taking  promptly  to 
their  boat,  were  likewise  shelled  from  a  range 


BRIXHAM    TKAWLERS. 

of  not  more  than  200  yards,  but  fortunately 
escaped.  This  third  trawler  was  not  sunk, 
but  was  found  derelict  and  brought  into 
Brixham.  The  men  of  all  three  craft  declared 
it  was  only  by  good  fortune  that  they  were 
not  injured  by  the  hail  of  shrapnel  fired  at 
them. 

Great     havoc     was     done    amongst     fishing 
boats  off  the  north-east  coast  on  the  night  of 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    W.4P. 


181 


August  3,  1916.  A  German  submarine  sud- 
denly appeared,  and  as  the  peaceful  craft  were 
quite  helpless  she  had  matters  pretty  much  her 
own  way.  She  set  to  work  at  wanton  destruc- 
tion, and  in  a  very  short  period  sank  nearly  a 
dozen  of  the  vessels,  which  were  mostly  small 
motor  herring  drifters.  The  skipper  of  one  of 
the  boats,  a  Scotsman,  said  it  was  one  of  the 


hour  and  a  quarter — he  directed  his  crew 
below.  Three  men.  were  beside  him,  with 
largo  glasses,  continuously  sweeping  the  seas, 
apparently  intensely  apprehensive  of  the  coming 
of  British  war  vessels. 

When  the  submarine  got  under  way,  her 
speed  being  estimated  at  17  or  18  knots, 
the  commander  persistently  questioned  the 


A    GRIMSBY    TRAWLER. 


calmest  nights  at  sea  that  he  ever  remembered. 
The  boats  had  their  nets  out,  their  lights  were 
showing,  and  a  good  watch  was  kept.  At 
about  midnight  an  explosion  was  heard,  and  it 
was  instantly  suspected  that  a  submarine  was 
at  work.  A  second  explosion  followed,  and  a 
fishing  vessel  was  seen  to  disappear.  A 
number  of  the  drifters  had  already  cut  their 
nets  adrift  and  were  making  a  rush  for  port 
and  safety.  The  skipper  himself  tried  to 
escape,  but  a  big  submarine  came  up  rapidly, 
and  he  was  ordered  to  stop.  Two  tall  men 
boarded  him  from  the  submarine,  each  of  them 
carrying  bombs. 

The  drifter  was  destroyed,  and  her  crew 
were  taken  on  board  the  submarine,  on  whose 
deck  other  fishermen  were  assembled,  making 
twenty  in  all.  The  German  commander  was 
in  the  conning  tower,  and  all  the  time  the 
skipper  was  on  board  the  submarine — about  an 


skipper  as  to  the  lights  that  were  seen,  and 
whether  any  of  the  fishing  vessels  carried  guns. 
A  stop  was  made  to  destroy  another  drifter, 
and  fishermen  were  added  to  the  crowd  on  the 
submarine's  deck,  making  a  total  of  30,  all 
of  whom  realized  that  their  fate  was  almost 
certain  if  a  warship  appeared.  They  were 
satisfied  that  if  such  a  vessel  came  up  the 
submarine  would  dive  and  leave  them  in  the 
sea.  This,  fortunately,  did  not  happen,  and 
the  fishermen,  to  their  intense  relief,  were  put 
on  board  a  small  drifter,  and  left  to  themselves. 
Before  he  disappeared  the  submarine  com- 
mander gave  precise  orders  that  lights  should 
be  kept  burning,  and  that  the  drifters  were 
not  to  move  till  daylight,  the  punishment  for 
disobedience  being  instant  destruction.  Having 
issued  his  directions  he  resumed  his  work  of 
sinking  drifters. 

The    skipper    described    the    destruction    as 


1S2 


THE    TIMES    HISTOBY    OF    THE    WAR. 


very  deliberate  and  well  organized,  and  he 
calculated  that  on  an  average  one  vessel  was 
sunk  every  16  minutes.  In  some  cases 
crews  of  destroyed  craft  were  sent  adrift  in 
their  own  little  boats  ;  in  others  refuge  was 
sought  on  board  vessels  which  escaped  destruc- 
tion. Finally  a  patrol  boat  picked  up  some  of 
the  men  and  took  them  into  port.  The  time 
of  the  year  and  the  calmness  of  the  weather 
prevented  much  suffering  and  loss  of  life. 
This  wholesale  destruction  of  fishing  vessels 


or  damaged,"  he  said,  "  is  communicated 
confidentially  to  the  shipowners  concerned 
and  to  Lloyd's.  If  it  is  stated  that  they  are 
sunk  by  submarines  it  cannot  be  in  consequence 
of  official  information  from  us." 

The  losses  of  fishermen  and  fishing  vessels 
were  grievous.  Many  of  them  took  place 
during  the  winter  of  1916-17,  which  was  one 
of  exceptional  bitterness,  and  men  might  well 
have  declared  that  to  go  to  sea  was  to  court 
almost  sure  disaster  from  submarine,  mine,  or 


A    RECORD    CATCH    OF    BETWEEN    60,000    AND    70,000    MACKEREL    AT    YAKMOUTH. 


was  the  forerunner  of  other  similar  acts  against 
fishing  fleets.  Though  the  losses  were  heavy, 
yet  they  were  almost  inevitable,  in  view  of  the 
methods  which  were  adopted  to  cause  them, 
and  the  vast  area  of  sea  which,  even  under  the 
rigid  regulations  that  were  in  force,  had  to  be 
protected  by  the  Navy.  It  was  significant 
that  the  fisherman,  who  suffered  most,  was  the 
last  man  to  raise  the  foolish  cry,  "  Where  is 
the  Navy — what  is  it  doing  ?  " 

While  most  of  the  losses  among.st  fishing 
vessels  were  doubtless  due  to  submarine  attacks 
it  was  not  the  policy  of  the  Admiralty  to 
announce  how  or  where  ships  were  sunk. 
Both  these  facts,  Dr.  Macnamara  stated  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  were  of  vise  to  the 
"  Information  that  a  vessel  is  sunk 


gale.  But  the  old  North  Sea  spirit  triumphed. 
No  danger  daunted  and  no  threat  deterred. 
The  more  the  Germans  resorted  to  barbarism 
the  more  determined  was  the  British  fisherman 
to  reap  the  harvest  of  the  sea  on  which  he  had 
been  a  life -long  toiler. .  He  went  forth  and  he 
laboured,  under  the  protection  of  the  all- 
powerful  Navy,  and  with  such  success  that 
even  in  the  abnormal  state  of  the  weather  at 
the  beginning  of  1917,  when  the  severest  frost 
prevailed  that  had  been  known  for  22  years, 
when  ships  at  sea  were  filigreed  in  ice, 
he  was  able  to  send  good  supplies  of  fish  to 
market.  In  January,  1917,  the  weight  of  fish 
landed  at  Billingsgate  Market  was  7,348  tons. 
In  the  previous  January  the  supplies  amounted 
to  6,741  tons.  These  quantities  were,  of 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


183 


course,  far  below  the  pre-war  rates  ;  but  at 
that  period  four  large  fleets  of  steam  trawlers 
were  at  work  on  the  North  Sea,  maintaining 
constant  communication  with  Billingsgate  by 
means  of  carriers.  The  Board  of  Trade  Labour 
Gazette,  in  a  review  of  food  prices  in  1910, 
stated  :  "In  July,  1916,  fish  averaged  about 
80  per  cent,  above  the  level  of  two  years  earlier, 
this  being  the  lowest  point  reached  during  the 
year  and  representing  a  drop  from  105  per  cent, 
at  the  beginning  of  February.  At  the  end  of 
191  (i  the  price  of  fish  was  about  one-third 
liigher  than  a  year  earlier." 

In  keeping  the  markets  supplied  fishermen 
ran  the  gravest  risks  of  death  or  capture.  A 
skipper  who  was  fishing  in  the  very  early  days 
of  the  war  was  made  prisoner  with  many  other 
fishermen,  their  vessels,  steam  trawlers  which 
were  single-boating,  being  sunk  by  Germans. 
For  fifteen  months  he  was  a  prisoner,  then  he 


FILLING    BASKETS    ON    BOARD. 

was  sent  home,  being  too  old  to  fight  ;  anil 
even  if  he  had  been  young  enough  the  brutal 
treatment  of  his  captors  would  have  put  him 
utterly  beyond  the  power  of  combat.  The 
war  had  ruined  him  ;  he  had  lost  all  in  adven- 
turously harvesting  the  Dogger. 

Many  fishermen  went  to  sea  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  they  had  been  submarined  or  bombed 
once  or  more.  A  very  remarkable  case  was 
that  of  a  man  who  won  the  name  "  Submarine 
Billy,"  because  on  three  different  occasions  on 
the  North  Sea  he  had  sailed  in  smacks  which 
had  been  blown  up  by  crews  of  German  sub- 


marines. The  second  time  he  was  shot  through 
the  thigh,  while  in  the  little  boat  to  which  the 
men  had  been  ordered.  Helpless  on  the  water 
though  they  were — and  there  was  a  little  lad 
amongst  them — they  were  deliberately  fired 
upon  by  the  Germans.  With  each  little 
brown-sailed  smack  the  procedure  was  pre- 
cisely the  same — five  minutes'  notice  to  quit 
and  take  to  the  boat,  then  annihilation  by 
bomb. 


HAULING    "KITS"  ON   TO  THE   WHARF. 

"  About  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after  we  left 
the  smack  there  was  a  terrific  explosion,"  said 
"  Submarine  Billy."  "  The  deck  split  up, 
there  was  a  lot  of  fire  and  smoke,  she  began  to 
sink,  and  in  about  eight  minutes  she.  had  gone 
altogether.  Our  floating  home  and  everything 
in  it  went  to  the  bottom."  The  Germans  lost 
no  time  over  their  task,  the  narrator  added. 
They  did  not  mind  unarmed  fishermen,  but 
they  dreaded  the  appearance  of  British 
destroyers  and  armed  trawlers  and  patrols. 
"  Submarine  Billy  "  had  his  woes  crowned  by 
being  "  gassed "  by  the  fumes  of  a  bomb 
dropped  from  a  Zeppelin  which  was  hovering 
low  in  a  thick  haze.  He  was  asked  what 
happened  to  the  boy.  "  He  was  a  splendid 
little  chap,"  he  answered.  "  He  had  been 
badly  scared,  but  he  pulled  up,  and  in  two  or 
three  days  went  to  sea  again." 

"  Went  to  sea  again."  That  summed  up 
the  ordinary  fisherman's  achievement.  And  all 
the  time  he  maintained  his  indomitable  optim- 
ism, and  his  resolution  never  faltered.  He 
was  furnished  with  efficient  tools,  and  knew 
precisely  how  to  use  them  ;  he  had  faith  in  his 
superiors  and  a  childlike  trust  in  the  genius 
that  controlled  the  Navy — and  he  was  incor- 


184 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


WHITE   FISH   MARKET,  NORTH  SHIELDS. 
Inset :  Scottish  Fisher  Lasses. 


rigibly  contemptuous  of  the  German.  He 
\vas  still  disposed  to  look  upon  the  Teuton  as 
the  fat,  somewhat  simple  fellow  he  had  so 
often  met  near  Heligoland  and  on  the  Dutch 
and  German  coasts,  and  to  whom  he  had,  in 
hours  of  relaxation,  sung  a  doggerel  composition 


PACKING    HERRINGS. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


185 


of  obscure  humour  which  ended  with  the 
encouraging  refrain  : — • 

"  Copenhagen  shall  be  tagen — 

Ja,  ja,  ja  !  " 

But  he  had  solid  reason  for  the  faith  and 
comfort  that  were  in  him,  because  he  knew 
what  was  being  done  ;  there  was  not  for  him 
the  impenetrable  veil  which  hid  the  doings  of 
the  Navy  from  the  anxious  public.  Except 
amongst  his  own  kind  he  seldom  spoke  of  what 
he  did  and  saw  ;  letters  from  sea  were  rigidly 
censored,  and  rightly  so,  but  it  was  known  that 
not  a  few  Germans,  especially  in  the  North 


he  said,  "  anyway  every  two  months,  then  I 
get  four  days.  1  am  not  mine -sweeping,  but 
doing  escort  work  and  patrol,  and  it's  very 
trying  at  times.  There's  something  •  more 
than  haddocks  to  play  about  with  now.  but  I 
think  we  can  manage  them  all  right.  ...  I 
have  just  arrived  in  port,  having  been  waiting 
for  an  escort  for  three  days,  only  to  hear  that 
she  is  sunk.  So  here  I  am  at  my  base 
for  24  hours'  rest,  after  eight  days  at 
sea.  It's  a  warm  place  here,  on  this  East 
Coast.  We  had  our  Christmas  at  sea, 

but    under   fairly    comfortable    circumstances. 


MOCK    AUCTION    OF    FISH    AT    YARMOUTH. 


Sea,  had  paid  the  final  price  as  the  result  of 
meeting  one  or  more  armed  trawlers  or  patrol- 
boats.  Strenuous  and  successful  work  was 
<lone  by  the  fishermen  auxiliaries.  One  skipper, 
a  fine,  steady,  reliable  example  of  his  class, 
who  had  distinguished  himself  and  received  a 
well-merited  honour,  said  that  two  German 
submarines  in  a  certain  area  had  suddenly 
shown  themselves  to  two  armed  trawlers — 
and  very  soon  after  the  meeting  there  was  "  a 
tough  job." 

The  winter  work  of  the  patrollers  was  well 
described  by  the  skipper  of  a  craft  on  his 
return  to  his  base.  "  I  get  home  fairly  often," 


The  weather  was  not  so  bad — plenty  of  rain, 
but  that  don't  hurt  the  old  North  Sea  boys." 

A  sweeper  who  was  busy  in  submarine- 
infested  areas  wrote  :  "  Our  men  were  out  and 
sighted  a  submarine,  but  it  came  on  to  blow 
and  they  had  a  rough  time  of  it.  One  drifter 
.  was  almost  lost  through  a  heavy  sea  cominsr 
on  board.  We  have  been  very  busy  with  the 
submarines.  We  have  been  at  it  night  and 
day — and  so  bitter  cold,  too.  One  young 
man  coming  aboard  his  ship — it  was  very  dark 
at  the  time — fell  overboard  and  was  drowned. 
The  glass  is  well  down  ;  the  sky  looks  very  bad. 
It  has  been  bad  times  with  us  lately — no  rest 


THE     T1MKS    HISTORY    OF    THE     WAR. 


\\hile  these  submarines  nrc  about.     Wo  are  on 
deck  in  all  weathers.  c;>ld  and  wet  through." 

"  We   have   been   very   busy   with   the   sub- 
marines  lately"   another  sweeper  said,    "and 


MINE    SWEEPERS. 

The  trawlers  work  in  pairs  :  the  second  vessel  can 

be    seen    behind    the    funnel    of    the    foremost  ;    a 

strong  cable  is  stretched  between  the  two. 

the  weather  has  been  awful  bad  for  our  small 
craft.  They  sunk  three  steamers  close  here, 
and  afterwards  it  blew  very  hard  and  cold. 
Poor  fellows  !  We  managed  to  pick  up  the 
three  boats  full  of  the  crews.  It  blew  a  heavy 
gale  of  wind  at  the  time.  One  hardly  expects 
a  ship  to  stand  it,  let  alone  a  small  boat." 


Another  mine-sweeper  said  that  during 
four  sweeps  he  brought  12  mines  to  the 
surface  and  exploded  them.  "  I  have  been 
out  sweeping  continually  up  to  yesterday," 
he  went  on,  "  but  did  not  get  any  thing.  I 
believe  I  have  cleared  them  away,  but  there 
might  be  a  few  missed  ;  anyhow,  the  next  time 
we  shall  sweep  east  and,  west,  to  make  certain 
— have  done  before  the  sweeping  north  and 
south.  I  have  been  at  it  every  morning  at 
3,  finishing  at  5  p.m.  Last  month,  when 
nearly  completing  the  sweeping,  I  swept  up 
five  mines  and  came  across  five  full  petrol 
tanks,  each  holding  about  51  gallons  or  more, 
which  appeared  as  if  they  had  been  moored. 
I  therefore  set  to  work  by  destroying  and  sink- 
ing them." 

The  fishermen  were  not  good  correspondents  ; 
to  some  of  them  reading  and  writing  were 
unknown,  but  there  were  many,  especially  of 
the  younger  generation,  who  were  able  to  put 
on  record  stories  of  quiet  heroism  and  resource- 
fulness. From  the  English  Channel,  in  the 
spring  of  1916,  a  sweeper  wrote  saying  :  "  We 
have  helped  to  do  a  little  good  since  we  have 
been  patrolling  this  part  of  the  coast.  There 
are  four  ships  in  our  division,  and  we  have 
sunk  four  mines  this  last  month.  .  .  .  We 
picked  up  29  hands  oft  the  steamship  - 
belonging  to  -  — .  The  crew  had  just  time 
to  get  into  the  boats  before  the  steamer  sunk. 
When  we  took  them  on  board  thev  found  out. 


SALVING    A    DERELICT    TORPEDO. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


187 


MINE-SWEEPING    TRAWLERS    AT    LOWESTOFT. 


that  the  captain  and  the  second  mate  were 
not  there,  so  we  launched  our  small  boat. 
Two  of  our  crew  and  myself  went  to  look  for 
the  captain  and  mate.  We  had  not  pulled 
far  before  we  could  hear  them  in  the  water, 
shouting  for  help.  Pleased  to  let  you  know 
that  we  got  them  all  right.  They  were 
swimming  away  from  the  ship,  or  else  if  they 
had  not  she  would  have  taken  them  down. 
I  heard  the  explosion.  I  had  just  turned  in 
my  bunk.  As  soon  as  I  got  on  the  deck  the 
vessel  had  begun  to  sink.  She  was  torpedoed 
by  a  German  submarine.  It  was  about  9  p.m., 
and  getting  dark.  I  was  glad  they  were  all 
saved  and  not  one  injured.  I  should  think 
their  poor  wives  and  children  would  be  pleased 
when  they  got  the  news  that  all  hands  were 
saved." 

The  fishermen's  roll  of  honour  grew  to  an 
extent  whicli  could  be  appreciated  only  by  a 
close  study  of  the  lists  issued  by  the  Admiralty 
and  published  in.  extenso  in  The  Times.  On 
December  6,  1916,  the  Admiralty  lists  showed 
that  27  fishermen,  second  hands,  deck-hands, 
enginemen,  trimmers,  etc.,  had  been  killed  ; 
21  were  missing,  believed  killed;  and  11  were 
missing.  There  were  also  announced,  throe 


days  later,  the  names  of  no  fewer  than  seven 
skippers  amongst  34  naval  officers  reported 
killed.  An  official  publication  contained  in 
January,  1917,  the  names  of  80  skippers  who 
had  been  killed  in  action. 

Many  of  the  acts  of  heroism  were  not  recorded, 
and  it  was  only  occasionally  that  the  public, 
through  the  newspapers,  became  aware  of  tho 
consistently  courageous  conduct  of  the  fisher- 
men. There  was  a  Grimsby  fisliing  vessel — her 
name  was  not  given — under  whose  keel  a  mine 
exploded.  A  hole  wa?  made  in  the  vessel's 
hull,  and  the  little  cramped  engine-room  was 
filled  with  scalding  steam  from  the  damaged 
boiler,  while  the  sea  rushed  in  and  almost 
overwhelmed  her.  The  situation  was  extremely 
perilous,  and  called  for  promptest  action  and 
the  highest  courage.  Both  were  instantly  at 
hand.  The  chief  engineer,  P.  P.  Wilson,  and 
the  second  engineer,  C.  E.  East,  set  to  work  to 
save  both  ship  and  life.  Wilson,  reckless  of 
the  scalding  steam  and  rush  of  sea,  forced  his 
way  into  the  engine-room  and  plugged,  as  best 
he  could,  the  hole  caused  by  the  explosion  ; 
while  East,  although  violently  thrown  against 
the  boiler  by  the  motion  of  the  vessel,  "  made 
his  way  to  tho  bunker  to  save  his  fireman." 


1SS 


77.U/-:x     HISTORY    OF    THE    WAK. 


That  i-;  to  say,  he  struggled  in  the  blinding, 
scalding,  darkening  atmosphere  of  what  was 
nothing  inoro  than  a  larao  steel  box,  crawled 
and  dragged  himself  to  the  appalling  little  hole 


CHIEF  ENGINEER   F.  P.  WILSON,  D.S.M. 

•which  was  called  a  bunker,  and  saved  the 
imprisoned  stoker  whose  chance  of  salvation 
seemed  hopeless.  While  this  was  going  on 
another  trawler  near  at  hand,  which  had  been 
mined  also,  was  sinking,  and  her  crew  of  seven 
were  in  imminent  peril.  It  might  well  have 
been  that  the  men  on  the  other  ship  thought 
they  had  their  own  hands  full,  and  could  do 
no  more  ;  but  that  was  not  the  North  Sea  way, 
it  was  not  the  fighting,  conquering  spirit  of  the 
Dogger.  In  the  old  days,  in  the  deadly  gales 
which  fishers  called  "  smart  breezes,"  when  a 
smack  was  hove  down  or  a  boat  capsized  in 
boarding  fish,  the  smacksmen  paid  no  thought 
to  danger  and  they  went  about  the  work  of 
rescue.  So  now  the  second  hand — the  mate — 
on  Wilson's  vessel  took  in  charge  the  launching 
of  the  little  boat.  E.  R.  Gooderham  they 
called  him.  He  got  the  boat  overboard  and 
took  it  to  the  other  mined  trawler,  which  by 
this  time  was  capsizing.  Oooderham  fonirlit 
his  way  into  the  very  vortex,  and  though  the 
sinking  vessel  was  almost  turning  completely 
over  on  to  his  boat  yet  he  saved  the  seven 
members  of  her  crew  ;  then  he  strenuously 
pulled  out  of  the  death-embracing  area.  For 
tl^ese  acts  of  true  heroism  the  engineers  were 
awarded  Distinguished  Service  Medals,  while 
Hie  M-cimd  hand  was  "highly  commended  for 


exceptional  bravery  in  emergencies."  The 
Victoria  Cross  had  been  given  for  less.  This 
case  was  merely  typical  — there  were  very  many 
like  it,  all  around  the  British  coasts  and  far 
afield.  Many  of  the  acts  were  put  on  record 
and  officially  acknowledged  ;  but  there  were 
many  others,  just  as  splendid,  of  which  no 
word  of  praise  could  be  spoken  or  written,  for 
the  doers  had  perished  in  the  time  of  their 
achievement. 

A  trawler  was  attacked  and  sunk  by  a  sub- 
marine. A  few  months  later  the  skipper  went 
off  in  a  drifter  for  the  night,  to  take  the  place 
of  a  man  who  was  forced  to  remain  ashore. 
The  drifter  was  blown  up  ;  but  again  the  skipper 
had  the  good  fortune  to  escape.  He  was  asked 
what  he  thought  of  the  matter,  and  he  answered, 
"  There's  one  good  thing  about  it — you  take, 
it  calmer  the  second  time!"  That  was  the 
spirit  which,  with  rare  exceptions,  was  shown 
by  the  fishermen  ;  and  the  exceptions  were 
mostly  cases  in  which  men's  nervous  systems 
had  been  seriously  weakened  by  incessant 
strain.  The  fisherman  had  no  complaint  to 
make  about  the  inevitable  hazards  of  war  ;  he 
bore  them  philosophically,  and  whenever  he 
could  do  so  he  spoke  a  good  word  for  the  enemy. 
There  were  rare  and  precious  occasions  on 


SECOND  ENGINEER   C.  E.  EAST,   D.S.M. 

which  he  was  able  to  say  that  the  German  had 
acted  like  a  gentleman. 

The  new  and  heavy  dangers  which  the  war 
had  added  to  his  life  had  but  little  effect  upon 
the  fisherman,  except  to  make  him  even  more 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


389 


BOARDING    FISH  :    A    BROADSIDE    VIEW. 


BOARDING    FISH:    THE    SCENE    CN    BOARD    THE    CARRIER. 


I'.M) 


THE     TLMKS     HISTOUY     OF     THE     WAR. 


enduring  than  of  old.  His  courage  sustained 
him  in  the  darkest  hours,  his  resourcefulness 
enabled  him  to  conquer  apparently  hopeless 
dilHeulties,  and  his  old-time  ways  were  not  to 
he  amended  except  at  heavy  cost.  His  habit 
of  closely  examining  and  somewhat  carelessly 
handling  oddments  that  his  trawl  brought  tip 


A    CAPTURED    TORPEDO. 

from  the  deep  sea  clung  to  him  when  extreme 
caution  was  essential ;  hence  such  tales  as  that 
of  a  crew  who  hauled  on  board  a  mysterious 
object  which  was  believed  to  be  a  mine,  but 
was  so  heavily  barnacled  as  to  make  identity 
doubtful.  A  scraping  of  the  barnacles  to  solve 
the  mystery  resulted  in  the  posting  of  the 
vessel  and  the  crew  as  missing.  That,  at  any 
rate,  was  a  tale  of  the  sea  ;  and  there  \vcre 
many  like  it. 

The  old  spirit  of  freedom  which  was  little 
less  than  lawlessness  occasionally  reasserted 
itself  in  individuals.  Such  instances  usually 
came  to  light  by  way  of  the  police  courts,  but 
one  special  case  was  made  public  through  the 
unexpected  medium  of  an  Honours  List,  in  the 
-•etion  "  Police  Medals  :  Service  at  Home  and 
Abroad."  \7arious  members  of  the  police  forces 
and  fire  brigades  of  the  United  Kingdom  were 
honoured,  and  amongst  them  was  the  following  : 
"  Albert  Edward  Bell,  constable,  Isle  of  Man 
Constabulary.  A  drunken  skipper  of  a  patrol 
I M »it  came  ashore  at  Ramsey  Harbour  with 
two  revolvers,  and  landed  four  of  his  crew  as 
iirined  sentries.  He  threatened  various  people, 
fired  two  shots,  and  then  aimed  at  one  of  his 
crew.  The  revolver  missed  lire,  and  while  he 
was  raising  it  again  Bel!  rushed  at  him  and 
took  the  revolver  nway." 

Tlii-   was   an    unu-snal   instance    of   drunken 


folly  ;  it  was  reminiscent  of  the  wild  deeds  of 
"  Paraffin  Jack  "  in  the  days  of  the  old  sailing 
fleets  ;  but  there  were  many  regrettable  cases 
of  insubordination  and  other  wrongdoing  due 
to  drink,  as  anyone  saw  who  came  into  contact 
with  the  sweepers  and  fishermen  on  the  vast 
stretch  of  coast-line  that  provided  bases.  On 
the  other  hand  the  various  religious  and  philan- 
thropic agencies,  working  with  the  efficient 
Naval  Chaplains'  Department,  did  much  to 
ameliorate  the  evil  and  to  raise  the  tone  of  the 
large  bodies  of  men  who  were  assembled  at  the 
bases. 

At  one  important  base  a  naval  officer  who 
wished  to  make  a  special  effort  to  accommodate 


DRIFTER    BRINGING    FRESH    FISH 
ALONGSIDE    A    WARSHIP. 

trawler  ratings  saw  the  military  officer  >vho 
was  in  charge  of  certain  buildings  which  might 
be  available  as  temporary  quarters.  "  They 
shall  not  come  here  if  I  can  help  it,"  the 
military  officer  declared,  and  on  being  pressed 
for  the  reason  of  his  objection  he  replied  that 
he  had  been  given  to  understand  that  the 
trawlennen  were  the  refuse  of  the  community, 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAU 


CLEANING    FISH    FOR    BREAKFAST. 


and  were  lost  to  all  sense  of  discipline.  This 
was  in  the  earlier  period  of  the  war,  the  base  was 
in  a  region  greatly  frequented  by  fishermen  in 
normal  times,  and  near  a  port  which  had  be- 
come notorious  by  reason  of  its  fishing  popu- 
lation's doings  ;  yet  this  port  gave  lavishly  of 
its  toilers  of  the  deep  and  showed  that  they 
merely  needed  help  and  guidance  to  prove 
themselves  as  amenable  to  discipline  as  any 
members  of  the  Royal  Navy. 

One  of  the  most  striking  features  of  the 
affiliation  of  the  fishermen  with  the  Navy  was 
the  improvement  that  took  place  in  directions 
in  which  advance  seemed  hopeless.  The  rigid 
restrictions  of  the  drink  traffic  undoubtedly 
had  much  to  do  with  this  satisfactory  result. 

Nothing  that  the  Germans  could  do  deterred 
the  vast  body  of  fishermen  from  going  to  ser, 
and  trying  their  luck,  and  it  was  obvious  that 
but  for  the  Naval  Regulations  there  would 
have  been  skippers  daring  enough  to  go  over 
to  the  German  coast  itself.  Not  even  the 
heavy  penalties  that  were  imposed  for  infringe- 
ment of  them  kept  fishermen  away  from  pro- 
hibited areas  ;  and  even  after  severe  losses  on 
craft  had  been  inflicted  by  enemy  submarines 
they  persisted  on  getting  out  of  bounds.  In 


connexion  with  the  actual  sinking  of  some 
Grimsby  trawlers  in  September,  1916,  eleven 
skippers  were  charged  at  the  Grimsby  Police 
Court  with  fishing  in  prohibited  waters.  They 
pleaded  guilty,  but  urged  that  the  offence  was 
unintentional.  They  were,  however,  severely 
punished,  for  fines  amounting  to  £325  were 
imposed.  One  great  temptation  to  enter  pro- 
hibited areas  was  undoubtedly  the  eagerness 
to  get  fish,  in  view  of  the  exceptional  prices 
which  ruled  on  the  markets  and  the  enormous 
incomes  which  it  was  possible  for  skippers  and 
other  share-hands  to  make.  It  was  freely  stated 
at  the  end  of  1916  that  there  were  skippers  who 
were  making  from  £5,000  to  £6,000  a  year  ; 
but  this  was  doubtless  an  exaggeration,  al- 
though skippers  were  certainly  earning 
incomes  which  went  well  into  four  figures 
sterling. 

The  prosperity  of  some  of  the  fishing  com- 
panies was  shown  by  ths  fact  that  one  of  them 
was  able  to  subscribe  £100,000  to  the  great 
U'ar  Loan  in  February,  1917  :  and  skippers  who 
had  become  affluent  invested  large  sums  in  the 
Loan.  During  the  war,  as  in  time  of  peace, 
the're  existed  the  good  and  ill  luck  that  are 
inseparable  from  fishing,  for  while  some  men 


192 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE     WAP. 


<   •* 

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os    3 

o  | 

W       4> 

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o 
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lM 

O 


a 

— 
"s 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


reaped  fortunes  there  were  others  to  whom  the 
enterprise  meant  heavy  or  complete  loss. 

In  spite  of  the  losses  which  had  been  sustained 
there  was  not  that  advance  in  the  price  of 
fishing  vessels  which  had  been  anticipated, 
though  the  increase  both  in  cost  of  production 
and  in  the  value  of  second-hand  craft  was  very 
considerable.  The  sum  of  £6,500  was  asked 
for  an  iron  trawler  nearly  27  years  old ;  a 
small  vessel,  a  20-year  old  trawler,  changed 
hands  at  the  reported  price  of  £10,700,  a 
remarkable  sum  in  view  of  the  fact  that  even 
at  that  'time  a  first-class  North  Sea  trawler 
had  been  launchod  at  a  cost  of  £10,000,  and 
vessels  which  had  been  previously  contracted 
for  were  only  about  35  per  cent,  above  pre-war 
quotations.  Yet  with  high  prices  like  these 
to  pay  it  was  possible  to  operate  with  great 
success.  Allied  nations  were  in  the  same  posi- 
tion as  the  British,  and  heavy  prices  had  to  be 
paid  for  fishing  craft.  The  Japanese-owned 
steel  screw  trawler  Kaiko  Maru,  built  at  Osaka 
in  191 1,  was  sold  to  French  buyers  for  £13,000. 

No  official  details  were  given  as  to  the  number 
of  lives  which  had  been  saved  in  various  ways 
by  fishermen  who  were  serving  in  sweepers 
and  patrollers  ;  but  reports  showed  that  the 
number  was  very  great  and  embraced  rescues 
from  ships  of  every  sort  and  nationality. 
The  Mediterranean  was  frequently  mentioned 
as  the  sphere  of  much  of  this  quiet  heroism, 
a  display  for  which  the  fisherman's  training 
peculiarly  well  fitted  him.  for  he  was  accustomed 
to  prompt  action  in  boat  work,  and  heavy 
seas  in  small  craft  had  no  terrors  for  him. 
Most  of  his  existence  had  been  spent  in  a  vessel 
over  the  low  rail  of  which  the  sea  could  almost 
be  touched  with  the  hand  ;  he  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  "  throwing "'  his  boat  overboard, 
tumbling  into  it  and  hurrying  off  in  North  Sea 
fashion,  standing  to  his  rowing,  one  man  facing 
forward,  one  man  facing  aft,  the  better  to  meet 
the  uncertain  seas  ;  and  it  was  this  readiness 
for  emergencies,  this  celerity  in  action,  that 
enabled  him  to  say,  as  one  skipper,  writing 
from  a  Mediterranean  base,  did  say,  that  within 
a  comparatively  brief  period  the  trawlers  had 
saved  many  lives.  Many  of  these  were  soldiers : 
many  were  women  and  children. 

One  of  the  finest  achievements  of  the  trawlers 
in  the  Mediterranean  was  in  connexion  with 
the  cowardly  torpedoing  of  the  Arabia,  referred 
to  in  the  preceding  chapter.  According  to  the 
Admiralty  account  all  the  passengers  were 
saved  by  various  vessels  which  were  diverted 


to  the  scene  of  the  disaster.  Amongst  those 
vessels  were  several  trawlers,  whose  crews  set 
instantly  to  work  to  save  the  Arabia's  people, 
especially  the  women  and  children.  A  cor- 
respondent of  The  Times  telegraphed  on  Novem- 
ber 13  from  Marseilles  a  story  which  had  been 
told  to  him  by  Mr.  Prentice,  of  the  Indian  Civil 
Service.  That  little  narrative  revealed  some- 
thing of  the  rescuing  trawlers'  fine  work : 
"  Ultimately  I  was  put  aboard  a  trawler  on 
which  were  about  166  rescued.  We  set  off  in 
a  calm  sea  for  Malta,  270  miles  away  The 
first  few  hours  were  by  no  means  unpleasant, 


H.M.    MINE    SWEEPERS'    RIBBON 
Of  which  the  men  are  justifiably  proud. 

but  after  nightfall  the  sea  grew  rough.  Every 
wave  swept  the  trawler  from  stem  to  stern. 
We  had  few  wraps,  and  most  of  us  lay  with 
drenched  clothes  till  we  reached  Malta.  They 
were  37  hours  of  utter  misery  On  the  first 
afternoon  the  crew  of  the  trawler  gave  us  a 
good  meal  of  stew,  but  that  exhausted  their 
supplies,  and  from  that  moment  we  subsisted 
on  ship's  biscuits.  More  than  half  the  sur- 
vivors on  the  trawlers  were  women  and 
children." 

Wondrous  fish  yarns  were  related  in  connex- 
ion with  the  war  at  sea,  and  even  more  astonish- 
ing than  some  of  the  wildest  works  of  fiction 


194 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    Of'    THE    WAR. 


SCENE    IN    THE    FISH    DOCK    AT    HULL. 


were  devices  with  which  the  enemy  were 
credited.  The  story  of  a  remarkable  incident 
found  its  way  across  the  North  Sea  from  Sulen, 
n?ar  the  entrance  to  the  Trondhjem  Fjord. 
Some  fisharmen  secured  a  wooden  box,  which 
they  saw  floating  on  the  sea,  and  on  opening 
it  they  found  a  tin  box  containing  a  fish.  The 
fish  suddenly  began  to  burn  and  emit  a  sul- 
phurous smell,  whereupon  the  men,  unnerved 
by  the  astounding  performance  of  the  occupant 
of  this  rival  to  Pandora's  box,  hurled  it  back 
into  the  water.  When  this  was  done  the  un- 
friendly fish  exploded  and  flames  shot  up  from 
it  to  a  tremendous  height.  The  fishing-boat 
was  nearly  capsized,  her  boat  was  smashed  to 
atoms  and  her  lanterns  were  destroyed,  while 
one  man  was  nearly  killed.  The  narrator  added 
that  the  region  where  this  occurred  was  infesterl 
'with  mines,  so  that  fishermen  wero  almost 
afraid  to  go  to  sea. 

Such  was  the  story,  an  1,  striking  though  it 
was,  yet  it  was  not  improbable  in  view  of  the 
avowed  determination  of  the  "  brave  German 
hearts "  to  sweep  the  fishers  from  the  seas, 
and  the  "  frightfuliiess  "  of  German  chemists 
who,  in  connexion  with  the  war,  had  gained  a 
notoriety  which  was  as  unsavoury  as  some  of 
their  scientific  products. 

The  special  efforts  which  had  been  made  to 
alleviate  the  hardships  of  fishermen  prisoners 
of  war  in  Germany  were  continued  with  un- 


abated energy.  As  tune  went  on  it  became 
necessary  to  take  steps  to  avoid  overlapping 
in  work  relating  to  these  captives,  and  accord- 
ingly the  Government  decided  that  as  from 
December  1,  1916,  all  parcels  of  food  must  be 
transmitted  to  prisoners  in  Germany  through 
a  recognized  association.  The  Royal  National 
Mission  to  Deep  Sea  Fishermen  was  the  society 
recognized  by  the  Government  for  ministeririx 
to  the  needs  of  fishermen  prisoners  of  war,  and 
no  other  association  or  private  individual  was 
permitted  to  send  parcels  of  food  except 
through  the  Mission  That  society  had  for  a 
considerable  p3riod  paid  close  attention  to  the 
needs  of  these  unfortunate  men  and  lads,  to 
each  of  whom,  weekly,  was  dispatched  a  parcel 
of  food  from  the  Grimsby  Institute,  under  the 
direction  of  Miss  Newnham.  The  parcel  was 
of  the  value  of  5s.,  and  was  often  accompanied 
by  boots  and  clothing  and  gifts  of  tobarco. 
During  1910  no  fewer  than  10,075  parcels 
were  sent  to  prisoners,  and  so  areat  became  the 
calls  upon  this  special  fund  that  a  preliminary 
expenditure  of  £40  a  week  ros?,  at  the  end  of 
the  year,  to  nearly  £100  a  week,  and  was  steadily 
growing.  It  spoke  well  for  the  interest  of  the 
public  in  the  imprisoned  fishermen  that  this 
special  fund  was  maintained  entirely  irrespective 
of  the  ordinary  support  which  was  given  to 
religious  and  philanthropic  work  amongst 
fishermen.  It  was  undoubtedly  these  parcels 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THK    WAK. 


195 


of  food  and  clothing  which  kept  the  fishermen 
prisoners  of  war  healthy  and  contributed  to 
their  comfort  and  happiness  ;  and  there  was 
abundant  evidence  from  tho  men  that  without 
them  they  would  have  suffered  severely  or 
staived  altogether.  While  these  special  efforts 


contact  with  sweepers  and  pati  oilers.  Abroad, 
as  well  as  at  home,  many  vo  untary  workers 
interested  themselves  in  fishermen  who  had 
joined  the  Navy,  many  of  whom  were  absent 
for  long  periods  without  leave.  In  Rome  ladies 
took  in  hand  the  cases  of  North  Sea  and  other 


'; 


EXPLODING    A    BOMB    DROPPED    ON    A    SUBMARINE. 

The  bomb  has  been  dropped  from  a  fast  patrol  vessel  which    has    chased    and  overtaken  the  submarine. 

It  explodes  beneath    the    water  at  a  depth  which  can  be  regulated.       The  photograph 

shows  the  wake  of  the  patrol  vessel  in  the  foreground. 


on  behalf  of  prisoners  were  being  made,  a  very 
fine  work  amongst  fishermen  ashore  was  being 
done,  great  voluntary  help  being  given  on  the 
West  Coast  by  Miss  Elizabeth  Cooper,  who  had 
the  support  and  encouragement  of  prominent 
naval  officers  who  wera  brought  much  into 


fishermen    who    had   been   absent    from   their 
homes  for  18  months 

At  the  many  bases  around  the  coasts  there 
came  into  existence  various  social  organizations 
promoted  by  sweepers  and  patrollers  and  their 
friends,  which  were  the  direct  outcome  of  the 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


A    QUIET    MOMENT    ON    BOARD    A    TRAWLER. 


war,  and  were  in  keeping  with  the  new  and 
improved  position  in  which  the  deep  sea  toiler 
found  himself.  There  were  skippers'  clubs  and 
club.s  for  lowor  ratings,  and  the  establishment 
of  these  rendezvous,  when  they  were  of  the  right 
and  helpful  sort,  was  officially  encouraged,  and 
many  of  them  proved  beneficial  to  men  who 
were  far  from  their  families  for  Jong  periods. 
In  numerous  instances  prosperous  skippers 
who  were  employed  in  fishing,  and  skippers  and 
other  men  who  were  sweeping  and  patrolling, 
moved  with  their  wives  and  families  to  their 
bases,  and  in  this  way  helped  to  make  the 
condition?  of  war  more  tolerable. 


Great,  almost  incredible,  social  changes  in 
the  fishing  community  and  in  fishing  mi  thods 
had  been  brought  about  by  the  war,  and  it  was 
obvious  to  students  of  the  fishing  enterprise 
that  some  of  these  changes  were  merely  fore- 
runners ot  far-reaching  alterations  that  would 
be  inevitable  when  the  war  was  over.  Men 
had  developed  a  wider  and  more  comprehending 
outlook,  and  it  was  improbable  that  they  would 
ever  return  to  the  old  conditions  which  governed 
the  conduct  of  the  industry,  especially  in  the 
fleets.  The  war  had  severely  penalized  the 
fisherman  •  but  it  had  brought  him  into  his 
own  in  the  way  of  public  recognition  and  rewarti. 


CHAPTER    CLXXIII. 
THE 

RUMANIAN   CAMPAIGN  OF   19 1 6  : 
.      •    (I)    TRANSYLVANIA. 

THE  STRATEGIC  POSITION  ON  RUMANIA'S  ENTRY  INTO  THK  WAR — HER  ARMIES THEIR  PLAN 

OF  CAMPAIGN — THE  RUMANIAN  ADVANCE  INTO  TKANSYLVANIA — THE  ENEMY  ADVANCE  IN  THE 

DOBRUDJA  ;   STOPPED  ON  THE  RASHOVA-TUZLA  FRONT — THE  GERMAN  FORCES  IN  TRANSYLVANIA 

THEIR  COUNTER-OFFENSIVE — THE  BATTLES  NORTH  OF  THE  VULCAN  PASS  AND  ROUND  HERMANN- 
STADT — THE  RETREAT  OF  THE  FIRST  RUMANIAN  ARMY — THE  RETREAT  OF  THE  SECOND  ARMY  TO 
THE  PASSES  SOUTH  OF  KRONSTADT — THE  RETREAT  OF  THE  FOURTH  ARMY  TO  THE  MOLDAVIAN 

BORDER — THE     CHARACTER     OF     THE     RUMANIAN     OCCUPATION     OF     TRANSYLVANIA ENEMY 

FRIGHTFULNESS. 


RUMANIA'S  intervention  in  the  war 
was  a  historic  necessity ;  events 
were  to  prove  that  her  entry  on 
August  27,  1916,  was  a  military 
blunder.  The  additional  number  of  men  that 
Rumania  brought  to  the  Allies  was  not  pro- 
portionate to  the  new  extension  of  the  battle 
line.  Her  entry  into  the  war  implied  an 
extension  of  the  Eastern  front  by  about  750 
miles  ;  its  length  was  practically  doubled.  A 
lengthening  of  the  front  as  a  rule  benefits  the 
wide  with  which  lies  the  initiative.  But,  from 
the  middle  of  August,  1916,  the  Russians  had 
been  gradually  losing  the  superiority  which  they 
had  established  during  the  preceding  two 
months  ;  by  the  end  of  August  the  strategic 
initiative  was  no  longer  with  them.  Mean- 
time in  Greece  the  deadlock  continued,  and 
with  it  the  immobility  of  the  Allies  with  re- 
gard to  Bulgaria.  Rumania  received  com- 
paratively little  support  in  the  first  stages  of 
her  campaign  ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  enemy- 
proved  able  to  raise  greater  numbers  of  men, 
and  to  raise  them  more  quickly  than  had  been 
generally  expected. 

In  this  war  of  straight,  continuous  lines,  the 
position  on  the  frontiers  of  Rumania  could 
Vol.  XI— Part  136.  197 


not  possibly  have  remained  one  of  even  balance. 
South  of  the  Jablonitsa  Pass — where  the 

Russian  battle  line  touched  the  Carpathians 

the  Eastern  front  presented  a  fantastic  outline. 
Transylvania  formed  a  vast  enemy  salient 
between  south-eastern  Galicia,  the  Bukovina 
(both  under  Russian  occupation)  and  Moldavia 
in  the  north-east,  and  Wallachia  in  the  south, 
these  two  fronts  enclosing  Transylvania  like 
the  arms  of  an  angle  of  about  60°.  But  even 
more  peculiar  was  the  position  of  Wallachia. 
It  found  itself  completely  sandwiched  in 
between  Transylvania  and  Bulgaria  ;  it  enters 
like  a  deep  inland  bay  between  these  two 
countries,  the  opposite  shores  facing  each 
other  on  long  parallel  lines.  Bulgaria  itself 
was  in  turn  sandwiched  in  between  Rmnania 
and  the  Salonika  armies,  threatened  by  the 
possibility  of  a  Russian  invasion  from  the 
Dobrudja,  and  of  an  advance  of  the  Allies  from 
their  ^Egean  base. 

This  system  of  stratified  fronts  and  inter- 
sandwiched  belligerent  countries  could  not 
possibly  have  continued  for  long.  The  straight, 
short  line  had  to  be  regained  either  by  an 
allied  sweep  through  Transylvania,  Bulgaria, 
and  Serbia,  or  by  an  enemy  sweep  through 


198 


'llii:    TLMKS    H1STOKY    OF    THE    WAR. 


DORNA  VATRA:  THE  MARKET  SQUARE. 


Wallachia.  It  was  a  shortening  of  the  front 
in  the  sense  favourable  to  the  enemy  that 
was  the  result  of  the  Rumanian  campaign  of 

1916.  The  line  reached  by  the  troops  of  the 
Central  Powers  in  the  beginning  of  January, 

1917,  was    practically    an    extension    across 
Rumania  of  the  Carpathian  front  in   Galicia 
and  the  Bukovina,  along  which  the  Annies  of 
Russia  and  of  the  Central  Powers  had  been 
facing  each  other  ever  since  July,  1916.     The 
new  battle-line  across  Rumania,  from  Dorna. 
Vatra  to  the  mouths  of  the  Danube,  was  only 
about  one-third  the  length  of  the  front  which 
Rumania  had  originally  added  on  her  entry  into 
the  war. 

It  was  certain  from  the  very  outset  that  the 
Rumanian  campaign  would  become  a  moving 
battle.  Neither  side  disposed  of  anything  like 
the  number  of  troops  required  for  holding  the 
line  of  August  28,  1916,  as  a  continuous  front. 
The  battle  had  to  move — and  just  as  liquids 
tend  towards  the  level,  so  the  weaker  side  in  a 
modern  campaign  seeks,  when  driven  into  the 
open,  the  shortest  possible  line  on  which  to 
regain  a  stable  balance.  As  against  all  the 
dead -locks  and  immovable  fronts,  at  last  a 
clear  field  could  have  been  opened  here  for  an 
Allied  advance,  for  a  seeking  of  new  short 
fronts  at  the  enemy's  expense.  That  the  field 
should  have  been  opened  at  a  most  inoppor- 
tune moment  was  the  tragic  blunder  of  the 
Rumanian  campaign.  It  might  have  been 
foreseen  that  the  enemy  would  concentrate  all 
his  available  forces  for  an  invasion  of  Rumania  ; 
indeed,  he  had  no  choice  in  the  matter,  and 
could  not  possibly  have  rested  satisfied  with 


merely  holding  his  own  frontier.  Quite  apart 
from  conquest  and  booty,  it  was  for  him  a 
question  of  strategic  security  and  of  attaining 
an  easily  defensible  short  line  on  this  front 
for  the  future.  But  if  the  Rumanians  were  to 
meet  in  an  open  battle  German  Armies,  even 
approximately  equal  in  numbers,  they  were 
bound  to  find  themselves  labouring  under  most 
serious  disadvantages. 

The  modern  system  of  entrenchments  has 
its  origin  in  the  need  of  cover  against  the 
immense  destructive  power  of  modern  weapons. 
It  stands  to  reason  that  the  more  elaborate  the 
defensive  system  the  easier  it  is  to  withstand  a 
superiority  of  armament.  But  Rumania,  very 
inferior  to  the  Central  Powers  in  artillery, 
machine-guns,  aviation  and  all  the  necessary 
technical  equipment,  had  to  fight  a  moving 
battle.  Further,  leadership  and  organization 
count  for  more  in  strategic  advances  and  re- 
treats than  in  stationary  trench  warfare.  There 
is  seldom  time  to  retrieve  blunders  where  big 
strategic  movements  take  place.  Battles  are 
decisive  and  rallies  are  difficult.  But  Rumania 
entered  the  war  under  -untried  leaders,  and 
with  an  untried  organization  ;  generals  who  had 
never  seen  actual  warfare,  except  perhaps  as 
youths  some  40  years  before,  had  to  meet 
the  best  leaders  that  the  experience  and  selec- 
tion of  two  years  of  warfare  had  put  at  the  head 
of  the  German  war-machine.  It  was  not 
until  Rumania's  position  had  become  extremely 
grave,  and  for  the  time  being  even  irretrievable, 
that  Russian  Generals  and  French  staff  officers 
were  conceded  a  leading  part  in  the  campaign. 

In   August,    1916,   the  Rumania  i   front   fell 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


191) 


into  three  marked  divisions.  From  Dorna 
Vatra,  in  the  corner  between  Austria,  Hungary, 
and  Rumania,  to  Orsova,  near  the  meeting 
point  of  Serbia,  Hungary  and  Rumania, 
extended  on  a  stretch  of  about  -  380  miles 
the  mountainous  Transylvanian  front.  From 
Orsova  to  a  point  some  10  miles  west  of  Tut- 
rakan,  the  Danube  intervened  on  a  front  of 
about  270  miles  between  the  opposing  forces. 
Lastly,  between  the  Danube  and  the  Black 
Sea  supervened  again  a  dry  frontier,  separating 
for  a  distance  of  about  100  miles  the  Rumanian 
province  of  the  Dobrudja  from  Bulgaria.  It 
could  be  regarded  as  certain  that,  at  least  in  the 
first  phase  of  the  hostilities,  the  line  of  the 
Danube  would  not  become  the  scene  of  any 


army  disposing  of  modem  engineering  re- 
sources, and  there  is  no  river  which  could  be 
directly  defended  on  a  stretch  of  270  miles 
unless  very  considerable  forces  were  detailed 
for  that  task.  Yet  on  the  frontier  between 
Rumania  and  Bulgaria  the  indirect  means  of 
defence  were  such  as  to  exclude  from  the  very 
outset  an  attempt  on  either  side  to  open 
hostilities  across  the  Danube.  Why  .should 
the  Rumanians  have  gone  to  the  trouble 
and  taken  the  risk  of  crossing  the  river  where 
their  boats  or  pontoons  would  soon  have  come 
under  hostile  fire,  when  they  had  at  their 
disposal  the  safe  river-crossings  of  Tutrakan 
and  Silistria,  and  the  great  railway  bridge  of 
Cernavoda,  with  both  banks  safely  in  their 


A    RUMANIAN    FIELD    GUN. 


serious  operations.  Below  the  Iron  Gates  of 
Orsova  the  river  broadens  to  an  average  width 
of  almost  a  mile  and  attains  a  depth  of  10  to 
15  feet.  It  flows  through  a  flat,  low -lying 
valley  varying  from  two  to  eight  miles  in 
width,  and  subject  to  frequent  inundations. 
On  the  northern — i.e.,  the  Rumanian  side — 
the  Danube  is  lined  by  a  long  string  of  lakes 
and  marshes,  which  break  up  the  flat  clay 
surface  of  the  valley  and  impede  the  access  to 
the  river.  The  southern  bank  rises  on  almost 
the  entire  stretch  steep  above  the  river,  forming 
rocky  cliffs,  from  which  the  Bulgarian  and 
German  artillery  could  dominate  the  approaches 
from  the  opposite  side.  There  is,  of  course, 
no  river  which  could  not  be  crossed  by  an 


possession  ?  In  fact,  the  Dobrudja  was  for 
Rumania  the  bridge-head  leading  into  Bul- 
garia. On  the  other  hand  Bulgaria,  although 
she  held  a  dominating  position  on  the  banks 
of  the  Danube,  could  not  have  risked  an  invasion 
of  Rumania  across  the  river,  as  long  as  the 
flank  and  rear  of  the  attacking  force  were 
exposed  to  a  counter-offensive  from  the 
Dobrudja.  Hence,  in  August,  1916,  of  the 
three  divisions  of  the  Rumanian  frontier, 
only  two  counted  for  purposes  of  active  war- 
fare ;  there  were  only  two  theatres  of  war — • 
Transylvania  and  the  Dobrudja. 

In  either  theatre  Rumania  required  a  suc- 
cessful offensive  to  establish  a  balance  in  the 
strategic  position.  In  this  war  of  railway 


200 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


KVI 


ON    THE    RUMANIAN    FRONT. 

A   priest  with  the  advanced  line. 


RUMANIANS    ON    THE    MARCH    IN    THE    CARPATHIANS. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


201 


manoeuvres  Rumania  found  herself  under  a 
serious  disadvantage  on  either  front.  Along 
more  than  three-fourths  of  the  Transylvanian 
boundary  the  enemy  disposed  of  an  excellent 
lateral  railway  running  parallel  to  it,  at  a 
distance  which  seldom  exceeds  25  miles. 
In  Moldavia  the  lateral  railway  on  which  the 
Rumanian  armies  had  to  rely  ran  more  than 
50  miles  east  of  the  frontier.  In  Wallachia 
east  of  Ploeshti,  they  h'ad  practically  no 
lateral  railway  at  their  disposal— except  the 
main  railway  from  Bukarest  to  Craiova  which 
runs  through  the  centre  of  Wallachia'and  marks 
a  line  resembling  the  path  of  St.  Paul  "  when 
.the  winds  were  contrary."  To  give  but  one 
example,  which,  it  is  true,  shows  the  position 
at  its  worst :  the  journey  from  the  Tomos 
Pass  to  the  Red  Tower  Pass,  if  made  on  the 
Transylvanian  side,  took  one  over  some 
80  miles  of  rail ;  the  same  journey,  if  made  by 
the  Rumanian  railway,  took  one  over  a  distance 
of  about  270  miles  !  Though  not  quite  as 
bad,  the  discrepancy  was  yet  very  great  also 
with  regard  to  movements,  as  between  all  the 
other  passes.  What  this  meant  from  the 
strategic  point  of  view  in  a  war  in  which  the 
entire  line  of  the  frontier  could  not  be  held  for 
lack  of  forces,  does  not  require  elaboration. 
In  fact,  Rumania  had  never  prepared  for  a 
war  against  Austria-Hungary.  During  the 
last  36  years  of  King  Charles's  reign,  the  country 
had  practically  remained  under  the  patronage 
of  Austrians  and  Germans.  It  was  they  who 
had  planned  and  built  its  railways.  And 
although  much  of  the  course  taken  by  the 
Rumanian  railways  was  due  to  the  configuration 
of  the  ground,  very  different  in  Rumania 
from  what  it  is  on  the  Transylvanian  side, 
yet  had  the  Rumanian  railways  been  built 
with  a  view  to  war,  as  were  those  of  Hungary, 
many  inconveniences  might  have  been  avoided, 
which  counted  most  heavily  against  our  new 
Allies  in  the  campaign  of  1916. 

If  it  is  right  to  describe  the  Dobrudja  as  a 
Rumanian  bridge-head  against  Bulgaria,  one 
must  add  that,  in  1916,  it  was  one  of  which 
the  construction  had  not  been  completed. 
In  1913,  as  a  result  of  the  Second  Balkan  War, 
the  frontier  between  the  two  countries  had 
been  shifted  by  some  25  to  30  miles  to  the 
south-wrsi.  Before  the  change  the  frontier 
ran  closer  to  the  Rumanian  railway  leading 
from  Cernavoda  to  Constanza  than '  to  the' 
Bulgarian  railway  connecting  Rustchuk  with 
Varna.  But  now  the  distance  between  the 


Rumanian  railway  and  the  frontier  had  become 
very  considerable.  Under  the  new  conditions 
it  would,  therefore,  hardly  have  been  possible 
for  the  Rumanians  to  have  taken  up  an 
expectant  defensive  position  along  the  new 
frontier.  It  is  true  they  had  at  their  disposal 
the  new  railway  from  Megidia  to  Dobritch. 
But  in  the  way  of  lateral  communication.1-: 
they  had  nothing  to  put  against  the  Bulgarian 
line,  now  only  about  15  to  20  miles  distant 
from  the  frontier.  Had  the  Rumanians  opened 
the  campaign  by  a  vigorous  advance  against 
Bulgaria,  the  possession  of  the  so-oalled  New- 
Dobrudja  might  have  proved  of  considerable 
value — it  placed  the  Rumanian  armies,  within 
striking  distance  of  the  railway  system  of 
North-Eastern  Bulgaria.  The  main  centres 
of  that  system  were  no  farther  from  the 
frontier  than  Silistria.  But,  if  the  defensive 
was  chosen  on  this  front,  the  newly  acquired 
ground  was  dead  weight.  The  Germans  de- 
scribed Tutrakan  and  Silistria  by  the  grandil- 
oquent name  of  first-class  bridge-heads.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  they  were  nothing  of  the  kind  ; 
there  were  no  bridges  at  all  across  the  Danube 
at  those  places.  These  were  towns  offering 
convenient  conditions  for  a  crossing  of  the 
river  by  boats,  or  pontoons,  and  had  they  been 
properly  fortified,  they  might  have  proved 
of  some  value.  But  in  reality  their  fortifica- 
tions were  practically  useless  against  heavy 
artillery.  Once  Tutrakan  and  Silistria  were 
attacked  by  superior  forces,  there  was  little 
chance  of  holding  either'  place.  But  these  in- 
herent difficulties  of  a  defensive  warfare  in  the 
Dobrudja  do  not  seem  to  have  been  properly 
guarded  against.  There  is  little,  if  any,  excuse 
for  the  disposition  of  the  Rumanian  forces  on 
the  .  vulnerable  Dobrudja  frontier  oa  the 
outbreak  of  the  war. 

The  Rumanians  were  throughout  decided 
in  favour  of  an  'advance  into  Transylvania. 
No  doubt  in  this  decision  sentimental  motives 
counted  for  very  much,  just  as  they  had 
counted  for  much  in  the  original  French  advance 
into  Alsace-Lorraine,  in  August,  1914.  The  war 
for  Transylvania  was  Rumania's  own.  war. 
Her  eyes  were  fixed  on  Transylvania,  the 
home  of  the  Rinnan  race,  the  land  of  its  his- 
toric traditions.  "  Lea  Carpaihes  sont  notre 
histoire,"  wrote  one  of  the  greatest  Rumanian 
statesmen,  "  les  Carpathes  sont  le  berceau  de 
notre  race."  Every  peasant  soldier  on  entering 
Transylvania,  when  greeted  in  his  own  tongue 
by  his  countrymen  from  over  the  border, 

136—2 


•202 


Till-:     TIMKS     HISTORY    OF     THE    WAR. 


RUMANIAN    TROOPS    AWAITING    THE    ORDER    TO    ADVANCE. 


could  grasp  the  full  meaning  of  .the  war  for 
liberation  and  national  unity.  Even  from  the 
strategic  point  of  view  there  was  more  to  be 
said  in  favour  of  that  decision  than  was  usually 
admitted  immediately  after  the  plan  had 
failed.  The  Rumanian  Headquarters  must 
have  looked  with  misgivings  at  the  central 
position  of  Transylvania  and  its  magnificent 
railway  system.  If  this  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  enemy,  how  could  the  Rumanians 
prevent  an  invasion  of  their  own  country  when 
once  the  enemy  had  concentrated  •  sufficient 
forces  ?  How  could  they  escape  defeat  with 
their  armies  scattered  in  the  many  passes, 
and  the  different  detachments  isolated  and 
immobilized  for  lack  of  proper  lateral  com- 
munications in  their  rear  ?  Moreover,  the 
defence  of  a  mountain-range  is  by  no  means  an 
easy  task.  "  Where  a  goat  can  get  through,  a 
soldier  can,"  was  a  saying  of  Frederick  the 
Great :  and  nowadays  the  soldier  can  carry 
with  him  a  machine-gun,  the  most  deadly 
weapon  for  enfilading  positions.  There  is 
hardly  a  pass  which  cannot  be  turned.  People 
serin  to  remember  how  with  a  hiindful  of 
comrades  Laonidas  held  up  vast  hosts  in  the 
Thermopylae  but  they  forget  the  rest  of  t lu- 
st ory  ;  how  the  Spartans  succumbed  because 
there  were  not  enough  of  them  to  hold  all 
the  approaches  of  the  pass.  And  on  tin- 
frontier  of  Rumania,  and  Transylvania  the 


number  of  good,  convenient  passes  is  enormous. 
It  was,  therefore,  but  natural  and  justified, 
even  from  the  strategical  point  of  view,  that 
the  Rumanians  wished  to  take  full  advantage 
of  the  initiative  and  to  secure  in  Transylvania 
a  more  defensible  position  before  they  had 
against  them  any  serious  enemy  forces.  Finally 
a  grave  political  miscalculation  determined  the 
course  of  Rumanian  military  action.  The 
Rumanian  Government  seems  to  have  con-  ' 
sidered  it  possible  to  confine  the  war  to  the 
one  front  on  which  Rumania's  own  vital 
interests  were  concerned.  They  thought  it 
possible  to  avoid  war  with  Bulgaria.  They 
overrated  the  freedom  of  actiort  of  whatever 
independent  elements  there  had  remained  in 
Bulgaria,  and  they  did  not  see  through  the 
duplicity  of  the  Sofia  Court  and  Government. 
The  political  premises  on  which  the  plan  of 
the  Rumanian  campaign  was  drafted  con- 
tained, therefore,  grave  elements  of  error. 

At  the  opening  of  1914  the  Rumanian  Army 
consisted  of  five  army  corps,  and  two  cavalry 
divisions.  Each  army  corps  was  composed  of 
two  divisions  of  the  line  and  one  reserve  division. 
The  total  fighting  strength  of  the  Rumanian 
Army  was  estimated  at  LViO.OOO  rifles,  18,000 
sabres,  (100  modern  and  200  older  field  guns  and 
howitzers,  and  300  machine-guns.  During  the 
first  two  years  of  the  European  war  the  numbers 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


203 


of  the  Rumanian  Army  were  about,  doubled. 
This  increase  was,  however,  by  no  means  a 
clear  gain,  for  it  meant  also  a  dilution  of  skilled 
forces  and  teclmical  resources.  The  circle  of 
educated  men  is  very  narrow  in  Rumania, 
and  it  was  not  possible  to  enlarge  the  size  01 
the  military  cadres  to  almost  double  their 
previous  size  without  lowering  considerably 
the  level  of  efficiency.  Still  worse  off  was  the 
Rumanian  Army  with  regard  to  equipment. 
It  was  in  any  case  short  of  heavy  guns,  machine- 
guns,  flying  machines,  field  telephones,  etc. 
Inadequate  use  could  be  made  by  Rumania 
of  the  two  years  of  neutrality,  as  she  was 
unable  to  complete  her  armaments  by  her 
own  resources,  and  could  not  receive  any 
imports  from  neutrals  except  through  belli- 
gerent countries.  But  what  belligerent  country 
would  have  strained  its  overtaxed  means  of 
communication  for  the  benefit  of  an  uncertain 
neutral  ?  Could  Russia  have  been  expected 
to  do  so,  when  she  received  a  great  part  of  her 
own  war  supplies  from  abroad  only  by  a  few 
and  very  roundabout  routes  ?  And  if  we 
discount  Germany's  allies,  it  was  only  by  way 
of  Russia  that  it  was  possible  to  reach  Rumania. 
Much  was  done  by  the  Allies  after  Rumania's 
entry  into  the  war  had  become  a  certainty. 


Yet  even  so  the  equipment  of  her  armies 
remained  very  incomplete,  and,  in  addition' 
was  diluted  by  the  increase  in  their  numbers. 
At  the  time  of  Rumania's  entry  into  the  war, 
her  forces  were  grouped  into  four  armies.  But 
when  the  Rumanian  "Armies"  are  mentioned, 
it  ought  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  they  were 
not  armies  such  as  were  known  on  the  Western 
or  the  Russian  fronts.  These  were  merely 
groups  of  about  four  to  six  infantry  divisions, 
with  a  complement  of  cavalry  and  a  by  no 
means  overbountiful  support  of  artillery  and 
technical  detachments. 

Of  the  four  Rumanian  Armies,  three  were 
directed  against  Transylvania.  The  First 
Rumanian  Army  under  General  Culcer  and  the 
Second  under  General  Averescu,*  were  to  invade 

*  General  Averescu  was  to  prove  in  the  ensuing 
campaign  Rumania's  ablest  military  leader.  He 
owed  his  position  entirely  to  his  own  merits,  having  risen 
from  the  ranks,  which  was  a  most  significant  achieve^ 
ment  in  the  era  of  the  "  boyar  "  rule.  He  was  born 
in  1859,  served  in  the  campaign  of  1877  as  a  trooper, 
and  received  a  commission  of  second  lieutenant  in  1881, 
He  received  his  further  military  education  at  Milan,  not 
in  Germany  like  many  of  the  other  Rumanian  generals. 
In  1912  he  attained  the  rank  of  General  of  Division. 
He  was  Chief  of  the  Staff  during  the  invasion  of  Bulgaria 
in  the  summer  of  in  lit.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he 
commanded  the  First  Army  Corps  with  headquarters 
at  Craiova.  *. 


RUMANIAN    OFFICERS    SELECTING    POSITIONS    FOR    ARTILLERY. 


204 


THE    TIMES    H1STOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE     \VAIt. 


205 


Transylvania  from  the  south  and  the  south- 
east, the  front  of  the  First  Army  extending 
from  Orsova  to  east  of  the  Red  Tower  Pass, 
that  of  the  Second  Army  from  the  Red  Tower 
to  the  Oitoz  Pass.  The  Fourth  Rumanian 
Army,  sometimes  referred  to  as  the  Army  of 
the  North,  under  General  Presan,  with  its 
right  flank  joining  the  Ninth  Russian  Army 
under  General  Lechitsky,  was  to  enter  Transyl- 


runs  through  the  Maros  valley  may  bo  de- 
scribed as  the  inner  base  of  the.  Transylvaniaii 
railway  system.  With  it  the  Rumanians  would 
have  gained  a  well-nigh  impregnable  position. 
.Moreover,  a  Rumanian  advance  into  the  centre 
of  the  Maros  valley  would  have  necessarily 
compelled  the  enemy  to  withdraw  from  the 
positions  on  which  he  was  facing  the  Russian 
troops  in  East  Galicia  and  the  Bukovina. 


GENERAL    AVERESCU, 

Rumania's  ablest  military  leader. 


vania  from  the  north-east  and  east.  The 
Third  Rumanian  Army  under  General  Asian 
was  left  to  guard  the  Bulgarian  frontier. 

The  common  objective  of  the  Rumanian 
Armies  which  invaded  Transylvania  was  the 
middle  course  of  the  River  Maros.  It  extends 
like  a  chord  within  the  Transylvanian  arc  and 
forms  the  shortest  natural  line  between  the 
two  extreme  ends  of  Rumania,  the  north- 
western corner  of  Moldavia,  and  the  farthest 
western  front  of  Wallaehia.  The  railway  which 


Eastern  Hungary  would  have  been  lost  to  the 
enemy  for  good. 

At  first  sight  the  map  of  Transylvania  pre- 
sents itself  to  the  unaccustomed  eye  as  a  wild 
maze  of  railways,  rivers  and  mountain  ridges. 
Yet  on  closer  study  the  geography  of  Transyl- 
vania is  found  to  be  much  simpler  than  at 
first  appears.  Two  big  rivers,  the  Aluta  and 
the  Maros,  determine  the  features  of  the 
country.  Their  sources  are  close  together, 
near  the  middle  of  Transylvania's  eastern 


20f, 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


RUMANIAN    TROOHS    IN    CAMP. 

frontier,  approximately  opposite  the  Gyinies 
Pass.  From  thence  the  two  rivers  flow  in 
opposite  directions— the  Maros  to  the  north, 
the  Aluta  to  the  south — skirting  the  eastern 
side  of  the  Gorgeny,  Hargitta,  and  Barot 
Mountains,  which  extend  north-west-north  and 
south-east-south.  Having  reached  the  flanks 
of  those  heavy  mountain  ridges,  the  two  rivers 
encircle  them,  and  again  approach  one  another. 
At  the  widest  point  the  distance  between  them 
amounts  to  about  90  miles  ;  between  Maros  - 
Vasarhely  and  Fogaras  it  hardly  exceeds  50. 
The  Aluta  now  flows  mainly  west  until,  near 
Hermannstadt,  it  suddenly  turns  to  the  south, 
and  breaking  through  the  Red  Tower  Pass,  con- 
tinues its  southward  course  through  Wallachia. 
The  Maros  also  assumes  below  Maros  Vasarhely 
a  predominantly  western  course  with  occasional 
deviations  to  the  south.  Thus,  having  en- 
circled the  main  mountain-ridges  of  Eastern 
Transylvania,  the  two  rivers  flow  practically 
parallel  to  each  other.  In  approximately 
similar  directions  run  in  between  the  Maros 
and  the  Aluta  a  few  minor  streams,  which 
have  their  sources  on  the  western  slope  of  the 
<  'orfreny-Hargitta-Barot  ridge.  Of  them  the 
( Ireat  and  the  Little  Kokel  join  the  Maros 
pJaove  Karlsburg,  the  Haar  joins  the  Aluta 
north  of  the  Red  Tower  Pass.  Between 
Karlsburg  and  the  Red  Tower  Pass,  where  the 
Aluta  again  turns  away  from  the  Maros,  a 


GENERAL    CULCER, 

Originally  commanded  the  First  Rumanian 

Army. 

depression  intervenes  between  the  two  rivers, 
opening  an  easy  road  between  their  basins. 

The  railway  system  of  Transylvania  naturally 
follows  the  fundamental  outlines  of  the  system 
of  mountains  and  rivers'.  There  is  first  of  all 
the  circular  railway  of  the  Maros  and  the  Aluta 
Valleys,  closed  by  the  branch  across  the  Her- 
mannstadt depression.  Then  there  are  two 
important  railways  following  the  Kokel  Rivers, 
with  their  termini  on  the  western  slope  of  the 
<  lorgeny-Hargitta-Barot  Mountains.  Lastly, 
three  branch  lines  following  the  valleys  of 
the  Weiss,  Haar,  and  of  the  two  other  small  con- 
fluents of  the  Aluta  connect  the  railway  in  the 
Great  Kokel  Valley  with  the  Hermannstadt- 
Kronstadt  line. 

In  the  circular  railway  line  two  parts  may  be 
distinguished— an  inner  and  an  outer  division. 
The  outer  division  is  the  part  which  faces  the 


THE    TIMES    H1STOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


207 


Rumanian  frontier.  It  is  connected  with 
Rumania  by  three  railways,  one  across  the 
Gyimes  Pass,  the  other  across  the  Tomos  Pass, 
and  the  third  across  the  Red  Tower  Pass: 
.Moreover,  several  lines  run  from  it  toward  the 
Rumanian  frontier  without  direct  connexion 
on  the  other  side.  The  outer  half  of  the 
circular  railway  had  been  planned  as  a  base  for 
an  attack  against  Rumania.  No  such  attack 
could  have  been  effectively  undertaken  by  the 
enemy  unless  the  whole  of  this  line  was  in  his 
hands.  But  the  loss  of  the  entire  outer  part 
of  the  railway,  from  Toplitsa  past  Kronstadt 
to  Hermannstadt,  would  not  have  interfered 
with  the  enemy's  communications  with  the 
interior.  Only  if  the  inner  part  had  been  con- 
quered, if  the  Rumanians  had  reached  the 
Maros  valley  between  Maros-Vasarhely,  Knrls- 
burg,  and  Broos,  would  the  strategic  basis  for 
the  defence  of  Transylvania  have  broken  down. 
On  the  Dees-Karlsburg-Hatszeg  line,  the  posi- 
tion of  the  Russo-Rumanian  forces  would  have 


become  strategically  dominant,  and  no  enemy 
counter-offensive  would  henceforth  have  had 
a  reasonable  chance  of  success.  It  would  have 
had  to  be  conducted  over  the  mighty  mountain 
wall  of  Western  Transylvania  without  con- 
venient lateral  railways  and  with  hardly  any 
chance  for  railway  manoeuvres. 

Such  a  convenient  line  for  defence  was 
badly  needed  by  the  Rumanians.  As  pre- 
viously stated,  Rumania,  when  she  entered 
the  war,  was  not  yet  fully  equipped  for  it, 
whilst  Russia's  military  stores,  after  the 
intense  summer  campaign,  were  no  longer 
superabundant.  Hence  it  would  have  been 
of  the  utmost  importance  to  secure  a  con- 
venient line  on  which  the  Allied  armies  could 
have  passed  to  the  defensive  while  replenishing 
their  stores  and  completing  their  armament 
for  the  campaign  of  1917. 

The  Rumanians  seem  to  have  set  a  high 
value  on  the  element  of  surprise.  They  knew 
that  the  enemv  forces  in  Transvlvania  were 


CARRYING    BARBED    WIRE    TO    THE    FRONT. 


208 


THE    ZM.VKN    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


small,  and  they  counted  on  over-running  the 
country  in  a  short,  time.  Its  entire  garrison 
consisted  of  some  four  or  five  Austro-Hungarian 
divisions  under  General  Ar/,  von  Straussenberg. 
Mn-l  of  these  were  composed  of  buttered  units 
withdrawn  from  the  Russian  frontier  (thus, 
e-f/.,  the  61st.  Austro-Hungariaii  Division, 
now  posted  round  Gyergyo-St.  Jliklos,  had 
gone  through  the  Lutsk  disaster,  and  liad  been 
s-cnt  home  to  recuperate).  All  tlirough  July  and 


Yet  the  Rumanian  plan  for  the  invasion  of 
Transylvania  can  hardly  be  said  to  have 
iiimed  by  the  shortest  routes  at,  the  most, 
vulnerable  strategical  points  ;  it  did  not  cut 
in  at  the  flanks  of  the  basic  railway  line  in  the' 
central  Maros  valley,  but  rather  aimed  at  a 
systematic  advance  over  the  ground  and  at 
a  systematic  eviction  of  the  enemy  forces. 
The.  Rumanian  troops  advancing  from  the 
cast  and  south-east  were  to  be  the  driving 


AUSTRIAN    SENTRIES    HOLDING    ROADS    IN    THE    "GOLDEN    VALLEY"    OF 

BISTRITZ, 
A   little  to  the  north  of  the  Rumanian  advance  in  Transylvania. 


the  first  half  of  August  the  enemy  armies  were 
fighting  a  desperate  battle  on  the  Somme,  in 
Volhynia,  and  in  Galicia,  and  it  was  not 
possible  to  detail  any  important  forces  to 
guard  the  Rumanian  frontier.  In  the  first 
days  of  September,  1916,  the  Hungarian 
Premier,  Count  Stephen  Tisza,  when  attacked 
in  Parliament  on  account  of  the  defenceless 
condition  of  Transylvania,  answered  that  the 
(  <  ntral  Powers  had  known  Rumania's  prepara- 
tions to  have  been  incomplete,  and,  therefore, 
had  discounted  the  possibility  of  her  immediate 
entry  into  the  war.  Count  Tisza  repeated 
this  statement  in  the  speech  delivered  at  the 
\"w  Ycivr  reception  of  1917,  thus  long  after  the 
tide  of  invasion  had  turned — and  for  once  liis 
word  may  perhaps  be  accepted.  The  initial 
Itmnanian  invasion  of  Transylvania  was  thus 
i>  nice— -or  a  gamble — as  between  two  condi- 
tion^ of  unpreparedness. 


force,  whilst  those  from  the  south  were  to 
support  them  by  a  flanking  movement ;  as 
the  advance  proceeded  the  southern  groups 
were  to  join  the  armies'  moving  to  the  west 
across  Transylvania,  thus  adding  momentum 
to  their  movement.  The  plan  resembled 
in  its  outlines  that  followed  by  the  Austro- 
Gennan  forces  in  Oalicia,  in  the  summer 
of  1015,  when  Mackensen  advanced  from 
west  to  east,  gathering  in  from  across  the 
Carpathians  the  armies  which  were  standing 
a.t  right  angles  to  his  own  line  and  were  pressing 
against  the  southern  flank  of  his  Russian 
opponents.  The  geometrical  position  of  the 
Rumanian  armies  with  regard  to  the  enemy 
was,  no  doubt,  similar  to  tluU  of  the  Atistro- 
Gcrman  forces  in  <!n.licia  in  the  summer  of 
1  !)!.">.  Yet  the  application  of  this  plan  to  the 
advance,  into  Transylvania  implied  very  serious 
risks,  such  as  had  never  confronted  the  enemy 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


•209 


armies  in  1915.  The  Austro-German  Armies  had 
stood  along  a  continuous  line,  whereas  the 
Rumanian  forces  were  absolutely  insufficient  to 
keep  contact  with  one  another  when  scattered 
over  the  enormous  length  of  the  Transylvanian 
frontier.  The  detachments  which  entered 
Transylvania  from  the  south  had,  therefore, 
to  remain  isolated  groups  until  reached  by  the 
forces  advancing  from  the  east.  In  other 
words,  a  delay  in  the  advance  of  the  main 
body  left  these  flanking  groups  in  an  exceedingly 
precarious  position.  The  First  Rumanian 
Army,  to  which  this  chiefly  applies,  advanced 
on  a  front  of  over  120  miles  !  (And  even  of  the 
troops  originally  detailed  for  that  front  some 
were  soon  to  be  withdrawn  for  the  Dobrudja.) 
This,  of  course,  does  not  mean  that  the  First 
Army  actually  scattered  along  the  entire 
line.  Its  forces  were  divided  into  three 
main  groups,  each  separated  from  the  next 
by  more  than  50  miles  of  mountain  range, 
and  with  no  lateral  connexions  except 
some  50  to  80  miles  in  the  rear,  in  0he  centre 
of  Wallachia.  The  group  farthest  to  the  west 
consisted  of  a  single  division,  and  advanced 
against  the  Orsova-Mehadia  railway  ;  the  next 
group  advanced  across  the -Vulcan  Pass  against 
Hatszeg,  and  the  third,  the  strongest  of  the 
three,  the  Aluta  Army-Group  under  General 
Manolescu,  through  the  Red  Tower  Pass 
against  Hermannstadt.  None  of  them  had 
made  any  considerable  progress  or  had  yet 
been  reached  by  the  forces  from  the  east,  when 
the  enemy  counter-offensive  came  down  upon 
thorn. 

Meantime  the  Fourth  or  Northern  Army  had 
achieved  fair  progress  during  the  first  month 
of  the  war,  except  that  no  serious  headway 
had  been  made  by  its  northern  wing",  where  it 
would  have  turned  the  position  of  the  Austrian 
Armies  facing  the  Russians  on  the  frontier 
of  the  Bukovina.  By  the  end  of  September, 
which  marks  the  high  tide  of  the '  Rumanian 
advance  into  Transylvania,  the  Fourth  Army 
had  got  within  some  15  miles  of  Szasz-Regen, 
had  passed  Parajd,  the  eastern  terminus  of  the 
railway  line  in  the  Little  Kokel  valley,  and  had 
advanced  within  short  distance  of  Schassburg 
in  the  Great  Kokel  valley.  The  Second  Army 
was  meantime  approaching  Schassburg  from 
the  south  and  advancing  to  the  west  beyond 
Fogaras.  Measured  in  square  miles  the  results 
were  conspicuous,  but  strategically  they  added 
little  to  the  strength  of  the  Rumanian  position. 
Also  here,  in  Eastern  Transylvania,  their 


forces  were  scattered ;  they  were  divided 
•between  the  different  parallel  valleys  on  the 
western  slopes  of  the  Gorgeny-Hargitta-Barot 
Mountains,  without  strategic  cohesion  which 
would  have  enabled  them  to  defend  their  gains 
against  a  powerful  enemy  counter-offensive. 
In  short,  the  Rumarfian  plan  had  been  only 
very  partially  carried  out  when  this  enemy 
counter-offensive  set  in.  It  was  an  arch 
without  the  keystone  and  collapsed  under 
the  heavy  blows  which  were  now  directed 
against  it.  In  estimating  the  causes  of  that 
failure  allowance  has,  of  course,  also  to  be 
made  for  the  effects  of  the  early  defeats  in 
(he  Dobrudja.  The  advance  into  Tran- 
sylvania had  only  just  begun  when  the  Tran- 
sylvanian armies  .  were  weakened  by  a  with- 
drawal of  valuable  forces  to  the  southern 
t  heatre  of  war.  Moreover,  the  ablest  Rumanian 
leader,  General  Averescu,  had  to  relinquish 
the  command  of  the  Second  Army  when  called 
upon  to  re-establish  the  seriously  threatened 
position  in  the  Dobrudja. 


IN    THE    VALLEY    OF    THE    BISTR.ITZ, 
.     TRANSYLVANIA. 

!?.&— 3 


210 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


RELIEVING    A    RUMANIAN    OUTPOST 
IN    THE    CARPATHIANS. 

The  declaration  of  war  found  the  Rumanian 
troups  massed  in  readiness  along  the  Transyl- 
vanian  frontier  and  awaiting  the  order  to 
advance.  On  August  28  they  crossed  the 
border  at  some  18  points.  In  Eastern  Tran- 
sylvania, the  lateral  railway  in  the  upper 
valleys  of  the  Maros  and  the  Aluta  was  their 
immediate  objective.  They  were  advancing 
towards  it  from  the  Tolgyes  and  the  Brkas 
Pass  ;  along  the  road  and  railway  which  lead 
through  the  Gyimes  Pass ;  through  the  Uz 
valley,  by  the  road  to  Oitoz,  and  along  the 
mountain  paths  which  cross  the  frontier  near 
tin'  sources  of  the  Putna  and  the  Xaruyii.. 
From  the  south-east  the  Rumanian  columns 
were  converging  towards  the  old  city  of  Kron- 
.st.'idt  (Brasso).  founded  by  ji  German  Knightly 
Order  towards  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century.  It  lies  at  the  southern  fringe  of  a  \  erv 


wide  and  rich  mountain  valley,  and  is  the 
junction  of  five-  railways  and  a  network  of 
high  road?.  One  railway  line,  crossing  the 
mo'.inttiiu  chain  by  the  Tomos  Pass,  connects 
Kronstiwlt  with  Ploeshti  and  Bukarest,  whilst 
the  roads  into  Rumania  spread  fan -wise  to  the 
south  of  Kronstadt.  By  all  these  roads  the 
Rumanians  were  now  advancing,  through  the 
valley  of  the  Buzeu,  on  the  road  to  Bodzavama, 
across  the  Altschanz,  the  Tomos  and  the 
Torzburg  Passes.  From  western  Wallachia 
the  Rumanians  weie  pressing  forward  through 
the  Red  Tower  Pass  to  Hermannstadt,  and 
were  making  along  several  paths  and  through 
the  Vulcan  Pass  for  the  important  mining 
district  of  Petroseny.  In  the  extreme  west 
they  were  pressing  forward  toward  the  Cerna 
valley  and  against  Orsova. 

The  advance  was  rapid,  all  opposition  being 
quickly  overcome.  On  the  very  first  day,  the 
IVth  Rumanian  Army  Corps,  which  formed 
part  of  the  Fourth  Army,  took  prisoners 
seven  Austro-Hungarian  officers  and  734  men. 
South  of  Kronstadt,  in  the  Tomos  Pass,  the 
82nd  Austro-Hungarian  Regiment,  composed 
of  Szekels,  a  Magyar  tribe  inhabiting  Tran- 
sylvania, opposed  itself  to  the  Rumanians. 
This  was  a  regiment  consisting  of  old,  seasoned 
troops — as  part  of  the  IXth  Army  Corps, 
in  the  Fourth  Austro-Hungarian  Army  under 
Archduke  Joseph  Ferdinand,  it  had  gone  all 
through  the  Galician  campaign  of  1915,  and 
then  through  the  Volhynian  disaster  of  June 
1916.  But  now  this  was  a  different  struggle. 
They  fought  with  desperation,  for  it  was  the 
battle  of  their  own  tribe  which  they  were 
fighting.  They,  the  small  Magyar  minority 
which  rules  Transylvania,  were  trying  to 
arrest  the  advance  of  the  Rumanians  who 
came  to  establish  the  rights  of  the  Rinnan 
majority  in  that  country.  In  spite  of  their 
obstinate  resistance,  the  Rumanians  after  a 
fierce  struggle  forced  their  way  through  the 
pass.  Very  different  was  the  attitude  of  the 
Czech  Regiment,  which  was  sent  to  meet  tin- 
Rumanians  in  the  Tolgyes  Pass — anyone  out 
to  fight  their  German  and  Magyar  oppressors 
was  looked  upon  by  the  Czechs  as  a  friend. 
They  withdrew  from  the  pass,  opening  the 
road  to  the  Rumanians,  and  when  again  sent 
to  the  front  from  Maros-Keviz  in  the  Maros 
valley,  the  Czech  Regiment — according  to  a 
statement  made  in  the  Hungarian  Parliament 
on  September  5,  1910 — "  disappeared  without 
anyone  being  able  to  say  where  they  went." 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


211 


"Vet,  whether  opposed  or  welcomed,  the 
Rumanians  were  advancing.  In  the  very  first 
two  or  three  days  of  the  war  they  captured 
Kronstadt,  Sepsi-St.  Gyorgy,  and  Kezdi-Vasar- 
hely,  thus  seizing  the  whole  of  the  lowlands  of 
south-eastern  Transylvania,  the  Saxon  Burzen- 
land  as  well  as  the  Haromszek  ("  The  Valley  of 
the  Szekels  ").  The  Austro-Huiigariari  troops 
had  also  to  withdraw  from  the  Upper  Aluta 
Valley,  retiring  to  fortified  positions  in  the 
Gorgeny,  Hargitta  and  Barot  Mountains,  which, 
ranging  from  4,000  to  5,000  feet  in  height,  and 
covered  with  dense  forests,  offered  favourable 
conditions  for  defence.  By  September  9,  south 
of  Toplitsa,  the  entire  valley  extending  at  the 
eastern  foot  of  these  mountains  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  Rumanians.  The  outer  wall  of 
Transylvania  had  been  scaled,  and  from  the 
lateral  valley,  with  its  useful  road  and  railwav, 


fanwise  in  different  directions — to  the  east 
along  the  Aluta  towards  Fogaras,  through 
the  valley  of  the  Haar  to  Schassburg,  to 
the  north  through  the  valley  of  the  Weiss, 
and  to  the  north-west  through  the  Miihl- 
bach-Hermannstadt  depression  towards  Karls- 
burg  in  the  Lower  Maros  Valley.  A  move- 
ment along  any  of  these  divergent  roads, 
would  have  required  considerable  forces  and 
a  thoroughly  organized  system  of  observa- 
tion. But  here,  as  also  elsewhere,  the 
Rumanian  Army  was  groping  in  the  dark, 
being  exceedingly  short  of  flying  machines 
and  aviators,  and  as  to  numbers,  the  First 
Army  in  its  scattered  condition  had  never 
been  fully  equal  to  its  task.  Moreover,  now 
that  it  had  already  embarked  on  the  invasion 
of  Transylvania,  it  was  weakened  by  with- 
drawals to  the  Dobrudja  front.  It  was  not 


HERMANNSTADT. 


the  invasion  proceeded  towards  the  interior  of 
Transylvania. 

Meantime,  the  advance  from  western  Walla- 
<chia,  though  far  less  rapid,  seemed  at  first  to 
proceed  fairly  satisfactorily.  The  Rumanians 
had  forced  their  way  through  the  gorge  of  the 
Red  Tower  Pass,  where  the  Aluta  breaks 
its  narrow  path  between  the  rocks,  and, 
on  August  30,  reached  round  Talmesh  the 
country  of  rolling  hills  and  flat,  wide  river 
valleys.  Beyond  Talmesh  the  Rumanian 
advance  slowed  down  considerably.  From 
her?  the  roads  and  railways  spread  out 


until  September  10  that  the  Rumanians 
entered  Schellenberg,  some  two  miles  south- 
east of  Hermannstadt.  Meantime,  the  enemy 
had  completely  evacuated  Hermannstadt,  and 
had  withdrawn  to  the  hills  which  from  the 
north  dominate  the  valleys  of  the  Sibiu  and 
the  Haar.  From  the  strong,  well-prepared 
positions  on  these  hills  his  heavy  artillery  kept 
the  valleys  and  town  under  fire,  turning  them 
into  no  man's  land.  The  Rumanian  advance 
came  here  to  a  complete  stop,  and  hardly  any 
serious  movement  against  the  Austrian  posi- 
tions north  of  Hermannstadt  seems  to  have 


21-2 


Till-:    TJMKK    HISTOJfY    OF    THE    WAR. 


THE    TIMEH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


213 


been  attempted  during  the  fortnight  following 
on  the  capture  of  Schellenberg.  Evidently  it 
was  decided  to  wait  for  the  Fourth  and  Second 
Annies,  which  were  pressing  towards  Schiissburg 
and  Fogaras,  and  whose  advance  from  the 
north-east  and  east  would  have  turned  the 
enemy  positions  above  Hermannstadt. 

In  the  district  north  of  the  Vulcan  Pass  the 
enemy  offered  from  the  outset  a  much  more 
decided  resistance.  Here  the  Rumanians  stood 
nearest  to  his  vital  lines  of  communication  and 
their  advance  to  Hatszeg  had  to  be  prevented  at 
all  cost.  After  severe  fighting  our  Allies  occu- 
pied in  the  first  days  of  September  the  important 
coal  district  of  Petroseny,  and  advanced  across 
the  mountains  through  the  Streiu  valley  to 
Merisor.  The  progress  was  necessarily  slow. 
High  mountain  walls  extend  east  and  west.  The 
road  and  railway  wind  along  steep  terraces  and 
through  narrow  gorges  ;  again  and  again  oppor- 
tunity offered  itself  to  the  enemy  for  opposing 
effectively  the  Rumanian  advance,  especially 
as  the  Rumanians  did  not  dispose  of  forces 
which  would  have  enabled  them  to  execute  any 
wide  flanking  movements.  On  September  10 
the  enemy  attempted  a  counter-attack,  west  of 
Merisor.  He  was  repulsed,  and  the  Rumanians, 
following  up  their  success,  gained  further 
ground,  capturing  two  guns,  some  machine- 
guns,  and  305  prisoners.  By  September  12 
they  had  reached  Baru  Mare,  where  the  railway 
passes  over  its  last  big  loop  and  enters  a  much 
wider,  open  valley  ;  Rumanian  out-posts  ad- 
vanced even  as  far  as  Puj,  three  miles  north- 
west of  Baru  Mare.  The  hardest  two-thirds  of 
the  road  to  Hatszeg  had  been  traversed  by  the 
Rumanians — but,  again,  what  was  the  'use  of 
the  movement  when  executed  by  altogether 
inadequate  forces,  and  along  a  line  where  no 
support  could  reach  them  from  other  groups  if 
they  were  attacked  by  superior  enemy  forces  ? 
Only  some  75  miles  to  the  east  of  Hatszeg  lies 
Temesvar,  the  junction  of  eight  railways,  one 
of  the  chief  places  d'armes  of  the  Central  Powers. 
Beginning  with  September  12,  .German  troops 
began  to  make  their  appearance  in  the  Streiu 
Vallev — the  forerunners  of  the  enemy  counter- 
offensive. 

At  the  farthest  western  end  of  Wallachia,  the 
First  Rumanian  Division  under  General  Draga- 
lina,  a  Ruman  from  the  Banat,  who  had  received 
his  earliest  military  training  as  a  conscript  in 
the  Austro -Hungarian  Army,  was  ordered  to 
advance  against  the  Cerna  line.  It  was  thus 
into  his  own  native  land,  for  the  liberation  of  his 


nearest  kinsmen,  that  General  Dragalina  was 
leading  his  troops.  On  August  28,  at  7  a.m., 
the  Rumanian  batteries  opened  indirect  fire, 
across  the  Allion  Mountain,  against  the  forti- 
fications of  Orsova.  During  the  next  few  days 
severe  fighting  developed  •  along  the  front 
extending  from  Herkulesbad  to  the  Danube 
On  September  2  the  enemy  had  to  withdraw  on 
to  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Cerna  and  our 
Allies  occupied  the  range  of  hills  wliich  domin- 
ates Orsova,  including  Mount  Allion  (over 
1,000  feet  high).  On  the  next  day  they  entered 
Orsova,  forced  the  passage  of 'the  Cerna  round 
the  villages  of  Tuffas,  Nagy-Zsupany  and 
Koromnok,  and  captured  a  few  more  heights. 


o         ,3,  [Sbaroselo 
Turk.Smil  Si/ahlar 


Antimovo 
o  Oajdir 
oMeseMahle 
°Den/z/er 

B?elitsa 


SCALE  OF  MILES. 

2    3     *    j 


Mhmatlero        0 
IP  Kasimlar 


- forts.     Heights  in  metres. 


9/9 


APPROACHES    TO    TUTRAKAN. 

A  convenient  position  had  been  gained  at  the 
narrow  gates  of  the  Danube  for  preventing  all 
traffic  on  the  river,  but  nothing  more,  no  ad- 
vance of  permanent  strategic  value  could  have 
been  effected  by  a  single  isolated  division 

Meantime  the  enemy  had  struck  his  blow  in 
the  Dobrudja.  The  Bulgarian  Government  had. 
waited  for  five  days  before  declaring  war  on 
Rumania,  until  Field -Marshal  von  Mackensen, 
who  on  August  28  had  been  put  in  command  of 
the  enemy  armies  on  Rumania's  southern 
frontier,  had  completed  both  his  military  and 
his  political  preparations.  (The  cause  of  the 
sudden  death  of  General  Jostoff,  the  Chief  of 
the  Bulgarian  Staff  and  an  opponent  of  German 
dominion  over  Bulgaria,  was  not  known,  but 
some  bullet-holes  were  said  to  have  been  found 
in  his  body.)  On  September  1,  after  four  days' 
delay,  the  Bulgarian  Government  declared  war 
on  Rumania  and  on  the  same  day  enemy  troops 
began  to  cross  the  frontier.  The  first  blow  was 
directed  against  the  eastern  Dobrudja.  The 


214 


THE    TI.MKS    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


Third  Bulgarian  Army,  under  (icnera-l  Tosheff, 

who  had  distinguished  himself  ill  the  First 
I-ialkim  \\  ar  and  Inul  commanded  a  division  at 
Lulf  Burgas,  advanced  against  the  Dobriteh- 
Haltehik  front.  Dobritch  is  an  important 
centre  of  roads  and  railways  ;  here  the  new 
railway,  which  runs  north  and  south  through 
the  Dohrudja  and  connects  the  Cernavoda- 
Constanza  line  with  the  Bulgarian  railway 
system,  is  met  by  the  branch  line  from  Baltchik. 
Through  Dobritch  run's  also  the  important 
high-road  which  connects  Silistria  with  Balt- 
chik. The  weak  Rumanian  forces  in  this  region 
were  unable  to  resist  the  Bulgarian  advance, 
and  on  September  4  the  enemy  entered 
Dobritch,  whilst  on  the  sea-coast  he  captured 
Baltchik,  Kavarna  and  Kaliakra.  The  attack 
against  the  eastern  Dobrudja  was.  however, 
meant  mereiy  a?  a  preliminary  movement  and 
did  not  involve  the  main  enemy  forces.  Having 
reached  a  convenient  strategic  front,  the  Bul- 
garians strongly  entrenched  themselves  north 
of  the  Dobritch -Baltchik  line  and  awaited  in 
their  new  positions  the  arrival  of  Turkish  rein- 
forcements, of  which  the  first  regiment- reached 
them  in  the  first  days  of  September. 

Whilst  the  right  wing  had  thus  for  its  task  to 
arrest  on  a  convenient  front  any  offensive  move- 
ments which  our  Allies  might  undertake  in  the 
direction  of  Shumla  or  Varna,  the  left  wing  of  the 


enemy  army  was  to  execute  asweep  against  and 
along  the  Danube,  fall  on  the  scattered  Ru- 
manian forces  at  Tutrakan  and  Silistria,  capture 
that  important  junction  of  roads,  and  thereby 
open  the  way  for  a  further  systematic  advance 
through  the  Dobrudja.  The  first  attack  was 
directed  against  Tutrakan.  On  September  - 
the  two  best  Bulgarian  divisions  (the  First  and 
Fourth),  under  General  Kiseloff,  were  ordered 
to  advance  from  west  of  Kara  Agach  past 
Kasimlar,  Akhmatlar  and  Mese  Male  against 
the  centre  of  the  line  of  forts  which  surround 
Tutrakan.  There  were  13  of  them,  ex- 
tending across  low  wooded  heights  in  n  semi- 
circle in  front  of  the  river.  The  Bulgarian 
operations  from  the  south  were  supported  from 
the  west  by  the  advance  of  a  mixed  German- 
Bulgarian  force  along  both  sides  of  the  Rust- 
chuk-Tutrakan  road.  The  Bulgaro-German 
troops  attacking  Tutrakan  disposed  of  heavy 
Anstro-Hungarian  siege  artillery.  During  Sep- 
tember 3  and  4  the  enemy  forces  gradually 
closed  in  against  the  line  of  the  Tutrakan  forts, 
although  the  western  group  suffered  severely 
from  the  flanking  fire  of  Rumanian  batteries 
from  across  the  river,  and  also  from  the  fire  of 
the  Rumanian  Danube  flotilla.  By  the  night 
of  September  4/5  the  German-Bulgarian  troops 
had  reached  the  close  proximity  of  the  forts 
and  had  gained  possession  of  Height  131.  west 


TUTRAKAN. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


•215 


BULGARIAN    TROOPS    IN    A    RUMANIAN 
VILLAGE 

•  of  Staroselo,  the  highest  hill  in  the  district. 
During  the  night  heavy  artillery  was  moved  up 
on  to  the  western  slope  of  the  hill,  and  in  the* 
morning  of  September  5  began  the  bombard- 
ment of  Hill  109  and  of  Fort  2.  Meantime  the 
Bulgarians  had  opened  their  operations  on  the 
right  wing.  Their  attacks,  though  delivered 
with  considerable  forces  and  under  cover  of 
superior  artillery,  were  repeatedly  repulsed. 
At  last  they  scored  their  first  success  in  gaining 
possession  of  Fort  8,  near  the  village  of  Anti- 
movo,  south-east  of  Tutrakan.  On  the  same 
day  the  Bulgarians  succeeded  in  further  en- 
larging the  breach  in  the  Rumanian  defences  by 
capturing  the  adjoining  Forts  5-7.  Similarly, 
the  German  onslaught  against  Fort  2  met  with 
tough  resistance.  Though  very  inferior  in 
artillery,  the  Rumanians  held  out  for  hours 
under  the  most  violent  fire  from  the  German 
batteries,  repulsing  several  attacks  and  vigor- 
ously contesting  every  inch  of  ground.  It  was 
not  until  5.30  p  m.  that  the  Germans  entered 
Fort  2.  On  the  next  day  the  Rumanians 
attempted  a  counter-attack  from  Hill  62 
and  Fort  3,  trying  to  break  through  the  enemy 
ring,  but  the  steadily  increasing  Bulgarian 
pressure  from  the  east  rendered  the  position 
hopeless.  The  attempt  which  General  Basara- 
bescu,  who  commanded  the  Ninth  Rumanian 
Division  at  Silistria,  made  on  September  5-6 
to  reach  Tutrakan  led  to  no  result.  The 
Bulgarians  had  previously  pushed  forward 
their  screen  against  Silistria  to  the  Kapakli- 
Tchataldja-Alfatar  line.  They  were  now 


ONE    OF  SEVERAL    MONUMENTS 

erected  by  the  Bulgars  in  memory  of  Russians  who 

fell  in  the  War  of  Bulgarian  Liberation  (1877). 

pressed  back  and  our  Allies  advanced  as  far  as 
Sarsanlar,  a  place  more  than  25  miles  south- 
west of  Silistria,  and  only  about  12  miles  east 
from  Tutrakan.  But  cooperation  with  the 
garrison  of  Tutrakan  was  no  longer  possible. 
Nor  could  any  effective  help  reach  it  from 
beyond  the  river— the  crossing  was  already 
under  enemy  fire.  By  the  night  of  September  6 
the  garrison  of  Tutrakan  had  to  surrender  to 
the  enemy — the  Rumanians  had  to  pay  the 
first  penalty  for  having  scattered  their  army 
in  the  Dobrudja,  and  for  having  assigned 
valuable  forces  to  the  defence  of  isolated, 
untenable  fortifications,  instead  of  concen- 
trating them  on  a  strategic  plan  for  the  defence 
of  the  entire  Dobrudja. 


•////•:    v/.u/-:s 


'   OF   THE   WAI:. 


Alexandria  0 

v   0 

KaraAgach 


R  azgrgd 

B  U  L  GAR.  I  A 


Scalt  of  Miles.          Shuirria 
0    5     /O         20         30 


MAP    OF    THE    DOBRUDJA. 


The  exultant  Bulgarian  and  German  com- 
tnuniquts  which  were  issued  on  the  fall  of 
Tutrakan  claimed  the  capture  of  two  entire 
Rumanian  infantry  divisions  (the  15th  and  17th) 
of  25,000  unwounded  prisoners,  of  100  guns, 
62  machine-guns,  etc.  These  figures  are 
exaggerated.  As  a  matter  of  fact  there  had 
been  only  one  Rumanian  division  at  Tutrakan  ; 
possibly  the  civilian  population  of  Tutrakan  was 
included  in  the  captures  to  add  to  their  bulk. 
Yet  however  much  the  enemy  exaggerated  the 
material  importance  of  his  victory,  important  it 
was  in  its  immediate  consequences,  in  the  moral 
effect  which  it  produced,  and,  lastly,  because 
it  was  the  first  to  expose  a  serious  deficiency 
both  in  the  Rumanian  organization,  and  in  the 
cooperation  as  established  between  Rumania 
and  Russia.  Within  less  than  a  fortnight  from 
the  day  which  after  two  years  of  cautious 
hesitation  Rumania  had  chosen  for  her  entry 
into  the  war,  she  had  suffered  a  serious  reverse. 
For  almost  a  year  Russia  had  been  awaiting 
the  hour  in  which  she  could  avenge  on  the 
rulers  of  Bulgaria  the  base  treachery  com- 
mitted by  them  against  the  Slav  idea — and 
now  no  sooner  had  the  road  into  Bulgaria 
hoemed  to  open  before  her  than  it  was  closed 
once  more.  For  the  Rumanian  retreat  could 
not  have  been  arrested  at  Tutrakan. 

The  garrison  of  Silistria  grasped  the  lesson 


of  Tutrakan  and  evfacuated  the  town  which 
would  have  proved  merely  another  trap  for 
the-  Rumanian  troops.  On  September  9  the 
Bulgarians  entered  Silistria,  which  had  been 
theirs  until  1913.  From  the  steep  rocks  which 
on  the  southern  bank  rise  some  200  feet  above 
the  Danube,  the  hostile  eye  of  the  Bulgarian 
could  now  once  more  survey  the  flat,  fertile 
Rumanian  plain  beyond  the  river. 

But  as  yet  the  left  bank  of  the  Danube  lay 
beyond  the  enemy's  reach.  His  most  imme- 
diate concern  was  now  to  re-establish  the 
connexion  between  the  Silistria  and  the 
Dobritch  groups  of  his  Dobrudja  army,  between 
which  a  gap  intervened  of  about  25  miles. 
The  reunion  was  attempted  by  means  of  a 
further  strong  advance. '  The  Dobrudja  narrows 
up  towards  the  north  ;  the  front  along  the 
border  as  drawn  in  1913  is  about  100  miles 
long,  on  the  Silistria-Dobritch-Baltchik  line 
60  miles,'  whilst  between  Cernavoda  and  Con- 
stanza  the  distance  from  the  Danube  to  the 
'Black  Sea  measures  only  30  miles.  Quite 
apart  from  the  enormous  strategic  importance 
attaching  to  the  Cernavoda  bridge,  the  only 
one  which  spans  the  Lower  Danube,*  it  was 
necessarily  the  endeavour  of  the  enemy  to 

*  The  nearest  bridge  across  the  Danube  above 
Cernavoda  was  that  of  NeiiHatzjPoterwardoin  in  Hun- 
gary, about  600  miles  up-stream.  There  was  none 
below  Cernavoda. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


217 


reach  the  shortest  possible  front.  The  dis- 
organization of  the  Rumanian  forces  had 
given  Mackensen  the  initial  victories.  But 
although  he  was  receiving  all  the  time  fresh 
reinforcements  he  had  to  reckon  with  the  fact 
that  the  Rumanians  were  fighting  on  the 
inner  lines,  that  it  was  only  a  question  of  weeks, 
if  not  days,  when  he  would  have  to  meet 


strong  pressure  against,  the  Bulgarian  forces 
in  the  Eastern  Dobrudja.  But  tlie  enemy 
wheel  along  the  Danube  now  threatened  its 
right  flank  and  its  rear,  and  compelled  it 
.thereby  to  retire. 

On  September  1 1  the  two  enemy  groups 
re-established  contact  with  each  other  on  the 
line  extending  from  KarakiSi,  past  Alexandria, 


KING    FERDINAND    AND    THE    CROWN     PRINCE    OF    RUMANIA. 


more  formidable  forces  and  when  he  would 
have  to  pass  from  the  attack  to  the  defensive. 
He,  therefore,  pressed  with  all  speed  his  wheel 
along  the  Danube,  until  the  two  wings  of  the 
Bulgaro-German  army  in  the  Dobrudja  stood 
«t  right  angles  to  each  other.  An  allied  force, 
•consisting  of  the  61st  Russian,  the  19th 
Rumanian,  and  a  Jugo-Slav  division,  Lad 
hitherto  fully  held  in  cheek,  and  even  exerted 


Arsabla,  and  Duzbati  to  Kara  Agach.  In  their' 
further  advance  the  Bulgaro-German  forces 
met,  however,  with  an  increasing  resistance, 
and  even  with  some  severe  reverses.  Thus, 
e.g.,  on  September  12,  a  few  Prussian  crack 
regiments,  supported  by  Bulgarian  infantry, 
knocked  against  a  Rumanian  force  between 
Lipnitsa  and  Kara  Orman,  losing  eight  guna 
and  a  German  princeling  who — fa  va  sans  dire — 


213 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


THE    QUEEN    OF    RUMANIA    AS    NURSE, 
Cutting  up  the  dinner   of  a  disabled   man. 


had  displayed  in  the  battle  the  proverbial 
"  shining  heroism  "  of  his  race  and  rank  (rj. 
any  contemporary  German  account).  On  the 
same  day  another  sore  reverse  was  inflicted 
on  the  Bulgarians  by  the  Russians  and  Serbians 
on  the  Bogdali-Tchiflik  line.  On  the  next  day 
again  a  swaying  battle  was  fought  round 
Aptaat,  about  half-way  between  the  Danube 
and  the  Cernavoda-Baltchik  railway.  Yet  all 
these  were  mere  rearguard  actions.  The  main 
Allied  forces  were  gathering  in  prepared  positions 
on  the  Rashova-Copadinu-Tuzla  line,  some 
nine  to  twelve  miles  southfof  the  Cernavoda- 
Constanza  railway.  This  line  was  reached. by 
the-  enemy  on  September  16  and  a  pitched 
battle  developed  along  most  of  the  front. 
The  news  of  the  defeats  in  the  Dobrudja 
could  not  have  failed  to  produce  a  deep  and 
painful  impression  in  Bukarest  Government 
circles,  and  some  of  the  measures  taken  at  the 
time  bear  the  nmrks  of  flurry  and  agitation. 
It  was  decided  to  continue  the  advance  into 
Transylvania.  \  ct  three  divisions  were  with- 
drawn from  tin'  invading  armies  which  had 
lieeii  anyhow  hardly  equal  to  their  task. 
Moreover  the  ablest  Rumanian  general,  Alex- 
ander Averescu,  was  sent  to  the  Dobrudja, 


to  replace  General  Asian,  who  had  hitherto 
commanded  the  Third  Rumanian  Army  (some- 
times referred  to  as  the  Army  of  the  Danube). 
Hardly  had  General  Averescu  had  time  to  take 
in  hand  the  work  in  Transylvania  when  he 
was  thus  transferred  to  a  new  theatre  of  war. 
only  to  be  sent  back  to  Transylvania  about  a 
month  later  when,  in  turn,  the  position  in 
Transylvania  had  assumed  a  very  grave  aspect. 
The  forces  of  the  Allies  on  the  Rashova-Tuzla 
line  comprised,  towards  the  close  of  the  battle 
— considerable  reinforcements  arrived  about 
September  20 — eight  Russian  and  Rumanian 
divisions  and  one  Serbian  division,  about 
Hi.  1)00  men  strong.  The  Rumanian  forces 
consisted  of  fresh  forces  brought  up  from 
Transylvania,  of  the  9th  Division  from  Silistria, 
the  garrison  of  Cernavoda,  and  the  19th 
Division  from  the  Eastern  Dobrudja.  The 
Russian  forces  included  the  greater  part  of  tlu- 
47th  Army  Corps  and  the  Third  Cavalry- 
Division.  The  Serbian  Division  which  was 
to  distinguish  itself  very  highly  in  the  ensuing 
ba,ttles,  consisting  almost  entirely  of  Jugo-Slav 
prisoners  from  the  Austro-Hungarian  Army, 
who,  having  surrendered  to  the  Russians, 
demanded  to  be  allowed  to  fight  on  the  side  of 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


•219 


the  Entente.  Recognition  has  been  made  .of 
the  magnificent  bravery  and  endurance  dis- 
played by  that  division  both  by  allies  and 
enemies.  The  supreme  direction  of  all  the 
Allied  forces  rested'  with  the  Russian  com- 
mander, General  Zayonchkovski.  The  opposing 
forces  of  Mackensen  were  about  equal  in  num- 
bers, and  consisted  of  three  Bulgarian  infantry 
divisions  (the  1st  and  4th,  and  half  of  the  6th 
and  12th),  two  Bulgarian  cavalry  divisions, 
some  smaller  Bulgarian  mixed  units,  two 
Turkish  divisions  of  infantry,  and  a  con- 
siderable number  of  German  regiments  properly 
distributed  as  "  chaperons  "  among  their 
allies  ;  Austria  and  Germany  supplied  the 
heavy  artillery. 

It  was  in  the  centre  of  the  Dobrudja  that  the 
two  armies  joined  in  the  first  general  battle 
for  that  ancient  high-road  of  nations. 

Like  a  connecting  ridge,  the  high,  hilly 
tableland  of  the  Dobrudja  extends  between  the 
Balkan  Peninsula  and  Southern  Russia.  The 
chain  of  hills  which  runs  through  the  Western 
Dobrudja  and  attains  its  highest  point  in  the 
north,  in  the  Baba  Dagh  Mountains  (about 
1,700  feet  high)  is  the  farthest  northern  branch 
of  the  Balkan  range.  Rising  below  Silistria 


to  an  average  of  300  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  Wallachian  plain,  it  deflects  the  Danube 
from  its  easterly  course.  The  river  turns  to 
the  north,  divides  into  many  branches  and 
spreads  its  waters  in  the  low-lying  Rumanian 
plain  over  a  belt  of  land  which,  with  the 
exception  of  the  neighbourhood  of  Hirshova, 
is  about  six  to  ten  miles  wide.  It  is  not 
until  east  of  Galatz  that  the  Danube  turns 
again  to  the  east,  marking  the  frontier  between 
the  Dobrudja  and  Bessarabia.  Near  Braila 
and  Galatz,  and  between  Isaccea  and  Tulcea, 
where  the  Dobrudja  Mountains  throw  out  their 
last  spurs  to  the  north,  a  few  convenient 
crossings  open  over  the  Danube.  These  were, 
since  times  immemorial,  the  gates  through 
which  the  nations  and  armies  from  the  north 
had  swarmed  towards  the  coasts  of  the  ^Egean. 
It  was  along  the  high-road  of  the  Dobrudja 
that  the  Roman  Emperor  Trajan  feared  to  see 
the  barbaric  invaders  advance  against  the 
Eastern  provinces  of  his  Empire.  Between  the 
harbour  of  Constanza  and  the  Danube,  where 
the  Dobrudja  narrows  down  to  about  30  miles, 
he  constructed  three  consecutive  powerful 
lines  of  defence,  known  even  now  as  Trajan's 
Wall.  Considerable  portions  of  these  works 


THE  RUMANIAN  ROYAL  BODY  GUARD. 


•220 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


are  still  in  existence;  the  entrenchments 
;MV  10  to  20  feet  high,  and  are  studded  through- 
out their  whole  length  with  fortified  camps. 
It  was  through  the  Dobrudja  that  the  suc- 
cessive waves  of  Goths  and  Slavs  ran  up  against 
the  territory  of  the  Byzantine  Empire,  and  it 
\vus  across  it  that,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  the 
nrarcst  land  route  led- from  the  settlements 
of  the  Crimean  Tartars  to  Constantinople. 
Since  Russia  had  advanced  her  borders  in  1812 
to  the  river  Pruth  and  to  the  Delta  of  the 
Danube,  it  was  by  the  Dobrudja  road  that 
her  armies  marched  to  the  south,  to  fight 
•  for  the  liberation  of  the  Greek-Orthodox 
nations,  and  especially  the  Slav  sister-nation, 
the  Bulgarians.  In  1828  General  Dibitch 
"  Zabalkanski  "  *  marched  through  the  Do- 
brudja against  Adrianople,  and  again  in  1854, 
during  the  Crimean  War,  the  Russian  Armies, 
under  Prince  Paskievitch,  crossed  through  the 
Dobrudja  in  their  advance  against  Silistria. 

The  highroad  of  nations  and  a  temporary 
shelter  to  them,  the  Dobrudja  presented  no 
attractions  which  would  have  made  con- 
querors choose  it  for  permanent  settlements. 
The  central  portion  is  a  regular  steppe,'  con- 
sisting of  fine  gray  sand  overlying  limestone 
rock,  with  hardly  a  tree  or  running  water.  The 

*  This  title,  conferred  on  him  by  Tsar  Nicholas  I. 
for  his  victories  over  the  Turks,  means  literally  "  of 
beyond  the  Balkan  (mountains)." 


rivers  lose  themselves  before  reaching  the  sea. 
It  is  an  open  country,  wherein  the  human  eye 
surveys  from  any  hillock  a  wide  tract  of  land, 
desolate  and  gray  like  the  sea  itself.  The 
northern  part  of  the  Dobrudja  consists  largely 
of  barren  hills.  In  the  east  along  the  coast  the 
Dobrudja  drops  towards  the  sea  into  flat  low- 
lands, and  is  girded  by  a  broad  belt  of  lagoons. 
But  this  no  man's  land  wliich  no  conquering 
nation  desired  to  retain  became  the  refuge  of 
broken  tribes,  of  small  persecuted  communities 
from  the  neighbouring  States,  of  fugitive 
individuals  ;  lastly,  during  the  eighteenth  and 
nineteenth  century,  of  Russia's  enemies,  especi- 
ally of  Polish  revolutionaries  who  sought  the 
help  of  Turkey  or  who  entered  her  service.* 
To  the  present  day  the  nationality  map  of  the 
Dobrudja  remains  most  fantastically  chequered. 
"  On  forlorn  shores  I  have  discovered  humble 
hamlets  where  Turks  dwelt  in  solitary  aloof- 
ness," wrote  the  Queen  of  Roumania  about 
the  Dobrudja  in  an  article  contributed  to 
The  Times  of  November  2,  1916.  "Near 
the  broad  Danube  I  have  strayed  amongst 

*  At  the  time  of  the  Crimean  war,  the  Polish 
revolutionaries  and  exiles  made  the  Dobrudja  the 
base  of  their  operations  against  Russia.  They  raised 
a  regiment  of  Ottoman  Cossacks,  consisting  of  adven- 
turers of  every  possible  nationality.  Their  leaders 
were  Michael  Czajkowski,  better  known  as  Sadik  1'aslm, 
and  Akhmet  Bey  Pulaski,  a  Lithuanian  Tartar.  They 
stood  in  close  touch  with  the  Polish  Committees  at 
Paris,  especially  with  that  of  Prince  Adam  Czartorvski. 


SILISTRIA. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


221 


tiny    boroughs    inhabited    by    Russian    fisher- 
folk,  whose  type  is  so  different  from  that  of  the 
Rumanian  peasant.     At  first  sight  one  recog- 
nizes their  nationality — tall,  fair-bearded  giants, 
with  blue  eyes,  their  red  shirts  visible  from  a 
great  way  off.     It  is  especially  in  the  Dobrudja 
that  these  different  nationalities  jostle  together. 
Besides   Rumanians,    Bulgarians,    Turks,    Tar- 
tars,  Russians,   in  places  even   Germans,   live 
peacefully  side  by  side."     And  here  and  there 
one    can    come    across    small    settlements    of 
Serbs,    Greeks,    Jews,    and   Armenians.     They 
are  all  the  drift-wood  of  the  storms  of  history. 
The   Tartars  in  the  Dobrudja   are    fragments 
of   the    Golden   Horde   which    withdrew   from 
Southern    Russia   when    the    country    passed 
under  Christian  domination.     Among  the  Little 
Russians  descendants  can  be  found  of  Cossack 
rebels,  of  the  followers  of  Nekrassoff,  and  of 
the    even   more   famous  Mazepa ;    among   the 
Great    Russians    prevail    all    kinds    of    quaint 
religious  sects,  who  in  the  days  of  persecution 
had  abandoned  their  homes — Dukhobors  and 
Old   Believers,  Molokans   and  "  Bezpapovtsi  " 
("  having   no   priests ").     It   was   in   that   no 
man's  land,  the  home  of  many  various  nations, 
that     armies     gathered    from    many    distant 
lands  were  now  meeting  in  the  battle  for  the 
great  highroad  of  the  Dobrudja. 

The  objective  of  the  Bulgaro- German  troops 
attacking  the  Rashova-Tuzla  line  was  the 
Cernavoda  bridge  and  the  Cernavoda -Con- 
stanza  railway.  Had  they  succeeded  in 
capturing  these,  they  would  have  cut  off 
Rumania's  access  to  the  Black  Sea  and  Russia's 
road  to  the  Balkans.  The  railway  itself  is  one 
of  the  oldest  in  the  Balkans  ;  it  was  built,  still 
under  Turkish  rule,  by  an  English  Company 
in  1860,  and  acquired  by  the  Rumanian  Govern- 
ment in  1882.  It  follows  approximately  the 
direction  of  Trajan's  Wall,  and  cuts  its  lines 
at  several  points.  The  Carol  Bridge,  which 
carries  the  railway  across  .the  Danube,  was 
begun  in  1895,  and  was  one  of  the  longest 
iron  bridges  in  the  world  ;  the  cost  of  con- 
structing it  amounted  to  nearly  £1,500,000.  It 
starts  on  the  Rumanian  side  at  Feteshti, 
crosses  the  left  arm  of  the  Danube  called 
Borcea,  then  the  wide  inundation  plain  ;  and, 
lastly,  the  main  branch  of  the  river,  which  .at 
this  spot  reaches  a  normal  depth  of  nearly 
100  feet.  Th>  total  length  of  the  causeway, 
viaducts,  and  other  approaches  across  the 
marshes,  together  with  the  actual  bridge 
structure,  is  about  12  miles.  A  line  of  forts 


GENERAL    ZAYONCHKOVSKI, 

Commanded  the  Allied  Forces  in  the  Dobrudja. 

extends  east  of  Cernavoda,  but  having  been 
laid  out  about  the  same  time  as  the  bridge 
itself,  by  1916  they  had  lost  all  defensive 
value.  They  surround  the  bridgehead  at  a. 
distance  of  about  three  miles,  which  is  wholly 
inadequate  as  against  modern  heavy  artillery. 
Unless  it  was  possible  to  hold  the  Rashova- 
Tuzla  line,  some  nine  to  twelve  miles  south  of 
the  bridge  and  railway,  this  main  artery  of  the 
Dobrudja  was  lost. 

On  September  16  the  Germans  opened  the 
attack  on  their  left  wing  between  Arabagi  and 
Cocargea.  In  the  immediate  neighbourhood 
of  the  Danube  the  Balta  Bachin  swamps 
impeded  their  advance.  The  attack  was 
pressed  with  special  vigour  north  of  Enigea, 
where  the  Germans  had  been  able  to  collect  a 
very  considerable  artillery  force,  and  round 
Copadinu,  along  the  Megidia-Baltchik  railway 
line.  After  the  first  day  of  the  battle  the 
German  wireless  triumphantly  announced  their 
hiving  "  forced  their  way  "  into  the  Rumanian 
lines.  Even  on  September  20  Sofia  still  per- 
sisted in  the  statement  that  the  fighting  along 
the  entire  line  "  is  developing  in  our  favour." 
But  the  German  report  of  the  same  day  ia 
chastened  in  tone,  and  prepares  the  public 
for  reverses.  "  In  the  Dobrudja,"  it  says. 


222 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


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THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


223 


*'  stubborn  fluctuating  battles  have  taken  place 
with  hastily  brought  up  reinforcements.  The 
enemy  is  defending  himself  with  great  stub- 
bornness." Indeed,  he  was.  Throughout  the 
first  four  days  repeated  enemy  attacks  were 
repulsed  by  the  Allied  forces,  and  by  Septem- 
ber 20,  when  these  attacks  were  approaching 
exhaustion,  reinforcements  arrived  which 
enabled  General  Zayonchkovski  to  open  a 
counter-offensive.  The  Rumanian  troops 
attacked  east  of  the  Megidia-Copadinu-Balt- 
chik  railway,  round  Toprosari.  The  Bulgarian 
communique  of  September  22  "records  that 
attack,  and  closes  with  the  reassuring  state- 
ment that  the  Rumanians  had  been  repulsed 
"  in  disorderly  flight."  Curiously  enough,  the 
next  daily  ration  of  Bulgarian  victories — as 
announced  on  September  23 — has  to  be  located 
some  10  miles  back,  on  the  Casicci-Enghez- 
Karakioi  line,  and  on  September  24  fighting 
was  reported  at  Mustafa-Azi,  still  another 
five  miles  farther  to  the  south.  Evidently  it 
was  the  Bulgarians  who  were  in  full  retreat. 
Soon  the  retirement  became  general,  and  the 
defeated  German,  Bulgarian  and  Turkish 
forces  were  falling  back  throughout  the  Do- 
bruflja  beyond  the  line  which  they  had  passed 
on  September  14.  The  rout  of  the  enemy  was 
complete.  Yet,  unfortunately,  the  Allied  com- 
manders disposed  of  no  fresh  reserves,  and  the 
troops  which  had  stood  in  the  thick  of  the 
fight  for  the  last  four  or  six  days  were  not  in 
a  position  to  press  the  pursuit.  The  enemy 
withdrew  his  line  to  an  average  distance  of 
about  15  miles  from  the  Rashova-Tuzla  front, 
and  took  up  strong  defensive  positions  in 
which  he  would  be  able  to  await  fresh  rein- 
forcements and  a  favourable  opportunity  for 
a  new  advance. 

Thus,  in  the  first  phase  of  the  Dobrudja 
fighting,  Mackensen  had  failed  to  attain  his 
"  crowning  mercy."  The  Carol  Bridge  and 
the  Cernavoda-Constanza  railway  remained 
safely  in  Rumanian  hands.  Yet  the  results 
which  Mackensen  had  attained  were  by  no 
means  inconsiderable.  He  had  snatched  from 
our  Allies  the  initiative  in  the  Dobrudja. 
He  had  reached  a  strong  line  hemming  in  the 
Allied  troops  on  a  continuous  front — this 
front  being  now  only  half  the  length  of  the 
original  Dobrudja  border.  He  had  extended 
his  line  along  the  Danube  south  of  Bukarest, 
thus  outflanking  Wallachia  still  farther  to  the 
east.  He  had  deprived  any  Allied  Arm:"s 
which  might  gather  in  the  Dobrudja  of 


important  lines  of  supply  ;  in  other  words, 
he  had  succeeded  in  circumscribing  the  Allies' 
capacity  for  military  concentrations  in  the 
Dobrudja.  Tutrakan  and  Silistria  were  of 
small  importance  as  fortresses  or  strategic 
points  d'appui,  yet,  with  a  view  to  communica- 
tions, they  would  have  been  of  the  greatest 
value  for  an  army  concentration  against  Bul- 
garia. Two  Rumanian  railway  lines  touch 
the  Danube  at  Oltenitsa  and  Calai-ashi,  opposite 
Tutrakan  and  Silistria.  These  could  now  no 
longer  have  sxipplied  the  needs  of  an  Allied 
Army  gathering  against  Bulgaria  ;  it  would 
have  had  to  rely  exclusively  on  the  Cernavoda- 
Bukarest  railway,  and  on  the  fragments  of  the 
line  which  was  being  built  between  Tulcea 
and  Megidia.  Lastly,  by  his  advance  in  the 
Dobrudja,  Mackensen  had  caused  the 
Rumanians  to  weaken  their  forces  in  Tran- 
sylvania, just  on  the  eve  of  the  Austro-German 
counter-offensive. 

In  Eastern  Transylvania  the  Fourth  and 
S?cond  Rumanian  Armies  were  still  advancing. 
The  troops  of  General  Presan  were  crossing  the 
inner  mountain  wall  formed  by  the  Gorgeny- 
Hargitta-Barot  range,  and  e,pproaching  the 
railheads  in  the  Upper  Kokel  valleys.  The 
Second  Army,  under  General  Crainiceanu, 
who  had  succeeded  General  Averescu  on  his 
transfer  to  the  Dobrudja,  supported  them  by 
a  flanking  movement  from  the  south-east. 
On  September  16  the  right  wing  of  the  Second 
Army  reached  Homorod  and  Kohalom,  and 
on  the  same  day  the  Fourth  Rumanian  Division 
under  General  Simonescu  entered  the  old 
historic  city  of  Fogaras,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Aluta,  about  half-way  between  Kronstadt 
and  Hermannstadt.  It  was  from  here  that 
the  Rumanian  national  hero,  Radu  Negru, 
had  started  on  his  victorious  expedition 
across  the  Carpathians  which  led  to  the  for- 
mation of  an  independent  Rumanian  State 
extending  to  the  Danube.  But  whilst  the 
advance  was  thus  still  continuing  in  the  east 
and  stimulating  popular  imagination  by  the 
historic  reminiscences  which  were  taken  for 
good  auguries,  the  first  signs  of  the  approaching 
storm  were  rising  over  the  western  horizon. 

The  concentration  of  German  troops  had 
begun  in  the  Hungarian  plain,  especially  in 
the  direction  of  Arad  and  Temesvar.  Most 
people  had  thought  that  the  Germans,  having 
taken  over  the  Volhynian  and  also  consider- 
able parts  of  the  Galician  front,  and  having 


22-1 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


TYPES    OF    RUMANIAN    OFFICERS. 


lost  enormous  numbers  of  men  at  Verdun 
and  on  the  Somnie,  would  hardly  be  able  to 
marshal  any  considerable  forces  for  an  expedi- 
tion against  Rumania.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
these  forces  were  obtained,  partly  from  new 
formations,  but  to  a  much  greater  extent  by 
means  of  the  re-organization  of  the  existing 
armies  which  had  proceeded,  throughout  1916. 
During,  the  first  two  years  of  the  war  each 
German  division  had  consisted  of  four  regi- 
ments of  infantry  and  one  brigade  of  artillery 
(the  intermediary  formation  of  infantry 
brigades — each  comprising  two  regiments — 
uus  dropped  in  the  course  of  the  war,  partly 
in  order  to  simplify  the  organization,  and 
partly  because  economy  had  to  be  practised  in 
the  employment  of  officers  qualified  to  command 
big  army  units).  In  1910  the  shortage  of  men 
and  the  steady  improvement  in  the  mechanical 
means  of  defence  caused  and  enabled  the 
Gorman  supreme  command  to  withdraw  from 
each  division  one  regiment  of  infantry  ;  the 
forces,  which  had  thus  been  liberated  were 
funned  into  new  divisions. 

Stated  in  plain  terms  (lie  reorganization 
\\iis  primarily  a  change  in  the  relative  propor- 
tion* of  artillery  and  infantry.  It  meant  that 
n  weaker  accompaniment  of  infantry  was  left 
in  each  brigade  of  artillery,  mid  that  in  the 
passive  sectors  of  the  front,  which,  after  all, 
constituted  by  far  its  biggest  part,  the  Gorman 
commanders  had  found  it  possible  to  thin  their 
ranks  by  substituting  mechanical  obstacles 


and  machinery  for  men.  In  that  way  the 
greater  part  was  built  up  of  the  new  formations 
which  were  required  both  in  the  East  and  in 
the  West.  The  most  competent  Swiss  observers 
stated  that  at  the  time  when  Marshal  von 
Hindenburg  was  appointed  Chief  of  the  General 
Staff,  there  still  remained  57  German  divisions 
with  four  regiments  each.  Here,  then,  was 
material  for  some  new  19  divisions,  and  gradu- 
ally, as  the  fighting  was  subsiding  in  Volhynia 
and  in  the  West,  German  troops  were  with- 
drawn from  those  fronts  for  Rumania,  whilst 
Austro-Hungarian  troops  were  brought  up 
from  Galicia,  the  Western  Balkans  and  the- 
Italian  front.  Tliroughout  the. three  autumn 
months  of  1916  one  can  trace  almost  continually 
the  arrival  of  fresh  German  and  Austrian 
units  in  the  Rumanian  theatre  of  war. 

The  first  move  in  the  German  counter- 
offensive  was  directed  against  the  Rumanian 
force  which  had  crossed  the  Vulcan  Pass  and 
was  advancing  along  the  Streiu  Valley  towards 
llatszeg.  The  enemy  had  to  secure  the 
principal  railway  line,  which  leads  from  Temes- 
var  by  Broos  (some  20  miles  north  of  Hatszcg) 
and  Miihlbach  to  Hermannstadt  and  Ivron- 
stadt  from  any  possible  flank  attacks,  before 
lie  could  undertake  operations  on  a  large  soj'.ln 
against  the  main  Rumanian  forces  in  southern 
and  eastern  Transylvania.  On  September  15 
ii  group  of  German  and  Magyar  regiments 
under  Lieutenant -General  von  Staabs  advanced 
against  the  positions  occupied  by  the  Ruma- 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


225 


mans  on  both  sides  of  the  Streiu  Valley  near 
Baru  Mare,  and  extending  from  Barlu  to 
Mount  Muncelului.  The  enemy,  who  disposed 
of  an  exceedingly  strong  concentration  of 
howitzers  and  mountain  artillery,  delivered  a 
frontal  attack,  the  main  weight  of  which  was 
directed  against  the  Rumanian  left  centre, 
round  Mount  Branu.  After  a  whole  day  of 
very  severe  fighting  our  Allies  withdrew  before 
the  superior  numbers  of  the  enemy  and  his 
even  more  overwhelming  superiority  in  artillery. 
"  As  far  as  one  can  say  at  present,"  wrote  the 
war  correspondent  of  the  Vienna  Neue  Freie 
Presse  from  German  headquarters  in  Transyl- 
vania under  date  September  20,  1916,  "the 
Rumanians  generally  fight  very  well.  Reports 
have  reached  us  from  the  Hatszeg  sector  about 
Romanian  units  which,  having  lost  half  their 
'  effectives,  still  continued  the  battle.  Similar 
facts  have  been  observed  in  other  sectors." 

The  Rumanian  retirement  from  Baru  Mare 
was  carried  out  with  considerable  skill  and  in 
perfect  order.  The  main  Rumanian  line  of 
communication  followed  the  Hatszeg-Petroseny 
railway  to  the  east,  and  ran  almost  parallel  to 
the  frontier ;  the  Hatszeg  mountain  range 
intervenes  between  the  two.  At  Petroseny  the 


road  and  railway  turn  at  an  almost  straight 
angle  to  the  south  and  cross  through  the  Vulcan 
and  Szurduk  Passes  into  Wallachia.  It  was 
naturally  the  aim  of  the  enemy  to  outflank  the 
Rumanians  in  the  Hatszeg  Mountains  and  to 
reach  by  a  short  cut  the  passes  in  their  rear. 
With  that  goal  in  view,  lie  divided  his  forces 
into  six  columns,  which  attempted  a  wide 
sweeping  movement  through  the  mountains. 
But  the  Rumanians  kept  their  front  intact, 
and  holding  on  strongly  to  the  main  range  of 
the  Hatszeg  Mountains,  executed  a  wheel  to 
the  right.  Their  original  front  at  Baru  Mare 
ran  north  and  south.  By  September  19  they 
had  reached  a  line  extending  east  and  west, 
between  Mount  Tulisini  and  Petroseny.  They 
were  now  standing  parallel  to  the  frontier  with 
all  their  lines  of  retreat  fully  covered.  The 
wheel  on  the  right  wing  continued,  however, 
still  farther  ;  on  September  20  the  Rumanians 
evacuated  Petroseny  and  two  days  later  tha 
.  enemy  reached  the  Vulcan  Pass. 

During  the  night  of  September  22-23  a  new 
change  supervened  in  the  situation.  Tho 
Germans  seem  to  have  imagined  that  they  had 
finished  off  their  opponents,  and  withdrew 
some  of  their  forces  to  the  east,  where  a  big 


RUMANIAN     CAVALRY. 


•2-2IJ 


THE    TJMKS    HISTORY     OF    THE    WAR. 


battle  was  jvist  developing  round  Hermann- 
stadt.  As  soon,  however,  as  an  approximate 
equality  of  forces  Imd  been  established,  our 
Allies  ooimter-attaeked  in  the  Vulcan  Pass, 
iind  repulsed  the  enemy,  capturing  several 
hundred  prisoners  and  seven  machine-guns. 
At  the  same  time  they  carried  out  a  successful 
outflanking  movement  from  the  valley  of  the 
Silu  Roinaneseu,  which  rendered  untenable  the 
enemy's  position  in  the  passes.  Even  more 
interesting  were  the  developments  on  the  ex- 
treme left  Rumanian  wing.  The  wheel  in  the 
centre  and  on  the  right  wing  had  for  its  pivot 
the  positions  in  the  Tulisini-Muncelului  district  ; 
there  our  Allies  had  stubbornly  maintained 
their  ground,  thus  remaining  at  a  short  distance 
from  the  principal  German  line  of  communica- 
tions in  the  Streiu  Valley.  By  a  new  descent 
into  that  valley  they  now  threatened  to  cut 
the  communications  to  the  west,  in  the  rear  of 
the  main  German  forces,  which  having  turned 
the  corner  at  Petroseny,  were  facing  south 
towards  the  Vulcan  Pass.  The  position  of 
September  15  had  thus  been  reversed  within  a 
week.  To  avoid  being  cut  off  in  the  defiles 
south  of  Petroseny  the  Germans  withdrew  in 
haste  into  the  Streiu  Valley,  and  concentrated 
their  forces  on  their  threatened  line  of  commu- 
nications, mainly  round  Merisor,  on  the  northern 
slope  of  the  Hatszeg  Mountains. 

In  the  first  days  of  October  the  enemy 
resumed  his  attack  north  of  the  Vulcan,  and 
in  view  of  the  events  which  had  meantime 
occurred  farther  east  the  Rumanians  withdrew 
to  the  pass,  having  previously  destroyed  the 
valuable  coal  mines  round  Petroseny. 

On  September  19  General  von  Falkenhayn, 
late  Chief  of  the  German  General  Staff,  took 
over  the  command  of  the  Ninth  German  Army 
which  had  been  concentrated  in  Southern 
Hungary  for  a  counter-offensive  against  the 
llumaniah  armies.  Besides  German  troops 
withdrawn  from  the  Russian  front  or  brought 
up  from  the  interior,  the  Ninth  Army  included 
;ilso  the  Alpine  Corps  which  had  hitherto  been 
with  the.  Fifth  German  Army  at  Verdun,  and  a 
number  of  Magyar  regiments,  most  of  which 
had  gained  experience  in  mountain  fighting  on 
the  Italian  front.  Whilst  General  von  Staabs 
was  securing  the  approaches  to  the  Maros  from 
t  he  Streiu  Valley,  the  main  forces  under  Falken- 
hayn's  command  proceeded  with  the  next  task 
in  hand,  and  advanced  against  the  strongest 
detachment  of  the  First  Rumanian  Army,  the 


Aluta  Group  round  Hermannstadt.  The 
Rumanians  were  to  pay  once  more  the  penalty 
for  having  dispersed  their  forces,  and  were  to 
suffer  again  from  the  deficiencies  in  the 
equipment  and  organization  of  their  intelligence 
service.  Falkenhayn,  disposing  of  much 
superior  forces,  succeeded  by  quick  movements 
across  the  mountains  in  outflanking  and  sur- 
rounding our  Allies  in  the  Sibiu  Valley.  It 
was  not  until  a  very  late  hour  that  the  neces- 
sary counter-measures  were  taken,  and  then 
it  was  only  owing  to  the  determination  ;nicl 
resourcefulness  of  some  of  the  commanders 
and  to  the  splendid  heroism  of  the  Rumanian 
peasant-soldier  that  a  most  serious  disaster  was 
avoided.  Yet  the  losses  in  men,  and  still  more 
in  material,  which  our  Allies  suffered  in  that 
unequal  battle  north  of  the  Red  Tower  Pass, 
were  considerable. 

The  main  Rumanian  positions  north  of  the 
Red  Tower  Pass  extended  east  and  west, 
with  Schellenberg  for  their  centre.  To  the  east 
they  reached  Porumbacu,  in  the  Aluta  Valley. 
on  the  road  and  railway  to  Fogaras  ;  in  t  he 
centre  they  extended  to  Height  566  and  the 
Grigori-Warte  (601  metres)  north-east  of  Her- 
mannstadt ;  in  the  west  to  the  Szecsel-Orlat- 
Poplaka  line.  A  gap  of  about  15  miles 
intervened  between  the  extreme  right  wing  of 
the  Aluta  Group  round  Porumbacu  and  the 
vanguard  of  the  Second  Army,  west  of  Fogaras. 
Similarly  the  left  wing  of  the  Aluta  Group  west 
of  Hermannstadt,  had  no  connexion  either  to 
the  west  or  to  the  south.  The  two  wings 
extended  like  the  branches  of  a  tree— their 
stem  being  the  road  and  railway  through  the 
Red  Tower  Pass.  More  than  10  miles  of  high 
mountains  intervened  between  the  Rumanian 
positions  on  the  Schellenberg-Orlat  front  and 
the  Rumanian  frontier.  No  Rumanian  forces 
of  any  importance  had  been  moved  into  that 
vital  district  in  the  rear  of  the  left  wing  of  the 
Aluta  Army,  and  on  the  left  flank  of  the  Red 
Tower  Pass,  and  even  the  placing  of  proper 
outposts  seems  to  have  been  neglected. 

The  plan  on  which  the  Germans  carried  out 
their  operations  against  the  forces  of  General 
Manolescu  was  very  simple.  They  advanced 
in  three  groups.  On  the  wings  two  groups 
were  thrown  out,  like  arms,  encircling  the 
Rumanians;  the  column  advancing  from  the 
west  was  to  cut  their  line  of  retreat  through 
the  Red  Tower  Pass,  whilst  the  eastern  column 
was  to  step  into  the  gap  between  the  First  and 
the  Second  Rumanian  Armies  and  prevent  any 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


227 


relief  reaching  .the  troops  north  of  the  Red 
Tower  Pass  froia  Fogaras  or  their  retreat  in 
that  direction.  By  the  time  that  both  these 
encircling  det achments  should  have  reached  their 
assigned  positions,  the  bulk  of  Falkenhayn's 
forces  was  to  open  from  the  north  and  west  an 
attack  against  the  entire  line  of  the  Aluta 
Army. 

The  Alpine  Corps,  under  the  Bavarian 
General  KrafEt  von  Delmensingen  was  chosen 
for  the  encircling  movement  from  the  .west. 


provocation.  It  was  this  lad?  of  experience 
in  mountain  warfare  wliich  accounted  for 
many  blunders  committed  by  the  Rumanians 
during  the  invasion  of  Transylvania,  and  in 
particular  for  some  of  the  sad  omissions  in  the 
disposition  of  the  forces  north  of  the  Red 
Tower  Pass,  and  also  for  the  ease  with  which 
these  forces  let  themselves  be  surprised  by  the 
encircling  march  of  the  Alpine  Corps  across 
the  mountains. 

The  date  fixed  for  the  general  attack  against 


WITH    THE    RUMANIAN    ARMY:      CLEARING    UP    AT    A    CAMP. 


A  rapid  march  across  high  mountains  was 
essential  to  the  success  of  their  enterprise. 
The  Corps,  consisting  mainly  of  Bavarian 
highlanders,  trained  and  used  for  mountain 
operations,  was  admirably  equipped  for  its 
undertaking.  The  Rumanians,  on  the  con- 
trary, were  neither  equipped  nor  trained  for 
mountain  warfare,  nor  had  they  as  yet  any 
serious  experience  of  it.  In  the  days  of  King 
Charles  no  one  thought  of  the  possibility  of 
war  against  Austria-Hungary,  and  since  1914 
rnanreuvres  on  a  large  scale  in  the  mountains 
on  the  Transylvanian  frontier  could  not  be 
undertaken  for  fear  that  they  might  be  con- 
strued by  the  Central  Powers  as  a  threat  or  n, 


the  Orlat-Hermannstadt-Porumbacu  front  was 
September  26.  On  September  22,  a  strong 
detachment  of  the  Alpine  Corps  was  pushed 
forward  from  Reussinarkt  to  Szelistye,  as  a 
guard  on  the  left  flank  of  its  main  forces,  which 
had  meantime  started  their  inarch  across  the 
mountains.  Their  path  led  by  Sinna,  across 
Mount  Guga  (about  4,500  feet)  and  Varful 
Strimba  (almost  6,000  feet)  to  the  foot  of  Mount 
Cindrelul.  This  point  was  reached  by  the  night 
of  September  23-24  without  any  resistance 
having  been  encountered.  On  the  next  day  the 
advance  was  continued  across  difficult  ground 
and  by  bridle  paths.  It  proceeded  due  south 
until  Mount  Strefflesci  was  reached  near  the 


228 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


Uumiinian  frontier.  From  here  the  advance 
assumed  an  easterly  direction.  But  a  screen 
was  thrown  out  towards  the  Rumanian  frontier 
which  on  the  line  Mount  IS.'il)  to  Mount  Robu 
\vus  to  protect  the  flank  and  rear  of  the  Alpine 
( 'cirps  against  any  sudden  attack  from  the  south. 
On  Mount  1850  the  first  serious  encounter  was 
fought  with  Rumanian  forces  on  September  25. 
Another  screen  in  the  Gauszoru  mountains 
covered  the  left  flank  of  the  advancing  troops. 
Meantime  the  bulk  of  the  German  forces  reached 
'.Mount  Negovanul  during  the  night  of  Sep- 
tcinbrr  24-25,  and  towards  the  close  of  the 
following  day  they  deployed  on  the  Prejba- 
Varful  Mare  front,  about  10  miles  east  of  the 
Red  Tower  Pass.  On  the  assigned  day — Sep- 
tember 20 — the  Alpine  Corps  attacked  the  pass 
itself,  reached  both  its  ends,  occupied'  the 
mountain  spurs  which  dominate  it  from  the 
west,  and  took  up  positions  on  Mount  Murgasu 
on  the  Rumanian  side  of  the  border.  Near 
Cain?ni,  at  the  southern  end  of  the  pass,  they 
.succeeded  towards  the  night  in  cutting  the 
railway  line  which  connects  Hermannstadt 
with  Rumania. 

The  German  column  which  was  to  encircle 
the  Army  Group  of  the  Aluta  from  the  east,  was 


l';icrd  with  a  more  difficult  task.  In  its  advance 
across  the  mountain  ridge  which  separates  the 
valley  of  the  Haar  from  that  of  the  Aluta,  it  met 
with  determined  resistance.  Still  its  superior 
numbers  enabled  it  to  force  the  crossing  of  the 
Aluta  at  Colun  and  to  interpose  in  that  district 
an  effective  barrier  between  the  First  and  the 
Second  Rumanian  Armies. 

On  the  night  of  September  26  the  German 
artillery  began  its  preparation  for  an  infantry 
advance  ;  the  bombardment  continued  through- 
out the  night  and  in  the  chosen  sectors  chang<  •(  1 ;  1 1 
5  a.m.  on  the  following  day  into  a  hurricane  fire 
of  the  greatest  intensity.  The  attack  proceeded 
from  two  directions.  On  the  western  flank 
Falkenhayn  pushed  forward  very  considerable 
forces,  including  some  of  the  best  North 
German  regiments  against  the  left  Rumanian 
flank,  in  an  attempt  to  roll  it  up  towards  the 
east,  whilst  in  the  centre  a  powerful  blow  was 
delivered  from  north  of  Hermannstadt  against 
Schellenberg,  Heltau  and  Thalheim,  with 
Talmesh  for  its  ulterior  objective.  It  was  to  break 
up  the  Rumanian  front  and  throw  the  broken 
forces  to  the  south  into  the  mountains,  where 
they  were  to  be  finished  off  by  the  Alpine  Corps 
and  the  troops  which  advanced  from  the  west. 


AIRING   GRAIN   IN   PART   OF   THE   DOBRUDJA   PREPARATORY   TO   REMOVING   IT. 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAI. 


229 


I 


. 


WITH    THE    RUMANIAN    ARMY:    AN    OUTPOST    IN    A    CAVE. 


The  extraordinarily  tough  resistance  of  the 
Rumanian  infantry  frustrated  the  execution  of 
the  plan.  The  Rumanians  were  by  now  aware 
of  their  critical  position,  and  the  order  was  given 
for  a  general  retreat  in  a  south-easterly  direc- 
tion. But  strong  rearguards  were  covering  the 
movement.  On  the  right  wing  the  villages  of 
Szecsel,  Orlat,  Guraro  and  Poplaka  had  to  be 
captured  by  the  Germans  one  by  one,  and  bitter, 
swaying  battles  were  fought  in  their  streets. 
Similarly  the  heights  of  the  Obreju,  Cipara  and 
Valare  were  defended  with  skill  and  determina- 
tion, and  the  Germans  themselves  give  a  tribute 
of  praise  to  the  Rumanian  troops  which  fought 
in  that  district. 

Nor  did  the  advance  in  the  centre  proceed 
with  the  expected  rapidity.  It  was  not  until 
September  27  that  the  German  and  Magyar 
forces  captured  the  Grigori-Warte,  whilst  on 
their  left  other  regiments  were  slowly  making 
their  way  through  Thalheim,  Baumgarteii 
and  Kastenholz  towards  Talmesh.  Naturally 
in  their  withdrawal  from  the  encircled  positions 
I  he  Rumanians  suffered  considerable  losses. 
Not  every  detachment  received  the  order  to 
retire  whilst  this  was  .  still  possible.  Even 
beyond  Talmesh  the  retreat  was  by  no  means 


easy.  The  strenuous  endeavours  of  fresh 
Rumanian  forces  to  break  from  the  south  the 
bar  which  closed  the  Red  Tower  Pass  to  the 
retreating  Army  Group  of  the  Aluta  did  not 
succeed  in  freeing  that  highway,  though  they 
did  much  to  facilitate  its  retreat  to  the  south- 
east. The  Second  Army  in  the  Upper  Aluta 
Valley  could  not  get  up  sufficient  numbers  in 
time  to  open  the.  road  to  the  east.  It  forced 
its  way  as  far  as  Porumbacu,  but  by  that  time 
the  Rumanian  detachment,  which  had  stood 
there  on  the  extreme  right  wing  of  the  Aluta 
Group,  had  been  forced  by  the  enemy  to  retreat 
to  the  east — and  the  German  forces  continued 
to  separate  the  two  armies.  The  pressure 
which  the  Rumanian  armies  were  meantime 
exerting  in  Eastern  Transylvania  had  hardly 
any  bearing  on  the  battle  round  Hermannstadt. 
'•  The  distance  was  such  that  whatever  their- 
progress  might  have  been  it  could  not  have 
affected  the  issue  of  the  battle.  Only  by  the 
mountain  roads  east  of  the  defiles  were  the 
troops  of  the  Aluta  Group  able  to  break  through 
the  encircling  grip  and  regain  their  connexion 
with  Wallachia.  The  movement  was  carried 
out  with  remarkable  skill  and  in  good  order. 
During  their  retreat  to  Caineni  through  the 


•230 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


ii  Valley  the  Rumanians  even  succeeded 
in  c-nptiirini'  :tOO  prisoners.  The  battle  round 
lleriuitnnstadt  is  summarized  in  the  Romanian 
official  fonii/unii'i/iK'  'i<  September  30:  "Our 


ROCKS  OF  TRAJAN,  ON  THE  ALUTA. 

troops  at  Hermannstadt,  attacked  on  all 
sides  by  superior  enemy  forces,  after  fighting 
which  lasted  three  days,  re-established  their 
.  communication  with  the  south,  repulsing  the 
enemy  who  was  attacking  from  that  direction. 
Our  troops  retired  southwards."  The  enemy 
reports,  and  still  more  the  more  or  less  fan- 
tastic descriptions  of  the  battle  supplied  by 
enemy  correspondents  and  military  exports, 
suggest,  or  even  explicitly  state,  that  the 
Army  Group  of  the  Aluta  was  annihilated  in 
the  battle  and  that  it  never  succeeded  in 
reaching  again  Rumanian  soil.  "  The  number 
of  prisoners  is  increasing  hourly,  while  tho 
booty  is  enormous,"  was  the  suggestive  an- 
nouncement made  from  Vienna  on  September 
30  But  then  when  definite  figures  are 
mentioned  in  the  Berlin  report  of  the  next  day 
— though  even  these  figures  are  left  conveniently 
round — one  finds  with  amazement  that  the 
total  captures  claimed  were  3,000  prisoners 
and  13  guns,  whilst  the  "enormous  booty" 
consisted  mainly  of  railway  rolling-stock  and 
laden  wagons  which  naturally  could  not  have 
been  withdrawn  once  the  retreat  along  the 
railway  line  was  cut.  It  was  an  extraordinary 
position  in  which  the  Rumanians  had  let 
themselves  be  caught  round  Hermannstadt, 
but  the  manner  in  which  they  fought  when 
surrounded  and  in  which  they  finally  extricated 
themselves  does  honour  both  to  the  com- 
manders and  to  the  troops. 

"  In  Transylvania  tho  Rumanian  troops 
advance  with  circumspection,  systematically 
fortifying  tho  positions  pained,"  wroto  Tin' 


correspondent    from    Bukarest.    undor 
da? i-   of   September   25.     "An   effort  is   being 
made   to   straighten   and   shorten   the   front." 
Tin-  district  round  Schiissburg  seems  to  have 
been   chosen  for   the   common   objective.     As 
far  as  the-  First  Rumanian  Army  was  concerned, 
this  effort  at  concentration  was  clearly  belated, 
and  its  attempts  in  the  direction  of  Holzmengen 
had   made  but   very  slight  progress,  when  it 
found  itself  engaged  by  the  bulk  of  Falken- 
hayn's  forces.     But  the  other  two  armies  con- 
tinued their  advance  towards  Schassburg  and 
scored  several  fine  successes  before  the  change 
wrought  in  the  general  situation  by  the  Battle 
of   Hermannstadt   compelled    them    to   recast 
their  plans.     In   the   last   days   of   September 
tho   Rumanian   Army   of   the   North   reached 
the  district  of  Libanfalva,  about  10  miles  east 
of    Szasz-Regen,    and    Parajd,    the    terminus 
of  the  railway  line  which  follows  the  valley 
of  the  Little  Kokel.     F.ven  more  marked  was 
tho  advance  on  both  sides  of  the  Great  Kokel 
River,  where  the  Berlin  report  of  October  2 
admits  the  Rumanians  to  have  "gained  ground." 
'*  The  struggle  continues  in  the  Gorgeny  and 
Hargitta    Mountains,"     says     the    Rumanian 
official  communignS  of   the   same   day.     "  We 
took   11   officers   and   500  men  prisoners   and 
captured   four  machine-guns."     On   the   next 
day  further  progress  was  made  beyond  Szekely- 
Koresztar  and  14  officers  and  1.228  men  wen- 
taken,  whilst  the  Second  Army,  advancing  on 
the    front    Gross    Schenk-Bekokten-Henndorf, 
captured    800    German    prisoners    and    eight 
machine-guns.     A    line    drawn    approximately 
through  Libanfalva,  Magyaros  (west  of  Parajd), 
Szekely-Keresztar,    Henndorf    and    Bekokton 
was,  however,  to  remain  the  high-water  mark 
of  the   Rumanian   advance  in   Eastern  Tran- 
sylvania, for  the  Ninth   German   Army,   now 
about      12     divisions     strong,      was      quickly 
advancing   towards   the   east.     Moreover,    tho 
few  Austro-Hungarian  divisions  under  General 
Arz  von  Straussenberg,   which  at  the  end  of 
August   had  been  scattered  throughout  Tran- 
sylvania,   had    by    the    beginning    of    October 
received  very  considerable  reinforcements  and, 
as  the  southern  front  was  now  taken  over  by 
the    Germans,    were   all    concentrated   on   the 
western  slopes  of  the  Gorgeny -Hargitta  Moun- 
tains.    They  were  formed  into  a  regular  com- 
pact army,  and  henceforth  were  described  as 
the  First  Austro-Hungarian  Army. 

Leaving  behind  the  Alpine  Corps  in  front  of 
I  he  Red  Tower  1'ass,  and  also  sufficient  forces 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


231 


to  hold  the  mountain  range,  Falkenhayn 
directed  the  bulk  of  his  army  to  the  east,  along 
the  roads  which  lead  to  Fogaras  and  Schass- 
burg.  As  previously  stated,  during  the  battle 
of  Hermannstadt  the  Second  Rumanian  Army 
had  attempted  to  reach  the  encircled  Rumanian 
group  by  marching  down  the  Aluta  Valley,  and 
it  had  forced  its  way  as  far  as  Porumbacu, 
25  miles  west  of  Fogaras.  The  move  was  bold 
and  risky.  It  implied  an  enormous  lengthen- 
ing of  the  front  and  an  advance  along  a  narrow 
corridor  from  which  the  Rumanians  could  not 
have  withdrawn,  otherwise  than  by  retracing 
their  steps.  From  the  south  they  were  closed 
in  by  the  impassable  chain  of  the  Fogaras 
Mountains,  rising  in  height  about  8,000  feet ; 
on  the  northern  side  the  enemy  occupied  the 
parallel  valley  of  the  Haar.  After  the  Army 
Croup  of  the  Aluta  had  effected  its  retreat  into 
Wallachia  there  would  have  been  no  sense  in 
•clinging  on  to  the  isolated  advanced  positions 
round  Porumbacu.  The  left  wing  of  the 
Second  Army  was,  therefore,  quickly  drawn 
back  towards  Fogaras.  Before  the  advance  of 
very  much  superior  German  forces  the  town  of 
Fogaras  was  evacuated  on  October  4.  The 


retreat  became  universal.  The  Fourth  and  the 
Second  Rumanian  Armies  were  still  in  touch 
in  the  district  of  Szekely-Udvarhely,  yet  it  was 
clear  that  if  the  retirement  was  to  be  continued 
still  farther — which  it  had  to  be — the  connexion 
between  them  could  not  be  maintained  for 
long.  Their  natural  lines  of  retreat  were 
divergent ;  the  Second  Army  had  to  fall  back 
along  the  roads  which  cross  the  frontier  range 
south  of  Kronstadt,  between  the  Torzburg 
Pass  to  the  Buzeu  Valley,  whilst  the  main 
body  of  the  Army  of  the  North  had  to  with- 
draw to  the  east,  covering  in  its  retreat  the 
Gyimes,  Uz  and  Oitoz  Passes.  .  On  October  5 
the  right  wing  of  the  Second  Army  stood 
south-east  of  Szekely-Udvarhely  in  the  Homo- 
rod  Valley,  the  centre  covered  in  the  valley  of 
the  Aluta,  between  Heviz  and  Sarkany,  the 
access  to  the  mountains  of  the  Geisterwald,  the 
left  wing  extended  from  Sarkany  to  the 
mountain  group  of  Scortia  (about  6,400  feet 
high),  on  the  Wallachian  frontier.  The  further 
retreat  of  the  Second  Army  had  to  be  a  wheel 
to  the  right  to  the  Zernesti-Kronstadt-Sepsi 
St.  Gyorgy  line,  and  finally  on  to  the  frontier 
range  and  passes. 


TURKISH    PRISONERS    OF    THE    RUMANIANS. 


-.332 


THE    TIMES    HISTORIC     OF    THE    WAP. 


The  ruemy  advanced  in  three  groups.  On 
October  ;">  his  left  wing,  formed  by  a  strong 
group  of  German  divisions,  engaged  the  Ru- 
manians near  Reps  (in  Magyar  :  Kdhalom),  and 
from  here  forced  its  way  through  the  Geistcr- 
wald  against  the  Barot-Xussbach  line.  In  the 
centre  a  mixed  German  and  Magyar  column 
advanced  in  the  direction  of  Vledeny  and 
Weidenbach.  In  the  south  a  third  and 
purely  German  group  marched  past  Vadu, 
along  the  valley  of  the  Sinca  and  across  the 
Persanerwald  by  Polana  Morulia  against  the 
Torzburg  Pass.  The  Rumanians  offered  a 
determined  resistance  along  the  western  edge 
of  the  Geisterwald  and  the  Persanerwald,  but 
by  the  night  of  October  5  had  to  withdraw  on 
to  the  mountainous  plateau  which,  about 
15  miles  wide,  covers  the  approaches  to  the 
plain  round  Kronstadt.  The  retreat  across 
that  plateau,  covered  with  woods  or  heather, 
was  effected  amid  continuous  fighting.  Under 
the  strong  pressure  from  the  southern  German 
column  the  left  Rumanian  wing  separated 
from  the  centre  and  receded  to  the  sovith 
towards  the  Torzburg  Pass  and  the'  La  Omu 
mountain  group.  On  October  8  the  enemy 
entered  the  town  of  Torzburg.  Meantime  the 
main  forces  of  the  Second  Army  had  withdrawn 
on  to  the  Sepsi  St.  Cyorgy-Botfalu-Kronstadt 
line.  On  the  night  of  October  7  the  western 
suburbs  of  Kronstadt  were  entered  by  tho 


\iiuuuaril  of  the  German-Magyar  group,  which 
advanced  from  the  direction  of  Weidenbach. 
On  the  following  day  a  battle  developed  in  the 
plain  north  of  Kronstadt,  where  the  railway 
line  running  towards  the  north  in  the  direction. 
nf  Foldvar,  marked  approximately  the  dividing 
line  between  the  Germans  and  the  Rumanian 
rearguards.  The  bulk  of  the  Rumanian  Army 
was  on  October  8  in  full  retreat  towards  the 
frontier,  but  the  troops  detailed  to  cover  the 
withdrawal  were  still  gallantly  counter-attack- 
ing near  Szent-Peter,  or  holding  the  barricades 
in  the  streets  of  Kronstadt.  In  this  battle 
round  Kronstadt  the  Germans  claim  to  have 
captured  1,175  prisoners  and  25  guns.  By 
October  10  the  frontier  range  had  been  reached 
by  the  Rumanians  on  the  entire  front  south  of 
Kronstadt.  During  the  last  stages  of  the 
retreat  beyond  Kronstadt  the  enemy  was  not 
even  in  touch  with  the  Rumanian  troops,  and 
our  Allies  carried  out  the  movement  quietly 
and  without  the  smallest  demoralisation  in 
their  ranks.  They  withdrew  to  positions 
which  were  about  12  miles  from  the  summit 
of  the  frontier  range.  With  that  retirement 
closes  the  Rumanian  invasion  of  Southern 
Transylvania.  The  official  communique  issued 
at  Bukarest  on  October  11  speaks  of  fighting 
near  Crasna  in  the  valley  of  the  Buzeu,  near 
the  village  'of  Altschanz,  north  of  the  pass 
bearing  the  same  name,  north  of  the  village  of 


THE    FOGAKAS     VALLEY, 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


283 


THE    FATE    OF    TWO    SPIES:     THE 
PRIEST'S    LAST    OFFICES. 

Predeal  in  the  Tomos  and  near  Moecui  in  tho 
Tor/.burg  Pass.  The  battle  for  the  roads  into 
Wallachia  had  begun. 

The,  Fourth  Rumanian  Army  under  General 
Presan,  though  nowhere  seriously  pressed  or 
threatened  by  the  opposing  troops  of  General 
Arz,  had  to  conform  with  the  retreat  of  the 
Second  Army.  About  October  5  it  began  its 
withdrawal  to  the  east  along  the  entire  front 
extending  over  some  50  miles  from  Ratosnya 
in  the  Upper  Maros  Valley  to  the  heights  south 
of  the  Great  Kokel  River.  On  October  7  the 
town  of  Szekely-Udvarhely  was  evacuated. 
During  the  next  three  days  the  .  Rumanians 
recrossed  the  Gorgeny  and  Hargittn  Moun- 
tains, and  on  October  10  withdrew  to  the 
eastern  banks  of  the  Upper  Maros  and  the  t'ppcr 
Alutti.  By  October  14  the  Army  of  the  North 
had  almost  everywhere  reached  the  Moldavian 
frontier,  having  effected  its  retreat  in  the  best 
order  and  suffering  only  quite  negligible  losses. 
Also  on  the  eastern  borde*1  of  Transylvania  the 
battle  from  now  onwards  wivs  fought  tit  the 
gateways  of  Rumania. 

On  October  14  an.  official  statement  was 
published  in  Bukarest  concerning  the  captures 
of  prisoners  by  the  Rumanians  since  the  out- 
break of  the  war  ;  their  number  \vas  103  officers 
and  14,911  men. 

During  the  fortnight  which  marks  the  close 
•of  the  expedition  into  Transylvania  some  HC\V 
changes  were  made  in  the  highest  commands  of 


EXAMINING 


PAPERS   ON 
ROAD. 


A   RUMANIAN 


the  Rumanian  Army.  On  October  9  General 
Averescu  was  recalled  to  his  former  post  on  the 
Transylvanian  front,  his  place  in  tho  Dobrudja 
being  taken  by  his  Chief-of-Staff,  General 
Christescu.  On  October  11  General  lancovescu, 
0110  of  the  ablest  Rumanian  officers,  was 
appointed  Assistant  to  tho  Chief  of  the  Gtneral 
Staff,  whilst  his  previous  place  of  Secretary - 
General  to  the  Ministry  of  War  was  filled  by 
Brigadier-General  G.  Burghele.  (General  lan- 
eovesc.u  had  succeeded  at  the  War  Office  General 
lliescu,  who  at  the  outbreak  had  been  put  at 
the  head  of  the  General  Staff.)  On  October  24 
General  Culcer,  Commander  of  the  First  Army, 
was  replaced  by  General  Ion  Dragalina,  who 
had  greatly  distinguished  himself  m  tho  pre- 
ceding operations,  and  Culcer's  Chief-of-Staff, 
General  A.  Lupescu,  was  replaced  by  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel C.  Gavanescu.  About  the  middle 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


of  October  the  French  military  mission  under 
C.'H-ra!  Berthelot  arrived  in  Rumania  to 
reinforce  and  advis )  the  Rumanian  <  ieneral 
Staff.  General  Berthelot  himself  was  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  French  commanders,  and  his 
arrival  was  gr  eted  with  the  gr.-atest  joy 
throughout  Rumania. 

For  seven  week    Transylvania  was  the  scene 
of   military   advances   and   withdrawals.      The 


GENERAL    IANGOVESCU, 

Assistant  to  the  Chief  of  the  Rumanian 

General  Staff. 

Rumanian  and  the  Austro-Hungarian  armies 
moved  forward  and  re  reated  over  land  claimed 
by  Rumania,  but  remaining  as  yet  tinder  the 
Hapsburg  scept  e.  What  was  the  attitude  of 
these  armies  with  regard  to  the  population  of 
Transylvania  ? 

Th )  districts  first  entered  by  the  Rumanian 
armies  are  largely  inhabited  by  non-Ruman 
races.  In  the  east,  along  the  Upper  Maros  and 
the  Upper  Aluta  and  in  the  plain  of  Haromszek, 
extend  the  settlements  of  the  Szekels,  a  Magyar 
tribe,  the  worst  enemies  of  the  Rumanian 
nation.  They,  a  small  minority,  play  tin- 
masters  in  Transylvania,  and  rule  with  a  heavy 
haivl  and  a  bitter  hatred  the  three  million 
Humans  who  inhabit  mainly  the  central  and 


western  part  of  the  country.  In  the  south, 
between  Hermannstadt  and  Kronstadt,  the 
descendants  of  the  old  German  colonists, 
generally  described  as  "  Saxons,"  form  n 
considerable  proportion  of  the  population.  The 
Rinnans  scattered  also  in  these  parts  of  Tran- 
sylvania naturally  welcomed  their  fellow- 
countrymen  and  liberators.  The  Germans 
preserved  an  attitude  of  sly  neutrality.  But 
the  Szekel  civilian  population,  without  any 
provocation,  in  many  places  treacherously 
attacked  small  scattered  groups  of  Rumanian 
soldiers.  This  fact  was  not  merely  admitted, 
but  even  quoted  with  praise  in  the  Magyar 
Press — e.g.,  in  the  Pesti  Naplo  of  September  1, 
191(3.  Yet  nowhere  did  the  Rumanian  com- 
manders take  to  reprisals  or  go  beyond  fighting 
and  disarming  the  civilians  who  offered  them 
active  resistance.  Wherever  the  Rumanian 
troops  advanced  proclamations  were  published 
promising  safety  and  protection  to  all  inhabi- 
tants, including  the  Jews,  without  distinction 
of  nationality.  And  when  the  time  had  conn- 
to  withdraw  no  damage  was  done  by  the 
Rumanian  armies  to  the  property  of  civilians, 
even  if  they  belonged  to  the  hostile  tribes  of 
Szekels  and  Saxons.  Even  enemy  papers  had 
to  admit  the  orderly  character  of  the  Rumanian 
occupation.  Thus  the  correspondent  of  the 
Vienna  Neue  Freie  Presse,  who  visited  the 
parts  of  Transylvania  wliich  had  been 
evacuated  by  the  Rumanian  armies,  stated  in 
its  issue  of  October  4,  1916,  that  he  had  nowhere 
seen  any  farms  owned  by  Szekels  or  Germans 
which  had  suffered  destruction  during  the 
occupation  or  retreat. 

The  Hungarian  methods  were  very  different. 
As  soon  as  the  Magyar  authorities  had 
recovered  from  the  sudden  shock  of  the 
Rumanian  invasion,  a  carefully  thought  out 
scheme  was  set  on  foot  for  the  "  evacuation 
of  the  districts  likely '  to  come  under  enemy 
occupation.  No  Rumans  were  to  be  left  behind 
to  welcome  or  help  their  brethren  from  across 
the  border.  The  Szekels  or  Saxons  (except,  of 
course,  men  of  military  age)  were  left  free  to 
remain  behind  or  to  withdraw  with  the  Austrian 
armies,  and  no  damage  was  done  to  their 
property.  I3ut  the  Human  peasants  were  com- 
pelled to  accompany  the  Austrian  troops,  and 
if  they  refused  their  houses  find  farms  were  set 
on  fire.  Moreover,  hostages  were  taken  from 
among  the  leading  Rumans  of  Transylvania  to 
be  held  responsible  for  any  untoward  incidents 
which  might  occur  in  the  country  during  the 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


Rumanian  invasion.  The  Bukarest  Universul 
of  September  16,  1916  (N.S.),  published  a 
proclamation  issued  by  he  Austro-Hungarian 
military  commander  of  Fogaras  under  date  of 
September  6.  The  popula  ion  was  warned 
against  committing  any  acts  of  espionage,  high 
treason  or  revolt,  and  the  announcement  was 
made  that  should  any  such  incidents  occur 
Dr.  Nicolas  Sherbaii,  a  Human  who  represented 
Fogaras  in  the  Hungarian  Parliament,  would 
be  immediately  put  to  death.  Together  with 
him  were  detained  a  few  leading  Ruman  priests 
and  other  Ruman  notables  of  the  district. 

As  yet  the  enemy  had  nowhere  advanced  on 
to  native  Rumanian  soil  (the  Dobrudja,  that 
land  of  no  nationality,  may  be  left  out  of 
account),  as  yet  his  armies  could  not  teach 
Rumania  their  usual  lesson  of  frightfulness. 
Air-raids  were  so  far  the  only  weapon  of 
frightfulness  which  the  Germans  could 
effectively  employ  against.  Rumania.  They 
made  of  it  the  fullest  and  most  criminal  use. 
Bukarest  lies  so  near  the  Bulgarian  frontier 
that  not  only  Zeppelins,  but  also  Taubes,  could 
easily  reach  it.  The  Rumanian  air  service 
was  extremely  weak,  and  whatever  machines 
and  flying-men  there  were,  were  required  for 
the  front.  Especially  towards  the  end  of 
September,  having  made  sure  through  spies 
that  no  French  or  British  aviators  were  in  the 
town,  the  Germans  organized  a  regular  system 
of  raids  and  murder.  A  vivid  picture  of  those 
days  was  given  in  letters  written  by  an  English 
lady  who  worked  in  a  Bukarest  hospital,  and 
published  in  The  Times  of  October  26,  1916  : 

To-day  I  drove  to  the  hospital  with  Mrs.  C.  and  my 
other  girl  nurse  (writes  the  correspondent  under  date  of 
September  27).  It  was  3  o'clock  on  a  lovely  sunny  day. 
We  got  to  an  open  market  place,  and  noticed  that  all 
the  people  were  looking  up  ...  and  then,  for  half-an- 
hour  we  were  really  in  it  !  For  there  were  six  Taubes 
overhead,  all  dropping  bombs. 

We  bought  our  cheese  quite  calmly  in  the  market, 
and  drove  on.  As  we  neared  the  hospital  shrapnel 
began  to  fall  and  bombs  all  round.  I  picked  up  one 
man  wounded  and  unconscious,  and  took  him  on  with 
us  in  the  motor.  A  woman  was  killed  at  the  gate 
of  the  hospital,  and  another  man  died  on  the  doorstep. 
We  went  in  and  settled  down  to  work.  We  had  three 
operations  between  4  and  7,  and  were  just  going  home 
when  men  on  stretchers  began  to  come  in  from  the 
different  parts  of  the  town  where  bombs  and  shrapnel 
had  fallen.  I  wired  home  not  to  expert  me  till  they 
saw  me,  and  we  worked  on  till  nearly  9.30,  till  all  the 
operations  were  over.  I've  never  had  such  a  nightmare 
day,  but  we  finished  them  all.  The  other  hospitals 
were  all  full  up,  too,  and  the  wounded  were  all  over  the 
town.  The  casualties  were  30  dead  and  over  a  hundred 
wounded,  for  the  streets  were  crowded  when  the  Taubes 
came.  The  beasts  flew  round  and  round,  hardly  a 
((uarter  of  the  town  escaped.  I  got  home  to  find  that 
A.  and  a  lot  of  others  had  stood  in  the  garden  and 


watched  ;  five  big  pieces  of  shrapnel  fell  there,  and  yet 
the  silly  people  stayed.  I  have  collected  the  pieces, 
and  shall  have  them  decorated  with  silver  bands.  A. 
consents  not  to  do  it  again,  but  he  was  so  interested, 
and  says  it  was  such  a  fine  sight  that  he  couldn't  resist 
it  ! 

One  couldn't  be  excited  in  the  hospital,  there  was 
no  time.  If  a  doctor  is  cutting  off  things  and  calls 
out  "  panaement !  "  or  "  aqua  lactea  I  "  like  a  pistol 
at  your  head,  you  somehow  find  it,  even  if  you  don't 
know  what  it  is  !  One  just  works  without  realizing 
at  all  what  one  is  doing.  After  it  was  all  over  we 
collapsed  and  sat  in  the  hospital  model  kitchen  with 
the  petrol-cooking  lamp  and  drank  hot  tea  and  "zwicka  " 
and  tried  to  recover.  I  don't  feel  it's  over  yet.  We 


GENERAL    GHRISTESCU 

Commanded  the  Rumanian  Forces  in  the  Dobrudja 

after  the  transference  of  General  Averescu 

to    the   Transylvanian    Front. 

shall  have  the  beasts  before  morning  again  :  they 
have  only  half  an  hour  to  fly  for  more  bombs,  but 
twice  in  24  hours  would  be  too  much  for  one's  nerves. 
They  came  last  night,  too,  you  know,  but  I  was  too 
tired  to  get  up  for  them. 

SEPTEMBER  29. 

Well,  you'll  think  T  am  romancing,  but  they  came 
again  last  night — six  Taubes — that's  three  times  in 
24  hours  !  .  .  .  Yesterday  already  seems  like  a  dream 
except  for  the  fact  that  we  helped  to  save  lives,  and 
that's  all  that  seems  to  count.  In  the  market,  people's 
arms  were  blown  off,  and  one  man's  head  ;  20  women 
and  children  lay  dead  in  the  Hospital  Colce. 

SEPTKMBER  20. 

It's  nearly  8  o'clock  and  we've  had  12  hours'  peace. 
.  .  .  Three  of  the  poor  legless  fellows  died.  ...  I  am 
trying  to  console  myself  with  the  one  remaining  who 
will  recover.  Apparently  a  Zepp  comes  at  night 
and  the  six  Taubes  by  day.  The  bombs  behave 
differently  and  procedure  is  different  when  avoiding 


236 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


WRECKAGE    OF    A    GERMAN    AEROPLANE    SHOT    DOWN    BY    THE    RUMANIANS. 


11  Zepp  or  a  laube.  The  latter  bombs  are  .small  and 
pointed  and  timed,  they  pierce  the  floor,  and  explode 
downstairs  ...  so  you  go  up.  The  Zepp  bombs 
explode  on  contact — so  at  night  you  go  down.  By 
day  one  has  time  to  decide,  as  one  can  watch  the  ap- 
proach— by  night  we  sleep  in  our  bedrooms  and  trust 
to  luck.  So  far  we  have  been  lucky.  They — the 
'•;jfiny — were  undoubtedly  well  informed  by  spies, 
t'Ue  they  would  not  have  come  when  ail  our  airmen  were 
away.  They  are  scared  of  the  French  airmen,  and  cowards 
at  heart. 

My  nerves  are  a  little  off  colour  to-day.  It's  seeing 
the  wounded  that  does  it.  A  child  was  killed  in  our 
street.  We  had  apparently  five  bombs  in  the  hospital 
grounds — it  has  upset  the  patients,  of  course,  but 
then  the  noise  of  the  machine-guns  alone  is  enough 
to  do  that.  The  hospital  you  were  in  has  had  three 
people  killed  in  it. 

And  with  it  all  the  weather  is  divine.  It's  really 
not  the  bombardment  that  has  upset  me,  but  all  the 


horrors  I've  seen.  One  poor  chap  with  both  legs  oil' 
sat  up  on  his  bleeding  stumps,  saying.  "  Thank  God. 
I'm  alive."  No  bombs  have  fallen  on  the  interned 
Germans,  which  i.s  significant  of  spy  work.  I  think 
that  the  Red  Cross  flags  should  come  down  off  tli" 
hospitals,  for  I'm  sure  that  the  Taubes  try  for  them. 

SEPTEMBER  30. 

To-day  was  simply  very  amusing.  They  came — six 
Taubes — and  they  were  chased  all  over  the  town,  and 
didn't  dare  drop  a  bomb.  One  of  the  Taubes  flew 
back,  t.nd  I  missed  seeing  it  shot  down,  for  I  had  to 
stay  with  the  helpless,  who  get  very  nervous. 

The  French  aviators  had  come  back,  and  soon 
some  British  aviators  arrived  from  Salonika  and 
the  yEgean  Islands,  and  Bukarest  ceased  to  be 
the  happy  hunting  ground  of  the  Knights  of 
the  Iron  Cross. 


CHAPTER    CLXXIV. 


ITALIAN  OFFENSIVE  IN  THE 
CARSO,  AUGUST-DECEMBER,  1916 
WAR  WITH  GERMANY. 


MEANING  AND  EFFECT  OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  OFFENSIVE  OF  1916  IN  THE  TRENTINO — GENERAL 
CADOHNA'S  PLANS  POSTPONED' — PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  ISONZO  OFFENSIVE — THE  FIGHTING  OF 
AUGUST  6 — GREAT  ITALIAN  ADVANCE — FALL  OF  GORIZIA — ADVANCE  ON  THE  CARSO — RESULTS  OF 
TWELVE  DAYS'  FIGHTING — FURTHER  ITALIAN  OPERATIONS  AND  GAINS  IN  SEPTEMBER  AND  OCTOBER 
— LAST  PHASE  OF  THE  CARSO  OFFENSIVE — OTHER  OPERATIONS — ADVANCE  UPON  THE  FASSA  ALPS — 
MILITARY  PROGRESS' IN  1916^-lTALY  AND  THE  BALKANS — ITALY  DECLARES  WAR  ON  GERMANY. 


THERE  was  a  great  deal  of  discussion 
regarding  the  real  objective  of  the 
Austrian  offensive  in  the  Trentino 
which  was  successfully  repulsed  in 
June,  1916,  after  six  weeks'  very  hard  fighting.* 
Many  critics  threw  doubt  upon  the  theory  that 
the  invaders  really  hoped,  or  intended,  to  reach 
the  Venetian  plain  and  cut  the  Italian  lines  of 
communication  with  the  Isonzo  front.  They 
argued  that  with  the  troops  available  the  Aus- 
trian Command  could  not  have  expected  to 
overcome  the  much  larger  forces  which  General 
Cadorna  was  able  to  bring  against  his  adver- 
saries. There  is  much  to  be  said  for  such  an 
argument,  but  it  seems  to  be  based  upon  two 
assumptions,  neither  of  which  appears  justified. 
It  assumes  a  correctness  of  judgment  on  the 
part  of  the  Austrian,  or  Austro-German,  High 
Command  which  fortunately  was  not  always 
evident.  It  assumes  further  that  in  the  event 
of  the  invaders  establishing  themselves  success- 
fully in  the  Venetian  plain  no  assistance  would 
have  been  given  by  Germany  to  the  original 
operating  force.  If  the  first  phase  of  the  move- 
ment had  been  wholly  successful,  if  the  Italian 
wings,  and  particularly  the'  left  wing,  had  not 
defied  the  violence  of  the  Austrian  assault,  the 
door  to  the  plain  would  have  been  fairly  forced, 

*  Seo  Vol.  IX.,  Chapter  CXXXIX. 
Vol.  XI.— Part  137.  237 


and,  to  put  it  shortly,  it  would  have  been  worth 
while  going  on.  Austria's  duty  was  to  batter 
down  the  gate.  There  is  good  reason  to  believe 
that  if  this  duty  had  been  fulfilled  an  attempt 
would  have  been  made  to  continue  and  develop 
the  offensive,  with  German  help  if  German  help 
were  necessary.  That  Germany  and  Italy  were 
not  yet  formally  at  war  would  have  mattered 
little.  Germany  had  already  helped  Austria  in 
every  way  that  suited  her,  and  though  it  is 
probable  that  she  wished  to  avoid  war  with 
Italy,  or  wished  at  least  that  the  declaration 
should  come  from  the  other  side,  she  would 
hardly  have  refused  the  chance  of  a  smashing 
blow,  if  that  chance  had  offered.  Very  pro- 
bably Germany  would  not  have  been  able  to 
assist.  Events  proved  that  she  had  miscalcu- 
lated the  possibilities  of  Allied  action  both  on 
the  western  and  eastern  fronts,  but  when  the 
Austrian  offensive  began,  the  hopes  of  the 
Central  Empires  were  running  high. 

It  may  fairly  be  assumed,  therefore,  that  the 
Austrian  drive  in  the  Trentino  had  really  two 
objectives.  The  larger  aim  must  have  been  to 
open  the  way  for  a  decisive  blow  against  Italy. 
This  enterprise  seemed  to  promise  a  good  chance 
of  success,  for  the  enemy  command  knew  that 
Italy  was  short  of  heavy  guns,  and  it  had 
altogether  underestimated  Italian  powers  of 


288 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


resistance  and  Italian  resource.  And  foiling 
the  attainment  of  the  main  objective,  a  second 
seemed  well  within  reach — to  paralyse  the 
Italian  offensive  which  had  been  prepared  on 
the  Isonzo  front. 


6<<xj  '9°       i  "f1'  J<~ 

0fc***+          >\   1      vS 


KEY    MAP. 

(See  detailed  Maps  of  Area  "  A,"  on  page  246,  and 
Area  "  B  "  on  page  268.) 

The  Italian  preparations  had  been  long  and 
thorough.  The  winter  months  of  1915-16  had 
been  spent  in  ceaseless  labour,  on  the  front,  in 
the  training  "  camps,  and  in.  the  munition 
factories.  These  last  were  still  too  few  for 
Italy's  requirements,  and  she  was  greatly  handi- 
capped by  the  difficulty  of  securing  adequate 
supplies  of  steel  and  coal,  but  very  great  pro- 
gress had  been  made.  Special  attention  was 
devoted  to  the  provision  of  a  new  arm — the 
bombarda,  ;a  glorified  trench-mortar.  Italy's 
manufacturing  resources  were  insufficient  to 
turn  out  the  number  of  heavy  guns  required  to 
demolish  the  enemy  trenches  in  the  way  that 
experience  on  all  fronts  had  shown  to  be  neces- 
sary. The  heroic  attacks  of  her  infantry  in  the 
summer  and  autumn  of  1915  had  failed  to  break 
the  Austrian  lines  owing  to  lack  of  sufficient 
artillery  preparation,  and  the  problem  that  pre- 
sented itself  was  very  serious.  Italy's  allies 
could  give  little  help,  for  the  demands  on  their 
output  were  already  greater  than  they  could 
meet.  The  -question  was  how  to  secure  a 
sufficient  weight  of  high  explosive  fire  upon  the 
enemy  positions,  and  the  answer  was  the  big 
bombarda,  throwing  an  11 -inch  projectile  a 
much  further  distance  than  was  generally 
supposed  to  be  within  the  range  of  the  trench- 
mortar  tribe.  The  bombarda  had  obvious 
advantages  over  the  big  gun,  given  Italy's 
special  position.  It  cost  little,  required  a  com- 
paratively insignificant  amount  of  the  precious 
raw  material,  and  it  could  be  turned  out  in 


adequate  numbers.  Its  disadvantages  wen- 
equally  obvious  in  a  short  time.  It  was  iiiucli 
more  vulnerable  than  a  gun,  for  it  had  to  be 
pushed  far  forward,  where  the  big  flame  of  its 
discharge  made  its  position  easily  detected,  so 
that  it  became  a  comparatively  easy  mark  for 
the  enemy's  artillery  fire.  The  advanced 
position,  moreover,  naturally  complicated  the 
question  of  ammunition  supply.  Nor  was  the 
fire  of  the  bombarda  as  accurate  as  that  of  the 
gun.  It  was  confessedly  a  pis  alter,  but  it 
served  its  purpose  well,  as  events  were  to  show. 

The  formation  and  training  of  bombarda 
batteries  stood  out  as  a  special  feature  of  the 
winter  preparations,  but  these  were  very 
extensive  in  other  directions.  The  spring  found 
many  new  formations  ready  to  take  the  field, 
and  the  hard  work  of  the  munition  factories  had 
brought  about  a  great  and  necessary  increase 
in  the  proportion  of  machine-guns  and  light  and 
medium  artillery  allotted  to  each  division. 
The  Italian  Army  was  immensely  stronger  than 
it  had  been  during  the  summer  and  autumn 
campaign  of  1915^ 

Preparations     were     well     advanced     when 


AN    ITALIAN    "  BOMBARDA "  OF   240    mm. 
(9i    INCH)    CALIBRE. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


•239 


information  regarding  the  Austrian  concentra- 
tion in  the  Trentino  indicated  that  this  sector 
of  the  line  would  require  reinforcement,  and  some 
of  the  new  troops  destined  for  the  Isonzo  front 
were  diverted  to  the  threatened  area.  As  was 
shown  in  Chapter  CXXXIX.,  the  extent  of  the 
imminent  Austrian  effort  was  miscalculated, 
and  it  soon  proved  necessary  to  concentrate  a 
very  large  force  to  provide  against  the  event 
of  the  enemy  breaking  through.  A  great  part 
of  the  new  reserves  were  hurried  to  the  Vieenza 


front.  But  the  commander-in-chief  had  no 
misgivings,  and  no  hesitations.  His  emphatic 
words,  uttered  at  a  time  when  the  fighting  in 
the  Trentino  filled  almost  every  mind  but  his 
own,  admitted  of  no  doubt  or  questioning : 
"  I  shall  make  the  big  offensive  on  the  lower 
Isonzo."  ;  As  soon  as  the  Austrian  offensive 
was  fairly  held  General  Cadorna  ordered 
plans  to  be  drawn  up  for  the  quick  transport 
of  the  necessary  forces  to  their  original  destina- 
tion— the  Isonzo  line.  They  had  another  duty 


ITALIAN    GUN    ON    THE    CARSO. 


district,    and   there   the   counter-offensive  was 
prepared,  in  the  manner  already  described. 

But  General  Cadorna  never  let  his  mind 
be  diverted  from  the  original  plan.  When 
the  Austrian  troops  were  still  pressing  hard 
upon  the  last  mountain  bulwarks  and  the 
bursting  shells  could  be  clearly  seen  from 
Vieenza,  he  declared  his  intention  clearly 
and  firmly  to  General  Pecori-Giraldi,  the 
commander  of  the  Army  that  was  being  so 
sorely  tried.  It  was  at  a  moment  when  many 
feared  that  all  the  strength  of  Italy  would 
be  necessary  to  resist  the  invader,  and  when 
many  others  thought  that  in  any  event  General 
Cadorna  would  be  unable  to  spare  attention 
and  troops  for  important  action  on  his  eastern 


to  perform  first — their  share  in  the  counter- 
offensive  that  was  to  signal  the  final  failure 
of  the  Austrian  attack,  but  everything  was  to 
be  in  readiness  for  the  moment  that  General 
Cadorna  foresaw. 

The  Austrian  offensive,  its  failure,  and  the 
skilful  retreat  that  withdrew  the  invading 
troops  to  strong  defensive  positions  before  the 
Italian  counter-offensive  could  properly  develop, 
have  been  described.  It  may  well  have  been 
a  great  temptation  to  the  Italian  Commander 
in-Chief  to  pvish  the  counter-offensive  stttl 
farther,  to  free  the  small  area  of  Italian  soil 
that  still  remained  to  the  invaders,  and  win  a 

*  These  are  the  exact  words.     They  closed  a  historic 
conversation  with  General  Pecori-Giraldi. 


240 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


better  defensive  line,  General  Cadorna  did 
not  play  with  Hi"  temptation.  The'  Austrians 
began  to  retreat  on  June  !'.">.  and  on  June  29 
tin-  movement  of  Italian  troops  to  the  Isonzo 
front  began.  Reserve  units  \vere  quietly 
transported  from  the  Vicenza  district  ;  drafts 
were  sent  to  the  armies  on  the  Isonzo,  and  much 
war  material  was  collected  in  the  eastern 
zone.  This  phase  of  the  preparation  lasted 
exactly  four  weeks,  during  which  time  the 
troops  on  the  Trentino  border  were  keeping 


THE    DUKE    OF    AOSTA. 
Commanded  the  Third  Italian  Army. 

the  enemy  busy  at  various  points,  and  the 
Austrian?  were  further  distracted  by  new 
movements  in  Tirol.  During  the  next  week, 
from  July  27  to  August  4,  in  the  words  of  the 
official  report,  "  the  real  strategic  manoeuvre 
was  carried  out."  Large  masses  of  troops, 
with  guns  and  bombarde,  were  swiftly  trans- 
ferred to  the  Isonzo  front,  and  by  the  evening 
of  August  3  every  man  was  in  place,  and  every 
gun.  The  direction  of  the  attack  was  entrusted 
to  the  Duke  of  Aosta,  Commander  of  the  Third 
Army. 

The  real  offensive  was  preceded  by  a  feint. 
On  August  4,  after  a  heavy  bombardment, 
the  Italians  launched  an  attack  against  the 
low  hills  east  of  Mot.falcone.  They  stormed 
Hills  85  and  121,  both  of  them  already  stained 
deeply  with  Italian  and  Austrian  blood.  But 


their  success  was  only  temporary.  The  enemy 
had  filled  the  trenches  with  gas  bombs,  which 
they  exploded  as  they  were  driven  out.  In 
the  disorganization  which  follows  the  successful 
use  of  gas,  the  Austrians  counter-attacked, 
and  the  Italians  were  driven  from  the  trenches 
they  had  won.  The  attack  had  failed  for  the 
moment,  but  it  was  to  be  renewed,  and  in  the 
meantime  the  Austrians  believed  they  had 
found  the  danger-point.  Reinforcements  were 
hurried  to  the  Monfalcone  sector  of  the  line, 
which  continued  to  be  heavily  bombarded. 
The  guns  were  now  thundering  all  along  the 
Isonzo  front,  but  special  attention  was  being 
paid  to  the  little  ridge  that  rises  beyond  the 
Rocca  di  Monfalcone. 

On  the  morning  of  August  6  the  Italian 
heavy  guns  and  bombarde  opened  a  furious 
fire  on  a  front  of  about  10  miles  from  Monte 
Sabotino  to  Monte  San  Michele.  The  enemy 
front-line  trenches  were  practically  obliterated. 
The  bombarde  did  their  duty,  and  for  the  first 
time  the  infantry  could  feel  that  they  had 
a  fair  chance.  No  doubt  the  enemy,  smitten 
by  a  ceaseless  storm  of  heavy  shells  such  as 
they  had  not  experienced  before,  thought  that 
the  pendulum  had  swung  too  far.  The  Austrians, 
like  the  Germans,  had  seen  the  heroic  attacks 
of  their  opponents  fail,  or  only  partially  succeed, 
through  lack  of  heavy  artillery  ;  and  when  the 
deficiency  was  made  good  the  Austrians,  like 
the  Germans,  protested  against  the  fury  of 
shells  that  beat  down  their  carefully  prepared 
defences  and  buried  many  of  the  defenders  in 
the  trenches  and  dug-outs. 

The  whole  front  from  Sabotino  to  San  Michele 
was  overwhelmed  by  the  Italian  fire,  but  the 
main  attacks  were  directed  upon  two  separate 
sectors — the  line  that  ran  from  the  Sabotino 
ridge  through  the  broken  hills  about  Oslavia 
to  the  hog-back  of  Podgora  and  the  line  traced 
along  the  summit  of  San  Michele.  The 
positions  on  the  low  ground,  between  Podgora 
and  the  Carso,  were  clearly  doomed  if  the 
heights  were  gained.  All  the  three  hills  men- 
tioned had  already  witnessed  desperate  fight  ing. 
The  woods  on  the  slopes  of  Sabotino  and  on 
Podgora  had  gone  up  in  flame  long  before  ; 
the  bare,  stony  crest  of  San  Michele  had  been 
won  and  lost  by  the  Italians,  after  a  brilliant 
attack  which  could  not  be  made  good  owing 
to  the  converging  artillery  fire  of  the  enemy. 
Sabotino,  top,  had  once  been  taken,  and  lost 
again  owing  to  a  delay  in  the  arrival  of  she 
reserves.  The  desolate  summit  of  Podgora 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


241 


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137-2 


24-2 


THE     TIMES    U1STOUY    OF    THE    WAB. 


liad  for  a  time  been  practically  a  "  No  Mini's 
Land,"  but  the  Austrians  had  finally  dug  an 
elaborate  trench  system  along  the  line  of  the 
ridge. 

The  positions  on  the  eve  of  the  attack  wen 
as  follows.  The  Austrians  held  the  greater  part 
of  the  Sabotino  ridge,  their  front-line  trenches 
crossing  the  ridge  some  distance  to  the  north- 
west of  the  highest,  point  (1,995  feet).  The 
Italians  held  the  northern  third  of  the  ridge, 
including  a  peak  known  as  Hill  507  (1,661  feet). 
From  Sabotino  the  Austrian  line  ran  down  to 
Hill  188,  north-east  of  the  village  of  Oslavia. 
thence  through  Oslavia  and  west  of  Pevrria  to 
Podgora.  This  line,  with  a  short  stretch  of 
flat  ground  between  Podgora  and  the  Ison/.o. 
formed  the  Gorizia  bridge-head.  More  than  once 
it  had  looked  as  though  the  Italians  would 
succeed  in  breaking  down  the  Austrian  resis- 
tance, but  on  each  occasion  the  defenders  had 
succeeded  in  regaining  lost  ground  by  means  of 
fierce  counter-attacks  and  a,  concentration  of 


artillery  fire.  The  position  was  very  favourable 
to  the  defence.  From  the  top  of  Sabotino 
almost  the  whole  landscape  lay  plain  and  open 
to  the  west,  and  those  folds  in  the  ground  which 
\\ere  hidden  from  Sabotino  were  practically  all 
visible  either  from  Podgora,  or  from  Monte  Kuk 
( 2,000  feet ),  on  the  other  side  of  the  Isonzo,  two 
miles  due  north  of  Sabotino.  On  the  far  or 
Austrian  side  Sabotino  drops  in  places  almost 
sheer  to  the  Isonzo  valley,  giving  to  troops 
beneath  the  crest  a  comparative  immunity  from 
enemy  fire.  In  addition,  the  Austrians  had 
hewn  large  caves  and  driven  galleries  clean 
through  the  mountain,  so  that  reserves  of  men 
and  munitions  could  be  brought  from  the  valley 
with  the  minimum  of  risk  and  remain  completely 
sheltered  until  they  were  required.  The  pro- 
blem of  transport  up  the  precipitous  north- 
eastern side  was  solved  by  a  cable  railway 
which  ran  up  a  shallow  gully  to  the  mouth  of 
one  of  the  principal  galleries. 

The  line  which  ran  through  the  Oslavia  hills 


AUSTRIAN    DEFENCES    OF    GORIZIA. 


Reference. 
Austrian  Trenches 
Wire  Entanglements 
Co/nmue?  Trenc  h  e  s 
Caves  -  — 

Italian-Line 
beFore  offensive  J.^ 
Heights  in  Metres 


On   Monte   Podgora  tfie  Austrians  were  clinging  to  the  eastern  side  of  the    hog-back,  with    a    sharp    drop 

to  the  Isonzo  behind.     Caverns  on  the    eastern    slope    gave    perfect    shelter.     The    Monte    San     Michele 

trenches  formed    the  main  and  final  line  of    the  Austrian  defences  on  this  part  of   the  Carso.     The  four 

"peaks"  are  slight   excrescences  on  a   nearly  level  ridge. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


243 


and  joined  the  two  main  bastions  of  the  bridge- 
head was  very  strongly  held  by  successive  lines 
of  trenches,  fronted  by  wire  entanglements  of  an 
unusual  depth.  1'odgora  was,  so  to  speak. 


southern  spur  of  Podgora  to  the  Isonzo,  where 
an  intricate  system  of  defence  had  been  pre- 
pared. 

On  the  Carso  the  Italians  had  won  a  firm 
footing,  but  the  enemy  had  held  very  tena- 
ciously. The  whole  western  rim  of  the  barren, 
dreary  plateau  was  drenched  in  blood.  There 
is  a  shallow  depression  running  up  from  Selz 
that  the  Italian  soldiers  called  the  ^7alley  of 
Death.  The  glen  leading  to  San  Martino  del 
Carso  had  earned  the  right  to  a  similar  name. 
Among  the  defenders  the  Carso  was  known  as 
"  the  Cemetery  of  the  Hungarians,"  for  the  bulk 
of  the  troops  which  had  held  so  long  and  so 


MONTE    SABOTINO    AND   THE   STATION 
OF    THE    TRANS-ALPINE    RAILWAY. 

Inset  :  The  summit  of  Sabotino. 

Sabot iuo  in  miniature,  for  the  eastern  side  of 
the  ridge  dropped  steeply  .to  the  road  that  ran 
beside  the  Isonzo,  and  the  defending  side  hail 
the  advantage  of  a  good  deal  of  "  dead  ground." 
The  Austrian  front-line  trenches  ran  along 
the  crest,  those  of  the  Italians  a  little  way 
below. 

The  gap  in  the  hilly  country  between  Podgora 
<iii' I  San  Michele  was  really  defended  by  the 
two  gate-posts  mentioned,  though  the  Isonzo 
and  its  tributary  the  Vippacco  were  natural 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  an  offensive.  The 
i-nemy  were  not  in  force  on  the  low  ground. 
except  along  the  short  tract  that  ran  from  the 


ITALIANS    ON    MONTE    SABOTINO. 

gallantly  had  come  from  Hungary.  Above 
Sagrado,  at  the  end  of  June,  1910,  when  the 
danger  in  the  Trentino  had  receded,  the  Aus- 
trians  hail  made  a  surprise  gas  attack  which 
practically  destroyed  the  Italian  force  in  the 


•211 


THE    TIMES    UISTOHY    OF    THE    WAH. 


MONFALCONE,    DESTROYED    AUSTRIAN 

LINE    ON 

trenches  of  the  .sector.  Four  thousand  men 
were  killed  outright  or  died  afterwards  from  the 
effect  of  the  gas.  There  was  one  little  square  in 
Sagrado  where  (500  men  who  had  staggered  back 
from  the  trenches,  gasping,  choking,  almost 
unconscious,  lay  down  to  wait  for  the  ambu- 
lances, and  died  before  they  came.  It  was  in 
this  attack  thr.it  the  Austrian^  first  made  use, 
or  were  first  detected  in  making  use,  of  short 
spiked  clubs  to  "finish  off"  the  wounded,  or 
those  who  were  disabled  by  the  gas.  They 
broke  the  Italian  line  and  cr.me  streaming  down 
the  hillside  towards  Sagrado,  but  a  furious 
counter-attack  regained  the  lost  ground  ;  they 
lost  several  hundred  prisoners  and  very  niruy 
dead. 

On  August  (i  the  Italian  line  still  ran  just, 
below  the  skyline  of  San  Michele  along  the  flat 
plateau  by  Monte  Sei  Busi  to  the  little  hills  cast 
of  Monfalcone,  and  thence  across  the  Lisscrt 
nmrshcs  to  the  MB. 

The  preliminary  bombardment  lasted  from 
7.. 'lo  in  t  he  morning  till  4  in  the  afternoon,  when, 
the  infantry  attack  began.  The  Italians  swept 
tor\u>rd,  pn-eedfd  by  a  heavy  curtain  fire,  and 
at  lust  the  keys  of  Gorizia  were  wrested  from 
the  enemy.  A  force  of  five  battalions,  selected 
from  the  45th  division,  the  78th  infantry  of  the 
Toseuna  Brigade,  the  :inl  battalion  of  the  58th 
(Abruzzi  Brigade),  and  the  3rd  battalion  of  the 


ENTANGLEMENTS    AND    NEW    ITALIAN 
HILL    85. 

115th  (Treviso  Brigade),  stormed  the  Sabotino 
ridge.  The  force  was  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Badoglio,  of  the  General  Staff,  who  had 
studied  the  Sabotino  problem  for  months  and 
made  the  most  complete  preparations.  Digging 
rind  blasting  had  made  it  possible  to  concentrate 
large  bodies  of  men  in  the  front  line  close  under 
the  enemy  trenches,  and  the  Austriaiis  were 
overwhelmed  by  the  first  rush.  They  had  taken 
refuge  in  their  dug-outs  and  galleries,  trusting 
to  wire  anil  machine-guns  to  hold  back  the 
attack  until  they  could  reinforce  the  trenches. 
But  the  bomhardi  blew  approaches  through  the 
wire,  destroyed  the  trenches  and  buried  most 
of  the  men  in  them,  and  the  positions  were 
rushed  before  the  reserves  could  come  out  of 
their  lairs.  In  forty  minutes  the  whole  trench 
system  had  fallen  and  the  Italian  wave  had 
s\\ept  on  and  up  to  the  highest  peak,  while 
supporting  troops  were  picking  up  the  enemy  re- 
inforcement s  j's  they  poured  out  of  their  caverns 
• — too  late.  The  rest  of  the  ridge  was  quickly 
cleared,  and  evening  found  the  Italians  firmly 
established  at  San  Valentino,  the  south-eastern 
end  of  Sabotino,  above  the  Isonzo,  and  at  San 
Mauro,  n.  handful  of  houses  at  the  foot  of  the 
ridge,  to  the  south,  right  upon  the  river  bank. 

Among  the  low  hills  of  Oslavia  the  attack 
was  not  quite  so  successful.  The  work  of  the 
bombardc  was  deadly.  The  ground  was  rent 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


245 


and  upturned  as  by  an  appalling  earthquake, 
and  when  the  Italians  went  forward  they 
trod  upon  a  gruesome  field.  The  resting-places 
of  those  who  had  fallen  throughout  long  months 
of  fighting  vipon  this  hardly  contested  line  were 
desecrated  by  the  cruel  fire,  and  countless 
bodies,  enemy  and  friend,  were  laid  bare  to  the 
summer  sun.  Hill  188,  the  scene  of  many 
fierce  struggles,  fell  to  the  Lambro  Brigade 
(205th  and  206th  regiments),  and  the  lines 
that  ran  through  Oslavia  to  Podgora  were 
stormed  by  the  Abruzzi  Brigade  (57th  and 
58th  regiments).  The  fighting  here  was  very 
stubborn.  The  enemy  fought  desperately, 
but  wa^  forced  to  fall  back,  and  by  evening 
the  Italians  were  not  far  from  the  village  of 
Pevma,  close  upon  one  of  the  main  bridges 
over  the  Isonzo.  But  the  Austrians  still  held 
the  bridges  and  the  low  hills  immediately  in 
front. 

Podgora  also  fell.  The  Cuneo  Brigade 
(7th  and  8th  regiments)  broke  through  on 
the  northern. end  of  the  ridge,  and  swept  down 
to  the  Isonzo.  Here  they  came  into  touch 
with  large  enemy  reinforcements  and  hand- 
to-hand  fighting  went  on  all  night.  One 
battalion  pressed  on  too  far  and  part  of  it 
was  cut  off,  some  300  men  facing  into  the  hands 


of  the  Austrians.*  The  rest  of  the  ridge  was 
taken  by  the  12th  Division,  which  stormed 
Monte  Calvario,  the  southern  peak,  and  went 
through  the  lines  on  the  low  ground  between 
Podgora  and  the  river. 

Meanwhile  the  attack  on  San  Michele  had 
gone  no  less  favourably.  The  attack,  which 
covered  a  front  of  nearly  three  miles,  was 
entrusted  to*  the  22nd  Division,  consisting  of 
the  Bresc;a  (19th  and  20th  regiments),  Ferrara 
(47th  and  48th),  and  Catanzaro  (141st  and 
142nd)  Brigades.  After  repeated  assaults  the 
Italians  succeeded  in  breaking  through  in  the 
.centre  and  establishing  themselves  along  the 
crest  of  the  whole  ridge.  The  wings  of  the 
Austrian  line,  the  positions  on  the  northern 
slope  of  the  mountain,  and  the  trenches  that 
ran  by  San  Martino  del  Carso  to  Hift  150  still 
held  ;  but  they  were  now  doomed  to  fall, 
enfiladed  as  they  were  from  the  San  Michelo 
ridge.  Farther  to  the  south  the  attack  on 
the  hills  east  of  Monfalcone  was  renewed. 
Hill  85  was  taken  by  three  battalions  of  Ber- 
saglieri,  and  this  time  it  was  held  against  all 
the  efforts  of  the  enemy  to  regain  the  lost 
ground. 

*  The  Austrian  official  communique,  by  the  simple 
addition  of  a  nought,  made  the  number  o,000. 


MACHINE-GUN    EMPLACEMENT    ON    SAN    MICHELE. 


•2  If. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


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X'^^fc  APPROXIMATE  ITALIAN  LINE 

August  6.  1916 — 

At  close  of  oFFensive^  — . 


GOR1ZIA    AND    THE    CARSO. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    01*    THE    WAR. 


247 


ON    MONTE    CALVARIO    AFTER    THE    BATTLE. 


The  first  day  of  General  Cadorna's  "  big 
push  "  had  borne  splendid  fruit.  More  than 
3,000  prisoners  were  taken,  with  ten  guns, 
large  numbers  of  machine-guns,  and  a  mass  of 
other  war  material.  But  this  was  only  the 
beginning.  The  work  of  the  first  day  was  far 
greater  in  promise  than  in  accomplishment, 
for  at  last  the  key  positions  of  the  Gorizia 
front  were  all  three  firmly  gripped.  And  there 
were  guns  and  shells  and  men  enough  to  make 
use  of  the  advantage  gained. 

It  has  already  been  said  that  the  end  of  the 
first  day's  fighting  found  the  Austrians  still 
in  possession  of  the  Pevma  bridges  and  the 
low  hills  immediately  west  of  the  Isonzo. 
They  were  still  in  some  force,  moreover, 
between  Podgora  and  the  river,  and  on  the  steep 
side  of  Podgora  itself  isolated  bodies  of  men 
clung  resolutely  to  their  dug-outs,  refusing  to 
surrender.  And  on  the  eastern  slope  of  San 
Michele  they  still  held  their  second -line  trenches 
and  numerous  doline,*  which  had  been  fortified 
and  turned  into  powerful  redoubts.  The  enemy 
were  not  beaten  yet,  though  they  must  have 
been  sadly  disheartened  by  the  loss  of  positions 
which  they  had  come  to  look  upon  as  practi- 
cally impregnable.  They  had  been  taken  by 
surprise,  but  they  had  put  up  a  gallant  fight 
everywhere  but  on  Sabotino,  where  the  Italians 


*  The  doline  of  the  Ciirso  are  deep,  round  hollows  or 
depressions  in  the  rooky  ground,  resembling  small 
orators. 


were  too  quick  for  them  and  had  them  by  the 
throat  before  they  could  move.  They  were  to 
make  desperate  efforts  still,  which  were  to 
lessen  the  weight  of  the  blow  that  was  threaten- 
ing. 

On  the  evening  of  August  6  General  Boroe- 
vich,  commander-in-chief  of  the  Austrian 
forces  on  the  Isonzo,  issued  the  following 
Army  Order  • 

"  The  enemy  has  begun  a  decisive  attack 
along  almost  the  entire  front,  and  seeks  a 
final  success.  I  expect  my  troops  to  give  him 
a  worthy  welcome  and  repulse  him  completely. 
The  general  situation,  to-day  more  than  ever, 
requires  that  all  our  positions,  stubbornly 
defended  for  more  than  a  year,  shall  remain  in 
our  hands.  I  have  confidence  that  my  wish 
will  be  everywhere  realized.  Victory  must  be 
ours" 

Reinforcements  were  hurried  across  the 
Isonzo  by  the  Pevma  bridges  and  to  the 
lines  on  the  Carso  which  still  held  out,  while 
fresh  troops  were  concentrated  for  a  counter- 
attack on  San  Michele..  For  three  days  the 
Austrians  not  only  held  most  of  their  positions, 
on  the  Carso,  but -made  several  vain  attacks 
on  the  lines  they  had  lost.  There  was  a  con- 
tinuous artillery  duel,  and  the  dry  Carso  was 
darkened  by  great  clouds  of  smoke  and  dust. 
The  Italians  had  no  difficulty  in  holding  the 
San  Michele  line  while  they  prepared  a  further 
pffort,  and  on  llic  left  they  advanced  a  little, 


248 


THE    TIMES    J1IXTOHY    OF    THE    WAIl. 


ITALIANS    ON    A    CAPTURED    HILL    ABOVE    MONFALCONE. 


capturing  the  strongly  fortified  positions  round 
the  village  of  Boschini,  low  down  on  the  northern 
slope  of  San  Michele,  near  the  junction  of  the 
Vippacco  wiih  the  Isonzo.  Meanwhile  very 
hard  fighting  was  continuous  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  river,  from  below  Sabotino  to  near 
Podgora.  In  the  light  of  knowledge  now  avail- 
able it  would  seem  that  the  Austriaiis  had  little 
real  hope  of  retaking  the  all-important  positions 
they  had  lost  in  this  sector.  The  gallant 
counter-attacks  they  made  were  probably 
the  desperate  efforts  of  a  rearguard  deliberati Ox- 
sacrificed  to  give  time  for  the  main  forces  to 
retreat  to  new  positions.  The  retaking  of 
Podgora  and  Sabotino  required  very  much 
larger  forces  than  the  enemy  could  dispose  of, 
and  the  .Austrian  Command  must  certainly 
have  realized  that  with  Podgora  and  Sabotino 
gone  the  (ior'/.ia  bridge-head,  and  (lori/.ia 
itself,  were  no  longer  tenable  against  a  deter- 
mined attack.  Their  only  course  was  to 
evacuate  the  town,  and  take  up  favourable 
positions  on  the  hills  to  the  east,  before  the 
Italian  advance  progressed  any  farther.  For 
two  days  the  Austrian  rearguard  hung  on  to 
their  last  lines  on  the  right  bank  of  (lie  river, 
and  were  not  content  merely  to  hold  but  CM  in 
several  times  to  th"  attack.  Tn  spite  of  the 
repeated  onslaughts  of  the  Italians  precious 
time  was  gained,  but  the  defenders  paid  a  heavy 


price.  On  the  afternoon  of  August  8  the  assail- 
ants finally  reached  the  river  all  along  the  line, 
breaking  the  stubborn  resistance  of  the  enemy 
and  taking  a  very  large  number  of  prisoners. 
In  these  operations  the  Tqscana  (77th  and 
78th  regiments)  and  Trapani  (143rd  and 
144th)  Brigades  specially  distinguished  them- 
selves. Fresh  Austrian  counter-attacks  were 
beaten  back  across  the  river,  and  though  in 
their  final  withdrawal  the  enemy  liiitl  succeeded 
in  partially  destroying  the  bridges,  the  summer- 
shrunken  waters  of  the  Isonzo  wen-  no  great 
obstacle  to  infantry.  At  dusk  the  same 
e\ening  detachments  of  the  < 'asale  and  Pavia 
Brigades  crossed  the  river  and  entrenched 
on  the  further  bank,  while  a  force  of  cavalry 
and  Bersaglieri  cyclists  was  dispatched  to 
reconnoitre  the  ground.  The  enemy  was  in 
full  retreat,  covered  by  a  heavy  artillery  fire, 
which  was  directed  specially  upon  the  river 
line  and  the  damaged  bridges.  The  engineers 
were  already  hard  at  \\  ork  repairing  the  Austrian 
bridges  and  tin-owing  pontoons  across  the  river 
and  next  morning  the  Italians  crossed  in  force 
and  entered  (lori/ia.  The  cavalry  and  cyclists 
scoured  the  low  ground,  picking  iip  prisoner.* 
here  and  there,  but  meeting  with  practically 
no  resistance.  On  August  10  the  lines  wero 
pushed  forward  to  the  lower  slopes  .  of  the 
hills  east  of  (Jorixia,  and  to  the  Vertojbica, 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF     THE    WAR. 


249 


a      stream      that      runs      southward     to     the 
Vippnooo. 

On  the  Carso  the  Austrian  resistance  lasted 
one  day  longer.  Hard  fighting  went  on  during 
August  7,  8  and  9,  but  the  line  was  cracking, 
and  when  the  Italians  attacked  on  August  10 
it  broke.  The  attack  was  made  on  a  front  of 
about  six  miles,  from  north  of  San  Michele  to 
Monte  Cosicli,  north-east  of  Monfalcone,  and  it 
was  everywhere  successful.  Here,  again,  the 
enemy  sacrificed  a  rearguard  in  order  to  with- 
draw the  bulk  of  his  forces  to  a  prepared  line 
farther  east,  and  it  seemed  as  though  in  this 
sector  some  of  the  defending  troops  had  lost 
heart.  One  Hungarian  regiment  near  San 
Martino  del  Carso,  finding  itself  outflanked  by 
the  storming  of  a  trench  system  on  its  left,  came 
out  and  surrendered  en  bloc.  This  was  in 
notable  contrast  to  the  reputation  which  the 
Hungarians  had  won  for  themselves  in  the 
Carso  battles,  but  the  troops  on  this  part  of  the 
front  were  doubtless  disheartened  by  the  news 
that  Gorizia  had  fallen,  and  by  the  knowledge 
that  they  themselves  were  only  covering  a 
retreat  from  the  positions  which  they  had 
believed  untakable.  Moreover,  the  news  of 
Genoral  Brusiloff's  successes  on  the  eastern 
front  had  caused  a  good  deal  of  murmuring 


among  the  Hungarian  troops,  who  were  restless 
at  the  thought  that  they  were  fighting  in  a  part 
of  the  Hapsburg  dominions  which  interested 
them  very  little,  while  their  country  seemed  to 
be  threatened  by  invasion.  But  the  main  cause 
of  their  depression  doubtless  lay  in  the  surprise 
of  the  Italian  attack,  the  intensity  of  the 
bombardment,  and  the  relentless  onslaughts  of 
the  infantry.  Perhaps  for  the  first  time  the 
defenders  felt  that  the  natural  strength  of  their 
positions  and  the  elaborate  preparations  with 
which  Nature  had  been  reinforced  would  no 
longer  serve  them,  as  they  had  done  in  the  past. 
If  the  formidable  system  of  defence  was  being 
torn  from  them,  which  they  had  strengthened  in 
every  conceivable  manner,  and  held  for  more 
than  a  year  against  repeated  attacks,  how  would 
they  fare  on  the  new  lines  to  which  they  were 
being  driven  ?  Officer  prisoners  expressed  con- 
fidence that  these  new  lines  would  never  be 
taken,  and  certainly  they  looked  strong  enough, 
but  the  men  could  hardly  reason  in  the  same 
way. 

The  Italian  attack  of  August  10  pushed  the 
Austrians  back  across  the  Vallone,  the  deep, 
narrow  valley  that  runs  southward  from  the 
(Jorkia  plain  to  the  east  of  Monfalcone,  and 
completely  cuts  off  the  San  Michele- Doberdo 


A    DUG-OUT    IN    THE    TRENCHES    ABOVE    MONFALCONE. 


137-3 


77//';     V/.W/'.'N     HlsTdHY     OF     THF.     IF  I//. 


3\ 

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THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


251 


plateau  from  the  main  Carso  system.  The 
enemy  abandoned  all  the  ground  west  of  the 
Vallone,  except  to  the  east  of  Monfalcone,  where 
strong  rearguards  still  held  Hill  121  and  Debeli 
Vrh,  south  of  the  Doberdo  lake.  Next  day 
the  advance  continued.  On  the  left  the  Italians 
•  crossed  the  Vallone  and  won  a  footing  on  the 
steep  eastern  slope  leading  up  to  the  hill  of 
Nad  Logem.  On  the  right  they  had  halted,  the 
previous  evening,  at  Doberdo,  faced  by  the 
ridge  of  Crni  Hrib  (the  Black  Hill),  which  seemed 
specially  adapted  for  defence.  But  next  day 
it  was  found  that  Crni  Hrib  had  been  practically 
abandoned  by  the  Austrians  and  the  hill  was 
occupied  without  any  difficulty.  On  the 
following  day,  August  12,  the  left  wing  made 
further  progress,  storming  the  heights  of  Nad 
Logsm  and  establishing  itself  firmly  beyond  the 
Vallone.  The  defence  here  was  very  stubborn, 
but  the  23rd  Division,  the  Sardegna  ( Grenadiers), 
Lombardia,  and  Catanzaro  Brigades,  swept  away 
all  resistance.  Farther  to  the  south  the  Italians 
took  the  village  of  Oppacchiasella  and  pushed 
on  about  1,000  yards  on  both  sides  of  the  road 
that  runs  eastwards  '  towards  Kostanjevica. 
Debeli  Vrh  and  Hill  121  also  fell,  but  in  this 


TRENCHES    ABOVE    MONFALCONE. 

sector  two  hills  west  of  the  Vallone  road,  144 
and  77,  still  remained  in  Austrian  hands.  For 
three  more  days  lively  fighting  went  on,  and 
the  Italians  took  various  enerhy  trenches,  but 
they  were  now  faced  by  a  new  line  of  defence, 
and  further  preparation  was  clearly  necessary. 
By  the  evening  of  August  15  the  offensive  was 
checked,  for  the  moment. 

Great  results  had  been  won.  In  the  twelve 
days'  fighting  that  began  with  the  attack  east 
of  Monfalcone  the  Duke  of  Aosta's  army  had 


taken  18,758  prisoners  (including  393  officers), 
30  guns,  63  trench  mortars,  92  machine-guns, 
12,225  rifles,  5,000,000  cartridges,  3,000  shells, 
60,000  hand  grenades,  and  large  quantities  of 
other  war  material.  Our  Allies  had  dealt  the 


AN    AUSTRIAN    TRENCH    MORTAR. 

Austrians  a  very  heavy  blow,  and  they  had  put 
themselves   into   a  position   to   strike   further 
blows.     The  entry  into  Gorizia  was  a  notable 
triumph,    for    Gorizia   stood   for   much,    both 
to  assailants  and  defenders.     But  the  .value  of 
its    occupation    was   much   more   moral    than 
military,  as  the  town  and  the  plain  surrounding 
it  were  dominated  by  the  new  Austrian  positions 
to  the  east.     Of  real  military  value  was  the 
occupation  of   the  bridge-head — the  Sabotino- 
Podgora    system.     It    completed    the    Italian 
possession  of  the  Isonzo  line,  and  made  that  line 
far  stronger  against  a  possible  enemy  attack. 
For  Sabotino  and  Podgora  between  them,  but 
especially  the  former,   constitute  a  wonderful 
system  of  observation  posts,  apt  for  use  in  either 
direction.     Both    ridges,    moreover,    and    the 
broken    hilly    country    between,    made    very 
strong  defensive  positions.     The  Austrians  had 
held  them  for  more  than  a  year  against  repeated 
attacks,  conducted  with  the  greatest  determina- 
tion, and  they  had  seemed  almost  impregnable. 
Perhaps  if  the  defenders  had  not  been  deceived 
by  the  belief  that  the  Italian  offensive  power 
had  been  broken  by  the  Treritirio  fighting,  the 
positions  might  still  have  held  out.     Looked  at 
from -the  east  they  presented  a  no  less  formidable 
problem.     In  fact,  they  were  a  worse  obstacle  " 
to  a  possible  Austrian  attack  than  they  had 
been  to  the  Italian  advance,  for  the  Isonzo  flows 
beneath  them  like  a  moat.     And  the  eastern 
side  of  Sabotino  drops  almost  sheer  to  the  river. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


The  Italians  on  Sabot ino  nn<l  Podgora  \u-n- 
uu\v.  roughly,  in  the  same  position  us  (lie 
Austrians  had  been  on  San  Michele.  There  was 
this  important-  difference,  that  .some  of  the 
approaches  to  Sabotino  were  open  to  direct. 
observation  from  Monte  Kuk,  and  those  to 
Podgora  were  under  the  eyes  of  Monte  Santo, 
whereas  the  Austrians  on  the  < 'ai-so  had  beer 
free  from  enemy  observation,  except  from  the 
air.  But  the  greater  height  and  steepness  of 
the  Sabotino  ridge  may  be  held  to  have  com 
pensated  for  this  drawback  to  its  value  as  a 
defensive  position. 


directly  east  of  Gorizia  presented  enormous 
difficulties*  The  occupation  of  the  western 
segment,  of  the  Carso,  on  the  other  hand.  \\  as  n, 
step  which  gave  good  promise  of  being  the  first 
of  a  series.  The  first-line  system  of  defence  had 
been  broken  along  an  extensive  front,  and  then- 
was  reason  to  believe  that  the  positions  upon 
which  the  Austrians  had  fallen  back  were  less 
thoroughly  prepared  than  those  which  had  held 
out  for  so  long.  Moreover,  the  advance  had 
given  to  the  Italians  an  admirable  line  of 
observation  points,  from  which  they  commanded 
u  wide  view,  while  the  Austrians  had  lost  their 


THE    PIAZZA    GRANDE    OF    GORIZIA;     MULE    TRANSPORT    ENTERING    THE    TOWN. 


The  capture  of  the  town  of  Gorizia  was  n, 
great  blow  to  Austria  and  a  great  triumph  for 
Italy.  The  occupation  of  the  bridge-head  was 
a  solid  military  gain.  The  advance  on  the 
Carso  was  more,  for  it  made  a  much  greater 
change  in  the  prospects  of  a  further  offensive. 
In  the  Gorizia  sector  proper  the  Austrians  still 
dominated  the  situation  from  the  hills  east  of 
the  town.  The  Isonzo  bridges  were  under  close 
and  direct  observation.  The  plain  about  the 
town  lay  open  like  a  map.  Behind  the  lower 
hills  to  the  eastward  rises  the  great  range  of  the 
Selva  di  Ternova,  and  to  the  north  Monte  Santo 
enfilades  the  plain.  Anv  notable  advanec 


look-out  over  a  great  part  of  the  lower  Isonzo 
plain. 

An  idea  of  the  position  in  the  middle  of 
August  may  best  be  given,  perhaps,  by  brief 
descriptions  of  the  terrain  as  it  appears  from 
two  points — the  top  of  Monte  Sabotino  and  a 

low  rise  (Hill  150)  a  little  south  of  San  Martino 

f 

del  Carso.  San  Michele  gives  a  wider  panor- 
ama than  can  be  seen  from  this  latter  point,  as 
it  commands  a  part  of  the  .Gorizia  plain,  but 
the  general  view  of  the  plateau  beyond  the 
Yallone  is  better  obtained  from  the  more 
cent  ral  position. 

Straight   across   the   Isonzo,   opposite   Sabo- 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


tino,  rises  Monte  Santo — almost  a  twin  ridge. 
the  southern  spur  of  the  Bainsizza  upland. 
The  intervening  gorge  is  deep  and  narrow  ;  its 
wooded  sides  rise  abruptly  to  a  height  of  nearly 
1,800  feet  above  the  river  bed,  and  the  two 
summits  are  well  within  rifle  range — the 
distance  across  being  about  1,500  yards.  To 
the  north  lies  the  Bainsizza  plateau,  the  wide 
upland  between  the  Isonzo  and  the  Chiapovano 
valley,  which  divides  the  Bainsizza  from  the 
dark  masses  of  the  Selva  di  Ternova.  This 
plateau,  which  extends  nearly  to  Santa  Lucia, 
the  station  where  the  Wochein  railway  leaves 
the  Isonzo  valley,  rises  like  a  great  rampart 
above  the  swift -rushing  Isonzo.  Looking  due 
east  from  Sabotino  a  green  valley  opens  up, 
with  two  roads  winding  into  the  distance. 
One  turns  northward  behind  Monte  Santo,  and 
leads  by  way  of  Chiapovano  to  the  Wochein 
railway.  This  road  is  in  view  for  a  short 
distance  only.  The  other  leads  up  to  the 
village  of  Ternova,  and  lies  open  for  several 
miles.  But  the  valley  mouth  is  well  guarded, 
by  Monte  Santo  on  the  north  and  by  the  steep 
heights  of  Monte  San  Gabriele  on  the  south. 
South  from  Sabotino,  which  forms  a  sharp 
salient,  the  whole  Gorizia  plain  shows  clear  to 
view,  backed  on  the  left  by  the  low  wooded 
hills  east  of  the  town,  where  the  Austrians 
lay  in  wait,  strongly  entrenched  on  the  upper 
slopes,  with  the  Italians  a  little  way  beneath 


them.  Southward,  again,  appears  the  mouth  of 
the  low-lying  valley  of  the  Vippacco,  with  the 
Carso  plateau  rising  sharply  beyond.  The 
view  of  the  Carso  from  this  point  is  particu- 
larly interesting,  for  here  it  is  seen  in  profile, 


CASTLE    Ob    GOK1Z1A. 

showing  how  the  range  of  hills  that  form  its 
northern  bulwark  rises  like  a  great  stairway  from 
the  Vallone  to  the  Iron  Gates.  Nad  Logem, 
Veliki  Hribach,  Fajti  Hrib,  Golnek,  Trijesnek, 
Stol,  and  Trstelj — these  are  the  main  steps  of 

.the  stairway  that  finally  reaches    a   height    of 

'2, 100  feet. 

From   Hill    150,   south   of    San   Mftrtino   del 


•••••••MB 


MOVING    HEAVY    ARTILLERY    AFTEK    THE    CAPTURE    OF    GORIZIA. 


'251 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


( 'urso.  a  wide  view  of  the  rocky  plateau  si  retches 
eastwards  as  far  as  the  ridge  running  south 
from  Trstolj,  which  marks  the  limits  of  the 
steady  rise  from  the  Vallone.  In  front  the 
Around  slopes  gently  downwards  past  the  village 
i'1  Marcottini,  till  it  falls  abruptly  into  the  deep 
eut  of  the  Vallone,  from  which  it  rises  quickly 
tn  the  village  of  Oppacchiasella.  Straight 
eastwards  from  Oppaochiasella  runs  the  road 
to  Kostanjevica,  which  shows  clearly  for  some 
distance,  and  then  dips  before  rising  to  the 
village.  A  bare  two  miles  beyond,  the  riili;e 


It  is  a  dreary  picture.  The  Carso  upland  is 
bare  and  stony,  covered  only  in  places  by  a 
scanty  red  soil  that  is  fine  dust  in  the  summer 
find  sticky  mud  in  the  wet  seasons.  There  are 
great  stretches  of  naked  stone,  ribs,  and  slabs, 
and  boulders  heaped  bewilderingly  together. 
Here  and  there  grow  stunted  trees  and  miser- 
able brushwood  tangles,  and  in  sheltered 
hollows  there  were  in  peace  time  scattered 
patches  of  tillage.  All  the  cultivable  area  is 
laced  by  innumerable  stone  walls,  which  serve 
as  shelter,  even  more  than  as  boundary  marks, 


AUSTRIAN    PRISONERS    TAKEN    AT    GORIZIA. 


above-mentioned,  crowned  by  the  villages  of 
Ten  mica  and  Voj?eica,  each  with  a  tall  cam- 
panile, shows  dark  against  -the  sky.  To  the 
left  the  great  hill  stairway  climbs  to  its  sum- 
mit, and  nearer  lies  a  jumble  of  stony  hum- 
mocks and  ridges — Pecinka,  Hill  308,  and  other 
rises  that  are  known  only  by  their  height  in 
metres.  On  the  right  the  view  is  more  limited, 
for  just  beyond  the  Vallone,  opposite  the 
village  of  Doberdo  and  the  height  of  Cini 
II rib.  a  long,  flat  ridge  blocks  the  view,  one  end 
of  it  known  as  Kill  208  north,  the  other  as 
Hill  L'OS  south.  Farther  to  the  right  are  the 
two  low  bare  hills,  Debeli  and  Hill  144,  and 
beyond  them  to  the  south-east  the  wooded 
ridge  of  Hermada  closes  the  view  of  the  enemy 

eoufitrv. 


against  the  furious  bora  that  scourges  the 
Carso  in  winter.  On  the  northern  and  southern 
edges  of  the  plateau  the  landscape  is  less 
desolate.  Fair-sized  trees  grow  on  the  slopes 
leading  up  from  the  Vippacco  valley,  and  the 
Hermada  ridge  is  well  wooded.  But  the  wide 
st  ret  eh  between  is  all  gaunt  and  forbidding, 
with  no  beauty  of  colour  or  outline  to  justify 
its  nakedness. 

Kven  to  a  casual  view  the  Carso  looks  a 
I'.illic.ult  battle-ground  for  an  attacking  force, 
and  a  closer  examination  shows  how  it  lends 
itself  to  defence.  The  upland  is  pit'ed  with 
ilnliiie  and  actual  caverns,  forming^  natural 
systems  of  fortification  that  can  be  readily 
adapted  to  modern  requirements.  The  attack 
suffered  from  other  disadvantages — trenches 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    W.I  11. 


GRAD1SCA    AND    THE    ISONZO    FROM    THE    CARSO. 


could  not  be  made,  or  transformed,  in  a  hurry, 
for  there  is  no  depth  of  soil.  The  making  of  a 
satisfactory  trench  demanded  rock-drills  and 
blasting  charges.  Moreover,  a  high  explosive 
shell  that  burst  upon  the  rocky  surface  of  the 
Oar.-so  had  a  very  much  greater  destructive 
effect  than  it  would  have  .upon  softer  ground. 
Not  only  was  the  area  of  destruction  wider,  but 
the  rock  splinters  reinforced  the  deadly  _  work 
of  the  shell  fragments. 


Our  Allies  had  a  very  stiff  task  before  them, 
for  the  lines  to  which  the  enemy  had  retreated 
were  well  prepared.  But  the  relative  positions 
were  now  far  more  equal,  especially  for  observa- 
tion. And  the  Italians  had  victory  in  their 
hearts,  while  the  Austrians  had  been  outwitted 
and  outfought. 

The  preparations  for  a  further  push  took 
some  time.  It  was  not  uiVil  September  14 


THE    CAKSO    PLATEAU    NEAR    DOBERDO. 


25C, 


I///-;     TLMI'-.S    HISTOh'Y     <>!•'     THE    W.lH. 


AUSTRIAN    TRENCHES    ON    THE    CARSO. 


that  an  attack  in  force  was  launched.  On  that 
morning  a  tremendous  bombardment  was 
opened  all  along  the  line  from  the  Vippacco  to 
the  sea.  The  weather  was  threatening,  and  in 
the  afternoon,  just  upon  the  hour  fixed  for  the 
infantry  advance,  a  furious  thunderstorm 
burst  over  the  Carso.  The  trenches  east  of 
Nad  Logem  were  carried  immediately,  at  the 
first  rush,  and  large  numbers  of  prisoners  were 
taken,  but  both  on  the  left  and  right  of  this 
sector  the  Austrians  put  up  a  very  stubborn 
resistance.  The  fighting  was  very  bloody, 
especially  near  Nova  Vas,  a  hamlet  about  half 
a  mile  due  south  of  Oppacchiasella,  and  on  tin1 
ridge  between  the  twin  Hills  208.  A  number  of 
trenches  were  taken,  and  a  good  many  prisoners, 
but  the  Austrian  line  was  not  broken  ;  and 
though  the  summit  of  the  ridge  was  gained, 
only  the  southern  point  was  held.  Farther 
south  the  fighting  was  still  more  inconclusive, 
for  the  Austi-'iuis.  hacked  by  the  big  guns  on 
Henuada,  held  grimly  to  Hills  144  and  77. 
Just  south  of  the  Vippacco,  however,  a  notable 
gain  was  made.  After  heavy  fighting  in  tin- 
afternoon  a  second  assault  WHS  carried  out  in 
the  evening,  and  swept  away  the  Austrian 
resistance,  bringing  the  Italians  right  up  to  the 
village  of  San  Grado  di  Merna,  which  stands  on 
a  little  hill  immediately  south  of  the  river. 


The  hill  was  surrounded,  and  the  weary  troop, 
lay  down  to  rest. 

But  that  night  there  was  little  rest.  Another 
terrific  thunderstorm  broke  upon  the  battle- 
field, and  the  guns  never  ceased.  In  the  early 
morning  the  Italian  fire  redoubled,  and  after 
the  enemy  positions  had  been  hammered  for 
eight  hours  the  chilled  and  dripping  men  went 
forward  again.  San  Grado  was  taken  and  a 
long  column  of  Austrian  prisoners  came  hasten- 
ing to  the  rear  of  the  fight,  relentlessly  pursued 
I  >y  t  he  fire  of  their  own  guns.  Several  important 
eutrenelmients  in  the  front  of  Lokvica  (south- 
east of  Nad  Logem)  were  wrested  from  the 
enemy,  and  a  further  advance  was  made  east 
of  Oppacchiasella.  It  was  hard  fighting,  and 
the  Austrians  contested  every  foot  of  ground 
with  the  utmost  bravery,  but  the  Italians  were 
not  to  be  denied.  The  following  day,  after 
repulsing  several  counter-attacks  during  the 
night,  they  came  again  to  the  assault.  They 
gained  ground  along  a  considerable  front  on 
the  Carso,  and  took  800  prisoners.  The  next 
day  was  spent  in  consolidating  the  new  lines, 
mid  in  throwing  back  a  determined  counter- 
offensive  by  the  enemy,  who  realized  the  import- 
ance of  some  of  the  points  he  had  lost.  The  Aus- 
trian efforts  had  no  result,  and  several  hundred 
prisoners  were  left  in  the  hands  of  the  Italians. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


257 


During  the  four  days'  fighting  4,294  prisoners 
were  taken  by  our  Allies,  and  a  series  of  useful 
positions  were  occupied.  It  was  disappointing 
that  the  progress  on  the  right  was  less  satis- 
factory than  on  the  left,  but  the  Austrian  lines 
on  Hills  208,  144,  and  77  were  very  strong  and 
very  difficult  of  approach.  Both  sides  lost 
heavily  here,  especially  on  the  two  Hills  208, 
where  the  Austrians  took  a  couple  of  hundred 
Italian  prisoners  in  their  successful  counter- 
attack on  the  ridge. 

Our  Allies  were  very  soon  ready  to  deal 
another  blow,  but  persistent  rain  and  mist 
made  observation  almost  impossible.  Here,  as 
i  I  M  -where,  little  could  be  done  without  artillery 
preparation,  and  it  was  well  on  in  October 
before  the  offensive  could  be  resumed  on  the 
scale  planned.  Early  in  the  month  a  prepara- 
tory bombardment  was  actually  opened,  but 
the  weather  broke  suddenly  and  completely, 
and  the  idea  of  an  attack  had  to  be  abandoned. 
On.  October  9  the  usual  artillery  fire  was 
greatly  intensified  along  all  the  front  from 
eastward  of  Gorizia  to  the  sea.  The  guns 
continued  all  night,  and  on  the  following 
morning  their  fury  redoubled.  Unfortunately, 
the  morning  was  foggy,  as  it  so  often  is  on  the 
Carso  and  on  the  Isonzo  line,  especially  in  the 


autumn.  It  cleared  after  midday,  but  at 
2.45,  when  the  infantry  went  "  over  the  top," 
visibility  was  still  only  fair. 

The  attack  was  splendidly  successful.  The 
bombardment  on  the  Carso  had  been  crushing 
in  its  effect.  The  Austrian  first  line  was  over- 
whelmed, and  when  the  Italian  infantry 
advanced  to  the  assault  they  carried  all  before 
them  along  the  greater  part  of  the  front.  Some 
of  the  ground  gained  could  not  be  maintained, 
for  the  Austrians  hung  on  desperately  to 
certain  important  positions,  and  the  advancing 
Italians  found  themselves  here  and  there  in 
unprotected  salients,  close  xipon  new  lines  of 
trenches.  At  nightfall  those  eager  fighters 
were  withdrawn,  reluctant  to  give  up  the 
ground  won.  It  was  essential  to  consolidate 
the  new  line,  to  keep  the  troops  together  for 
the  next  day's  advance.  Some  were  cut  off, 
and  killed  or  taken  prisoners,  but  this  was  the 
inevitable  price  of  success. 

The  September  operations  had  left  the 
trench-line  on  the  Carso  full  of  twists  and 
zig-zags,  which  were  straightened  out  by  the 
attack  of  October  10.  The  most  important 
gain  was  the  enemy  salient  that  included  Nova 
Vas  and  Hill  208  north  and  ran  back  just  east 
of  Hill  208  routh.  which  the  Italians  had  held 


WATEk    SUPPLY    BASE    ON    THE    CARSO. 


258 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


against  the  Austrian  counter-attacks.  This 
salient  was  very  strongly  fortified  with  three 
lines  of  trenches  and  various  "redoubts,"  but 
the  Italian  bombardment  pounded  the  de- 
fences to  [tieees,  and  the  da/.ed  men  who  sur- 
vived the  destruction  had  little  fight  in  them. 
Another  important  position  to  fall  was  the 
summit  of  Hill  144.  The  hill  had  been  hotly 
contested  during  the  September  fighting,  but 
the  Italians  had  been  unable  to  establish 
themselves  on  the  summit.  Xow  at  last  they 
succeeded,  but  the  Austrian*  hung  on  to  the 
eastern  and  southern  slopes. 

By  the  end  of  the  day  (October  10)  the  Italian 
line  on  the  Carso  ran  almost  in  a  straight  line 
from  Hill  144  to  the  western  slopes  of  Veliki 


'          •  - 
^.  >  L 


,  -  n 


AUSTRIAN    DUG-OUTS   ON   THE    CARSO. 

Hribach.  with  a  slight  curve  forward  cast  of 
Oppacchiasella,  and  a  slight  curve  backward 
west  of  Lokvica.  The  Italians  had  now  won 
the  whole  of  the  first  line  to  which  the  enemy 
had  retreated  in  August,  and  they  had  taken 
many  prisoner-*.  The  total  for  the  day  was 
5,034,  including  104  officers,  and  a  great  store 
of  war  material  was  found  in  the  conquered 
positions.  Progress  had  also  been  made  among 
the  low  hills  east  of  the  Vertojbica.  The  jii-e- 
liminarv  bombardment  here  was  less  destruc- 


tive than  011  the  Carso,  for  the  ground  was  deep 
in  soft  mud,  but  a  determined  attack  carried 
an  important  system  of  trenches  between  the 
hamlets  of  Sober  and  Vertojba  on  a  front  of 
1,000  yards,  and  801  prisoners  \\e-e  taken. 
Xext  morning  the  weather  was  very  im- 


A    COMMUNICATION   TRENCH   ON   THE 
SLOPE    OF    THE    CARSO. 

favourable.  Mist  lay  thick  in  the  valleys  and 
on  the  Carso  upland,  and  the  artillery  fire  was 
slacker.  Seizing  their  opportunity,  the  Aus- 
trians  counter-attacked  on  various  parts  of  the 
front.  For  them  artillery  preparation  vas 
less  important,  for  the  Italians  were  in  the 
open,  or  in  the  trenches  which  had  been  laid 
in  ruins  during  the  two  previous  days.  The 
fighting  was  hardest  east  of  the  Vertojbica  — 
the  enemy  had  not  yet  brought  up  sufficient 
reserves  to  take  the  initiative  on  the  Carso — • 
but  the  Italians  held  their  ground  :  and  in  the 
afternoon,  with  clearer  weather,  they  renewed 
the  attack  all  along  the  line.  They  gained 
ground  on  the  Carso,  taking  here  a  trench  and 
there  a  doline  or  a  mined  redoubt,  and  they 
pushed  forward  their  lines  beyond  Sober.  All 
day  long  the  fighting  was  furious,  and  during 
the  following  night  and  morning  the  Austriaiis 
made  desperate  efforts  to  regain  their  lost 
positions.  The  air  was  fairly  clear,  and  the 
artillery  on  both  sides  was  very  active.  Re- 
peated Austrian  attacks  upon  Sober,  the  new 
line  south  of  Xova  Vas  and  Hill  144,  were 
bloodily  repulsed.  On  the  front  held  by  a, 
single  battalion,  near  Sober,  400  enemy  bodies 
were  counted  and  buried.  About  midday  the 
Austrian  efforts  died  away,  and  the  Italians 
attacked  again.  They  pushed  forward  to- 
wards the  summit  of  Pecinka,  and  gained  a 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


259 


•foothold  in.  the  hamlets  of  Lokvica  and  Hudi 
Log,  2,000  yards  east  of  Nova  Vas.  The  line 
OH  the  Carso  was  once  more  bent  into  curves. 
On  the  left  the  Italians  were  well  forward,  near 
the  summit  of  Veliki  Hribach,  and  in  the  centre 
they  were  close  upon  the  road  that  runs  south- 
eastwards  from  Lokvica  to  Hudi  Log.  But  the 
Austrian*  clung  to  Lokvica,  and  the  Italian 
right  could  make  little  or  no  progress.  Their 
line  bent  back  from  Hudi  Log  to  the  east  of 
Hill  208  south,  and  thence  ran  across  the 
Vallone  to  Hill  144. 

On  October  13  the  weather  grew  worse  again. 
Little   fighting  took  place  on  the  Carso,  but 


hand  to  hand,  while  the  artillery  on  both  sides 
put  a  very  heavy  barrage  fire  on  the  reserve 
lines.  Comparatively  few  prisoners  were  taken, 
but  the  Italians  brought  their  number  of 
captures  up  to  over  8,000.  The  Austrians 
claimed  2,700,  but  on  this  occasion,  as  on  many 
others,  they  included  in  the  number  the  dead 
left  in  their  lines. 

The  breakdown  of  the  weather  was  a  heavy 
blow  to  the  Italians.  They  were  unable  to  go 
on  as  they  had  intended,  and  the  forced  lull 
in  their  offensive  operations  compelled  a  with- 
drawal from  certain  positions  which  were  only 
steps  on  the  way.  They  came  back  to  about 


PRISONERS    CAPTURED    ON    THE    CARSO. 


north  of  Sober  the  Italians  advanced'beyoiid  the 
hills  to  the  road  that  runs  from  Gorizia  by 
San  Pietro  to  Prvacina,  the  line  followed  by 
the  Corizia-Dornberg  railway  to  Trieste.  The 
losses  during  the  four  days'  fighting  were  very 
heavy  on  both  sides.  On  the  first  day  the 
Italians  lost  comparatively  few  men,  and  the 
Austrians  suffered  very  heavily.  The  Italian 
artillery  fire  was  exceedingly  destructive,  and 
on  many  parts  of  the  line  the  enemy  was 
unable  to  put  up  a  fight.  On  the  second  and 
third  day,  when  the  Austrians  threw  in  their 
)•( 'serves,  the  struggle  was  terrible.  It  was  com- 
paratively old-fashioned  fighting,  more  or  less 
in  the  open,  for  the  trenches  were  crushed  tmd 
flattened,  and  the  only  cover  was  supplied  by 
the  unevemyss  of  the  ground.  It  was  a  ghastly 
melcV,  where  companies  and  battalion's  fought 


.100  yards  from  the  sumitiits  of  Veliki  Hribach, 
and  Pecinka.  They  left  Lokvica  to  the  enemy 
anil  flattened  the  Hudi  Log  salient.  It  was 
essential  to  secure  a  proper  jumping-off  place 
for  the  next  advance. 

« 

Bad  weather  continued  for  over  a  rortnight, 
except  for  one  short  spell  of  48  hours,  which 
raised  unfounded  hopes.  For  more  than  a 
week  after  this  break  in  the  succession  of  warm, 
wet,  misty  days  the  soldiers  in  the  front  line 
were  keyed  up,  waiting  for  the  word  to  attack, 
knowing  that  it  would  come  when  the  fojjs 
lifted  and  gave  a  fair  view  of  the  enemy's  lines. 
The  weather  cleared  very  gradually.  The 
soaking  rains  ceased,  but  the  clouds  kept  very  • 
low,  and  the  mists  came  thinly  up  from  the 
drenched  ground.  At  length,  on  October  29, 


2fif> 


///STO//V 


THI-:   w\n. 


AUSTRIAN    WIRE    ENTANGLEMENTS. 


there  was  11  liint  of  cold,  and  though  the  next 
day  was  overcast,  the  clouds  were  riding  high 
and  the  landscape  was  luminous  and  distinct. 
The  last  preparations  were  made.  The  scene 
was  set  for  a  still  greater  effort  than,  the  two 
which  had  preceded  it.  Next  day  the  curtain 
Mould  go  up  it'  the  weather  held. 

The  dawn  was  clear  and  grey,  and  soon  the 
trailing  clouds  dissolved  under  a  strong  sun. 
All  the  morning  a  steady  fire  went  on,  and  at 
midday  the  real  bombardment  began — from 
San  Marco  right  down  to  the  sea.  The  hit  ensit  y 
of  the  fire  outdid  all  previous  bombardments 
on  the  Curso  front,  and  in  an  hour  the  whole  of 
the  plateau  was  covered  with  a  vast  pall  ot 
smoke,  which  grew  ever  higher  and  thicker 
till  it  dimmed  the  clear  mountain  ranges  and 
darkened  the  whole  eastern  sky.  All  afternoon, 
all  evening,  and  all  night  the  terrible  fire 
continued,  and  when  the  next  dawn  broke  it 
grew  even  fiercer.  The  day  promised  well, 
but  the  morning  mists  were  slow  to  rise,  and 
when  the  hour  approached  tor  the  iut'autrv 
aAack  the  whole  plateau  was  si  ill  t  hickly  veiled. 
The  infantry  went  forward  at  exactly  Id  minutes 
past  11.  and  the  Austrian  artillery  lire,  which 

had     not      been      very     heavy,     beea much 

more  intense.  The  enemy  pursued  the  same 
tactics  as  during  the  two  previous  attacks, 


reserving  their  fire  until  the  Italians  came  into 
the  open,  when  they  sprayed  shrapnel  over  the 
advancing  troops,  and  plastered  the  rear  lines 
with  high  explosive.  It  was  noticeable,  how- 
ever, that  along  a  considerable  part  of  the  front 
the  enemy  fire  was  uncertain  and  fitful.  The 
Italian  counter-batteries  were  doing  their  work 
very  well. 

On  the  left  of  the  Carso  plateau  the  Italian 
attack,  conducted  by  the  llth  Army  Corps, 
was  immediately  successful.  The  lines  in 
front  of  Pecinka  fell  to  the  first  rush,  Lokvica 
was  occupied  after  a  short  but  furious  struggle, 
and  while  Veliki  was  resisting  frontal  attacks 
on  the  wooded  slopes  to  the  north  and  on  the 
bare  western  face  a  supporting  column  swept 
through  the  shattered  lines  of  Pecinka.  which 
had  been  captured  by  a  Bersaglieri  Brigade 
((ith  and  12th  regiments),  turned  northward, 
swarmed  up  the  stony  ridge  that  leads  from 
Pecinka  to  Veliki,  and  took  the  enemy  trenches 
in  the  flank.  Pecinka  fell  in  less  than  40 
minutes.  Veliki  in  little  over  an  hour.  Nor  did 
the  advance  stop  here.  The  Bersaglieri  pushed 
on  to  Hill  :!dS.  another  stony  hummock,  east 
of  Pecinka,  and  the  Toscana  Brigade,  which  had 
captured  Veliki,  advanced  along  the  ridge  to 
the  east  and  occupied  the  next  peak — Hill  370. 

South  of  T.okvica,  and  along  the  Oppacchia- 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


261 


sella-Kostanjevica  road,  the  attack  was  equally 
successful.  The  resistance  of  the  enemy  was 
completely  overpowered.  The  line  was  carried 
forward  1,000  yards  east  of  Segeti,  and  the 
strongly  fortified  cross-roads,  where  the  Lokvica- 
Hudi  Log  rortd  intersects  that  from  Oppacchia- 
sella  to  Kostanjeviea,  was  taken  on  the  run, 
the  advance  being  pushed  to  within  a  kilometre 
of  Kostanjeviea.  Farther  to  the  south  little 
real  propvss  was  made.  Tlill  238-— to  the  east 


of  Hill  208  south — was  carried  by  the  first  rush, 
and  ground  was  gained  in  the  direction  of  Hill 
235,  on  the  edge  of  the  south-eastern  corner  of 
the  main  Carso  plateau,  just  above  the  village 
of  Jamiano,  in  the  Vallone.  The  enemy  were 
driven  out  of  Jamiano  not  for  the  first  time,  but 
the  occupation  of  this  point  depended  on  the 
success  of  the  attack  on  the  heights  above,  and 
here  it  was  found  impossible  to  make  good  the 
ground  won.  A  strong  counter-attack  regained 


ON    THE    WATCH    IN    T.HE    TRENCHES. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


Hill  238  for  the  enemy,  and  though  the  fight 
v.im'd  doubtfully  for  a  long  time,  and  the 
Italians  held  tenaciously  to  various  points  that 
improved  their  original  line,  they  could  not 
hrenk  tlirough  the  enemj  defences  as  they  had 
done  further  north  As  the  battle  died  down 
on  the  left  it  grew  ever  fiercer  on  the  right.  All 
the  low  ground  east  and  south  of  Hill  144,  where 
the  Vallone  meets  the  valley  that  runs  down 
westward  from  Brestovica  and  divides  Hennada 
and  the  lower  hills  by  the  sea  from  the  main 
(  'JH-SO  plateau,  was  a  horrible  seething  caldron 
of  smoke  and  flame  ;  and  on  the  heights  above 
fell  an  unceasing  rain  of  shells.  Till  night  came 
there  was  no  slackening  of  the  fight. 

In  the  Gorizia  sector  useful  progress  was 
made  on  the  hills  to  the  east  of  the  town, 
towards  Tivoli  and  San  Marco,  and  on  the 
heights  beyond  Sober  towards  the  railway. 
The  distance  gained  was  not  great,  but  several 
important  points  wore  occupied,  which  im- 
proved the  line  and  eased  the  position  near  the 
town  itself.  The  ground  was  deep  in  mud,  and 
the  troops  found  it  very  difficult  to  move,  while 
the  effect  of  the  shells  was  greatly  lessened. 
But  this  part  of  the  fight  was  of  minor  import. 
The  operations  on  the  Carso  were  what  chiefly 
mattered,  and  the  results  of  the  first  day's  work 
were  triumphant.  The  Austrian  line  was  com- 
pletely broken  on  a  front  of  over  two  miles. 
from  the  northern  rim  of  the  Carso  to  the 


Oppacchiaselln-Kostanjevica  road,  find  it  is 
difficult  to  say  how  far  the  attacking  troops 
might  have  gone  if  they  had  not  been  held  hack 
to  avoid  tho  .formation  of  too  pronounced  a 
salient.  The  enemy  lost  4,731  prisoners, 
including  132  officers,  and  a  great  mass  of  war 
material.  The  speed  and  impetus  of  the  Italia. i 
attack  were  so  great  that  mule  trains  laden  with 
provisions  and  ammunition  were  captured  tar 
in  t  he  rear  of  the  trenches,  before  the  Austrian* 
had  realized  that  their  line  had  crumpled. 
The  capture  of  two  three-gun  batteries  of  four- 
inch  guns  was  reported  the  same  night,  but  i> 
was  known  already  that  other  guns  and  ;i 
great  number  of  machine-guns  were  left  within 
the  lines  torn  from  the  enemy.  They  were  seen 
and  passed  in  the  first  onrush  of  the  victorious 
infantry,  but  it  was  days  before  all  the  cunning 
hiding-places  were  explored  and  gave  up  their 
secrets. 

A  great  hole  was  punched  in  the  Austrian  line 
by  the  first  day's  fighting,  but  the  enemy  were 
not  to  give  in  readily  to  defeat.  The  surprise 
had  been  great,  and  the  counter-attack  took 
some  time  to  develop.  It  was  not  until  after 
one  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  November  2  that 
the  Austrian  artillery  opened  a  new  phase  of  the 
battle.  A  tremendous  fire  was  directed  upon 
the  lost  ground,  especially  upon  Hill  308. 
Pecinka,  and  the  ridge  running  northward  to 
Veliki  Hribach.  Along  this  line  th:>  Italims 


BERSAGLIERI    IN    A    CAPTURED    TRENCH    ON    THE    CARSO. 


THI<:    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


263 


GORIZIA    FROM    LUGINIGO. 


were  lying  out  in  the  open,  on  the  bare  stony 
ground.  The  enemy  trenches  were  gone — filled 
with  shattered  rock  and  broken  bodies — and  as 
yet  only  a  few  dug-outs  had  been  discovered. 
Here  and  there  a  dolina  gave  shelter,  or  a  rock 
cavern,  but  for  the  most  part  the  troops  had 
little  protection  against  the  furious  storm  of 
shrapnel  and  high  explosive.  The  Bersaglieri 
Brigade,  in  particular,  was  very  highly  tried  by 
the  bombardment,  and-  suffered  very  heavily. 
The  brigadier  and  the  two  regimental  com- 
manders spent  the  night  walking  up  and  down 
in  the  front  lines,  and  their  example  held  the 
men  firm  under  the  cruel  strain.  But  by  the 
morning  only  one  of  the  three  was  left.  The 
brigadier  and  one  of  the  colonels  had  both  been 
wounded  by  shell  fragments,  the  brigadier  being 
saved  from  death  by  his  helmet.  The  unhurt 
survivor  was  the  colonel  who  had  taken  San 
Michele  in  July,  1915,  and  held  it  for  17 
hours  against  repeated  attacks  till  he  was 
ordered  to  withdraw  the  remnants  of  his 
command.* 

Various  counter-attacks  were  attempted 
during  the  night,  but  it  was  not  until  towards 
midday  that  the  real  effort  came.  The  reason 
of  the  artillery  concentration  on  Pecinka  and 
Hill  308  at  once  became  apparent,  for  the  enemy 
launched  a  formidable  body  of  men  against  these 
pomts.  They  were  trying  to  drive  a  wedge  into 
the  salient  that  had  been  formed  by  the  Italian 
advance.  Masses  of  infantry  moved  forward 
from  behind  Hill  278,  to  the  south-east  of  Hill 
*  Sep  Vol.  VIT..  Chapter  OTX..  p.  69. 


308.  but  they  were  met  by  a  terrific  artillery 
fire  from  the  Italian  batteries,  while  the  machine 
guns  of  the  Bersaglieri  and  an  infantry  brigade 
which  had  been  moved  up  in  support  played 
upon  them  unceasingly.  The  masses  broke, 
re-formed,  broke  again.  After  a  little  the  attack 
was  attempted  afresh,  but  could  make  no  head- 
way. Several  times  the  advance  was  renewed, 
but  always  to  break  down  under  the  Italian 
fire.  The  enemy  attack  died  away,  and  the' 
Italian  line  swept  forward  in  pursuit,  while 
farther  north  the  troops  on  the  mountain  stair- 
way climbed  two  more  steps—  Hill  399  and  the 
very  important  position  of  Fajti  Hrib  (1,425 
feet). 

The  taking  of  the  Fajti  ridge  was  a  serious 
•loss  to  the  enemy.  It  was  the  key  of  the 
Austrian  line  in  this  sector.  Not  only  does  it 
dominate  Kostanjevica  and  the  network  of 
roads  that  spreads  out  from  the  village  ;  it  also 
commands  completely  the  lower  part  of  the 
main  road  that  winds  upwards  from  Ranziano 
to  the  Oarso.  An  Austrian  colonel  taken 
prisoner  in  the  September  offensive  declared 
that  nothing  mattered  so  long  as  Fajti  Hrib  was 
held,  and  that  the  Italians  would  never  succeed 
in  taking  it.  His  estimate  of  its  importance  was 
doubtless  exaggerated,  but  its  capture  was  a 
heavy  blow.  By  the  evening  of  November  2 
the  Italian  line  ran  south-westwards  from  Fajti 
by  Hill  319  to  Hill  278,  and  thence  south- 
eastwards  to  H'll  229,  700  yards  due  west  of 
Kostanjevica,  just  above  the  terminal  loop  of 
the  narrow-gauge  Carso  railway.  And  patrols 


•2(1 1 


THE     Tl.MKS     HISTOh'Y     Ol-     THK     WAR. 


SCENE    OF    THE    OFFENSIVE    OF    NOVEMBER,    1916. 
The  Fajti  Ridge  in  the  Background. 


were  out  well  eastward  of  this  line,  finding 
nothing  but  wounded  men  and  abandoned  war 
material.  They  pushed  right  up  to  Kostan- 
jevica  and  to  a  line  that  runs  due  north  from 
the  village,  but  here  they  came  in  touch  with 
a  new  trench  system  which  the  enemy  were 
holding  in  force. 

In  the  centre  the  Austrians  had  given  way 
completely,  but  they  were  holding  firm  on  the 
wings,  and  were  not  content  with  holding. 
South  of  the  Oppacchiasella-Kostanjevica  road, 
right  down  to  Hill  144,  they  delivered  a  series 
of  determined  counter-attacks,  and  they  were 
equally  active  among  the  hills  east  of  Gorizia. 
But  the  Italians  living  on  to  the  ground  they 
had  made  good  on  the  first  day,  and  in  the 
evening  there  was  nothing  but  good  news  to 
report.  Nearly  3,500  prisoners  were  added  to 
the  number  already  reported,  and  among  them 
were  a  brigadier,  a  regimental  commander,  and 
I  hive  field  officers. 

The  position  was  now  very  curious,  und  not 
\\ithout  its  perils  for  the  victorious  Italians. 
On  a  front  of  a  little  over  two  miles  an  advance 
had  been  made  that  varied  in  depth  from  two 
miles  to  a  mile  and  a  half.  The  salient  was 
very  narrow  in  relation  to  its  depth.  The 
Austrians  were  in  force,  and  very  strongly 
entrenched,  on  the  wooded  slopes  that  fall  to 
the  Vijipacco,  as  far  forward  as  the  neighbour- 


hood of  San  Grado  di  Merna.  Their  lines  were 
immensely  strong.  Thick  strands  of  wire  ran 
from  tree  to  tree  in  front  of  the  trenches, 
making  impassable  barriers,  and  artillery  fire 
tipon  a  wood  is  apt  to  have  results  the  reverse 
of  what  is  intended.  Instead  of  clearing  :i.w  ay 
obstacles,  it  adds  to  them.  When  the  Italians 
went  forward  against  the  wooded  slopes  south- 
east of  San  Grado,  they  found  it  impossible  to 
make  any  great  headway  against  the  heaped 
tangle  of  wire,  chevaux-de-frise  and  fallen  tree- 
trunks.  One  line  of  trenches  fell  to  the  attack 
of  a  flanking  column,  but  many  others  lay 
beyond. 

But  the  positions  were  turned  by  the  Italian 
advance  on  the  high  ridges,  and  there  were  not 
enough  Austrian  troops  available  for  an  attack 
on  the  flank  of  that  advance  before  it  had  been 
thoroughly  made  good.  By  the  time  the 
Austrians  were  ready  to  eome  up  from  the 
Vippaceo  to  the  rim  of  the  Carso,  the  Italians 
were  defending  their  exposed  flank  by  making 
11  strong  attack  downhill.  On  November  3 
troops  of  the  49th  Division,  which  had  pushed 
up  inside  t  he  newly-formed  salient,  proceeded  to 
widen  it  by  coming  down  in  the  rear  of  the 
main  Austrian  lines  between  the  Vippaeeo  and 
the  Carso.  The  main  attack  developed  be- 
tween Veliki  Hribach  and  Fajti  Hrib,  against 
the  wooded  ridge  of  Volkovniak  (925  feet) 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


265 


RUINS    OF    LOKVICA— OFFENSIVE    OF    NOVEMBER,    1916. 


which  juts  out  northward  from  the  main 
plateau.  The  enemy  had  not  had  time  to 
prepare  their  lines  against  an  advance  from 
this  direction.  The  hill  was  surrounded  and 
taken,  and  the  Italians  reached  and  occupied 
the  line  of  the  Vippacco,  west  of  Biglia.  Oppo- 
site the  village  the  enemy  still  held  on  to  two 
little  hills  that  formed  a  bridge-head  over  the 
river,  and  the  Italians  made  no  effort  to  dis- 
lodge them  from  these  positions.  The  northern 
flank  of  the  salient  was  now  adequately  secured. 
While  this  operation  was  being  carried  out  on 
the  extreme  left,  a  considerable  advance  was 
being  made  on  the  northern  half  of  the  plateau. 
Hill  291,  a  kilometre  east  of  Hill  278,  was 
solidly  occupied,  and  farther  south  the  line 
was  advanced  to  within  200  yards  of  Kos- 
tanjevica.  During  the  day  some  500  prisoners 
were  taken,  bringing  the  total  for  the  three 
days'  fighting  to  8,750,  including  270  officers. 
The  enemy  were  HOW  right  back  on  their  third 
line  all  the  way  from  the  Vippacco  to  Kostan- 
jevica.  They  had  lost  two  very  elaborate 
lines  of  entrenchment  on  a  front  of  over  three 
miles.  But  on  the  southern  half  of  the  plateau, 
and  on  the  lower  ground  towards  the  sea,  they 
were  counter-attacking  with  great  vigour, 
especially  in  the  direction  of  Hill  208  south. 
They  seemed  to  hope  for  a  success  he>-e  *!n,t 
might  jeopardize  the  Italian  gains  to  the  north, 
but  thev  made  ho  impression  on  the  Italians, 


who  were  now  content  to  remain  on  the  defen- 
sive in  this  sector.  The  Italian  attack  on  the 
right  was,  in  fact,  a  subsidiary  operation.  It 
was  hoped  that  ground  might  be  gained  to- 
wards Selo  and  above  Jamiano,  but  when  the 
enemy's  lines  held  against  the  first  push,  the 
offensive  was  practically  abandoned  for  a 
containing  action.  The  main  objectives  were 
north  of  the  Oppacchiasella-Kostanjevica 
road.  Experience  had  shown  that  the  Austrian 
lines  from  Hudi  Log  down  to  the  sea  were 
particularly  strong.  Frontal  attacks  had 
gained  ground  but  very  little,  and  at  heavy 
cost.  A  successful  blow  farther  north  pro- 
mised the  chance  of  capture  by  another  method. 
For  two  reasons  the  Austrian  left  wing  on  the 
Carso  was  a  harder  nut  to  crack  than  the  right. 
In  the  first  place,  the  lines  themselves,  on  a 
considerable  part  of  the  sector,  were  actually 
stronger.  Perhaps  they  were  stronger  even  by 
nature  ;  but  in  addition  they  belonged  in  great 
part  to  that  elaborate  first-lino  system  of 
defence  which  was  broken  farther  north  in  th'- 
great  August  offensive,  but  never  qmte  pierced 
in  the  extreme  south.  In  the. second  place, 
the  southern  sector  was  basked  by  the  guns  on 
Hermada.  The  whole  of  the  Hermada  ridge 

was  tunnelled  and  galleried  in  such  a  way  that 

ut 
it  was  almost  impossible  to  locate  the  hidden 

guns  with  any  accuracy,   and  for  this  reason 
the   Italian    counter-batteries   were   unable   to 


2tif, 


THI-:   rniKS  HISTORY   OF   THE   WAR. 


ITALIANS    IN    AN    AUSTRIAN 

keep  down  the  enemy  lire  as  they  succeeded 
in  doing  farther  north.  Hermada  seemed 
definitely  to  forbid  a  direct  advance,  and  to 
tvirn  the  position  from  the  north  appeared  to  be 
the  only  solution  of  a  very  difficult  problem. 

The  third  day's  fighting  practically  closed 
this  phase  of  the  long  offensive.  A  week  later 
the  Italians  occupied  Hill  309,  1,000  yards  due 
north  of  Kostanjevica,  so  that  their  line  now 
ran  practically  straight  from  Fajti  Hrib  to  the 
outskirts  of  Kostanjevica.  But  this  operation 
was  virtually  unopposed.  The  enemy  had 
fallen  back  pn  their  third  line,  and  were  making 
no  attempt  to  hold  any  of  the  ground  in  front 
of  it.  'The  week  following  the  three  days' 
advance  was  spent  by  the  Italians  in  con- 
solidating the  ground  won,  and  "  cleaning 
up  "  the  battle-field.  They  were  now  in  front 
of  a  strong  trench  line,  to  attack  which  required 
fresh  artillery  preparation.  A  pause  was 
necessary  to  allow  the  moving  of  guns  and 
bombard*  and  the  selection  of  new  observation 
posts.  And  when  this  had  been  accomplished, 
the  weather  put  a  stop  to  the  further  attack 
that  had  been  planned.  It  broke  on  the 
evening  of  the  third  day's  fighting.  The  rain 


TRENCH    ON    THE    CARSO. 

came  down  in  sheets,  and  the  whole  Carso  was 
.swathed  in  mist.  After  a  week  the  weather 
changed  for  the  better,  but  it  did  not  hold,  and 
just  when  hopes  were  highest  they  were  dashed 
again.  Conditions  in  the  trenches  became 
very  bad.  The  lines  on  the  low  ground  and  the 
doline,  on  the' Carso  were  flooded  with  water,  or, 
rather,  with  a  thick  mixture  of  mud  and  water, 
while  the  rocky  Carso  trenches  were  so  many 
small  torrents.  And  always  the  mist  kept  low. 
Karly  in  December  everything  was  ready  for 
a  very  big  attack.  Full  use  had  been  made  of 
the  extra  time  that  had  been  given  by  the  bad 
weather,  and  it  wa<  hoped  and  believed  that 
the  results  would  compensate-  for  the  delay. 
Throughout  December  the  Italian  Army  waited 
for  the  chr.nce  it  \\a-  ready  to  take,  but  the 
conditions  were  persistently  unfavourable,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  year  General  Ctidorna  re- 
luctantly abandoned  the  idea  of  a  further 
offensive  until  the  coming  of  spring.  Another 
stage  of  the  long  struggle  on  the  Carso  had 
come  to  <vn  end. 

Thr  main  features  of  Ifaly'x  share  in  the  war 
during  191(i  were,  of  couive,  the  repulse  *>f  the 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


267 


Austrian  offensive  on  the  Trentino  front  and 
the  notable  advance  beyond  the  Isonzo. .  These 
two  fierce  struggles — the  one  lasting  uninter- 
ruptedly for  six  weeks,  and  the  other  being 
carried  on  at  intervals  through  more  than  three 
months — were  events  of  first-class  importance  in 
the  European  War,  and  they  naturally  over- 
shadowed other  military  operations  which  were 
remarkable  in  themselves,  and  would  in  different 
times  have  claimed  wide  attention.  Among 
these  operations  the  most  noteworthy  was  the 
Italian  advance  upon  the  Fassa  Alps.  During 
the  first  days  of  the  war  the  Italians  had  crossed 
the  frontier  and  pushed  up  the  Val  Cismon 
and  the  Val  Cortella  till  they  were  some  15 
miles  within  Austrian  territory.  A  line  was 
established  that  ran  from  Cima  d'Asta  by  Cima 
Spiadon  to  Caoria,  where  the  torrent  of  the 
Valsorda  joins  the  Vanoi,  and  thence  by  Cima 
di  Valsorda  and  Cima  d'Arzon  to  Valmesta 
in  the  Upper  Val  Cismon,  about  three  miles 
below  the  famous  summer-  resort  and  Dolo- 
mite centre,  San  Martino  di  Castrozza.  The 
enemy  made  no  attempt  to  contest  this  advance, 
but  withdrew  to  the  south-western  curve  of  the 


vast  Fassa  range  which  sweeps  up  from  the 
Trentjno  Alps  to  the  Marmolada,  protecting 
the  Val  Fiemme  and  the  Val  Travignolo,  and 
the  great  Dolomite  roads  that  meet  at  Pre- 
dazzo.  As  they  withdrew  they  burned  and 
destroyed.  The  upper  Val  Cismon  was  laid 
waste,  and  San  Martino  di  Castrozza, 
with  ita  great  hotels,  remained  a  blackened 
ruin. 

In  this  region,  for  more  than  a  year,  the  Italian 
and  Austrian  lines  were  widely  separated,  the 
situation  resembling  that  which  long  prevailed 
in  the  Val  Giudicaria.  There  was  an  exten- 
sive No-Man's  Land  where  patrols  met  and 
skirmished  in  the  woods  that  clothe  the  lower 
mountain  slopes,  where  occasional  prisoners 
were  taken,  and  men  laid  down  their  lives  in 
little,  lonely  conflicts  that  never  figured  in  the 
official  dispatches.  The  Austrians  did  not 
confine  themselves  to  the  recognized  methods 
of  warfare.  "  In  addition  to  the  usual  appa- 
ratus of  defence,  every  barbarous  device  which 
a  feudal  Government  had  inherited  from  the 
Feudal  Ages  was  made  to  serve  against  tho 
Italians.  Traps  for  wild  beasts  were  set  to 


REFUGEES    FROM    A     VILLAGE    ON    THE    LOWER    ISONZO. 


268 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


catch  men,  regardless  of  the  inhuman  torture 
involved.''  * 

The  immense  mountain  rampart  which  was 
manned  by  the  enemy  seemed  to  forbid  any 
possibility  of  an  Italian  advance.  But  here, 
as  elsewhere  among  the  Alps  and  Dolomites, 
no  natural  obstacle  was  considered  impregnable 
by  the  incomparable  mountain  fighters  of  our 
Allies  The  first  mention  of  a  forward  move- 
ment was  contained  in  General  Cadorna's 
bulletin  of  June  27,  191G.  The  report  was 
characteristically  laconic  :  "  In  the  region  of 


diversion.     The   real   movement  came  10  days 
Inter,  at  the  head  of  the  Val  Cismon. 

Above  San  Martino  di  Castrozza  the  high 
road  winds  up  towards  the  dividing  ridge 
between  the  Val  Cismon  and  the  Val  Travig- 
nolo.  On  the  right  tower  the  jagged  peaks  of 
the  Rosetta,  Cimon  della  Pala  and  Cima  della 
Vezzana,  the  two  latter  both  over  10,000  feet. 
On  the  left  rises  the  rocky  mass  of  the  Caval- 
lazza  (7,630  feet).  The  road  climbs  northward 
past  the  Cavallazza,  then  turns  westward 
behind  it  and  traverses  the  mountain  range  at 


A  rrfft 


MAP    TO    ILLUSTRATE    THE    FIGHTING    IN    THE    FASSA    ALPS. 


the  Upper  Vanoi  we  occupied  the  Tognola 
ridge."  Tognola  is  a  spur  nearly  8,000  feet 
high,  which  runs  south-westward  from  the 
principal  range  opposite  Cima  d'Arzon,  and 
divided  from  it  by  the  Valsorda  valley.  The 
news  passed  unnoticed.  All  eyes  were  still 
upon  the  uplands  of  Arsiero  and  Asiago.  A 
fortnight  later  a  move  was  made  much  farther 
wc?,t.  The  Col  degli  Uceelli  was  occupied,  the 
I>,i-s  which  divides  the  Val  Cia  (Upper  Vanoi) 
fnii a  the  Val  Campelle,  leading  down  to  Borgo 
and  Strigno  in  the  Brenta  Valley.  This  was  a 
*  The  T,mc°,  Scntember  fi. 


11  height  of  0,510  feet.  This  pass,  the  Passo  di 
Rolle.  is  one  of  the  only  two  less  than  2,000 
metres  in  height  that  cross  the  great  chain  of 
the  Fassa  Alps.  The  other,  the  Passo  di 
Colbricon  (6,240  feet),  lies  immediately  west  of 
the  Cavallazza,  dividing  it  from  the  much 
higher  ridge  of  Colbricon  (8,540  feet). 

Cavallazza  looks  right  down  the  Val  Cismon 
from  north  to  south,  commanding  the  road 
from  Fiera  di  Primiero  for  the  greater  part  of 
its  length.  It  was  a  very  valuable  observation 
post  to  the  Austrians,  and  it  seemed  almost 
out  of  the  question  that  they  should  ever  lose 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


2G9 


it.  Tho  huga  rock  bastions  to  the  east  appeared 
to  safeguard  the  position  from  a  flank  attack, 
for  only  one  feasible  route — the  Passo  di  Valles 
(6,665  feet) — led  from  Italian  territory  down 
to  the  Val  Travignolo.  And  this  route  was 
easy  to  defend.  The  Austrians  were  enclosed 
in  a  rock  fortress  that  seemed  inaccessible. 

Early  in  July  the  preparations  for  a  serious 
advance  were  begun.  Cavallazza  dominated 
the  only  road  fit  for  the  transport  of  artillery, 
so  that  all  the  work  had  to  be  carried  out  at 
night.  The  Italian  lines  had  by  this  time 
been  brought  forward  some  distance  up  the 
Val  Cismon,  but  a  wde  stretch  still  remained 
between  the  trenches.  The  long  inaction  had 
given  the  Austrians  a  false  sense  of  security, 
and  their  patrols  were  much  less  active  and 
vigilant  than  they  had  been.  Moreover  here, 
as  on  the  Isonzo,  they  were  convinced  that 
their  offensive  on  the  Trentino  border,  even  if 
it  had  failed  in  its  main  object,  had  tied  the 
hands  of  the  Italians  on  other  sectors  of  the 
front.  Under  cover  of  night  guns  were  hauled 
up  the  steep  sides  of  the  Val  Cismon,  and  troops 
were  quietly  concentrated  \ipon  the  wooded 
slopes.  Right  under  Cavallazza  there  is  a 
dense  wood,  the  Bosco  della  Chiesa,  and  here 
on  the  night  of  July  19  the  Italian  columns 
assembled  for  the  attack.  They  were  favoured 
by  the  luck  of  a  heavy  thunderstorm,  which 
helped  them  to  escape  notice,  and  all  the  next 
day,  which  was  foggy,  they  lay  unobserved  in 
the  woods.  The  morning  of  July  21  dawned 
clear,  and  a  heavy  bombardment  was  opened 
upon  Cavallazza.  Under  cover  of  this  fire  the 
[talians  climbed  the  steep  slopes  from  the 
wood,  while  another  column  pushed  up  the 
road  towards  the  Passo  di  Bolle.  Still  another 
column  crossed  the.  Passo  di  Valles  and  came 
down  upon  the  Val  Travignolo  from  the  north- 
east. The  enemy  were  completely  surprised. 
The  Italians  gained  a  footing  in  the  Cavallazza 
trenches  before  the  defenders  had  left  the 
dug-outs  where  they  had  been  sheltering  from 
the  rain  of  artillery  fire.  There  was  desultory 
disorganized  fighting  for  a  day,  but  on  July  22 
the  Passo  di  Bolle,  Cavallazza,  Cima  di  Col- 
bricon  and  the  Colbricon  Pass  were  all  safely 
in  Italian  hands. 

The  following  day  Cima  Stradone,  a  peak 
north  of  Cima  di  Colbricon,  was  occupied,  and 
during  the  next  few  days,  in  spite  of  stubborn 
resistance  on  the  part  of  the  enemy,  the  Italians 
pushed  down  the  northern  slopes  of  Colbricon 
and  westward  to  the  little  valley  of  Ccremana; 


that  runs  down  steeply  to  the  Travignolo  from 
between  Colbricon  and  Cima  di  Ceremana.  In 
spite  of  strong  counter-attacks  by  tho  Austrians, 
who  had  hurried  up  reinforcements  of  men  and 


ARMED    ALPINI    CLIMBING    WITH 
THE    AID    OF    PICKS. 

guns,  these  positions  were  firmly  held,  and  on 
July  31  the  village  of  Paneveggio,  where  the 
road  from  the  Passo  di  Valle?  joins  the  Dolomite 
Road,  \vas  occupied  in  force.  The  whole  of 
the  Val  Cismon  was  now  free  of  Austrians,  and 
the  Upper  Travignolo  was  dominated  by  the 
Italians.  The  fear  of  any  counter-movement 
from  the  north  had  been  removed  by  a  success- 
ful advance  down  the  Val  Pellegrino,  on  the 
1'nr  side  of  Cima  di  Bocche.  This  advance  was 
carried  out  simultaneously  with  the  attack 


•270 


'////•;   V/.W/VN    ///.STOAT   w   THE   w.u;. 


' 


K 
Q 
35 

z 

H 
Z 


Z 

O 

<! 
O 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


271 


upon  Cavallazza  and  the  Passo  di  Rolle,  and 
resulted  in  the  occupation  of  positions  on  the 
northern  slopes  of  Cima  di  Booche  and  the 
southern  slopes  of  Monte  Allochet. 

The  enemy  had  been  rendered  thoroughly 
nervous  by  this  swift  stroke,  which  had  stripped 
off  a  piece  of  their  flank  armour.  They  hastily 
transferred  to  the  Val  Travignolo  a  considerable 
body  of  troops  which  they  would  certainly  have 
preferred  to  employ  elsewhere,  and  made  re- 
peated attempts  to  recapture  their  lost  positions. 
They  brought  up  fresh  guns  and  used  them  very 
freely,  but  with  no  result.  The  Italians  held 
(irmly  to  their  gains,  and  prepared  a  fresh 
movement  farther  west.  Great  difficulties  of 
transport  were  faced  and  overcome,  and  by 
August  23  the  Italians  were  assailing  the  rocky 
battlements  of  the  Fassa  Alps  at  three  fresh 
points.  They  seized  two  outlying  peaks  below 
Cima  di  Cece — Hills  2354  and  2351,  one  at  the 
head  of  the  Val  Fossernica,  the  other  above  the 
Valzanea,  and  stormed  a  line  of  Austrian 
entrenchments  on  the  lower  slopes  of  Cauriol 
(8,180  feet),  the  huge  rocky  pyramid  that  stands 
above  the  Val  C'ia  (Upper  Vaiioi)  and  looks  across 
at  Predazzo  and  Cavales  •.  The  capture  of  the 
peaks  below  Cima  di  Cece  served  the  purpose 
of  the  movement  in  this  sector,  which  was  to 
relieve  the  left  flank  of  the  troops  on  Colbricon. 
The  real  attack  was  on  Cauriol.  In  three  days 
the  Austrians  were  cleared  out  of  their  entrench- 
ments on  the  wooded  lower  slopes,  and  the 
Alpini  prepared  to  attack  the  precipitous  rocks 
that,  rise  above.  The  enemy  opposed  a  stub- 
born resistance,  but  nothing  can  stop  the  Alpini 
but  wire,  and  by  August  28  Cauriol  had  fallen. 
Next  day  they  extended  their  hold  on  the  ridge 
and  prepared  to  meet  the  counter-attacks  of 
the  Austrians,  who  were  hurrying  up  reinforce- 
ments. During  the  whole  of  the  first  week  of 
September  the  Austrians  tried  very  hard  to 
regain  Cauriol ;  but  the  Alpini  were  immovable, 
Hud  by  the  middle  of  the  month  they  were  on  the 
offensive  again.  They  fought  their  way  slowly 
along  the  rocky  precipices  north-east  of  Cauriol. 
On  September  15  they  had  a  stiff  fight  for  one 
difficult  position,  but  they  could  not  be  with- 
stood. The  Tirolesjager  who  faced  them 
fought  bravely  till  most  of  them  were  killed. 
A  hundred  survivors  surrendered.  Still  the 
Alpini  pushed  on  ;  on  September  23  they  stormed 
the  peak  of  Cardinal  (8,050  feet)  that  lies  mid- 
way between  Cauriol  and  Cirna  Busa  Alta,  and 
a  little  later  they  took  the  first  peak  of  BUSM 
Alta. 


All  through  October  this  extraordinary 
fighting  continued.  The  Austrians  had  gradu- 
ally filled  the  Val  Fiemme  and  the  Val  Travig- 
nolo with  troops  and  guns.  They  were  clearly 
anxious,  and  they  made  many  attempts  to  drive 
the  Italians' off  the  peaks  they  had  won.  They 
brought  up  a  great  quantity  of  artillery  to 
support  their  infantry  attacks,  but  to  no 
purpose.  On  the  contrary,  the  Italians  ex- 
tended their  gains,  taking  a  second  peak  on 
Colbricon,  south-west  of  the  Cima,  and  resisting 
every  attempt  to  recapture  the  position.  On 
October  3  and  4  the  Austrians  attacked  in  force 
but  were  repulsed  with  heavy  loss,  after  taking 
one  advanced  trench.  The  October  fighting  on 
Colbricon  has  a  particular  interest  owing  to  the 
fact  that  in  this  sector  the  place  of  the  Alpini, 
who  were  wanted  elsewhere,  had  been  taken  by 
Bersaglieri,  who  adapted  themselves  remarkably 
to  this  mixture  of  warfare  and  gymnastics.  It 
is  a  hallowed  legend  that  when  the  Corps  of 
Bersaglieri  was  first  formed  the  new  barracks 
built  for  them  were  unprovided  with  stairs,  so 
that  the  men  had  to  reach  the  upper  floors  by 
ropes.  The  fact  of  the  legend  shows  at  least 
the  spirit  of  the  Bersaglieri  training,  which  is 
an  excellent  preparation  for  work  such  as  they 
had  to  do  on  Colbricon. 

Early  in  October  it  was  hoped  that  the 
Austrians  might  be  driven  off  the  line  of  the 
Fassa  Alps  before  winter  set  in.  But  winter 
came  early,  first  hampering  the  operations  and 
finally  imposing  a  complete  stop.  In  other 
sectors  than  this,  too,  the  early  winter  came  as 
a  great  disappointment  to  the  Italians.  General 
Cadorna  had  not  given  up  hopes  of  dealing 
another  blow  on  the  Trentino  front,  though 
after  securing  his  flank  he  made  operations  in 
this  sector  subordinate  to  the  offensive  east  of 
the  Isonzo.  He  was  still  handicapped  by  a 
shortage  of  heavy  artillery,  but  certain  local 
offensives,  calculated  to  strengthen  the  chosen 
line  of  defence,  were  carefully  planned.  The 
first  of  these  took  place  on  Pasubio,  or,  rather, 
on  the  mountain  mass  of  which  Pasubio  is  the 
highest  point.  Pasubio  itself  had  resisted  every 
effort  of  the  Austrians  during  their  great 
offensive  in  May  and  June,*  but  more  ground 
was  needed  for  a  satisfactory  defensive  line,  and 
it  was  especially  important  that  certain  points 
of  vantage,  which  dominated  the  Vallarsa  road, 
should  change  hands.  The  enemy  held  the 
central  ridge  that  runs  northward  from  Pasubio 
and  is  known  as  Cosmagnon.  The  ridge  is  wide, 
»  See  Vol.  IX.,  Chapter  CXXXIX. 


•272 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    VJ?    THE    WAR. 


BERSAGLIERI 

but  on  the  west  it  drops  precipitously  and  the 
Austrian  trenches  ran  along  the  top  of  the 
cliffs. 

In  the  afternoon  of  October  9  the  Italians 
attacked  from  below  the  cliffs  above  the 
Vallarsa  and  from  the  ridges  to  the  south.  The 
artillery  had  prepared  the  way  by  a  very  heavy 
bombardment  along  the  whole  massif  as  far  as 
Col  Santo,  and  the  enemy  were  puzzled  to  know 
where  the  real  attack  was  coming.  Their 
trenches  on  the  edge  of  Cosmagnon  fell  quickly, 
and  the  Italians  gained  a  footing  on  the  dreary 
rolling  surface  of  the  broad  rklgo.  It  was  a 
strange  battle.  The  whole  Pasubio  mass  was 
bathed  in  brilliant  sunshine,  but  the  valleys 
were  filled  with  a  thick  mist  which  cut  off  the 
mountain  from  all  the  world  below.  During 
that  afternoon,  and  throughout  the  clear  moon- 
lit night  that  followed,  the  Alpini  and  Bersaglieri 
pushed  slowly  forward,  meeting  and  overcoming 
the  reinforcements  which  the  Austrians  had 
hastily  dispatched.  By  the  end  of  the  day  they 
had  cleared  a  wide  stretch  of  mountain  plateau, 
10  square  miles  in  extent,  and  tin-  next  day 
1  hey  Milv.ui'-ed  to  the  foot  of  the  peak  known  as 
Mon!.'  lioit,..  nu  the  farthest  edge  of  Cosmagnon. 
The  Austrians  still  clung  desperately  to  their 
lines  ,,ii  the  north  and  cast  of  the  Pasubio 
system,  hut  the  Italians  hail  gained  the  soaco 


CYCLISTS. 

they  required  and  freed  10  miles  of  the  Vallarsa 
road  from  direct  observation. 

The  left  of  the  Italian  line  between  the 
Adige  and  the  Brenta  was  greatly  strengthened 
by  this  successful  stroke,  and  it  was  the 
intention  of  the  Comando  Supnmo  to  carry 
out  a  similar  but  more  extensive  operation 
on  the  right  of  the  line,  in  the  Sette  Comuni. 
Every  preparation  was  made,  but  the  snow 
came  early  and  paralysed  all  movement. 
Even  if  it  had  been  possible  for  the  infantry  to 
move,  artillery  preparation  would  have  been 
largely  ineffective.  The  deep  snow  protected 
the  enemy  trenches  and  entanglements,  and 
experiments  showed  that  a  great  proportion 
of  shells  did  not  burst.  Here,  as  on  the  Carso, 
the  weather  prevented  operations  which  would 
certainly  have  borne  useful  fruit. 

It  would  he  difficult  to  over-estimate  the 
increase  in  Italian  military  strength  from  May, 
1915,  to  the  end  of  1916.  When  Italy  took 
the  field  against  Austria  she  w<w  still  only 
ha'f  prepared.  A  great  many  gaps  had  been 
filled  during  the  period  of  neutrality,  but  in 
the  prime  requirement  of  modern  war,  heavy 
artillery,  there  was  a  very  grave  deficiency. 
Her  power  of  manufacturing  war  material 
was  far  from  equal  to  the  demands  made  upon 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


278 


it,  and  in  Italy,  as  elsewhere,  it  took  time, 
first  to  realize  the  necessities  and  then  to 
organize  the  industry  for  their  supply.  By  the 
end  of  1916  468,940  workers  were  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  munitions,  and  of  these 
72,324  were  women.  There  were  66  principal 
military  factories  and  932  auxiliary  factories, 
which  between  them  covered  every  kind  of 
war  work,  besides  1,181  smaller  establishments 
for  the  making  of  shells  exclusively.  The 
production  of  heavy  guns  in  sufficient  quantity 
was  still  beyond  Italy's  powers,  but  in  the  case 
of  certain  other  war  material  she  was  able  event- 
ually to  produce  a  surplus.  As  the  idea  of 
the  "  Single  Front  "  gained  ground  among  the 
Allies  and  their  manufacturing  resources  de- 
veloped, certain  of  Italy's  deficiencies  were 
made  good  from  outside,  and  in  return  she  was 
able  to  assist  the  common  cause  by  increasing 
her  production  of  other  materials  beyond  her 
own  requirements 

By  the  end  of   1916  the  Italian  Army  was 

ncomparably    better    equipped    than    it    had 
been    a    year    earlier,    and    Italy's    powers    of 

production  were  still  increasing.     It  was  not 
only  in  equipment,   however,  that  the  Army 

had  progressed.     It  had  gained  technique,  and 


SUMMIT    OF    PASUBIO. 

it  had  gained  confidence.  Long  months  of 
war  had  tempered  the  raw  metal  and  well- 
earned  victory  had  put  an  edge  to  'the 
steel. 

During  the  winter  of  1915-16  the  Italian 
Government  had  come  in  for  a  good  deal  of 
criticism,  both  in  Italy  and  in  the  Allied 
countries,  on  the  ground  that  Italians  were 
taking  no  part  in  the  tardy  attempt  of  the 
Entente  Powers  to  repair  the  diplomatic 
muddle  in  the  Balkans  by  military  effort. 
The  plain  fact  is  that  Italy  was  not  yet  ready, 
from  a  military  point  of  view,  to  indulge 
in  the  luxury  of  sending  more  than  one  petit 


A    MULE    SUPPLY    COLUMN. 


274 


THE    TIMES    HISTOBY    OF    THE    WAE. 


of  her  troops  on  to  foreign  soil.*  It 
was  constantly  urged  by  her  critics,  with 
perfect  justice,  that  she  had  great  reserves  of 
men.  It  was  constantly  forgotten  that  modern 
armies  or  expeditionary  forces  are  not  made  of 
men  alone.  The  fighting  between  the  Adige 
and  the  Brenta  showed  how  right  Italy  had 
been  in  refusing  to  weaken  her  capacity  for 


MINARET,    NEAR    VALONA,    OCCUPIED 
BY    ITALIAN    TROOPS. 

defending  her  own  frontiers  at  a  time  when  her 
resources  in  war  material  were  so  limited. 
Her  hesitation  to  cooperate  in  the  Balkans 
was  natural  and  right,  and  was  fully  justified 
by  time.  When  her  frontiers  were  secured, 
i'lid  General  Cadorna  had  made  adequate 
preparation  for  the  offensive  on  the  Isonzo, 
there  was  no  more  hesitation.  During  the 
month  of  August  the  Italian  commander  in 

*  A  strong  Italian  force  was  entrenched  in  the  Valona 
••ejjion. 


the  Valona  zone  pushed  southward,  occupying 
Port  Palermo  and  the  coast  strip  by  Kimara, 
and  preparations  were  made  to  extend  the 
Italian  occupation  to  the  whole  of  Southern 
Albania.  On  August  23  a  strong  Italian 
force  arrived  at  Salonika,  under  the  command 
of  General  Pettitti,  an  officer  who  had  greatly 
distinguished  himself  at  a  very  critical  period 
of  the  Austrian  offensive.  A  portion  of  this 
force  was  detailed  to  strengthen  the  defensive 
line  that  ran  from  the  Vardar  to  the  Struma, 
while  another  detachment  formed  part  of  the 
Allied  Army  which  advanced  upon  Monastir. 
Nor  was  this  the  limit  of  Italian  cooperation 
in  the  Balkans.  At  dawn  on  October  2  an 
expeditionary  force  arrived  at  Sante  Quaranta 
and  was  swiftly  disembarked.  On  the  same 
day  a  column  marched  southward  from  Tepeleni 
on  the  Voyusa  and  occupied  Argyrokastro, 
and  on  the  following  day  connexion  was 
established  between  the  two  forces.  On 
October  25  it  was  announced  that  the  Italian 
forces  in  Albania  had  come  in  touch  with 
the  left  wing  of  the  Allied  advance  from 
Salonika. 

The  participation  of  Italy  in  the  Salonika 
expedition  was  in  itself  an  answer  to  certain 
hasty,  if  natural,  criticisms.  The  real  cause 
which  inspired  all  such  criticism  was  removed 
on  August  27  when  Italy  formally  declared 
war  on  Germany.  In  Chapter  CXXXIX. 
it  was  briefly  indicated  how  the  absence  of 
such  a  declaration  had  led  to  uneasiness  and 
uncertainty  in  the  public  opinion  of  Italy  and 
Italy's  Allies,  and  how  this  absence  gave  rise 
to  much  groundless  gossip.  It  was  evident 
to  all  who  were  in  touch  with  the  situation  that 
a  formal  declaration  of  hostilities  was  inevitable, 
and  was  only  a  qiiestion  of  time  and  oppor- 
tunity. Italy  had  long  ago  given  adequate 
pledges  of  h?r  solidarity  with  the  other  members 
of  the  Entente,  by  her  adhesion  to  the  Pact 
of  London,  and  by  her  participation  in  the 
Economic  Conference  at  Paris.  German  troops 
and  German  sailors  had  taken  part  in  military 
operations  against  Italy.  A  state  of  war 
existed  in  everything  but  name. 

Undoubtedly  the  •  Salandra  Government 
wished  the  formal  declaration  to  come  from 
Germany,  but  Germany  still  hoped  something 
from  her  friends  in  Italian  political  circles,  and 
she  saw  clearly  that  the  apparently  ambiguous 
position  was  a  cause  of  uncertainty  in  Italy, 
and  of  some  suspicion  in  the  public  opinion  of 
Italy's  Allies.  The  atmosphere  of  doubt  was 


THE    TIMES     HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


275 


all  to  Germany's  advantage,  and  it  may  bo 
presumed  that  she  had  no  intention  of  altering 
the  situation  xmless  and  until  the  prospect  of 
an  important  military  success  against  Italy 
should  outweigh  the  benefits  she  gained  from 
the  absence  of  open  war.  As  the  Italian 
Government  realized  that  Germany  was  dis- 
inclined to  declare  war,  it  took  various  steps  to 
widen  the  rupture  caused  by  the  breach  of 
diplomatic  relations.  Some  of  these  have  been 
already  indicated.  Others  were  the  provisions 
which  definitely  forbade  any  kind  of  com- 
mercial traffic,  direct  or  indirect,  with  Germany 
Meanwhile  Germany  was  preventing  the  de- 
parture of  Italian  subjects,  and  in  many  cases 
treating  those  subjects  as  enemies,  and  in  view 
of  this  fact  the  Salaridra  Government  denounced 
the  agreement  of  May  21,  1915.*  The  Boselli 
Government  went  farther,  and  on  July  19, 
1916,  a  decree  was  issued  providing  that  the 
dispositions  with  regard  to  Austrian  subjects 
laid  down  in  previous  decrees  should  be  ex- 
tended to  "  the  subjects  of  all  enemy  States 
or  of  States  allied  with  enemy  States."  On 
July  27  the  Stefani  Agency  published  a  long 
communique  showing  the  various  points  of 
friction  which  had  arisen.  This  communique 
was  nominally  in  answer  to  a  publication  by  the 
Wolff  Bureau  which  had  accused  Italy  of 
illegal  acts,  but  it  was  actually  a  forecast  of 
*  See  Vol.  IX.,  Chapter  CXXXIX.,  p.  111. 


the  inevitable  stqp.  That  step  was  delayed 
another  month,  but  on  August  27  the  following 
formal  declaration  of  war  was  sent  through  the 
Swiss  Government. 

"  Acts  of  hostility  by  the  German  Govern- 
ment towards  Italy  follow  one  another  with 
increasing  frequency.  It  suffices  to  mention 
the  repeated  supply  of  arms  and  instrument* 
of  land  and  sea  warfare  by  Germany  to  Austria- 
Hungary  and  the  uninterrupted  participation 
of  German  officers  and  soldiers  and  sailors  in 
the  different  operations  of  war  directed  against 
Italy.  It  is  only  thanks  to  the  assistance 
which  has  thus  lavishly  been  bestowed 
by  Germany  in  the  most  various  ways 
that  Austria-Hungary  has  recently  been  able 
to  concentrate  against  Italy  her  greatest 
effort. 

"  It  is  necessary  to  add  : 

"1.  The  surrender  to  our  enemy  by  the 
German  Government  of  Italian  prisoners  who 
had  escaped  from  Austro-Hungarian  concen- 
tration camps  and  had  taken  refuge  in  German 
territory. 

"  2.  The  invitation  addressed  to  credit 
establishments  and  German  bankers  at  the 
initiative  of  the  Ministry  for  Foreign  Affairs  to 
consider  all  Italian  subjects  as  alien  enemies, 
and  to  postpone  all  payments  which  might  be 
due  to  them. 

"  3.  The    suspension    of    the    payment    to 


i 


ITALIAN    RESERVISTS    REPAIRING    BOADS    IN    VALONA. 


27C 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


ITALIANS    AT    SALONIKA. 


Italian  workmen  of  pensions  clue  to  them  in 
accordance  with  the  formal  dispositions  of 
German  law. 

•  "These  are  all  facts  which  reveal  the  real 
feelings,  systematically  hostile,  which  the 
imperial  Government  cherishes  with  regard  to 
Italy.  Such  a  state  of  affairs  could  not  finally 
be  tolerated  by  the  Royal  Government,  since 
it  aggravates,  exclusively  to  the  detriment  of 
Italy,  the  deep  contrast  between  the  situation 
de  facto  and  the  situation  de  jure  which  has 
already  resulted  from  the  fact  of  the  alliance  of 
Italy  and  Germany  with  two  groups  of  powers 
at  war  with  one  another. 


"  For  the  above-mentioned  reasons  the 
Italian  Government  declares,  in  the  name  of 
the  King,  that  Italy  will  consider  herself,  as 
from  August  28,  in  a  state  of  war  with 
Germany,  and  requests  the  Swiss  Federal 
Government  to  convey  the  above  communi- 
cation to  the  knowledge  of  the  Imperial 
Government." 

The  use  of  the  expressions  de  facto  and  de  jure 
practically  sums  up  the  situation.  There  u  us 
no  real  change.  Neither  Italy  nor  Germany 
had  a  new  enemy,  but  the  ground  was  finally 
cleared  from  certain  misunderstandings  and 
manoeuvres. 


CHAPTER    CLXXV. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  SOMME  (V.). 

THE  BRITISH  ATTACK  ON  SEPTEMBER  15  —  THE  "  TANKS  "  IN  ACTION  —  CAPTURE  OF  COURCELETTE, 
MARTINPUICH  AND  FLERS  —  THE  NEW  ZEALANDERS  —  THE  GUARDS  —  THE  CANADIANS  —  SIR  DOUGLAS 
HAIG'S  VICTORY  —  IMPORTANT  FRENCH  GAINS  —  THE  BATTLE  OF  SEPTEMBER  25  —  FALL  OF  COMBLES 
—BRITISH  IN  THIEPVAL  —  RESULTS  OF  THE  BATTLE  TO  END  OF  SEPTEMBER  —  GERMAN  LOSSES. 


ON  the  morning  of  September  15,  191C, 
the  British  troops  attacked  the  Ger- 
mans along  the  line  extending  from 
Bouleaux  Wood,  between  Guillemont 
and   Combles,    to    the    north    of    the   Albert- 
Bapaume   road — i.e.,  a.  distance   of   some  six 
miles. 

The  ground  over  which  the  righting  took 
placo  was  generalty  undulating  on  the  south 
side  of  the  watershed  extending  from  Bouleaux 
Wood  through  Delville  Wood  and  High  Wood 
to  Thiepval.  To  the  efist  of  Bouleaux  Wood 
the  ground  sloped  down  with  some  sharpness 
to  the  valley  in  which  was  Combles.  This 
valley  divides  into  two  horns,  one  going  north, 
west  and  upwards  to  the  west  of  Morval,  the 
other  north-east  rising  up  to  Sailly-Saillisel. 
Morval  was  on  a  prolongation  of  the  Delville 
Wrood-Ginchy  ridge  and  sornewhat  below  it. 
North  of  the  main  backbone  the  ground  sloped 
down  more  gently.  The-villages  which  dotted 
the  battlefield  were  strongly  defended  and  had 
been  largely  sheltered  from  view  by  trees  till 
tho  British  bombardment  swept  these  away 
and  pounded  the  villages  themselves  into 
mere  masses  of  ruins.  Still  the  trenches  round 
them  afforded  some  cover,  and  although  any 
protection  near  the  surface  had  been  largely 
destroyed,  sufficient  was  left,  combined  with  the 
deeper  dug-outs,  to  shelter  the  garrisons  until 
they  had  to  resist  the  near  approach  of  the 
British  troops. 

Everywhere  the  attack  was  successful  ;  the 
first  and  second  German  lines  were  captured 
Vol.  XI— Part  138.  27  'i 


and,  along  a  good  part  of  their  position,  even  the 
third  line  was  pierced.  The  depth  of  tho  Britisli 
in-burst,  varying  in  places,  measured  on  an 
average  from  one  to  two  miles,  and  included 
Courcelette,  Martinpuieh,  High  Wood,  Flers, 
and  a  large  portion  of  Bouleaux  Wood. 
Thus  the  British  now  stood  on  the  high 
ground  extending  through  Bouleaux  Wood  and 
Martinpuieh,  nearly  to  Thiepval.  Many  too 
w-ere  the  trophies  gained.  Prisoners  to  the 
number  of  over  2,300  were  gathered  in,  includ- 
ing 65  officers,  of  whom  no  less  than  six  were 
battalion  commanders,  a  sure  proof  that  the 
enemy  had  been  taken,  or  had  surrendered,  in 
large  units. 

The  bombardment  of  the  German  position  had 
been  going  on  since  early  morning  on  September 
12,  and  had  become  highly  intense  before  tho 
infantry  were  launched  to  the  assault  at 0.20  a.m. 
It  was  a  remarkable  achievement  even  for  tho 
British  artillery,  which  had  done  so  much  good 
and  efficient  work  since  it  had  been  adequately 
equipped.  The  duties  of  every  heavy  battery 
had  been  most  carefully  and  exactly  worked 
out,  its  targets  were  defined,  and  it  knew  when 
to  switch  off  one  and  switch  on  to  another. 
It  understood  when  a  barrage  was  to  be  carried 
out  and  what  points  behind  the  enemy's  line 
were  to  be  expressly  dealt  with. 

The  field  batteries  acted  with  a  brave  audacity 
worthy  of  the  highest  praise,  taking  up  position 
after  position  nearer  to  the  enemy  as  the  latter 
was  pressed  back.  The  forward  observing 
officers  pushed  up  to  the  high  ground  as  soon 


278 


THE     TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAI!. 


Fig.    1.    FRENCH    ARMOURED    CAR    WITH    MACHINE    GUN. 


as  the  infantry  captured  it,  and  so  were  able 
to  telephone  back  the  directions  in  which  fire 
was  .wanted,  and  to  pass  back  corrections  in 
range  and  direction  when  needed.*  The  fire 
of  our  guns  of  every. kind  was  arranged  with  a 
mathematical  precision  marvellous  in  itself, 
yet  necessary,  to  get  the  full  effect  from 

«  The  Forward  Observing  Officer  is  an  officer  who  from 
.i'i  .UK-mired  position  notes  the  fall  of  the  shells  from  hi- 
liattcry  and  telephones  back  to  it,  MO  that  the  Battery 
Commander  may  know  how  to  correct  the  aim  of  his 
guns. 


modern  weapons.  The  enemy's  artillery  was 
still  strong  and  well  worked,  but  it  was  not  so 
powerful  as  ours,  which  was  soon  able  to 
dominate  it. 

Before  discussing  the  fighting  in  detail  it  is 
necessary  to  describe  the  famous  "  TaiikV' 
which  on  September  15  made  their  first  appear- 
ance on  the  field  of  battle. 

An  armoured  train  had  been  proved  useful 
at  Alexandria,  in  1882,  and  others  had  been 


fit.    2.    BELGIAN    ARMOURED    CAR    WITH    MACHINE    GUN. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE     WAR. 


279 


employed  in  the  South  African  War,  producing, 
however,  no  particular  effect.  They  were  only 
improvised  arrangements  of  no  great  tactical 
value,  being  entirely  limited  to  the  railways. 
A  car  which  could  move  over  ordinary  ground 
had  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  internal  com 
bustion  engine  before  it  could  be  made  in  any 
way  successful.*  Nor  had  the  first  protected 
automobiles  been  capable  of  producing  much 
influence  on  battle  tactics,  though  they  were 
of  some  utility  as  supports  to  reconnoitring 
cavalry,  or  advanced  guard  infantry,  or  for 
reconnaissances  on  their  own  account.  The 
•reason  for  this  was  that  they  were  just  ordinary 
motor-cars,  more  or  less  protected  by  steel 


gives  the  Rolls-Royce  armoured  car  used  in 
Egypt  with  such  good  results  in  the  expedition 
aga'nst  the  Senussi.* 

It  will  easily  be  seen  how  liable  all  these  types 
were  to  injury  of  their  wheels,  the  shielding 
of  which  was  very  imperfect.  Moreover,  the 
engines  and  air  coolers  were  not  well  protected. 

The  designers  of  the  Tanks  woiked  on  different 
lines  entirely.  In  them  the  whole  of  the  motor 
machinery  was  securely  housed  inside  the  car 
itself.  The  latter  did  not  run  on  wheels,  but 
on  the  two  side  caterpillar  constructions 
which,  revolving,  drew  the  car  forward.  A 
glance  at  Fig  6  will  show  how  much  safer 
and  better  this  method  was.  Moreover,  the 


Fig.    3.    BELGIAN    ARMOURED  CAR    WITH    QUICK-FIRER. 

wedge-like  shape  of  the  front  part  of  the  car 


shields  fixed  to  them.  Types  of  these  are  shown 
in  figs.  1,  2  and  3.  Fig.  1  shows  the  French 
type  of  armoured  car  with  machine  gun. 
These  did  good  work  for  the  French  Army. 
Fig.  2  is  a  type  made  use  of  by  the  Belgian 
Army  with  a  machine  gun.  Fig.  3  is  another 
Belgian  type  with  a  quick-firer.  Fig.  4  is  an 
armoured  car,  the  quick-firer  of  which  could 
be  used  as  an  anti-aircraft  weapon.  Fig.  5 

*  In  1880  a  steam-driven  armoured  car  was  brought  to 
the  attention  of  N'apolcon  III.  It  was  armed  with  two 
guns  and  furnished"  with  revolving  scythes  which  were 
f  intended  to  mow  down  any  of  the  enemy's  infantiy  which 
might  attempt  to  close  with  it.  Nothing  came  of  the 
suggestion. 


made  it  possible  to  drive  through  or  over 
obstacles  which  an  ordinary  car  could  not 
traverse,  as  its  hood  would  be  doubled  up ; 
while  the  longer  caterpillar  sides  formed  as  it 
were  a  movable  girder,  which  enabled  the  Tank 
to  pass  over  ditches  and  trenches.  For  if  the 
point  but  reached  the  other  side  the  caterpillars 
could  claw  it  forward.  The  Tank  also  had  a  far 
superior  armament  to  that  of  any  ordinary 
armoured  car,  which  can  take  but  one  or  two 
machine  guns  or  small  quick-firers  at  the  most. 

*  See  Vol.  IX.,  Chapter  CXLV. 


280 


THE    TIMKti    ///N/o/.T    OF    THE    tt'AK. 


Several  weapons  of  either  or  both  of  these 
classes  could  In-  carried  in  the  'L'aiik.  while  thei-i- 
was  no  comparison  between  the  security  it 
afforded  its  crew  and  that  given  to  the  ordinary 
armoured  cars.  No  armoured  motor-car  could 
charge  a  brick  wall  without,  damage,  and  even 
passing  over  a  wire  entanglement  would  be 
dangerous.  But  experience  soon  showed  that 
the  Tank  could  deal  with  quite  considerable 
<ihst ructions.  Its  special  form  enabled  it 
to  overcome  opposition  and  pass  through  or 
over  many-  obstacles  which  would  be  quite 
unnegotiable  by  the  ordinary  motor-car,  ar- 


these  monstrous  engines,  and  it  is  urgent 
to  take  whatever  measures  are  possible  to 
counteract  them.' 

The  correspondent  of  the  Dusaeldorfer  General- 
ameiyen  said  that,  as  the  Germans  saw  the 
monsters  coining  on  through  the  mist  at  the 
moment  when  some  cessation  of  the  bombard- 
ment allowed  them  to  emerge  from  their 
shelters,  "  their  blood  froze  in  their  veins  "  : 

Stupefied  by  the  earthquake  which  had  rayed  arouiul 
them  they  all  rubbed  their  eye.--,  which  were  riveted 
aa  if  deprived  of  sense  on  the  two  fabulous  creatures. 
The  imagination,  flogged  by  the  storm  of  fire,  was  full  of 
excitement,  and  no  wonder  it  had  the  mastery  over  these 


Fig.    4.    ARMOURED    MOTOR-CAR    WITH    ANTI-AIRCKAFT    QUICK-FIRER. 


moured  or  unarmoured.  To  render  it  as 
indistinguishable  as  possible,  it  was  painted  in  a 
curious  medley  of  browns,  greens  and  yellows, 
which  harmonized  with  the  broken  ground  over 
\\hich  it  had  to  pass.  We  shall  see  in  tin- 
description  of  the  fight  on  September  15  and 
following  days  that  these  novel  engines  of  war 
played  an  important  part. 

They  certainly  proved  an  objectionable 
surprise  to  the  Germans.  The  chief  of  tin- 
Staff  of  the  Third  Group  of  German  Armies  said  : 
"  The  enemy  in  the  latest  fighting  has  employed 
new  engines  of  war  as  cruel  as  they  are  effective. 
No  doubt  he  will  adopt  on  an  extensive  sca/e 


men,  tried  by  suffering,  who  were  well  aware  that  the 
enemy  would  push  with  all  the  mean*:  of  destruction 
through  a  wall  hard  as  steel,  though  made  of  frail  human 
bodies.  They  have  learnt  not  to  fear  men,  but  there  was 
Something  approaching  which  the  human  brain,  with 
tremendous  mechanical  powers,  had  fitted  out  for  a 
devil's  trick,  a  mystery  which  oppressed  and  .shackled 
the  powers,  because  one  could  not.  comprehend  it  with 
the  understanding — a  fatality  again-t  whi'-h  one  seemed 
helpless.  One  stared  and  stared  as  if  paralysed. 

The  monster  approached  slowly,  hobbling,  moving 
from  .side  to  side,  rocking  and  pitching,  but  it  came 
nearer.  Xothing  obstructed  it  ;  a  supernatural  force 
seemed  to  drive  it  onwards.  Someone  in  the  trenches 
cried  "  the  devil  comes,"  and  that  word  ran  down  the 
line  like  lightning.  Suddenly  tongue's  of  fire  licked  out 
of  the  armoured  hide  of  the  iron  caterpillar,  shells 
whistled  over  our  heads,  and  a  terrible  concert  of  machine- 
gun  orchestra  filled  the  air.  The  mysterious  creature 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


•281 


Fig.    5.    ROLLS-ROYCE    ARMOURED    CAR 
As  used  In  Egypt. 


had  surrendered  its  secret,  and  sense  returned  with  it, 
and  toughness  and  defiance,  as  the  English  waves  of 
infantry  surged  up  behind  the  devil's  chariot. 

Describing  the  participation  of  two  of  these 


"  land  Dreadnoughts  "  at  Flers  on  September 
16  the  correspondent  said  : 

Our    machine-gun    fire    and    hand    grenades    rattled 
ineffectively  on  their  iron  hide.     As  our  roar  connasioiis 


Fig.    6.    A    BRITISH    "TANK"    IN    ACTION    CROSSING    A    SHELL-CRATER. 


2S2 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


STAR    SHELLS    IN    THE    EARLY    MORNING    OF    SEPTEMBER    15. 


were  out,  the  artillery  could  not  be  summoned  to  help 
against  the  mass  fire  of  these  iron  towers,  as  they  easily 
<J .'^1  royed  what  remained  of  the  garrisons  of  the  advanced 
shell  holes.  They  then  advanced  over  the  first  German 
line  away  into  Flers  village,  remaining  there  some  time. 
When  the  English  infantry  had  arrived  and  occupied  the 
village  they  proceeded  further  on  the  Ligny-Thilloy  road. 
Meanwhile,  as  their  appearance  became  known  in  other 
rear  positions,  well-placed  shots  made  an  end  of  their 
triumphal  march  behind  the  villas^. 

But  although  one  Tank  seems  to  have  been 
disabled,  the  Germans  did  not  succeed  in 
capturing  any  of  them.  The  Tanks,  for  their 
part,  brought  in  many  German  prisoners, 
usually  following  submissively  behind,  or,  as 
in  the  case  of  a  few  officers,  inside. 


It  is  plain  that  the  moral  effect  of  the  now 
weapons  was  great,  and  it  will  be  seen  from  the 
narrative  which  follows  that  tactical  gains  were 
very  considerable.  Officially  called  His 
Majesty's  Land-Ships,  each  of  them  had  a 
name  given  it  by  its  crew  ;  two  which  were 
attached  to  the  New  Zealanders  on  September 
15  were  known  as  "  Cordon  Rouge  "  ami 
"  Creme-de-menthe." 

September  15  was  fine,  but  the  morning  mist 
still  clung  to  the  ground  and  somewhat  obscured 
the  movements  of  the  infantry.  The  huge 
projectiles  from  the  big  guns  and  heavy  howitzers 


THE    CAPTURE    OF    COURCELETTE    AND    FLERS. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


288 


boomed  over  the  heads  of  our  men  in  the  front 
line  and  burst  with  terrific  explosions  on  their 
target,  destroying  the  front  line  of  German 
trenches.  At  first  the  enemy  did  not  appreciate 
that  an  assault  was  imminent,  probably  because 
the  British  artillery  had  expended  so  much 
ammunition  on  the  German  position  as  to  keep 
the  majority  of  its  garrison  lying  close  for 
shelter,  and  thus  the  sudden  intense  fire  was 
regarded  as  a  mere  incident  in  the  artillery  duel 
and  not  as  a  prologue  to  the  coming  infantry 
assault.  The  Germans,  too,  in  the  days  im- 
mediately preceding  the  attack,  had  been 
distributing  a  considerable  amount  of  shell  fire 


and  made  a  rush  at  the  trenches  where  part 
of  the  Canadians  were  assembled ;  coming  sud- 
denly out  of  the  mist  which  concealed  their 
approach,  they  flung  their  bombs  into  the 
trench  and,  following  on,  succeeded  in  entering 
it.  The  success  was  but  a  short  one.  It  was 
the  hour  fixed  for  the  British  advance  and 
forward  accordingly  went  our  men,  sweeping  the 
Germans  back  before  them.  This  was  the  only 
incident  before  our  attack  began,  and  it  had 
no  effect  whatever  on  the  arrangements. 

The  left  of  our  attack  executed  by  one  Army 
Corps  was  engaged  with  the  German  positions 
from  Thiepval  down  towards  the  Stufen  (called 


CANADIANS    FIRING    A    HEAVY    HOWITZER. 


[Canadian  War  Records. 


against  their  opponents'  position,  and  are  said  to 
have  had  over  1,000  guns  in  action  against  us. 
But  we  had  more,  and  our  artillery  had  dis- 
tinctly gained  the  upper  hand  before  our 
infantry  went  over  the  front  trench  parapet  at 
6.20  a.m. 

There  is  some  reason  to  believe  that  the 
Germans  were  planning  an  attack  at  the  same 
time  as  we  were,  for  the  number  of  men  in  their 
position  was  larger  than  usual,  although  this 
may  also  have  been  due  to  the  reliefs  arriving 
and  being  there  with  the  outgoing  garrison 
before  the  latter  had  left.  Still  it  is  certain 
that  shortly  before  our  advance  began  a  German 
force  covered  by  bombers  crossed  No  Manis  Land 


by  us  the  Stuff)  Redoubt  ;  beyond  it  the 
Canadians  directed  their  efforts  against  Cour- 
celette.  Beyond  these  again  the  remainder  of 
General  Gough's  command  was  aimed  at  High 
Wood  and  Martinpuich. 

On  the  right  of  the  Fifth  Army  was  the 
Fourth  Army  under  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson. 
The  village  of  Flers  was  the  objective  of  the 
left  of  this  force.  Against  it  were  engaged  the 
left  of  Rawlinson's  men,  one  Corps  going 
for  Flers,  and  the  New  Zealanders  pushing 
forward  to  the  west  of  the  village. 

The  length  of  the  right  portion  of  this  attack 
was  about  2,500  yards,  and  extended  from  the 
east  side  of  Delville  Wood  to  some  distance 


284 


THh    TIMI-'.S    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


••-      .v  ^     ..  -    •"••• 

-         '-      VjB^-, 


THE    SEAFORTHS    HOLDING    A    FRONT-LINE    TRENCH    OPPOSITE    MART1NPUICH. 


east  of  Flers.  Beyond  this  was  the  remainder 
of  the  Fourth  Army  connecting  with  the  French. 

The  German  position  to  be  attacked  formed 
a  treble  line  of  works  well  strung  together  by 
connecting  trenches  amply  provided  with 
bomb-proof  shelters  and  covered  by  a  very  strong 
wire  entanglement.  A  fourth  formidable  line 
had  also  been  recently  constructed  in  front  of 
Le  Transloy,  facing  almost  west  and  covering 
the  road  from  that  important  village  to 
Bapaume.  In  advance  of  the  first  line  were 
several  advanced  works  with  the  usual  machine- 
gun  emplacements,  which  allowed  a  powerful 
flanking  fire  to  be  brought  on  any  troops  who 
endeavoured  to  pass  between  them.  It  was 
necessary  to  silence  these  before  an  attack 
could  make  progress. 

One  of  them  was  the  so-called  "  Mystery 
Corner  "  at  the  eastern  end  of  Delville  Wood, 
which  at  this  time  was  still  in  German  hands, 
though  most  of  the  rest  of  the  wood  had  been 
for  some  time  in  our  possession.  It  was  a 
formidable  redoubt,  well  provided  with  machine- 
guns  which  would  enfilade  any  British  attack 
moving  northward  across  its  line  of  (in1. 
Moreover,  it  protected  two  lines  of  communi- 
cation trenches  which  went  back  from  tin's 
point  towards  the  great  length  of  trench  known 
as  the  Switch  Trench,  which  ran  from  the 


neighbourhood  of  High  Wood  to  the  south  of 
and  past  Flers,  towards  the  east.  It  was 
plainly  necessary,  therefore,  to  storm  this 
redoubt  and  turn  the  enemy  out  of  the  con- 
necting trenches  before  the  main  advance 
could  be  pushed  forward  towards  Flers. 

Somewhat  before  the  time  fixed  for  the 
assault,  when  the  half  light  of  commencing 
dawn  had  scarcely  appeared,  two  detachments, 
about  a  section  each,  crept  swiftly  and  quietly 
forward.  One  tackled  the  redoubt,  the  other 
the  communicating  trenches.  The  assailants 
of  the  former  were  over  its  parapets  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  garrison  before  the  latter  could 
get  their  machine-guns  into  action.  A  short, 
sharp  combat  sufficed  to  settle  the  question  of 
possession — the  redoubt  was  ours,  and  with  it 
some  50  prisoners  and  its  armament  of 
machine  guns. 

The  other  detachment  was  accompanied  by 
two  Tanks,  and  supported  by  them  went  for 
the  two  communication  trenches.  But  little 
opposition  was  met  with,  for  here  our  artillery 
had  been  able  to  enfilade  the  hostile  defences, 
and  they  found  them  almost  filled  up  with 
dead  and  dying,  the  result  of  the  recent  bom- 
bardment. Now  the  way  was  clear  for  the 
main  advance. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  capture  the 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


285 


Switch  trench.  But  in  advance  of  it  there 
were  two  other  trenches,  roughly  parallel  to 
it,  known  as  the  Brown  Trench  and  Tea 
Support  Trench,  while  more  to  the  east,  and 
behind  the  Switch,  was  the  Gap  Trench, 
which  connected  up  with  the  trench  running 
from  the  front  of  Lesboeufs,  past  Gueudecourt 
to  the  Grid  Trench  1£  miles  to  the  rear.'''  In 
addition  to  these  more  elaborate  works  there 
were  many  shell -craters  organized  for  defence, 
many  little  projections  from  the  innumerable 
connexion  trenches  in  which  machine-guns 
and  riflemen  were  nested.  The  position  was, 
indeed,  a  powerful  one,  and  had  it  not  been 
thoroughly  searched  out  by  our  artillery  fire 
would  have  been  impregnable  to  an  infantry 
attack.  Fortunately  our  guns  had  dealt  with 
it  thoroughly,  and  those  who  were  about  to 
assault  it  were  first-re.te  fighting  men. 

The  men  told  off  went  over  the  parapet  in  a 
succession  of  waves,  and  in  advancing  went 
by  the  two  detachments  which  had  taken 
the  redoubt  and  communication  trenches,  and 
were  now  resting  after  their  labours.  These, 

*  The  reader  will  do  well  to  refer  to  the  coloured  maps 
of  the  battle  area  which  form  the  frontispieces  of  Voln. 
IX.  and  X. 


although  their  task  was  done,  and  all  their 
officers  wounded,  declined  to  be  left  behind, 
and  acted  as  a  connecting  link  between  two 
units  of  the  attack,  which  became  a  little 
separated  as  the  advance  went  on.  The  troops 
concerned  in  the  direct  attack  on  Flers  and  to 
the  right  of  it  were  chiefly  Londoners  who  had 
not  had  much  previous  experience,  but  they 
bore  themselves  that  day  as  well  as  any  war- 
seasoned  troops.  They  showed  their  readiness 
in  the  intricate  fight  both  in  trench  storming 
and  the  more  individual  work  of  hunting  the 
Germans  out  of  the  village.  The  Switch 
Trench  was  quickly  entered  by  the  first  two 
waves  of  men,  who  then  proceeded  to  round 
up  the  few — very  few — living  Germans,  the 
majority  having  been  killed  by  the  British 
artillery  fire. 

Leaving  the  front  line  of  men  to  hold  the  newly 
won  ground,  the  officer  in  command  sent 
the  supports  forward  against  Flers.  Forcing 
their  way  over  shell  craters  under  machine-gun 
and  shrapnel  fire,  they  reached  the  outer  line 
of  the  village  defences.  Here  they  were  held 
up,  for  the  German  trench  was  covered  by  a 
strong  wire  entanglement.  It  was  a  job  for  a 
Tank,  and  one  arrived  to  do  the  business.  Coming 


.. 


~ 


AWAITING    THE    ORDER    TO    ADVANCE. 


286 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


up  in  its  own  fashion  witli  11  dcadlv  persistence. 
it  passed  over  shell  craters,  reached  the  wire, 
and  then  proceeded  to  iron  out  flat  a  sufficient 
length  of  the  oh^im-lr  to  give  the  infantry  room 
to  advance,  meanwhile  bringing  a  deadly 
flanking  tire  to  bear  on  the  defenders  of  the 
C en  nan  t  reuc-h.  Once  the  way  was  clear,  our  foot 
soldiers  moved,  forward  once  more,  and  Flers 
was  taken  with  a  rush.  There  was  really  very 
little  resistance,  and  the  position  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  held  with  any  determina- 
tion. Perhaps  the  garrison  had  fled  before 
the  terrifying  monster  which  proceeded  up  the 
main  street  amid  the  cheers  of  our  men,  as 
calmly  as  an  omnibus  up  Oxford  Street. 
Two  counlel-attacks  were  made  about  three 
and  four  in  the  afternoon;  both  were  stopped 
without  difficulty  by  machine-gun  fire. 

On  the  right  of  this  portion  of  Sir  Henry 
Rawlinson's  army,  the  fight  at  this  time  was 
of  a  tentative  nature. 

The  New  Zealanders  took  a  considerable 
part  in  the  battle  of  the  15th.  The  position 
against  which  they  advanced  lay  between  Flers 
and  High  Wood,  on  the  high  ground  at  the 
top  of  the  plateau.  Their  flanks  were 
protected  by  the  British  troops  attacking 


Flers  and  on  their  left.  The  assault  was 
furnished  by  the  men  of  Auckland,  Canter- 
bury, Otago,  and  Wellington,  and  their  main 
objective  was  the  German  trench  500  yards 
ahead  of  the  British  line.  Our  men  advanced 
in  a  series  of  waves  with  distances  between 
them,  and  they  suffered  on  the  upward  move 
from  both  shrapnel  and  machine-gun  fire. 
But  nothing  could  stop  them,  and  they  burst 
into  the  German  trench.  A  prolonged  and 
desperate  close-quarter  fight  ensued,  in  which 
scarcely  any  other  weapon  was  used  than  the 
bayonet.  It  was  a  terrible  combat  of  com- 
parative silence,  in  which  little  was  to  be 
heard  except  the  clash  of  steel  and  the  half- 
smothered  cries  of  the  wounded.  But  eventu- 
ally the  garrison  were  completely  conquered  ; 
few,  indeed,  escaped  with  their  lives.  A 
slight  pause  was  made  there,  and  then  the 
advance  began  again,  a  distance  of  800  yards 
to  the  second  German  position,  consisting  of 
two  lines  of  trenches  covered  by  deep  wire 
entanglements. 

This  time  the  New  Zealand  Rifles  led  the 
assault,  moving  in  open  order,  yet  keeping 
touch  and  their  alignment.  The  enemy's 
defences  had  been  considerably  damaged  by 


WOUNDED    GUARDSMEN    NOWISE    DOWNHEARTED. 


Official  photograph. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


287 


THE  CANADIANS  ADVANCING  TO  THE  CHARGE. 


[Official  photoiraph. 


our  artillery  fire,  but  several  machine-gun 
emplacements  were  still  in  working  order,  and 
much  of  the  wire  obstacle  was  still  effective. 
The  New  Zealanders  suffered  heavily,  but 
stuck  to  their  task,  in  which  they  were  soon 
aided  by  a  powerful  auxiliary.  Two  Tanks, 
which  had  been  somewhat  delayed  in  their 
progress  over  the  shell -pitted  ground,  now 
came  up  and  proceeded  with  characteristic 
deliberation  to  flatten  out  the  wire  for  the 
infantry  to  pass,  then  getting  astride  the 
German  trench  and  beating  out  the  machine- 
guns  and  their  detachments  by  their  fire.  In 
vain  the  Germans  bombed  them  and  covered 
them  with  rifle  fire  ;  they  carried  out  their 
task.  A  German  battery  1,500  yards  off 
brought  its  fire  to  bear  on  them,  but  obtained 
no  direct  hits,  and  was  itself  soon  reduced  to 
silence  by  British  guns.  Then  the  infantry 
came  on  and  drove  back  the  rest  of  the  German 
trarrison.  The  New  Zealanders  went  on  still 
farther,  accompanied  by  one  of  the  Tanks. 
They  succeeded,  indeed,  in  progressing  beyond 
the  troops  at  Flers  and  on  their  left  flank,  in 
both  of  which  directions  the  fighting  had  been 
stiffer,  and  then-  fire  swept  down  the  shallow 
gulley  which  points  north-east  1,500  yards 
west  of  Flers. 

The  projecting  salient  they  made  threatened 
tho  lines  of  the  enemy  from  either  flank.  The 
Germans  naturally  made  a  strong  counter- 
attack, and  the  New  Zealanders  were  drawn 
back  to  a  straighter  line  which  ran  westward 
from  the  north  end  of  Flers  village,  and  there 
they  held  their  ground. 

A  more  desperate  counter-attack  was  de- 
livered by  the  enemy  in  the  afternoon  in  con- 
junction with  a  similar  effort  against  Flers 


already  mentioned.  It  was  equally  unsuc- 
cessful ;  but  in  this  case  it  was  not  fire  only 
which  stopped  the  Germans.  The  downward 
slope  of  the  ground  appears  to  have  afforded 
some  shelter  to  the  latter  in  their  advance,  and 
they  came  on  in  a  more  or  less  dense  line,  to 
use  cold  steel.  The  New  Zealanders  were 
ready  to  meet  them  with  their  own  weapon, 
and  gallantly  Jed,  dashed  into  them  at  the 
double  with  their  bayonets,  while  the  Germans 
stood  to  receive  them.  Such  was  the  impetus 
of  our  troops  that  they  drove  back  their 
opponents  after  a  short  struggle.  Their  slow 
retreat  grew  faster,  and  then  became  a  run, 
until,  finally,  they  took  to  their  heels  and  fled 
helter-skelter,  pursued  by  the  New  Zealanders. 
There  were  no  more  counter-attacks  by  the 
enemy  in  this  part  of  the  field. 

While  the  fighting  had  been  going  on  round 
Flers,  the  Guards  had  been  engaged  in  another 
part  of  the  front.  All  five  regiments  took 
part. 

The  place  of  assembly,  before  the  advance, 
had  been  on  the  hither  slope  of  the  Thiepval- 
Ginchy  Ridge,  and  the  nature  of  the  ground 
on  the  farther  side  and  its  occupation  were 
not  very  well  known.  It  had  been  thought 
that  there  was  some  little  distance  before  the 
line  of  trench  to  be  taken  would  be  reached. 
But  no  sooner  had  the  men  gone  some  200 
yards  and  breasted  the  crest  than  they  found 
themselves  before  two  lines  of  trenches  covered 
by  an  unbroken  wire  entanglement  defended 
by  machine-guns  and  bombers  to  back  up  the 
infantry.  The  three  battalions  of  Coldstreams 
led  the  advance,  supported  by  the  Grenadiers, 
with  the  Irish  Guards  in  reserve  behind 
them 


288 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


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THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


289 


The  troops  on  the  right  of  the  Guards  had 
been  held  up  by  obstacles,  and  thus  the  Cold- 
streams  going  on  beyond  them  exposed  their 
right  flank  and  suffered  accordingly.  But  they 
drove  steadily  onwards,  over  wire,  over  parapet, 
till  Briton  encountered  German  in  the  trench. 
Nor  were  our  opponents  loth  to  meet  the 
attack.  Both  sides  fought  desperately  with 
bomb  and  bayonet.  The  Coldstreams  were 
reinforced  by  the  Grenadiers,  and  the  Irish 
Guards  came  up  too,  while  later  on  the  Welsh 
joined  in  the  fray.  After  an  hour  or  more  of 
handy-strokes  we  gained  the  victory,  and  once 
more  the  Guards  went  on.  They  saw  the 
German  infantry  beating  a  hasty  retreat  before 
them,  they  saw  the  German  gunners  endeavoxir- 
ing  to  remove  their  guns.  They  had  advanced 
more  than  2,000  yards  from  the  point  of 
departure,  they  had  broken  a  gap  in  the  German 
lines,  but  they  had  come  to  the  limit  of  the 
possible  and  wisely  determined  to  halt  where 
they  were  and  dig  in.  They  had  taken  200 
prisoners,  and  disposed  of  many  hundreds  of 
the  enemy. 

The  night  by  no  means  brought  peace. 
The  Germans  launched  counter-attack  after 
counter-attack  on  them,  but  in  vain,  and  so  the 
Guards  won  through  the  darkness  and  held  the 
position  they  had  conquered. 

Martinpuich  and  High  Wood  formed  the 
connexion  points  of  the  battle  between  Flers 
and  Courcelette. 

High  Wood  had  only  been  partly  in  our 
possession,  the  northern  portion  being  still  in 
the  hands  of  the  Germans  when  the  battle  of 
September  15  began.  What  they  held  they 
held  strongly  with  a  mass  of  machine  guns. 
Here  the  Tanks  gave  great  assistance,  and, 
indeed,  it  was  they  that  really  turned  the 
enemy  out.  Going  on  over  trees,  over  wire, 
over  trenches,  they  flattened  out  the  enemy, 
and  by  10  o'clock  the  whole  wood  was 
in  our  hands.  Meanwhile  the  infantry  had 
moved  to  the  assault  of  Me-rtinpuich.  The 
front  defences  of  the  village  were  taken  with  a 
rush,  but  a  counter-attack  drove  our  men  back. 
They  went  forward,  once  more  supported  by 
Tanks,  and  this  time  with  entire  success.  The 
Bavarians  fled  before  them,  and.  the  Tanks 
plied  them  with  fire,  enfiladed  their  trenches,  sat 
on  their  dug-outs  and  thoroughly  dominated 
them  in  every  way.  Many  were  the  prisoners 
who  fell  to  them — over  a  hundred  surrendered 
to  one  alone,  and  two  of  the  crew  sufficed  to 
keep  them  till  the  infantry  came  up.  Another 


captured  a  regimental  commander  who  came 
out  of  a  dug-out  to  see  what  was  going  on. 

The  share  taken  by  the  Canadians  in  the 
advance  of  September  15  and  16  was  consider- 
able. When  they  went  over  the  parapet  and 
advanced  over  the  ground  towards  the  German 
position  they  saw  Martinpuich  on  their  right 
and  Courcelette  to  their  left  front,  with  an 
intervening  network  of  trenches.  Mouquet 
Farm,  or  rather  the  trenches  round  it,  formed 


[Official  photograph. 

SETTING    FUSES. 

their  first  objective,  and  part  of  these  were 
captured  after  a  short  but  severe  struggle. 
Farther  forward  pressed  the  Maple  Leaves, 
towards  the  brick  ruins  and  white  chalk  heaps 
of  what  had  once  been  the  renowned  sugar 
refinery,  the  subterranean  defences  of  which 
still  served  to  shelter  the  enemy,  who  also  held 
the  trenches  right  and  left  of  it.  These  together 
formed  the  main  objective  of  our  troops.  But 
before  they  could  be  reached  other  works  had 
to  be  taken.  Nor  were  they  captured  without 
a  considerable  fight.  As  usual,  the  German 
trenches  were  so  laid  out  that  portions  of  them, 
manned  with  machine  guns,  flanked  their  lines. 
These  for  a  time  held  up  the  movement.  But 
soon  a  new  auxiliary  arrived  to  aid  the  Cana- 
dians— His  Majesty's  Landship  "  Creme  de 
Menthe."  Moving  deliberately  buf  continu- 
ously forward,  lurching  a  bit  as  it  bumped  over 
the  shell  craters  and  other  obstacles,  but  al- 
ways getting  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  German 

138-3 


'2110 


Till'.     77.WKN     111STOHY    <>L-     THK     \VAlt. 


lino,  the  stool-clad  automobile  battery  passed 
through  the  cheering  foot -soldiers  and  went 
on  ainid  a  hail  of  rifle  and  machine  gun  bullets 
to  which  it  paid  no  attention.  Then,  taking 
position  across  the  On  nan  front  trench,  its  fire 
swept  to  right  and  left  down  it,  and  thus  eased 
the  way  for  Canadian  infantry  to  continue 
their  advance.  The  enemy's  machine-guns 
were  silenced  and  a  considerable  number  of 
prisoners  taken,  and  the  main  line  of  the 
(ierman  entrenchments  here  was  captured,  and 
even  parts  of  the  trenches  on  the  outskirts  of 
Courcelette.  Soldiers  from  all  parts  of  Canada 
took  part  in  the  triumph— Mounted  Rifles 
from  the  eastern  provinces  with  men  from 
Toronto,  London,  and  Kingston  ;  while  from 
the  western  side  came  the  men  from  Vancouver 
and  Regina,  with  the  volunteers  of  Winnipeg, 
from  the  centre  of  the  Dominion.  It  was  a 
glorious  combination.  Having  reached  the 
point  above  indicated,  the  storming  force 
proceeded  to  dig  itself  in,  while  the  reserve 
battalions  were  brought  up  to  complete  the 
occupation  of  the  grotuufr  gained. 

The  attack   had   indeed    been  so  successful 
that    Sir    Julian    Byng.    the    Canadian   Corps 


Commander,  determined  to  push  on  still 
farther  and  take  Courcelette,  although  tin- 
evening  was  advancing.  The  reserve  bat- 
talion had  now  come  up,  and  was  told  off  to 
lead  the  new  assault.  A  French  Canadian 
battalion  swung  round  to  the  left  and  struck 
the  village  on  the  eastern  side,  while  other 
Canadians  pressed  straight  forward  against  it. 
It  was  through  a  hot  fire  of  artillery  and  small 
arms  that  our  troops  advanced,  but  they  would 
not  be  denied,  and,  in  the  darkening  shades  of 
evening,  the  outer  ring  of  the  Courcelette 
fortification  was  broken  through  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  garrison,  now  thoroughly  de- 
moralized, were  made  prisoners.  Defences 
were  improvized,  and  these  served  to  beat  off 
several  counter-attacks  made  during  the  night 
against  the  newly  won  village.  The  prisoners 
taken  numbered  over  1,000,  together  with  two 
pieces  of  artillery  and  a  number  of  machine-guns 
and  trench  mortars. 

On  the  extreme  left,  in  front  of  Thiepva 
and  down  towards  the  Bapaume  road,  it 
was  not  the  policy  of  Sir  Douglas  Haig  to 
push  matters  to  extremities  at  this  period. 
But  here,  too,  fighting  went  on  ;  attacks 


CANADIANS    HANDING    DRINK    TO    GERMAN    PRISONERS    TAKEN    BY    THEM 

AT    COURCELETTE. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


A    KITE    BALLOON    PREPARING    TO    ASCEND. 


^Canadian  official  photograph. 


were    driven   off,    and    some    little    progress 
was  made. 

The  victory  gained  was  a  great  one,  and  the 
Germans  had  been  taught  a  lesson.  Sitting 
down  beyond  the  risk  of  danger  the  higher 
commanders  might  order  their  men  to  hold  on 
till  death  or  make  counter-attack  after  counter- 
attack. But  there  is  a  limit  to  the  capacity 
for  resisting  loss  beyond  which  troops  will  not 
go.  This  had  been  reached  by  the  Germans 
on  the  ground  where  the  fighting  of  the  15th 
took  place,  and  hence  the  great  results  gained 
this  day  by  the  British  Army.  In  the  language 
of  General  Haig,  the  fighting  of  the  15th  and 
16th  was  of  great  importance,  and  probably 
the  most  effective  blow  which  had  yet  been 
dealt  to  the  enemy  by  British  troops.  The 
damage  to  his  moral  was  probably  of  greater 
consequence  than  the  seizure  of  dominating 
positions  and  the  capture  of  between  4,000  and 
5,000  prisoners.  Guards,  Northumbrians  and 
London  Territorials,  Scottish  and  English  New 
Army  divisions,  with  troops  from  Canada  and 
New  Zealand,  shared  the  glory  of  the  battle 
between  them.  Nor  were  our  aviators  without 
their  share.  They  destroyed  15  aeroplanes 
of  the  enemy  and  drove  others  off,  then  they 


came  down  lower  and  used  their  machine-guns 
on  the  enemy's  guns  and  on  the  infantry  in  his 
trenches.  At  the  same  time  they  kept  con- 
stant count  of  the  enemy's  movements, 
observed  his  batteries,  and  informed  our  own 
where  to  fire.  The  perfection  to  which  the 
work  of  the  Royal  Flying  Corps  had  been 
brought  is  impossible  to  put  into  words. 

September  16  was  chiefly  a  day  of  consoli- 
dation of  our  new  position  and  of  driving  back 
counter-attacks  of  the  enemy  which  were 
entirely  unsuccessful.  Late  in  the  evening 
our  troops  obtained  a  considerable  success, 
taking  the  "  Danube  "  Trench  near  Thiepval 
on  a  front  of  about  a  mile,  and  with  it  many 
prisoners  and  a  considerable  quantity  of  rifles 
and  equipment  abandoned  by  the  enemy. 
The  network  of  defences  round  Mouquet 
Farm,  which  had  been  in  dispute  for  some  weeks 
past  was  almost  completely  conquered,  and  we 
extended  our  gains  near  Courcelette  on  a  line 
of  1,000  yards.  A  number  of  minor  advantages 
were  secured  on  other  parts  of  the  British  Front- 
On  the  17th,  to  the  south  of  the  Ancre,  the 
Germans  made  several  heavy  counter-attacks, 
which  were  all  repulsed.  One  which  came  from 
the  direction  of  Lesboeufs  and  from  the  country 


2!>2 


THE    T1MKX    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


PRISONERS    COMING    IN. 


_»-"  -~ 


[Official  f  holograph. 


north  of  Flers  was  caught  by  our  artillery 
barrage  and  suffered  heavy  loss.  Between 
Flers  and  Martinpuich  a  German  brigade 
commenced  an  attack  in  the  direction  of 
High  Wood.  Our  troops,  only  two  battalions, 
did  not  wait  for  them  to  join  issue,  but  leaving 
the  shallow  trenches  which  they  had  recently 
made,  went  on  at  a  double  to  meet  them. 
The  result  was  never  for  a  moment  in  doubt. 
Although  the  Germans  were  in  "threefold 
strength  they  were  driven  back  with  great 
slaughter. 


[From  the  official  A  ncre  film. 

PRISONERS    CLAIMING    THEIR    LETTERS 
AND    OTHER    PROPERTY. 

To  the  north  of  Mouquet  Farm  more  ground 
was  gained.  Our  artillery,  too,  maintained 
its  fire  generally  against  the  German  lino, 
and  among  other  successes  blew  up  an  ammu- 
nition dump  at  Grandcourt.  During  the  night 
further  progress  was  made  east  of  Courcelette 
und  our  line  was  appreciably  advanced,  and 
we  gained  more  ground  south  of  Thiepval, 
thus  threatening  to  surround  this  position. 

The  Germans,  on  the  other  hand,  under 
cover  of  a  heavy  bombardment,  managed  to 
'•tiler  one  of  our  trendies  \vest  of  Mouquet 


Farm,  but  were  at  once  counter-attacked  and 
driven  back  with  heavy  loss.  During  the 
night  they  kept  up  an  intermittent  artillery 
fire  against  various  points  of  our  line. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  the  French  and 
British  Commanders-in-Chief  exchanged  the 
letters  published  below  : 

TO  GENERAL  SIR  DOUGLAS  HAIG. 

General  Headquarters  of  French  Armies. 
September  17. 

My  Dear  General, — I  desire  to  convey  to  you  my  most 
sincere  congratulations  on  the  brilliant  successes  gained 
by  the  British  troops  under  your  command  during  the 
hard-fought  battles  of  the  15th  and  16th  of  September. 
Following  on  the  continuous  progress  made  by  your 
Armies  since  the  beginning  of  the  Somme  offensive,  these 
fresh  successes  are  a  sure  guarantee  of  final  victory  over 
our  common  enemy,  whose  physical  and  moral  forces  are 
already  severely  shaken. 

Permit  me,  my  dear  General,  to  take  this  opportunity 
of  saying  that  the  combined  offensive  which  we  have 
carried  on  now  for  more  than  two  months  has.  if  it  were 
possible,  drawn  still  closer  the  ties  which  unite  our  two 
Armies  ;  our  adversary  will  find  therein  proof  of  our  firm 
determination  to  combine  our  efforts  until  the  end  to 
ensure  the  complete  triumph  of  our  cause. 

I  bow  before  those  of  your  soldiers  by  whose  bravery 
these  successes  have  been  achieved  but  who  have  fallen 
before  the  completion  of  our  task  ;  and  I  a«k  you  to 
convey,  in  my  name  and  in  the  name  of  the  whole  French 
Army,  to  those  who  stand  ready  for  the  fights  to  come, 
a  greeting  of  comradeship  and  confidence. 

J.    JOFKRK. 

TO  fiENERA-L  .TOFFRE. 

General  Headquarters,  Britl-h  Armies  in  France. 

September  10. 

My  Dear  General, — I  thank  you  most  sincerely  for  the 
kind  message  of  congratulation  and  goodwill  that  you 
have  addressed  to  me  and  to  the  troops  under  my 
command  on  their  recent  successes.  This  fresh  expres- 
sion of  the  good  wishes  of  yourself  and  of  your  gallant 
Army,  without  whose  close  cooperation  and  support 
those  successes  could  scarcely  have  been  achieved,  will 
be  very  warmly  appreciated  by  all  ranks  of  the  British 
Armic^. 

I  thank  you,  too,  for  your  noble  tribute  to  those  who 
have  fallen.  Our  brave  dead,  whose  blood  has  been 
shcil  together  on  the  soil  of  your  great  country,  will  prove 
a  bond  to  unite  our  two  peoples  long  after  the  combined 
action  of  our  Armies  has  carried  the  common  cause  for 
which  they  have  fought  to  its  ultimate  triumph. 

The  unremitting  efforts  of  our  forces  north  and  south 
of  the  Somme,  added  to  the  glorious  deeds  of  your 
Armies  umiiiled  at  Verdun,  have  alreadv  begun  to  break 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


293 


down  the  enemy's  power  of  resistance  ;  while  the  energy 
of  our  troops  and  their  confidence  in  each  other  increases 
from  day  to  day.  Every  frosh  success  that  attends  our 
arm.-;  brings  us  nearer  to  the  final  victory  to  which,  like 
you,  I  look  forward  with  absolute  confidence. — Yours 
very  truly, 

D.  HATQ,  General, 
Commanding-in-Chief,  British  Armies  in  France. 

On  September  18  another  important  advance 
was  made.  East  of  Ginchy  and  north-west 
of  Combles  we  captured  the  important  work 
known  as  the  Quadrilateral,  which  gave  us 
an  important  gain  of  ground  and  straightened 
our  line.  We  also  captured  five  heavy  howit- 
zers, two  field  guns,  and  lighter  pieces. 

While  the  British  on  the  15th  were  capturing 
Courcelette,  Martinpuich  and  Flers,  the  French, 


trench   north-east   of   Berny   was   carried   the 
same  day. 

On  the  17th,  in  the  afternoon,  a  great  battle 
was  delivered  south  of  the  Somme  between 
Barleux  and  Vermandovillers.  Numerous 
trenches  were  carried  south  of  Barleux.  'The 
enemy  was  cleared  out  of  the  last  houses  held 
by  him  in  Berny,  and  his  lines  from  Berny  to 
Deniecourt  were  pierced.  Deniecourt  was 
completely  .surrounded,  and  the  German  en- 
trenchments thence  to  Vermandovillers  were 
stormed.  Simultaneously  the  enemy  was 
ejected  from  such  portion  of  Vermandovillers 
as  he  had  still  managed  to  retain.  Violent 
counter-attacks  towards  nightfall  were  repulsed 
with  terrible  punishment  to  the  foe.  When 


ch  official  photograph. 

THE  TRENCHES  AT  VERMANDOVILLERS:    ARRIVAL  OF  FRENCH  REINFORCEMENTS. 

Photographed  from  an  aeroplane. 


who  at  nightfall  on  the  14th  had  carried  enemy 
trenches  just  south  of  Rancourt  and  some  hours 
later  had  repulsed  attacks  east  of  Clery,  moved 
forward  north  of  Priez  Farm,  threatening 
Combles  from  that  region.  South  of  the 
Somme  also,  at  4  p.m.  in  the  sector  Deniecourt- 
Berny  they  delivered  two  charges.  To  the 
east  of  Deniecourt  a  trench  and  small  wood 
were  wrested  from  the  enemy  ;  and  north-east 
of  Berny  three  German  trenches  were  seized. 
Two  hundred  prisoners  and  10  mitrailleuses 
remained  in  the  hands  of  our  Allies.  The  next 
day  the  troops  of  General  Fayolle  from  Bou- 
chavesnes  struck  northwards  in  the  direction 
of  the  wood  of  St.  Pierre  Vaast,  and  reached  a 
narrow  depression  south  of  the  wood.  Another 


sun  set  the  French  :had  beeh  everywhere 
successful  and  had  captured  700  unwounded 
prisoners,  among  them  15  officers.  The  battle 
went  on  through  the  night,  counter-attack 
succeeding  counter-attack.  Vainly  the  troops 
of  the  10th  Ersatz  Division  strove  to  retake 
the  ground  lost  near  Berny.  On  the  18th  the 
French  finally  secured  Deniecourt,  and  pushed 
on  towards  Ablaincourt.  At  nightfall  they 
were  before  the  hamlet  of  Bovent.  They  had 
also  captured  three  little  woods  south-east  of 
Deniecourt  and  a  trench  west  of  Horgny,  a 
village  east  of  Berny. 

During  the  night  of  September  18-19  the 
British  beat  off  several  determined  counter- 
attacks south  of  the  Ancre,  destroyed  two  gun 


294 


THE    TIMES    HISTOKY    OF    THE    WAR. 


emplacements,  and  exploded  an  ammuni- 
tion store.  South  of  Arras  we  cleared  the 
enemy  from  200  yards  of  trenches,  and  the 
French  made  further  progress  south  of  the 
Somme  to  the  east  of  Berny,  taking  some 
prisoners.  The  next  day,  September  20, 
north-east  of  Bethune,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Richebourg  1'Avoue,  three  raids  resulted 
in  the  capture  of  prisoners  and  a  machine- 


GENERAL    DUPORT, 
Chief  of  the  French  General  Staff. 

gun.  A  hostile  balloon  was  brought  down 
south-west  of  Arras.  In  the  Somme  area  a 
German  attack  on  the  British  trenches  east  of 
Martinpuich  was  easily  repulsed.  The  next 
evening,  south  of  the  Ancre,  in  a  torrential 
downpour,  the  New  Zealanders  were  violently 
and  continuously  attacked,  but  at  no  point 
did  the  Germans  penetrate  their  lines,  and  at 
daybreak  the  ground  in  front  of  their  trenches 
was  seen  to  be  littered  with  the  dead  and 
dying.  Many  prisoners  were  captured  in  this 
and  other  regions. 

On  September  20  the  main  event  was  the 
determined  effort  of  the  Germans  to  drive  back 
the  French  north  of  the  Somme.  The  18th 
Corps  had  been  brought  up  from  the  Aisne  and 
the  214th  Division  which  was  on  its  way  to  the 
Kastern  Theatre  of  War,  had  been  hastily 
recalled.  It  had  arrived  on  the  14th.  With 


these  fresh  troops,  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Bavaria,  at  9  a.m.,  attacked  General  Fayolle's 
position  between  the  Priez  and  1'Abbe,  farms, 
and  east  of  Clery  to  the  Somme.  The  214th 
Division  operated  in  the  Bouchavesnes  region. 
Preceded  by  violent  bombardments,  mass  after 
mass  of  the  enemy  were  precipitated  against 
Bouchavesnes  and  the  French  trenches  north 
a  111 1  south  of  it.  Four  waves  of  grey-green 
infantry  were  cut  down  by  the  French  guns 
before  Priez  Farm.  The  survivors  fled,  leaving 
t  he  ground  covered  with  corpses.  But  at  3  p.m. 
the  Germans  after  a  succession  of  bloody 
checks  burst  into  the  north-east  end  of 
Bouchavesnes.  It  was  only  a  momentary 
triumph,  for  the  French  rallied  and  drove  them 
out  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  Few  of  them 
escaped  and  several  officers  and  men  were 
captured.  The  75-  and  120-mrn.  guns  and  the 
mitrailleuses  had  here,  and  at  Priez  Farm, 
caused  frightful  losses.  At  ridge  76,  which  is 
crossed  by  the  road  from  Clery  to  Haut  Al- 
laines,  regiments  of  the  18th  Corps  were  kept 
at  bay  by  ttie  barrages  of  shell  and  shrapnel 
fire,  but,  nearer  the  Somme,  parties  of  Ger- 
mans succeeded  in  entering  some  trenches.  They 
were  swiftly  ejected  by  counter-attacks.  At 
nightfall  the  desperate  contest  died  down. 
Prisoners  stated  that  one  company  alone  in  the 
llth  Bavarian  Division  lost  110  men  out  of  210, 
that  two  battalions  of  the  123rd  Prussian 
Regiment  had  been  almost  wiped  out  and  that 
the  12th  Reserve  Division  had  suffered  terribly. 
"  I  cannot  understand,"  said  a  French  artillery 
-  officer  present,  "  how,  after  so  many  disastrous 
experiences,  the  German  Higher  Commanders 
can  order  attacks  to  be  carried  out  in  massed 
formation.  The  road  from  Combles  to  Ran- 
court  is  covered  with  dead  Germans,  sacrificed 
to  no  purpose."  General  Fayolle  was  able  to 
report  the  victory  to  the  new  Chief  of  the 
French  General  Staff,  at  the  Ministry  of  War, 
General  Duport,  who  took  the  place  the  next 
day  of  General  Graziani,  whose  health  had 
broken  down.  Since  the  first  months  of  the 
war  the  latter  had  filled  this  onerous  post 
attached  to  the  French  War  Office.  It  must 
not  be  confused  with  that  occupied  by 
General  de  Castelnau,  who  still  continued  to 
direct  the  movements  of  the  armies  at  the 
front.  Duport,  a  colonel  in  August  1914, 
was  an  infantry  officer.  He  had  been  educated 
at  the  Military  College  of  St.  Cyr,  and  had 
fought  on  the  Algerian  frontier  between  1885 
and  1888.  Promoted  General  of  Brigade  in 


THE    TIMES    'HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


295 


-Tune,  1915,  he  had  been  since  August  31,  1916, 
Commander  of  the  14th  Corps  d'Armee.  Like 
so  many  other  officers  almost  unknown  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  he  had  forced  his  way 
up  by  the  exercise  of  conspicuous  abilities. 

So  bloody  had  been  the  repulse  of  the  German 
18th  Corps  and  214th  Division,  that  the  next 
day,  Thursday,  September  21,  Prince  Rup- 
precht  made  no  further  attempt  to  pierce  the 
lines  of  General  Fayolle  north  of  the  Somme. 

On  the  British  front  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Flers,  bombing  parties  vainly  endeavoured  to 
wrest  from  us  the  positions  taken  in  the  battle 
of  the  15th-ieth.  The  night  before,  in  vile 
weather,  there  had  been  encounters  on  the 
edge  of  Courcelette  and  north  of  Martinpuich. 
A  hostile  kite-balloon  fell  to  the  ground  in 
flames,  but,  as  against  this,  we  had  to  record 
the  loss  of  an  aeroplane. 

During  the  night  of  the  21sf^22nd,  while  our 
troops  were  raiding  enemy  trenches  south  of 
Arras  and  north  of  that  point,  seizing  a  crater 
in  the  Neuville  St.  Vaast  region  caused  by  the 
explosion  of  one  of  our  mines,  an  advance  was 
also  made  by  the  British  between  Martinpuich 
and  Flers.  Up  to  the  21st  our  line  sagged  east- 
ward from  Courcelette  round  the  northern  end 
of  Martinpuich  and  hugged  the  eastern  face  of 
the  village.  Thence  it  zigzagged  towards  Flers. 
It  was  now  decided  that  the  mill  of  Martinpuich, 


500  yards  north  of  the  village,  must  mark  the 
alignment  of  our  front  from  Courceletto 
cemetery  to  Flers,  and  that  a  redoubt  between 
the  mill  and  the  Albert-Bapaume  road  must  be 
carried,  and  the  German  salients  in  our  position 
flattened  out.  After  desperate  fighting  two 
lines  of  hostile  trenches  were  carried,  and 
24  hours  later  the  redoubt  was  stormed.  On  the 
23rd  a  strongly  fortified  system  of  trenches  east 
of  Courcelette  was  captured  and  we  advanced  on 
a  front  of  about  half  a  mile.  The  day  before 
(September  22)  at  nightfall  a  violent  German 
attack  west  of  Mouquet  Farm  had  been  driven 
back  by  our  fire  with  heavy  losses.  In  the 
course  of  the  22nd  our  guns  had  destroyed  10 
hostile  gun-pits  and  damaged  10  others,  while 
five  ammunition  dumps  were  blown  up.  A 
squadron  of  50  aeroplanes  the  same  day 
bombed  an  important  railway  junction.  Two 
trains  loaded  with  ammunition  were  smashed 
and  many  violent  explosions  caused.  Railway 
works  and  sidings  elsewhere  and  aerodromes 
and  other  points  of  military  importance  also 
received  attention.  As  a  consequence  of  aerial 
duels,  three  enemy  machines  were  destroyed, 
five  damaged  severely  and  others  driven  to 
earth.  Our  loss  was  five  machines. 

Meantime,  on  September  22,  the  French  had 
pushed  a  little  nearer  to  the  doomed  village- 
fortress  of  Combles.  On  the  northern  slopes  of 


^     i 


FRENCH    RED-CROSS    MEN    WAITING    IN    A    TRENCH    OUTSIDE    COMBLES 


296 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


the  hillock  beyond  the  wood  of  Anderlu,  towards 
the  road  from  Maurepas  to  Fregicourt,  the 
enemy  had  converted  into  a  small  fortress  a/i 
isolated  house  in  front  of  Combles  and  close  to 
the  road.  The  machine-guns  in  it  held  up  the 
French  advance.  After  an  attack  very  ably 
executed  the  house  was  surrounded  and  carried 
by  assault.  Ninety-seven  men  and  three  officers 
were  captured.  Simultaneously  between  Fregi- 
court and  Priez  Farm  the  French  stormed 
German  trenches  on  the  east  slope  of  the 
Combles  ravine.  The  enemy's  endeavours  to 
hinder  the  French  movements  in  this  direction 
by  renewed  counter-attacks  between  Priez 
Farm  and  Rancourt  were  repulsed  by  curtains 
of  shell  fire. 

By  this  date  the  total  of  the  prisoners  cap- 
tured by  the  Allies  in  the  Battle  of  the  Somme 
had  swelled  to  over  55,800,  of  which  34,050 
had  been  taken  by  the  French. 

Preparations  were  now  being  made  by  the 
Allies  to  fight  another  battle  similar  to  that  of 
September  15-16.  It  was  preceded  by  aerial 
enterprises  on  a  large  scale  and  by  bombard- 
ments of  almost  incredible  intensity.  The 
French  wrecked  25  enemy  machines  on 
September  23,  we  seven.  The  same  day  five 
bombing  raids  against  railway  stations  on  the 


German  lines  of  communication  were  success- 
fully executed  by  the  British.  In  the  course  of 
an  air  fight  one  of  our  airmen  collided  with  his 
opponent.  The  German  plane  fell  to  the 
ground,  while  ours,  after  a  vertical  descent  of 
several  thousand  feet,  was  righted  and  returned 
safely,  the  pilot  flying  over  30  miles  with  an 
almost  uncontrollable  machine.  Our  losses  on 
the  23rd  were  five  machines. 

Among  other  noteworthy  incidents  at  this 
date,  the  celebrated  French  airman  Guynemer 
brought  down  his  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
hostile  machines,  and  on  the  24th  Captain  de 
Beauchamps  in  the  "  Ariel  "  and  Lieutenant 
Daucourt  executed  one  of  the  most  daring 
flights  on  record.  For  the  first  time  Essen, 
the  great  military  manufactory  of  Germany, 
was  bombed  in  broad  daylight.  The  workshops 
of  Krupp  were  defended  by  no  fewer  than  250 
anti-aircraft  guns,  and  numerous  German  aero- 
planes were  naturally  on  the  watch  to  intercept 
raiders.  Nevertheless,  the  intrepid  Frenchmen 
succeeded  in  dropping  twelve  bombs  on  Essen 
and  in  returning  safely  to  their  base.  Captain 
de  Beauchamps,  who  was  not  29  years  old, 
had  for  many  months  been  commanding  the 
squadron  "  des  As  "  stationed  on  the  eastern 
front  of  the  French  lines.  He  had  had  under 
him  Guynemer  and  other  distinguished  pilots, 


BRITISH    FIELD    BATTERY    CROSSING    A    FORD. 


[Official  photograph. 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAB. 


297 


including  Daucourt.  Of  his  then  recent  ex- 
ploits the  destruction  o£  a  Fokker  on  April  7 
and  of  aDracheonMay22,  1916,  had  caused  him 
once  more  to  be  cited  in  an  Order  of  the  Day. 
The  night  before  the  visit  of  De  Beauchamps 
and  Daucourt  to  Essen  a  fleet  of  Zeppelins,  pro- 
bably 12,  had  crossed  to  England.  Two  were 
destroyed  in  Essex,  while  they  did  no  material 
injury  to  us.* 

As  for  the  Allied  bombardments  north  and 
south  of  the  Somme  which  had  commenced  on 
the  23rd,  a  French  artillery  officer  remarked  : 
"  A  terrible  drama  is  being  enacted  on  the 
Somme.  I  have  been  through  the  whole  of 
the  Verdun  battle  and  I  have  been  two  months 
here,  but  I  have  not  seen  anything  like  the 
havoc  wrought  by  the  Allied  artillery  yester- 
day. It  surpasses  anything  I  have  witnessed." 
It  speaks  for  the  stubborn  courage  of  the 
Germans  that  on  Sunday,  September  24,  while 
their  trenches  were  being  inundated  with 
high-explosive  shells,  they  took  the  offensive 
at  several  points.  A  British  post  east  of 
Courcelette  was  assaulted  ;  three  attacks  were 
delivered  west  of  Lesboaufs  against  our  men 
and  the  French  garrison  of  the  Abb6  Farm,  and 
troops  in  trenches  south  of  it  had  to  withstand 
a  violent  assault.  These  efforts  on  the  part  of 
the  enemy  were  all  unavailing. 

Monday,  September  25,  was  the  anniversary 

of  the  Battle  of  Loos,  which  now  seemed  as 

remote  an  event  as  the  Battles  of  Le  Gateau, 

the  Marne,   and   Ypres.     It   was   a  beautiful, 

clear  autumnal  day.     Not  a  cloud  was  hi  the 

sky  ;    a  golden  haze  rose  from  the  fields  and 

crept  over  the  ruined  villages  and  the  litter  of 

what  once  were  woods.     Anticipating  from  the 

frightful  violence  of  the  bombardment  that  the 

Allies    were    about    to    renew    their    general 

offensive  between  Thiepval   and   the   Somme, 

the  Germans  dispatched  in  the  early  morning  two 

flocks  of  aeroplanes  to  reconnoitre.    They  were 

peppered  with  shrapnel,  met  in  mid-air  by  our 

aeroplanes,  and  driven  back  followed  by  our 

pursuing  airmen,  who,  with  the  observers  in  the 

"  Ruperts  "  (kite  balloons),  directed  the  fire  of 

our  artillery.      The  balloons,  iridescent  in  the 

sun-light,  seemed  like  aerial  monsters  decked 

with  glittering  trappings  for  some  State  occasion. 

The  plan  of  General  Fayolle  and  Sir  Douglas 

Haig  was  to  break  farther  into  the  lines  of  the 

enemy  between  the  Albert-Bapaume  road  and 

the  Somme.     Should  success  attend  their  efforts, 

Sir  Hubert  Gough  was  the  next  day  to  storm 

*  See  Vol.  X.,  p.  192. 


Thiepval  and  the  ridge  behind  it.  The  whole 
night-long  guns  of  all  calibres  had  been  firing 
incessantly. 

At  12.30  p.m.  the  final  bombardment  before 
the  infantry  attack  opened.  The  din  was  in- 
describable. Perhaps  four  times  as  many  guns 


LIEUT.   GUYNEMER. 

as  had  been  in  action  along  the  whole  front  of 
the  great  Battle  of  Liao-Yang  in  the  Russo- 
Japanese  War  were  concentrating  their  fire 
on  a  belt  of  ground  only  about  14  miles  in 
length.  Most  of  those  guns  were  immensely 
more  powerful  than  any  employed  by  Oyama 
or  Kuropatkin,  and  the  front  of  battle  was  very 
much  shorter.  At  the  end  of  10  minutes  the 
deafening  noise  slightly  diminished.  The 
infantry  combat  had  begun. 

At  the  Battle  of  Loos-Vimy  the  efforts  of  the 
Allies  had  not  been  properly  co-ordinated,  the 
French  attacking  several  hours  after  the  British. 
No  such  mistake  was  made  on  this  occasion. 
The  tension  was  applied  simultaneously  to 
every  link  in  the  German  chain  of  fortified 
positions.  Several  systems  of  trenches  between 
the  Bapaume-Peronne  chaussee  and  the  Canal 
du  Nord  were  carried  by  the  French,  who 
arrived  in  places  at  the  banks  of  the  canal. 
East  of  the  road  the  French  captured  Hill  1 30, 
south-east  of  Bouchavesnes,  and  Hill  120  to  .the 
north-east  of  that  village.  Gradually  the 


•298 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


FRENCH    SOLDIERS    ENTRENCHED    IN    A    SHELL-HOLE    OUTSIDE    COMBLES. 


Germans  were  being  thrust  back  into  the  valley 
of  the  Tortille.  Still  more  important,  Ran- 
court,  due  east  of  Combles,  was  taken.  Situated 
on  the  southern  side  of  a  bare  narrow  plateau, 
one  of  the  highest  points  in  the  neighbourhood, 
it  dominated  the  great  wood  of  St.  Pierre 
Vaast,  the  edge  of  which  ran  about  500  yards 
to  its  east.  Part  of  Rancourt  was  traversed 
by  the  Bapaume-Peronne  highway ;  the  re- 
mainder of  the  village  was  clustered  about  a 
road  through  Fregicourt  to  Combles.  From 
the  centre  of  Rancourt  a  narrow  ravine  des- 
cended to  the  wood,  in  the  hollows  of  which  the 
Germans  had  installed  batteries  bombarding 
the  French  lines  from  the  Priez  Farm  to 
Uouohavesm's.  This  ravine  bristled  with 
machine-guns.  With  the  capture  of  Rancourt, 
which  formed,  as  it  were,  the  main  link  between 
the  wood  and  Combles,  the  fall  of  Combles 
could  not  long  be  delayed.  The  only  com- 
munication now  connecting  it  with  the  rest  of 
the  German  Hues  was  the  road  which  ran  up- 
wards through  Fregicourt  across  the  Bapaume- 
Perouin'  highway  to  Sailly-Saillisel.  As  will 
shortly  be  related,  the  last  of  the  other  roads 
by  which  the  garrison  of  Combles  could  be 
supplied  with  food  an<l  munitions  hud  been  cut 
by  tint  British  when  they  stormed  Morval. 

Fregicourt,   ft  hamlet   of     10    houses  with   a 


chapel  in  it,  still  remained  to  be  taken.  On 
the  24th  our  Allies  pushed  up  to  the  southern 
side  of  it,  and  evicted  the  Germans  from  their 
powerful  organizations  between  Fregicourt  and 
Hill  148,  which  is  on  the  northern  edge  of 
Rancourt.  Thus  the  connexion  of  Combles 
with  Sailly-Saillisel  was  snapped  and,  as  the 
British  were  by  now  in  Morval,  there  was  no 
longer  any  road  by  which  the  garrison  of 
Combles  could  be  reinforced.  The  enemy's 
sole  access  to  the  village  was  by  a  narrow 
ravine  twisting  north-eastwards  to  Sailly- 
Saillisel  and  the  Bapaume-Peronne  highway. 
This  ravine  was  under  the  fire  of  the  Allied 
artillery,  machine-guns  and  rifles. 

During  the  night  the  French  continued  their 
advance  on  Combles,  from  which  the  Germans 
were  dragging  some  of  their  guns  up  the 
ravine,  down  whose  centre  ran  a  little  stream 
While  four  French  aeroplanes  armed  with  guns 
tired  82  shells  on  the  convoys  and  enemy's 
organizations  in  front  of  Sailly-Saillisel  and  in 
the  wood  of  St.  Pierre  Vaast,  the  infantry  of 
our  Allies  stormed  Fregicourt.  Patrols  des- 
cended the  slopes  towards  the  Combles  ravine 
and  reached  and  seized  the  cemetery  of  this 
town,  situated  at  the  point  where  the  route 
from  Sailly-Saillisel  reaches  the  western  mouth 
of  the  ravine.  Other  Allied  detachments 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


299 


moved  up  to  the  southern  edge  of  Combles. 
One  of  them  captured  a  trench  at  the  south- 
west end  and  in  it  a  company  of  Germans. 
The  unwouuded  prisoners  taken  already 
amounted  to  800.  Violent  counter-attacks 
delivered  at  nightfall  against  the  French  right 
between  the  Bapaume-Peronne  highway  and 
the  Somme,  with  a  view  to  forcing  the  French 
to  suspend  their  movement  on  Combles,  had 
been  bloodily  repulsed. 

It  is  now  time  to  describe  the  operations  on 
the  25th  of  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson's  army, 
which  prolonged  the  Allied  line  from  the  wood 
of  Leuze  above  Combles  on  the  west  to  Martin - 
puich.  Among  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson's  ob- 
jectives were  the  villages  of  Morval — which, 
as  we  have  seen,  was  on  one  of  the  roads  used 
by  the  Germans  to  supply  Combles — of  Les- 
boeufs  to  the  north-north-west  of  Morval  on 
the  Ginchy-Le  Transloy  road,  and  of  Gueude- 
court  farther  down  the  slope  on  the  way  to 
Bapaume.  A  belt  of  country  about  1,000 
yards  deep  curving  round  the  north  of  Flers, 
which  is  south-west  of  Gueudecourt,  to  a 
point  mid-way  between  Flers  and  Martinpuich, 
was  also  to  be  cleared  of  the  enemy.  The 
battle-front  was  six  miles  long. 

Morval,  it  will  be  recollected,  stands  on  the 
height  north  of  Combles,  which  lies  below  it  at 
the  bottom  of  the  valley.  With  its  subterranean 
quarries,  trenches  and  wire  entanglements,  it 


was  a  formidable  obstacle.  The  Germans  still 
held  part  of  the  wood  of  Bouleaux,  north  of  the 
wood  of  Leuze.  Their  machine  guns  lined  two 
trenches,  "  Lemco  "  and  "  Bovril,"  south-west 
of  Morval,  and  two  sunken  roads  leading  from 
the  village  to  Lesboaufs.  After  the  tremendous 
bombardment  already  described  the  British 
infantry,  at  12.30  p.m.  on  the  25th,  advanced 
to  the  attack.  The  enemy  expected  that  the 
wood  of  Bouleaux  would  be  assaulted,  but  our 
efforts  at  this  point  were  confined  to  seizing  two 
trenches  west  of  it.  Nearly  at  right  angles  to 
these  was  an  embankment  pitted  with  deep 
dug-outs,  held  by  a  large  force  equipped  with 
machine-guns  and  minenwerfer.  Here  the 


[Official  phalLgraph. 

GERMAN    GUN    EMPLACEMENT    AT 
COMBLES. 


SHATTERED    GERMAN    WIRE    ENTANGLEMENTS    AT    COMBLES. 


800 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


• 


THE    MAIN    STREET    OF    COMBLES. 


fighting  went  on  half  way  through  the  afternoon. 
Finally  the  dug-outs  were  cleared,  and  80 
prisoners  and  five  minenwerfer  captured,  to- 
gether with  a  great  store  of  shells.  After  dark 
patrols  entered  Bouleaux  Wood,  which  was 
being  evacuated  by  the  Germans  owing  to  the 
result  of  the  struggle  in  Morval. 

Meanwhile,  north-east  of  the  wood  our  troops 
simultaneously  advanced  on  both  sides  of  the 
Ginchy-Morval  road.  The  northern  sector  of 
Morval  gave  little  trouble.  At  the  approach  of 
our  bombers  the  garrison  surrendered.  In  the 
southern  sector  there  was  more  resistance.  The 
Germans  manfully  defended  the  "  Lemeo  "  and 
"  Bovril  "  trenches  and  a  trench  cut  from  the 
eastern  end  of  the  village  in  a  quarter  circle  to 
the  road  to  Fregicourt.  As  the  British  were  north 
and  the  French  in  the  Fregicourt  region  south 
of  them  the  position  of  these  brave  men  was 
untenable  and  they  began  to  dribble  off  in  the 
direction  of  Sailly-Saillisel. 

The  British  troops  to  the  left  of  the  detach- 
ments assaulting  Morval  were  equally  successful. 
Exposed  to  severe  machine-gun  fire  they  seized 
the  road  from  Morval  to  Lesbocufs  and  stormed 
into  the  latter  village.*  Some  of  the  men  swept 
up  the  road  to  Le  Transloy,  others  encircled  the 
village,  from  the  ruined  chateau  in  which 
machino-guns  for  a  time  continued  their  fire. 
Between  Lssbceufs  and  Gueudecourt  eight 

•  A  captured  German  Army  Order,  dated  September 
21.  emphasized  the  importance  at  that  time  of  the 
n.i-ition  ut  L-tlxeufs  a^  "the  last  protection  of  the 
artillery,  which  must  in  no  circumstances  be  lost." 


German  battalions  attempted  to  stem  the 
British  advance  but  were  quite  unable  to  do  so. 
"  My  men,"  said  a  Baden  officer,  "  would  not 
stand.  I  could  not  make  them  fight ;  they  had 
had  enough." 

The  attack  on  Gueudecourt  did  not  yield  such 
good  results.  At  the  point  where  the  Ginchy- 
Gueudecourt  and  Flers-Lesbo;ufs  tracks  cross 
one  another  a  German  redoubt  barred  the  way. 
In  the  neighbouring  shell-craters  groups  of 
Germans  with  machine-guns  assisted  its  garri- 
son. 

,  Before  the  village  on  the  west  and  southern 
sides  there  were  two  trenches  strongly  fortified 
and  protected  with  barbed  wire.  They  were 
known  as  Grid  Trench  and  Grid  Support.  The 
Ginchy-Gueudecourt  road  crossed  them  just 
below  the  village  in  a  deep  ravine,  which  at  this 
point  forked,  one  branch  passing  up  the 
western,  the  other  up  the  eastern,  side  of  Gueude- 
court. Across  both  branches  of  the  ravine  went 
the  road  from  Le  Transloy  to  Eaucourt 
1'Abbaye.  In  Gueudecourt  itself  were  machine- 
gun  posts  and  numbers  of  defended  shell-holes 
and  hidden  strongholds. 

Advancing  from  the  line  held  by  them  east  of 
Flers  our  men  closed  on  Gueudecourt.  The 
German  artillery  in  the  background  deluged 
them  with  shells,  and  the  redoubt  at  the  cross- 
roads swept  the  advancing  infantry  with 
machine-gun  fire.  From  a  redoubt  at  the 
junction  of  Grid  Trench  with  another  trench  a 
hail  of  bullets  proceeded.  This  redoubt  was 
eventually  carried  by  a  bombing  party,  but  at 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


301 


nightfall  we  had  not  succeeded  in  storming 
Gueudecourt.  West  of  this  place  Sir  Henry 
Rawlinson's  troops  secured  the  fortified  belt 
.ilready  referred  to  between  Flers  and  Martin- 
puich.  Apart  from  the  failure  to  capture 
Gueudecourt,  victory  had  everywhere  attended 
the  efforts  of  the  Allies.  Slowly  but  surely  they 
were  passing  from  the  basin  of  the  Somme  into 
that  of  the  Scheldt. 

During  the  night  of  the  25th-26th  the 
struggle  went  on.  The  sky  was  lit  up  from  below 
by  white  flares,  throwing  a  vivid  light  over 


parts  of  the  battlefield  and  showing  the  rims  of 
the  shell -craters  snowy  white.  Combles,  a  dark 
spot  in  the  middle  of  the  semi-circle  of  fiery 
explosions  caused  by  the  Allied  artillery, 
seemed  deserted. 

While  the  French  stormed  Fregicourt  and 
descended  into  the  cemetery  and  the  eastern 
houses  of  the  ruined  town  and  reached  those  to 
the  south,  our  troops  picked  their  way  down 
from  the  wood  of  Leuze  and  through  the 
abandoned  wood  of  Bouleaux.  At  3.15  a.m. 
on  the  26th  a  strong  patrol  with  machine-guns 


"CEUX    SONT    LES    ANGLAIS!" 
The  meeting  of  British  and  French  in  the  village  of  Combles,  September  26,   1916. 


802 


Till-:     Tl.MI-:s     HISTOUY    OF     THE    WAR. 


reached  the  railway  which  ran  from  the  Somme 
up  the  valley  and  ended  in  Combles.  Through 
the  gloom  they  saw  figures  approaching  them. 
One  of  these  drew  near  and  reconnoitred. 

"Ceux  sont  les  Anglais  !  "  he  cried.  The 
Allies  had  joined  hands  in  Combles. 

This  town,  which  before  the  war  had  con- 
tained 3,000  inhabitants,  had  been,  as  it 
were,  an  arsenal  for  the  Germans  at  the 
Battle  of  the  Sominc.  Most  of  the  stores  had 
been  previously  removed,  but  more  than 
1,800  rifles,  four  flammenwerfe.r,  and  thousands 
of  rounds  of  artillery  ammunition  and  of 
grenades  were  taken  by  the  British  alone. 
Fighting  continued  in  the  ruins  and  the  eaves 
under  the  village,  but  the  whole  town  was 
soon  entirely  cleared  of  living  Germans. 
The  dead  lying  in  heaps  bore  witness  to 
the  terrible  effects  of  the  fire  of  the  Allied 
guns. 

Besides  taking  their  share  in  the  capture  of 
Combles,  the  French  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
2tith  seized  a  small  wood  north  of  Fregicourt 
half-way  to  Morval,  and  also  the  greater  part 
of  the  enemy's  fortifications  from  this  wood 

RUINS    OF    COMBLES    CHURCH. 


to    the    western    border    of     the    wood    of    St. 
Pierre  Vaast. 

Uith  the  seizure  of  Morval  and  Leebceufs, 
almost  the  whole  of  the  high  ground  between 
the  Albert-Bapaume  and  Peronne-Bapaumc 
roads  came  finally  into  the  possession  of  the 
Allies.  The  Germans  in  the  apex  of  the 
triangle  Albert -  Bapaume -Peronne  were  every- 
where under  the  observation  of  the  British 
posted  on  the  captured  heights.  But  on  the 
Peronne-Bapaume  road  the  enemy  was  still 
entrenched  on  Hill  148,  just  north  of  Ran- 
court,  and  on  Hill  153,  east  of  Morval.  These 
hills  were  parts  of  a  winding  ridge,  cruciform 
in  shape,  on  which  Sailly-Saillisel  and  Saillisel, 
practically  one  village,  were  built.  The  road 
to  Bapaume  crossed  the  ridge  and  went  through 
Sailly.  It  then  descended  to  Le  Transloy,  ro.se 
again  at  Beaulencourt,  and  thence  descended 
to  Bapaume.  The  villages  of  Morval  and  Les- 
bceufs  were  on  the  eastern  slopes  of  Hill  154, 
north  of  Ginchy,  and  were  separated  from 
Sailly-Sallisel  by  the  ravine  up  which  most  of 
the  garrison  and  guns  in  Combles  had  been 
withdrawn. 

In  the  early  hours  of  Tuesday,  September  26, 
the  advance  on  Gueudecourt  was  resumed.  A 
Tank  had  been  brought  up  in  support  of 
the  infantry.  It  was  especially  useful  at  the 
point  where  Grid  Trench  and  Grid  Support 
crossed  the  Ginchy  road  in  the  ravine,  and  in 
reducing  a  strong  post  at  the  south-east  end  of 
the  village.  When  this  fell  Gueudecourt  was 


COMBLES,    AS    THE    ALLIED    ARMIES    FOUND    IT. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


303 


CHEERING    A    "TANK.' 


[By  permission,  from  the  official  Ancre  film. 


speedily  entered,  and  650  prisoners  were  taken. 
While  our  men  were  rounding  them  up  the 
Tank  proceeded  into  the  open  country,  and, 
something  going  wrong  with  its  machinery, 
it  was  surrounded  by  the  Germans,  who  pep- 
pered it  with  bombs,  shot  at  every  chink  in  it, 
•even  climbed  on  its  roof,  and  hammered  at  it 
with  the  butts  of  their  rifles,  the  crew  mean- 
time being  engaged  inside  in  repairing  the 
Tank  and  shooting  down  its  assailants,  who 
made  no  impression  on  it.  Possibly  the  Tank 
might  have  been  captured  had  not  its  plight 
been  perceived  by  our  infantry  who,  issuing 
from  Gueudecourt,  rescued  it.  Some  250  to 
300  dead  Germans  lay  around  the  Tank, 
evidences  of  its  effective  fire. 

Cavalry  patrols  pushed  beyond  the  village. 
Our  line  from  Morval  to  Gueudecourt  now  ran 
parallel  with  the  Bapaume-Peronne  road. 

In  the  afternoon  the  Germans  debouching 
from  Le  Transloy  flung  themselves  on  our 
trenches  between  Gueudecourt  and  Lesbceufs. 
Checked  by  shell  and  rifle  fire  they  were 
charged  with  the  bayonet  and  flung  back  in 
utter  confusion.  Another  counter-attack  was 
directed  on  the  eastern  corner  of  Courcelette 
from  the  warren  of  German  trenches  between 
the  sunken  Courcelette-Le  Sars  road  and  the 
Albert-Bapaume  highway.  It  was  temporarily 
successful,  the  enemy  penetrating  the  out- 
skirts of  the  village.  The  British  troops  rallied, 


and  bayoneted  and  bombed  the  intruders,  and, 
following  in  pursuit,  began  to  clear  out  the 
Germans  from  their  dug-outs. 

Between  the  British  and  the  Peronne- 
Bapaume  road  still  lay  the  large  village  of  Le 
Transloy,  from  which  the  counter-attack 
already  ^narrated  had  issued.  To  reach  Le 
Transloy  and  the  highway  our  troops  would 
have  to  move  down  bare  slopes  and  then  into 
and  up  the  western  face  of  the  ravine  under 
the  fire  of  the  enemy  on  the  Sailly-Saillisel 
ridge.  Nevertheless,  with  the  Allies  also  in 
Combles  and  the  French  in  Rancourt,  the 
German  hold  on  the  road  north  of  Rancourt,  on 
the  wood  of  St.  Pierre  Vaast  and  on  Sailly- 
Saillisel  was  becoming  every  hour  more 
precarious. 

To  take  Bapaume,  the  capture  of  which 
would  have  a  psychological,  as  well  as  a 
strategical,  effect  on  the  war,  it  was  not,  how- 
ever, necessary  to  move  from  the  heights  down 
the  highway.  At  Gueudecourt  we  were  but 
three  miles  from  the  edge  of  this  important 
town.  In  the  night  of  the  26th-27th,  Sir 
Henry  Rawlinson  pushed  his  troops  from 
Flers  on  Eaucourt  1'Abbaye,  on  the  road  from 
Gueudecourt  to  Le  Sars,  through  which  village 
runs  the  Albert-Bapaume  highway,  and  during 
the  27th  we  carried  trenches  north  of  Flers 
on  a  front  of  2,000  yards,  and  gained  a  foothold 
to  the  east  of  Eaucourt  1'Abbaye.  Our  lines 


304 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF     THE    WAR. 


TRENCH    MORTARS    FOUND    IN    COMBLES    VILLAGE. 


in  the  apex  of  the  triangle  Albert -Bapaume- 
Peronne  now  resembled  a  wedge  pointed  to- 
wards Bapaume. 

By  nightfall  on  September  25,  the  results  of 
the  offensive  conducted  by  Generals  Fayolle 
and  Rawlinson  had  been  so  great  and  the 
resulting  position  of  our  forces  so  favourable, 
that  Sir  Douglas  Haig  decided  that  the  moment 
had  now  arrived  for  Sir  Hubert  Cough  to  push 
on  northward  in  the  direction  of  the  Ancre, 
and  drive  the  enemy  out  of  Thiepval  and  off 
the  main  ridge  behind  that  village.  As  the 
ridge  commanded  the  valley  of  the  Ancre  it 
had  been  fortified  with  peculiar  care  by  the 
Germans,  some  of  whom  were  still  on  the  edge 
of  Mouquet  Farm.  In  Thiepval,  the  180th 
Regiment,  composed  of  Wurtembergers,  had 
been  placed  as  early  as  September  1914,  when 
the  race  for  the  sea  was  beginning.  An  apple 
orchard  before  the  village  formed  an  advanced 
work.  At  the  southern  end  of  the  ruins  was  a 
great  pile  of  red  bricks  and  raw  earth — all 
that  remained  of  a  chateau  occupied  by  a 
German  tenant  l>rt'»r<-  the  war.  It  is  signifi- 
cant that,  according  to  report,  its  large  cellars 
had  been  made  before  the  opening  of  hostilities. 
These  cellars  were  the  central  point  of  a  vast 
labyrinth  of  tunnels.  All  served  for  shelters 
and  storehouses.  A  sunken  road,  with  passage-; 


to  dug-outs  along  its  course,  ran  northward 
from  the  middle  of  Thiepval  towards  the 
cemetery,  which  as  usual  was  a  fortress  in 
itself.  On  the  bare  ridge  behind  and  to  the 
north  of  it,  at  a  thousand  yards  distance,  was 
the  Schwaben  Redoubt,  an  irregular  oval 
measuring  nearly  700  yards  long  by  300  wide, 
built  in  the  fork  of  the  roads  leading  from 
Thiepval  to  St.  Pierre  Divion  and  Grandcourt, 
both  villages  on  the  Ancre.  A  thousand  yards 
east  of  it,  and  connected  with  the  Schwaben 
Redoubt  by  the  Hessian  Trench,  was  the  Stuff — 
or  Stufen — Redoubt,  garrisoned  by  the  l.Vinl 
German  regiment.  These  fortifications  were 
furnished  with  innumerable  underground 
shelters.  From  the  western  end  of  the 
Schwaben  Redoubt  a  maze  of  trenches  de- 
scended steeply  to  the  ruins  of  St.  Pierre  Divion. 
Well-timbered  alleys  connected  the  Schwaben 
and  Stuff  Redoubts  with  the  village  of  Grand- 
court  in  the  valley  below,  and  a  couple  of 
hundred  yards  north  of  the  Stuff  Redoubt  was 
another  redoubt  called  "  The  Mound."  The 
whole  face  of  the  ridge  down  to  the  Ancre  had 
been  hollowed  out  by  the  Germans  during 
their  two  years'  occupation.  The  size  of  the 
caves  constructed  by  them  may  be  gathered 
from  the  fact  that  one  used  as  a  dressing 
station  and  hospital  contained  125  beds. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


305 


From  the  vicinity  of  the  Stuff  Redoubt  a 
trench  called  "  The  Regina "  ran  eastwards, 
parallel  with  the  Albert -Bapaume  chausseo 
to  the  road  which  proceeds  northwards  out  of 
Le  Sars  to  Pys  and  Miraumont,  the  village 
next  to  Grandcourt  going  up  the  Ancre. 
Between  Thiepval  and  Courcelette,- lower  down 
the  up-slope  of  the  ridge  and  to  the  north  of 
Mouquet  Farm,  which,  as  previously  mentioned, 
was  not  completely  cleared  of  the  enemy,  was 
the  Zollern  Redoubt. 

It  may  be  imagined  how  formidable  were 
the  barriers  from  the  Zollern  Redoubt  and 
Thiepval  upwards  still  barring  our  way  to  the 
valley  of  the  Ancre,  from  St.  Pierre  Divion 
eastwards.  The  whole  of  the  works  were 
heavily  wired,  and  the  lines  of  approach  to 
this  position  were  swept  by  the  fire  of  German 
batteries  from  the  high  ground  north  of  the 
Ancre. 

When,  on  July  1,  the  Ulster  troops  had,  in 
spite  of  their  great  gallantry,  vainly  assaulted 
its  western  face,  the  enemy  was  brimming  over 
with  confidence  in  his  own  courage  and  skill  and 
in  the  supremacy  of  German  military  engineer- 
ing. He  had  not  yet  seen  villages  as  elaborately 
fortified  as  Thiepval  wrested  one  by  one  from 
his  grasp.  By  September  26,  judging  from 
letters  found  on  soldiers  of  the  German  180th 
and  153rd  Regiments,  the  nerves  of  many  of 
the  men  hidden  in  the  dug-outs  on  the  Thiepval 
ridge  were  shaken.  "  We  must  reckon,"  wrote 
a  soldier  of  the  180th  Regiment  on  ther  morn- 
ing of  Sir  Hubert  Gough's  offensive,  "  with 


FIRING    THE    BOMB. 

the  possibility  of  an  attack  at  any  moment,  and 

we  are  in  a  tight  corner.    The  British  now  have 

aerial  torpedoes,  which  have  a  frightful  effect."* 

*  Large  trench  bombs,  or  possibly  Stokes  bomb.-. 


Another  soldier  of  the  180th  Regiment  put 
his  ideas  on  paper  (apparently  a  little  later  on 
the  same  day)  :— 

We  relieved  a  machine-gun  crew  who  had  the  only 
entrance  to  their  dug-out  knocked  in  by  a  shell  after  a 


HEAVY  FRENCH  TRENCH  KOMB. 

gas  bomb  had  fallen  in  it.  You  cannot  imagine  what 
misery  this  is.  Our  company  commander  was  gassed, 
and  is  now  in  hospital.  The  bombardment  has  begun 
attain  at  a  rate  to  make  a  man  dizzy.  I  think  we  shall 
soon  have  either  to  get  out  or  be  taken  by  the 
British. 

Men  of  the  153rd  Regiment,  which  was 
holding  the  Stuff  and  Zollern  Redoubts  and  the 
outskirts  of  Mouquet  Farm,  were  equally 
despondent.  Four  days  before — on  September 
22 — one  of  them  wrote  : — 

In  case  of  attack  we  are  not  in  a  position  to  defend 
ourselves,  much  less  to  attack — the  rifles  have  been 
dragged  through  the  mud  and  are  useless.  All  we  have 
are  bayonets  and  hand  grenades,  but  I  think  if  the 


306 


THE    TIMES    HIFtTOEY    OF    THE    WAP. 


"  T.mimie-  "  came  over  MO  one  would  put  up  a  figlu  ; 
I  he  ni'-n  would  •.'lixlly  go  over  to  them. 

And  on  September  25,  when  Sir  Henry  Rawlin- 
snu  awl  General  Fayolle  were  making  their  great 
push  and  Sir  Hubert  Oough  was  preparing  his, 
the  following  was  penned  by  another  man  of 
the  same  regiment : — 

\\e  arv  ul>out  an  hour  from  the  trenches,  36  of  us  in  a 
duii-out.  It  is  not  surprising  to  hear  that  men  are 
mining,  for  they  are  torn  to  piece"  ;  many  are  buried  and 
never  get  out  again.  Tt  would  be  better  if  German 
women  and  girls  could  be  here,  for  the  war  would  scou 
he  over  then. 

It  was  from  the  South,  from  the  Wunderwerk 
to  Mouquet  Farm,  that  Sir  Hubert  Gough,  on 
the  morning  of  the  2(ith,  delivered  his  attack. 
The  capture  of  Courcelette,  east  of  the  Zollern 
redoubt,  had  appreciably  lightened  his  task. 
After  a  very  severe  bombardment  our  troops, 
following  behind  the  ever-advancing  barrage 
and  accompanied  by  Tanks,  came  over  the 
parapets  of  their  trenches  at  12.30  p.m.  The 
right  wing,  passing  by  the  few  Germans  still 
hidden  beneath  the  outbuildings  of  Mouquet 
Farm,  whose  influence  by  this  time  was  of  but 
little  moment,  made  for  the  Zollern  Redoubt 
in  three  successive  waves.  As  they  charged 
forward  they  were  unexpectedly  attacked  in  the 


rear  by  enemy  machine-guns  which  had  been 
suddenly  hoisted  to  the  surface  at  some  out- 
building of  the  farm.  A  working  party  of 
pioneers  who  happened  to  be  near  dropped  their 
tools,  and  headed  by  a  young  officer  and 
followed  by  other  units,  rushed  for  the  guu 
emplacement  and  forced  a  way  into  th<;  dug- 
outs. For  six  hours  a  desperate  struggle  went  on 
in  the  tunnels  and  chambers  below  the  farm, 
which  stopped  all  attention  of  the  garrison  to 
outside  matters.  Finally  our  men  emerged  with 
.">(>  German  privates  and  an  officer  taken 
prisoners.  Meanwhile  the  Zollern  Redoubt  had 
been  stormed  and  prepared  for  defence  by  our 
men. 

In  Thiepval  itself  the  struggle  was  of  the 
fiercest.  From  the  apple  orchard  machine-guns 
played  on  the  advancing  infantry,  while  streams 
of  bullets  proceeded  from  the  chateau,  the- 
sunken  road  and  the  cemetery.  Passing  round 
the  eastern  side  of  the  village  our  bombers  got 
between  it  and  the  cemetery  and  then  turned 
back  and  entered  Thiepval  from  the  northern, 
end.  Slowly  the  surface  of  the  ruins  was 
conquered,  but  no  impression  could  be  made  on 
the  chateau.  Suddenly,  amid  wild  cheering 
from  our  men,  a  Tank  hove  in  sight,  its  guns 


WITHIN    A    HUNDRED    YARDS    OF    THIEPVAL. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAB. 


307 


BRITISH    ADVANCE    TO    ATTACK. 


firing  their  hardest.  A  hail  of  shot  pattered 
ineffectually  on  its  sides  ;  bombs  burst  on  them 
but  did  not  penetrate.  Nothing  could  stop  its 
onward  movement.  It  charged  the  mound  of 
red-brick  and  earth  ;  and  the  garrison  of  the 
isolated  chateau  despairingly  surrendered. 
Another  Tank  which  had  rendered  good  service 
reached  an  obstacle  over  which  it  could  not 
climb.  It  halted  and  became  for  the  nonce  a 
stationary  fort. 

The  Wurtembergers  driven  from  the  surface 
took  refuge  in  their  tunnels  and  caverns,  and 
for  hours  the  fight  went  on  with  bomb,  knife 
and  bayonet.  Loud  cries  mingled  with  the 
sound  of  the  exploding  bombs  gave  testimony 
to  the  deadly  nature  of  the  struggle.  Night  fell 
but  brought  no  cessation  of  the  contest.  By  the 
light  of  electric  torches  our  men  hunted  the 
enemy  from  one  lair  into  another,  and  it  was 
not  till  8.30  a.m.  on  Wednesday  the  28th  that 
Thiepval  was  finally  in  our  hands.  The  Germans 
had  believed  that  it  was  impregnable.  It  had 
been  defended,  not  by  raw  levies,  but  by  some 
of  those  troops  who  in  August,  1914,  had  swept 
victoriously  through  Belgium  and  who  had  had 
many  months  in  which  to  prepare  their  strong- 
holds without  much  interruption  by  fighting. 

The  cemetery  of  Thiepval,  the  Schwaben 
Redoubt,  and  the  Stuff  Redoubt,  with  the 
trenches  binding  them  together,  had  still  to  be 
carried  before  the  summit  of  the  Thiepval 
salient  would  be  securely  held.  From  this  chain 


of  fortified  works  the  enemy  descended  again 
and  again  into  the  ruins  of  the  village,  each  time 
being  beaten  back  with  heavy  loss.  On  the  27th 
we  resumed  the  offensive.  The  south  and  west 
sides  of  the  Stuff  Redoubt  were  carried,  together 
with  the  trench  connecting  it  with  the  Schwaben 
Redoubt.  During  the  afternoon  the  latter  was 
assaulted  and,  in  spite  of  desperate  resistance, 
the  southern  face  of  it  was  captured  and  our 
patrols  pushed  to  the  northern  face  and  towards 
St.  Pierre  Divion.  The  next  clay  (September  28) 
our  guns  concentrated  on  the  cemetery  of 
Thi'pval,  the  Schwaben  Redoubt,  and  the 
neighbouring  work  known  as  the  Crucifix.  A 
Times  correspondent  who  was  present  gave  a 
graphic  description  of  the  barrage  of  gun-fire 
and  the  subsequent  assault  : — 

Beyond  the  little  company  of  ragged  trees  and  mottled 
patch  of  ground  which  are  all  that  there  is  of  Thiepval 
we  saw  the  region  of  the  Cemetery — marked  by  another 
small  company  of  tattered  tree-stumps — and  all  the  rise 
beyond  where  the  Crucifix  was  and  the  Redoubt  lay, 
disappear  in  an  instant  behind  the  dreadful  veil.  The 
barrage  lifted  for  a  moment,  and  we  knew  that  the 
infantry  were  going  into  that  hell  of  smoke  and  fire  and 
death.  We  saw  the  cloud  spread  northward  as  our  guns 
increased  their  range  to  positions  beyond,  and,  as  the 
wind  drifted  the  smoke  away,  the  region  on  which  our 
storm  had  first  broken  came  out  peacefully  into  th« 
sunlight  again.  Our  men  had  gone  beyond  it. 

Presently  on  that  same  region  the  enemy's  shells  began 
falling — sure  sign  that  it  was  our  ground  now  and  not  his 
— and  still  the  tide  of  battle  moved  on.  Ever  northward 
the  curtain  of  our  bursting  shells  passed  steadily,  until  it 
engulfed  only  the  farther  side  of  the  Redoubt  and  down 
to  the  German  first  line  on  the  Ancre  ;  and  there  it  hunt;. 
Between  it  and  us  the  enemy's  shells  dropped  in  increas- 
ing numbers,  on  Thiepval,  on  the  ground  which  our  men 


808 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


I 


OS 

u 

2: 

S 

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DM 

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W 

S 
S 

O 

C/3 

CD 

B 

Z 

O 


Z 

j 

- 
> 
u 

a 

X 
H 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


309 


had  just  swept  over,  and  at  largo  over  tho  middle  distance 
and  the  foreground  of  the  picture.  But  always  the 
centre  of  the  fight  hung  at  the  farther  side,  where  the  last 
slope  from  the  high  ground  of  the  ridge  goes  down  to 
the  valley. 

Well  into  the  afternoon  we  watched,  and  then  went 
to  meet  the  wounded,  to  seek  prisoners,  to  find  anyone 
who  could  tell  us  of  what  was  happening  behind  the  pall. 
But  I  still  know  nothing  definite  beyond  what  we  saw 
ourselves.  We  broke  through  the  position  at  the 
Cemetery  and  stormed  into  the  Redoubt.  Fighting 
there  appears  to  be  still  going  on.  All  the  ground  from 
here  down  to  the  valley  is  a  maze  of  trenches,  the  German 
front  line  which  he  has  held  for  two  years  and  all  the 
support  lines  and  communication  trenches  and  strong 
points  with  which  in  that  time  he  has  supplied  himself. 
Among  these  trenches  and  along  the  front  line  the  struggle 
still  rages,  and  British  soldiers  are  finishing  the  task, 
half  done  yesterday,  which  Germany  for  two  years  has 


Bapaiime,  and,  in  places,  but  two  miles  from 
the  Bapaume-Peronne  highway,  a  section  of 
which  from  Rancourt  southwards  to  beyond 
Bouchavesnes  had  been  secured  by  our  Allies. 
On  the  evening  of  September  27,  it  having 
been  discovered  that  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Courcelette  we  had  broken  through  the  last  line 
of  the  German  entrenched  positions,  some 
Canadian  cavalry  were  promptly  dispatched  to 
Pys,  a  hamlet  between  the  Ancre  and  Le  Sars, 
the  last  village  fortress  blocking  the  approach 
to  Bapaume  by  the  Albert-Bapaume  road. 
Two  lieutenants  and  24  troopers  proceeded 
straight  up  the  road  itself.  The  next  morn- 


CANADIANS    ADVANCING 


[Canadian  official  photograph. 

WITH    PICKS    AND    SHOVELS    READY  TO  DIG 
THEMSELVES    IN. 


believed  that  no  troops  could  ever  do.  Whether  they 
have  yet  succeeded  or  not,  and  wHether  this  last  corner 
of  the  ridge  is  ours,  we  shall  know  to-night. 

When  the  sun  set  the  ruins  of  the  cemetery 
were  in  the  possession  of  the  British,  and  we 
had  also  penetrated  into  the  Schwaben 
Redoubt. 

By  the  28th  the  prisoners  captured  by  the 
British  in  the  fortnight's  fighting  amounted 
to  10,000.  Sir  Hubert  Gough  and  Sir  Henry 
Rawlinson  had  reached  most  of  their  objectives. 
Almost  the  whole  of  the  summit  of  the  ridge 
from  above  Thiepval  to  Morval  and  beyond 
were  in  the  possession  of  the  British.  We 
looked  down  on  the  valley  of  the  Ancre  from 
the  south  side,  we  were  within  three  miles  of 


ing  two  patrols  located  Germans  in  Dastre- 
mont  Farm,  which  was  a  mile  beyond  our 
trenches  and  300  yards  south-west  of  Le  Sars, 
on  the  Albert-Bapaume  road.  There  was  a 
skirmish,  in  which  one  Canadian  was  killed 
and  a  second  wounded.  Another  patrol  dis- 
covered enemy  units  between  Le  Sars  and  Pys, 
and  still  another  threaded  its  way  across  the 
Regina  trench,  which  ran  north-west  of  Cource- 
lette and  parallel  to  the  Bapaume  road  nearly 
as  far  as  Le  Sars,  but  was  driven  back  by 
snipers.  As  a  consequence  of  the  reports 
furnished  by  the  Canadian  cavalry,  a  Toronto 
battalion  on  Thursday,  September  28,  advanced 
a  thousand  yards  to  the  north-east  of  Cource- 
lette, while  a  New  Brunswick  battalion  estab- 


810 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


lished  itself  close  to  the  south  of  the  Regina 
trench.  A  Montreal  battalion  also  took  part 
ill  these  operations,  the  machine-guns  of  a 
Brigade 'protesting  its  flank.  German  details 
counter-attacking  were  wiped  out  by  the  fire 
of  the  latter.  The  Borden  Battery  assisted. 
Three  of  its  guns  were  hit,  and  some  casualties 
incurred. 

While  the  Canadians  at  the  point  of  junction 
between  the  armies  of  Sir  Hubert  Gough  and 
Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  were  wedging  themselves 
in  north  of  the  Albert-Bapaume  road,  the 
Germans  to  the  west  of  Courcelette  clung 
desperately  to  the  northern  edge  of  the  Thiepval 
salient.  On  the  28th,  when  the  fine  weather 
broke  up  and  rain  began  to  fall  we  had,  as 
already  described,  captured  the  Thiepval 
cemetery,  and  broken  into  the  southern  face 
of  the  Schwaben  Redoubt.  During  the  night 
of  the  28th-29th  the  Germans  shelled  heavily 
the  lost  positions,  and  our  bombers  were  at 
work  on  the  remainder  of  the  redoubt  and  in 
the  Hessian  trench,  which  connected  it  with 
the  captured  Stuff  Redoubt. 

The  next  day,  Friday,  September  29,  rain 
fell  in  torrents,  but  the  fighting  still  went  on 
at  these  points.  A  counter-attack  drove  us 


from  a  section  of  the  Hessian  trench,  but 
later  in  the  day  this  was  recovered.  A  single 
company  in  the  morning  had  stormed  Destre- 
mont  Farm,  which  formed  an  advanced  post 
to  Le  Sars.  Four  miles  away  to  the  east  Sir 
Henry  Rawlinson's  troops  had  occupied  500 
yards  of  enemy  trenches  in  the  direction  of 
the  Bapaume-Peronne  road,  while  between 
Morval  and  Fregicourt  our  Allies  were 
approaching  that  chaussee.  Morval  had  been 
handed  over  to  the  French  in  order  to  facilitate 
their  advance  on  Sailly-Saillisel. 

The  activity  exhibited  by  the  Allied  artillery 
w~as  maintained  on  Saturday,  September  30. 
The  German  guns  replied  to  the  best  of  their 
ability  during  the  night  of  September  29-30, 
heavily  shelling  our  battle-front  south  of  the 
Ancre.  It  was  the  prelude  to  violent  counter- 
attacks in  the  vicinity  of  the  Stuff  Redoubt 
and  the  Hessian  trench.  The  last  of  them  was 
delivered  at  5  a.m.  on  September  30.  At  noon 
we  again  advanced  and  gained  the  whole  of 
the  trench  with  the  exception  of  a  small 
section  which  was  attached  to  the  sunken  road 
to  Grandcourt  on  the  Ancre.  This  road  had 
been  entrenched  and  enemy  reinforcements 
were  constantly  ascending  it  from  (Irandcourt 


IS! 


11 


LOADING    UP    LIMBERS    WITH    AMMUNITION. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


311 


HOWITZER    IN    ACTION    ON    THE    ANCRE. 


[Of/id  il  photograph. 


to  aid  the  Germans  in  the  Schwaben  Redoubt, 
Hessian  trench  and  Begina  trench  previously 
referred  to.  On  the  French  front  progress  had 
been  made  north  of  Bancourt  by  grenade 
fighting. 

Up  to  this  date  the  gains  of  the  British  since 
September  14  had  been  as  follows  :  * 

The  number  of  prisoners  captured  had 
swollen  to  26,735.  We  had  secured  27  enemy 
guns,  40  trench  mortars  and  over  200  mitrail- 
leuses. Of  the  38  German  Divisions — which 
at  full  strength  would  have  numbered  about 
450,000  infantry— no  less  than  29  had  had 
to  be  withdrawn  in  an  exhausted  or  broken 
state.  The  half -moon  of  upland  ground  south 
•of  the  Ancre  with  every  height  of  importance 
had  been  carried  ;  we  had  now  direct  observa- 
tion to  the  east  and  north-east ;  and  the  enemy 
had  been  driven  back  upon  his  fourth  line 
behind  the  low  ridge  just  west  of  the  Bapaume- 
Peronne  road  between  Bapaume  and  Le 
Transloy. 

The  importance  of  the  three  months'  offensive 
was,  however,  not  to  be  judged  solely  by  the 
distance  advanced,  but  had  to  be  gauged  by 
the  effect  upon  the  German  numbers,  material 
and  moral.  Hindenburg  had  been  obliged  since 
September  15  to  reinforce  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Bavaria  with  twelve  new  divisions  or  roughly 

*  See  further  Official  Summary  of  October  3,  published 
iu  The  Times  of  October  5. 


100,000  infantry,  of  which  seven  divisions  had 
been  launched  against  the  troops  of  our  New 
Army.  The  enemy  had  used  up  his  reserves 
in  repeated  costly  and  unsuccessful  counter- 
attacks without  causing  the  Allies  to  relax 
their  steady  and  methodical  pressure.  Shelled, 
bombed  and  bayoneted  from  villages,  woods  and 
trenches  which  their  engineers  had  fondly 
believed  they  had  rendered  impregnable,  the 
Germans  were  at  last  beginning  to  doubt  the 
gain  of  any  decided  victory.  Some  extracts 
from  letters  or  diaries  found  on  prisoners  at  this 
time  will  show  their  feelings.  One  unfortunate 
wrote  : — 

We  are  actually  fighting  on  the  Somme  against  the 
English.  You  can  no  longer  call  it  war,  it  is  mere 
murder.  .  .  .  The  slaughter  at  Ypres  and  the  battle 
in  the  gravel  pit  at  Hulluch  were  the  purest  child's  play 
compared  with  this  massacre,  and  that  is  much  too  mild 
a  description. 

We  are  here  now  on  the  Somme  in  such  an  artillery 
fire  as  I  have  not  experienced — indeed,  no  one  has  in 
the  whole  war.  Cover  there  is  none  ;  we  lie  in  a  shell- 
hole  and  defend  ourselves  to  the  last  man.  He  who 
comes  out  of  this  fire  can  thank  God.  It's  frightful ; 
such  a  murder  here. 

I  have  not  been  through  anything  like  it  in  the  whole 
war.  It  may  well  be  called  sheer  hell.  It  is  unendurable. 

Another  in  hospital  said  :  "  We  are  already  sick 
of  the  damned  war.  .  .  .  My  feeling  about  it 
is  such  that  if  I  am  to  go  back  I  shall  serve  for 
three  weeks  and  then  get  ill  again,  for  there  is 
no  object  in  fighting  any  more."  Here  is  a 
picture  of  the  conditions  under  wliich  some  of 


812 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


SOME    OF    THE    PRISONERS. 


the    garrisons    of    the    subterranean    fortresses 

were  living : — 

i 

The  gallery  in  which  we  now  are  is  tolerably  well 
constructed.  ...  In  it  are  also  a  machine  gun  and  its 
crew  of  four  men,  two  sentries,  one  wounded,  two  men 
with  carrier  pigeons,  two  men  who  have  lost  their  way — 
altogether  29  men.  The  gallery  is  full  from  top  to 
bottom.  There  are  two  men  sitting  on  every  other  step 
of  the  stairs.  The  air  is  fearfully  bad  and  hot,  as  there 
is  no  proper  ventilation.  .  .  .  We  have  to  live  here 
for  four  days.  Several  of  us  were  ill,  and  fresh  air  was 
not  to  be  had.  We  dare  not  stick  our  heads  outside  the 
entrance,  for  enemy  airmen  are  continually  on  the 
watch,  and  the  artillery  sweeps  the  entrances  with 
shrapnel.* 

Most  of  the  prisoners  complained  of  the 
superiority  of  the  Allied  airmen. 

There  are  no  trenches  in  the  front-line  position.  The 
men  lie  to  a  large  extent  in  shell-holes.  The  enemy 
aviators  descend  to  a  height  of  about  80  metres  and 
fire  on  them  with  machine-,'runs  and  signal  with  horns. 
The  enemy's  aviators  are  far  superior,  especially  in 
numbers.  Our  airmen  are  powerless  and  are  put  to  flight 
as  soon  as  the  enemy  machines  approach  our  trench 
lines. 

Occasionally  a  German  relieved  his  mind  with 
hysterical  and  comic  abuse  : — 

\\  e  will  not  span-  our  insolent,  villainous  enemy,  but 
destroy  everything  that  e.imt-s  into  our  hands,  for  the 
•  •owardly  blackguards  see  that  they  cannot  do  anything 
with  us  in  the  trenches,  mid  so  now  their  aircraft  have 
to  fly  to  our  towns  and  there  destroy  our  poor  innocent 
women  and  girls — a  very  shameful  proceeding  on  the 

*    Mriiu-hrxlr.r  f;-i,,rilinn. 


part  of  the  cowardly  blackguards,  and  one  which  will 
stand  to  their  credit  later  on.  But,  thank  God,  we  can 
say  that  we  have  not  led  our  Fatherland  against  poor 
women  and  children,  but  with  an  iron  fist  have  raised 
our  weapons  in  the  fight  against  the  venomous  hosts  of 
our  enemy  and  have  nobly  and  justly  defended  our 
Fatherland,  and  so  that  we  hope  a  victorious  and  lasting 
peace  may  ensue. 

No  doubt  the  slaughter  of  unoffending  British 
citizens  on  land  by  Zeppelins  or  on  sea  by 
submarines  was,  in  this  egregious  person's  eyes, 
commendable.  But  he  howls  like  a  whipped 
dog  when  his  own  people  suffer. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  our  airmen 
never  intentionally  bombed  civilians.  They 
had  other  work  to  do.  "For  every  enemy 
machine,"  wrote  the  British  Headquarter  Staff 
on  October  3,  "  that  svicceeds  in  crossing  our 
front  it  is  safe  to  say  that  200  British  machines 
cross  the  enemy's." 

The  French  military  authorities,  alto 
summed  up  the  situation  at  the  end  of  Septem- 
ber, 1916.  They  pointed  out  that  at  the  time 
of  the  commencement  of  the  Somme  offensive 
the  Oermans  had  possessed  two  main  lines  of 
fortifications.  The  first,  from  500  to  1,000 
yards  in  depth,  was  based  on  the  powerfully 
organized  positions  of  Thifpval,  Ovillers-la- 
Boiselle,  Fricourt,  Mametz,  Curlu,  Frise  on  the 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


313 


Somme,  Dompierre,  Fay  and  Soyecourt,  and 
consisted  of  a  series  of  parallel  trenches — 
usually  three  in  number — between  which  were 
innumerable  shelters  for  men,  machine-guns 
and  ammunition.  Behind  it  came  a  second 
line  of  positions  from  Orandcourt  on  the 
Ancre,  through  Pozieres,  the  two  Bazentins, 
Longueval,  Guillemont,  Maurepas,  and  across 
the  Somme  to  Herbecourt,  and  from  Herbe- 


court  southwards  through  Assevillers  and 
Belloy  en  Santerre  to  Ablaincourt.  Between 
the  first  and  second  lines  were  in  places  systems 
of  intermediate  trenches,  and  along  the  whole 
front  of  the  second  barrier  ran  wide  barbed- 
wire  entanglements.  Farther  back  were  •  a 
series  of  other  organizations  constructed  during 
the  battle. 

Such   had    been    the    tremendous    obstacles 


GERMANS,    CAPTURED    BY   THE    FRENCH,    PASSING    THROUGH    A    TRENCH 
UNDER    THE    EYES    OF    THE    BRITISH. 


311 


THE    TIMES    HISTOPV    OF    THE    WAP. 


encountered  by  the  British  and  French  on  the 
25  miles  front.  Nearly  all  the  first  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  second  of  the  lines  had  been 
carried  between  July  1  and  July  6.  Between 
July  6  and  September  :i  the  remainder  of  the 


Official  photograph. 

DRAWING    WATER    FOR    COOKING. 

second  line  Had  been  occupied.  From  Septem- 
ber 3  onwards  the  Allies  had  continued  their 
offensive,  constantly  proving  their  superiority 
over  the  enemy.  Between  -Inly  1  and  Septem- 
ber 17,  the  French  alone,  continued, the  -icpcrt, 


,       DINNER-TIME    ON    THE    ANGRE. 


(Official  fkoloirafh. 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


315 


had  taken  30,000  unwouiided  and  4,500 
wounded  prisoners,  and  had  captured  144  guns 
of  which  more  than  half  were  heavy  pieces, 
a  number  of  trench  mortars,  about  500  machine- 
guns,  vast  quantities  of  shells  and  a  captive 
balloon.  The  Allies  had  conquered  a  zone  of 
territory  considerably  greater  than  that  won 
by  the  Germans  after  six  months'  fighting  at 
the  Battle  of  Verdun.  Up  to  September  17, 
no  less  than  67  fresh  divisions  and  17  fresh 
battalions  had  been  opposed  to  them.  The 
greater  part  of  these  divisions  and  battalions 


September  17,  or  with  the  operations  of  General 
Micheler's  Army  between  Ablaincourt  and 
Chilly.  Since  September  17  the  French, 
north  of  the  Somme,  had,  as  related,  captured 
Rancourt,  and  they  were  now  on  the  outskirts 
of  Sailly-Sailiisel,  while  General  Micheler's 
thrust  eastwards  had  rendered  it  more  and 
more  difficult  for  the  enemy  to  maintain  himself 
in  the  area  west  of  the  Somme  from  Ablain- 
court through  Barleux  to  Peronne.  In  the 
Biaches  region,  General  Fayolle's  troops  were 
already  in  tho  south-western  environs  of 


SORTING    THE'  MAIL    FROM    HOME. 


[Official  phjtograph. 


had  been  drawn  from  sectors  where  no  battle 
was  in  progress.  "  The  Battle  of  the  Somme," 
said  the  French  report,  "  has  destroyed  the 
German  will  to  conquer  before  Verdun.  As  the 
Somme  battle  has  developed  the  German 
attacks  on  Verdun  have  become  weaker  and 
weaker,  and  the  German  troops  that  were 
concentrated  before  the  great  French  eastern 
fortress  have  ebbed  away  regularly  toward  the 
Somme.  Better  still,  with  the  development 
of  the  Somme  battle  the  enemy  before  Verdun 
soon  changed  from  the  offensive  to  tho 
defensive." 

The  French  report,  it  will  be  perceived,  did 
not   deal  with   the   momentous   fighting   since 


Peronne,  and  from  the  east  of  Clery  and  from 
Bouchave,  nes  they  were  within  striking  distance 
of  Mont  St.  Quentin,  the  northern  key  to  the 
city.  The  points  of  the  blades  of,  as  it  were, 
a  pair  of  scissors,  which  crossed  at  Frise,  on 
the  Somme,  were  closing,  and  Peronne,  like 
Bapaume,  might  be  expected  in  the  near 
future  to  be  cut  off  and  compelled  to  surrender. 
Whether,  however,  Peronne  and  Bapaume 
were  secured  mattered  comparatively  little. 
In  this  warfare  of  attrition  the  great  question 
exercising  the  minds  of  the  Staffs  on  both  sides 
was  how  to  reduce  the  opponent's  effectives. 
Until  the  enormous  forces  yet  at  the  disposal 
of  Hindenburg  had  been  materially  reduced 


sir, 


THE     TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


• 
' 


INDIAN    CAVALRY    DISPATCH    RIDER    COMING    BACK    FROM    FLERS. 
Road-makers  are  at  work  among  the  wreckage  of  a  wood. 


by  casualties  it  was  idle  for  the  Allies  to  expect 
decisive  victories.  The  Frankfurter  Zeitnni/ 
of  September  27  boldly  asserted  that'  in  strategy 
the  Entente  had  won  nothing.  This  was  a 
criticism  derived  from  the  study  of  old  wars, 
when  battles  were  decided  by  piercing  positions 
or  outflanking  them.  .But,  by  September, 
1916,  the  test  to  be  applied  when  considering 
the  result  of  a  battle  was  almost  an  arith- 
metical one.  Had  the  balance  of  effectives, 
weapons,  and  munitions  shifted  as  a  result  of 
the  struggle  ?  Applying  this  test  to  the 
Battle  of  the  Somme  from  July  1  to  Sep- 
tember 30  the  answer  was  unequivocal.  The 
writer  in  the  Frankfurter  Zeitung  might  allege 
that  Hindenburg's  calm  course  had  not 
"  swerved  a  hair's  breadth  from  its  intended 
path  "  ;  but  if  that  were  true,  why  had  the  Batt  le 
of  Verdun  subsided  and  the  Germans,  after  t  heir 
prodigious  losses,  abandoned  their  offensive  ? 

The  movements  of  the  German  forces  in  the 
Western  theatre  of  war  during  the  Battle  of 
the  Somme  also  told  a  significant  tale.  At  this 
epoch  the  enemy  appears  to  have  had  in  the 
field  1!).'!  divisions,  of  which  117  consisted  of 
three.  .">7  of  four  regiments,  the  remaining  1!» 
being  of  various  si/.es.  One  hundred  and 
(\\enty-four  divisions  had  l>een  stationed  on 
the  Western  front.  Xow,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Battle  of  the  Somme.  from  .Inly  1 
to  .July"  '.I.  the  2f>  miles  long  line  of  en- 
treiH-hiMcnts  had  been  held  by  18  divisions. 
From  the  10th  to  the  .-ml  of  July,  15  of 
them  were  withdrawn  and  replaced  by  12 


fresh  ones.  In  the  last  week  of  August  no 
fewer  than  26  divisions  were  shuffled  from 
one  position  to  another  on  the  front  of  battle, 
and  in  the  third  week  of  September  six  di visions 
were  brought  up  to  the  Somme  from  other 
positions  between  Ostend  and  Miilhauscn, 
and  seven  divisions  retired  and  six  divisions 
which  were  resting  displaced.  Simultaneously 
two  divisions  were  withdrawn  from  the  Verdun 
region.  One  wns  sent  into  Champagne.  and 
the  other  into  Belgium. 

It  is  obvious  that  if  Hindenburg  had  not 
been  obliged  by  dire  necessity  lie  would  never 
have  imposed  the  immense  labour  involved  in 
moving  these  masses  of  troops  to  and  fro, 
especially  when  his  object  was  not  to  fight  an 
offensive  but  a  defensive  battle.  It  must, 
moreover,  be  remembered  that  the  extra- 
ordinarily complicated  character  of  the  lines 
north  and  south  of  t'he  Somme  rendered  ifc 
most  inadvisable  suddenly  to  send  new  troops 
to  garrison  them,  hi  the  struggles  of  enrlii  r 
periods  otlieers  and  men  could  quickly  under- 
stand the  features  of  a  posit  ion  which  they  \\ere 
called  upon  at  a  moment's  notice  to  oeeii|>\. 
but  here  the  nuv/.es  of  tunnels  and  treneho>. 
and  the  thousands  of  dug-outs,  required  to 
be  studied  for  days  before  their  tactical  value 
could  be  fully  appreciated.  To  rush  men 
ignorant  of  the  locality  into  the  labyrinthine 
entrenchments  was  to  court  disaster. 

The  truth  was  that  the  initiative  in  the 
Western  theatre  had  at  last  passed  from  the 
Germans  to  the  Allies. 


CHAPTER   CLXXVI. 

PERSIA  AND  THE  WAR. 


PERSIA  AND  ITS  POPULATION — AN  OUTLINE  OF  PERSIAN  HISTORY — THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  BRITISH 
CONNEXION — THE  SHERLEYS — JOHN  ELTON — PERSIA  AND  THE  NAPOLEONIC  WARS — TREATY  OF 

TURKOMANCHAI RUSSIA  AND  INDIA NASIR-UD-DlN THE  BENEFITS  OF 'BRITISH  INTERVENTION — 

BRITISH  CONCESSIONS — MURDER  OF  NASIR-UD-DIN — "  SISTER  MU/.AFFER  " — REVOLUTION  OF 
1906 — THE  CONSTITUTION — DEPOSITION  OF  MOHAMED  ALT — THE  ANGLO-RUSSIAN  CONVENTION 
OF  1907 — THE  SPHEBES  OF  INFLUENCE — POLITICAL  CONSEQUENCES — KVENTS  FROM  1909  TO  1914 — 
REGENCY  OF  NASIR-UL-MULK — MR.  SHUSTER'S  MISSION — RETURN  OF  MOHAMED  ALI — GERMAN 
INTRIGUE — PERSIAN  "  NEUTRALITY  "  IN  1914 — TURKISH  INVASION  AND  THE  GERMANS  IN  PERSIA — 
MILITARY  EVENTS  IN  1915  AND  1916 — SIR  PERCY  SYKES'S  MARCH — PERSIA  AFTER  Two  YEARS 
OF  WAR. 


IN  an  earlier  .chapter,  "  The  Invasion  of 
Chaldea,"  *  some  pages  were  devoted 
to  an  account  of  the  British  connexion 
with  the  Persian  Gulf,  extending  over  a 
period  of  three  centuries.  This  touched  the 
fringe  of  a  larger  question — the  relations 
between  Great  Britain  and  the  ancient  kingdom 
of  Persiar — but  touched  only  the  fringe  of  it ; 
for  though  the  northern  shore  of  the  Gulf  is 
mostly  Persian  territory  the  southern  shore 
is  not,  and  the  control  by  Great  Britain  of 
these  waters  and  shores  is  mainly  a  maritime 
question,  which  could  therefore  be  best 
treated  separately.  The  present  chapter  will 
deal  with  Persia  as  a  whole,  and  its  connexion 
with  the  war. 

In  the  first  place  it  may  be  desirable  to  say 
a  few  words  about  the  geographical  position 
of  Persia,  and  about  the  character  of  the 
country  and  its  population. 

Between  the  Mediterranean  on  the  west  and 
the  frontier  of  India  on  the  east  lie  the  terri- 
tories of  three  considerable  Powers — Turkey, 
Persia,  and  Afghanistan.  These  territories 
cover  a  tract  2,500  miles  in  breadth,  of  which 
Persia  occupies  the  central  portion — a  block 
900  miles  broad.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north 


*  Vol.  III.,  Chap.  LII. 
Vol.  XI.— Part  139. 


by  Russia  and  the  Caspian,  on  the  south  by 
the  waters  of  the  Persian  Gulf  and  Arabian 
Sea ;  and  its  area  is  more  than  five  times  that 
of  the  United  Kingdom. 

The  conformation  of  Persia  is  remarkable, 
for  the  bulk  of  the  country  consists  of  a  vast 
plateau,  with  an  average  height  of  nearly 
4,000  feet  above  the  sea,  surrounded  by  lofty 
ranges  of  mountains.  This  plateau  is  called 
by  the  Persians  themselves  Iran,  or  the  land  of 
the  Aryans,  and  it  is  known  by  this  name 
throughout  Asia.  The  classical  name  Persis 
was  derived  from  Parsa,  now  Fars,  the  most 
famous  province  of  Iran.  Naturally  a  country 
of  such  extent  is  not  one  uniform  tableland. 
Large  parts  of  it  are  comparatively  low-lying 
desert,  possibly  once  an  inland  sea  ;  its  surface 
is  broken  in  other  parts  by  rugged  highlands, 
or  by  lakes  of  immense  size  ;  and  beyond  the 
encircling  mountain  ranges,  near  the  northern 
and  southern  seas,  there  are  districts  which 
have  a  character  of  their  own,  entirely  different 
from  that  of  the  central  tract.  Nevertheless, 
the  description  given  above  may  be  regarded 
as  approximately  accurate.  Somewhat  the 
same  configuration  of  country  may  be  found  in 
Spain  and  South  Africa. 

The  climate  of  the  great  central  plateau  is 


317 


818 


THE    TIMES    H1STOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


319 


in  many  respects  agreeable.  The  average 
rainfall  is  small — perhaps  not  more  than 
10  inches,  and  the  air  is  extraordinarily  dry 
and  clear.  In  summer  the  heat  is  often 
great,  over  100°  F.  in  the  shade  ;  hut  owing 
to  the  dryness  it  is  not,  as  a  rule,  oppressive. 
In  winter  there  is  hard  frost  for  some  months' 
with  occasional  falls  of  snow  ;  but  the  sky  is 
generally  cloudless,  and  the  air  exhilarating- 
The  scenery  in  its  own  way  is  beautiful,  for 
though  the  greater  part  of  the  plateau  is  stony 
and  bare  the  clearness  of  the  atmosphere 
gives  vast  distance  ;  and  the  mountains  and 
plains  take  exquisitely  pure  shades  of  colour. 


in  Shiraz,  where  it  somewhat  resembles  sherry. 
Indeed  Xeres  is  said  to  have  derived  its  vine  and 
its  name  from  Shiraz.  Mulberries  abound,  and 
pomegranates,  apple  orchards  are  common,  and 
melons  of  various  kinds  are  cultivated  in  great 
quantities.  The  peach,  nectarine,  apricot,  fig, 
orange,  and  many  other  fruits  are  believed  to 
have  come  to  Europe  from  Persia.  Dates  are 
grown  in  the  low  country  near  the  sea.  The 
flowers  of  Persia  are  as  varied  as  the  fruits. 
Almost  all  that  can  be  grown  in  Europe  can  be 
grown  in  Persia,  and  it  is  difficult  to  imagine 
anything  more  beautiful  than  a  Persian  garden 
in  spring  and  early  summer.  Violets  line  the 


ON   THE    KARUN    RIVER. 


[Murray  Sftwart. 


The  great  white  cone  of  Damavand,  rising 
from  the  blue  range  of  the  Elburz,  may  be 
seen  against  the  northern  sky  from  the  plains 
a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  away.  More- 
over the  plateau  is  not  all  bare.  Among 
the  mountain  ranges  are  grassy  valleys  and 
stretches  of  woodland  watered  by  clear  snow- 
fpd  streams  ;  and  even  on  the  plains,  where 
water  has  been  brought  down  from  the  flanks 
of  the  ranges  by  underground  channels,  the 
picturesque  villages  are  surrounded  by  green 
fields,  and  shaded  by  lofty  poplars  and  planes. 
The  soil  of  Persia,  where  water  can  bo 
obtained,  is  in  many  parts  extremely  fertile. 
It  produces  excellent  wheat  and  other  cereals, 
tobacco,  cotton,  beet,  and  fruit  of  many  kinds. 
In  some  parts  of  the  country  grapes  are  almost 
as  common  as  blackberries  in  England,  and  the 
village  streets  may  be  seen  roofed  with  vines. 
Good  wine  is  made  in  various  provinces,  notably 


water  runnels  in  countless  numbers,  and  are 
followed  by  iris  and  lilac  and  laburnum  and 
roses.  Blackbirds  and  nightingales  sing  day 
and  night,  and  the  crested  hoopoe  and  blue 
jay  build  in  the  trees  and  walls.  Wild  flowers, 
too,  abound  in  the  mountain  valleys. 

Practically  there  are  no  navigable  rivers  in 
Persia.  The  torrents  which  pour  down  from 
the  mountains  in  spring  with  the  melting  of  the 
snows  lose  themselves  in  the  dry  plains  of  the 
central  plateau,  where  the  unclouded  sun  causes 
strong  evaporation.  One  river,  the  Karun, 
breaks  from  the  western  mountains  and  joins 
the  Shatt  al  Arab  in  its  course  to  the  Persian 
Gulf,  but  even  the  Karun  is  navigable  by  largf 
vessels  for  a  short  distance  only — about  1 1 0  miles 
— and  it  does  not  belong  to  Persia  proper — the 
plateau  of  Iran — for  it  takes  its  rise  in  one 
of  the  encircling  ranges.  The  inland  rivers, 
such  as  they  are,  were  evidently  at  one  time 


320 


THE    TIMES    H1XTOHY    OF    THE    WAR. 


utilized  freely  for  irrigation,  and  .-i-c  so  even 
now  to  some  extent  ;  but  the  main  resource 
oi'  the  country  for  this  purpose  is  the  winter's 
snowia.ll.  This  not  only  covers  and  directly 
nourishes  the  crops,  but  fills  the  flanks  of  the 
mountains  with  water,  which  is  tapped  a-id 
drawn  away  by  underground  irrigation  channels, 
or  "  kenatx,"  often  many  miles  in  length. 

The  population  of  Persia  is  small  for  so  large 
a  country,  probably  not  more  than  ten  millions, 
if  as  much  ;  and  though  the  numerous  ruined 
cities  and  irrigation  works  seem  to  suggest  that 
the  population  was  once  much  greater,  this  is 
now  disbelieved  by  those  best  qualified  to  judge, 


A  BOUNDARY   PILLAR  ON   THE  TURCO- 
PERSIAN    FRONTIER. 

who  doubt  whether  it  ever  exceeded  fifteen 
millions.  The  present  population  consists  of 
two  main  divisions — the  dwellers  in  the  cities 
and  villages  of  the  plains,  and  the  nomad  tribes- 
men who  wander  about  with  their  black  tents 
anil  flocks  and  herds  between  their  summer  and 
winter  quarters.  These  nomads  form  perhaps 
a  quarter  of  the  total  population,  and  hold  on  a 
more  or  less  independent  tenure  the  mountain 
tracts  into  which  they  retire  for  the  summer, 
though  they  all  call  themselves  Iranis  and  own 
t  he  suzerainty  of  the  Shah.  They  are  of  various 
races,  chiefly  Turks,  Lurs,  Kurds  and  Arabs. 
Some  of  the  nomads  are  of  good  fighting  stock, 


though  without  discipline  ;  and  indeed  it  may 
be  said  that  the  .Persians  in  general  make 
ellieient  soldiers,  for  they  are  a  hardy,  frugal 
race,  capable  of  enduring  much  exposure  and 
fatigue.  They  are  withal  amenable  to  disci- 
pline, not  wanting  in  courage,  and  remarkably 
intelligent. 

The  trade  of  Persia  is  small.  In  old  days. 
when  the  immensely  rich  commerce  of  the  far 
east  used  to  flow  to  the  markets  of  Europe 
through  Persia,  the  country  gained  greatly  by 
it,  and  became  itself  the  seat  of  considerable 
wealth  ;  but  this  state  of  tilings  has  long  passed 
away,  and  Persia  is  now  a  poor  country,  with  a 
total  foreign  trade  of  probably  less  than  ten 
millions  sterling.  Even  its  modern  silk  trade  has 
almost  perished,  and  its  once  flourishing  towns 
and  trade  roads  bear  every  mark  of  decay.  Xor 
does  there  seem  to  be  any  immediate  hope  of  a 
revival  of  prosperity. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  evident  that  a  large 
country  so  situated,  and  in  some  ways  so 
favoured  by  Nature,  can  never,  in  spite  of  its 
small  population  and  its  poverty,  be  a  negli- 
gible quantity  in  the  politics  of  the  East ;  and 
a  study  of  its  history  shows  that,  in  fact, 
it  has  from  the  earliest  times  proved  itself 
capable  of  becoming,  not  once  but.  again 
and  again,  the  centre  of  a  mighty  empire. 
Nothing  in  the  records  of  the  past  is  more 
striking  than  the  part  which  Iran  has  played 
among  the  nations  of  the  world,  and  unless  this 
is  understood  the  present  importance  of  the 
country,  decadent  as  it  seems,  can  hardlv  be 


RUINED  PALACE  IN  THE  FORGOTTEN 
CITY  OF  KOH-I-KOUADJA,  IN  SEISTAN 

realized.  Persia  may  be  now  merely  a  great 
nominis  umbra,  but  it  enjoys  throughout  Asia, 
on  account  of  its  ancient  power  and  civilization 
and  culture,  a  prestige  which  should  not  be 
undervalued.  It  would  be  impossible  within 
the  limits  of  a  chapter  to  do  more  than  glance  at 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


321 


THE    FORESHORE    AT    BUNDER    ABBAS. 


the  salient  points  of  Persian  history,  but  this 
much  at  least  must  be  done. 

It  may  be  said  that  Persian  history  emerges 
from  the  glittering  mists  of  Irani  legend  some- 
thing more  than  five  hundred  years  before 
Christ,  when  Britain  was  an  almost  unknown 
island  inhabited  by  Celtic  tribes.  Then  a  great 
conqueror  and  king,  Cyrus,  established  himself 
in  Southern  Persia,  and,  first  subduing  the 
Modes  of  the  north,  carved  out  for  himself  an 
empire  stretching  from  tho  frontiers  of  India  to 
the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean.  His  son  Cam- 


byses  added  Egypt  to  the  Persian  dominions, 
and  not  many  years  later  Darius  crossed  into 
Europe  and  made  himself  master  of  Thrace  and 
Macedonia.  How  he  and  his  son  Xerxes  were 
repelled  at  Marathon  and  Salamis,  and  Greece 
was  saved,  all  the  world  knows.  Then  gradu- 
ally the  strain  of  distant  conquests  told  upon 
Persia,  and  after  the  dynasty  of  Cyrus  had 
lasted  two  hundred  years  Asia  ceased  to  prevail 
over  Europe.  In  the  fourth  century  before 
Christ  Alexander  the  Great  swept  back  the 
Persians  to  their  own  country,  and  broke  to 
pieces  the  first  Persian  Empire. 


1 


PIER    AND    CUSTOMS    HOUSE    AT    BUNDER    ABBAS. 


Leva!  Frastr. 

139-2 


822 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


For  five  hundred  years  after  that  time  Persia, 
though  not  the  colossal  power  she  had  been, 
set  phiyed  tin  important  part  in  the  affairs  of 
the  world.  Under  the  kings  of  the  dynasty  of 
Seleucus,  Alexander's  general,  she  was  still 
great  ;  and  then,  under  the  Parthian  kings, 
sprung  from  the  country  about  her  north- 
eastern frontier,  she  carried  on  a  long  and  not 
unequal  contest  against  the  power  of  Rome, 


SULTAN    AHMED,    SHAH    OF    PERSIA. 

whose  dominion  had  extended  into  Western 
Asia.  The  Parthians  established  their  capital 
outside  Iran,  at  Ctosiphon  on  the  Tigris,  and 
they  were  finally  overthrown  riot  by  the 
Romans  but  by  the  Persians  themselves,  who 
ruse  ngain-it  them  two  hundred  years  after  the 
beginning  of  our  era. 

Then  once  more  a  purely  Persian  dynasty 
knitted  supreme  posver  in  Iran.  This  dynasty. 
the  "  Sassanian,"  ruled  Persia  for  about  four 
hundred  years,  and  raised  her  to  a  height  of 


strength  and  glory  such  as  few  nations  had  ever 
attained.  While  Britain  was  a  Roman  pro- 
vince the  Persian  kiii'*s  maintained,  as  the 
Parthians  had  done,  a  long-standing  warfare 
against  the  Roman  posver,  and  they  even  on 
one  occasion  took  captive  a  Roman  Emperor. 
Their  line  endured  through  the  early  centuries 
of  Christianity,  and  fell  only  when,  in  the 
seventh  century,  the  new  faith  of  Mahomed 
suddenly  burst  upon  the  world. 

The  Persian  Kmpire  was  then  almost  as 
extensive  as  ever,  and  its  wealth  was  great,  but 
misrule  and  decay  had  set  in  ;  and  though  the 
Arabs,  swarming  out  of  their  desert  sands  in  all 
the  fervour  of  their  first  enthusiasm,  found 
Persia  blocking  their  road  to  the  eastward, 
with  the  capital  of  her  dominion  still  at  Ctesi- 
phon,  she  was  no  longer  the  virile  and  efficient 
power  she  had  hitherto  been.  There  was  some 
severe  fighting,  for  the  Moslems  were  greatly 
outnumbered,  but  Ctesiphon  fell,  and  after  a 
few  years  Iran  itself  was  completely  subdued. 
The  religion  of  Zoroaster,  himself  a  Persian,  was 
then,  and  had  been  for  many  centuries,  the 
prevailing  faith,  but  most  of  the  Persians  now- 
embraced  Isla-n. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  follow  in  any  detail 
the  course  of  Persian  history  during  the  earlier 
centuries  of  Mahomedan  rule  in  Asia.  At  first 
Persia  was  merely  an  outlying  province  of  the 
Moslem  Empire,  and  was  ruled  by  governors 
under  the  Arab  Caliphs.  Then,  about,  the 
middle  of  the  eighth  century  of  our  era, 
Baghdad,  which  was  close  to  Ctesiphon,  became 
the  capital  of  the  Caliphate,  and  the  influence 
of  Persia  began  to  assert  itself  at  the  neu  -Court. 
Though  conquered,  Iran  was  far  more  civilized 
than  her  conquerors,  "and  there  opened  an  era 
of  culture,  toleration,  and  scientific  research,"* 
which  bore  witness  to  the  intellectual  superiority 
the  Persians  hail  established  throughout  Western 
Asia. 

That  superiority  remained  for  several  hun- 
dred years  tin-  main  glory  of  the  ancient 
kingdom.  As  the  military  power  of  the 
Caliphate  declined  Persia  became  the  prey  of 
various  conquerors  and  dynasties,  mostly 
foreign,  none  of  sxhom  raised  the  country 
to  its  old  imperial  rank.  But  during  that 
period  literature,  science,  and  art  made  at 
times  surprising  progress,  and  Persia  was  never 
perhaps  greater  or  so  great  in  the  influence 
which  she  exercised  on  the  culture  of  other 
countries — from  India  to  Spain.  Her  literary 

«    -Mui-  :   --111'  Cali|,h.-ite." 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY   VF    THE    WAE. 


823 


eminence  may  perhaps  be  judged  from  the 
fact  that  the  Persian  writer  best  known  to  the 
western  world,  Omar  Khiyam,  who  died  in 
1123,  is  regarded  in  his  own  country  as  not 
entitled  to  a  place  in  the  front  rank  of  Persian 
literature. 

About  the  year  1500,  after  the  throne  of 
Iran  had  been  occupied  by  Turks,  Tartars, 
Uzbegs,  and  others,  including  conquerors  like 
Chengiz  Khan  and  Tamerlane,  a  native  Persian 
dynasty,  that  of  the  Sufi  or  "  Sophi  "  kings, 
established  itself  and  won  for  the  national 
religion,  the  Shiah  branch  of  the  Moslem  faith, 
a  recognized  place  in  the  world.  The  fourth 
monarch  of  tliis  line,  Shah  Abbas,  ascended  the 
throne  in  1585,  and  held  it  for  40  years, 
being  thus  a  contemporary  of  Queen  Elizabeth 
in  England  and  the  great  Akbar  in  India. 
Shah  Abbas  more  than  held  his  own  against  the 
formidable  power  of  Turkey  on  the  west,  and 
also  reconquered  the  country  on  the  east  nearly 
up  to  the  frontiers  of  India.  Nor  was  he  only 
or  mainly  a  conqueror.  He  ruled  Persia  with 
firmness  and  justice,  and  raised  it  to  a  great 
height  of  prosperity.  The  remains  of  the 
roads  and  other  public  works  which  he  con- 
structed are  to  be  found  even  now  all  over 
the  country,  and  the  splendour  of  his  capital 
at  Ispahan  became  famous  throughout  the 
world.  Envoys  and  travellers  from  the  fore- 
most countries  of  Europe  came  to  pay  their 
respects  to  the  "  Great  Sophi,"  and  Iran  again 
held  up  her  head  as  one  of  the  most  powerful 
and  magnificent  of  the  nations.  More  than 
twenty  centuries  had  passed  since  the  rise  of 
the  first  Persian  Empire,  and  though  the 
dominions  of  Abbas  were  not  as  extensive  as . 
those  of  Cyrus  they  still  stretched  from  Baghdad 
and  Mosul  to  Kandahar.  The  influence  of 
Iran  stretched  much  farther,  for  throughout 
the  Mogul  Empire  of  India  the  very  language 
of  the  Court  and  the  camp  was  Persian,  and 
Persia  was  the  model  in  literature  and  the 
arts. 

For  a  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  Shall 
,  Abbas  his  dynasty  remained  on  the  throne,  but 
it  produced  no  other  great  ruler,  and  early  in 
the  eighteenth  century  its  power  had  greatly 
declined.  The  Turks  had  come  forward  again 
on  the  west  ;  Russia,  though  still  distant, 
was  beginning  to  threaten  the  northern  pro- 
vinces ;  in  the  ea=t  Kandahar  was  lost  ;  in  the 
south  the  Arabs  of  the  Gulf  were  harassing 
the  Persian  shore: ;  and  throughout  Persia 
the  old  military  spirit  seemed  to  have  faded 


away.  Finally,  in  1722,  the  Afghans  from  the 
east  invaded  the  country,  and  after  one 
half-hearted  stand  near  the  capital,  the  Shah 
gave  up  his  crown  to  the  Afghan  leader.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  greatness  of  Iran  had  fallen 
for  ever. 

Yet  within  the  next  twenty  years  Persia 
had  once  more  risen  from  her  ashes,  and  not 
only  resumed  her  place  among  the  great  nations 
of  the  East  but  found  among  her  people  a  man 
who  could  lead  her  armies  from  victory  to 
victory  and  make  her  again,  for  a  short 
space  at  least,  the  centre  of  a  mighty  empire. 


MIRZA    MEHDI    KHAN. 
Persian  Minister  in  London, 

The  story  of  this  revival  is  one  of  the  most 
romantic  in  the  long  course  of  her  national 
life.  It  cannot  be  told  here  at  length  ;  but 
in  a  few  words  it  was  as  follows.  Five  years 
after  the  Afghans  took  Ispahan  a  Persian 
robber  chief  of  Turcoman  descent,  Nadir 
Kuli,  who  had  gathered  about  him  a  body  of 
hardy  freelances,  became  aware  of  the  small 
number  of  the  invaders  and  determined  to 
expel  them.  Attaching  himself  to  one  of  the 
Shah's  sons  he  was  soon  joined  by  considerable 
numbers  of  Persians,  and  within  three  years,, 
after  some  fierce  fighting,  he  had  destroyed 
the  Afghans  and  gained  for  himself  a  great 


824 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


reputation.  He  then  turned  on  the  Turks, 
defeated  them  in  some  bloody  battles, 
and  carried  his  arms  to  the  Caucasus.  The 
Russians,  who  had  occupied  some  Persian 
districts  in  the  north,  now  withdrew  from  then1, 
and  Iran  was  free.  The  grateful  Persians 
thereupon  raised  Nadir  to  the  throne.  In 
three  years  more  he  had  conquered  Afghanis! an 
and  marched  into  India,  where  he  overthrew 
the  Mogul  Emperor  and  took  Delhi,  returning 
with  colossal  plunder.  Then  he  invaded 
Central  Asia,  and  subdued  both  Bokhara  and 
Khiva.  By  1740  his  conquests  were  as  exten 
aive  as  the  territories  afterwards  overrun  by 
Napoleon  in  Europe.  Unhappily  Nadir  Shah's 
character  then  rapidly  deteriorated,  and  he 
became  a  rapacious  and  bloody  tyrant.  At 
jast,  in  1747,  execrated  by  the  Persians,  whose 
idol  he  had  been,  he  was  murdered,  and  his 
dominions  fell  to  pieces.  His  reign  lasted 
almost  exactly  the  same  time  as  Napoleon's. 

After  his  death  Iran  passed  through  a  period 
of  turmoil,  until  in  1794  a  capable  but  blood- 
thirsty eunuch  named  Aga  Mahomed,  belong- 
ing to  the  Kajar  tribe,  made  himself  master  of 
the  throne,  which  had  been  in  dispute  between 
several  pretenders.  His  first  act  was  to  invade 
the  northern  province  of  Georgia,  which  had 
declared  itself  independent  under  one  of  Nadir 
Shah's  generals,  and  now  sought  the  protection 
of  Russia.  The  greater  part  of  Georgia  was 
reduced,  and  the  Persians  once  more  became 


masters  of  Tiflis  and  Erivan  ;  but  a  Russian 
army  of  40,000  men  advanced  into  the  country, 
and  it  would  have  gone  hard  with  the  Persians 
but  for  the  fact  that  at  this  juncture  the  Empress 
Catherine  died,  and  her  troops  were  withdrawn. 
The  rest  of  Persia  had  meanwhile  submitted  to 
the  eunuch  king,  and  Iran  was  reunited. 
Then  followed  his  assassination,  after  a  short 
reign  of  three  years  ;  but  in  spite  of  some 
revolts  his  nephew  and  heir,  Fath  Ali,  succeeded 
without  much  difficulty  in  making  himself 
Shah,  and  the  dynasty  of  the  Kajars  was  firmly 
established.  It  has  lasted  until  now. 

So  far,  in  this  short  sketch  of  Persian  history, 
no  reference  has  been  made  to  the  connexion 
between  Persia  and  Great  Britain.  It.  may 
now  be  desirable  to  show  at  what  points 
the  two  countries  came  into  contact,  and 
in  what  circumstances  a  connexion  which  was 
at  first  slight  and  transitory  became  close  and 
permanent. 

The  Persians,  as  mentioned  above,  had  in 
early  times  embraced  the  teaching  of  Zoroaster  ; 
but  always  deeply  interested  in  religious 
thought,  they  had  also  welcomed  Christianity, 
and  in  the  sixth  century  the  Persian  Church 
was  very  active.  It  is  said  that  at  this 
time  a  Persian  bishop  named  Ivon  visited 
England,  and  that  the  name  St.  Ives  is 
derived  from  him.*  Seven  hundred  years 
*  Sykes,  History  of  Persia. 


SHIRAZ:  THE  GATE  OF  BAGH  SHAH. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


825 


later,    during   the   reign   of   Edward   L,    after 
some   correspondence   between   the   Courts   of 
Persia  and  England,  Geoffrey  de  Langley  was 
sent  to  Persia  on  a  mission,  but  no  complete 
account  of  this  is  known  to  exist.     Again,  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  IV.,  the  conqueror  Tamer- 
lane, then  in  possession  of  Persia,  wrote  a  letter 
offering  free  commercial  intercourse,  and  the 
draft  of  King  Henry's  reply  has  been  preserved- 
Both  letters  were  carried  by  an  English  friar 
preacher  resident  at  Tabriz.     But  these  com- 
munications   seem   to   have   had   no    tangible 
result,  and  until  the  time  of   the  Sophi  kings 
England   and   Persia  had  practically  no,  con- 
nexion with  each  other.     Then,  the  spirit  of 
adventure  at  sea  having  been  stirred  in  England, 
and  a  lucrative  trade  opened  tip  with  Russia. 
Anthony   Jenkinson,   Captain   General   of   the 
Muscovy  Company's   fleet,   was   instructed  to 
open    up    commercial    relations    with    Persia 
as    well.      This    he    proceeded    to    do,     and 
starting    from    Moscow   in    1561,    three   years 
after  Queen  Elizabeth  came  to  the  throne    of 
England,  he  reached  Persia,  and  was  received 
by    the    then    Shah,    Tahmasp.     The    trade 
which  he  established  did  not  last  long,  for  Persia 
was  at  the  moment  passing  through  a  period 
of  revolt  and  anarchy.     Moreover,  the  storms 
and  pirates  of  the  Caspian  Sea  made  voyages 
extremely  dangerous.     In  1581,  therefore,  the 
venture  was   abandoned.     But   it   had  shown 
the    way   to    our   people,    and   had   attracted 
much  attention  in  England,  as  is  proved  by  the 
literature  of  the  time  ;    and  before  the  close 
of    the    century    a   fresh    attempt   was    made 
to    get    into    touch    with    Persia.     This    time 
it    was    made    not    by    merchants,    but    by 
"  gentlemen  adventurers,"  and  with  remarkable 
success.     There  are  few  episodes  in  the  history 
of  the  English  connexion  with  the  East  morn 
interesting    than    the    story    of    the    visits    of 
Sir  Anthony  Sherley  and  his  brother,  Sir  Robert, 
to  the  Court  of  Shah  Abbas,  and  of  the  influence 
which  they  exerted  over  the  young  monarch. 
It  will  be  found  related  by  Sykes,*  who  attri- 
butes  to   the   work   of   the   two   brothers   the 
friendly  spirit  with  which  Europeans  have  been 
treated   ever  since   in   Persia.     It   will  suffice 
to  say  here  that  Sir  Anthony  Sherley  found  the 
Shah's    Army    consisting     entirely     of    tribal 
horsemen,  who  could  not  hope  to  face  unaided 
the  trained  and  disciplined  army  of  the  Turks, 
then    the    best    in    Europe.     Sherley's    suite 
included  a  cannon  founder,  and  some  batteries 

*  History  of  Persia. 


of  artillery  were  now  added  to  the  Persian 
forces,  several  thousands  of  regular  infantry 
being  also  formed  and  (rained.  Such  was  the 
confidence  which  Sherley  had  sxicceeded  in 
inspiring  that  he  was  now  sent  by  Shah  Abbas 
as  Persian  Ambassador  to  the  Courts  of  Europe, 
in  order  to  invite  their  cooperation  against 
Turkey.  He  did  not  apparently  have  much 
success  in  this  mission  ;  but  his  brother,  Sir 
Robert— who  remained  in  Persia — became 


NADIR    SHAH. 

From  a  painting  formerly  in  the  possession  of 
Sir  John  Malcolm. 

Master  General  of  the  Persian  Army,  and 
greatly  distinguished  himself  in  several  success- 
ful campaigns  against  the  Turks,  which  ended 
in  leaving  Shah  Abbas  master  of  Kars,  Mosul, 
Baghdad,  and  many  other  places  far  beyond 
the  frontier  of  his  original  possessions.  It  may 
justly  be  claimed,  therefore,  that  Englishmen 
had  some  part  in  the  success  of  this  great  king 
and  conqueror,  who  raised  Iran  to  a  position 
such  as  she  had  never  occupied  since  the 
Mahomedan  conquest.  Meanwhile,  also,  the 
English,  coming  from  India,  had  established 
themselves  on  the  shores  of  the  Persian  Gull, 
and  in  1622,  acting  with  the  Persians,  they 
wrested  from  the  Portuguese  the  great  fortress 
of  Hormuz,  which  for  a  hundred  years  had 
secured  to  Portugal  the  command  of  these 
seas,  and  of  the  lucrative  trade  between  India 


326 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


[Loval  Frasir. 

OFFICIAL    RESIDENCE    OF    THE    GOVERNOR    OF    BUSHIRE,    THE     PRINCIPAL    PORT 

OF    PERSIA. 


and  Europe  by  this  ancient  route.  -  Practically 
the  fall  of  Hormuz  was  the  beginning  of 
England's  control  of  the  Gulf,  which  has  con- 
tinued until  now.  That  control  was  not  taken 
from  the  Persians,  who  were  no  sailors  and 
never  held  it,  but  was  established  with  their 
consent  and  cooperation. 

From  this  time  until  the  reign  of  the  con- 
queror Nadu*  Shah  there  is  no  striking  feature 
in  the  history  of  -the  British  connexion  with 
Persia  ;  but  it  is  satisfactory  to  find  that  in 
that  last  period  of  Persian  greatness  Englishmen 
made  themselves  respected  and  honoured  as 
they  had  been  in  the  days  of  Shah  Abbas. 
The  most  prominent  among  them,  the  one 
who  gained  the  confidence  and  favour  of  the 
Persian  monarch,  was  a  man  who,  like  Jenkinson 
two  hundred  years  earlier,  came  to  Persia  in 
the  interests  of  trade.  In  1739,  while  Nadir 
Shah  was  absent  on  his  expedition  to  India, 
and  his  son  was  ruling  Persia  on  his  behalf. 
one  John  Elton  determined  to  revive,  if  possible, 
the  English  trade  with  Persia  by  way  of  Russia, 
Taking  a  cargo  of  goods  to  Resht  on  the 
Caspian,  he  was  well  received,  and  obtained 
a  "  farman  "  or  order  couched  in  the  most 
favourable  terms.  Returning  to  Knglnnd,  he 
obtained  support  for  a  scheme  by  which  the 
Caspian  Sea  was  to  be  made  the  base  of  a  trade 
with  Persia,  Bokhara,  and  Khiva.  The 
Russian  Government  raised  no  objection, 
and  in  1742  two  ships,  built  in  Russian  terri- 


tory, were  laqnched  on  the  Caspian.  They 
were  the  best  ships  yet  seen  on  that  sea — vessels 
"  of  good  oak,  regularly  built,  well  fitted," 
armed  with  some  small  guns,  and  flying  the 
English  flag.  But  before  long  they,  not  un- 
naturally, aroused  the  jealousy  of  the  Russians, 
who  feared  for  their  own  trade,  and  when,  in  the 
following  year,  Elton  was  persuaded  to  enter 
the  service  of  Nadir  Shah,  who  had  now 
returned  to  Persia,  the  Russians  becamo 
actively  hostile.  It  was  a  curious  position, 
and  not  wholly  connected  with  trade.  The 
fact  was  that  Nadir  had  been  foiled  not  lone 
before  by  the  mountain  tribes  of  the  Caucasus, 
whom  he  was  trying  to  subdue,  and  he  thought, 
quite  rightly,  that  with  a  fleet  on  the  Caspian 
he  would  be  able  to  turn  the  range.  It  would 
also  have  strengthened  his  position  greatly 
in  the  Turcoman  country  to  the  east  of  the 
Caspian.  Elton  was  therefore  appointed 
Chief  Naval  Constructor,  and  given  the  title 
of  Tamal  Beg.  This  was  the  first  occasion 
on  which  a  Persian  monarch  had  shown  that 
he  understood  the  value  of  sea  power.  Not 
only  did  Nadir  attempt  to  become  master  of 
the  Caspian  in  the  north,  but  he  determined 
to  dominate  also  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  actually 
launched  a  small  squadron  on  these  southern 
wnters.  How  great  an  effort  this  entailed 
may  be  judged  from  the  fact,  that  Nadir 
transported  timber  from  the  Caspian  forests 
for  something  like  eight  hundred  miles,  right 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


327 


across  Persia.  His  deatli  soon  afterwards 
put  an  end  to  Persian  naval  enterprise  ;  but 
it  was  a  fine  conception.  Elton  meanwhile, 
with  infinite  toil  and  against  heart-breaking 
opposition,  had  succeeded  in  building  and 
launching  on  the  Caspian  a  twenty-gun  ship. 
He  survived  his  great  master  for  some  years, 
and  remained  in- Persia  until  he  was  killed  in  a 
local  rebellion.  But  the  Russians  put  an 
end  to  the  English  trade  across  their  territory, 
and  little  now  remains  of  that  venture  but  the 
fascinating  volumes  in  which  one  of  our 
traders,  Jonas  Hanway,  has  described  his 


extent  and  of  vast  commercial  importance. 
To  strike  her  there,  and  deprive  her  of  the  rich 
Eastern  trade  which  had  built  up  her  wealth 
and  power,  as  it  had  built  up  the  wealth  and 
power  of  every  nation  in  turn  which  had  become 
master  of  it,  seemed  to  him  the  best  if  not 
the  only  way  of  bringing  her  to  her  knees. 
At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  h« 
was,  therefore,  turning  over  in  his  mind  vast 
schemes  of  invasion  by  land  across  Western 
Asia,  and  meanwhile  supporting  as  far  as  he 
could  the  Indian  powers  still  hostile  to  her. 
One  means  of  raising  trouble  against  her  was 


[Laval  Frastr. 


BRITISH    RESIDENCY,    BUSHIRE. 


travels  in  Persia,  and  the  state  of  the  Court 
and  country  during  the  latter  days  of  Nadir 
Shah. 

Nevertheless  the  British  connexion  with 
Persia  was  not  to  be  limited  for  long  to  the 
factories  in  the  Persian  Gulf  ;  and  when  it 
revived  it  was  to  become  not  only  political 
in  character  but  permanent.  The  immediate 
reason  for  its  revival  was  the  far-sighted 
ambition  of  the  great  Napoleon,  who  had  long 
recognized  the  fact  that  the  vulnerable  point 
of  England  was  her  empire  in  India,  not 
yet  fully  consolidated,  but  already  of  great 


to  incite  the  then  ruler  of  Afghanistan  to 
invade  the  plains  of  India  as  Nadir  Shah 
had  done,  and  either  directly  or  indirectly 
this  means  was  tried.  Lord  Wellesley,  then 
Governor-General  in  India,  received  warning 
from  the  Afghan  ruler  that  the  invasion  was 
contemplated,  and,  conscious  of  the  danger 
that  such  an  attack  might  disturb  many  of  the 
Indian  powers,  L,ord  Wellesley  tried,  with 
success,  to  induce  the  young  Shah  to  bring 
pressure  on  the  Afghan  ruler.  But  this  was 
not  all.  It  became  known  that  France  and 
Russia  had  actually  agreed  upon  a  scheme  of 


323 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    W.I  If. 


joint  invasion,  under  which  a  Franco-Russian 
force  was  to  march  from  the  Caspian  by  way 
of  Persia  and  Afghanistan,  and  persuade  these 
powers  to  cooperate.  In  1800,  therefore,  an 
officer  from  India,  Captain  Malcolm,  arrived 
in  Bushire,  charged  with  the  negotiation 
of  an  agreement  by  which  the  Shah,  Fath  AH, 
was  to  undertake  to  keep  up  the  pressure 
on  Afghanistan,  to  exclude  French  influence 
from  his  country,  and  to  grant  increased 
facilities  for  British  trade.  Malcolm,  a  man  of 
remarkable  character  and  capacity,  was  com- 
pletely successful  in  his  mission,  and  a  satis- 
factory agreement  was  concluded. 

In  the  meantime  the  Russians  had  again 
turned  their  attention  to  Georgia,  and  in  the 
same  year  that  Malcolm  was  at  Teheran,  which 
had  now  become  the  Persian  capital,  the  pro- 
vince was  formally  annexed.  Though  it  had 
been  rather  a  tributary  than  a  part  of  tho 
Persian  dominions,  this  was  a  serious  blow  to 
Persia  ;  and  after  two  or  three  years  spent  in 
preparing  an  army  the  Shah  determined  to 
make  war.  In  1804  hostilities  began,  and  at 
first  the  Persians  had  a  measure  of  successt 
The  Russians  were  repelled  from  Erivan,  and 
suffered  some  further  checks.  But  the  Shah 


had  been  well  aware  of  tho  danger  he  was  run- 
ins;  in  committing  himself  to  hostilities  with  so 
powerful  an  enemy,  and  he  had  done  his  best 
to  obtain  help  from  England.  Hi.s  overtures 
were  not  successful,  the  British  Government 
being  slow  in  corning  to  a  decision  ;  and  in  his 
disappointment  the  Shah  at  last  made  up  his 
mind  to  throw  in  his  lot  with  the  French,  who 
had  been  trying  for  years  to  win  him  over 
In  1807  an  envoy  was  sent  to  Napoleon,  and 
found  him  at  Tilsit.  An  agreement  was  then 
concluded  by  which  the  French  and  Persians 
were  to  join  hands  against  Russia,  and  the  Shah 
further  consented  to  cooperate  with  the  French 
in  an  attack  upon  India.  Thus  by  the  pro- 
crastination of  the  British  all  the  results  of 
Malcolm's  mission  had  been  thrown  away. 

Not  only  this,  but  in  the  same  year  a  French 
general,  Gardonne,  appeared  in  Persia  with  a 
large  staff,  and  set  to  work  to  organize  the 
Persian  Army.  The  Peace  of  Tilsit  between 
France  and  Russia  had  meanwhile  been  con- 
cluded, and,  to  the  deep  disappointment  of  the 
Shah,  nothing  had  been  said  about  the  restora- 
tion of  Georgia.  But  it  is  believed  that 
Napoleon  and  the  Emperor  Alexander  then  dis- 
cussed the  project  of  a  joint  invasion  of  India, 


BOAT    ON    THE    CASPIAN    SEA. 


F  Murray  Stwaft, 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


3-29 


PERSIAN    SOLDIERS    ON    PARADE. 


and  there  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  Napoleon 
hoped  to  arrange  an  alliance  with  Persia  against 
England.  How  much  value  he  attached  to  this 
scheme  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  he  at 
one  time  contemplated  sending  his  brother 
Lucien  to  represent  him  at  Teheran.  It  must  be 
admitted  that  at  this  juncture  Persia  had 
regained  a  position  of  considerable  importance 
among  the  nations. 

Her  position  was  perhaps  not  raised  by  the 
events  of  the  next  twenty  years.  The  Russian 
campaign  went  badly  in  the  end,  owing  to  the 
incompetence  of  the  Heir  Apparent,  who  was  in 
command,  and  in  1813  the  Persians  signed  a 
treaty  surrendering  not  only  Georgia  but  many 
other  districts  and  towns.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  years  1808  to  1814  witnessed  a  series  of 
negotiations  between  Persia  and  England, 
which  ended,  after  some  rather  unseemly 
wrangles  between  rival  British  missions,  in  a 
treaty  which  secured  to  Persia  a  considerable 
yearly  subsidy,  the  promise  of  British  aid  in 
case  of  aggression  upon  her  territories,  and  some. 
other  advantages.  From  this  time  a  British 
Legation  was  established  in  Teheran,  Persia 
thereby  becoming  entitled  to  direct  diplomatic 
intercourse  with  the  Court  of  St.  James,  instead 
of  having  to  deal  with  the  Governor-General  of 
India.  The  arrangement  was  probably  a  mi.-.- 
take  from  the  British  point  of  view,  but  it  was  a 


gain  of  status  for  Persia.  Moreover,  such  hostili- 
ties as  occurred  between  Persia  and  her  old 
enemies  the  Turks  and  Afghans  during  the  next 
few  years  ended  with  a  fair  measure  of  success  on 
her  part.  But  unluckily  the  strong  feeling 
against  Russia  which  had  been  aroused  by  her 
success  in  the  former  war,  and  by  other  circum- 
stances, led  the  Persians  in  1826  to  enter  upon 
a  war  of  revenge.  They  had  at  first  consider- 
able successes,  but,  as  before,  they  were 
soundly  beaten  in  the  end,  and  the  war  was 
closed  by  the  Treaty  of  Turkomanchai,  1828, 
which  marked  the  beginning  of  a  new  era, 
for  not  only  did  Persia  make  further  cessions 
•  of  territory,  but  she  agreed  to  concede  to  the 
Russians  various  extra-territorial  privileges 
which  were  inconsistent  with  the  entire 
independence  of  the  country,  and  gave  an 
opening  for  much  interference  in  the  future^ 
From  this  time  dates  the  ever-increasing 
influence  which  Russia  has  exercised  not  only 
over  the  policy  but  over  tha  internal  affairs  of 
Persia.  The  terms  of  the  Treaty  led  other 
European  Powers  to  base  their  relations 
with  Persia  upon  a  similar  footing,  but  the 
geographical  and  military  position  of  Russia 
secured  to  her  a  special  predominance  which 
nothing  since  has  permanently  shaken. 

The  Treaty  had  another  effect.     The   Per- 
sians, deeply  mortified  by  the  loss  of  prestige 

139  —  3 


830 


THE    TIMES    HISTOHY    OF    THE    WAll. 


' 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


331 


involved  in  their  cessions  on  the  north-western 
side  of  their  country,  turned  their  eyes  elsewhere 
ia  the  hope  of  finding  compensation.  Turkey 
was  too  strong  to  he  attacked  with  much  hop*1 
of  success,  and  the  natural  result  was  that  the 
Persians  began  to  push  out  eastward,  with  the 
view  of  regaining  their  old  possessions  in  the 
country  lying  between  them  and  India.  This 
tendency  was  encouraged  by  the  Russians,  who 
found  it  convenient  to  divert  the  thoughts  of 
the  Persians  from  their  western  borders,  and 
were,  moreover,  not  disinclined  to  let  England 
feel  that,  any  action  on  her  part  which  crossed 
Russian  interests  in  Europe  could  be  countered 
by  threats  to  the  security  .of  the  British  do- 
minions in  Asia.  Great  Britain  was  not  slow  to 
recognize  that  a  new  situation  had  arisen,  and 
that  any  extension  of  Persia  eastward,  with 
Russian  support,  must  have  an  undesirable,  if 
not  dangerous,  effect  upon  her  position  in  India, 
for  the  Indians,  accustomed  to  irruptions,  from 
the  north-west,  looked  to  that  quarter  with 
constant  apprehension  or  hope.  From  this 
time  began  the  feeling  among  British  states- 
men in  India  and  England  that  Russia  had 
now  taken  the  place  of  France  as  a  menace  to 
India — a  feeling  which,  with  the  gradual 
advance  of  the  Russians  in  Central  Asia, 
became  stronger  and  stronger  until  it  led  to 
an  acute  and  ceaseless  conflict  of  policies 
between  the  two  Powers.  And  one  main  field 
for  that  conflict  was  Persia,  which  was  the 
greater  and  the  more  'powerful  of  the  two 
countries  lying  between  the  Russian  and  Indian 
frontiers. 

The  Persians  soon  entered  upon  their  eastern 
advance,  and  in  1833  they  laid  siege  to  Herat. 
But  in  the  following  year,  before  the  place  had 
fallen,  the  long  reign  of  Path  Ali  shah  was 
ended  by  his  death,  and  the  operations  in 
Afghanistan  wore  for  the  time  interrupted. 

It  is  a  curious  circumstance  that  at  this 
•  timo  the  Persian  Army  in  the  west  was  com- 
nianded  by  a  Scottish  artillery  officer,  Sir 
Henry  Lindsay  Bethune,  who,  coming  to 
Persia  with  Malcolm,  had  been  for  several 
years  in  the  Persian  service,  and  had  greatly 
distinguished  himself  in  the  Persian  war 
against  Russia.  The  new  ruler,  Mahomed 
•Shah,  marched  from  Tabriz  upon  the  capital 
with  a  considerable  force  under  this  officer, 
a-id  though  revolts  broke  ovit  in  various 
provinces,  he  succeeded,  after  a  victory  gained 
by  his  British  General,  in  completely  establish- 
ing his  power.  He  was  helped  in  doinc 


so  byan  Englishman,  Rawlin^on.  who  had 
lately  come  to  Persia  as  member  of  a  British 
military  mission. 

The  Russians  had  cooperated  with  the 
British  in  supporting  Mahomed  Shah's  claim 
to  the  throne  ;  but  it  soon  became  evident 
that  they  were  not  disposed  to  welcome  the 
British  mission,  which  was  on  a  considerable 
scale,  all  arms  of  the  Service  being  represented. 
Nor,  in  spite  of  the  help  he  had  received  from 
the  British,  did  the  Shah  show  any  inclination 
to  treat  the  mission  with  favour.  The  officers 
composing  it  were,  on  the  contrary,  opposed 


[Lovat  Frasfr. 

IN    THE    GROUNDS    OF    THE    BRITISH 
RESIDENCY,    BUSHIRE. 

and  thwarted  by  the  Persians,  and  after  three 
or  four  years  they  all  left  the  country. 

Meanwhile,  in  1837,  the  Shah  marched 
upon  Herat.  The  place  was  besieged,  and 
would  almost  certainly  have  fallen  but  for 
the  arrival  in  disguise  of  a  young  English  officer, 
Eldred  Pottinger,  who  filled  the  defenders  with 
his  own  indomitable  courage,  and  repeatedly 
beat  off  the  Persian  attacks.  In  the  following 
spring  the  British  and  Russian  .  Ministers, 
McNeill  and  Simonich.  both  joined  the  Royal 
camp,  the  former  doing  his  best  to  persuade 
the  Shah  to  raise  the  siege,  the  latter  giving  his 
personal  aid  and  that  of  a  battalion  of  Russian 
deserters.  The  Shah  now  threw  himself  entirely 


332 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


VIEW    AT    MOHAMMERAH. 


[If  may 


into  the  hands  of  the  Russians,  and  McNeill 
withdrew  from  the  camp  ;  but  after  a  final 
desperate  assault  had  been  repulsed,  with 
great  loss  to  the  Persians,  and  the  British  had 
made  a  hostile  demonstration  in  the  Persian 
Gulf,  the  disheartened  monarch  abandoned  the 
siege.  The  whole  episode  raised  the  reputation 
of  the  British  and  for  the  time  lowered  that  of 
the  Russians,  but  it  had  the  effect  of  bringing 
to  a  head  the  rivalry  of  the  two  Powers,  who 
from  "that  time  forward  were  regarded  through- 
out Asia  as  open  antagonists, -if  not  as  open 
enemies. 

It  led,  too,  to  a  most  unfortunate  expedition 
into  Afghanistan  from  India  on  the  part  of 
Great  Britain,  but  that  did  not  directly  concern 
Persia,  and  need  not  be  discussed  here. 

Lord  Palmerston,  who  was  then  in  power 
in  England,  had  throughout  given  to  the 
British  representative  a  loyal  support  which 
wits  proof  against  all  the  intrigues  and  attacks 
of  the  Shah,  and  set  a  good  example  to  future. 
British  Governments,  not  always  followed. 
But  the  Shah,  though  forced  to  abstain  from 
a  policy  of  open  hostility  towards  Great 
Britain,  remained  deaf  to  all  good  advice, 
and  when  he  died  in  1848  he  left  the  country 
in  a  deplorable  condition — the  treasury  empty, 
the  army  unpaid  and  discontented,  and  the 
administration  in  complete  disorder. 

Mahomed   Shah   was   succeeded   by   his  son 


Nasir-ud-Din,  a  boy  16  years  of  age,  whose 
accession  was  undisputed.  According  to  cus- 
tom he  had  been  Governor  of  the  northern 
province  of  Azarbaijan,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  are  mainly  of  Turk  descent,  and  speak 
Turki,  not  Persian.  The  army  was  largely 
recruited  from  this  province.  As  the  ruling 
dynasty  was  itself  sprung  from  a  Turk  tribe, 
the  Kajars,  and  had  throughout  relied  upon 
its  Turk  troops,  it  was  always  subject  to  out- 
breaks of  discontent  on  the  part  of  the  Persian^ 
proper,  who  regarded  themselves  as  a  superior 
people.  But  the  position  had  been  more  or 
less  accepted,  and  on  this  occasion  no  revolt 
occurred. 

The  young  Shah,  nevertheless,  had  his 
troubles  to  face,  and  at  the  beginning  of  his 
reign  the  country  was  considerably  disturbed 
by  the  Babis,  a  new  sect  whose  doctrines  seenied» 
harmless  enough  in  so  far  as  they  were  com- 
prehensible. There  were  some  Babi  risings, 
and  an  attempt  on  the  Shah's  life,  followed  by 
some  horrible  punishments  and  massacres. 
Whatever  their  faults  the  Babis  showed  the 
most  heroic  courage,  as  Persians  often  do,  ami 
gained  much  sympathy  by  it. 

Soon  afterwards  occurred  the  Crimean  Wrr. 
and  this  resulted  in  a  serious  breach  between 
Persia  and  Great  Britain.  The  Russians  had 
sought  the  aid  of  the  Persians  against  their 
old  enemies  the  Turks,  while  from  Great  . 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


333 


Britain  and  Franco,  to  whom  the  Shah  made 
overtures,  he  received  what  he  resented  as  the 
rather  contemptuous  advice  to  remain  neutral. 
He  did  so,  but  his  Government  got  up  a  quarrel 
with  the  British  Minister,  Mr.  Murray,  who  was 
grossly  insulted,  and  eventually  broke  off  rela- 
tions as  McXeill  had  done.  In  the  following 
year,  1856,  a  Persian  Army  once  more  marched 


upon  Herat,  which,  having  no  Pottinger 
within  its  walls,  was  at  last  taken  and  re-united 
to  the  Persian  dominions.  The  British  Govern- 
ment felt  that  this  action  could  not  be  condoned, 
and  sent  a  force  to  the  Persian  Gulf  ;  but  tho 
maintenance  of  Persia  as  a  buffer  between 
Russia  and  India  having  now  become  a  fixed 
part  of  British  policy,  no  attempt  was  made 


NASIR-UD-DIN. 

Shah  of  Persia,   1848-1896,  the  last  of  the  autocratic  rulers  of  the  country. 


334 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


at  a  serious  war  of  conquest.  Still,  some  troops 
were  landed  near  Bushire,  and  a  Persian  force, 
which  attacked  them,  was  beaten  at  Khushab. 
The  British,  under  Sir  James  Outram,  then  took 
Mohammerah  and  Ahwaz  on  the  Karun,  the 
Persian  Government,  meanwhile,  having  already 
sued  for  peace  and  signed  a  Treaty  at  Paris, 
by  which  they  agreed  to  evacuate  Afghanistan 
and  recognize  its  independence.  The  terms 
imposed  by  the  victors  were  extraordinarily 
mild,  and  the  result  was  to  improve  British 
relations  with  Persia. 

It  was  fortunate  that  the  British  Government 
had  taken  the  Persian  aggression  so  lightly, 
for  a  few  months  later  the  sudden  storm  of  the 
Sepoy  mutiny  broke  upon  India,  and  it  would 
have  been  a  grave  embarrassment  if  a  British 
force  had  then  been  locked  up  in  Persia. 

Sykes.  who  refers  to  this  point  in  his  History, 
observes  incidentally  that  the  Persian  War  led 
to  the  introduction  of  "  khaki  " — some  Persian 
troops  clothed  in  this  dust-coloured  uniform 
having  been  almost  invisible  at  a  distance. 
Khak  is  the  Persian  word  for  dust 'or  earth. 

Not  long  afterwards  began  the  great  advance 


on  the  part  of  the  Russians  in  Central  Asia 
which  caused  so  much  apprehension  in  India 
and  lias  so  seriously  affected  the  situation  of 
Persia.  At  the  time  of  the  Crimean  War  the 
Russians  had  not  subdued  the  mountaineers 
of  the  Caucasus,  and  in  Central  Asia  they 
had  practically  obtained  no  footing  at  all. 
Between  them  and  the  northern  frontiers  of 
Eastern  Persia  and  Afghanistan  Say  the  terri- 
tories of  the  Central  Asian  Khanates  of  Kho- 
kand,  Bokhara  and  Khiva,  and  the  Turcoman 
desert — all  sparsely  .inhabited  tracts,  but  vast 
in  extent.  Checked  by  the  result  of  the 
Crimean  War  from  further  expansion  in  other 
directions,  Russia  now  set  to  work  to  stamp 
out.  finally  the  resistance  of  the  Caucasian 
tribes,  and  that  being  at  last  effected,  she  was 
free  to  throw  her  weight  eastward.  By  1805 
she  had  beaten  the  first  of  the  Khanates, 
Khokand,  anil  after  capturing  Tashkent  had 
formed  in  that  direction  her  frontier  province 
of  Turkestan.  This  led  the  Ameer  of  Bokhara 
to  take  the  offensive  against  her,  with  the 
result  that  he  also  was  defeated,  and  lost  in 
18(i8  the  famous  city  of  Samarkand  In  the 


A    COSSACK    REGIMENT    IN    PERSIA. 


THE     TIMES    HISTOBY    OF    THE    WAE. 


835 


following  year  Russia  occupied  two  points  on 
the  Eastern  coast  of  the  Caspian,  against  the 
strong  protests  of  Persia.  From  there  she 
could  threaten  the  Turkomans  of  the  desert, 
arid,  on  the  other  side  of  the  desert,  the  remain- 
ing Khanate,  Khiva.  Provocation  was  not 
wanting,  and  in  1873  Russian  columns 
pushed  out  from  north  and  south  aud  closed 
upon  Khiva,  which  was  taken.  The  Khanates 
were  now  all  gone,  and  only  the  nomad  Turko- 
mans of  the  desert  remained  to  defy  her. 
Against  them  she  gradually  worked  forward 
from  the  Caspian  along  the  northern  border  of 
Persia,  and  after  suffering  one  severe  defeat 
at  their  hands  she  won  her  way  in  1881  to  their 
poor  stronghold  at  Geok  Tepe.  A  heroic  but 
hopeless  resistance  followed,  and  the  fort  was 
stormed.  Awed  by  the  slaughter  there,  the 
rest  of  the  Turkoman  country  submitted,  and 
by  1884  Central  Asia  was  in  Russian  hands. 
Thus  in  five  and  twenty  years  from  the  fall  of 
the  Caucasus  the  Russians  had  pushed  forward 
a  distance  of  a  thousand  miles  and  were  on  the 
border  of  Afghanistan.  The  effect  upon  Persia 
was  immense.  Her  prestige  was  greatly  im- 
paired by  her  exclusion  from  the  Turkoman 
country,  which  she  had  often  penetrated,  and, 
what  was  far  more  important,  Russian  territory 
now  marched  with  her  whole  northern  border — 
from  end  to  end.  It  is  true  that  she  was 
thereby  protected  from  Turkoman  raids,  which 
had  been  a  terrible  affliction  to  her  in  the  past 
It  is  true  also  that  Russia  had  effected  her  con- 
quests with  very  small  forces,  and  \vas  still  weak 
in  Central  Asia — where  she  could  not  dispose 
of  50,000  men.  But  that  weakness  would 
disappear  with  time,  and  Persia  was  now 
enveloped. 

In  the  meantime  England  had  not  been 
wholly  negligent  of  her  interests  in  Persia,  and 
though  she  did  not  strengthen  her  military 
position  she  had  in  various  ways  established 
a  considerable  influence  in  the  country.  Per- 
haps the  most  striking  enterprise  in  which  she 
engaged  was  the  introduction  of  telegraphs. 
During  the  Indian  Mutiny  the  need  of  direct 
telegraphic  communication  between  England 
and  India  had  been  severely  felt,  and  it  was 
decided  that  a  line  should  be  carried  across 
Persia  from  the  Turkish  frontier  to  Bushire, 
whence  a  cable  was  to  be  laid  down  the  Persian 
Gulf.  There  was  much  opposition  from 
Persian  officials  and  local  tribes,  but  by  the 
end  of  18f>4  the  first  single  line  had  been  com- 
pleted, a  performance  which  reflected  great 


credit  upon  the  British  officers  and  men  by 
whom  the  work  was  done.  A  Jew  years  later 
a  thorough  double  line  was  constructed  from 
London  to  Teheran,  across  Germany  and 
Russia,  the  Indo-European  Telegraph  Com- 
pany carrying  on  the  line  to  India.  The  great 
trunk  lines  led  to  the  extension  of  telegraphs 
all  over  Persia,  under  a  Persian  Minister  of 


A    LESSON    IN    THE    KORAN. 

Telegraphs  with  an  English  adviser.  Persia 
had  thus  not  only  been  opened  up  to  com- 
munication with  foreign  countries,  but  had 
been  greatly  helped  in  the  control  of  her  own 
provinces.  Throughout,  the  country  the  Britisli 
telegraph  officials  became  a  power  for  good  in 
many  ways,  and  their  work  was  greatly  appre- 
ciated. It  was  of  incalculable  value  to  Persia. 
Another  great  benefit  conferred  upon  the 
country  by  British  intervention  was  the 
definition  of  the  Persian  frontiers  on  the  east 
— first  between  Persia  and  Baluchistan,  and 
later  between  Persia  and  Afghanistan  in  the 
disputed  district  of  Seistan — -by  the  first  Director 
of  Telegraphs  in  Persia,  Sir  Frederick  Golclsmid. 
These  settlements  were  made  in  the  early 
'seventies,  and  were  afterwards  completed  by 
missions  under  Sir  Thomas  Holdich  and  Sir 
Henry  MoMahon.  A  small  but  increasing 
trade  was  thus  opened  up  between  India  and 
Persia  by  way  of  Seistan. 


886 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


The  later  part  also  of  the  reign  of  Nasir-ud-Din 
Shah  was  marked  by  considerable  developments 
in  the  relations  between  Great  Britain  and 
Persia.  It  was  a  time  of  continued  and  growing 
rivalry  between  Russia  and  England.  Notwith- 
standing this  rivalry,  which  led  to  the  constant 
thwarting  of  British  schemes  by  Russian  in- 
fluence, Great  Britain  obtained  from  the  Shah 
some  useful  concessions,  which  were  beneficial  to 
both  sides.  Tn  1888,  largely  owing  to  the  energy 
of  the  British  Minister,  Sir  Henry  Drumond 
Wolff,  the  Shah  agreed  to  open  to  commercial 
navigation  the  lower  part  of  the  Karun  river. 
The  value  of  this  concession  was  vastly  exag- 


sMerable  trade  was  developed,  arid  the  adjacent 
country  greatly  benefited,  so  that  "the  recent 
history  of  the  Karun  Valley  adds  yet  another 
pacific  triumph  to  the  long  list  already  won  by 
the  officials  and  merchants  of  Great  Britain." 

Another  concession,  grunted  in  1880,  was  for 
the  foundation  of  a  British  bank,  to  be  called 
the  Imperial  Bank  of  Persia,  with  the  exclusive 
right  to  issue  notes.  This  institution  had  at  first 
many  difficulties  to  overcome  ;  but  it  proved 
to  be  of  the  greatest  use  to  all  classes  of  Persians, 
and  to  the  Persian  Government  itself. 

A  third  British  concession  was  less  for- 
tunate. This  was  the  grant  to  a  company 


ON    THE    RIVER    KARUN. 


t.Viirra;. 


gerated  by  the  British  public,  for,  as  before 
remarked,  the  river  is  navigable  for  little 
moro  than  a  hundred  miles,  and  does  not 
reach  the  plateau  of  Persia  at  all.  Also  the 
concession  was  marred  by  the  proviso,  a 
proviso  not  only  destructive  but  opposed  to 
British  Treaty  rights,  that  no  buildings  were 
to  be  erected  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  such  as 
coal  stores,  warehouses,  shops,  caravanserais ; 
workshops,  etc.  In  spite  of  all  this,  chiefly  by 
the  tact  and  persistence  of  Messrs.  Lynch  Bros., 
who  opened  up  a  new  road  from  the  old  capital 
at  Ispahan  across  the  mountains  to  the  river, 
and  ran  steamers  for  a  time  at  a  loss,  a  con- 


in  1890  of  entire  control  over  the  produc- 
tion and  sale  of  tobacco  in  Persia.  This 
concession  affected  not  only  tobacco  growers 
and  sellers,  but  the  whole  people,  men  and 
women  alike,  for  in  Persia  everyone  smokes. 
Its  terms  aroused  general  indignation,  and 
t  \  entually  the  chief  religious  authority  published 
an  order  by  which  smoking  was  wholly  forbidden 
throughout  the  country.  The  order  was  im- 
plicitly obeyed,  except,  so  far  as  is  known,  by 
one  man,  the  Minister  of  Telegraphs,  whose 
friendship  for  the  English  was  so  great  that  ho 
gallantly  sat  on  his  open  balcony  in  the  capital 
smoking  his  "  kalian."  No  one  else  dared  to  do 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


837 


so,  and  as  disturbances  were  breaking  out  the 
Shall  cancelled  the  concession,  agreeing  to  pay 
a  sum  of  £500,000  to  the  company  as  com- 
pensation 

The  state  of  affairs  in  Persia  during  the  next 
five  years,  the  closing  years  of  the  Shah's  life, 
and  of  the  old  order  in  Persia,  was  not.  entirely 
free  from  trouble  ;  but  it  was  one  to  which 
many  Persians  must  have  since  looked  back 
with  deep  regret.  The  independence  of  Persia 
was  ostensibly  complete,  and  the  Shah  was  an 
absolute  monarch,  with  no  constitutional  limits 
whatever  to  his  power  over  the  property  and 
lives  of  his  subjects.  In  practice  the  treaty  with 
the  Russians  and  subsequent  events  had  some- 
what impaired  Persian  independence,  and  the 
Shah's  sovereign  rights  within  his  kingdom  were 
limited  by  two  circumstances  which  he  could 
not  afford  to  disregard — namely,  the  possibility 
of  popular  revolt  against  oppression,  and  the 
power  of  the  priesthood,  who  administered  a 
large  part  of  the  law  and  had  great  influence  in 
other  ways.  Nasir-ud-Din,  a. thoroughly  virile 
man,  was  in  many  respects  a  strong  ruler.  Well 
built  and  well  featured,  he  lived  an  outdoor 
life,  was  an  extraordinarily  good  shot,  and  if,  as 
was  said,  he  loved  wine  and  women,  he  always 
kept  himself  in  vigorous  health.  He  was  also  a 
man  of  exceptional  intelligence  and  knowledge. 
Like  the  Tudors,  he  knew  when  to  yield,  and 
could  do  so  ungrudgingly,  which  made  him  all 
the  stronger.  He  had  behind  him  the  experience 
of  more  than  forty  years  on  the  throne.  It  must 
be  admitted  that  he  had  his  faults  :  he  was 
somewhat  rapacious  and  selfish,  putting  his  own 
pleasures  first  and  leaving  the  administration 
of  the  country  too  much  to  others,  whom  he 
well  knew  to  be  corrupt  if  not  incapable.  The 
Persian  Army,  which  long  after  the  beginning  of 
the  century  had  been  capable  of  making  a  good 
fight  against  Russian  troops,  and  had  generally 
held  its  own  against  the  Turk  and  the  Afghan, 
was  now  practically  non-existent— a  few 
thousand  men  without  pay  or  discipline  or 
modern  arms.  The  only  efficient  force  in  Persia 
was  a  small  body  of  so-called  Cossacks,  officered 
by  Russians,  which  had  been  formed  in  1882, 
after  Great  Britain  had  declined  to  lend 
officers  for  a  similar  purpose.  The  country 
was  badly  ruled,  the  practice  being  to  put  up 
to  auction  every  year  the  farm  of  the  several 
provinces,  and  leave  the  Governors  to  recoup 
themselves  as  they  pleased  for  the  sums  tliey 
had  paid  to  the  Shah  and  his  officials.  The 
customs  were  also  farmed,  and  tho  collection  of 


the  royal  land  taxes  was  left  to  a  body  of  men 
over  whom  there  was  no  supervision.  Under 
such  a  system  it  may  easily  be  understood  that 
Persia  was  being  steadily  impoverished,  and 
that  the  imperial  revenue  was  small.  It 
amounted  to  less  than  a  million  and  a  half 
sterling,  and  the  Treasury  was  always  in 
difficulties  for  ready  money.  The  real  head  of 
the  administration  was  Asghar  Ali,  the  Prime 
Minister,  or  Sadr  Azem,  who  had  held  the  post 
for  some  years  and  thoroughly  understood  how 
to  manage  his  royal  master.  A  man  of  low  birth, 
but  of  singularly  attractive  manners,  and  in 
his  way  strong  and  adroit,  the  Sadr  Azem  had 


\EllioU  &  Fry. 

SIR    PERCY    SYKES. 

Formerly     British      Consul-General     at     Meshed. 

Author  of  "  A  History  of  Persia."     Restored  order 

in  Southern  Persia  in  1916. 

become  extremely  powerful.  He  was  popular 
with  Europeans,  for  he  was  merry  and  pleasant 
and  entertained  lavishly.  Nor  was  he  unpopular 
with  Persians  in  general.  But  he  was  a  man  of 
the  old  school,~with  no  capacity  for  administra- 
tion, thoroughly  corrupt,  and,  with  all  his  out- 
ward bonhomie,  unscrupulous  and  vindictive  to  a 
rare  degree.  "  Sui  profusus,  alien!  appelens,"  he 
drew  from  the  farm  of  the  customs  and  many 
other  sources  an  income  far  larger  than  that  of 
any  European  Prime  Minister,  and  had  become 
a  man  of  great  wealth. 

Nevertheless,  the  condition  of  Persia  under 
the  last  of  its  autocratic  kings  was  not  alto- 
gether ah  unhappy  one.  The  country  no 


338 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


MAIN    GATE    OF    THE    CITY    OF    TEHERAN. 


longer  had  power  to  stand  by  itself  against 
foreign  aggression  ;  but  it  was  held  up  by  the 
rivalry  between  England  and  Russia,  and  main- 
tained an  apparent  independence  by  steadily 
playing  oft  one  Power  against  the  other. 
Except  the  annual  payment  due  to  the  Tobacco 
Company,  Persia  had  no  national  debt  what- 
ever, and  this  amounted  only  to  a  few  months' 
revenue.  The  people  were  misruled,  but  were 
able  to  protect  themselves  against  intolerable 
oppression  by  turbulent  action  against  their 
weak  governors,  and  their  material  condition 
was  not  one  of  real  hardship.  Accustomed 
from  time  immemorial  to  the  autocratic  rule 
universal  in  the  East,  and  feeling  no  desire  for 
representative  institutions  or  other  Western 
luxuries,  such  as  a  pure  judicial  system, 
and  roads  and  railways,  they  had  no  great 
cause  of  complaint.  Nor  did  they  greatly 
complain.  There  was  murmuring  at  times 
and  occasional  disorder ;  but,  on  the  whole, 
they  liked  their  gallant  old  Shah  ;  and  with 
their  sunny  climate,  and  cheap  food,  and  not 
too  much  hard  work,  they  passed  their  time 
!uipi)ily  enough.  Their  firm  conviction  was  that 
everything  Persian  was  immeasurably  superior 
to  everything  foreign,  and  all  they  really  wanted 
was  to  be  left  in  peace. 

The  relations  between  the  two  rival  Powers — • 
England  and  Kussia — were  at  that  time 
watchful,  mid  more  or  less  antagonistic. 
The  geographical  and  military  position  of 
Russia  gave  her  by  far  the  stronger  hand  in 
tliis  game  ;  but  the  position  of  England 
was  not  wholly  unsatisfactory.  It  might,  if 
the  British  hand  had  been  boldly  played, 
have  become  much  more  so,  for  in  189."»  a 


change  of  government  in  England  had  raised 
great  hopes  in  Persia,  and  the  old  Shah,  always 
in  want  of  money,  had  made  overtures  for  an 
arrangement  by  which  in  return  for  a  loan 
he  would  have  placed  himself  to  a  great  extent 
in  British  hands.  But  the  credit  of  Persia 
in  the  English  market  was  then  very  low,  and 
the  loan,  small  as  it  was,  could  not  be  raised 
without  a  guarantee,  which,  though  the  security 
was  ample,  the  British  Government  would  not 
give.  The  proposal  therefore  fell  through, 
the  Shah  was  deeply  disappointed,  and  the 
chance  was  lost,  never  to  recur.  Still  England 
retained  much  weight  in  Persia.  The  Germans, 
already  bent  upon  a  great  scheme  of  develop- 
ment eastward,  through  Turkey,  were  begin- 
ning to  show  considerable  interest  in  Persia 
as  well,  and  had  nearly  succeeded  in  obtaining 
a  concession  for  an  important  road  between 
the  Turkish  frontier  and  Teheran  ;  but  as  yet 
they  had  practically  no  influence.  Nor  had 
any  other  European  Power.  As  it  was  said, 
"  In  Persia  England  and  Russia  play  the 
game,  the  others  look  on  and  mark  the 
points." 

Such  was  the  condition  of  affairs  when  in 
May,  1896,  Persia  was  .startled  and  shocked  by 
the  news  that  the  Shah  had  been  murdered. 
Some  years  earlier  he  had  expelled  from  the 
country  a  Persian  named  Jamal-ud-din,  who 
had  made  a  name  for  himself  in  Europe  and 
elsewhere  as  a  Musulman  preacher  and  reformer. 
One  of  this  man's  disciples,  deeply  impressed 
by  his  teaching  and  his  wrongs,  had  determined 
to  kill  the  Shah,  and  taking  advantage  of  His 
Majesty's  visit  to  a  mosque  near  Teheran,  had 
shot  him  through  the  heart  as  he  was  about  to 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


839 


kneel  down  in  prayer.  Nasir-ud-din  cried  out 
"  Ai  Khuda  !  "  ("  Oh,  God  !  ")  and  fell  forward 
— dead.  The  Sadr  Azem,  who  was  with  him, 
at  once  had  the  body  carried  to  a  closed  car- 
riage, and  giving  out  that  the  Shah  was  only 
slightly  wounded,  drove  hack  to  the  Palace 
at  Teheran.  From  there  he  sent  word  to  the 
British  and  Russian  representatives,  who  soon 
afterwards  joined  him  ;  and  with  their  help 
arrangements  were  made  for  the  succession 
of  the  Heir  Apparent,  who,  according  to  custom, 
was  at  Tabriz  as  Governor  of  Azarbaijan. 
It  was  a  critical  moment,  for  there  were  at  the 
capital  several  regiments  of  troops  who  had 
received  no  pay  for  years,  and  had  lately  shown 
a  threatening  spirit.  One  of  the  Shah's  sons 
was  Commander-in-Chief,  but  in  this  emergency 
he  refused  to  take  any  action,  and  applied  for 
protection  to  the  British  and  Russian  Lega- 
tions. The  Prime  Minister,  however,  acted  with 
spirit  and  promptitude.  Money  for  the  pay- 
ment of  the  Persian  troops  was  supplied  by 
the  British  Bank,  and  distributed  immediately  ; 
the  Cossack  regiment,  under  its  Russian 
officers,  was  called  out  to  patrol  the  town ; 
and  in  the  morning,  when  the  news  of  the 
Shah's  death  became  known,  all  was  in  order. 

A   few   weeks   later   the   new  Shah,  Muzaffer- 

i 


THE    KOTAL    PASS,    ON    THE    ROAD 
FROM    BUSHIRE    TO    SHIRAZ. 

ud-din,   arrived   in  Teheran   and   quietly   suc- 
ceeded to  the  throne. 

Weak  in  character,  and  not  strong  in  health, 
he    created    from    the    first    an    unfavourable 


BRITISH    CONSULATE    IN    THE    TOWN    OF    BUSHIRK. 


\Lcrat  Frascr. 


340 


THE    TIMES    HISTOPY    Of     THE    WAR. 


impression  in  Teheran.  Such  was  his  fear  of 
sharing  liis  father's  fate  that  lie  had  not  th.> 
courage  to  make  a  public  entry  into  his  capital  ; 
bat  halted  some  miles  out. *!<!••  anil  stole  into 
his  palace  in  the  dead  of  night.  This  excited 
the  open  derision  of  the  Persians  who,  what- 
ever some  may  think,  are  not  wanting  in 
courage  themselves,  or  inclined  to  forgive  the 
want  of  it  in,  their  rulers.  From  that  moment 
"  Sister  Muzaffer,"  as  they  called  him,  had  lost 
caste  with  his  people,  and  he  never  regained 
it. 

Yet  in  spite  of  his  weakness,  perhaps  in  part 
because  of  it,  his  reign  was  an  important  one 
in  the  history  of  Persia.  It  was  the  reign  in 
which  autocratic  rule  passed  away  from  the 
country  after  25  centuries,  and  her  people 
received  their  first  Constitution. 

It  would  not  be  easy  to  explain  in  full  the 
causes  which  led  to  the  new  order  of  things. 
But  briefly  it  may  be  said  that  from  the  time 


SHAH    MUZAFFER-UD-D1N. 

the  Shah  came  to  the  throne  his  one  leading 
idea  seemed  to  be  the  procuring  of  large  sums 
of  money  to  lavish  on  extravagant  foreign 
tours,  or  on  his  favourites.  When  he  had 
dissipated  in  this  way  such  treasure  as  he  had 
inherited  from  his  father,  and  the  family 
domains,  his  only  resource  was  a  foreign  loan. 
He  did  make  an  effort  to  reform  the  Customs 
administration  by  the  introduction  of  Belgian 
controllers,  and  this  step  was  in  a  measure 
successful,  but  it  did  not  supply  his  immediate 


SHAH    MIRZA    MOHAMED    ALL 

wants.  In  Great  Britain,  owing  to  the  refusal 
of  the  British  Government  to  give  a  guarantee, 
money  was  not.  to  be  got  ;  and  in  1900  the 
Shah  turned  to  the  Russians,  from  whom  he 
received  on  severe  terms  two  loans  aggregating 
about  four  millions.  The  money  was  mostly 
squandered,  and  the  loans  proved  disastrous  to 
the  country,  for  they  were  the  forerunners  of 
several  more,  which  hopelessly  embarra^snl 
the  Persian  finances  and  aroused  a  violent  feel- 
ing of  resentment  among  the  Persians.  They 
also  led  to  a  Perso-Russian  Customs  agreement, 
which  was  very  unfavourable  to  Persia  an: I, 
incidentally,  to  British  trade.  Then  began, 
with  remarkable  suddenness,  a  popular  outcry 
for  various  administrative  changes.  Few,  if 
any,  of  the  Persians  appeared  to  know  exactly 
what  they  wanted  ;  but  a  strong  spirit  of  ills- 
content  with  the  old  order,  and  of  desire  for 
something  else,  had  undoubtedly  permeated 
the  nation.  How  it  had  come  no  one  could 
tell.  As  one  eminent  Persian  said,  "  None  of 
us  know.  It  seems  to  have  risen  out  of  the 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


341 


ground."  It  may  have  been  due  in  part  to  the 
fervent  preaching  of  Jamal-ud-din.  Then 
the  result  of  the  Russian  war  with  Japan 
produced  an  extraordinary  effect  upon  the 
Persians,  who  imagined  that  whatever  the 
Japanese  could  do  would  be  easy  for  them 
— whether  it  were  to  defeat  a  great  military 
Power  or  to  reform  a  system  of  government. 
Altogether,  the  spirit  of  unrest  and  self-asser- 
tion was  aroused,  and  under  the  guidance  of 
some  men.  who  had  been  in  Europe,  the  new 
feeling  took  the  form  of  a  demand  for  a  Con- 
stitution, a  demand  which,  strange  to  say, 
received  considerable  support  from  the  priest- 
hood. After  the  Shah  had  made  one  concession 
after  another,  and  some  twelve  or  fourteen 
thousand  Persians  had  taken  "  bast  " — sanc- 
tuary— in  the  British  Legation — a  common 
method  in  Persia  of  bringing  pressure  to  bear 
on  a  Government — Muzaffer-ud-din  finally 
gave  way,  and  in  August,  190(5,  he  signed  a 
paper  granting  the  people  a  National  Assembly. 
Two  months  later  the  Assembly  was  formally 
opened  by  the  Shah  in  person,  though  no 
members  had  yet  been  elected  but  those  for 
the  city  of  Teheran.  Then  the  Assembly  pro- 
ceeded to  draw  up  a  written  Constitution 
on  Western  lines  ;  and  in  January,  1907,  this 
was  signed  and  ratified  by  the  Shah  and  his 
Heir  Apparent.  A  few  days  later  the  Shah  died. 

Thus,  with  a  suddenness  which  was  astound- 
ing to  all  concerned,  the  Persians  found  them- 
selves in  possession  of  the  rights  and  liberties 
which  five  years  before  no  one  among  them 
would  have  dreamt  of  receiving,  or  desiring. 

It  may  perhaps  be  mentioned  here  that  during 
tho  reign  of  Muzaffer-ud-din,  in  1903,  the 
Viceroy  of  India,  Lord  Curzon,  paid  a  visit  to 
the  Persian  Gulf,  which  was  of  some  import- 
ance, particularly  in  connexion  with  the  per- 
sistent efforts  of  Germany  for  five  years  past 
to  gain  a  footing  on  the  coast  of  this  sea.  In 
these  efforts  she  was  helped  by  the  Turks.  Lord 
Curzon's  attitude  towards  the  question  of  the 
Persian  Gulf  had  always  been  a  decided  one, 
and  his  visit  was  of  much  advantage  to  British 
interests. 

Muzaffer-ud-din  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
Mohamed  Ali,  and  it  very  shortly  became  evi- 
dent that  the  new  Shah,  though  he  had  signed 
the  Constitution,  had  not  the  smallest  intention 
of  abiding  by  his  word.  Arrogant  even  beyond 
the  wont  of  his  family  and  wanting  in  self-con- 
trol, he  entered  at  once  upon  a  course  of  action 
which  could  only  end  in  disaster.  While  the 


feeling  in  favour  of  the  National  Assembly 
increased  daily  throughout  the  country,  takinsr 
various  forms,  some  of  them  legitimate  enough, 
some  violent  and  indefensible,  Mohamed  Ali 
seemed  determined  4.0  stamp  out  the  whole 
movement  and  become  an  absolute  monarch 
like  his  ancestors.  One  of  his  first  acts  was 
to  call  back  to  Teheran  his  grandfather's  old 
Minister,  Asghar  Ali,  who  was  known  to  be  reac- 
tionary in  his  views,  and  was  consequently 
murdered  by  an  ardent  "  Nationalist."  The 
British  and  Russian  Legations,  now  acting 
together,  gave  the  Shah  good  advice,  which 
he  practically  disregarded.  Matters  went  from 


ABDUL    KASS1M,   NAS1R-UL-MUI  K, 
Regent  during  the  youth  of  Shah  Sultan  Ahmed. 

bad  to  worse.  There  was  fighting  in  Tabriz,  and 
in  Teheran  itself,  where  the  National  Assembly 
was  broken  up  by  shell  fire.  Finally,  in  1909, 
when  the  Russians  had  pushed  troops  into 
Tabriz,  and  to  within  a  hundred  miles  of 
Teheran,  for  the  protection  of  Europeans, 
"  Nationalist  "  forces,  including  a  contingent 
from  the  great  Bakhtiari  tribe,  marched  upon 
the  capital,  and,  skilfully  outmanoeuvring  the 
Shah's  troops,  made  themselves  masters  of  it. 
The  Shah  was  deposed  by  the  National  Assem- 
bly, and  his  son  Ahmed,  a  boy  elevrii  years  of 
age,  was  put  on  the  tlirone. 

Meanwhile  the  famous  Convention  of   1907 
between  Russia  and   England   had  come  into 


342 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    W.U!. 


o 
a 


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en 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


843 


force,  and  had  been  published  in  Persia.  As 
everyone  knows,  the  purpose  of  this  agreement 
was  to  bring  to  an  end  the  long  rivalry  between 
the  two  Powers  in  Asia,  and  with  that  object  to 
define  their  respective  spheres  of  influence.  So 
far  as  Persia  was  concerned,  the  two  contracting 
Governments  agreed  to  respect  the  integrity  and 
independence  of  the  country  ;  but  in  order  to 
avoid  future  misunderstandings  regarding  their 
interests  Persia  was  divided  into  three  zones — 
Russian,  Neutral,  and  British — within  which 
the  two  Powers  were  to  act  on  certain  specified 
lines. 

The  idea  of  ji  friendly  understanding  between 
England  and  Russia  was  not  a  new  one.  It  had 
often  been  more  or  less  vaguely  put  forward. 


for  that  general  understanding.  Russians  then, 
and  for  many  years  longer,  regarded  the  twen- 
tieth century  as  theirs,  and  were  unwilling  to 
fetter  themselves  by  further  positive  engage- 
ments. It  was  not  until  after  the  Russo-Japanese 
War,  and  the  changes  of  feeling  it  brought  about 
in  Russia,  that  a  general  understanding  became 
possible.  As  Lord  Lansdowne  said  in  the 
House  of  Lords  in  1907,  "  until  lately  we  know- 
that  she  kept  us  at  arm's  length." 

As  to  the  specific  terms  of  the  Convention, 
its  critics  had  no  difficulty  in  showing  that, 
especially  with  regard  to  Persia,  the  British 
Government  had  made  a  very  indifferent  bar- 
gain. •Practically  the  whole  of  southern  Persia, 
up  to 'and  including  the  line  froya  Kerman- 


ISPAHAN:    THE    GREAT    SQUARE,    ABBAS    MOSQUE    AND    NAGAREH    KHANA. 


and  for  thirty  years  it  had  found  a  consistent 
advocate  in  Sir  Alfred  Lyall,  who  had  published 
a  series  of  papers  dwelling  upon  the  evils  of 
the  existing  antagonism  in  Asia  between  two 
nations  "  whose  interests  undoubtedly  point 
towards  amity  and  concordant  views  in  Europe." 
His  argument  throughout  was  that  "  Russia  and 
England  cannot  be  perpetually  manoeuvring 
against  each  other  in  Asia  if  they  desire  to  act 
together  in  Europe,"  and  he  never  ceased  to 
urge  the  advantages  of  a  formal  agreement, 
or  to  deprecate  the  excessive  distrust  of  Russia 
which  then  prevailed  among  Englishmen. 
Sir  Alfred  Lyall  had  been  Foreign  Secretary 
in  India,  and  his  views  had  become  the  doctrine 
of  the  Indian  Foreign  Office,  with  the  result 
that  in  1886,  after  a  joint  Boundary  Com- 
mission, there  was  signed  an  agreement  be- 
tween Russia  and  England  which  defined  the 
northern  border  of  Afghanistan.  This  wa=  the 
first  step  towards  the  general  underttftQdiag 
of  1 907.  But  in  1 886  the  time  had  not  vet  come 


shah  by  Hamadan,  Ispahan  and  Yezd  to 
the  Afghan  border,  had  till  then  been  regarded 
as  well  within  the  field  of  British  influence 
and  British  trade,  which  extended  far  be- 
yond that  line.  The  line  itself  was  now 
placed  within  the  Russian  zone,  and  most  of 
the  country  to  the  south  of  it  was  made  neutral, 
not  British.  Though  Russian  trade  and  Rus- 
sian influence  were  gaining  some  ground  they 
were  not  in  a  position  to  justify  such  a  partition 
as  this,  for,  as  The  Times  afterward*  pointed  out, 
British  interests  lay  "  almost  exclusively  in  the 
neutral  zone  and  not  in  the  British  sphere." 

When  the  Convention  was  signed,  its  effect 
in  Persia  was  great,  perhaps  greater  than  in  any 
part  of  Asia.  The  Persians  then  for  the  first 
time  found  that  they  could  no  longer  rely  upon 
the  rivalry  of  which  they  had  m:vlc  so  much 
use.  This  was  a  severe  s,hoek.  and  created  much 
alarm.  It  made  the  Convention  very  unpopular 
throughout  the  country.  This  unpopularity 
was  greatly  increased  by  the  partition  of 


344 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


Persia  into  /.ones  of  influence,  over  the  head  and 
without  the  knowledge  of  the  Persians  them- 
selves. Coming  at  a  time  when  Persia  was 
stirring  with  revolutionary  feeling,  and  with 
jealousy  of  foreign  interference,  on  account  of 
the  loans  and  customs  agreement,  the  Con- 
vention was  in  fact  deeply  resented,  especially 
by  the  "  Nationalists."  The  resentment  was 
perhaps  especially  strong  against  England, 
which  was  regarded  as  having  withdrawn  her 
support  from  Persia ;  and  resentment  was 
mingled  with  something  like  contempt  when 
it  was  seen  that  the  British  had  apparently 
surrendered  their  long-standing  position  in 


so  doing.  But  in  considering  the  Persian  ques- 
tion there  can  be  no  use  in  shirking  the  obvious 
fact  that  the  Convention  lowered  the  prestige 
of  England  in  that  country,  while  arousing 
resentment  against  both  of  the  Powers  after- 
wards allied  in  the  Great  War. 

It  may  be  observed  here  that  the  supposed 
reason  for  the  acceptance  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment of  a  British  zone  so  completely  inconsis- 
tent with  the  established  position  of  England 
in  Persia  was  that  this  zone  included  all  the 
territory  which  the  Commander-in-Chief  in 
India,  then  Lord  Kitchener,  was  prepared  to 
defend  by  force  of  arms.  If  this  was  in  fact 


THE    FIRST    ARMOURED    GAR 

Persia  by  consenting  to  a  partition  which  con- 
fined their  sphere  of  influence  to  a  small  tract, 
chiefly  desert,  in  the  south-east,  while  giving 
to  Russia  all  tho  northern  half  of  the  country 
and  neutralizing  the  rest.  It  was  felt  that  such 
an  arrangement  could  only  bo  due  to  conscious 
weakness. 

These  facts  in  no  way  proved  that  the 
Convention  was  on  general  grounds  a  bad  one. 
Its  aim  and  scope  were  something  very  much 
larger  and  more  important  than  the  feeling 
of  tin-  Persians,  or  the  political  standing  of 
<  Ireat  Britain  in  Persia,  and  if  to  obtain  a 
general  understanding  with  Russia  our  Govern- 
ment shoue:!  snme  disposition  to  accept  terms 
less  favourable  than  they  had  a  right  to  expect, 
.they  were  not  perhaps  greatly  to  be  blamed  for 


(RUSSIAN)    SEEN    IN    TEHERAN. 

the  reason  for  the  arrangement,  it  can  hardly  be 
regarded  as  anything  more  than  an  indifferent 
excuse  for  an  indifferent  bargain. 

Nor  can  there  be  much  question  that  during 
the  seven  troublous  years  which  elapsed  be- 
tween the  signing  of  the  Convention-  and 
the  outbreak  of  war,  while  the  Persians 
were  trying,  under  great  difficulties  and 
with  no  great  success,  to  work  out  the 
problem  of  turning  a  corrupt  and  inefficient 
despotism  into  a  well -governed  constitutional 
State,  Great  Britain  seemed  to  accept  a  some- 
what undignified  position,  supporting  the  action 
of  Russia  even  when  that  action  seemed  hardly 
fair  to  Persia,  or  considerate  to  Grea,t  Britain 
herself.  One  instance  may  bo  cited,  the  case  of 
Major  Stokes.  In  that  instance  the  American 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


345 


[From  Shusttr's  "  Strangling  of  Persia." 

RUSSIAN    AND    PERSIAN    OFFICERS    OF    THE    "COSSACK    BRIGADE." 


Treasurer-General,  whom  the  Persian  Govern- 
ment had  appointed  to  reorganize  their  finances, 
selected  Major  Stokes,  Military  Attache  in  the 
British  Legation,  as  the  fittest  person  to  com- 
mand a  new  gendarmerie  which  it  was  proposed 


to  embody.  It  wa^  in  the  circumstances  a 
rather  risky  step  to  take,  as  the  British  Foreign 
Office  seems  to  have  felt ;  but  when  Mr.  Shuster 
pressed  it  their  reply  was  that  before  accepting 
the  appointment  Major  Stokes  must  resign  his 


THE    RUSSIAN    GENERAL    BARATOFF    (IN    UNIFORM)    AT   THE    RECEPTION    BY 

THE    SHAH    IN    THE    PALACE    AT    TEHERAN. 

The  marble  throne  can  he  seen  in  the  background. 


346 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


THE    SHAH    OF    PERSIA    INSPECTING    A    RUSSIAN  AEROPLANE    AT    TEHERAN. 
(The  Shah  is  the  second  figure  from  the  left.) 


commission  in  the  Indian  Army.  Major  Stokes 
and  the  Persian  Government  naturally  regarded 
this  reply  as  giving  assent,  and  acted  upon  it. 
Then  Russia  objected,  on  the  ground  appa- 
rently that  a  British  subject  should  not  he 
employed  in  such  a  position  within  the  northern 
/.one,  and  the  British  Foreign  Office  advised 
Persia  to  yield  to  the  objection,  though  in  theniy 
Persia  was  independent  and  entitled  to  rnalce 
I  lie  appointment.  The  Times  commented  upon 


the  vacillation  shown  on  this  occasion,  and 
observed  that  the  "  affair  reflected  no  credit 
on  either  the  British  or  the  Russian 
Foreign  Office?."  It  certainly  was  not  calcu- 
lated to  raise  British  prestige  in  Persia. 
There  were  too  many  instances  of  the  kind, 
and  the  general  impression  left  upon  the 
mind  of  any  one  reading  the  newspapers  and 
blue  books  of  the  time  would  probably  be  that 
as  the  British  Government  had  shown  a  some- 


THE    TIMES    HISTOSY    OF    THE    WAR. 


347 


what  excessive  complacency  in  agreeing  to  the 
terms  of  the  Convention,  so  they  afterwards 
showed  a  somewhat  excessive  complacency  in 
carrying  it  out.  Still  it  may  be  admitted  thf-t 
without  the  Convention  the  state  of  affairs  in 
Persia  might  have  been  even  worse  than  it 
became  with  the  Convention  in  force,  and  in 
any  case  the  general  understanding  with 
Russia  bore  invaluable  fruits  elsewhere.  -It  is 
mainly  from  that  point  of  view  that  the  Con- 
vention must  always  be  judged.  Its  effect  un- 
doubtedly was  to  bring  Russia  and  England 
together,  and  put  an  end  to  an  antagonism 
which  had  long  threatened  the  pence  not  only 
of  Asia  but  of  the  world. 

To  return  to  the  course  of  affairs  in  Persia 
after  the  deposition  of  Mohamed  Ali  Shah.  It 
5>eems  useless  to  do  more  than  give  a  very  brief 
summary  of  events  between  1909  and  1914. 
During  that  time  the  government  of  the  country 
was  carried  on  largely  in  accordance  with  the 
views  of  the  Mejlis  or  National  Assembly,  a 
body  which  contained  in  its  ranks  some  unques- 
tionably patriotic  and  enlightened  men  who 
were  doing  their  best  for  the  country,  but  con- 
tained also,  as  was  only  natural,  many  members 
who  showed  no  sign  of  practical  abilit\r  to 
understand  the  new  conditions,  and  some  who 
were  reactionary  and  corrupt.  From  the  young 


RUSSIAN     OFFICERS     AND     (on     the 

right)    THE     BRITISH    ATTACH^    AT 

KERMANSHAH. 

Shah  of  course  no  help  could  be  expected  ;  and 
the  Regents  appointed  to  control  the  adminis- 
tration, one  of  whom,  Nasir-ul-Mulk,  was  a  man 
of  European  education  and  high  character, 
found  that  their  powers  were  insufficient  to 
enable  them  to  do  their  work  effectively.  There 


GUNS    CAPTURED    BY    THE    RUSSIANS    AT    KERMANSHAH. 


848 


THE    TIMES    H1STOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


MIRZA    HASSAN    KHAN,    G.C.M.G. 

Mushir-ed-Dowleh.      Special  Envoy,  and  several 

times  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  and   Prime 

Minister. 

was  great  need  of  money,  for  during  the  dis- 
orders of  the  last  two  years  the  collection  of 
taxes  had  been  practically  abandoned,  and  the 
Mejlis  was  very  reluctant  to  raise  any  foreign 
loans.  The  army,  with  the  exception  of  the 
small  Cossack  Brigade  under  its  Russian  officers, 
was  unpaid  and  utterly  inefficient.  It  had  for 
many  years  been  very  small  in  numbers,  and 
now  it  had  for  all  practical  purposes  ceased  to 
exist.  All  over  the  country  disorder  had 
broken  out,  and  it  increased  year  by  year.  The 
roads  in  the  south,  and  indeed  in  most  parts, 
became  thoroughly  unsafe,  and  all  trade  suffered 
severely.  In  1910  the  state  of  things  in  this 
respect  was  such  that  the  British  Government 
thought  it  desirable  to  inform  the  Persians  that 
unless  they  restored  order  within  three  months 
the  task  would  have  to  be  undertaken  by  levies 
under  British-Indian  officers — a  proposal  after- 
wards wisely  abandoned.  In  the  following 
year,  Nasir-ul-Mulk  being  Regent,  some  serious 
attempts  were  made  to  improve  the  situation. 
A  capable  and  honest  American,  Mr.  Shuster, 
\v;is  put  in  charge  of  the  Treasury,  which  was 
not  only  empty  but  owed  a  considerable  sum  in 
arrears.  He  did  some  excellent  work,  but,  not 
thoroughly  understanding  the  situation,  he 
unfortunately  came  into  conflict  with  the 
Russians,  who,  after  a  few  months,  called  for  his 


dismissal,  and  sent  an  ultimatum  to  the  Persian 
Government  containing  this  and  other  demands. 
They  were  perforce  accepted,  for  a  Russian 
force  was  within  a  hundred  miles  of  the  capital. 
About  the  same  time  some  Swedish  officers  were 
brought  into  the  country  to  raise  a  gendarmerie 
for  the  restoration  of  order  on  the  trade  routes 
and  elsewhere. 

But  the  situation  was  now  complicated  by 
the  landing  in  Persia  of  the  ex-Shah  Mohamed 
Ali,  whose  adherents  raised  trouble  in  various 
districts  and  threatened  to  advance  on  the 
capital.  One  of  them,  Arshad-ud-Dowleh, 
actually  did  advance  to  within  forty  miles  of  it, 
with  a  force  consisting  mainly  of  Turcomans. 
He  was  met  by  a  smaller  body  of  Nationalist 
troops,  who  defeated  him  and  took  him  prisoner. 
Then  followed  a  pathetic  scene  which  recalls 
in  some  measure  the  story  of  Drake  and 
Doughty.  The  vanquished  general,  who  had 
been  wounded,  was  courteously  treated  by  the 
Nationalist  chiefs.  They  attended  to  his 
wound,  let  him  have  all  he  wanted,  and  kept 


THE    ZIL-ES-SULTAN, 

Great-Uncle  of  the  Shah. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE 


349 


him  in  friendly  conversation  for  some  hours  of 
the  night.  Then,  against  his  entreaties,  the 
meeting  broke  up,  and  early  the  next  morning 
he  was  led  out  to  execution.  Asking  that  his 
body  might  be  sent  to  his  wife  in  Teheran, 
and  that  a  locket  he  was  wearing  should  be 
buried  with  him,  he  stood  up  with  his  eyes  un- 
bandaged  and  received  a  volley  from  the  firing 
party.  He  fell,  but  only  one  bullet  had  struck 
him,  and  a  second  party  was  told  off  to  finish 
the  work.  When  all  was  ready  he  rose  to  his 
knees  and  again  faced  the  line  of  rifles,  calling 
out  as  he  did  so,  "  Long  live  Mohamed  Ali 
Shah."  Then  he  fell  dead.  It  was  a  death 
which  showed  that  courage  and  loyalty  are  to 
be  found  among  Persians.  Arshad-ud-Dow- 
leh's  defeat  saved  Teheran,  and  practically 
destroyed  the  ex-Shah's  chance  of  regaining 
his  throne. 

About  the  same  time  two  or  three  squadrons 
of  Indian  cavalry  were  sent  up  to  Shiraz.  This 
place  being  over  a  hundred  miles  from  the  sea 
by  a  difficult  mountain  road,  flanked  by  wild 
tribesmen,  the  step  was  not  a  wise  one  ;  and 


MIRZA    HASSAN    KHAN. 

Mohtasham-es-Saltaneh.    Several  times  Minister  of 

Foreign  Affairs  ;    also  held   portfolios  of  Finance, 

Interior  and  Justice. 


MIRZA    MOHAMED   ALI    KHAN,   G.C.V.O. 
Ala-es-Saltaneh.       Some  years  Persian  Minister  in 
London  ;    Foreign  Minister  and   Prime  Minister. 

it  proved  unfortunate,  for  the  regiment  could 
do  nothing  in  such  a  country  and  was  soon 
practically  shut  up.  After  remaining  in  a  false 
position  for  a  year  or  more  and  losing  a  British 
officer  and  some  men  killed,  it  was  withdrawn, 
not  without  danger.  The  Russians  at  that  time 
had  about  13,000  men  in  the  north  of  Persia, 
who  could  protect  themselves. 

So  matters  went  on,  the  country  becoming 
more  and  more  disturbed,  until  the  southern 
roads  were  practically  closed  and  British  trade 
at  a  standstill,  while  the  so-called  Government 
at  Teheran  made  little  or  no  effort  to  restore 
order.  The  Swedish  officers  did  raise  a  certain 
number  of  men  for  their  gendarmerie,  but  under 
great  difficulties  for  want  of  money,  and 
eventually  with  no  great  success.  Except  in  the 
capital,  where  the  Cossack  Brigade  and  a  strong 
body  of  Bakhtiari  tribesmen  kept  matters  quiet, 
and  in  the  provinces  occupied  by  Russian 
troops,  there  was  little  security  for  property  or 
life.  Nor  was  the  situation  improved  by  the 
action  of  the  Germans,  who  ever  since  the 
Russian  defeats  in  the  Japanese  War  had  become 
more  active  in  their  policy,  and  were  now 
working  steadily  in  various  ways  to  take 
advantage  of  the  popular  feeling  against 


350 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


KASVIN. 


England  and  Russia.  In  1914  they  had  acquired 
considerable  influence  with  some  of  the  people 
about  the  Government,  and  others.  Such  was 
the  condition  of  affairs  in  Persia  in  the  summer 
of  that  fateful  year.  Persia  was  too  disorganized 
and  weak  to  take  any  serious  part  in  a  great 
war,  but  her  geographical  position  and  the 
anarchy  that  prevailed  throughout  the  country 
made  her  a  fine  field  for  the  intrigues  and 
military  action  of  others.  It  may  be  added  that. 


while  Germany  was  working  in  her  customary 
method  among  the  Persians,  their  old  enemies, 
the  Turks,  had  during  I  he  recent  years  of 
disorder  encroached  at  various  points  upon  the 
western  frontier,  and,  though  a  mixed  Com- 
mission was  at  work  upon  a  general  settlement 
of  the  line,  the  Turks  were  in  possession  of 
considerable  tracts  of  Persian  territory. 

Shortly  after  the  outbreak  of  war  the  Persian 
Government   declared   its  neutralitv.      It   was 


TABRIZ 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


351 


hardly  in  a  position  to  act  otherwise.  No 
doubt  there  was  now  among  a  large  section 
of  the  people  a  feeling  of  hostility  towards 
Russia  and  England.  There  was  also,  per- 
haps, considerable  sympathy  for  the  Turks  as 
a  Musulman  Power  taking  up  arms  against 
the  infidel.  On  the  other  hand,  though  Russia 
was  withdrawing  some  of  her  troops  for  service 
elsewhere,  she  was  still  capable  of  striking  a 
swift  blow  at  the  capital  ;  and  England,  in 
spite  of  her  rather  feeble  proceedings  during  the 
last  few  years,  could  be  dangerous  if  roused. 
Moreover,  both  Russia  and  England  still  hai 
many  friends  or  partisans  in  the  country.  And 
Turkey,  though  a  Musulman  Power,  was  deeply 
hostile  to  the  Shiah  faith.  Public  opinion, 
therefore,  was  by  no  means  unanimous. 
Finally,  Persia,  with  all  her  glorious  past  and 
all  the  national  self-esteem  which  was  the  result 
of  it,  had  no  army  and  no  money.  It  was  better 
for  her,  therefore,  to  stand  aside  if  possible  and 
run  no  risks.  Perhaps  her  decision  to  do  so,  if 
indeed  she  had  come  to  any  real  decision,  was 
strengthened  by  the  prompt  action  taken  by 
England  in  landing  a  force  on  Turkish  soil  at 
the  head  of  the  Persian  Gulf  and  taking  Basra. 
It  will  be  remembered  by  those  who  have  read 
an  earlier  chapter  of  this  History,  "  The 
Advance  towards  Baghdad,"  that  the  taking  of 
Basra  was  soon  followed  by  the  dispatch  of  a 
brigade  to  occupy  Ahwaz  in  Persian  territory 
and  protect  the  British  oil  wells.*  Both  to 
north  and  south,  therefore,  Persia  had  Allied 
troops  within  her  borders,  and  in  some  strength. 
The  fact,  unpalatable  as  it  might  be,  counselled 
prudence. 

But  if  Persia  remained  on  the  outbreak  of  war 
ostensibly  neutral,  her  territory  was  to  become 
the  scene  of  varied  fighting,  though  not  on  a 
very  large  scale.  A  chapter  of  this  History, 
entitled  "  The  Intervention  of  Turkey,"  des- 
cribed the  situation  in  1914  at  the  point  close 
to  Mount  Ararat  where  the  frontiers  of  Russia, 
Turkey  and  Persia  come  together,  and  gave  an 
account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Turks 
opposed  to  the  Russian  army  of  the  Caucasus 
triod  to  turn  the  Russian  left  by  marching 
through  Persian  territory  on  Tabriz. f  This 
important  town  was  taken  at  the  beginning  of 
1915  by  a  small  Turkish  force,  with  the  help  of 
some  thousands  of  Kurd  horsemen,  the  Persians 
making  no  effective  resistance  ;  but  before  the 
end  of  January  the  Russians,  who  had  evacua- 

*  Vol.  X.  ('hapt«r  clviii. 
t  Vol.  III.  Chapter  xlix. 


ted  the  place,  returned  and  expelled  the 
invaders.  After  this  reverse,  and  some  minor 
reverses  which  followed  it,  the  Turks  apparently 
gave  up  the  hope  of  acting  effectively  in  the 
extreme  north  of  Persia,  and  resolved  to  throw 
their  weight  farther  south  upon  the  British  at 
Ahwaz  and,  if  possible,  upon  the  main  road 
running  from  the  Baghdad  province  to  the 
Persian  capital,  by  way  of  Kermanshah  and 
Hamadan.  This  was  the  road  by  which  they 
could  best  work  upon  the  interior  of  Persia,  in 
cooperation  with  their  German  allies,  and 


THE    AMIR    OF    AFGHANISTAN. 

perhaps  even  create  a  diversion  against  England 
in  Afghanistan.  The  Germans  were  ready  to  do 
their  share.  They  had  in  Kermanshah  a  Consul, 
Schiinemann  by  name,  who  was  well  supplied 
with  money  and  had  been  working  energetically 
among  the  surrounding  tribes.  They  had  also 
at  Ispahan,  in  the  centre  of  Persia,  an  un- 
official agent,  Pugen,  who  was  doing  all  he 
could  to  raise  trouble  and  to  persuade  the 
ignorant  inhabitants  that  the  Germans,  in- 
cluding their  Kaiser,  had  embraced  the  Moslem 
faith.  This  individual  dressed  himself  in 
Persian  attire,  wore  an  armlet  inscribed  with 
the  Musulman  Kalarna,  or  profession  of  faith, 
and  was  generally  daring  and  picturesque. 
In  the  capital  itself  were  the  German  Minister, 
Prince  Reuss,  the  Austrian  Minister,  and 
the  Turkish  Ambassador,  al!  apparently  able  to 
dispose  of  unlimited  money  and  considerable 


852 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


quantities  of  arms.  And  elsewhere,  in  Shiraz,  in 
Yezcl,  in  distant  Herman,  even  in  Afghanistan, 
German  agents  were  busily  spreading  their 
fables  about  German  victories  and  the  speedy 
advent  of  a  Turco-German  army  of  invasion. 
Jn  Afghanistan  these  efforts  failed,  the  Ameer 
Habibullah  remaining  staunch  to  his  alliance 


BRITISH    REFUGEES    ON    THE    ROAD 
FROM    ISPAHAN. 

with  England;  but,  liberally  backed  with 
money  and  rifles,  they  had  no  small  effect  upon 
the  imaginative  Persians. 

The    result    of    the    propaganda    was    soon 
seen.     During  the  year  1915  the  Turks,  fully 
occupied    with    the    British    at    Ahwaz,    who 
drove   them   over   the   border,   seem   to   have 
sent  no  regular  troops  into  the  centre  of  the 
country  ;    but   in    the   spring   small    bodies    of 
irregular  horse  crossed  the  frontier  to  Kerman- 
shah,  and  soon  afterwards  trouble  broke  out 
at    many    points.     First    the    Russian    Vice- 
Consul  at  Ispahan  was  murdered.     In  July,  as 
far  south  as  Bushire,  a  body  of  nomad  tribes- 
men in  Gennan  pay  prepared  an  ambush  for  a 
British  patrol,  and  two    British   officers  were 
killed.     A    month    or    so    later    the    German 
Schunemann,   having   collected    a   force  some 
hundreds    strong,    waylaid    on    the    road    to 
Hamadan  the  British  and   Russian  Consuls  at 
Kennanshah,     and     the    gendarmerie     giving 
them  no  help,  they  were  compelled  to  retire.    On 
September    1    the    British    Consul-General    r.t 
Ispahan,   Mr.   Grahame,    an    officer    who    had 
exceptional    sympathy    for   the    Persians,    was 
fired  upon  and  wounded.     A  few  days  after- 
wards   the    British    Vice-Consul    in    Shiraz,    a 
Persian  himself,  was  attacked  and  died  of  lii-i 
wounds.     The   Times  of   September    10,   com- 


menting upon  these  occurrences,  wrote  that 
the  chaotic  anarchy  in  Persia  had  become 
chronic. 

"  Persia  is  now  one  great  Alsatia.  Bands 
of  brigands  roam  the  country  districts  looting 
indiscriminately,  and.  of  ten  adding  murder  to 
their  lesser  crimes.  In  the  few  cities  and 
towns  some  semblance  of  authority  is  still 
maintained,  usually  by  the  strongest  local 
official,  who  pays  very  little  heed  to  such  orders 
as  reach  him  from  the  capital.  The  gendar- 
merie, commanded  by  Swedish  officers,  a  force 
which  was  never  a  great  success,  is  losing  such 
grip  as  it  ever  had,  and  the  men  are  disaffected 
because  they  can  get  no  pay.  .  .  .  Turkish 
irregulars  have  ravaged  Persian  territory  far 
and  wide  in  the  Lake  Urmia  district,  without 


[Elliott  and  Fry. 

COLONEL   W.    F.    O'CONNOR. 

British    Consul-General    at    Shiraz,    made   prisoner 
by  the  Germans. 

incurring  any  marked  disapproval  from  the 
Teheran  Government.  The  confusion  extends  to 
the  capital,  where  the  youthful  Shah  exercisivs 
little  control,  and  Ministries  succeed  one 
another  with  even  more  frequency  than  usual. 
Corruption  is  rife,  as  of  old,  and  many  Minis- 
ters and  Deputies  have  yielded  to  the  temp- 
tations of  the  German  gold  lavishly  spent 
among  them.  .  .  .  The  new  factor  in  the 
Persian  situation  is,  indeed,  the  ubiquity  and 
audacity  of  the  Gennan  agents,  who  peram- 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


353 


bulate  the  country  with  plentiful  supplies  of 
cash  and  rifles,  and  do  their  best  to  promote 
confused  and  muddled  hostilities.  .  .  .  Ger- 
man Consuls,  with  the  aid  of  machine-guns  and 
mercenaries  locally  enlisted,  have  not  hesi- 
tated to  attack  the  Consular  representatives  of 
Great  Britain  and  Russia.  .  .  .  The  German 
Legation  at  Tehsran,  and  the  Gentian  Consulates 
at  Ispahan,  Kennanshah,  and  elsewhere,  are 
stated  to  have  become  armed  camps.  .  .  .  The 
Persian  Government  professes  to  be  helpless, 
mid  probably  is  so." 

This  was  an  unpromising  state  of  affairs,  but 
worse  was  to  come.  A  few  days  later  the 
British  and  Russian  community  in  Ispahan 
found  the  condition  of  the  town  so  threatening 
that  with  the  concurrence  and  help  of  the 
Persian  authorities  they  left  for  the  capital, 
more  than  two  hundred  miles  away,  where 

there  seemed  to  be  a  better  chance  of  security 

*  • 

Then  the  Swedish  officer  in  command  of  the 
gendarmerie  disbanded  the  force,  as  he  could 
get  no  pay  for  it,  though  the  British  and  Russian 
Governments  more  than  once  lent  some  money 
for  the  purpose.  Even  hi  the  capital  things 
were  not  going  well.  Early  in  November,  1915, 
it  was  known  that  there  was  a  considerable 
force  of  Europeans  and  Persian  mercenaries 
in  the  German  and  Austrian  Legations  ready 
for  action  ;  that  some  of  the  more  violent 
members  of  the  National  Assembly  were  in 
German  pay  :  and  that  the  Germans  and 
Turks  were  trying  to  induce  the  Persian 
Government  to  enter  into  an  agreement  for 
combined  hostilities  against  Russia  and 
England.  There  were  rumours  that  the  Shah 
and  his  Government  were  hesitating,  and  con- 
templating withdrawal  to  Ispahan.  So  critical 
was  the  condition  of  affairs  that  Sir  Edward 
Grey  made  a  statement  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons referring  to  the  proposed  agreement, 
and  a  Russian  force  advanced  to  within  a  few 
miles  of  Teheran  in  order  to  protect  the  Legations. 
Then  the  German,  Austrian  and  Turkish 
representatives  left  the  capital  and  marched 
some  miles  down  the  road  to  the  south.  They 
had  with  them  the  leader  of  the  "  Democratic  " 
party  in  the  National  Assembly  and  other 
officials,  and  they  confidently  hoped  that  the 
Shah  would  follow.  On  November  15  there 
was  a  close  trial  of  strength  between  the 
hostile  Powers,  and  for  hours  the  fate  of  Persia 
hung  in  the  balance.  At  Shah  Abdul  Azim, 
six  miles  away,  where  old  Nasir-ud-din  Shah 
had  been  murdered  twenty  years  before,  the 


Ministers  of  the  Central  Powers  waited  in  full 
uniform,  with  a  great  part,  perhaps  half,  of 
the  National  Assembly,  and  the  disbanded 
gendarmerie  and  other  troops  in  parade  order 
under  German,  Turkish,  and  Swedish  officers. 
In  Teheran  were  the  British  and  Russian  Minis- 
ters, doing  their  best  to  dissuade  the  Shah  from 
leaving  his  capital.  The  young  ruler,  still 
hardly  more  *  than  a  boy,  seemed  completely 


PRINCE    HENRY    XXXI    OF    REUSS, 
German  Minister  at  Teheran. 

unable  to  come  to  a  decision,  and  asked 
piteously  for  advice  from  all  about  him.  The 
majority  of  his  Ministers  seemed  to  be  in  favour 
of  his  going,  and  assured  him  that  they  repre- 
sented the  feeling  of  the  people,  as  perhaps 
they  did.  On  the  other  hand,  one  or1  two  of 
them,  notably  the  Farman  Farma,  a  prince  of 
the  Kajar  house,  stood  staunchly  by  the 
cause  of  the  Allies.  At  last,  after  much  painful 
hesitation,  the  Shah  decided  that  he  would 
remain  in  Teheran,  and,  to  the  intense  dis- 
appointment of  the  assemblage  awaiting  him 
by  the  mosque  on  the  southern  road,  word 
came  that  they  need  not  expect  him.  The 
Russian  and  English  Ministers  were  assured 
that  for  the  future  the  attitude  of  the  Persian 
Government  would  be  one  of  "  benevolent 
neutrality,"  and  the  dramatic  crisis  was  over. 


354 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY     OF    THE     (I.I/,1. 


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THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


355 


Soon  afterwards  the  Farman  Farma  was 
appointed  Prime  Minister,  and  for  the  time, 
so  far  as  the  Persian  Government  was  con- 
cerned, all  seemed  to  be  going  well  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  Allies. 

Nevertheless,  all  was  not  going  well  in  the 
country  A  few  days  before  the  scene  at 
Teheran  a  body  of  the  disbanded  gendarmerie  at 
Shiraz  broke  into  open  revolt,  and  led  by  sonic 
of  its  Swedish  officers,  surrounded  the  British 
Consulate.  The  Consul,  Major  (afterwards 
Colonel)  O'Connor,  having  no  troops  at  his 
disposal,  was  made  a  prisoner,  and  with  him 
the  few  British  in  the  place.  The  women 
were  sent  away  to  the  port  of  Bushire,  where, 
after  some  threatening  demonstrations,  they 
arrived  in  safety.  The  Consul  and  his  com- 
panions were  marched  away  and  handed  over 
to  some  local  khans  who  were  under  the 
influence  of  a  German  ex-Consul,  a  certain 
Herr  Was.smuss,  who  had  distinguished  him- 
self by  the  energy  of  his  intrigues.  They 
were  not  released  for  several  months.  The 
German  Minister  with  his  following,  mean- 
while, took  up  a  position  at  Kum,  about  a 
hundred  miles  from  the  capital,  and  from  there 
carried  on  his  irregular  warfare.  There  were 
risings,  brought  about  by  his  people,  to  the 
west  near  Hamadan,  and  far  away  to  the 
east  in  Yezd  and  Kermaii,  where,  it  is  said,  the 
insurgents  murdered  a  cousin  of  the  well- 
known  Indian  Mohamedan  leader,  His  Highness 
the  Aga  Khan. 

The  news  of  the  British  repulse  at  Ctesiphou 
in  Mesopotamia  strengthened  the  hands  of 
the  Germans  ;  and  before  long  their  armed 
adherents  in  Persia,  including  some  Turkish 
irregular  horse,  amounted  to  something  like 
15,000  men.  But  their  success,  such  as  it 
was,  did  not  last  long.  In  Bushire  the  British 
had  now  firmly  established  themselves,  ami 
there  was  a  strong  revulsion  of  feeling  in  their 
favour  in  the  southern  districts,  while  in  the 
north  the  Russians  struck  some  telling  blows. 
The  force  they  could  spare  for  Persia  was 
small  :  but  in  December  they  broke  up  a 
dangerous  rising  near  the  capital,  and  after 
defeating  a  Turco-German  force  on  the  main 
Turkish  road  they  took  Hamadan.  A  few 
days  later,  on  the  21st,  another  Russian  column 
took  Kum,  the  German  headquarters,  the 
Minister  and  his  motley  assemblage  making 
no  stand  ;  and  before  the  end  of  the  year 
the  Russians  had  pushed  down  the  road  to 
the  town  of  Kashan,  threatening  the  centre 


of    fanaticism     and     disaffection    at     Ispahan 
itself. 

In  the  following  year,  1016,  the  tide  of  affairs 
in  Persia  turned  still  more  strongly  in  favour  of 
the  Allies.  On  the  western  side  of  the  country 
there  was  some  fighting  between  the  Russians 
and  Turks  upon  the  main  road  before  men- 
tioned, a  road  which  has  been  the  scene  of 
fighting  and  the  highway  of  trade  from  time 
immemorial.  By  it,  for  thousands  of  years, 
caravans  bore  the  riches  of  the  Far  East  to  the 
capitals  of  the  ancient  Empires  in  Mesopotomia 
and  the  shores  of  the  Bosphorus  ;  and  by  it 
countless  armies  marched  to  and  fro — westward 


.  [Elliott  &•  Fry, 

SIR    CHARLES    MARLING, 
British  Minister  at  Teheran. 

and  eastward.  By  it  Darius  retreated  before 
Alexander  the  Great,  and  the  Arabs  carried 
the  victorious  banners  of  Islam  into  the  centre 
of  Asia.  It  was  now  to  see  the  ebb  and  flow 
of  battle  in  the  greatest  war  of  all  time.  The 
armies  engaged  were,  it  is  true,  small  in  com- 
parison with  the  armies  of  old  days,  for  the 
main  fields  of  the  war  were  far  away  ;  but 
Turks  and  Russians  were  to  fight  011  that  classic 
ground.  The  first  success  was  with  the  Turks, 
who,  flushed  with  their  success  against  the 
British  at  Ctesiphon,  pushed  forward  across 
the  border  early  in  the  year,  occupied  Kerman- 
shah,  and  advanced  to  the  neighbourhood  of 
Hamadan,  the  Ecbataiia  of  the  Greeks.  In  the 
month  of  March  the  Russians  advanced  in 
their  turn,  drove  back  the  Turks,  and  got  as 


356 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


far  as  Kerind,  only  150  miles  from  Baghdad. 
About  the  same  time  their  southern  column 
arrived  at  Ispahan  and  re-established  the 
Allied  Consulates  in  the  old  capital  of  Shah 
Abbas.  Soon  afterwards  the  German  Emperor 
telegraphed  to  "  the  Commander-in-Chief  of 
the  Persian  National  Army,"  in  reality  the 
leader  of  a  small  force  of  Persian  rebels,  and 
announced  that  General  von  der  Golt/,  and  other 
German  officers  were  being  sent  to  help  him. 
It  does  not  appear  that  they  ever  arrived  ; 
but  about  this  time  the  energetic  Schiinemann, 
with  the  leader  of  the  Democrats  in  the  National 
Assembly  and  other  German  adherents,  were 
captured  by  a  local  chief  and  sent  to  Teheran. 
Then  the  Turks  pushed  forward  once  more, 
retook  Kermanshah,  and  apparently  in  the 
course  of  the  autumn  got  to  a  point  250  miles 
beyond  the  Persian  frontier,  where  they  were 
again  checked. 

Meanwhile  in  the  south  of  Persia  the  British 
had  been  doing  thek  share.  Not  only  had  they 
cleared  the  country  about  Ahwaz,  and  estab- 
lished themselves  firmly  at  Bushire,  but  they 
had  sent  into  the  country  to  the  south-east  a 
detachment  under  a  British  officer,  Sir  Percy 
Sykes,  formerly  Consul  at  Kerman.  Be- 
ginning his  career  25  years  before  as  a  subal- 
tern of  British  cavalry,  Sykes  soon  developed 
a  taste  for  exploration  and  other  work  outside 
the  limits  of  regimental  duty,  which  led  to  his 
being  employed  in  Persia.  At  Kerman,  and 
afterwards  as  Consul-General  in  Meshed,  he 
remained  for  more  than  20  years.  A  man 
of  remarkable  energy,  physical  and  mental, 
and  an  equally  remarkable  capacity  for  gaining 
the  goodwill  of  the  Persians,  he  became,  in 
course  of  time,  the  first  authority  in  all  matters 
connected  with  the  country.  He  travelled 
all  over  it,  made  himself  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  its  people,  and  wrote  some  books  about  it 
which  were  full  of  varied  information.  His 
History  of  Persia,  in  particular,  showed  deep 
study,  and  was  a  work  of  the  greatest  value. 
Some  time  after  the  war  had  broken  out,  and  the 
state  of  Persia  had  become  what  has  been  de- 
scribed, His  Majesty's  Government  decided  to 
send  Sykes,  who  had  then  left  Persia,  to  restore 
order  in  the  disturbed  districts  of  the  south  and 
east.  Going  out  to  Bunder  Abbas  early  in  19 1  (i 
with  the  rank  of  Brigadier-General  and  the  task 
of  raising  a  body  of  Persian  military  police,  he 
pushed  up  to  his  old  post  at  Kerman,  set 


matters  right  there,  and  then  marched  across 
the  country  disturbed  by  the  Germans  to 
Yezd,  Ispahan,  and  Sliiraz.  The  length  of  the 
march  was  over  a  thousand  miles,  and  the 
dill  lenities  great,  for  the  whole  country  had  been 
in  anarchy  for  months  and  the  tribes  were  now 
armed  with  German  rifles.  Apparently,  General 
Sykes  was  successful  in  restoring  order  through- 
out the  country  east  of  Ispahan  ;  and,  arrived 
there,  he  was  instructed  to  raise  his  force  of 
.  tribal  levies  to  a  total  of  11,000  men,  the 
arrangement  being  that  the  Russians  were  to 
raise  a  similar  force  for  service  in  the  northern 
half  of  the  country.  This  arrangement  seems 
,to  have  been  made  between  the  three  Govern- 
ments of  Persia,  Russia,  and  Great  Britain  ; 
and  to  have  formed  part  of  a  wider  agreement 
by  which  the  Russian  and  British  Governments 
undertook  to  help  Persia  in  reorganizing  her 
finances  and  her  administration.  The  terms 
of  the  agreement  would  appear  to  show  that 
the  provisions  of  the  Convention  of  1907  were 
wisely  modified  to  recognize  the  fact  that  the 
special  interests  of  Great  Britain  lie  more 
in  the  neutral  zone  of  that  Convention  than 
in  the  British  zone. 

At  the  end  of  the  second  year  of  the  war 
the  condition  of  affairs  in  Persia  was  on  the 
whole  promising.  The  Persian  Government 
had  shown  a  more  friendly  disposition.  The 
mischief  done  by  the  Germans  had  been  largely 
counteracted.  Order  had  been  restored  in 
many  parts,  and  arrangements  had  been  made 
which  gave  some  hope  of  general  improvement. 
But  the  Turks  remained  in  possession  of  largo 
tracts  of  Persian  territory  in  the  north,  and  it 
was  by  no  means  certain  that  the  German 
evil  had  been  wholly  extirpated.  Until  some 
crushing  blow  struck  by  the  Russians  in  Asia 
Minor,  or  by  the  British  in  Mesopotamia, 
should  break  the  power  of  Turkey  in  the 
East,  and  put  an  end  once  for  all  to  Turkish 
military  action  across  the  Persian  frontier, 
the  situation  in  Persia  would  not  be  secure. 

Whether  in  any  case  Persia  could  ever  again 
become  a  really  independent  kingdom,  standing 
by  her  own  strength,  was  very  doubtful. 
The  Iran  of  Cyrus  and  Shah  Abbas  had  fallen 
low  indeed  ;  and,  however  much  Englishmen 
might  wish  to  see  her  restored  to  something 
like  the  position  she  had  held  for  twenty-five 
centuries,  the  hope  of  such  a  revival  could  not 
be  a  confident  one. 


CHAPTER   CLXXVII. 

THE  END  OF  AMERICAN 
NEUTRALITY. 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  AMERICAN  FOREIGN  POLICY — THE  CONTROVERSIES  WITH  GERMANY 
FROM  MAY,  1915,  TO  JANUARY,  1917 — ANALYSIS  or  THE  SUBMARINE  WARFARE  DISPUTES — THE 
DEUTSCHLAND  INCIDENT — GERMAN  DEFIANCE — UNITED  STATES  BREAK  OFF  DIPLOMATIC  RELATIONS 
— GERMAN  AGENTS  AND  THEIR  CRIMES — THE  GERMAN  PROPOSAL  OF  ALLIANCE  WITH  MEXICO — 
THE  PRESIDENT'S  POLICY  AND  AMERICAN  OPINION — PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  RE-ELECTION — His 
PEACE  NOTE — AMERICAN  PACIFISM'  AND  ALOOFNESS  EXAMINED — THE  TRADE  DISPUTES  WITH 
GREAT  BRITAIN — ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENTS — LOANS  TO  THE  ALLIES — CHARITABLE  SERVICES — THE 
LEAGUE  TO  ENFORCE  PEACE — THE  "  PREPAREDNESS  "  MOVEMENT — THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICAN 
INTERVENTION. 


ON  February  3,  1917,  exactly  two  and 
a  half  years  after  the  beginning 
of  the  Great  War,  Mr.  Woodrow 
Wilson,  who  in  the  previous  Novem- 
ber had  been  re-elected  President  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  announced  to  Congress  that 
diplomatic  relations  with  the  German  Empire 
had  been  severed.  On  April  2  the  President 
asked  Congress  to  declare  that  a  state  of  war 
existed  between  the  United  States  and  Germany. 
By  April  6  the  Administration  resolution  had 
passed  both  Houses.  Thus  ended  the  long 
period  of  American  neutrality,  and  the  present 
chapter  reviews  the  history  of  the  eighteen 
months  that  preceded  the  rupture  of  relations 
with  Germany,  a  period  which,  whatever  might 
be  the  consequences  of  American  intervention 
in  the  war,  must  be  reckoned  as  one  of  the 
most  important  in  American  history.  This 
period  witnessed  the  beginning  of  the  evolution 
of  the  United  States  from  an  isolated  and  self- 
centred  country  into  a  World-Power. 
/  Before  the  war  the  United  States  never  had 
a  real  foreign  policy  save  the  negative  policy 
implied  by  the  Monroe  doctrine.  "  Leave  us 
alone  in  our  hemisphere,"  America  virtually 
Vol.  XL— Part  140. 


said  to  Europe,  "  and  we  will  not  meddle  in 
your  affairs."  True  she  had  in  the  previous 
twenty  years  fought  with  one  European  coun- 
try, and  had  joined  with  others  in  trying  to 
stabilize  the  affairs  of  China  ;  but  the  freeing 
of  Cuba  was  not  unconnected  with  the 
moral  and  political  obligations  imposed 
by  the  Monroe  doctrine  —  the  protection 
of  New  World  Republicanisms  from  the  anti- 
democratic tendencies  of  old-world  monarchies. 
The  acquisition  of  the  Philippines  was  acci- 
dental and  incidental,  and  John  Hay's  promul- 
gation of  the  open  door  in  China  was  little 
more  than  a  passing  demonstration  of  altruism. 
As  a  contribution  to  permanent  policy  it  did 
not  rank  much  higher  than  America's  earlier 
naval  crusades  against  the  pirates  of  Algeria 
and  the  buccaneers  of  the  Barbary  Coast. 
Even  its  author  regarded  it  mainly  as  a  diplo- 
matic tour  de  force  ;  and  President  Wilson,  by 
withdrawing  from  participation  in  the  Six 
Powers  loan  in  China  at  the  beginning  of  his 
administration,  relegated  it  to  the  limbo  of 
abandoned  policies. 

In  August,    1914,   the  old  tradition   against 
any    sort    of    entanglements    in    Europe — the 


357 


858 


THE    TIMES'    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


tradition  that  made  the  United  States  enter 
the  Algeciras  Conference  in  1906  on  the  express 
understanding  that  their  interest  in  the  Morocco 
complication  was  and  would  remain  purely 
academic — had  been  reinforced  by  the  acces- 
sion to  power  of  a  Government  of  orthodox 
Liberal  tendencies.  So  far  as  his  official 
actions  showed,  Mr.  Wilson  had  no  more  idea 
of  the  ultimate  significance  to  the  world  of  the 


JAMES    MONROE, 

Secretary  of  State    under  James    Madison,  at    the 

time  of  the    Declaration  of  War  with  the  United 

Kingdom    in    1812,    afterwards    President.     Author 

of  the  famous   "  Monroe  Doctrine." 

later  and  more  obviously  sinister  manifesta- 
tions of  the  Prussian'  spirit  than  Gladstone, 
and  some  other  British  statesmen,  had  of 
its  earlier  manifestations.  Not  only  was 
there  no  official  crystallization  of  the  best  and 
most  virile  American  opinion  in  the  shape  of 
a  protest  against  the  rape  of  Belgium,  but  the 
President  proclaimed,  on  August  19,  1914,  that 
the  United  States  ought  to  remain  neutral  in 
thought  as  well  as  action.  "  The  United 
States."  he  said,  "must  be  neutral  in  fact  aa 
well  as  in  na/ne  during  these  days  that  arc  to 
trv  men's  souls.  We  must  be  impartial  in 
thought  as  \voll  as  in  action,  must  put  a  curl) 
upon  our  sentiments  as  well  as  upon  every 


transaction  that  might  be  construed  as  a 
preference  of  one  party  to  the  struggle  before 
another." 

A  comparison  of  such  a  view  with  Mr. 
Wilson's  proposal  two  and  a  half  years  late? 
for  American  participation  in  a  League  to 
Enforce  Peace  gives  some  idea  of  the  educa- 
tional effect  of  the  war  upon  the  United  States, 
or  rather  the  educational  effect  of  Prussian 
lawlessness  and  savagery.  The  contrast  is 
the  more  striking  when  the  proposal  is  read 
in  the  light  of  the  progress  that  even  before 
the  rupture  with  Germany  had  been  made 
towards  a  growing  popular  demand  for  universal 
military  service  of  some  kind  and  for  an  ade- 
quate fleet.  In  his  message  to  Congress  in 
December,  1914,  the  President  virtually  ignored 
the  war  as  being  of  no  concern  to  the  United 
States.  In  his  second  inaugural  Address  bt 
March  5,  1917,  he  specifically  stated  that  the 
reactions  of  the  war  had  definitely  proved  thnt 
the  United  States  could  no  longer  live  aloof. 

From  the  time  of  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania 
in  May,  1915,  down  to  the  German  Proclama- 
tion of  "Barred  Zones,"  of  February  1,  1917, 
it  was  with  Germany  that  American  diplomacy 
and  American  public  opinion  were  chiefly 
engaged.  The  Lusitania  incident  and  its 
aftermath  of  diplomatic  exchanges,  in  which 
the  cynicism  of  Berlin  was  only  equalled  by 
the  patience  of  Washington,  have  been  sketched 
in  a  previous  chapter.*  War,  or  at  any  rate 
n  rupture  of  relations,  was  averted  because 
neither  side  wanted  it.  Berlin  quibbled,  pro- 
crastinated, and  beclouded  the  controversy  in 
every  possible  way.  The  President  forbore  to 
force  the  pace  because,  as  a  Liberal,  he  disliked 
the  idea  of  war,  because  he  knew  that  the 
country  was  not  ready  for  war,  and  because  he 
felt  that  he  could  best  serve  the  cause  of 
humanity  by  remaining  neutral.  And  the 
Lusitania  was  but  one  of  many  incidents. 
The  White  Star  liner  Arabic  foundered  on  the 
morning  of  August  19,  1915,  Sworn  evidence 
submitted  to  and  afterwards  published  by  the 
State  Department  in  Washington  made  it 
perfectly  clear  that  she  was  deliberately  sunk 
by  a  German  torpedo. 

The  defence  of  the  German  Government  in 
their  Note  to  the  American  Government  dated 
September  7,  was  that  the  commander  of  the 
criminal  subn  avine  "  became  convinced  "  that 
the  steamer  had  the  intention  of  attacking  and 
*  See  Vol.  V.,  chapter  Ixxxix. 


THE    TIMES    'HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


859 


ramming  him,  -  because  the  Arabic,  when 
approaching  the  place  where  he  was  preparing 
to  sink  by  shell  fire  the  Dunsley,  a  previous 
victim  from  which  the  crew  had  escaped,  after 
altering  her  course  pointed  directly  towards  the 
submarine.  The  German  Government,  con- 
tinued the  Note,  regretted  that  Americans 
should  have  perished,  but  refused  to  acknow- 
ledge liability.  They  would,  however,  arbitrate 
if  the  United  States  liked.  On  September  14 
the  American  Government  submitted  to  Berlin 
evidence  that  convincingly  rebutted  the  Ger- 
man accusation  against  the  Arabic.  Berlin, 
though  it  afterwards  sought  to  make  good  its 
case  by  voluminous  argument,  saw  that  the 
game  was  up  and  changed  its  tactics.  On 
October  5  Count  Bernstorff  wrote  to  Mr. 
Lansing,  the  American  Secretary  of  State,  a 
letter  to  the  effect  that  the  orders  given  to 
submarines  to  eschew  passenger  ships  "  had 
been  made  so  stringent  that  a  recurrence  of 
incidents  similar  to  the  Arabic  case  is  con- 
sidered out  of  the  question."  The  German 
Government,  Count  Bernstorff  continued,  were 
convinced  that  the  submarine  commander 
really  thought  he  was  going  to  be  rammed  ; 
but  they  did  not  feel  that  they  could  im- 
pugn the  word  of  the  British  officers  of  the 
Arabic  that  such  an  intention  never  entered 
their  heads,  and  hence  could  only  regret  and 
disavow  the  act  and  promise  to  pay  indemnity 
for  American  lives  lost.  This  offer  Mr  Lansing 
accepted  on  behalf  of  the  President. 

Hardly  had  a  crisis  over  the  Arabic  been 
averted  than  on  November  7  the  Italian  liner 
Ancona  was  sunk  by  a  submarine  flying  the 
Austro-Hungarian  flag.  The  circumstances  of 
the  sinking  as  recorded  by  Mr.  Lansing  in  his 
note  of  December  6  were  particularly  brutal. 
The  vessel  was  fired  upon  and  sank  while 
passengers  were  still  on  board  vainly  waiting 
to  be  taken  into  the  boats.  "  The  Government 
of  the  United  States,"  said  Mr.  Lansing,  "  con- 
siders that  the  commander  of  the  submarine 
violated  the  principles  of  international  law  and 
humanity  .  .  .  (by  a)  wanton  slaughter  of 
defenceless  non-combatants."  Therefore  Aus- 
tria-Hungary, if  she  valued  the  continuance  of 
good  relations  with  the  United  States,  must 
disavow  the  crime  and  punish  the  responsible 
officers.  Vienna's  answer  was  characteristically 
impertinent.  If  the  United  States,  it  said  in 
effect,  really  had  to  write  so  sharply,  they  might 
at  any  rate  have  the  courtesy  to  designate  the 
source  from  which  they  got  their  information. 


Also,  what  had  the  rulings  for  the  conduct  of 
submarine  warfare  which  they  had  laid  down  in 
their  correspondence  with  Germany  got  to  do 
with  Vienna,  which  had  no  authentic  record  of 
that  correspondence  ?  The  Ancona  case  was 
a  case  for  discussion,  not -for  vituperation.  Mr: 
Lansing  countered  by  showing  that  the  Aus- 
trian Admiralty  had  admitted  that  the  Ancona 
had  been  torpedoed  while  passengers  were  still 
on  board  and  bv  renewing  the  demands  of  his 


SIR    CECIL    SPRING-RICE,    G.C  M.G. 
G.C.V.O., 

British  Ambassador  to  the  United  Stales. 

first  Note.  Vienna  came  back  with  a  long 
rigmarole  giving  its  version  of  the  case  and 
talking  about  the  need  of  further  investigation. 
Before  the  controversy  could  be  developed  the 
Persia  was  sunk  with  equal  barbarity.  By 
this  time  the  Central  Powers  had  realized  that 
they  had  nothing  much  to  fear  from  the  Presi- 
dent's indignation,  that  in  fact  he  wanted  to 
keep  the  peace  as  much  as  they  did  at  that  time. 
As  a  result,  the  Persia  incident,  like  the  Ancona 
case,  and  indeed  the  Arabic  case,  was  obliter- 
ated behind  a  veil  of  lies,  misrepresentations, 
and  plausible  half-promises  about  reformed 
behaviour. 

Berlin  characteristically  tried  to  take  an  ell 
when  she  had  been  given  an  inch.  The  Wil- 
helmstrasse  was  virtually  certain  that,  provided 
Germany  conducted  submarine  warfare  with  a 
show  of  carefulness,  and  provided  that  she 


360 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR 


SUBMARINES    BUILT    IN    AMERICA    FOR    THE    BRITISH     GOVERNMENT,    INTERNED 
BEFORE    DELIVERY    AT    CHARLESTON    NAVY    YARD. 


avoided  spectacular  crimes  involving  the  whole- 
sale slaughter  of  Americans,  or  the  obviously 
illegal  sinking  of  large  ships,  the  President 
would  not  live  up  to  his  determination,  pro- 
claimed at  the  time  of  the  proclamation  of  the 
first  submarine  blockade  in  February,  1915, 
and  repeated  after  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania, 
to  uphold  the  rights  of  neutrals  and  the  laws  of 
humanity  as  well  as  to  protect  the  lives  and 
property  .of  his  nationals.  Not  content  with 


THE    "PRINZ   EITEL    FRIEDRICH,"    GER- 
MAN   AUXILIARY     CRUISER,    INTERNED 

AT    NEWPORT    NEWS. 
She    ran    into    port  with    passengers    from    several 

ships  which  she  had  sunk. 


this  considerable  victory  for  "  frightfulness," 
Berlin  tried  to  go  a  step  farther  and  to  use  the 
submarine  campaign  to  embroil  the  United 
States  with  Great  Britain. 

At  the  beginning  of  February,  1916,  it  was 
announced  that  Germany  had  "  surrendered  " 
in  the  Lusitania  controversy.  The  chief  object 
of  the  President  had  been  to  get  Germany  to 
disavow  the  act — that  is  to  say,  to  admit  that  it 
was  an  illegal  accident.  His  second  object  had 
been  to  secure  some  sort  of  reparation.  His 
third  object  had  been,  by  using  the  Lusitania 
as  the  leading  submarine  case,  to  pin  Germany 
down  to  a  definite  promise  that  she  would  reduce 
her  barbarities  to  such  a  minimum  that  the 
United  States  would  be  able  to  continue  on 
terms  with  her. 

The  Germans  allowed  the  President  to  win 
his  third  and,  incidentally,  his  chief  object — 
on  paper.  They  repeated  their  pledge  that 
unarmed  merchantmen  should  not  be  sunk 
without  warning  and  unless  the  safety  of  the 
passengers  and  crew  had  been  assvired,  provided, 
of  course,  that  the  vessel  did  not  try  to  escape 
or  resist.  Regarding  disavowal,  Germany 
refused  to  depart  from  her  position  that  sub- 
marine warfare  was  a  justifiable  retaliation 
against  the  British  blockade,  but  admitted  that 
it  was  wrong  to  imperil  the  safety  of  neutrals. 
She  offered  to  pay  a  full  indemnity  for  American 
victims  on  the  Lusitania,  whose  death  she 
"greatly  regretted."  The  "surrender"  was 
not  received  with  much  enthusiasm.  Stalwart 
opinion,  which  in  the  East  especially  had  been 
crowing  increasingly  bitter  at  the  President's 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


861 


patience  in  face  of  successive  atrocities,  con- 
demned him  for  his  readiness  to  accept  blood- 
money  for  the  murder  of  Americans.  Scepti- 
cism was  expressed  as  to  the  sincerity  of 
German  guarantees  of  safety  in  the  future. 
The  loophole  left  by  the  provision  that  mer- 
chantmen might  still  be  sunk  if  they  tried  to 
resist  or  escape  search  could,  it  was  pointed  out, 
be  enlarged  indefinitely  by  the  cynics  of  Berlin. 
But  such  criticism  was  inevitable.  What 
surprised  people  was  the  silence  of  the  Presi- 
dent's supporters  in  Washington.  They  seemed 
nervous  and  preoccupied.  There  was  no  effort 
to  display  the  compromise  as  a  "  diplomatic 
triumph."  The  cat  did  not  remain  long  in  the 
bag. 

Berlin's  retreat  was  purely  strategic.  At 
about  the  same  time  that  Count  Bernstorff 
"  yielded "  over  the  Lusitania,  Mr.  Lansing 
had  forwarded  to  the  Allied  Governments  a 
Note  suggesting  that,  owing  to  the  changed 
methods  of  maritime  warfare,  merchant  ships 
ought  not  to  be  armed  for  defence.  After 
registering  his  dislike  of  the  German  habit  of 
killing  non-combatants,  Mr.  Lansing  said  that 
he  did  not  feel  that  a  belligerent  should  be 
deprived  of  the  proper  use  of  submarines  in 
the  interruption  of  enemy  commerce.  They 
should,  of  course,  obey  the  laws  of  visit  and 
search  ;  but  so  fragile  were  they  that  they  would 
have  great  difficulty  if  merchantmen  were 
allowed  to  carry  any  arms- whatsoever. 

Prior  to  the  year  1915  belligerent  operations  against 
enemy  commerce  on  the  high  seas  had  been  conducted 
with  cruisers  carrying  heavy  armaments.  Undsr  these 
conditions  international  law  appeared  to  permit  a 
merchant  vessel  to  carry  an  armament  for  defensive 
purposes  without  losing  its  character  as  a  private  com- 
mercial vessel.  This  right  seems  to  have  been  pre- 
dicated on  the  superior  defensive  strength  of  ships  of 
war,  and  the  limitation  of  armament  to  have  been 
dependent  on  the  fact  that  it  could  not  be  used  effectively 
in  offence  against  enemy  naval  vessels,  while  it  could 
defend  the  merchantmen  against  the  generally  inferior 
armament  of  piratical  ships  and  privateers. 

The  use  of  the  submarine,  however,  has  changed 
these  relations.  Comparison  of  the  defensive  strength 
of  a  cruiser  and  a  submarine  shows  that  the  latter, 
relying  for  protection  on  its  power  to  submerge,  is 
almost  defenceless  in  point  of  construction.  Even  a 
merchant  ship  carrying  a  small  calibre  gun  would  be 
able  to  use  it  effectively  for  offence  against  a  submarine. 
Moreover,  pirates  and  sea  rovers  have  been  swept  from 
the  main  trade  channels  of  the  seas,  and  privateering 
ha*  been  abolished.  Consequently,  the  placing  of 
L'uns  on  merchantmen  at  the  present  day  of  submarine 
warfare  can  be  explained  only  on  the  ground  of  a  purpose 
to  render  merchantmen  superior  in  force  to  submarines 
and  to  prevent  warning  and  visit  and  search  by  them. 
Any  armament,  therefore,  on  a  merchant  vessel  would 
seem  to  have  the  character  of  an  offensive  arma; 
mcnt.  .  .  . 

It  would,  therefore,  appear  to  be  a  reasonable  and 
reciprocally  just  arrangement  if  it  could  be  agreed  by 


the  opposing  belligerents  that  submarines  should  be 
caused  to  adhere  strictly  to  the  rules  of  international 
law  in  the  matter  of  stopping  and  searching  merchant 
vessels,  determining  their  belligerent  nationality,  and 
removing  the  crews  and  passengers  to  places  of  safety 
before  sinking  the  vessels  as  prizes  of  war,  and  that 
merchant  vessels  of  belligerent  nationality  should  be 
prohibited  and  prevented  from  carrying  any  armament 
whatsoever. 

In  prssenting  this  formula  as  a  basis  for  conditional 
declarations  by  the  belligerent  Governments,  I  do  so 
in  the  full  conviction  that  your  Government  will  con- 
sider primarily  the  humane  purpose  of  saving  the  lives 
of  innocent  people  rather  than  the  insistence  upon  a 
doubtful  legal  right  which  may  be  denied  on  account 
of  new  conditions. 


:SiI^ii:  - 


[Brooklyn  Eagle. 

"WILL   THE   SCRAP   OF   PAPER   HOLD?" 

Mr.  Lansing's  suggestion  constituted  a  com- 
plete abandonment  of  American  policy,  which, 
as  defined  in  a  memorandum  from  Mr.  Bryan 
to  Count  Bernstorff,  dated  September  19,  1914, 
was  that  merchant  ships  might  be  armed  for 
defence  in  a  strictly  limited  fashion,  one  gun, 
calibre  not  to  exceed  6  inches,  to  be  mounted 
abaft  with  a  small  quantity  of  ammunition 
and  without  expert  gunners  to  serve  it.  Ameri- 
can opinion  received  the  Note  with  consterna- 
tion. The  conservative  American  Press  warned 
the  President  that  to  treat  armed  merchantmen 
as  warships  would  be  a  breach  of  neutrality  and 
that  the  idea  of  depriving  vessels  of  their  only 
means  of  defence  against  the  murderous  attacks 
of  submarines  was,  to  put  it  mildly,  unfair.  Some 
newspapers — e.g.,  the  Philadelphia  Ledger  on 

140—2 


362 


THE    TIMES    HISTOBY    OF    THE    WAR. 


February  13 — went  further  and  accused  the 
State  Department  of  having  deliberately  pur- 
chased the  so-called  surrender  of  Germany 
over  the  Lusitania  by  a  promise  to  try  to  force 
us  to  disarm  our  merchant  ships.  The  accusa- 
tion gained  weight  from  the  behaviour  of 
Count  Berristorff,  who  went  .•about  rubbing 
his  hands  with  glee.  "  From  this  time  forward," 
he  was  reported  to  have  said,  "  all  maritime 
controversies  will  lie  between  the  Allies  and  the 
United  States."  There  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that, the  State  Department  struck  any  such 
bargain.  The  facts  of  the  case  seem  to  have 


GERMAN    SUBMARINE     UNDER    REPAIR. 

been  that  it  was  temporarily  deceived  by 
Count  Bernstorff's  plausible  argument  that,  if 
vessels  were  armed,  and  if,  as  he  had  reason  to 
believe,  they  sometimes  shot  at  submarines  on 
sight,  submarines  could  not  approach  to  hail 
them  and  therefore  could  not  live  up  to  his 
side  of  the  Lusitania  bargain.  The  period 
of  the  State  Department's  aberration  was  short. 
The  surprise,  not  to  say  the  indignation,  of 
the  Allies  was  conveyed  to  the  President  so 
authoritatively  from  London  that  he  instructed 
Mr.  Lansing  to  abandon  his  suggestion.  Count 
Bernstorff  was  discomfited  but  not  beaten.  His 
efforts  to  embroil  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  had  failed  ;  but  it  might  still  be  pos- 
sible for  Germany  by  a  mixture  of  "  fright- 


fulness  "  and  diplomatic  chicanery  so  to  work 
upon  American  opinion  as  to  enable  her  to 
continue  her  career  of  piratical  assassina- 
tion 

Before  the  failure  of  their  first  effort,  the 
German  Government  had  transmitted  to  Wash- 
ington on  February  11,  1916,  a  lengthy  Memo- 
randum accompanied  by  exhibits  in  the  shape  of 
a  list  of  Allied  vessels  alleged  to  have  attacked 
submarines  offensively,  copies  of  instructions  as 
to  the  handling  of  guns  alleged  to  have  been 
captured  on  British  vessels,  and  various  other 
documents,  which  were  either  unconvincing  or 
harmless,  to  prove  that  we  were  using  our 
armed  merchantmen  deliberately  to  destroy 
well-meaning  submarines  and  were  rapidly 
increasing  the  number  of  our  armed  ships. 
The  Memorandum  said  : — 

In  the  circumstances  set  forth  above,  enemy  mer- 
chantmen armed  with  guns  no  longer  have  any  right 
to  be  considered  as  peaceable  vessels  of  commerce. 
Therefore  the  German  naval  forces  will  receive  orders, 
within  a  short  period,  paying  consideration  to  the 
interests  of  the  neutrals,  to  treat  such  vessels  as  bel- 
ligerents. 

The  German  Government  brings  this  state  of  affairs 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  neutral  Powers  in  order  tha>, 
they  may  warn  their  nationals  against  continuing  to 
entrust  their  persons  or  property  to  armed  merchantmen 
of  the  Powers  at  war  with  the  German  Empire. 

The  Memorandum  reached  Washington  at 
the  end  of  February,  simultaneously  with  the 
inauguration  of  Germany's  new  submarine 
campaign,  which,  though  conducted  on  the 
hypothesis  that  no  merchant  ships  would  be 
sunk  without  due  regard  for  life  unless  they 
tried  to  attack  or  escape,  was  nothing  but  the 
old  practice  of  irresponsible  murder  under  a 
new  charter  of  piracy.  Germany  merely  relied 
upon  the  allegation  in  her  Memorandum  about 
the  promiscuously  offensive  propensities  of  our 
vessels  to  becloud  the  issue  should  Americans 
suffer.  Had  not  the  Arabic  trouble  been  tided 
over  by  statements  that  the  ill-fated  liner  was 
preparing  to  ram  ?  Need  any  greater  difficulty 
be  expected  if,  in  the  e^ent  of  another  disaster, 
the  submarine  captain  had  a  report  promptly 
written  for  him  showing  that  the  victim  was 
about  to  attack  or  trying  to  escape  ? 

Germany  over-estimated  the  President's 
patience  and  the  desire  of  his  advisers  to  be 
neutral  at  all  costs.  She  proceeded  too  fast  and 
too  ostentatiously  on  her  rake's  progress.  She 
torpedoed  the  Norwegian  barge  Silius  almost 
before  the  State  Department  had  digested 
Berlin's  latest  Memorandum.  The  Silius  inci- 
dent raised  doubts,  but  before  they  could  be 
resolved  a  far  worse  offence  plunged  the  whole 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


3G3 


submarine  controversy  back  into  the  melting- 
pot.  On  March  24  a  Teutonic  torpedo  blew 
the  bows  off  the  French  Channel  steamer 
Sussex.  Americans  were  killed  and  wounded, 
and  the  lives  of  others  were  jeopardized. 
Washington  was  more  worried  than  at  any 
time  since  the  Lusitania  tragedy.  The  public 
was  aroused,  especially  in  the  East,  though  it 
patriotically  forbore  to  do  anything  that  would 
force  the  President's  hand. 

The  President  acted  with  his  usual  poise. 
After  due  delay  to  collect  information,  he  asked 
Germany  for  her  explanation.  The  explanation 
was  characteristically  unsatisfactory  and  it 
arrived  only  after  the  torpedoing  of  the  Eagle- 
Point.  Manchester  Engineer,  Englishman,  Ber- 
windvale,  and  of  the  Red  Cross  steamer  Portugal 
in  the  Mediterranean  had  enhanced  the  fear 
that  Prussian  promises  were  still  not  worth  the 
paper  they  were  written  on.  It  asserted  that 
the  Sussex  had  been  taken  for  a  mine-layer 
and  enhanced  the  blatancy  of  the  he  not  only 
with  a  quantity  of  meticulously  deceptive 
details  but  with  pictures  comparing  the  Sussex 
with  the  imaginary  mine-layer.  This  extra- 
ordinary document  Washington  rebutted  with 
convincing  details,  supported  by  affidavits,  in 
a  Note  dated  April  18.  It  recapitulated  the 
whole  history  of  the  submarine  controversy , 
laid  stress  upon  its  patience,  politely  indicated 
a  suspicion  that  Berlin  had  not  been  acting  in 
good  faith,  and  regretted  that  it  would  have  to 
break  off  relations  if  there  were  more  atrocities. 
The  commanders  of  the  Imperial  Government's 
undersea  vessels  have  carried  on  practices  of  such 
ruthless  destruction  which  have  made  it  more  and 
more  evident  as  the  months  have  gone  by  that  the 
Imperial  Government  has  found  it  impracticable  to  put 
any  such  restraints  upon  them  a.s  it  had  hoped  anci 
promised  to  put.  Again  and  again  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment has  given  its  solemn  assurances  to  the  Government 


THE    SUSSEX    BEFORE    AND    AFTER 
SHE    WAS    TORPEDOED. 

of  the  United  States  that  at  least  passenger  ships  would 
not  be  thus  dealt  with,  and  yet  it  has  repeatedly  per- 
nutted  its  undersea  commanders  to  disregard  these 
assurances  with  entire  impunity.  As  recently  as  Febru- 
ary last  it  gave  notice  that  it  would  regard  all  armed 
merchantmen  owned  by  its  enemies  as  part  of  the  armed 
naval  forces  of  its  adversaries  and  deal  with  them  as 
with  men-of-war,  thus,  at  least  by  implication,  pledging 
itself  to  give  warning  to  vessels  which  were  not  armed 
and  to  accord  security  of  life  to  their  passengers  and 
crews  ;  but  even  this  limitation  their  submarine  com- 
manders have  recklessly  ignored. 

Vessels  of  neutral  ownership,  even  vessels  of  neutral 
ownership  bound  from  neutral  port  to  neutral  port,  have 
been  destroyed,  along  with  vessels  of  belligerent  owner- 
ship in  constantly  increasing  numbers.  .  .  .  Great 
liners  like  the  Lusitania  and  Arabic  and  more  passenger 
boats  like  the  Sussex  have  been  attacked  without  a 
moment's  warning,  often  before  they  have  even  become 
aware  that  they  were  in  the  presence  of  an  armed  ship 
of  the  enemy,  and  the  lives  of  non-combatants,  passengers 
and  crew  have  been  destroyed  wholesale  and  in  a  manner 
which  the  Government  of  the  United  States  cannot  but 
regard  as  wanton  and  without  the  slightest  colour  of 
justification.  No  limit  of  any  kind  has,  in  fact,  been  set 
to  their  indiscriminate  pursuit  and  destruction  of 
merchantmen  of  all  kinds  and,  nationalities  within  the 
waters  which  the  Imperial  Government  has  chosen  to 
designate  as  lying  within  the  seat  of  war.  The  roll  of 
Americans  who  have  lost  their  lives  upon  ships  thus 
attacked  and  destroyed  has  grown  month  by  month 
until  the  ominous  toll  has  mounted  into  hundreds. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  has  been  veiy 
patient.  ...  It  has  made  every  allowance  for  unprece- 
dented conditions  and  has  been  willing  to  wait  until  the 
facts  became  unmistakable  and  were  susceptible  of  only 
one  interpretation. 

It  now  owes  it  to  a  just  regard  for  its  own  rights  to 
say  to  the  Imperial  Government  that  that  time  has  come. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


THE    GERMAN  "COMMERCIAL"  SUBMARINE    "  DEUTSCHLAND "    AT    BALTIMORE. 


It  has  become  painfully  evident  to  it  that  the  position 
it  took  at  the  very  outset  is  inevitable — namely,  the  use 
of  submarines  for  the  destruction  of  an  enemy's  com- 
merce is,  of  necessity,  because  of  the  very  character  of 
the  vessels  employed,  and  the  very  methods  of  attack 
which  their  employment  of  course  involves,  utterly 
incompatible  with  the  principles  of  humanity,  the  long- 
established  and  incontrovertible  rights  of  neutrals,  and 
the  sacred  immunities  of  non-combatants. 

If  it  is  still  the  purpose  of  the  Imperial  Government  to 
prosecute  relentless  and  indiscriminate  warfare  against 
vessels  of  commerce  by  the  use  of  submarines  without 
regard  to  what  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
must  consider  the  sacred  and  indisputable  rules  of 
international  law  and  the  universally  recognized  dictates 
of  humanity,  the  Government  of  the  United  States  is  at 
last  forced  to  tho  conclusion  that  there  is  but  one  course 
it  can  pursue.  Unless  the  Imperial  Government  should 
now  immediately  declare  and  effect  an  abandonment  of 
its  present  methods  of  submarine  warfare  against 
passenger  and  freight-carrying  vessels,  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  can  have  no  choice  but  to  sever 
diplomatic  relations  with  the  Central  Empires  altogether. 
This  action  the  Government  of  the  United  States  con- 
templates with  tho  greatest  reluctance  but  feels  con- 
strained to  take  in  behalf  of  humanity  and  the  rights 
of  neutral  nations. 

On  April  19,  the  President  appeared  before 
Congress  and  read  a  paraphrase  of  the  Note, 
which  was  greeted  with  emphatic  approval  by 
the  Legislature  and  by  the  whole  country. 

The  Sussex  Note  was  in  point  of  fact  most 
important.  It  put  the  issue  plainly  before 
Germany.  In  it  the  President  reverted  to  the 
only  sound  principle  upon  which  the  submarine 
controversy  could  be  conducted.  He  insisted 
that  Germany  should  behave  herself  on  the 


seas  in  the  interests  not  only  of  American  life 
and  property  but  of  international  right  and 
decency.  He  took,  in  fact,  the  same  line  as  he 
had  taken  after  the  assassination  of  the 
Lusitania  but  which  he  seemed  to  desert  in  his 
later  Lusitania  Notes  and  in  his  treatment  of 
the  long  string  of  Teutonic  crimes  between  the 
Arabic  and  the  Sussex.  During  that  time 
scant  attention  was  paid  to  the  sinking  of 
merchantmen  of  neutral  or  belligerent  nations, 
provided  no  American  citizen  was  injured  ;  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  seeming  willing- 
•  ness  to  allow  a  certain  latitude  for  illicit  warfare 
had  bred  in  Germany  n  strong  conviction  that 
the  United  States  would  put  nothing  more 
efficacious  than  words  in  the  way  of  an  almost 
unlimited  use  of  the  submarine.  This  belief 
the  Sussex  Note  shook  considerably.  It  took 
Germany  by  surprise.  If  left  her  no  choice 
but  to  climb  down  and  to  hide  her  discomfiture 
behind  a  characteristic  veil  of  bluster  about  the 
illegalities  of  the  British  blockade  and  of 
blarney  about  her  willingness  to  make  peace 
if  only  the  overweening  ambitions  and  hatreds 
of  the  Allies  would  let  her.  That  was  the  gist 
of  the  cumbrous  and  offensive  Note  of  May  4. 
The  Note,  however,  did  contain  radical  con- 
cessions to  the  American  point  of  view. 

As  far  as  it  lies  with  the  German  Government,  it  wishes 
to   prevent    things   from    taking   such   a   course.      The 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


365 


German  Government  is  prepared  to  do  its  utmost  to 
confine  the  operations  of  war  for  the  rest  of  its  duration 
to  the  fighting  forces  of  the  belligerents,  thereby  also 
insuring  the  freedom  of  the  seas,  a  principle  upon  which 
the  German  Government  believes  itself,  now  as  before, 
to  be  in  agreement  with  the  United  States. 

The  German  Government,  guided  by  this  idea,  notifies 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  that  the  German 
naval  forces  have  received  the  following  orders  :  In 
accordance  with  the  general  principles  of  visit  and  search 
&nd  destruction  of  merchant  vessels  recognized  by 
international  law,  such  vessels,  both  within  and  without 
the  area  declared  as  naval  war  zone,  shall  not  be  sunk 
•without  warning  and  without  saving  human  lives,  unless 
these  ships  attempt  to  escape  or  offer  resistance. 

But  neutrals  cannot  expect  that  Germany,  forced  to 
fight  for  her  existence,  shall,  for  the  sake  of  neutral 


interest,  restrict  the  use  of  an  effective  weapon  if  her 
enemy  is  permitted  to  continue  to  apply  at  will  methods 
of  warfare  violating  the  rules  of  international  law.  Such 
a  demand  would  be  incompatible  with  the  character  of 
neutrality,  and  the  German  Government  is  convinced 
that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  does  not  think 
of  making  such  a  demand,  knowing  that  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  has  repeatedly  declared  that  it  is 
determined  to  restore  the  principle  of  the  freedom  of 
the  seas,  from  whatever  quarter  it  is  violated. 

Accordingly  the  German  Government  is  confident 
that,  in  consequence  of  the  new  orders  issued  to  its 
naval  forces,  the  Government  of  the  United  States  will 
now  also  consider  all  impediments  removed  which  mav 
have  been  in  the  way  of  a  mutual  cooperation  towards 
the  restoration  of  the  freedom  of  the  seas  during  the  war 
as  suggested  in  the  Note  of  July  23,  1915,  and  it  does 


[American  Prtss  Association. 

AN    AMERICAN    SUPER-DREADNOUGHT:    THE    U.S.    SHIP    "ARIZONA." 


86G 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


not  doubt  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
will  now  demand  and  insist  that  the  British  Government 
shall  forthwith  observe  the  rules  of  international  law 
universally- recognized  before  the  war  as  they  are  laid 
down  in  the  Notes  presented  by  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  to  the  British  Government  on  December 
28,  1914,  and  November  5,  1915.  Should  the  steps 
taken  by  th?  Government  of  the  United  States  not  attain 
the  object  it  desires,  to  have  the  laws  of  humanity 
followed  by  all  belligerent  nations,  the  German  Govern- 
ment would  then  be  facing  a  new  situation,  in  which  it 
must  reserve  itself  complete  liberty  of  decision. 

After     a    period     of     indignant     cogitation 
American  official  and  public  opinion  decided 


MR.    FRANKLIN    D.    ROOSEVELT, 
Assistant  Secretary  to  the  U.S.   Navy. 

to  accept  the  "  concessions "  thus  conveyed, 
with  the  explicit  proviso  that  it  was  to  be 
clearly  understood  at  Berlin  that  the  American 
Government  could  not  "  for  a  moment  enter- 
tain, much  less  discuss,  a  suggestion  that 
respect  by  German  naval  authorities  for  the 
rights  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  upon  the 
high  seas  should  in  any  way  or  in  the  slightest 
degree  be  made  contingent  upon  the  conduct  of 
any  other  Government  affecting  the  rights  of 
neutrals  and  non-combatants.  Responsibility 
in  such  matters  is  single,  not  joint  ;  absolute, 
not  relative."  (Note  of  May  8,  1916  )* 

A  lull  in  the  submarine  campaign  ensued. 
But  it  lasted  only  a  few  weeks,  and  it  soon 
became  apparent  that  Germany  had  reverted 

*  For  the  effects  in  Germany  of  the  Sussex  crisis 
and  the  fall  of  Admiral  von  Tirpitz,  sec  Vol.  IX.  p.  370. 


to  her  policy  of  torpedoing  everything  she  could 
in  any  way  she  could,  with  the  exception  of  a 
liner  upon  which  American  passengers  might 
be  presumed  to  be  and  of  vessels  flying  the 
American  flag.  By  October  1,  1016,  it  was 
announced  by  the  British  Admiralty  that  of  the 
262  vesseb  destroyed  since  the  Sussex  at  least 
15  had  been  attacked  without  warning.  The 
State  Department,  however,  reported  officially 
that  in  nono  of  these  cases  had  anything  been 
found  that  could  be  taken  as  proof  of  the 
violation  of  Germany;s  promise  of  May  4.  The 
United  States  was  in  fact  slipping  back,  as  she 
did  after  the  Lusitania,  into  the  narrow  national 
principle  that  nothing  concerned  her  unless  the 
lives  of  her  nationals  were  Jeopardized  Again 
encouraged  by  her  attitude,  and  irritated  and 
worried  probably  by  the  success  of  the  British 
offensive  on  the  Somme,  Germany  gradually 
increased  the  scope  of  her  operations. 

Her  first  move  was  to  try  to  paralyse  Ameri- 
can self-respect  by  a  strong  dose  of  "  frightful- 
ness."  During  the  summer  of  1916  Americans 
had  been  electrified  by  the  sudden  appearance 


MR.    FRANK    L.    POLK, 

Counsellor  to  the  State    Department    and 

Acting  Secretary  of  State. 

at  Baltimore  of  a  German  ocean-going  mercan- 
tile submarine,  the  Deutschland,  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Koenig.  The  visit,  it  was 
clear,  impressed  people  immensely  with  the> 
possibilities  of  the  submarine.  On  October  7 
it  was  followed  up  by  the  arrival  in  the  harbour 
of  Newport,  which  besides  being  a  fashionable 
sea-side  resort  is  also  a  naval  station,  of  a 
submarine  flying  the  German  naval  flag  and 
armed  with  the  regular  torpedo  tubes  and 
guns.  On  October  8,  after  having  been  visited  by 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAE. 


8G7 


the  admiring  representatives  of  official  and  naval 
Newport  (not  only  the  officers  but  also  its  crew 
seemed  to  be  men  especially  picked  on  account  of 
their  physical  appearance  and  linguistic  attain- 
ments), and  probably  after  exchanging  with  the 
German  Ambassador,  who  was  at  Newport,  all 
sorts  of  useful  information,  the  U  53  left  New- 
port within  the  prescribed  24  hours.  Within 
48  hours  of  her  departure  she  sank  within  sight 
of  the  American  coast  six  ships — four  British, 
one  Dutch,  and  one  Norwegian.  In  each  case 
the  submarine  commander  warned  his  victims, 
and  thanks  to  the  help  of  American  war  vessels 
all  lives  were  saved. 


MR.    JOSEPHUS    DANIELS, 
Secretary  of  the  United  States  Na^y. 

The  incident  made  a  vast  sensation.  Friends 
of  the  Allies  were  indignant  that  the  U  53 
should  have  been  allowed  to  come  into  Newport 
and  communicate  with  Count  Bernstorff.  They 
pointed  out  that,  in  deference  to  an  American 
protest  against  the  hovering  of  British  and 
French  cruisers  in  American  waters  which  had 
been  registered  during  the  preceding  winter,  the 
Allied  warships  had  greatly  curtailed  their 
activities  in  the  Western  Atlantic,  and  that  the 
United  States  Government  had  thus  indirectly 
facilitated  the  commerce-destroying  mission  of 
the  U  53.  There  was  even  greater  indignation 
at  the  way  in  which  American  war  vessels 
seem  to  have  acted  as  tenders  to  the  German 


submarine,  rescuing  the  lives  it  imperilled  and 
thus  enabling  it  to  ply  its  work  within  the  limits 
of  humanity  imposed  by  President  Wilson. 

So  strong  were  the  feelings  aroused  that  the 
American  Navy  Department,  hearing  that  they 
had  spread  to  high  quarters  in  England,  pre- 
pared a  letter  setting  forth  the  real  facts 
for  the  informal  use  of  the  American  Ambas- 
sador in  London.  The  letter  was  addressed 
to  Mr.  Polk,  the  Counsellor  of  the  State 
Department,  by  Mr.  Franklin  Roosevelt,  the 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  dated 
November  18,  1916.  The  salient  passages  of 
this  document,  which  satisfactorily  disposed  of 


MR.    NEWTON    D.    BAKER, 
United  States  Secretary  for  War. 

an  unpleasant  incident,  are  here  published  for 
the  first  time  : 

I  am  particularly  sorry  that  anyone  in  the  British 
naval  service  believed  that  the  American  Navy  would 
act  unneutrally  towards  thero.because  of  the  exceedingly 
pleasant  relations  and  good  feeling  which  have  heretofore 
existed  between  the  two  services.  I  think  1  may  say 
this  with  perfect  propriety,  because  it  is  simply  a  recog- 
nizod  fact  that  the  relations  between  the  British  naval 
service  and  our  own  have  always  been  of  the  most 
friendly  nature. 

It  would  seem  trom  Mr.  Page's  letter  that  it  is  believed 
in  London  that  one  of  our  destroyers  obeyed  the  demand 
of  the  German  submarine  commander  to  move  his  ship 
and  thereby  facilitate  the  destruction  of  one  of  the  mer- 
chantmen, and  that  we  have  not  been  frank  in  giving 
all  the  facts.  May  I  say  that  there  ha?  been  no  reason 
at  any  time  why  all  the  facts  should  not  be  published, 
and  that  the  only  reason  for  confining  ourselves  to  a 
general  statement  that  we  had  been  in  every  way 


368 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


neutral  was  because  we  did  not  realize  that  any  more 
detailed  statement  by  the  Navy  Department  would  be 
of  the  slightest  interest  either  to  the  British  Government 
or  the  general  public. 

However,  as  the  misinformation  in  regard  to  this 
particular  episode  does  seem  to  exist,  I  am  only  too 
glad  to  give  you  the  real  facts  of  what  occurred.  On 
the  morning  of  October  8  the  Naval  Radio  Station  at 


COUNT    BERNSTORFF, 

German  Ambassador  to  the   United  States 

from  1908  to  1917. 

Newport,  Rhode  Island,  received  a  S  O  S  call  from  the 
s.s.  West  Point.  The  West  Point  stated  that  she  was 
10  miles  south-south-west  of  the  Nantucket  Lightship. 
On  receiving  this  information,  and  in  compliance  with 
the  well-known  and  time-honoured  custom  that  has  ever 
characterized  seamen  in  responding  to  the  call  of  sea- 
faring people,  orders  were  given  to  the  destroyers  then 
in  the  harbour  immediately  to  proceed  to  the  assistance 
of  the  vessel.  These,  orders  were  promptly  carried  out 
by  all  the  destroyers  then  in  the  harbour.  On  reaching 
the  vicinity  of  the  Nantucket  Lightship  it  was  discovered 
that  a  German  submarine  had  already  sunk  the  \\V-i 
Point,  and  that  tho  crew  of  that  vessel  had  been  safely 
landed  on  tho  Lightship  and  information  was  received 
from  several  other  vessels  that  they  wore  being  attacked 
by  a  submarine.  The  destroyers  naturally  went  to  the 
vicinity  of  these  various  vessels  in  order  to  render  such 
a-<-iistance  to  the  crews  and  passengers  as  tho  dictates 
of  humanity  might  necessitate  under  the  conditions. 
Special  emphasis  should  be  laid  on  tho  fact  that  the  sea 
was  at  that  time  smooth,  and  that  in  the  case  of  vessels 
which  wore  abandoned  at  any  distance  from  tho  Light- 
ship the  German  submarine  was  careful  to  tow  the  boats 
containing  tho  personnel  up  to  within  easy  reach  of  the 
Lightship.  It  does  not  seem  possible  to  contend,  in  tho 
light  of  what  actually  occurred,  that  any  of  tho  passengers 
or  crews  were  in  clanger  at  any  time. 

Among  the  vessels  which  had  been  stopped  by  the 


submarine  was  the  Dutch  vessel  Bloomersdyk.  She 
had  been  stopped  late  in  the  afternoon  and  her  personnel 
had  been  directed  to  abandon  her  before  G.30  p.m. 
These  orders  were  carried  out  and  her  officers  and  crew 
abandoned  the  ship,  the  submarine  in  tho  meantime 
standing  over  to  another  ship  which  had  been  stopped 
several  miles  away.  Several  destroyers  wont  to  tho 
vicinity  of  the  Bloomersdyk  and  two  of  them,  the  U.S.S. 
McDougal  and  the  U.S.S.  Benham,  received  numbers  of 
tho  crew  of  tho  Bloomersdyk  on  board,  taking  then]  out 
of  the  Bloomersdyk's  boats.  The  Benham  had  been 
lying  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  Bloomersdyk, 
receiving  a  portion  of  the  officers  and  crow  on  board, 
and  having  determined  that  there  were  no  additional 
persons  still  left  on  board  tho  Bloomersdyk  was  proceed- 
ing to  got  under  way  to  return  to  Newport  in  accordance 
with  instructions.  At  this  time  the  German  submarine 
returned  to  the  Bloomersdyk  and  actually  did  signal  to 
the  Benham  requesting  her  commanding  officer  to 
move  a  little  farther  off  in  order  that  there  might  be  no 
possibility  of  injury  to  the  Benham  or  her  personnel 
and  stating  that  he  was  about  to  sink  the  Bloomersdyk. 
However,  at  the  time  this  message  was  received  tho 
Benham  had  accomplished  the  purpose  for  which  she 
was  in  the  locality — i.e.,  receiving  on  board  a  portion 
of  the  crew  of  the  Bloomersdyk  and  ascertaining  if  there 
wore  any  additional  people  still  on  board — and  was  in 
the  act  of  departing  quite  without  regard  to  tho  move- 
ments of  the  German  submarine  or  her  signalling. 
There  was  thus  no  occasion  to  regard,  and  no  regard  was 
given  to  the  actions  of  the  submarine. 


GERMAN     EMBASSY     AT    WASHINGTON, 

Count   Bernstorff's  official  residence. 

I   have  gone   over   every   report   and  have,   further, 

made  uersonal  investigations,  and  I  must  tell  you  frankly 
that  I  cannot  by  the  widest  stretch  of  imagination  see 
anything  but  absolute  propriety  in  the  action  of  the 
commanding  officer  of  the  U.S.S.  Benham.  The  points 
to  remember  in  regard  to  this  particular  episode  are  that 
this  Dutch  ship  was  abandoned  by  her  officers  and  crew  ; 
that  ,tho  officers  and  crew  were  in  the  ship's  boats  in  a 
smooth  sea  and  within  two  or  three  miles  of  the  X tin- 
tucket  Lightship  ;  that  the  Benham,  not  for  the  purpose 
of  saving  their  lives — for  they  were  in  no  danger — but 
to  give  them  comfort  and  assistance,  took  some  of  them 
on  board  near  tho  abandoned  ship  ;  that  she  ascertained 
that  no  additional  persons  remained  on  the  Bloomersdyk, 
and  that  having  completed  this  duty  she  went  about 
her  businr-s  in  regular  course.  She  did  not  leave  the 
Bloomersdyk  in  obedience  to  the  signal  from  the  German 
submarine  ;  she  did  not  leave  the  Bloomersdyk  earlier  than 
she  would  have  ij  the  German  submarine  had  not  signalled  ; 
she  did  not  leave  the  Bloomersdyk  until  her  duty  had  been 
fully  completed* 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


369 


This  must  be  th;  case  referred  to  in  London,  because 
I  can  find  no  record  of  a  signal  being  made  by  the 
German  submarine  in  the  case  of  any  of  the  other 
merchant  ships  sunk. 

Another  thing  not  generally  known  at  the 
time  was  that,  although  the  United  States 
made  no  formal  protest  against  the  ventures  of 
the  U  53,  the  President  did  in  point  of  fact 


scope  of  German  submarine  illegalities,  how- 
ever, increased  steadily.  On  October  26  the 
British  ship  Rowanmore  was  attacked  and 
destroyed  by  gunfire.  There  was  no  loss  of 
life,  but  the  two  Americans  and  five  Filipinos 
on  board  stated  that  the  submarine  shelled  the 
life-boats  as  the  crew  were  taking  to  them. 


MR.    JAMES    W.    GERARD. 
United  States  Ambassador  in  Berlin  from  1913  to  1917. 


summon  Count  Bernstorff  to  his  country  resi- 
dence in  New  Jersey  and  tell  him  that  he  could 
not  tolerate  their  repetition.  That,  it  may  be 
stated  incidentally,  was  the  only  time  that  the 
President  saw  Count  Bernstorff  during  the  war 
save  on  purely  formal  occasions. 

The  exploit  of  the  U  53  was  not  repeated, 
partly,  perhaps,  in  consequence  of  the  Presi- 
dent's firmness.  In  European  waters  the 


On  October  26  the  Marina  was  sunk  in  circum- 
stances that  are  sufficiently  well  known,  and 
six  of  the  Americans  on  board  were  lost. 
Then  followed  the  attack  on  the  American 
steamer  Chenung  and  the  loss  of  17  Americans 
on  the  Russian.  The  State  Department  in  none 
of  these  cases  did  more  than  investigate,  and 
it  looked  for  a  time  as  if  the  President  had 
forgotten  the  fine  stand  which  he  had  taken  in 

140  3 


370 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


2 

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96 

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a   >. 

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z  s 

O  JO 
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Sn 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


871 


his  Sussex  Note.  But  he  had  not  forgotten 
He  was  only  biding  his  time  for  another 
decisive  stroke,  and  on  January  31,  1917,  he 
got  his  opportunity. 

Towards  the  end  of  1916  rumours  had 
reached  Washington  in  common  with  other 
capitals  that  Germany  was  contemplating  a 
renewal  of  promiscuous  submarine  barbarity. 
It  was  recognized  that  the  various  more  or  less 
overt  bids  for  peace  which  she  had  been  making 
betokened  a  desperation  which  was  bound  to 
cause  an  explosion  of  "  frightfulness."  Presi- 
dent Wilson  had  recognized  this  himself  when 
he  caused  Mr.  Lansing  in  his  Peace  Note  of 
December  18  to  say  : 

"  The  terms  upon  which  it  [the  war]  is  to  be 
concluded  they  [neutrals]  are  not  at  liberty,  to 
suggest ;  but  the  President  does  feel  that  it  is 
his  right  and  his  duty  to  point  out  their  inti- 
mate interest  in  its  conclusion,  lest  it  should 
presently  be  too  late  to  accomplish  the  greater 
things  which  lie  beyond  its  conclusion,  lest  the 
situation  of  neutral  nations,  now  exceedingly 
hard  to  endure,  be  rendered  altogether  in- 
tolerable, and  lest,  more  than  all,  an  injury  be 
done  civilization  itself  which  can  never  be 
atoned  or  repaired."* 

The  explosion  came  as  soon  as  it  had  pene- 
trated even  the  Prussian  skull  that  the  Allies 
were  to  be  beguiled  neither  by  the  crocodile 
tears  of  Berlin  nor  by  President  Wilson's 
well-intentioned  pleadings  for  the  prompt 
re-establishment  of  a  "  warless  world."  It 
took  the  form  of  a  publication  on  January  31 
of  a  notice  that  from  February  1  onwards  the 
submarines,  after  granting  a  short  respite  to 
neutral  vessels,  would  torpedo  everything  in 
sight  in  the  waters  around  the  British  Isles  and 
France  and  in  the  Mediterranean.  The  Note, 
after  some  hypocritical  platitudes  about  Teu- 
tonic solicitude  for  the  independence  of  small 
nations  and  the  "  freedom  of  the  seas,"  an- 
nounced that,  in  view  of  England's  brutally 
illegal  use  of  sea-power,  which  pressed  upon 
neutrals  as  hard  as  upon  her  enemies,  Germany 
must — 

abandon  the  limitations  which  it  has  hitherto  imposed 
on  itself  in  the  employment  of  its  fighting  weapons  at 
sea. 

Trusting  that  the  American  people  and  its  Government 
will  not  close  their  eyes  to  the  reasons  for  this  resolution 

*  The  American  Peace  Note  of  December  18,  1916, 
which  is  referred  to  here  and  in  the  following  pages  in 
connexion  with  President  Wilson's  views  and  policy, 
will  be  found  in  Chapter  CLXXX.  which  deals  with  the 
whole  peace  discussion  initiated  by  the  German  Note 
of  December  12,  1910. 


and  its  necessity,  the  Imperial  Government  hopes  that 
the  United  States  will  appreciate  the  new  state  of  affairs 
from  the  high  standpoint  of  impartiality,  and  will  also 
on  their  part  help  to  prevent  further  misery  and  a 
sacrifice  of  human  lives  which  might  bo  avoided. 

While  I  venture,  as  regards  details  of  the  projected 
war  measures,  to  refer  to  the  attached  memorandum,  I 
venture  at  the  same  time  to  express  the  expectation  that 
the  American  Government  will  warn  American  ships 
against  entering  the  barred  zones  (Sperryebiete)  described 
in  the  annexe  and  its  subjects  against  entrusting 
passengers  or  goods  to  vessels  trading  with  harbours  in 
tne  barred  zones. 

In  the  annexe  to  the  Note  Berlin  added 
insult  to  promised  injury  by  telling  the  United 


[From the  New  York  "Wcrld." 

"THE    SANDS    ARE    RUNNING    LOW." 

States  that  she  might  send  one  ship  a  week  to 
England  provided  that  it  was  painted,  as  one 
American  commentator  expressed  it,  until  it 
was  "  striped  like  a  convict,"  and  followed  a 
prescribed  route. 

The  effect  of  the  Note  was  instantaneous. 
American  amour  propre  was  stung  to  the  quick. 
From  one  coast  of  the  continent  to  the  other 
there  arose  a  clamour  of  indignation  which  two 
days  later  (February  3)  the  President  crystal- 
lized in  an  address  to  Congress  announcing  that 
he  had  handed  Count  Bernstorff  his  passports 
in  accordance  with  the  promise  that  he  had 
given  during  the  Sussex  dispute.  After  recall- 
ing to  members  of  the  Congress  the  corre- 
spondence that  passed  at  the  time,  he  said  : 

I  therefore  directed  the  Secretary  of  State  to  announce 
to  his  Excellency  the  German  Ambassador  that  all 
diplomatic  relations  between  the  United  States  and  the 
German  Empire  are  severed  and  that  the  American 
Ambassador  in  Berlin  will  immediately  be  withdrawn, 
and,  in  accordance  with  this  decision,  to  hand  to  his 
Excellency  his  passports. 

Notwithstanding  this  unexpected  action  of  the  German 
Government,  this  sudden  and  deeply  deplorable  renun- 
ciation of  its  assurance  given  to  this  Government  at  one 
of  the  moments  of  most  critical  tension  in  the  relations 
of  the  two  Governments,  I  refuse  to  believe  that  it  is  the 
intention  of  the  German  authorities  to  do  in  fact  what 


872 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


they  have  warned  us  they  will  fool  at  liberty  to  do.  I 
cannot  bring  myself  to  feel  that  they  will  indeed  pay  no 
regard  to  the  ancient  friendship  between  their  people  and 
our  own,  or  to  the  solemn  obligations  which  have  been 
exchanged  between  them,  and  destroy  American  ship* 
and  take  the  lives  of  American  citizens  in  wilful  prosecu- 
tion of  the  ruthless  naval  programme  they  have 
announced  their  intention  to  adopt.  Only  actual  overt 
acts  on  their  part  can  make  me  believe  this  even  now. 

If  this  inveterate  confidence  on  my  part  in  the  sobriety 
and  prudont  foresight  of  their  purpose  should  unhappily 
prove  unfounded,  if  American  ships  and  American  lives 
should  in  fact  be  sacrificed  by  their  naval  commanders, 
in  heedless  contravention  of  the  just  and  reasonable 
understandings  of  international  law  and  the  obvious 
dictates  of  humanity,  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  coming 
again  before  Congress  to  a=k  that  authority  be  given  to 
me  to  use  any  means  that  may  be  necessary  for  the 
protection  of  our  seamen  and  our  people  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  their  peaceful,  legitimate  errands  on  the  high  sea«. 
I  can  do  nothing  less.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  all 
Neutral  Governments  will  take  the  same  course.  We  do 
not  desire  any  hostile  conflict  with  the  Imperial  German 
Government.  We  are  sincere  friends  of  the  German 
people  and  earnestly  desire  to  remain  at  peace  with  the 
Government  which  speaks  for  them.  We  shall  not 
believe  that  they  are  hostile  to  us  unless  and  until  we  are 
obliged  to  believe  it,  and  we  purpose  nothing  more  than 
reasonable  defence  of  the  undoubted  rights  of  our  people. 
We  wish  to  serve  no  selfish  ends.  We  seek  merely  to 
stand,  true  alike  in  thought  and  action,  to  the  imme- 
morial principles  of  our  people  which  I  have  sought  to 
express  in  my  address  to  the  Senate  only  two  weeks  ago. 
We  seek  merely  to  vindicate  our  right  to  liberty,  justice, 
and  Unmolested  life. 

These  are  bases  of  peace,  not  pf  war.     God  grant  that 
wo  may  not  be  challenged  to  defend  them  by  acts  of 


\vilfnl    injustice    on    the    part    of    the    Government     o! 
Germany. 

Count  Bernstorff  was  handed  his  passports 
the  same  day.  Mr.  Gerard  left  Berlin,  but  not 
until  he  had  been  characteristically  detained 
by  the  German  Government  and  vainly  brow- 
beaten in  the  hopes  that  he  might  commit  his 
Government  to  giving  up  the  German  ships 
laid  up  in  American  ports  in  case  of  war,  and 
to  the  granting  of  various  privileges  to  German 
citizens  in  the  U.S.  in  the  same  contingency. 
The  Austrian  Ambassador — the  notorious  Dr. 
Dumba's  successor,  Count  Tarnowski — was 
allowed  to  remain  in  Washington,  although  he 
was  never  officially  received  by  the  American 
Government,  and  the  American  Ambassador, 
Mr.  Penfield,  in  Vienna,  pending  a  clear 
definition  as  to  Austria's  attitude  regarding 
her  particular  policy ;  but  it  was  generally 
taken  for  granted  that  the  President  had 
definitely  made  up  his  mind  that  lawless- 
ness which,  according  to  figures  issued  a  little 
later  by  the  State  Department,  had  cost 
232  American  lives  had  to  cease. 

If  Prussian  maritime  frightfulness  brought 
to  an  abrupt  termination  the  first  chapter  of 


MR.    GERARD'S    HOME-COMING,    MARCH    16,  1917. 

On  bis  left  is  Mr.  John  B.   Stanchfield,   Chairman  of  the  New  York  Reception  Committee,  and 
the  nearer  figure  in  front  is  Mr.   Clarence  H.  Mackay. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


373 


the  history  of  the  relations  of  the  United  States 
and   Germany   during   the   war,   other   factors 
had  powerfully  contributed  to  the  same  end. 
All  through  1915  and  1916  American  exaspera- 
tion had  been  steadily  rising  against  the  blatant 
activities  of  German  agents  and  propagandists. 
Their  activities  fell  into  two  classes — political 
and  criminal.     The  general  idea  of  Berlin  was, 
first  to  keep  the  United  States  neutral  as  long 
as  possible  ;    secondly,  to  gull  the  public  into 
demanding  that  the  President  should  cut  his 
policies   according   to   the   Prussian   pattern — 
agitate  for  peace  when  the  Germans  wanted  it, 
place  an  embargo  upon  the  export  of  munitions 
to  the  Allies,  and  take  a  strong  line  against  our 
blockade  generally,  etc.  ;    thirdly,  to  impress 
the  American  imagination  with  the  reality  of 
Prussian  "  frightfulness  "  and  actually  to  injure 
her  trade  with  the  Allies  by  sabotage,  the  blow- 
ing up  of  munition  factories,  the  crippling  of 
means    of    transportation,    etc.  ;     fourthly,    to 
use  the  United  States  as  a  base  for  belligerent 
operations    for    the    extension    of   sabotage    to 
Canada,    for    the    promotion    of    Indian    and 
Irish    unrest,    for    espionage    in    France    and 
England,    for    the    smuggling    of    contraband, 
and  very  probably  for  the  furnishing  of  sub- 
marines with  supplies  during  the  later  phases  of 
the  war,  just  as  commerce-destroying  cruisers 
had  been  supplied  to  some  extent  during  the 
early  phases  of  it.     It  was  also  clear  that  Count 
Bernstorff  and  his  agents  were  all  along  preparing 
difficulties  for  the  United  States  in  the  American 
hemisphere  should  it   be  necessary  to  deflect 
American  attention  from  the  Old  World.     In 
Mexico  there  was  a  campaign  to  stir  up  Carranza 
against  the  United  States,  generally  to  keep 
revolution  seething,  and  to  cripple  if  possible 
by   those   and   other   means   the   Tampico   oil 
fields,  whence  the  British  Fleet  drew  valuable 
supplies.     Nor  was  there  any  reasonable  doubt 
but  that  German  cash  and  intrigue  helped  in 
the   outbreak    of   the   revolution    in   Cuba    in 
February,    1917,  and  were  continually  active 
in      other      Latin  -  American      countries      for 
the    behaviour    of    which    the    United    States 
were     more     or     less     responsible,     if     only 
because    of    their   proximity    to    the    Panama 
Canal. 

All  this  and  much  besides  was  brought  out 
in  the  most  dramatic  way  possible  by  the 
revelation,  after  the  rupture,  of  the  German 
Government's  effort  through  the  German 
Minister  to  Mexico,  the  ex-Dragoman,  Herr  von 
Eckhardt,  to  arrange  with  Mexico  and,  if 


possible,  with  Japan  for  an  offensive  alliance 
against  the  United  States. 

Congress  was  debating  a  Bill  to  give  the 
President  power  to  enforce  his  plans  for  "  armed 
neutrality  "  against  Germany — to  supply  Ameri- 
can merchant  ships  with  guns — and  to  take  such 
other  steps  as  might  be  necessary  to  secure  for 
his  nationals  their  rights  on  the  high  seas 
Pacifists,  spurred  on  by  the  walking  delegates 
of  the  Teutonic  propaganda,  were  working 


GENERAL    CARRANZA, 

To  whom  Germany  addressfd  the  proposal  for 

an  alliance  with  Mexico. 

up  a  huge  opposition,  and  it  seemed  doubtful 
whether  the  President  would  get  the  national 
sanction  for  steps  which  it  was  deemed  that 
the  rupture  with  Germany  and  the  barbarity 
of  the  Prussian  submarines  rendered  well-nigh 
indispensable.  So  the  Administration  sprang 
upon  the  public  part,  at  any  rate,  of  a  docu- 
ment which  had  been  intercepted  on  its  way  to 
Mexico.  The  document  speaks  for  itself  : 

(Authentic  copy  of  the  German  Foreign  Minister's 
note  to  the  German  Minister  in  Mexico.) 

Berlin,  Jan.    19,    19 IT. 

On  the  1st  of  February  we  intend  to  begin  submarine 
warfare  unrestricted.  In  spite  of  this,  it  is  our  intention 
to  endeavour  to  keep  neutral  the  United  States  of 
America. 

If  this  attempt  is  not  successful,  we  propose  an  alliance 
on  the  following  basis  with  Mexico  :  That  we  shall  make 
war  together  and  together  make  peace.  We  shall  give 
general  financial  support,  and  it  is  understood  that 
Mexico  is  to  reconquer  the  lost  territory  of  New  Mexico, 
Texas,  and  Arizona.  The  details  are  left  to  you  for 
settlement. 

You  are  instructed  to  inform  the  President  of  Mexico 


874 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAX. 


AMERICAN     SUBMARINES. 


of  the  above  in  the  greatest  confidence  as  soon  as  it  is 
certain  that  there  will  be  an  outbreak  of  war  with  the 
United  States,  and  suggest  that  the  President  of  Mexico, 
on  his  own  initiative,  should  communicate  with  Japan 
suggesting  adherence  at  once  to  this  plan.  At  the  same 
time,  offer  to  mediate  between  Oermany  and  Japan. 

Please  call  to  the  attention  of  the  President  of  Mexico 
that  tho  employment  of  ruthless  submarine  warfare  now 
promises  to  compel  England  to  make  peace  in  a  few 
months. 

ZIMMERMAN. 

The  revelation  set  opinion  ablaze.  A  dozen 
pro-Germans,  pacifists,  or  provincial  fools 
in  the  Senate  managed  to  prevent  the  passage 
of  the  Armed  Neutrality  Law  before  the  dis- 
solution of  Congress  on  March  4,  but  public 
opinion  was  so  aroused  by  this  and  sub- 
sequent revelations  of  German  intrigue  and 
of  the  activities  of  their  Irish  and  Hindu  tools 
that  it  would  have  heartily  supported  the 
President  in  any  immediate  action  against 
Germany  within  the  limits  of  his  constitutional 
powers. 

The  whole  history  of  German  propaganda, 
spying,  and  agent-provocateur  work  in  the 
United  States  was  suddenly  thrown  into 
ominous  and  obvious  perspective.  Incidents 
hitherto  but  half  understood  were  mar- 
shalled and  their  cumulative  significance  was 


grasped.  The  United  States,  it  was  seen,  was 
festering  with  spies.  Her  industrial  and  com- 
mercial organizations,  her  relations  not  only 
with  the  Allies  but  with  her  Latin-American 
neighbours  were  seen  to  be  ubiquitously 
threatened. 

There  is  n&  space  here  to  go  into  the  wlioli- 
of  the  unsavoury  history  of  the  business.  Its 
earlier  stages,  the  New  York  World's  revelations 
regarding  Teutonic  plans  for  capturing  the 
American  Press  in  the  summer  of  1915,  the 
dismissal  of  Dr.  Dumba  owing  to  the  proof 
afforded  by  papers  seized  from  the  American 
journalist  Archibald  in  the  autumn  of  that 
year  that  the  Austrian  Ambassador  was  impli- 
cated in  plots  to  cause  strikes  in  American 
munition  works,  have  already  been  described.* 
They  were  followed  in  December,  1915,  by  the 
recall  of  Captains  von  Papen  and  Boy-Ed,  tho 
German  military  and  naval  attaches.  Their 
recall  came  as  the  result  of  the  accumulation  of 
an  immense  mass  of  evidence  that  they  and 
their  agents  were  plotting  for  the  destruction  of 
munition  factories,  for  the  arrangement  of 
sabotage  in  Canada,  for  the  fomentation  of 

»  See  Vol.  V.,  Chapter  LXXXIX. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


375 


Indian  unrest,  for  the  blowing  up  of  Allied 
ships,  and  that  they  were  the  directors 
of  a  large  organization  for  the  forgery  and 
stealing  of  American  passports  for  the  use 
of  spies  like  Lody  and  Kuepferle.  Its  imme- 
diate cause  was  the  trial  and  conviction  in  New 
York  of  Dr.  Karl  Buenz,  a  Prussian  agent 
masquerading  as  a  director  of  the  Hamburg- 
Amerika  line,  and  some  of  his  employees  on  a 
charge  of  filing  false  clearance  papers  for  the 
tenders  of  German  cruisers  at  the  beginning  of 
the  war.  It  appeared  that  Boy-Ed  was, 
among  other  things,  the  treasurer  of  the  whole 
precious  organization,  and  that  von  Papen  had 
specialized  in  the  destruction  of  munition 
factories.  After  the  State  Department  had 
asked  for  and  secured  their  recall,  the  President 
in  his  annual  address  to  Congress,  on  Novem- 
ber 7,  1915,  took  for  the  first  time  official  notice 
of  the  delinquencies  of  the  German  plotters  and 
especially  of  their  German-American  assistants. 
Having  alluded  to  their  activities,  without 
mentioning  names,  he  said  : 

America  has  never  witnessed  anything  like  this  before, 
and  never  dreamed  it  possible  that  men  sworn  into  har 
own  citizenship,  men  drawn  out  of  the  great  free  stock.*, 
such  as  have  supplied  some  of  the  best  and  strongest 
elements  of  that  little  but  now  heroic  nation  that  in  the 


high  tlay  of  old  staked  its  very  life  to  free  itself  from  every 
entanglement  that  had  darkened  the  fortunes  of  older 
nations  and  set  up  a  new  standard  here,  that  men  of 
such  origins  and  such  choices  of  allegiance  would  ever 
turn  in  malign  reaction  against  the  Government  and 
people  who  had  welcomed  and  nurtured  them  and  seek 
to  make  this  proud  country  once  more  a  hotbed  of 
European  passion.  A  little  while  ago  such  a  thing  would 
have  seemed  incredible,  because  it  was  incredible.  We 
made  no  preparation  for  such  a  contingency.  We  would 
have  been  almost  ashamed  to  prepare  for  it,  as  if  wo 
were  suspicious  of  ourselves  and  our  own  comrades  and 
neighbours. 

But  the  ugly  and  incredible  thing  actually  has  coma 
about,  and  we  are  without  adequate  Federal  laws  to 
deal  with  it.  I  urge  you  to  enact  such  laws  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment,  and  I  feel  that  in  doing  so  1 
am  urging  you  to  do  nothing  lees  than  to  save  the 
honour  and  self-respect  of  the  nation.  Such  creatures 
of  passion,  disloyalty,  and  anarchy  must  be  crushed  out, 
They  are  not  many,  but  they  are  infinitely  malignant. 
and  the  hand  of  our  power  should  close  over  them  at 
once.  They  have  formed  plots  to  destroy  property, 
they  have  entered  into  conspiracies  against  the  neutrality 
of  the  Government,  and  they  have  sought  to  pry  into 
every  confidential  transaction  of  the  Government  in 
order  to  serve  interests  alien  to  our  own. 

The  President's  demand  for  better  laws  was 
characteristically  ignored  by  Congress  until 
after  the  departure  of  Count  Bernstorff,  a  year 
later.  All  through  the  winter  the  German 
propagandists  and  plotters  kept  up  their  work. 
Now  it  was  a  case  of  lurid  advertisements  of 
British  brutality  in  starving  German  babies  ; 
now  it  was  support  of  Count  Bernstorffs 


AMERICAN     SAILORS. 


376 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR, 


diplomacy  by  efforts  to  gull  or  blackmail 
Congress  into  fomenting  trouble  over  our 
arming  of  merchantmen  and  otherwise  to 
embarrass  the  President  ;  now  it  was  a  spasm 
of  manufactured  agitation  against  our  blockade 
or  the  formation  of  some  Irish-German- 
American  society  for  the  confusion  of  the 
common  enemy. 

All    this    was    of    considerable    educational 
value,    and    prepared    the    way    for    the   next 


MR.    ELIHU    ROOT, 

Secretary  of  War  in  the  McKinley  Cabinet, 
Secretary  of  State  in  the  Roosevelt  Cabinet. 

sensation.  On  April  18,  1916,  indictments 
were  returned  against  von  Papen  on  charges  of 
furnishing  money,  electric  generators,  fuses, 
and  wires  for  the  destruction  of  the  Welland 
Canal  in  Canada.  His  unofficial  successor, 
von  Igel,  was  simultaneously  arrested  in  New 
York  and  his  papers  seized.  A  day  later,  while 
the  President  was  reading  to  Congress  a  para- 
phrase of  his  Sussex  Note,  it  was  announced 
that  the  papers  revealed  plots  of  the  highest 
importance  and  that  Count  Bernstorff  wished 
to  obtain  diplomatic  immunity  for  them.  The 
State  Department  ironically  replied  that  the 
Ambassador  might  have  any  or  all  the  papers 
if  he  would  officially  recognize  them  as  Embassy 
property.  The  papers  were  not  published, 
apparently  because  they  implicated  certain 


well-known  Americans  with  German  ten- 
dencies ;  but  the  incident  increased  popular 
suspicion.  Von  Igel,  .though  indicted,  was 
afterwards  allowed  to  accompany  Count  Bern- 
storff back  to  Germany.  Then  followed  the 
Presidential  campaign  of  1916,  in  which  the 
German  propagandists  still  further  lost  caste 
by  their  unsuccessful  efforts  to  form  a  German 
party  and  to  blackmail  the  candidates. 

Thus  by  the  time  of  the  rupture,  despite  the 
fact  that  their  attitude  after  it  showed  that  the 
majority  of  German-Americans  were  loyal,  just 
as  the  result  of  the  Presidential  election  showed 
that  they  voted  mainly  as  Americans  and  not 
as   Germans,   the   American   public   had   been 
made  "  receptive  "  as  to  the  significance  of  the 
German  spy  menace.     Proof  of  that  was  given 
not  only  by  the  meticulous  preparations  which 
were  made  against  riots,  but  by  the  way  in 
which  the  publication  of  the  Zimmerman  letter 
was    followed    by    an    hysterical    outpouring 
of  apprehension  and  speculation,  often  accom- 
panied   by   wonderful   stories   about    German 
activities  in  Cuba,  Mexico,  Colombia,  Nicaragua, 
of  submarines  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  etc.     The 
President's  patient  treatment,  both  of  the  Ger- 
man   plotters    within    his    gates    and    of    the 
German  pirates  without  his  gates,  thus  received 
one    great    justification.     Had    not    time    and 
opportunity   been  given   Dumba,   von   Papen, 
Boy-Ed,  and  other  officials  like  Franz  Bopp, 
the  German  Consul-General  In  San  Francisco, 
indicted,  in  January,    1917,   for  conspiracy  to 
destroy  railways  and  munition  factories  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  to  advertise  their 
baseness,   had  not  there  been  a  never-ending 
stream  of  indictments  and  convictions  on  similar 
counts  of  unofficial  agents  like  von  Igel,  Fay, 
van  Horn,   and   others,   had   not   the   disloyal 
German-American    leaders    been    given    such 
copious    opportunities  •  of    proving    their    dis- 
loyalty, had  not  the  American  pacifists  been 
given  equal  opportunity  of  betraying  th<>  fact 
that  they  were  prompted  by  German  lies  as 
well  as  by  their  own  ignorant  sentimentalist  n, 
had  not  the  opportunity  arisen  of  circumstan- 
tially unveiling  Prussian  plots  in  Mexico  and 
elsewhere,    had    not    these    and    other    tiling-; 
been  allowed  to  happen,  the  President  might 
well  have  found  himself  with  a.  divided  country 
behind  him   after  breaking  with  Germany  on 
account  of  her  piracy  upon  the  seas,  with  the 
safety  of  which  the  greater  part  of  the  American 
people  hardly  realized  that  they  had  any  real 
concern  until  the  end. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


877 


Rightly  or  wrongly,  he  thought  that  patience 
afforded  the  best  chance  of  securing  practical 
unity  of  opinion  in  favour  of  a  firm  policy, 
should  such  a  policy  be  forced  upon  him. 
But  this  consideration  did  not  protect  the 
President  from  a  running  fire  of  criticism  by 
a  certain  section  of  his  coimtrymen.  As  has 
been  shown  in  a  previous  chapter,  long-sighted 
Americans,  so  soon  as  they  recovered  from 
the  shock  of  the  cataclysm  of  August.  1914, 
realized  not  only  that  the  Prussian  menace 
deserved  the  positive  reprobation  of  the  whole 
of  civilization,  but  that,  if  Pan-Germanism 
succeeded  in  clamping  upon  Europe  its  odious 
domination,  it  would  be  merely  a  question  of 
time  before  it  tried  to  engulf  the  Western 
hemisphere.  By  such  people  the  President's 
demand  for  neutrality  of  thought  as  well  as  of 
action  was  condemned,  at  first  privately,  as 
bad  politics  as  well  as  bad  ethics.  There  was 
a  feeling  that  he  should  have  protested  in  the 
name  of  civilization  against  the  rape  of  Belgium 
and  other  Prussian  crimes,  with  the  double 
object  of  showing  the  Allies  where  his  Govern- 
ment stood  and  of  educating  his  countrymen 
to  a  sense  of  their  ultimate  responsibilities, 
both  selfish  and  altruistic.  It  was  not  known 
then  that,  in  point  of  fact,  the  President  did 


at  least  protest  in  an  autograph  letter  to  the 
Kaiser  against  many  of  those  crimes.  All  that 
the  public  saw  was  a  policy  of  apparently 
"  ice-cold  "  neutrality. 

Indignation  against  this  policy  began  to 
get  the  better  of  patriotic  discretion  after  the 
President's  failure  to  obtain  immediate  repara- 
tion for  the  Lusitania.  It  grew,  after  he  passed 
the  Arabic  by,  until  by  the  winter  of  1915-16 
it  had  captured  a  formidable  section  of  thought- 
ful opinion.  The  President  was  accused  of 
being  careless  of  the  honour  and  interests  of 
the  country.  He  was  accused  of  weakening 
tho  national  fibre  by  encouraging  his  country- 
men to  shirk  responsibilities  and  to  be  content 
to  wax  rich  from  war  trade,  while  the  Allies 


THE    GERMAN    SHIP     "VATERLAND" 
INTERNED    AT    NEW    YORK. 


NEW    YORK    POLICE    GUARDING    THE    PIER    WHERE    GERMAN    LINERS    WERE 

INTERNED. 


378 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


bled  for  the  principles  which  the  makers  of 
America  had  also  fought  to  maintain.  He  was 
accused  of  drugging  self-respect  by  phrases, 
of  being  "  brave  in  words  and  irresolute  in 
action,"  of  sending  ultimatums  and  then 
being  "  too  proud  to  fight,"  a  phrase  which  has 
become  a  "  byword  for  derision  and  contempt 
of  the  Government  of  the  United  States." 
Mr.  Root,  in  the  speech  from  which  the  above 
quotations  are  taken  (it  was  delivered  in 
February,  1916,  before  the  New  York  State 
Republican  Convention),  went  so  far  as  to  say 
that  under  a  President  "  by  temperament  and 
training"  inadequate  for  the  great  task  wliich 


ami  when  our  Government  failed  to  make  those  words 
good  its  diplomacy  was  bankrupt. 

The  Pn  sidciit's  apparent  advocacy  of  a 
"  drawn  "  wnr  produced  similar  criticism  a 
\vnr  later.  Stalwart  friends  of  the  Allies, 
knowing  that  they  were  determined  to  fight  it 
out  and  not  make -peace  when  they  were  just 
coming  to  the  top  of  their  strength,  accused  him 
of  playing  a  German  game  and  of  being  false 
to  the  best  interests  of  civilization. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that,  as  was  shown 
above,  the  President  did  suggest  peace  partly 
because  he  feared  that  a  continuance  of  the 
war  would  produce,  as  it  did  produce,  more 


THE    CAPITOL,    WASHINGTON, 

he  was  called  upon  to  tackle  the  country  was 
"  blindly  stumbling  towards  war." 

Our  diplomacy  [he  continued]  has  dealt  with  symptoms 
and  ignored  causes.  The  great  decisive  question  upon 
which  our  peace  depend*  is  the  question  whether  the  rule 
of  action  applied  to  Belgium  is  to  be  tolerated. '  If  it 
is  tolerated  by  the  civilized  world,  this  nation  will  have 
to  fight  for  its  life.  There  will  be  no  escape.  That  is 
the  critical  point  of  defence  for  the  p^ace  of  America. 
When  our  Government  failed  to  tell  the  truth  about 
IVIgium,  when  it  lost  the  opportunity  for  leadership  of 
the  moral  sense  of  the  American  people,  it  lost  the 
power  which  a  knowledge  of  that  leadership  and  a  sympa- 
tlictic  response  from  the  moral  sense  of  the  world  would 
have  given  to  our  diplomacy.  When  our  Government 
failed  to  make  any  provision  whatever  for  defending  its 
rights  in  case  they  should  be  trampled  upon,  it  lost  the 
JIOU.T  which  a  belief  in  its  readiness  and  will  to  maintain 
its  rights  would  have  given  to  its  diplomatic  representa- 
tions. When  our  Government  gave  notice  to  Germany 
that  it  would  destroy  American  lives  and  American 
ship-i  at  its  peril,  our  words,  which  would  have  been 
potent  if  sustained  by  adequate  preparation  to  make 
tham  good,  and  by  the  prestige  and  authority  of  tlm 
moral  leadership  of  a  great  people  in  a  great  cause,  were 
treated  with  contempt  which  should  have  been  foreM'«  ri  ; 


THE    SEAT    OF    CONGRESS. 

promiscuous  submarine  barbarities,  and  hence 
all  sorts  of  complications  and  possibly  war  for 
the  United  States.  But  there  is  also  reason  to 
believe  that  in  producing  his  Peace  Note  he 
wished  to  show  the  Allies  that  if  they  made  a 
just  peace  they  could  rely  on  his  doing  every- 
thing possible  to  get  the  United  States  to 
support  that  peace  against  future  assaults  by 
the  unrighteous.  Even  that  fine  idea,  as 
afterwards  enunciated  in  his  Peace  League 
address  to  the  Senate,  did  not  disarm  his 
stalwart  and  conservative  enemies.  Mr.  Roose- 
velt, after  the  Note  had  been  before  the  public 
for  a  fortnight,  voiced  a  considerable  opinion 
when  he  urged  its  recall  for  the  following 
reasons  : 

The  Note,  he  said,  was  not  only  dangerous  but  pro- 
foundly mischievous,  because  it  took  no  account  what- 
ever of  the  most  serious  causes  of  offence  that  had  been 
given  to  the  United  States  and  had  invited  an  insincere 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


879 


and  improper  bidding  for  our  support.  Nor  is  this  all. 
The  Note  takes  up  positions  so  profoundly  immoral 
and  misleading  that  high-minded  and  right-thinking 
Americans,  whose  country  this  Note  places  in  a  thor- 
oughly false  light,  are  in  honour  bound  to  protest. 


minded    man    who     loves     the     peace     of     righteous- 
nesii. 

Elsewhere  the  President  says  that  at  some  unknown 
date  in  the  hereafter  the  American  people  intend  to 
safeguard  the  rights  of  small  nationalities  against  big 


PRESIDENT    WILSON. 


For  example,  the  Note  says,  "  Thus  far  both  sides 
eeem  to  bo  fighting  for  the  same  thing."  This  is  palpably 
and  wickedly  false.  To  say  that  the  Germans,  who 
trampled  the  Belgians  under  the  heel  and  are  at  this 
moment  transporting  100,000  Belgians  to  serve  as  State 
slaves  in  Germany,  are  fighting  for  the  same  things  as 
their  hunted  victims,  is  not  only  a  falsehood  but  a  callous 
and  most  immoral  falsehood,  shocking  to  every  higb- 


and  ruthless  nations.  Unless  this  is  sheer  hypocrisy 
let  the  President  begin  now,  and  in  such  case  let  him 
promptly  withdraw  this  Note,  which  has  given  comfort 
and  aid  only  to  the  oppressors  of  Belgium,  and  in  which 
he  did  not  dare  to  say  one  word  in  behalf  of  Belgium's 
rights. 

Perhaps  the  most  preposterous  absurdity  is  the  state- 
ment  that   the   United   States   is   ready   and   eager  to 


380 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


guarantee  the  peace  of  the  world.  The  spectacle  of  the 
President  trying  by  the  aid  of  Mr.  Daniels  and  Mr. 
Baker  [respectively  the  Secretaries  of  the  Navy  and  of 
War]  to  guarantee  the  peace  of  any  nation  under  the 
sun  against  a  single  powerful  and  resolute  foe  is  a.s  comic 
as  anything  ever  written  by  Artemus  Ward.  If  his 
words  meant  anything  they  would  mean  hereafter  that 
we  intend  to  embark  on  a  policy  of  violent  meddling 
in  every  European  quarrel  and  in  return  invite  the  Old 
World  nations  violently  to  meddle  in  everything 
American.  Of  course,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  words 
mean  nothing.  The  President  is  nervously  backing 
away  from  Carranza  at  the  very  time  he  is  fulminating 
these  vague  threats  and  uttering  these  vague  promises 
in  reference  to  the  formidable  military  Powers  engaged 
tin  a  great  death  wrestle. 

The  best  crystallization  of  the  school  of 
thought  that  opposed  the  President's  patience 
and  aspirations  for  peace  (and  it  must  be 
admitted  that  the  disciples  of  this  school  con- 
stituted the  bulk  of  far-sighted  and  thoughtful 
Americans)  was,  however,  contained  in  the 


WHEREAS,  We  believe  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and 
even  tho  territories  of  our  own  country  have  boon,  and 
now  are,  an  avowed  aim  of  Prussian  aggression,  and  that, 
in  the  event  of  the  success  of  the  Teutonic  Powers,  tho 
next  attack  would  be  made  against  the  United  Stair-  ; 
and 

WHEREAS,  Without  undertaking  to  approve  all  tho 
acts  of  the  Entente  Allies  in  the  present  War,  we  hold 
that  the  Republicanism  of  Franco  and  tho  Democracy 
of  England  are  united  in  contending  for  those  rights 
of  the  people  and  those  ideals  of  humanity  which  are 
essential  to  the  preservation  of  civilization  ;  and 

WHEREAS,  We  believe  that  neutral  nations  look  to  tha 
United  States  as  the  leading  Power  that  should  maintain 
the  principles  of  international  law  and  defend  the  sacred 
principles  of  humanity,  that  the  people  of  these  nations 
are  convinced  of  the  righteousness  of  tho  Allied  cause, 
but  hesitate  to  declare  themselves,  and  that  action  by 
the  United  States  would  have  a  potent  influence  upon 
hesitant  neutrals  and  would  tend  materially  to  shorten 
the  war,  to  save  further  sacrifice  of  human  life,  and  to 
assure  the  more  speedy  triumph  of  law  and  justice  ; 
Now,  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  safety  and  honour  of  the  American 
people  and  their  duty  to  defend  and  maintain  the  rights 


PRESIDENT    WILSON    REVIEWING    NEW    JERSEY    STATE    TROOPS. 


resolutions  of  the  American  Rights  Committee 
formed  in  1916  under  the  auspices  of  Mr 
George  Haven  Putnam,  who  had  himself 
fought  and  suffered  for  the  cause  of  Liberty 
during  the  Civil  War.  The  resolution  ran  as 
follows  : 

WHEREAS,  We  hold  that  Prussian  Imperial  Militarism 
has  brought  about  the  subjection  of  the  people  of  Ger* 
many  to  an  ambitious  and  unscrupulous  autocracy  and 
the  corruption  of  the  ancient  German  ideals  through  a 
dream  of  World-dominion  ;  and 

WHEREAS,  We  believe  that  the  success  of  thr>  scheme 
(if  this  Prussian  Autocracy  means  tin-  crushing  of  friendly 
nations  and  the  subjection  of  their  peoples  to  a  bruta1 
and  cruel  military  rule  ;  and 

WHEREAS,  We  believe  that,  intoxicated  with  the  mili- 
tary successes  of  1864,  1866,  and  1870,  and  by  the 
wonderful  development  of  the  economic  strength  of  the 
country,  the  ambitious  of  Prussian  leaders  have  ex- 
pended until  they  have  culminated  in  a  World-war  for 
imperial  domination  ;  and 

WHEREAS,  This  war  ht\s  been  conducted  by  Prussia 
and  her  Allies  with  piM<-tires  of  unprecedented  barbarity, 
including  the  kilting,  under  oHirial  orders,  of  thousands 
of  non-combatants,  women,  and  children,  and  including 
the  crowning  atrocity  of  the  Armenian  mu-s;)<.Tes  :  and 


of  humanity  require  us  to  approve  the  cau«e  for  which 
the  Entente  Allies  are  fighting,  and  to  extend  to  these 
Allies  by  any  means  in  our  power,  not  only  sympathy, 
but  direct  cooperation  at  the  proper  time,  to  the  end 
that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the 
people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth  ;  and 

Resolved  furth-r,  That  in  spite'  of  the  unwarranted 
ilt-st ruction  of  American  lives,  there  should  be  between 
the  American  people  and  the  German  people  no  enmity, 
and  that,  when  the  Germans  shall  abjure,  with  the  dream 
of  empire,  the  pernicious  ideals  of  their  present  rulers, 
tho  Americans  will  rejoice  to  come  again  into  fellowship 
with  them  in  the  work  of  advancing  the  true  ideal-  of 
justice,  humanity,  and  civilization. 

How  came  it  that  such  authoritative  out- 
pourings of  advice  and  such  weighty  attacks 
upon  his  policy  influenced  the  President  neither 
directly  nor  indirectly  through  popular  opinion  ? 
There  could,  it  was  clear,  be  nothing  in  common 
between  American  Republicanism  and  the 
militarist  doctrines  of  modern  Prussia  ;  and  as 
to  Germany's  translation  of  those  doctrines 
into  practice — had  it  not  evoked  a  chorus  oi 
indignation  from  otie  end  of  the  country  to  the 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


381 


ba.rbarou.s  SfUff 
bar    if 

I    rnuif, 
I  MUST  ' 


[C/HCfl£o  Dally  Hews. 

'  GOING    BACK— TIME    TO    BEAT    SOME    PLOUGHSHARES    INTO    SWORDS." 


other  ?  Their  own  experiences  of  1914  made 
it  easy  for  British  observers  to  solve  the 
paradox.  The  President  hesitated  because  he 
was  trying  to  translate  into  policy  not  the 
views  and  aspirations  of  one  section  of  the 
country  or  of  society,  however  well  justified  he 
might  in  his  inmost  soul  consider  them,  but 
what  he  believed  to  be  the  wishes  and  instincts 
of  the  mass  of  his  countrymen. 

As  was  indicated  at  the  beginning  of  this 
chapter,  the  war  found  the  United  States  in 
the  midst  of  an  engrossing  process  of  domestic 
reform.  Rather  more  than  a  year  earlier  she 
had  substituted  for  the  conservative  regime 
of  the  Republicans  a  Democratic  Government 
of  pronounced  Liberal  tendencies,  with  Mr. 
Wilson  at  its  head.  The  same  thing  had 


happened  as  happened  in  England  seven  years 
earlier.  A  conservatism  of  a  vaguely  Im- 
perialistic complexion  had,  thanks  mainly  to- 
-  its  inability  to  produce  certaiA  domestic 
reforms,  given  place  to  a  Liberalism  which  felt 
that  to  justify  itself  it  had  to  sacrifice  every- 
thing to  the  enactment  of  these  reforms.  The 
extra-American  responsibilities  engendered  by 
the  war  with  Spain  were  resented  or  forgotten. 
There  was  a  serious  movement  to  give  to  the 
Philippines  the  deadly  gift  of  premature 
independence.  The  American  foot  against  the 
open  door  in  China  was  summarily  withdrawn. 
The  Army  and  Navy  were  allowed  to 
''  slump."  American  responsibility  towards 
the  weaker  Latin-American  neighbours  was 
vitiated  by  that  spirit  of  ignorant  and  feeble 


'THE    FINAL    ANSWER." 


[Chicago  Daily  News. 


882 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


! 


THE    PRESIDENTIAL    CAMPAIGN    OF    1916. 

Mr.   Hughes,   the  Republican  Candidate,   addressing  the  crowd  from  the  railroad  car  at  Grand   Pass, 

Oregon,  August  24,  1916. 


idealism  which  must  be  accounted  the  chief 
cause  of  the  tragedy  of  Mexico.  Trained 
diplomatists  were,  especially  in  the  Western 
hemisphere,  irresponsibly  displaced  by  the 
spoilsmen. 

There  never  had  been  a  time  when  American 
eyes  were  turned  more  generally  inwards.  The 
old  tradition  of  isolation  was  revived.  In  a 
famous  speech  at  the  beginning  of  his  administra- 
tion the  President  had  even  attempted  to 
give  a  twentieth-century  twist  to  the  Monroe 
doctrine.  That  instrument  had  originally  been 
called  into  being  to  protect  the  nascent  Repub- 
licanism of  the  Western  world  against  the 
Holy  Alliance.  Monarchies  had  long  ceased  to 
threaten ;  but,  the  President  proclaimed  in 
effect,  the  Old  World  could  still  impede  the 
untrammelled  development  of  the  New  World. 
Raids  by  the  organized  capitalism  of  this  era 
could  be  just  as  subversive  of  the  development 
of  weak  Republics  as  the  monarchical  raids 
which  his  predecessors  had  feared.  Therefore 
the  great  European  investor  in  backward  Latin- 
American  countries  should  be  discouraged. 
Adherence  to  the  forms  of  Anglo-Saxon  Govern- 
ment would  help  their  Governments  just  as 
effectively  as  bargains  with  capitalists  for  the 
building  of  railways  and  opening  up  of  new 
territory. 


The  United  States  was,  in  short,  as  unpre- 
pared for  the  repercussion  of  the  war  as  she 
well  could  be.  The  average  as  opposed  to  the 
educated  voter  did  not  understand  that  the 
causes  and  course  of  a  European  contest  could 
concern  him  as  closely  as  anyone.  President  and 
farmer  agreed  that  the  United  States  could 
best  be  true  to  her  traditions  and  sentimentally 
Liberal  aspirations  if  she  remained  au  dessus 
de  la  melee.  To  considerations  of  tradition  and 
instinct  there  were  also  added  considerations 
of  expediency.  It  was  at  first  feared  that 
there  might  be  trouble  from  the  German 
element  of  the  population  and  among  the 
American  representatives  of  other  belligerent 
races,  should  the  United  States  not  officially 
balance  her  neutrality.  Had  not  the  President 
actually  hinted  as  much  in  his  neutrality 
proclamation  ?  There  was  also,  as  war  trade 
grew  up,  as  Americans  began  to  use  their 
privilege  as  neutrals  to  export  to  the  belli- 
gerents, a  more  material  sanction  for  the 
status  quo.  The  country,  it  was  rather  illogically 
argued,  was  prosperous  with  peace,  mainly,  of 
course,  owing  to  trade  in  munitions  of  war  with 
the  belligerents,  so  why  risk  a  change  for  the 
worse  or,  at  any  rate,  the  unknown  ?  The  war 
was  regrettable,  the  crimes  of  Prussia  were 
abominable  :  but  all  the  United  States  had  to 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAK. 


383 


see  to  was  that  her  rights  should  be  respected 
by  botli  sides,  especially  her  commercial  rights, 
the  enjoyment  of  which  would  incidentally 
enable  her  to  send  much-needed  supplies  to  the 
Allies.  She  would  then  be  powerful  and  inde- 
pendent enough  at  the  end  of  the  war  to  act  as 
an  "  honest  broker  "  in  the  interests  of  per- 
manent peace. 

Such  was  and  such  remained,  down  to  and 
even  after  the  rupture  with  Germany,  the  funda- 
mental point  of  view  of  the  masses,  especially 
in  the  West,  upon  which  Mr.  Wilson  relied  for 
the  support  of  his  Government  and  policies. 
The  Presidential  canvass  of  1916  and  its  result 
in  November  of  that  year  made  that  indisput- 
ably obvious.  The  Republican  candidate,  Mr. 
Hughes,  was  chosen  by  a  party  dominated  by 
Mr.  Roosevelt,  Mr.  Root,  and  the  other 
stalwarts  whose  criticism  of  the  President's 
course  is  stated  above,  Mr.  Wilson  made  his 
fight  against  Mr.  Hughes  quite  frankly  upon 
the  issue  of  peace  and  prosperity  with  the 
Democrats,  war  and  ruin  with  the  Republicans. 
Mr.  Hughes  did  not  dare  take  up  the  challenge. 


He  realized  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
educate  the  people  up  to  a  sense  of  what  his 
supporters  regarded  as  the  world-responsibili- 
ties of  the  United  States.  He  relied  upon  stock 
issues  and  his  party  organization,  and  was 
beaten  by  the  vote  of  the  West ;  the  East,  the 
chief  home  of  the  "  stalwarts,"  went  almost 
solidly  for  him.  The  President  was  re-elected 
because  the  majority  of  the  people,  besides 
liking  his  Liberalism,  were  grateful  that  he 
should  have  kept  them  out  of  the  war,  con- 
fident that  he  would  continue  if  possible  to 
tread  the  pacific  path,  and  not  at  all  afraid  that, 
as  his  conservative  critics  said,  he  was  weaken- 
ing the  fibre  of  the  country,  lowering  its 
prestige  abroad,  or  endangering  its  future  as  a 
World  Power. 

The  President's  victory  was,  nevertheless, 
not  a  victory  of  the  peace-at-any-price  group. 
That  group,  even  before  the  rupture  with 
Germany,  was  comparatively  weak.  It  was 
scattered  over  the  country  in  small  contingents, 
and  it  may  be  doubted  whether,  without  the 
help  of  Irish-American  and  German-American 


NEW    ENGLAND    GOVERNORS'    CONFERENCE    AT    BOSTON    ON    WAR    DEFENCE, 

FEBRUARY,    15,  1917. 

Left    to   right  :    Mr.  Carl    E.   Milliken  (Maine),  Mr.  Henry  W.  Keyes  (New  Hampshire),  Mr.  Horae; 
F.  Graham  (Vermont),  Mr.  Samuel  W.  McCall  (Massachusetts),  Mr.  Marcus  H.  Holcomb  (Connecticut). 


384 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


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THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


385 


propagandists,  it  would  have  made  its  voice 
heard  in  the  national  councils.  Its  representa- 
tives were  to  be  found  in  small  bands  in  the 
university  towns  with  which  the  United  States 
is  dotted.  They  would  show  up  in  certain  force 
at  religious  meetings.  They  were  stronger  in 
Socialist  and  social  reform  circles.  But  they 
•did  not  materially  influence  the  organizations 
•of  the  regular  parties.  Despite  the  political 
influence  of  Mr.  Bryan,  the  Germans  usually 
had  some  difficulty  in  finding,  during  a  crisis, 
enough  American  assistants  in  Congress  to  give 
a  convincing  American  colour  to  their  agitations. 
It  was  rather  the  peace-at-almost-any-price 
vote  that  determined  the  election — the  result 
of  the  feeling  of  pacifically  inclined  provincials, 
untrained  to  realize  causes  which  justify  the 
obvious  sacrifices  of  war,  that  a  statesman 
so  successful  in  domestic  politics  and  reform 
work  as  the  President,  so  obviously  cautious 
in  his  foreign  policy,  so  obviously  bent  upon 
serving  American  interests  when  it  came  to 
action,  however  much  he  might  discuss  the 
necessity  of  making  sacrifices  for  the  sake 
of  broader  interests,  was  the  man  to  guide 
the  country,  if  anybody  could,  with  peace  and 
honour  through  the  troublous  years  before  it. 

It  w  a .  a  state  of  mind  which  British  observers 
can  understand.  The  development  of  Ameri- 
can thought  and  policy  during  the  two  years 
between  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania  and  the 
disappearance  from  Washington  of  the  German 
Embassy,  resembles  in  some  respects  the 
changes  in  the  attitude  of  large  masses  of  the 
British  people  which  took  place  during  the 
first  black  days  of  August,  1914.  The  British 
•crisis  was  short  because  the  danger  was  patent 
and  insistent ;  the  American  crisis  was  long 
because  the  danger  was  to  the  mass  of  the 
people  neither  patent  nor  insistent.  Not 
only  was  the  fundamental  issue  at  stake 
loosely  grasped,  but  Americans  are  not,  like 
the  English,  a  seafaring  race.  To  those 
who  dwelt  in  the  centre  of  the  continent  the 
maritime  crimes  of  Germany  were  as  remote 
as  were  the  Armenian  atrocities  to  dwellers  in 
the  manufacturing  towns  of  the  Midlands  or 
the  glens  of  the  Highlands.  What  did  it 
matter  to  the  fanner  of  the  Mississippi  Valley 
if  the  Lusitania  was  sunk  so  long  as  he  could 
market  his  corn  in  Minneapolis  or  Chicago  ? 
San  Francisco  lies  farther  from  New  York  than 
does  London  ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  travel 
for  days  across  the  American  continent  with 
its  millions  of  acres  of  rich  and  sequestered 


farmlands,  its  teeming  provincial  towns  whose 
contact  with  the  outside  world  usually  consists 
of  rivalry  with  near  neighbours  and  a  vague 
jealousy  of  more  distant  ones,  its  never-ending 
prairies,  its  mountains  encompassing  between 
themselves  isolated  communities  as  large  as  'a 
European  country,  with  its  diverse  interests 
and  climates,  with  its  endless  string  of  local 
newspapers  (each  serving  a  radius  perhaps 
larger  than  England,  but  nevertheless  an 
infinitesimal  fraction  of  the  country,  and  dedi- 
cated almost  entirely  to  local  intelligence) 
without  experiencing  a  sense  of  remoteness,  of 
national  amorphousness  such  as  no  European 
State  can  produce. 

Nor  was  it  only  the  tradition  and  practice  of 
aloofness  and  the  accident  of  the  ascendancy 
of  Liberalism  at  Washington  that  made  the  war 
remote  to  the  average  citizen  almost  beyond  the 
bounds  of  perspective.  With  one  great  Euro- 
pean Power  and  with  one  alone  had  the  United 
States  during  her  infancy,  during  her  adoles- 
cence, and  at  the  great  crisis  of  her  maturity 
had  relations  calculated  to  leave  lasting  impres- 
sions. For  France  at  the  beginning  of  the  war 
there  was  an  outpouring  of  sympathy  in  which 
admiration  at  the  gallantry  of  the  sister  repub- 
lic was  reinforced  by  memories  of  French  aid 
during  the  revolutionary  war.  But  gratitude 
to  Lafayette  and  his  companions  was  not 
sufficiently  deep,  the  significance  of  the  Anglo- 
French  alliance  was  not  sufficiently  patent  to 
obliterate  memories  of  our  treatment  of  Ameri- 
can shipping  during  the  Napoleonic  wars,  of 
the  resultant  Anglo-American  struggle  of 
1812-14,  and  of  the  lack  of  sympathy  with  the 
North  shown  by  influential  classes  in  England 
during  the  fight  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Union  and  the  abolition  of  slavery.  Such 
memories  had  been  kept  green,  to  an  extent 
which  would  surprise  those  whose  knowledge 
of  Anglo-American  sentiment  is  confined  to 
Pilgrims'  dinners  and  other  international 
amenities  or  derived  from  intercourse  with 
representatives  of  the  sophisticated  East,  by  the 
widespread  use,  at  any  rate  until  quite  recently, 
of  school  histories  in  which  our  disagreements 
were  consistently  distorted,  by  the  anti-British 
prejudices  of  the  powerful  Irish  population, 
by  the  more  insidious  work  of  the  American 
branch  of  the  pro-German  propaganda,  and  by 
other  factors,  some  of  them  economic  and  some 
social,  into  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  go. 
During  the  Boer  War  gratitude  for  Great 
Britain's  most  useful  sympathy  with  the  United 


386 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


AMERICAN    COAST    DEFENCE    GUNS. 


States  while  she  was  fighting  Spain  was  for- 
gotten in  an  almost  general  outbreak  of  invective 
against  the  "  brutal  British."  Of  the  persecu- 
tion of  a  weak  State  in  this  war  we  could  not  be 
accused  ;  but  directly  it  became  evident  that 
our  blockade  of  the  Central  Powers  would 
bear  heavily  upon  neutrals,  and  would  have  to 
be  enforced  on  the  broad  principles  of  inter- 
national law  rather  than  by  a  pedantic  adhesion 
to  obsolete  precedents,  sympathy  with-  our 
cause  could  not  long  prevent  a  certain  suspicious 
questioning  of  our  methods  which  German 
agents  worked  day  and  night  to  increase. 

The  earlier  stages  of  the  discussion  regarding 
our  various  Orders  in  Council  and  regulations 
against  the  trade  of  the  enemy  with  the  outside 
world  should  be  familiar  to  the  readers  of  this 
history.  It  is  proposed  to  trace  here  merely 
the  way  in  wliich  in  its  late  stages  the  con- 
troversy, by  forcing  the  Government  to  balance 
its  policy  of  neutrality  and  to  appear  to  set  off 
British  misdemeanours  against  Prussian  crimes, 
revived  in  the  public  mind  inherited  suspicious 
of  British  maritime  methods,  and  thus  took 
the  edge  to  some  extent  off  indignation  with 
Prussian  savageries.  The  blockade  policy  of 
the  Allies  may  be  summarized  as  a  compre- 
hensive attempt  to  starve  Germany  through 
the  control  of  the  high  seas  by  the  British  Navy, 
so  far  as  was  compatible  with  international 
equity.  It  was  based  upon  the  fundamental 
principle  of  Anglo-Saxon  law  that  old  rules 
shall  be  adjusted  to  meet  new  conditions,  a 
principle  which,  during  their  contest  with  the 
Confederacy,  the  Northern  States  had  used 
ruthlessly  to  strengthen  their  at  one  time  none 
too  effective  blockade  of  the  Southern  States. 


Among  other  rules  which  the  Northern  States 
developed   was   that,  originally   laid   down   by 
Lord  Stowell  :    that  contraband  may  be  seized 
even   if   destined   for   neutral    ports,   provided 
that  the  captor  could  prove  that  its  ultimate 
destination  was  the  enemy  forces.     Perhaps  the 
chief    American    charge    was    that,    to    meet 
changed    conditions,    we    developed    this    rule 
still  farther.     In  view  of  the  obvious  fact  that, 
both  in  law  and  practice'- .-the   whole   popula- 
tions   of    the    Central    Powers    were    in    effect 
waging  war  against  us,  we  did  extend,  after 
some    hesitation,    the   doctrine   of    continuous 
voyage  to  virtually  everything.      Besides  enor- 
mously    increasing    the    list    of    commodities 
treated  as  absolute  contraband,  we  instituted 
by    degrees    a    system    of    rationing    neutral 
countries  contiguous  to  Germany.     The  system 
was*  based,  roughly,  upon    the   difference   be- 
tween the  normal  imports  of  those  countries 
and   their   normal   exports   of   imported   com- 
modities   to     the    Central     Powers.     To    this 
system  the  United  States  objected  in  various 
Notes.     She  contended  that  she  had  the  right 
to    trade    freely    in    innocent    goods    with    all 
neutrals.     The   ultimate    fate   of   those    goods 
was    a    question    to    be    settled    between    the 
importing    nations    and    Great    Britain  ;     and 
American  shipments  ought  not  to  be  detained 
on    presumption    that    they    were    eventually 
meant  for  enemy  consumption  (American  Note 
of  October  21,   1915).     Nor  could  they  be  de- 
tained on  the  assumption  that  we  had  estab- 
lished   an    effective    blockade.     No    blockade, 
it   was  argued,  could  be  effective  in   view  of 
the    fact    that    tho    blockading    fleet    did    not 
control  the  Baltic.     Without  such  control,  any 


THIS    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


387 


so-called  blockade,  it  was  maintained,  was 
unequal  as  between  Scandinavian  neutrals  and 
other  neutrals.  Tt  was  further  denied  that 
any  interpretation  of  international  law  allowed 
us  to  extend  the  blockade  to  the  North  Sea 
coast  of  those  same  Scandinavian  countries 
(Note  of  October  21,  1915),  while  the  British 
prize  court  procedure  and  other  things  were 
also  the  subject  of  a  running  controversy. 

Attacks  upon  the  law  of  the  British  policy 
were  accompanied  by  attacks  upon  its  execu- 
tion. The  Fleet  was  accused  of  exercising  its 
right  of  visit  and  search  in  an  illegal  way.  In 
view  of  the  size  and  unwieldiness  of  the  cargoes 
of  modern  merchant,  ships,  the  practice  of  visit 
and  search  at  sea  was  early  abandoned  in 
favour  of  the  practice  of  bringing  vessels  into 
port  for  search.  Against  this  the  United 
States  Government  protested  on  the  double 
ground  of  illegality  and  .inconvenience.  They 
again  refused  to  admit  that  changed  conditions 
justified  new  practices.  There  were  many 
complaints,  some  of  them  probably  unjustified, 
of  undue  length  of  detention  while  ships  were 
examined.  It  was  alleged  that  our  insistence 
upon  making  neutral  vessels  call  at  our  ports 
to  have  their  cargoes  examined  or  to  pick  up 
sailing  instructions  through  dangerous  areas 
was  used  to  facilitate  the  illegal  detention, 
examination,  and  sometimes  suppression  of 
mails  between  neutral  countries.  Two  Notes 
were  sent  the  Allies  on  the  subject,  on  January 
4  and  May  24,  1916.  The  protests  they  con- 
tained were  based  primarily  upon  the  fact  that 
before  the  war  there  were  signs  of  a  tendency 
to  treat  first-class  mail  matter  as  immune 
from  seizure  on  the  high  seas.  At  first  it  was 
even  maintained  that  the  Allies  had  no  right 
even  to  seize  paper  values  (that  position  was 
abandoned  in  the  second  Note),  and  there 
were  many  complaints  of  the  unfair  way  in 
which  American  business  had  been  hampered 
by  the  detention  or  loss  of  letters  (as  well  as 
by  the  detention  of  and  censorship  of  cables  — 
another  well-aired  grievance),  and  even  of  the 
detention  of  diplomatic  correspondence. 

British  municipal  and  Imperial  trade  regu- 
lations also  caused  heartburnings.  At  an  early 
period  of  the  war  it  was  decided  to  prohibit 
the  export  from  the  component  parts  of  the 
Empire  of  various  staple  commodities.  This 
embargo  hit  many  American  manufacturers 
rather  hard.  The  woollen  manufacturers  relied 
largely  upon  Colonial  wool,  and  to  give  another 
instance,  the  metal  trades  needed  plumbago 


from  Ceylon  for  crucibles  and  tin  from  the 
Straits  Settlements  for  other  purposes.  Im- 
mediately a  great  outcry  went  up.  As  we  were 
clearly  within  our  rights  in  disposing  of  our  own 
products  as  we  liked,  the  Government  could 
not  protest.  Nevertheless,  wishing  to  make 
things  easy  for  the  United  States,  we  allowed 
certain  quotas  of  the  forbidden  materials  to 
go  to  American  manufacturers,  provided  that, 
they  guaranteed  that  these  would  not  be  re- 
exported  or  find  their  way  as  finished  products 
to  the  enemy.  The  arrangement  naturally 
involved  restrictions  rather  irritating  to  the 
free  American  spirit,  and  it  was  not  long  before 


COAST    DEFENCE    GUN :    THE    BREECH. 

the  Germans  began  to  spread  the  idea  that  our 
supervision  was  really  part  of  a  scheme  for  the 
control  of  American  trade  after  the  war.  A 
similar  attack  was,  during  the  summer  of  1916, 
made  upon  our  "  black  list,"  the  name  given  to 
our  published  statutory  list  supplying  British 
firms  with  a  list  of  people  and  firms  in  neutral 
countries  with  which  they  were  not  to  trade 
on  account  of  suspicion  or  proof  of  enemy 
relationship.  It  was  clear  that  here  also  the 
British  Government  had  a  perfect  right  to 
supervise  the  trade  connexions  of  their  nationals. 
But  again  there  was  the  cry  of  intent  to  capture 
American  trade  for  post-bellum  purposes,  and 
this  time  the  American  Government  joined  in 
it.  Brushing  aside  the  explanation  officially 
offered  by  Downing  Street,  the  American  State 
Department,  in  a  -Note  dated  July  28,  1916, 


388 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


-warned  Great  Britain  in  "  the  gravest  terms  " 
that  it  was  manifestly  out  of  the  question  that 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  should 
acquiesce  in  such  methods  in  restraint  of  neutral 
commerce. 

Intrinsically  none  of  these  and  other  trade 
•disputes  was  really  serious.     There  was  never 
any    disposition    visible    on    the    part    of    the 
American  authorities  to  hamper  us.     The  most  . 
that  they  seemed  to  expect  was  the  removal  of 


THE    WHITE    HOUSE,   WASHINGTON. 
The  official  residence  of  the  President. 

petty  and  irritating  restrictions  Thus  the 
main  blockade  controversy  lapsed  during  1916, 
after  we  had  improved  and  expedited  our 
methods  of  examining  vessels,  and  had  shown 
by  our  general  attitude  that  we  wished  to  spare 
neutrals  as  much  as  was  compatible  with  the 
exigencies  of  the  military  situation.  The  con- 
troversy over  the  detention  of  mails  was  sub- 
stantially relieved  by  similar  means,  and  no 
effort  was  made  to  underline  annoyances  with 
our  "  black  list  "  by  anything  more  grave  than 
sharp  Notes.  The  persistent  German-fomented 
.agitation  that  the  United  States  should  retaliate 
by  placing  an  embargo  upon  the  export '  of 
munitions  and  food  to  the  Allies  was  stoutly 
ignored.  No  difficulties,  except  on  one  occasion 
(and  then  there  was  a  quick  attempt  to  make 
amends),  were  placed  in  the  way  of  loans  to 
the  Allies.  Washington,  in  fact,  acted  against 
us  rather  for  effect  than  for  result.  Its  nationals 
•came  hurrying  to  it  with  protests  which  it 
could  not  ignore.  German -American  traders 
were  on  the  qui  vivc  for  an  excuse  to  accuse  it 
of  lax  neutrality  ;  and  in  regard  to  the  blockade 
controversy  the  weight  of  American  legal 
opinion  was  that,  whatever  our  ethical  justifica- 
tion, our  policy  and  practices  could  not  in  point 
of  fact  be  justified  by  law. 

The  constant  airing  of  grievances  against, 
"  British  abuse  of  sea-power  "  had  nevertheless 
its  influence  upon  public  opinion.  In  educated 


circles  it  was  recognized  that  the  United 
States  had  been  equally  high-handed  during  her 
civil  war  and  that  we  had  an  equally  strong 
moral  justification  for  high-handedness  in  this 
war ;  but  among  the  masses  the  lingering 
memories  of  our  treatment  of  American  ship- 
ping during  the  Napoleonic  wars  tended  to 
produce  distorted  views.  This  the  German 
propagandists  were  quick  to  realize.  British 
"  navalism,"  they  proclaimed,  was  what  the 
United  States  had  really  to  fear.  It  pervaded 
the  world.  Germany's  Militarismus,  even 
admitting  that  it  existed,  concerned  only 
Europe,  and  with  Europe  the  Western  Repub- 
lics had  no  concern. 

Only  some  great  leader  of  men,  could  even 
with  the  help  of  German  atrocities  and  German 
insults,  have  aroused  the  American  people  to 
the  pitch  where  they  might  have  sloughed  off 
overnight  the  incubus  of  tradition  and  sub- 
stituted for  their  aloof  and  individualistic 
conception  of  a  national  destiny  a  realization 
of  the  need  of  a  positive  international 
policy.  And  that  statesman  was  not  forth- 
coming. A  Liberal  of  the  Mid-Victorian  type, 
Mr.  Wilson  had  steeped  himself  in  th3  study 
of  domestic  reform  to  ths  exclusion  of  all 
illuminating  interest  in  international  affairs. 
He  was,  during  his  first  term  of  office,  a  faithful 
disciple  of  that  Liberal  conception  of  Govern- 
ment which  decrees  that  administrations  shall 
follow  public  opinion  and  try  to  give  the  voters 
what  they  are  supposed  to  want  and  not  neces- 
sarily what  is  good  for  them  and  the  country. 
The  result  was  that  apathy  regarding  the 
fundamental  issues  of  the  war  reacted  from 
the  beginning  upon  Mr.  Wilson's  policy  and 
Mr.  Wilson's  policy  encouraged  apathy.  Pro- 
foundly impressed  by  the  latent  moral,  and 
obvious  economic,  strength  of  the  great  aggrega- 
tion of  people  under  his  charge,  the  President 
seemed  for  a  long  time  to  believe  that  he  could 
afford  to  let  them  carelessly  ensue  the  peace 
and  prosperity  that  he  promised  them  and  at 
the  correct  moment  throw  the  weight  of  their 
unimpaired  strength  on  the  side  of  a  Liberal 
peace.  Educated  by  years  of  authority  in 
the  peaceful  cloisters  of  a  venerable  university, 
a  student  almost  exclusively  of  Anglo-Saxon 
Government,  he  could  not  bring  himself  to 
believe  for  an  equally  long  time  that  anything 
so  grossly  materialistic  and  so  barbarously 
ambitious  as  the  German  spirit  could  really 
have  possessed  a  nation.  The  contest,  he 
seemed  to  say  in  many  of  his  utterances  upon 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


it,  had  bred  an  unreal  state  of  affairs  :  had 
produced  passions  and  thrown  up  leaders  that 
were  really  foreign  to  the  characters  of  the 
combatants.  After  peace  these  passions  would 
disappear  and  their  effects  would  be  forgotten, 
if  only  somebody  with  authority  kept  his  head 
and  spoke  the  healing  word. 

Hence  Mr.  Wilson's  persistent  pressure  for 
an  early  peace  until  Germany  upset  his  plans 


in  January,  1917.  The  Prussian  militarists, 
he  thought,  had  had  their  lesson  and  had  pro- 
bably lost  their  teeth.  Europe,  therefore, 
should  compose  her  quarrels  without  more 
bloodshed.  A  continuance  of  the  war  could 
only  produce  ineradicable  bitterness  with 
probably  another  Balance  of  Power  and  a  peace 
insecurely  based  upon  force,  upon  the  armies 
of  France,  Russia,  and  Italy  on  the  continent, 


THE    PRESIDENT    AND    MRS.    WILSON    ATTENDED    BY    MILITARY 
AND    NAVAL    ATTACHES    AND    SECRET    SERVICE     MEN. 


390 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


and  upon  the  British  fleet  by  sea,  instead  of 
upon  the  sanction  of  a  kind  of  international 
Liberalism  under  which  the  masses  would 
refuse  to  be  killed  or  impoverished  upon  the 
altar  of  international  rivalry  and  distrust 
To  preserve  his  influence  towards  such  a  peace, 
patience  was  indispensable,  and  if  German 
militarism  was  abominable,  it  had  also  to  be 


remembered  that  British  navalism  could  be 
rather  high-handed.  The  President  conse- 
quently looked  with  some  favour  upon  German 
generalizations  about  the  "freedom  of  the 
seas,"  or  rather,  there  is  reason  to  believe, 
the  German  embroidery  of  what,  so  far  a<  this 
war  was  concerned,  was  originally  his  idea.  If, 
he  was  understood  to  have  represented  to  the 


WALL    STREET,    THE    FINANCIAL    CENTRE    OF    NEW    YORK. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


891 


Powers  some  time  before  he  broke  with  Gei- 
many,  if  there  must  be  more  wars,  then  let 
it  be'  agreed  that  neutrals  shall  not  suffer, 
that  the  danger  of  war  be  "  localized."  Let 
all  commerce  in  whatsoever  bottoms  be  free 
upon  the  high  seas,  save  only  absolute  contra- 
band— i.e.,  manufactured  munitions  of  war 
and  presumably  gold  and  its  equivalents. 

The  people,  misled  by  the  assiduous  mis- 
representations of  the  Prussian  propaganda,  did 
not  know  that  the  President  when  he  talked 
about  the  "  freedom  of  the  seas  "  was  dreaming 
a  dream  of  which  English  Liberals  may  still  have 
shamefaced  recollections.  They  thought  that 
he  was  directly  attacking  our  blockade.  The 
issue  of  the  war  was  thus  still  further  darkened, 
and  the  tendency  to  draw  back  from  things 
not  properly  understood  was  encouraged. 

Such  are  perhaps  the  main  reasons,  combined 
with  things  like  the  Irish  muddle — for  American 
sympathy  is  always  with  Celtic  Ireland — why 
the  bulk  of  the  American  people  and  their 
Government  seemed  to  the  other  Anglo-Saxon 
races  somewhat  slow  in  grasping,  'as  a  whole, 
the  meaning  of  the  war,  and  why  even  after  the 
rupture  with  Germany  they  hesitated  to  take 
the  seemingly  logical  step  of  "  getting  into  the 
war  with  both  feet  "  and  joining  the  Allies  off- 
hand in  their  bonded  determination  to  fight 
till  the  Prussian  menace  was  crushed.  They 
were,  however,  passing  or  ephemeral  reasons. 
Obsolete  traditions  cannot  for  ever  withstand 
the  onrush  of  changed  circumstances  ;  political 
theories  cannot  dam  indefinitely  the  current 
of  the  development  of  a  great  and  virile  nation. 

If  Prussian  brutality  drove  the  United  States 
in  1917,  first,  to  a  spectacular  abandonment  of 
the  course  of  neutrality  she  had  mapped  out 
for  herself  in  1914,  and  then  into  war  itself, 
other  forces  were  during  the  intervening  years 
working  steadily  to  render  the  abandonment  of 
neutrality  lasting.  There  was  first  the  com- 
mercial reaction  of  the  war  upon  American 
business.  In  1914,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war, 
Americans  got  their  first  object  lesson  of  how 
closely  they  were  connected  economically  with 
Europe.  The  dislocation  of  Lombard  Street  was 
felt  equally  in  Wall  Street.  Values  fluctuated, 
exchange  went  heavily  against  the  dollar, 
foreign  trade  was  upset.  Six  months  later  their 
second  lesson  began.  The  Allies  had  by  then 
realized  that  the  war  was  going  to  last  in- 
definitely and  that  they  would  require  an 
indefinite  amount  of  supplies,  especially  artil- 


lery and  munitions,  for  the  manufacture  of 
which  Germany  had  had  the  sinister  foresight 
to  provide.  As  the  British  fleet  controlled  the 
sea,  recourse  was  immediately  had  to  the 
United  States. 

The  result  of  this  commercially  is  best 
explained  by  the  following  table  : 

EXPORTS  FROM  UNITED  STATES. 

1913  1915  1916 

United                      $  $  $ 

Kingdom  590,732,398  1,108,122,530  1,754,420,408 
France  ..  153,922,526  500,792,248  860,839,308 
Russia  ..  25965,351  125,794,954  309,450,738 
Italy  ..  78,S75,043  269,723,561  303,533,921 
Germany  351,930,541  11,777,858  2,260,634 
Austria- 
Hungary  22,244,599  104,525  61,771 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  increase  in  exports  to 
the  Allies  far  more  than  counterbalanced, 
especially  during  1915  and  1916,  the  loss  of 
trade  with  the  Central  Powers.  The  exports 
consisted  mainly,  of  course,  of  war  material, 
raw  and  manufactured,  and  food.  Immense 
sums  were  simultaneously  lent  to  the  Allies 
after  the  autumn  of  1915,  largely  for 
credits  in  New  York  with  which  exports  could 
be  financed.  Otherwise  the  rate  of  exchange 
threatened  in  August,  1915,  to  go  to  pieces  ; 
the  Allies,  indeed,  as  it  was,  had  to  export  gold 
to  unprecedented  amounts,  and  the  United 
States  gradually  became  glutted  with  it. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  loans  to  the  Allies 
floated  in  the  United   States  up  to   January, 
1917: 
Anglo-French  5-year  5  per  cent,  on  51 

per  cent,  basis $500,000,000 

British  2-year  5  per  cent,  collateral  loan 

on  5 1  per  cent,  basis 250,000,000 

British  3-  and  5-year  collateral  loan  at 

5J  per  cent,  and  5'85  per  cent.  . .          300,000,000 

French  3-year  collateral  loan  on  5|  per 

cent 100,000,000 

French  commercial  credits  ..          ..          170,000,000 

British  banks  extended  loan        . .          . .  50,000,000 

Miscellaneous  credits         »75,000,000 

City  of  Paris  5-year  6  per  cent,  on  6' 30 

per  cent,  basis 50,000,000 

Bordeaux  3-year  6  per  cent,  on  6J  per 

cent,  basis          20,000,000 

Lyons  3-year  6  per  cent,  on  6|  per  cent. 

basis 20,000,000 

Marseilles  3-year  6  per  cent,  on  6J  per 

cent,  basis          20,000,000 

London   Metropolitan    Water   Board    1- 

year  6  per  cent,  discount        . .          . .  6,400,000 

Canada : 

Dominion  5-,  10-  and  15-year  5  per  cent.        75,000,000 

Dominion  2-year  5  per  cent 20,000,000 

Provincial  ..          ..          ..          ..  57,500,000 

Municipal  69,000,000 

Newfoundland  3-year  5  per  cent.  . .  5,000,000 

Russia  3-year  loan  50,000,000 

Russia  5-year  5  J  per  cent.           ..          ..  50,000,000 

Italy  1-year  6  per  cent 25,000,0(  0 


Total $1,912,900,000 

*  Estimated.     Includes    $25,000,000  credit  for  grain 
purchases. 


302 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


PRESIDENT  WILSON  (ia  centre)  HEADING  THE  "PREPAREDNESS  PARADE"  (JUNE  14,  1916). 
A  demonstration  in  favour  of  preparedness  for  all  eventualities. 

At    the    same    time    immense    amounts 


of 

American  securities  held  in  Europe  were  sold 
back  to  the  United  States  so  as  to  provide  the 
belligerents  with  ready  money.  In  1913, 
according  to  official  computations,  the  net 
American  foreign  indebtedness,  funded  and 
floating,  was  $6,500,000,000;  at  the  begin- 
ning of  1917  it  was  reckoned  at  half  that 
sum. 

Such  a  change  in  the  balance  of  trade  and 
finance  could  not  but  have  a  great  effect  upon 
public  opinion.  While,  for  reasons  not  uncon- 
nected with  lack  of  foresight  and  local  know- 
lodge  on  the  part  of  the  Allied  Governments, 
the  early  loans  were  not  well  distributed 
through  the  country,  the  sudden  appearance  of 
large  amounts  of  foreign  paper  inade  people 
study  with  a  close  practical  interest  European 
conditions  and  prospects.  Similarly,  the 
immense  growth  of  war  trade,  besides  causing 
interest  in  the  war,  gave  sane  Americans  a 
stake  in  after-the-war  conditions.  It  was 
recognized  that  war  exports  were  ephemeral ; 
that,  therefore,  if  a  serious  industrial  dislocation 
was  to  be  avoided,  fresh  and  permanent 
markets  must  be  found  after  peace. 

The  charitable  service  of  the  United  States 
Government  and  of  great  American  organiza- 
tions to  the  war-stricken  was  another  thing 
that  simultaneously  worked  for  the  abandon- 
ment of  academic  neutrality.  Mr.  Gerard's 
great  efforts  on  behalf  of  the  British  prisoners 


in  Germany  gave  a  soul -stirring  object-lesson 
of  what  American  "service  to  humanity" 
meant  in  practice.  The  magnificent  achieve- 
ments of  Mr.  Hoover  and  his  American  Staff  in 
Belgium,  and  the  constant  appeals  for  money 
sent  out  to  support  their  organization,  brought 
home,  as  nothing  else  could  do,  the  crying  need 
for  the  organization  of  the  world  so  that  such 
crimes  as  the  obliteration  of  nations  should  be 
rendered  impossible.  The  work  of  the  Rocke- 
feller Foundation  and  of  the  American  Red 
Cross  in  Serbia,  the  attempted  work  of  the 
Rockefeller  Foundation  in  Poland,  its  activities 
on  behalf  of  the  Armenians  and  other  oppressed 
peoples  in  Turkey,  the  untiring  appeals  of  the 
Red  Cross  and  countless  other  bodies  for  funds 
for  general  war  relief,  all  increased  the  sense  of 
American  responsibility  in  the  affairs  of  the 
world,  slowly,  perhaps,  as  is  shown  by  the 
comparatively  small  contribution  in  money  for 
which  the  United  States  was  responsible,  but 
steadily  and  with  cumulative  effect. 

During  1910  the  indignation  of  the  average 
educated  and  thoughtfully  inclined  American 
with  what  he  deemed  the  initial  weakness  and 
obscurantism  of  the  President's  attitude  towards 
the  war  bore  fruit,  moreover,  in  two  important 
directions,  and  in  both  cases  the  President, 
realizing  that  inconsistency  is  often  the  better 
part  of  statesmanship,  took  up  the  fruit  and 
blessed  it. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


893 


On  June  17,  1915,  there  was  founded  at  a 
meeting  in  Independence  Hall  at  Philadelphia, 
by  a  small  band  of  thoughtful  men  an  organiza- 
tion called  the  League  to  Enforce  Peace.  Its 
creation  was  mainly  due  to  the  feeling,  created 
by  the  President's  elusive  handling  of  the 
Lusitania  incident  and  the  outrage  involved 
upon  the  rights  of  humanity,  that  the  time  had 
come  for  the  United  States  to  sea  to  it  that 
never  again  should  they  allow  their  love  for 
peace  and  isolation  to  obliterate  their  sense  of 
responsibility  when  those  rights  were  challenged 
by  force.  The  object  of  the  League  was  de- 
scribed by  its  President,  Mr.  Taft,  as  follows  : 

All  the  world  is  interested  in  preventing  war  in  any 
part  of  the  world.  Neutrals  are  so  subject  to  loss,  to 
injury,  and  to  violation  of  their  rights,  that  they  have 
a  direct  interest  in  preventing  war,  and  so  direct  is  their 
interest  that  we  may  well  hope  that  international  law 
may  advance  to  the  point  of  developing  that  interest 
into  an  international  right  to  be  consulted  before  war 
begins  between  neighbours.  The  central  basis  of  the 
plan  which  we  respectfully  recommend  to  the  authorities 
who  shall  represent  our  Government  in  any  world 
conference  that  will  necessarily  follow  the  peace  is 
that  the  Great  Powers  of  the  world  be  invited  to  form 
a  League  of  Peace,  which  shall  embody  in  the  covenant 
that  binds  its  members  the  principle  just  announced, 
to  wit,  that  every  member  of  that  League  has  a  right 
to  be  consulted  before  war  shall  be  perpetrated  between 
any  two  members  of  the  League  ;  or  to  put  it  in  another 


way,  that  the  whole  League  shall  use  its  entire  power 
to  require  any  member  of  th.3  League  that  wishes  to 
fight  any  other  member  of  the  Leagu?,  to  submit  the 
issue  upon  which  that  member  desires  to  go  to  war  to 
a  machinery  for  its  peaceful  settlement  before  it  does 
go  to  war. 

It  is  not  proposed,  the  League  points  out  in  its  circular, 
finally  to  restrain  nations  from  going  to  war,  if  they  are 
determined  to  do  so,  nor  to  bind  them  to  comply  with 
any  decision  a  judicial  tribunal  or  a  council  of  conciliation 
may  make  ;  but  merely  that  before  they  resort  to  arms, 
thereby  disturbing  the  social  fabric  and  the  order  of 
the  whole  world,  and  inflicting  irreparable  injury  upon 
neutrals,  they  shall  state  their  case  before  an  impartial 
body  and  before  the  world,  and  give  time  to  have  it 
considered  on  its  merits. 

If  the  controversy  is  of  a  nature  which  can  be  settled 
by  the  principles  of  law  and  equity,  it  is  proposed  that 
it  shall  go  before  a  bench  of  judges.  If  it  is  one  which 
can  be  adjusted  only  by  mediation  and  compromise,  it 
is  suggested  that  it  shall  be  referred  to  a  mediation  board. 
In  comparison  with  projects  for  a  world  state,  it  is  a 
short  step  in  advance  that  is  urged  ;  but  it  is  one  which 
is  believed  to  be  attainable,  and  which,  if  adopted,  would 
make  war  extremely  improbable. 

During  1916  the  membership  and  influence 
of  the  League  to  Enforce  Peace  grew  by  leaps 
and  bounds.  Few,  perhaps,  expected  that  its 
ideals  would  be  realized,  but  it  was  hoped  that 
it  would  afford  a  nucleus  for  an  agitation  which 
the  President  would  be  unable  to  ignore.  The 
expectation  was  justified.  On  January  6,  1916, 
the  American  Institute  of  International  Law 


PRESIDENT  WILSON  (WITH  MRS.  WILSON)  REVIEWING  THE  "PREPAREDNESS  PARADE." 
After  marching  from  the  Peace  Monument  to  the  Capitol  at  its  head. 


394 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


adopted  five  resolutions  which  were  at  the  time 
taken  as  a  direct  animadversion  by  the  leading 
lawyers  of  the  country  upon  the  President's 
official  indifference  to  the  rape  of  Belgium  and 
other  German  assaults  upon  international 
right.  The  resolutions  follow  : 

1.  Every  nation  has  the  right  to  exist,  to  protect  and 
to  conserve  its  existence  ;  but  this  right  neither  implies 
the  right  nor  justifies  the  act   of  the  State  to  protect 
itself  or  to  conserve  its  existence  by  the  commission  of 
unlawful  acts  against  innocent  and  unoffending  States. 

2.  Every  nation  has  the  right  to  independence  in  the 
sense  that  it  has  a  right   to  the  pursuit   of  happiness 
and  is  free  to  develop  itself  without  interference  or  con- 
trol from  other  States,  provided  that  in  so  doing  it  does 
not  interfere  with  or  violate  the  just  rights  of   othar 
States. 

3.  Every  nation  is  in  law  or  before  law  the  equal  of 
every  other  State  composing  the  society  of  nations,  and 
all  States  have  the  right  to  claim  and,  according  to  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  of  the  United  States,  to 
assume,  among  the  powers  of  the  earth,  the  separate 
and  equal  station  to  which  the  laws  of  nature  and  of 
nature's  God  entitle  them. 

4.  Every    nation   has    the   right    to   territory    within 
donned  boundaries  and  to  exercise  exclusive  jurisdiction 
over  this  territory  and  all  persons,  whether  native  or 
foreign,  found  therein. 

5.  Every  nation  entitled  to  a  right  by  the  law  of  nations 
is  entitled  to  have  that  right  respected  and  protected 
by  all  other  nations,  for  right  and  duty  are  correlative, 
and  the  right  of  one  is  the  duty  of  all  to  observe. 

Stimulated  presumably  by  such  criticism  and 
such  a  lead,  the  President  in  the  soring  of  1916 


began  to  modify  his  attitude  of  stu  lie  1  aloof- 
ness. The  United  States,  he  proclaimed,  in  one 
of  his  campaign  speeches,  could  never  again 
afford  to  remain  neutral  in  a  war  which  threat- 
ened the  pillars  of  civilization.  In  accordance 
with  this  view,  he  caused  to  be  written  into  the 
platform  of  his  party  at  its  nominating  con- 
vention at  St.  Louis  a  foreign  policy  plank 
which,  after  an  allusion  to  the  time-honoured 
American  doctrine  of  laissez-faire  isolation, 
continued  : 

But  the  circumstances  of  the  last  two  years  have 
revealed  necessities  of  international  action  which  no 
former  generation  can  have  foreseen.  We  hold  that  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  use  its  power,  not 
only  to  mafee  itself  safe  at  home,  but  also  to  make  secure 
its  just  interests  throughout  the  world,  and,  both  for  this 
end  and  in  the  interest  of  humanity,  to  assist  tho  world 
in  securing  settled  peace  and  justice.  Ws  believe  that 
every  people  has  the  right  to  choose  the  sovereignty 
under  which  it  shall  live  ;  that  the  small  States  of  the 
world  have  a  right  to  enjoy  from  other  nations  the  same 
respect  for  their  sovereignty  and  for  their  territorial 
integrity  that  great  and  powerful  nations  expect  and 
insist  upon  ;  and  that  the  world  has  a  right  to  be  free 
from  every  disturbance  of  its  peace  that  has  its  origin 
in  aggression  or  disregard  of  the  rights  of  peoples  and 
nations  ;  and  we  believe  that  the  time  has  come  when 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  join  with  the 
other  nations  of  the  world  in  any  feasible  association 
that  will  effectively  serve  those  principles,  and  to 
maintain  inviolate  the  complete  security  of  the  high, 
way  of  the  seas  for  the  common  and  unhindered  use  of 
all  nation^. 


MEN    OF    THE    "AMERICAN     LEGION"    TRAINING    AT    THE    CANADIAN    CAMP 

AT    VALCARTIER. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


395 


In  his  speech  accepting  renomination  as  the 
Democratic  Presidential  candidate,  Mr.  Wilson 
re-emphasized  these  aspirations.  During  the 
campaign  he  returned  to  them  again  and  again, 
and  six  weeks  after  his  re-election  he  took  the 
first  opportunity  of  offering  them  not  as  a 
personal  or  party  doctrine  but  as  a  national 
policy. 

The  famous  American  Peace  Note  of  Decem- 
ber 18,  1916,  while  generally  interpreted  at 
home  and  abroad  as  an  effort  to  prevail 'upon 
the  Allies  to  consider  the  possibility  of  a  "  drawn 
war "  such  as  the  American  pacifists  were 
agitating  for  and  German  statesmen  scheming 
for,  was,  as  has  been  observed  above,  perhaps 
primarily  intended  .as  an  official  advertisement 
of  the  President's  desire  to  have  the 
world  know  that  he  was  prepared  after  the 
war  to  try  to  throw  American  influence  on  the 
side  of  a  lasting  and  just  peace.  After  stating 
that  the  aims  of  the  belligerents  as  expressed 
by  the  statesmen  were  confusingly  similar,  he 
affirmed  that  the  United  States  had  an  intimato 
interest  in  the  conclusion  of  the  war  lest  it 
should  "  presently  be  too  late  to  accomplish  the 
greater  thing  that  lies  beyond  its  conclusion." 
He  suggested  an  immediate  opportunity  for  the 
comparison  of  the  terms  which  must  precede 
those  "  ultimate  arrangements  for  the  peace  of 
the  world  which  we  all  desire  and  in  which  the 
neutral  nations  as  well  as  those  at  war  are  ready 
to  play  their  responsible  part." 

A  month  later,  on  January  22,  1917,  the 
President  returned  to  the  charge  in  his  address 
to  the  Senate  in  which  he  urged  the  belligerents 
to  make  a  "  liberal  peace,"  a  "  peace  without 
victory,"  i.e.,  a  peace  without  the  ruthless  use 
of  victory,  the  equitable  results  of  which  the 
United  States  would  feel  justified  in  joining 
with  them  to  guarantee. 

The  project  for  participation  in  a  Peace 
League  evoked  vehement  opposition  in  Con- 
gress and  without.  There  was  much  talk,  some 
of  it  from  authoritative  quarters,  about  the 
folly  of  abandoning  the  old  policy  of  avoidance 
of  entangling  alliances.  That,  of  course, 
reflected  the  Western  and  popular  view,  and 
its  insistence  indicated  that  the  President 
would  have  a  long  fight  to  get  his  aspirations 
translated  into  national  policy.  Opposition  in 
more  stalwart  and  educated  circles  came 
from  another  angle.  What,  asked  people  like 
Mr.  Roosevelt  and  Mr.  Root,  was  the  use  of  the 
President  proclaiming  his  readiness  to  share  in 
the  police  responsibilities  of  the  world  when  he 


GENERAL    LEONARD    WOOD, 

Before  the  War,  Chief  of  Staff  of  the  U.S. 

Army. 

had  not  even  had  the  foresight  to  provide  an 
army  capable  of  policing  Mexico. 

Such   criticism   was   partly   factious,    partly 
factitious  and  largely  ignorant.     Next  to   the 
growth   of   the   Peace   League   idea   the   most 
notable  domestic  product  of  the  anxious  period 
between  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania  and  the 
challenge  thereby  given  by  a  European  Power 
to   the  rights  of  the  United   States,   and   the 
logical  result  of  the  President's  treatment  of 
that  and  subsequent  incidents  nearly  two  years 
later,  was  the  growth  of  the  "  preparedness  " 
movement,  as  the  agitation  for  military  effi- 
ciency was  called.     The  first  sign  of  this  growth 
was   the  creation  by  General   Leonard  Wood, 
the  Lord  Roberts  of  the  American  movement 
for  universal  service,  in  the  summer  of  1915,  of 
camps  in  New  York  State  at  which  Americans 
of  the  upper  and  middle  classes  could  obtain 
from  officers  of  the  regular  army,  and  by  working 
with   real   soldiers,   some   preliminary   training 
as  officers.     In  the  summer  of  1916  these  camps 
were  extended  to  the  West  and  Middle  West, 
where  they  also  met  with  great  success.     Their 
extension  was  accompanied  by  the  formation  of 
various    bodies,    like    the    American    Security 
League,  dedicated  to  the  popularization  of  the 
idea,  which    was    supported    with    remarkable 
alacrity   by   representative   commercial    bodies 
like  the  United  States  Chamber  of  Commerce. 


896 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


Partly  because  lie  feared  that  his  Republican 
opponents  might  make  capital  out  of  the  move- 
ment in  the  campaign  of  that  year,  the  President 
slough  ;d  off  during  1916  his  original  Libera' 
prejudices  against  military  training  and  arma- 
ments. Besides  making  speeches  in  the 
interests  of  preparedness,  he  facilitated  by  his 
support  the  passage  of  a  Navy  law  with  a 
building  programme  calculated  to  give  the 
United  States,  now  the  fourth  naval  power  in 
the  world,  the  second  place  in  the  list  in  three 
years,  and  providing  for  the  building  of  swift 
battle  cruisers,  of  which  the  fleet  as  yet  had  none, 
and  a  large  fleet  of  submarines,  with  which  it 
was  inadequately  supplied.  Finally,  just  after 
the  rupture  with  Germany,  he  allowed  his 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  send  to  Congress  the 
draft  of  a  Bill  providing  for  a  year's  service  for 
all  boys  at  the  age  of  19. 

True,  the  whole  movement,  like  the  naval 
and  other  preparations  which  followed  the 
departure  of  Count  Bernstorff,  was  conceived 
in  a  defensive  spirit ;  but  studied  in  the  light 
of  the  President's  advocacy  of  the  Peace  League 
idea  and  the  growing  popular  conviction  that 
things  like  the  tremendous  rise  in  commodity 
prices  caused  by  the  war,  like  the  tie-up  of 
American  shipping  by  the  German  submarine 
blockade  in  February  and  March,  1917,  and 


even  the  inconveniences  of  our  more  humane 
blockade  did  prove  that  the  United  States 
could  not,  after  all,  for  ever  continue  to  turn 
the  wrong  end  of  the  telescope  upon  Europe, 
it  assumed  an  immense  significance.  Like 
ourselves,  the  Americans  are  not  an  easy  race 
to  move.  In  their  own  vernacular,  they  "  re- 
quire to  be  shown."  But  once  they  are 
"  shown,"  it  is  not  in  their  nature  to  hang  back 
in  the  tackling  of  new  problems.  The  impor- 
tance of  the  opening  years  of  the  war  was  that 
they  demonstrated  the  futility  of  an  ostrich- 
like  policy  towards  international  law-breakers 
of  the  Teutonic  type.  They  showed  Americans 
that,  in  these  days  of  swift  communication  and 
cosmopolitan  trade  and  finance,  policies  that 
answered  perfectly  in  the  days  of  George 
Washington  and  Alexander  Hamilton,  and  are 
still  workable  in  peaceful  times,  become  but 
snares  and  delusions  during  war.  They  showed 
that,  if  the  Great  Republic  was  to  hold  the 
high  place  she  claimed  in  the  moral  judgment 
of  mankind,  she  must  quit  the  calm  pursuit  of 
a  fugitive  and  cloistered  virtue  for  the  strenuous 
vindication  of  Justice  and  of  Liberty,  joining 
the  great  hosts  who  daily  fought  and  died  for 
the  ideals  she  cherished,  and,  with  them, 
sealing  her  testimony  to  righteousness  in 
sacrifice,  in  anguish,  and  in  blood. 


CHAPTER    CLXXVIII. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  SOMME  (VI 


POSITION  AT  END  OF  SEPTEMBER,  1916 — -OPERATIONS  DURING  OCTOBER — THE  OFFENSIVE  OF 
OCTOBER  7 — SIR  DOUGLAS  HAIG'S  DISPATCH — COMBINED  FRANCO-BRITISH  OPERATIONS  —CAPTURE 
OP  SAILLY— BAD  WEATHER — NOVEMBER  OFFENSIVE — BATTLE  OF  THE  ANCRE— CAPTURE  OF 
BEAUMONT  HAMEL — LAST  PHASE  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  SOMME — REASONS  OF  THE  ALLIED  SUCCESS 
— THE  NEW  CONDITIONS  OF  WARFARE — -THE  GERMAN  DEFEAT. 


FROM  the  line  held  by  the  British  on 
September  30,  1916,  the  ground  sloped 
gently  downwards  to  a  shallow  valley 
which  ran  north-westward  from  near 
Sailly-Saillisel — the  immediate  objective  of 
the  French  from  Morval  and  Rancourt — past 
Le  Transloy  and  Ligny-Thilloy,  then  westward 
south  of  Irles,  where  it  narrowed  into  com- 
paratively abrupt  slopes  ;  at  Miraumont  it 
joined  the  valley  of  the  Ancre.  From  the 
Thiepval-Morval  ridge  a  series  of  long  well- 
marked  spurs  ran  down  into  the  first-named 
shallow  depression.  The  most  important  of 
these  was  the  hammer-headed  one  immediately 
west  of  Flers.  At  the  end  of  it,  just  oast  of 
the  Albert-Bapaume  road  and  north-east  of 
Le  Sars  was  the  ancient  tumulus,  some  50  feet 
high,  known  as  the  Butte  de  Warlencourt. 
Another  spur  ran  from  Morval  north-north- 
westwards towards  Ligny  and  Thilloy,  villages 
north-east  of  the  Butte  .de  Warlencourt 
forming  the  southern  slope  of  the  depres- 
sion just  described,  and  on  it  lay  the  German 
fourth  position.  To  get  within  assaulting 
distance  of  this  it  was  necessary  to  carry  Le 
Sars  and  the  two  spurs,  which  were  held  in 
strength,  every  advantage  having  been  taken 
of  sunken  roads,  buildings,  and  the  undulating 
nature  of  the  country.  Le  Sars  itself  was 
strongly  fortified  ;  to  its  east  was  an  agglomera- 
tion of  trenches  round  Eancourt  1'Abbaye ; 
and  to  its  north-west  the  ground  to  Pys  and 
Miraumont  contained  numerous  artificial 
Vol.  XL— Part  141  397 


obstacles.  At  Petit  Miraumont,  on  the  south 
bank  of  the  Ancre,  began  the  Regina  trench, 
which  ran  from  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Stuff 
Redoubt  nearly  to  Le  Sars.  Destremont  Farm 
was  already  in  our  hands.  But  before  Bapaume 
could  be  reached  this  further  formidable 
barrier  had  to  be  overcome. 

During  the  night  of  September  30-October  1 
the  French  were  bombing  south-east  of  Morval 
and  along  the  banks  of  the  Somme  towards 
Peronne.  At  the  other  end  of  the  battlefield, 
north  of  the  river,  the  enemy  was  dislodged  by 
Sir  Hubert  Gough's  troops  from  ground  near 
the  Stuff  Redoubt  and  wo  increased  our  gains 
at  Schwaben  Redoubt,  only  a  minute  fragment 
of  which  remained  imtaken. 

Between  Neuve  Chapelle  and  Ypres  no  less 
than  sixteen  raids  wore  successfully  carried 
out,  and  a  number  of  prisoners  taken,  and  some 
progress  was  made  in  the  area  to  be  attacked 
the  next  day. 

It  was  on  Sunday,  October  1,  in  rainy 
weather,  while  the  French  were  moving  out  of 
Morval  and  Rancourt  and  capturing  trenches 
in  the  direction  of  Sailly-Saillisel,  and  our  guns 
were  bombarding  Le  Transloy,  that  the 
Canadians  from  the  Courcelette  region  attacked 
the  Regina  trench  and  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson's 
troops  advanced  on  a  front  of  some  3,000  yards 
from  the  Albert-Bapaume  road,  north-east  of 
Destremont  Farm,  to  a  point  east  of  Eaucourt 
1'Abbaye.  The  1st  and  2nd  Marine  Regiment? 
of  the  2nd  German  Division  had  been  brought 


898 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


[Official  phutograpk. 

THE    BUTTE    DE    WARLENCOURT. 
In  the  foreground  a  light  railway  for  transporting  ammunition  and  supplies. 


clown  from  the  Belgian  coast,  so  hard  put  to  it 
were  the  German  leaders  owing  to  the  terrible 
losses  which  their  troops  had  sustained  in  the 
Battle  of  the  Somme.  They  replaced  the  26th 
Regiment  of  the  7th  (Magdeburg)  Division  in 
the  Regina  trench.  From  the  Lille  district  the 
17th  Regiment  of  the  6th  (Bavarian)  Division 
had  also  been  summoned  to  help  defend  the 
Bapaume  region.  After  the  customary  intensive 
bombardment  the  attacks  were  delivered  at 
3.30  p.m.  The  sailors  fought  stubbornly,  but 
the  Canadians  pushed  up  a  German  trench 
running  north-westward  nearly  to  its  junction 
with  the  Regina  trench,  which  itself  was 
entered  in  several  places.  Fighting  there  went 
on  well  into  the  night,  attack  and  counter- 
attack succeeding  one  another.  The  Canadians 
succeeded  in  establishing  themselves  at  a  point 
1,200  yards  north  of  Courcelette  in  the  direction 
of  the  Hessian  trench  but  were  ejected  from  a 
section  of  the  Regina  trench.  This  operation 
was  in  the  nature  of  a  demonstration  to  protect 
the  troops  moving  on  Le  Sars  and  Eaucourt 
1'Abbaye  from  being  attacked  in  flank  ;  the 
serious  business  of  the  day  consisted  in  the 
drive  to  be  undertaken  towards  Bapaume. 

The  foremost  line  of  trenches  between  Sir 
Henry  Rawliiison's  men  and  Le  Sars  and  the 
ruined  abbey  was  of  old  construction.  It  had 
been  made  before  July  1,  at  a  date  when  the 
whole  system  of  defence  of  the  region  had  been 
planned.  A  second  trench,  50  yards  or  so  behind 


the  first,  was  of  more  recent  construction. 
Both  trenches  were  well-wired  and  furnished 
with  dug-outs.  A  mill  east  of  Le  Sars  and  west 
of  the  abbey  had  been  fortified.  The  chapel  and 
the  deep  crypts  and  cellars  of  the  monastery 
were  alive  with  machine-gunners,  and  garrisoned 
by  the  17th  (Bavarian)  Regiment.  At  3.30  p.m. 
our  men  went  over  the  parapets.  In  five 
minutes  they  had  seized  the  first  trench  before 
Le  Sars.  The  barrage  lifted  and,  following  in 
its  wake,  the  British  charged  for  the  second 
entrenchment.  Weakly  defended,  it  was 
speedily  taken,  and  patrols  pushed  forward 
into  and  beyond  Le  Sars.  For  a  moment  it 
looked  as  if  the  village  would  be  carried  with 
little  loss,  but  as  the  evening  drew  on  German 
reinforcements  poured  into  it  down  the 
Bapaume-Albert  road  and  the  operation  of 
reducing  Le  Sars  had  to  be  postponed. 

Simultaneously  with'  the  movement  on 
Le  Sars,  infantry  had  advanced  from  the 
north-east  and  south-east  on  Eaucourt 
1'Abbaye.  Tha.  Abbsy  was  protected  on  the 
north-east  by  two  lines  of  trenches,  of  which 
the  outer  one  was  known  as  Goose  Alley. 
Neither  offered  any  serious  resistance,  and  by 
nightfall  our  men  had  established  themselves  on 
a  line  which  ran  from  the  northern  end  of  the 
buildings  due  east  and  west,  connecting  with 
our  positions  to  the  north-west  of  Factory 
Corner,  parallel  with  the  German  trench  from 
the  Butte  de  Warlencourt  to  the  outskirts  of 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


399 


Gueudecourt.  They  even  captured  and  hold 
positions  farther  to  the  north  on  the  country 
road  to  Le  Barque  and  west  of  it.  On  this,  the 
right  of  the  attack,  the  gain  was  from  1 ,200  to 
1,500  yards. 

The  assault  on  the  trenches  south  of  the 
Abbey  was  less  successful.  It  was  held  up  by 
barbed  wire  and  machine-guns.  Two  Tanks, 
however,  arrived  on  the  scene.  One  of  them 
stuck  in  the  mud  and  became  a  stationary 
fortress.  The  crew  left  her  later,  and  the 
Commander  was  wounded.  Two  of  the  crew 
remained  with  him  in  a  crater  and  stayed  there 
for  a  couple  of  days.  The  other  Tank  tore 
through  the  entanglements  and  went  along  the 
borders  of  the  trenches,  crushing  or  shooting 
down  all  who  came  in  its  way.  Our  troops,  with 
the  aid  of  the  Tanks,  were  soon  ensconced  in 
the  southern  outskirts  of  the  Abbey,  where  they 
remained,  though  drenched  to  the  skin.  They 
were  now  violently  attacked  from  the  direction 
of  Warlencourt.  Throughout  the  night  the 
•struggle  went  on,  and  by  the  morning  of 
October  2  the  Abbey  was  finally  cleared  out. 

While  these  events  were  proceeding,  cavalry 
patrols  pressed  on  towards  Pys  and  Warlen- 
court. They  reported  on  their  return  that  they 


had  reached  "  fresh  fields,  gnsen  trees,  and 
untouched  villages  "  behind  the  enemy's  linos. 
They  had  ridden  over  some  empty  trenches  and 
had  found  open  country  between  the  Cource- 
lette-Warlencourt  road  and  Pys.  "  It  is  a  very 
cheering  thing,"  said  an  officer,  "  to  find  that 
you  have  got  past  the  great  network  of  trenches. 
Even  the  horses  want  to  go  on  when  they  feel 
that  once  more  they  have  firm  ground  under- 
foot." 

On  Monday,  October  2,  the  enemy  counter- 
attacked with  great  violence  and  succeeded 
in  recovering  Eaucourt  1'Abbaye.  We,  in  our 
turn,  improved  our  positions  north  and  east 
of  Courcelette  and  south-west  of  Gueude- 
court. The  French,  in  the  night  of  October 
1-2,  had  carried  a  trench  east  of  Bouchavesnes 
and  taken  some  prisoners.  During  October  2, 
they  made  further  progress  in  this  direction, 
and  south  of  the  Somme  repulsed  a  German 
attack  between  Vermandovillers  and  Chaulnes. 
In  the  night  of  October  2-3,  their  barrages 
and  machine-gun  fire  drove  back  German 
columns  attempting  to  debouch"  from  the 
Wood  of  St.  Pierre  Vaast. 

On  the  Sunday  and  Monday  President 
Poincare  and  the  French  Minister  of  War, 


A    WASH    IN    A    SOMME    SWAMP. 


filial  phalogiafli. 

141—2 


400 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


General  Roques,  visited  the  Allied  battle- 
front.  On  this  occasion  the  President  deco- 
rated Sir  Hubert  Gough  with  the  insignia  of 
Grand  Officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honour. 

Rain  had  now  been  falling  for  two  days,  and 
the  operations  were  almost  brought  to  a  stand- 
still. Fighting  for  Eaucourt  1'Abbaye,  how- 
ever, continued,  and  by  the  evening  of  October  3 
it  finally  passed  into  our  hands.  The  same 
day  the  French  drew  nearer  to  Sailly-Saillisel, 
capturing  an  important  trench  north  of  Ran- 
coiirt,  and  took  120  prisoners,  including  three 
officers. 

On  Wednesday,  October  4,  in  heavy  rain, 
the  Germans  attempted  a  bombing  attack 
between  Eaucourt  1'Abbaye  and  Gueudecourt. 
It  was  driven  off,  the  enemy  abandoning  his 
wounded.  The  French  completed  the  capture 
of  the  powerful  lines  of  German  trenches 
between  Morval  and  the  Wood  of  St.  Pierre 
Vaas^  They  captured  200  prisoners,  includ- 
ing 10  officers.  At  8  a.m.  three  companies 
had  bombed  the  enemy  out  of  the  Brunswick 
Trench,  and  one  company  had  rushed  over  the 
double  line  of  trenches  west  of  the  Morval- 
Fregicourt  track.  Nine  88  mm.  guns  had  thus 


been  s'ecured.  The  way  to  the  northern  end 
of  the  St.  Pierre  Vaast  woods,  which  covered 
nearly  two  miles  of  country,  and  acted  as  a 
centre  from  which  German  attacks  radiated, 
was  now  open,  and  the  western  face  of  the 
woods  could  be  assaulted  from  Rancourt. 
South  of  the  Somme  the  Germans  violently 
bombarded  the  French  works  in  the  region 
of  Belloy-en-Santerre,  and  there  was  can- 
nonading near  Assevillers.  The  next  day  the 
enemy's  artillery  was  particularly  active  south 
of  the  Somme,  chiefly  in  the  Barleux-Belloy- 
Deniecourt  sector  and  about  Quesnoy,  which 
lay  north-west  of  Roye  The  French,  in  the 
course  of  the  day,  repulsed  a  counter-attack  on 
the  trenches  captured  north  of  Fregicourt, 
and  we  repulsed  two  enemy  attacks  in  the 
Thiepval  area.  North  of  the  Schwaben  Redoubt 
our  guns  caught  bodies  of  Germans  on  the 
move  and  inflicted  heavy  losses  on  them.  The 
rain  had  now  ceased,  but  the  ground  was  so 
soft  and  muddy  that  operations  on  a  large 
scale  were  impossible. 

Friday,  October  6,  the  day  before  another 
forward  move  on  the  part  of  the  Allies,  passed 
in  comparative  quietude,  but  we  captured  the 


ARTILLERY    OFFICER    DIRECTING    GUN-FIRE    BY    MEANS    OF    DATA  ^RECEIVED 

BY    WIRELESS    TELEGRAPH. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


401 


A    GERMAN    HOWITZER    LEFT    BEHIND. 


[Official 


mill  between  Le  Sars  and  Eaucourt  1'Abbaye. 
During  the  previous  night  we  had.  advanced 
north-east  of  the  Abbey.  East  of  Loos,  where 
three  raids  were  carried  out,  and  east  of  Armen- 
tieres,  the  British  discharged  gas.  This  dia- 
bolical invention  of  the  enemy  had  reacted  on 
him.  It  enabled  the  Allies  with  little  effort 
to  keep  the  Germans  on  the  alert  at  almost 
any  point  of  their  long  line  of  battle  and  so 
to  disturb  their  calculations.  Not  having  the 
command  of  the  air,  they  could  never  be 
certain  that  a  gas  discharge  would  not  be 
followed  by  an  attack  of  infantry  which  had 
been  secretly  concentrated  beliiud  the  cylinders. 

The  French  on  the  6th  advanced  slightly 
eas'j  of  Bouchavesnes.  Otherwise  there  was 
little  to  report  from  the  Somrne  front.  It 
was  the  lull  before  another  determined  advance 
by  the  Allies. 

During  this  period  our  aeroplanes  patrolled 
far  behind  the  German  lines,  fought  aerial 
duels,  swooped  down  on  trains  and  attacked 
German  depots  and  troops.  The  following 
incidents  extracted  from  reports  of  the  Royal 
Flying  Corps  are  illuminating  : 

October  1. — On  the  evening  of  September  30  one  of 
our  patrols  encountered  miny  hostile  machines.  A 
formation  of  seven  Rolands  near  Bapaume  was  dis- 
persed, two  of  them  being  driven  down  out  of  control. 

On  October  1  Captain  "  A  "  drove  down  two  patrolling 
machines  out  of  control  near  Gommecourt.  He  after- 
wards waited  and  attacked  three  hostile  machines 


which  came  up  from  a  neighbouring  aerodrome.  He 
forced  one  to  land  and  dispersed  the  remainder. 

Lieutenant  "  B  "  and  Lieutenant  "  C,"  when  taking 
photographs,  were  attacked  by  seven  Rolands.  The 
attack  was  driven  off  with  the  assistance  of  two  of  our 
patrolling  machines,  who  joined  the  fight.  One  of  the 
Rolands  fell  in  a  nose  dive  and  was  seen  to  plunge  to 
earth. 

October  10. — Lieutenant  "  D  "  and  Lieutenant  "  E  " 
had  six  encounters  between  7  a.m.  and  8.45  a.m.  while 
on-artillery  patrol.  In  an  encounter  with  three  L.V.G.'s 
one  German  machine  dived  emitting  clouds  of  smoke, 
having  been  engaged  at  20  yards  range.  The  remaining 
machines  declined  close  combat. 

Second  Lieutenant  "  F,"  in  the  course  of  an  encounter 
with  several  hostile  machines,  had  all  the  controls  of  his 
machine,  with  the  exception  of  tho  rudder,  shot  away. 
His  machine  turned  a  somersault  and  was  wrecked  ;  the 
pilot  was -unhurt. 

A  highly  successful  bombing  raid  was  carried  out 
against  railway  trains  and  stations  at  Queant.  Cambrai. 
and  Bapaumo  at  about  1 1  p.m.  on  the  night  of  tho 
10th  inst.  A  train  entering  Cambrai  was  attacked  and 
wrecked,  a  bomb  being  observed  to  hit  the  first  carriage 
behind  the  engine.  The  second  bomb  hit  tho  station 
buildings,  whereupon  all  the  lights  were  extinguished. 

Second  Lieutenant  "  G  "  fired  a  drum  of  ammunition 
from  1,400  feet  at  a  closed  touring  car.  The  car 
immediately  stopped  and  three  people  got  out  of  it 
and  ran  away. 

On  Saturday,  October  7,  it  was  decided  that 
Sir  Henry  Rawlinson's'Army  should  move  still 
farther  forward  between  Destremont  Farm  and 
Losboeufs,  and  that  General  Fayolle's  left  wing 
should  advance  from  Morval  through  Rancourt 
to  Bouchavesnes  on  Sailly-Saillisel.  Le  Bars, 
the  last  considerable  village  on  the  Albert  - 
Bapaume  Road,  was  to  be  stormed,  the  British 
salient  between  Destremont  Farm  and  Lesboeufs 


402 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


rendered  less  pronounced,  while  the  ridges  on 
the  road  from  Lesboeufs  to  Le  Transloy,  and 
the  approaches  to  Sailly-Saillisel  astride  the 
Peronne-Bapaume  road,  were  to  be  gained. 
Le  Sara  was  held  by  the  4th  Ersatz  and  the 


[Caiadiat  official  photograph. 

A    BURSTING    SHRAPNEL    SHELL. 

ground  behind  Eaucourt  1'Abbaye  by  the  6th 
(Bavarian)  Divisions.  So  uncertain  did  the 
German  commanders  consider  the  outcome  of 
another  struggle  with  the  victorious  British 
that  these  two  Divisions  were  deployed  on  a 
front  of  less  than  3,000  yards.  The  succession 
of  blows  delivered  by  the  Allies  since  July  1 
had  forced  the  enemy  to  resort  to  massed 
defence  as  well  as  massed  attack. 

The  offensive  had  been  fixed  for  a  little  before 
2  p.m.  Though  the  rain  had  ceased  and  the 
weather  was  comparatively  fine,  the  ground  in 
places  resembled  a  morass  and  the  craters  were 


mostly  filled  to  the  brim  with  water.  During 
the  night  the  Germans  had  delivered  an  un- 
successful bombing  attack  north-east  of  Eau- 
court 1'Abbaye.  The  British  advance  was 
preceded  by  the  customary  violent  bombard- 
ment which  churned  up  the  ruins  of  Le  Sars 
and  knocked  the  Butte  de  Warlencourt  behind 
it  into  a  shapeless  mass.  When  the  guns  lifted 
the  Canadians  from  the  Courcelette-Destremont 
Farm  line  again  attacked  the  points  in  the 
Regina  trench  not  yet  held  by  xis  and  the 
quadrilateral  formed  by  the  junction  of  the 
Below  and  Gallwita  double  line  of  trenches 
between  Pys  and  Le  Sars.  The  village  of  Le 
Sars  itself  was  assaulted  on  two  sides,  from 
Destremont  Farm  and  from  Eaucourt  1'Abbaye, 
which  with  its  mill  house  had  formerly  been  a 
strong  German  position.  Le  Sars  consisted  of 
a  street  of  wrecked  houses,  crossed  midway  by 
the  sunken  road  connecting  it  with  Eaucourt 
1'Abbaye.  A  redoubt,  the  Tangle — walled  and 
cemented — blocked  the  approach  to  Le  Sars  on 
the  east  ;  1,200  yards  north-west  of  the  village 
were  a  strongly  fortified  quarry  and  chalk-pit. 

The  ground  between  Le  Sars  and  the  Abbey 
dipped  into  a  hollow  or  gully  running  northward 
almost  up  to  the  Butte  de  Warlencourt.  This 
gully  was  swept  by  machine-guns  from  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  tumulus.  In  craters 
before  and  on  the  flanks  of  the  village  were 
German  snipers,  who  held  their  ground  despite 
the  fact  that  some  of  them  were  up  to  their 
armpits  in  water.  The  whole  area  swarmed 
with  ^hostile  machine-gunners,  riflemen  and 
bombers.  But  to  the  troops  who  ha.d  stormed 
the  Thiepval-Morval  ridge  the  obstacles  in  the 
low-lying  ground  before  Bapaume  appeared 
almost  insignificant.  At  two  in  the  afternoon 
the  British  infantry  went  over  the  parapets 
and,  undeterred  by  bullets,  bombs,  shells,  and 
the  huge  projectiles  lobbed  at  them  by  inineii- 
wp.rf"r,  advanced  up  the  Albert-Bapaume  road 
and  to  the  left  and  right  of  it  on  the  village  and 
the  strong  points  in  its  vicinity.  At  the  first 
rush  our  men  reached  the  sunken  road,  and 
waited  till  our  guns  had  operated  on  the  houses 
beyond  it.  The  barrage  again  lifted  and  then, 
with  grim  determination,  the  British,  supported 
by  those  attacking  from  Eaucourt  1'Abbaye 
and  its  mill,  burst  through  the  village  and  dug 
themselves  in  500  yards  or  so  nearer  Bapaume 
across  the  highway.  "  The  British,"  said  a 
captured  sergeant  of  the  German  361st  Regi- 
ment, "  fought  like  tigers." 

Meanwhile  a  desperate  struggle  had  gone  on 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


403 


between  Le  Sars  and  Eaucourt  1'Abbaye.  The 
machine-gunners  in  the  Tangle  mowed  down 
our  infantry,  the  survivors  of  which  were  forced 
to  fling  themselves  face  downwards  on  the 
muddy  soil.  Once  more  the  Tanks  justified 
their  inventors.  One  of  these  huge  machines 
made  its  appearance  and  splashed  its  way  up 
to  the  redoubt.  In  vain  the  Germans  flung 
bombs  at  it.  From  each  flank  its  guns  fired  into 
the  Tangle,  which  was  speedily  carried.  Only  in 
the  hollow  leading  to  the  Butte  de  Warlencourt 
were  the  Bavarians  able  to  resist  the  British 
onset.  When,  night  fell  the  enemy  there  were 
maintaining  a  precarious  hold  on  this  narrow 
salient.  The  quarry  and  chalk-pit  north-west 
of  Le  Sars  were  gained  the  next  morning  and 
counter-attacks  of  the  Germans  during  the 
night  of  the  7th  and  at  5  a.m.  on  the  8th  on  the 
Schwaben  Redoubt  above  Thiepval  were 
heavily  repulsed.  The  troops  employed  by 
the  enemy  were  drawn  from  the  110th  and 
lllth  Regiments. 

Thus  the  operations  on  the  7th  between  the 
Schwaben  Redoubt  and  Le  Sars  had  been 
brilliantly  successful.  East  of  the  Butte  de 


Warlencourt  we  had  pushed  forward  on  Le 
Barque  and  Ligny-Thilloy ;  to  the  right  of 
Gueudecourt  we  had  penetrated  the  enemy's 
trenches  to  a  depth  of  2,000  yards  ;  and  north- 
east of  Lesboeufs  we  had  gained  a  footing  on 
the  crest  of  the  long  spur  which  screened  the 
defences  of  Le  Transloy.  Nearly  1 ,000  prisoners 
had  been  captured  iu  the  fighting  and  the 
enemy's  losses  in  killed  and  wounded  had 'been 
very  heavy.  Unfortunately  rain  fell  on  the 
evening  of  the  7th  and  prevented  us  from 
pursuing  our  onward  progress. 

Simultaneously  with  the  advance  of  Sir 
Henry  Rawlinson's  infantry  the  French,  after 
a  devastating  bombardment,  moved  on  Sailly- 
Saillisel  from  the  west  and  south.  They  had 
in  front  of  them  the  Karlsbad,  Teplitz  and 
Berlin  trenches  and  the  well-organized  fringe 
of  the  eastern  end  of  the  St.  Pierre  Vaast 
Woods.  Beyond  these  trenches  the  enemy 
had  constructed  a  very  strong  fortress  on  the 
western  edge  of  Sailly-Saillisel  Chateau,  and 
close  to  the  Peronne-Bapaume  road  was  a 
redoubt  known  as  "  The  Bluff  "  which  had  to 
be  taken.  At  2  p.m.  the  French  left  their 


[Official  photograph. 


PRISONERS    FROM    THE    LESBOEUFS    DISTRICT. 
A  Tank  is  seen  in  the  distance. 


404 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


trenches.  A  company  recruited  from  the 
Parisian  districts  of  the  Temple  and  Belle- 
ville, and  known  as  the  "  Belleville  Boys,"  had 
I..-.-M  deputed  to  storm  "The  Bluff."  They 
3rossed  300  yards  of  destroyed  trenches  and 
shelters  and  came  under  machine-gun  fire. 
The  moment  for  assaulting  "  The  Bluff  "  had 
come.  A  non-commissioned  officer  described 
what  followed  : 

The  Lieutenant  called  me,  saying :  "  Now  is  the 
time  for  us  to  use  our  wits.  Take  your  section  to  turn 
the  Bluff.  Crawl  within  20  yards  of  the  first  trench,  and 
.i>  soon  as  you  are  ready  to  attack  I  will  fall  upon  the 
Bochos  with  the  remainder  of  the  company."  So  I, 
with  40  men,  made  for  the  spot  selected,  going  forward 
by  six-foot  bounds  and,  thanks  to  the  craters,  only 
lo-ting  two  comrades.  Then  I  gave  the  agreed  signal  and 
we  leapt  into  the  trench.  A  fierce  fusillade  on  my 
right  told  me  that  the  Lieutenant  also  was  busy.  I 
wi>h  you  could  have  seen  my  little  "  Belleville  Boys  " 
bayoneting  the-  Boches.  Then  they  rushed  on  to  help 
their  comrades,  who  were  engaged  in  a  hot  struggle  with 
a  Silesian  battalion.  They  were  fighting  like  lions, 
blowing  a  path  through  the  enemy's  ranks  with  grenades. 
At  10  minutes  past  3  Sailly  Bluff  was  ours  and  the  blue 
and  white  colours  of  the  "  Belleville  Boys  "  were  flutter- 
ing joyfully  on  the  summit. 

Elsewhere  the  Germans,  taken  by  surprise, 
offered  little  resistance,  and  soon  after  3  p.m. 
the  French  had  reached  all  their  objectives. 
They  were  within  a  couple  of  hundred  yards  of 
the  twin  villages. 


Fearing  that  Sailly-Saillisel  would  be  at 
once  attacked,  the  German  commanders 
packed  into  automobiles  of  every  description 
troops  hastily  withdrawn  from  other  parts  of 
their  line  and  sent  them  post  haste  to  the 
north  of  the  village.  Their  presence  was  at 
once  reported  by  observers  in  aeroplanes,  and 
the  French  heavy  guns  discharged  on  them  a 
hurricane  of  shells  with  great  effect.  By 
nightfall  the  troops  of  Genera!  Fayolle  had 
carried  their  line  forward  over  1,300  yards 
north-east  of  Morval  ;  they  crowned  the 
western  slopes  of  the  Sailly-Saillisel  ridge, 
and,  as  mentioned,  were  on  the  Peronne- 
Bapaume  road  within  200  yards  of  the  southern 
entrance  of  Sailly.  East  of  the  road  they 
were  tnsconced  in  the  western  and  south- 
western fringes  of  the  St.  Pierre  Vaast  Wood. 
Over  400  prisoners,  including  10  officers,  with 
15  machine-guns,  had  been  captured. 

The  next  day'(Sunday,  October  8)  the  German 
reinforcements  sent  to  support  the  garrison  of 
Sailly-Saillisel  were  flung  against  the  French 
positions  in  front  of  Morval.  Wave  after  wave 
advanced  to  the  attack,  only  to  bo  shattered 
by  the  rafales  from  the  "  75 "  guns.  Not 
a  single  living  German  reached  the  French 


[Official  phat^grapK. 

WOUNDEn    GERMAN     PRISONERS    AT    A    BRITISH    DRESSING    STATION 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


405 


[French  official  photograph. 

A    GERMAN     SNIPER'S    POST    OCCUPIED    BY    A    FRENCH    MARKSMAN. 


trenches.  Meanwhile  the  aerial  squadrons  of. 
our  Allies  were  particularly  active.  They 
bombed  the  Bois  des  Vaux,  due  east  of  the 
Bois  St.  Pierre  Vaast  and  the  village  of  Mois- 
lains  to  the  south  of  it. 

On  .the  British  front,  besides  the  fighting 
round  the  Schwaben  Redoubt  already  referred 
to,  there  was  an  engagement  north  of  the 
Courcelette-Warlencourt  road  where  we  gained 
ground,  and  we  also  advanced  south-west  of 
Gueudeeourt.  North  of  the  Ancre-Somme 
battlefield  Irish,  Midland,  and  Yorkshire 
troops  had  during  the  night  executed  successful 
raids  in  the  Loos,  Givenchy  and  Fauquissart 
(north  of  Neuve  Chapelle)  areas.  Against  these 
achievements  the  Germans  could  only  set  the 
recovery  on  the  evening  of  the  8th  of  a 
small  portion  of  their  lost  trenches  north 
of  Lesboeufs. 

On  Monday,  October  9,  in  somewhat  drier 
weather,  while  raids  were  being  carried  out  in 
the  regions  of  Loos  and  fifeuville  St.  Vaast, 
we  successfully  discharged  gas  at  different 
points  north  of  the  Ancre,  and  our  patrols 
were  able  to  enter  the  enemy  trenches  and  secure 
prisoners.  During  the  night  our  troops  had 
progressed  east  of  Le  Sars  in  the  direction  of 
the  Butte  de  Warlencourt,  and  in  the  course 
of  the  afternoon  of  the  9th  we  attacked  1,000 


yards  east  of  the  Schwaben  and  north  of  the 
Stuff  Redoubt.  Round  "The  Mound,"  a 
redoubt  on  the  edge  of  the  ridge  descending 
towards  the  Ancre  Valley,  there  were  some 
fierce  encounters,  ending  in  our  taking  200 
prisoners,  including  six  officers.  In  the  Le 
Transloy  region  our  artillery  dispersed  a  party 
of  the  enemy  which  had  ventured  into  the 
open.  The  French  the  same  day  repulsed  an 
enemy  attack  starting  from  a  salient  of  the 
St.  Pierre  Vaast  Wood  to  the  east  of  Rancourt, 
and  shortly  afterwards  a  reconnaissance  de- 
bouching from  a  small  wood  to  the  north-east 
of  Bouchavesnes  was  dispersed  by  machine- 
gun  fire. 

At  this  point  it  will  be  well  to  consider  the 
tactical  situation  between  the  Ancre  and  the 
Somme  created  by  the  series  of  victories  gained 
by  the  Allies  since  July  1.  It  was  well  ex- 
plained in  Sir  Douglas  Haig's  dispatch  of 
December  23  as  follows  : 

With  the  exception  of  his  positions  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Sailly-SailliseJ,  and  his  scanty  foothold  on  the 
northern  crest  of  the  high  ground  above  Thiepval,  the 
enemy  had  now  been  driven  from  the  whole  of  the  ridg3 
lying  between  the  Tortille  and  the  Ancre. 

Possession  of  the  north-western  portion  of  the  ridge 
north  of  the  latter  village  carried  with  it  observation 
over  the  valley  of  the  Ancre  between  Miraumont  and 
Hamel  and  the  spurs  and  valleys  held  by  the  enemy  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  river.  The  Germans,  therefore, 
made  desperate  efforts  to  cling  to  their  last  remaining 


40(5 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


FRENCH  CATERPILLAR  TRACTORS. 


[French  official  photograph. 


trenches  in  this  area,  and  in  the  course  of  the  three 
weeks  following  our  advance  made  repeated  eounter- 
attacks  at  heavy  cost  in  the  vain  hope  of  recovering 
the  ground  they  had  lost.  During  this  period  our 
gains  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Stuff  and  Schwaben 
Redoubts  were  gradually  increased  and  secured  in  readi- 
ness for  future  operations  ;  and  I  was  quite  confident 
of  the  ability  of  our  troops,  not  only  to  repulse  the 
enemy's  attacks,  but  to  clear  him  entirely  from  his 
last  positions  on  the  ridge  whenever  it  should  suit  my 
plans  to  do  so.  I  was,  therefore,  well  content  with  the 
situation  on  this  flank. 

Along  the  centre  of  our  line  from  Gueudecourt  to  the 
west  of  Le  Sars  similar  considerations  applied.  As  we 
were  already  well  down  the  forward  slopes  of  the  ridge 
on  this  front,  it  was  for  the  time  being  inadvisable  to 
make  any  serious  advance.  Pending  developments 
elsewhere  all  that  was  necessary  or  indeed  desirable  was 
to  carry  on  local  operations  to  improve  our  positions  and 
to  keep  the  enemy  fully  employed. 

On  our  eastern  flank,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  im- 
portant to  gain  ground.  Here  the  enemy  still  possessed 
a  strong  system  of  trenches  covering  the  villages  of  Le 
Transloy  and  Beaulencourt  and  the  town  of  Bapaume  ; 
but,  although  he  was  digging  with  feverish  haste,  he 
had  not  yet  been  able  to  create  any  very  formidable 
defences  behind  this  line.  In  this  direction,  in  fact,  we 
had  at  last  reached  a  stage  at  which  a  successful  attack 
might  reasonably  be  expected  to  yield  much  greater 
results  than  anything  we  had  yet  attained.  The  resist- 
ance of  the  troop.>  opposed  to  us  had  seriously  weakened 
in  the  course  of  our  recent  operations,  and  ther?  was  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  effort  required  would  not 
be  within  our  powers. 

This  last  completed  system  of  defence,  before  Le 
Transloy,  was  flanked  to  the  south  by  the  enemy's 
positions  at  Sailly-Saillisel,  and  screened  to  the  west  by 
the  spur  lying  between  Le  Transloy  and  Lesboeufs.  A 
necessary  preliminary,  therefore,  to  an  assault  upon  it 
was  to  secure  the  spur  and  the  Sailly-Saillisei  heights. 
1'ossession  of  the  high  ground  at  this  latter  village 
would  at  once  give  a  far  better  command  over  the 
ground  to  the  north  and  north-west,  secure  the  flank 
of  our  operations  towards  Le  Transloy,  and  deprive  the 
enemy  of  observation  over  th-^  Allied  communications 
in  the  Combles  Valley.  In  view  of  the  enemy's  efforts 
to  construct  new  systems  of  defence  behind  the  Le 
Transloy  line,  it  was  dosirable  to  lose  no  time  in  dr.ilin^ 
\\  it  h  t  he  situation. 

Unfortunately,  at  this  juncture,  very  unfavourable 
weather  set  in  and  continued  with  scarcely  a  break 
during  the  remainder  of  October  and  the  early  part  of 
November.  Poor  visibility  seriously  interfered  with  the 
work  of  our  artillery,  and  constant  rain  turned  the  mass 


of  hastily  dug  trenches  for  which  wo  were  fighting  into 
channels  of  deep  mud. 

The  epuntry  roads,  broken  by  countless  shell  craters, 
that  cross  the  deep  stretch  of  ground  we  had  lately 
won,  rapidly  became  almost  impassable,  making  the  sup- 
ply of  food,  stores,  and  ammunition  a  serious  problem. 
These  conditions  multiplied  the  difficulties  of  attack  to 
such  an  extent  that  it  was  found  impossible  to  exploit 
the  situation  with  the  rapidity  necessary  to  enable  us  to 
reap  the  full  benefits  of  the  advantages  we  had  gained. 

None  the  less,  my  right  flank  continued  to  assist  the 
operations  of  our  Allies  against  Saillisel,  and  attacks 
were  made  to  this  end,  whenever  a  slight  improvement 
in  the  weather  made  the  co-operation  of  artillery  and 
infantry  at  all  possible.  The  delay  in  our  advance, 
however,  though  unavoidable,  had  given  the  enemy  time 
to  reorganize  and  rally  his  troops.  His  resistance  again 
became  stubborn,  and  he  seized  every  favourable 
opportunity  for  counter-attacks.  Trenches  changed 
hands  with  great  frequency,  the  conditions  of  ground 
making  it  difficult  to  renew  exhausted  supplies  of  bombs 
and  ammunition,  or  to  consolidate  the  ground  won,  and 
so  rendering  it  an  easier  matter  to  take  a  battered  trench 
than  to  hold  it. 

Such,  in  short,  were  the  considerations  which 
determined  the  future  Allied  movements 
between  the  Ancre  and  the  Somme.  It 
remains  to  be  seen  how  Sir  Douglas  Haig's 
plans  were  eventually  carried  out. 

By  Tuesday,  October  10,  the  advance  beyond 
the  Stuff  Redoubt  had  enabled  us  to  push  our 
line  forward  east  of  that  point  and  to  carry  it 
eastward  and  a  little  to  the  north  to  about  half- 
way between  Le  Sars  and  Warlencourt.  In 
the  vicinity  of  Grandcourt,  west  of  Le  Sars, 
German  infantry  in  the  open  were  dispersed 
by  our  artillery  on  the  10th.  Otherwise  the 
day  was  uneventful  for  the  British.  It  was 
very  different  with  the  French.  South  of 
the  Somme  between  Berny-en-Sariterre  and 
Chaulnes  on  a  front  of  over  three  miles  they  ad- 
vanced to  the  attack.  Their  line  ran  from  Berny 
southwards  to  Hill  91  and  thence  in  a  westerly 
direction  towards  Deniecourt.  A  few  hundred 
yards  east  of  Deniecourt  it  swerved  to  the 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


407 


south-west  in  front  of  Soyecourt  and  Vermando- 
villers  and  then  proceeded  to  a  point  a  few 
hundred  yards  west  of  Chaulnes.  The  German 
position  in  the  area  formed  a  salient  and  the 
object  of  General  Micheler  was  to  expel  the 
Germans  from  it.  They  were  strongly  en- 
trenched in  the  hamlet  of  Bovent,  the  villages 
of  Ablaincourt  and  Pressoire  and  in  the  woods 
round  Chaulnes.  General  von  Kothen,  defend- 
ing the  salient,  had  been  strongly  reinforced 
and  believed  that  his  Silesian  "  shock  "  troops 
were  capable  of  resisting  any  attack.  The  44th 
Reserve  Division  and  a  Division  of  Wurtem- 
bergers  had  been  sent  to  his  assistance,  and  the 
23rd  Saxon  Division  was  held  in  readiness 
against  unexpected  eventualities. 

During  Monday  the  French  artillery  bom- 
barded the  selected  sector  with  their  usual 
thoroughness;  Among  other  targets  which  had 
been  in  the  last  week  struck  by  the  French  guns 
was  an  observation -post  in  an  orchard  at 
Bovent,  six  feet  high  and  constructed  of  great 
blocks  of  reinforced  concrete.  It  resembled 
the  conning-tower  of  a  battleship,  and  at  its 
top  there  were  two  narrow  slits,  through  which 
observers  could  watch  the  French  lines  or 


machine-guns  could  fin,.  Eight  rooms,  30  feet 
deep,  with  numerous  concealed  exits  sur- 
rounded the  tower.  So  long  as  the  summer 
lasted  this  observation  post  was  hidden  by  the 
foliage  of  the  trees  and  undergrowth.  But  in 
October  it  had  become  visible  and  a  French 
artillery  lieutenant  had  noticed  that  the  orchard 
contained  some  structure  unusual  in  orchards 
He  promptly  directed  the  "  75  "  guns  to  clear 
away  the  surrounding  trees  and  bushes  and  the 
naked  grey  concrete  of  the  tower  was  revealed. 
The  attention  of  the  big  guns  was  then  drawn 
to  this  formidable  obstacle.  Projectile  after 
projectile  burst  on  it.  Still  the  tower,  although 
becoming  more  and  more  ragged,  resisted. 
A  salvo  of'  gas  shells  was  next  discharged. 
The  gas  being  heavier  than  air  descended 
into  the  subterranean  shelters.  Finally  a 
huge  shell  burst  a  few  yards  to  the  left 
of  the  tower,  opened  a  hole  in  the  ground 
about  15  feet  deep,  hurled  great  masses  of 
concrete  into  the  air, which  fell  and  blocked  the 
exits.  When  Bovent  on  Tuesday  was  captured 
a  French  soldier  squeezed  his  way  down  into 
the  cavern  below  the  tower  and  found  30 
Germans,  including  two  colonels,  lying  dead 


[Official  photograph. 

A    GERMAN    PRISONER    LENDS    A    HELPING    HAND    TO    A    BRITISH 

DISPATCH    KIDER. 

141—3 


408 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


409 


with  their  gas-masks  on  and  apparently  un- 
wounded.  Two  of  them  had  been  playing 
chess  when  the  gas  caught  them,  and  the  table 
was  laid  for  dinner. 

The  effect  of  the  French  bombardment  was 
to  shake  the  nerves  of  the  Germans,  who  on 
Monday  evening,  in  anticipation  of  an  offensive, 
replied  with  copious  barrages  and  tear  shells. 
It  was  not,  however,  till  Tuesday  that  the 
attack  was  really  delivered.  One  column, 
starting  from  the  woods  outside  Deniecourt, 
carried  the  hamlet  of  Bovent  after  a  short  and 
fierce  struggle.  A  second  column  from  Ver- 
mandovillers  assaulted  Ablaincourt.  Five 
times  they  carried  the  village  and  five  times  it 
was  recovered  by  the  enemy,  to  whose  aid  the 
23rd  Saxon  Division  had  been  rushed  up  in 
motor  lorries.  At  the  end  of  the  day  the 
northern  and  western  outskirts  of  Ablaincourt 
were  in  the  possession  of  the  French.  Farther 
to  the  south  our  Allies  progressed  to  within 
200  yards  of  Pressoire.  A  third  column  from 
Lihons  deployed  and  attacked  the  Chaulnes 
Woods,  bristling  with  entanglements  and 
machine-guns  and  garrisoned  by  a  brigade  of 
Wurtembergers,  who  were  finally  chased 
away.  The  prisoners  taken  in  the  fighting 
amounted  to  over  1,700. 

During  the  day  bivouacs  and  cantonments 
in  the  vicinity  of  Peronne,  the  Tergnier  aviation 
sheds,  the  railway  stations  of  St.  Quentin  and 
Guiscard  and  the  Wood  of  Porquericourt,  had 
been  bombed  by  French  aeronauts  and  there 
had  been  14  aerial  duels  between  French  and 
German  airmen  south  of  the  Somme,  and  44 
north  of  it.  Four  German  machines  were 
brought  down  and  six  others  injured.  A  train 
running  between  Offoy  and  Ham  was  attacked 
with  machine-gun  fire.  The  British  aeroplanes 
destroyed  two  gun  emplacements  and  damaged 
others.  They  penetrated  well  behind  the 
German  lines  and  bombed  with  good  effect 
railway  stations,  trains  and  billets.  Two  of 
our  machines  engaged  seven  hostile  aeroplanes, 
destroyed  one,  damaged  two,  and  dispersed 
the  rest.  Four  British  machines  were  lost. 

The  next  day  (Wednesday,  October  11)  the 
enemy  attempted  to  retake  the  Chaulnes  Wood 
and  was  repulsed  after  violent  hand-to-hand 
fighting.  The  struggle  still  went  on  in  Ablain- 
court 'and  began  round  the  sugar  refinery  of 
Genermont,  east  of  Bovent.  North  of  the 
Somme,  in  the  evening  and  throughout  the 
night,  bombing  encounters  took  place  along 
the  Morval-Bouchavt'snes  front,  especially  on 


the  edge  of  the  St.  Pierre  Vaast  Wood.  The 
German  68th  Infantry  Regiment  and  76th 
Reserve  Infantry  Regiment  put  up  a  fierce 
resistance.  North  of  Courcelette  the  British 
artillery  stopped  an  attack  and  elsewhere  dealt 
effectively  with  hostile  infantry  mustering  in 
the  background. 

In    dull    weather    on    Thursday    afternoon, 
October  12,  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  and  General 


[Frenih  official  phctog'apK. 

ARMY  TELEPHONE  STATION  ON  THE 
SOMME: 

Fayolle  launched  an  offensive  between  Le  Sars 
and  Bouchavesnes  against  the  troops  of  General 
Sixt  von  Armin,  General  von  Boehn  and 
General  von  Gamier.  No  progress  was  made 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Butte  de  Warlencourt, 
but  south  of  Ligny-Thilloy,  east  of  Gueudecourt 
and  Lesboeufs,  our  line  was  advanced.  Between 
Lesboeufs  and  Le  Transloy  the  gain  was  about 
1,000  yards  and  we  approached  to  within 
500  yards  of  the  cemetery  of  the  last-named 
village.  The  enemy  appeared  to  have  been 


410 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


about  to  advance  when  our  offensive  began, 
for  there  had  been  a  considerable  accumulation 
of  troops  in  their  trenches,  as  was  shown  in 
some  of  them  north-east  of  Gueudecourt, 
which  were  found  to  be  packed  with  the  dead 
and  dying.  Two  hundred  prisoners  besides 
numerous  machine-guns  were  secured.  During 
the  night  a  German  attack  north  of  the  Stuff 
Redoubt  was  repulsed.  Meanwhile  the  French 
«-iprpcl  some  email  successes  west  of  Sailly- 
Su'llisel,  and  Sir  Hubert  Gough  pushed  forward 


GENERAL    VON    BOEHN. 
A    German  Commander  on  the  Somme. 

round  the  Schwaben  Redoubt,  capturing  300 
prisoners,  belonging  to  the  German  110th 
Regiment. 

Apart  from  a  skirmish  north  of  the  Stuff 
Redoubt  little  that  was  noteworthy  occurred  on 
the  British  front  during  Friday,  October  13,  but 
there  was  considerable  activity  in  the  Morval, 
Bouchavesnes,  Ablaincourt  and  Chaulnos 
sectors.  A  German  attack  with  flammen- 
werfer  resulted  in  the  capture  of  some  parts  of 
trenches  at  the  outskirts  of  the  St.  Pierre  Vaast 
Wood. 

On  Saturday,  October  14,  Sir  Hubert 
Cough's  troops  advanced  their  line  well 
to  the  north  and  west  of  the  Schwaben  Redoubt 
and  cleared  two  German  communication 
trenches  north  of  the  Stuff  Redoubt  for  a 
distance  of  nearly  200  yards,  capturing  two 
officers  and  303  privates.  The  French  bom- 
barded the  Sailly-Saillisel  position  and  south  of 
the  Somme  again  joined  battle  with  the  enemy. 

On  October  14  our  Ally,  who  had  progressed 
on  the  Malassise  Ridge  between  Bouchavesnes 
and  Moislains,  beat  back  after  desperate 


fighting  masses  of  Germans  counter-attacking 
in  Ablaincourt.  At  the  close  of  the  day  the 
French  line  ran  through  the  ruins  of  the  village. 
Between  Ablaincourt  and  Barleux,  which  lies 
in  a  hollow,  our  Allies  had  dug  deep  into  the 
German  lines.  The  sugar  refinery  on  the 
Ablaincourt-Genermont  road  had  been  pulver- 
ized by  15-inch  and  16-inch  howitzers  and  it 
was  carried  with  little  loss,  and  from  Bovent 
the  French  entered  Genermont,  which  fell  after 
an  hour's  fighting,  250  Germans  of  the  150th 
Prussian  Regiment  being  captured.  When  the 
sun  set  the  French  were  only  a  few  hundred 
yards  from  the  villages  of  Fresnes  and  Mazan- 
court.  Farther  to  the  north,  starting  from  the 
Berny-Barleux  road,  the  Colonial  Division, 
commanded  by  the  heroic  General  Marchand, 
who  with  Kitchener  had  prevented  France  and 
Great  Britain  from  playing  into  the  German 
hands  over  the  Fashoda  affair,  brought  the 
French  line  nearer  to  the  heights  of  Villers- 
Carbonnel,  the  batteries  on  which  covered  the 
Barleux -Chaulnes  road.  A  Silesian  detachment 
in  a  ruined  work  barred  the  way.  It  was  sub- 
merged by  the  waves  of  the  Colonial  infantry. 


GENERAL    VON    GARNIER. 
A  German  Commander    on  the  Somme. 

In  places  five  lines  of  trenches  had  to  be  carried. 
They  were  crammed  with  German  corpses, 
among  which  surviving  bombers,  riflemen  and 
machine-gunners,  rendered  desperate  by  the 
fact  that  they  were  fighting  with  their  backs 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


411 


to  the  marshy  Somnie,  fought  with  great 
courage.  After  a  terrible  struggle,  reminiscent 
of  the  scenes  in  Charleroi  when  the  Colonial 
troops  had  at  the  opening  of  the  war  crossed 
bayonets  with  the  Prussian  Guardsmen,  the 
position  was  taken  and  the  French  front 
extended  in  depth  from  six  to  eight  hundred 
yards.  It  now  overlapped  Barleux,  and  turned 
the  heights  of  Villers-Carbonnel. 

Unwounded  German  prisoners  to  the  number 
of  1,100,  including  19  officers,  had  been  taken 
in  the  Belloy-Ablaincourt  sector.  The  counter- 
attacks of  the  enemy  in  the  evening  were 
all  beaten  off.  The  French  aeroplanes  splen- 
didly cooperated  in  the  fighting.  The  clouds 
were  but  600  feet  from  the  ground,  and  they 
had  flown  close  to  the  enemy's  barrages. 
One  machine  returned  riddled  with  over  200 
bullets.  North  of  the  Somme  two  pilots 
had  attacked  the  enemy  in  his  trenches  with 
machine-guns. 

The  next  day  (Sunday,  October  15),  while  the 
Colonials  repulsed  a  German  attack  at  the 
St.  Eloi  Wood,  south-east  of  Belloy,  and  the 
British  in  the  morning  advanced  slightly  north- 
east of  Gueudecourt,  the  attack  on  Sailly- 
Saillisel  was  delivered.  For  forty  hours  the 
villages  and  their  outworks  had  been  systema- 
tically pounded.  The  cemented  trenches 
east  of  the  Tripot  work  had  been  obliterated  ; 
(he  redoubt  on  the  Morval  road  had  been 
wrecked  and  its  defenders  buried  in  the  ruins. 
Afterwards  the  French  countsd,  in  a  vast  under- 
ground chamber  there,  the  corpses  of  200 
asphyxiated  Germans.  On  the  evening  of 
Sunday  the  bombardment  ceased  and  Sailly 
was  assaulted. 

This  village  is  traversed  by  the  Peronne- 
Bapaume  highway,  on  the  west  side  of  which 
lie  the  chateau,  a  chapel,  and  half  of  the 
village.  The  road  from  Morval  crosses  the 
highway  just  south  of  the  chateau.  East  of 
Sailly,  through  Saillisel,  runs  a  road  branching 
off  from  the  highway  to  the  village  of  Roc- 
quigny,  due  east  of  Le  Transloy.  One  French 
column,  starting  from  north-east  of  Rancourt 
up  the  highway,  attacked  the  chateau  from  the 
south.  A  second  column  entered  the  park  of 
the  chateau  from  the  north-west  and  stormed 
ths  ruined  chapel,  which  was  stubbornly 
defended  by  a  machine-gun  section.  A  third 
column,  after  passing  two  lines  of  trenches, 
descended  on  the  village  from  the  north  and 
isolated  it  from  the  garrison  of  Le  Transloy. 
Long  and  terrible  was  the  fighting  for  the 


chapel  and  chateau.  The  Germans  disputed 
every  inch  of  the  ground,  but  were  finally 
driven  helter-skelter  through  the  underground 
passages  connecting  these  buildings  with  the 
houses  along  the  Peronne-Bapaume  highway. 


GENERAL    MARCHAND. 

In  command  of  the  Colonial  Division  of  the 

French  Army  of  the  West. 

After  the  chapel  and  chateau  had  fallen  the 
contest  continued  in  the  western  half  of  the 
village,  which  ran  for  800  yards  north  and 
south.  In  the  meantime  the  British  had 
during  the  night  repulsed  with  heavy  loss  a 
strong  flammenwerfer  attack  at  the  Schwaben 
Redoubt  delivered  after  'heavy  artillery  pre- 
paration, and  a  small  hostile  bombing  attack 
north  of  Courcelette. 


412 


THF    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


[French  official  photograph. 

BRITISH    GUNNERS,    WEARING    GAS    MASKS,     LOADING    A    FIELD    GUN. 


On  Monday,  October  16,  the  French  con- 
solidated the  position  gained  by  them  in 
Sailly,  repulsed  a  violent  counter-attack  east 
of  Berny-en-Santerre,  carried  a  small  wood 
and  captured  two  guns  of  210  mm.  and 
one  of  77  mm.  between  Genermont  and  Ablain- 
court. 

During  the  next  day  (October  17)  the 
French,  whose  aeroplanes  fought  65  duels,  in 
the  course  of  which  five  German  machines 
were  put  out  of  action,  heavily  repulsed 
counter-attacks  east  of  Berny  and  Belloy  and 
bombarded  the  portion  of  Sailly-Saillisel  still 
in  the  possession  of  the  Germans.  In  the 
morning  the  enemy  forced  his  way  into  the 
ruins  between  the  chapel  and  the  central  cross- 
roads. He  was  promptly  expelled,  and  to- 
wards sunset  three  more  counter-attacks  from 
the  north  and  east  were  repulsed.  In  thick 
and  murky  weather  on  October  18  the  clearing 
out  of  the  Germans  from  the  rest  of  Sailly  was 
undertaken.  An  enormous  concentration  of 
guns  had  been  ordered  by  General  Fayolle. 
"  It  seemed  incredible,"  said  The  Times  corre- 
spondent, "  that  there  could  be  so  many  guns 
and  so  much  ammunition  in  the  world,  and 
still  more  impossible  to  believe  that  any  sort  of 


defence  could  possibly  stand  up  against  the 
hurricane  of  shell  for  more  than  a  few  minutes." 
The  German  artillery  was  completely  out- 
classed. Faintly,  through  the  mist,  about 
11.45  a.m.,  red  balls  of  fiery  light  announced 
to  the  German  gunners  that  the  French  infantry 
was  leaving  its  trenches  and  dug-outs.  The 
garrison,  composed  of  mixed  elements  of  the 
1st  Bavarians,  the  16th  Division,  and  the 
2nd  Bavarians,  received  but  little  assistance  in 
the  nature  of  barrages.  By  noon  the  action 
was  over,  and  the  enemy,  leaving  behind  him 
masses  of  dead  and  wounded,  had  been  ejected 
from  the  whole  of  Sailly,  and  from  the  ridges 
north-west  and  northeast  of  the  village. 
Again  and  again,  accompanied  by  waves  of 
asphyxiating  gas  and  the  fire-spoutingyZowmett- 
u-erfer,  the  frantic  Germans  were  hurled  at 
their  relentless  foe.  No  fewer  than  20 
attacks  in  mass  formation  were  delivered 
and  repulsed  Across  a  fiercely  disputed 
outbuilding  German  corpses  formed  a  ram- 
part three  feet  high. 

The  completion  of  the  conquest  of  Sailly 
was  not  the  only  memorable  event  of  October  18. 
South  of  the  Somme  the  French,  under  Generals 
Lacapelle  and  Cugnac,  rushed  the  whole  of  the 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


413 


German  front-line  trenches  between  La  Maison- 
nette and  Biaches,  defended  by  troops  of  the 
llth  Reserve  Division.  Five  officers,  24o 
privates,  and  several  machine-guns  were 
captured,  and  the  German  batteries  across 
the  Somme,  near  Doingt  and  Bussu,  were 
silenced.  A  German  advance  at  5  a.m.  against 
a  French  trench  east  of  Berny-en-Santerre 
had  also  failed  to  achieve  its  object.  Some 
enemy  parties  entered  the  French  lines  and 
were  promptly  bayoneted.  The  waves  of  men 
following  on  behind  them  were  caught  in 
barrages,  and  fell  back  in  disorder,  leaving 
numbers  of  their  comrades  dead  on  the 
ground. 

The  same  day  at  3  a.m.  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson 
had  pushed  forward  on  the  Butte  de  Warlen- 
court,  to  the  north-east  of  Gueudecourt  and 
beyond  Lesboeufs.  Aided  by  a  Tank  the 
British  secured  a  further  section  of  the  Grid 
and  Grid  Support  trenches.  Some  150  prisoners 
were  captured.  A  counter-attack  in  the  Butte 
de  Warlencourt  region  was  repulsed. 

On  Thursday,  October  19,  the  French 
attacked  and  captured  the  village  of  Saillisel, 
which  straggled  1,400  yards  on  either  side  of 
the  Sailly-Moislains  road.  The  eastern  half  of  the 
village  was  secured  after  half  an  hour's  fighting, 
and  a  struggle  then  began  for  a  ridge  400  feet 
high  flanking  the  village  between  the  Peronne- 
Bapaume  road  and  the  road  to  Rocquigny. 
By  the  end  of  the  day  the  French  line  before  the 


St.  Pierre  Vaast  Wood  formed  a  semi-circle 
from  Sailly  to  between  Rancourt  and  Boucha- 
vesnes.  East  of  the  wood  the  Germans  still 
held  the  Vaux  Wood,  behind  which  ran  the 
Tortille.  But  the  enemy's  batteries  on  the 
ridges  north-west  and  north-east  of  SaillyT 
Saillisel  which  had  raked  our  troops  advancing 
from  Lesboeufs  on  Le  Transloy  had  been  dis- 
lodged, and  his  batteries  on  the  high  ground 
towards  Le  Mesnil  were  under  the  direct  fire  of 
the  French  guns.  But  for  the  abominable 
weather  it  is  probable  that  Bapaume  would 
have  been  speedily  captured  by  the  Allies  in 
1916.  Unfortunately,  in  the  words  of  Sir 
Douglas  Haig,  "  the  moment  for  decisive  action 
was  rapidly  passing  away,  while  the  weather 
showed  no  signs  of  improvement.  By  this 
time,"  he  added,  "  the  ground  had  already 
become  so  bad  that  nothing  less  than  a  prolonged 
period  of  drying  weather,  which  at  that  season 
of  the  year  was  most  unlikely  to  occur,  would 
suit  our  purpose." 

For  the  moment,  indeed,  it  seemed  that 
fortune  would  favour  the  Allies.  A  spell  of 
fine,  hard  weather  set  in  on  Friday,  October  20 . 


SAILLY:     RUINS    OF    A   HOUSE    FORTIFIED    BY    THE    GERMANS. 
INSET:     REMAINS    OF    THE    CHATEAU. 


414 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


Advantage  of  the  changed  conditions  «.i- 
promptly  taken  by  our  airmen. 

The  number  of  combats  in  the  air  on  October 
20  exceeded  80.  Seven  enemy  machines  were 
seen  to  crash  down  or  to  fall  out  of  control,  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  some  which  were 
driven  down  by  our  airmen  were  wrecked  in 
landing.  Three  of  our  airmen  were  killed, 
three  reported  missing,  and  five  wounded. 

The  communiques  record  at  least  two  instances 
of  conspicuous  pluck  and  endurance.  Second 
Lieutenant  "  S,"  though  mortally  wounded  by 


machines  having  withdrawn,  C'nptain  "  D,"  the 
leader  of  our  formation,  tried  to  complete  his 
reconnaissance,  accompanied  by  only  two 
escorting  machines.  He  was  again  attacked, 
and  another  of  our  machines  retired,  with 
engine  and  propeller  damaged.  Captain  "  D  " 
then  fought  his  way  homeward,  surrounded  by 
hostile  machines,  and  landed  safely. 

Nor  were  the  French  aviators  inactive. 
Seven  German  machines  were  brought  down, 
Lieutenant  Herteaux  increasing  his  "bag"  to 
ten.  During  the  night  41  bombs  of  120  mm. 


SHELLS    FOR    THE    15-IN.    HOWITZERS. 


[Official  photograph. 


giui  fire,  brought  his  machine  and  observer 
safely  back  to  his  own  aerodrome.  He  died  of 
his  wounds  next  day.  Lieutenant  "  S,"  though 
wounded  in  the  head  at  the  beginning  of  a 
combat  in  which  he  and  Second  Lieutenant 
"  G  "  were  opposed  to  six  German  machines, 
continued  to  fight  for  a  considerable  time  and 
drove  down  one  of  the  enemy  machines  out  of 
control.  Six  of  our  machines,  while  taking 
photographs,  were  heavily  attacked  by  anti- 
aircraft guns,  and,  soon  after,  by  twelve 
hostile  fighting  machines.  One  of  our  machines 
was  brought  down  by  the  enemy  to  his  line*. 
and  another  brought  to  land  behind  our  lines, 
with  the  pilot  severely  wounded.  The  enemy 


were  dropped  on  the  stations  of  Noyon  and 
Chauny,  and  later  a  train  between  Appilly  and 
Chauny  was  bombed.  The  enemy  cantonments 
and  the  bivouacs  in  the  region  of  Nesle  and 
Ham,  and  the  aviation  grounds  at  Matigny 
and  Slez  were  also  hit. 

Saturday,  October  21,  was  another  day  of 
battle.  On  the  20th  the  Germans  had  delivered 
an  ineffectual  attack  against  the  Schwaben 
Redoubt.  Another  in  the  early  morning  of  the 
21st  was  repulsed,  five  officers  and  79  privates 
being  captured.  Shortly  after  noon,  preceded 
by  a  tremendous  bombardment,  Sir  Hubert 
(lough's  Army  advanced  on  a  line  of  some 
5,000  yards  between  Schwaben  Redoubt  and 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


415 


Le  Sare.  Our  line  towards  the  Ancre  was 
pushed  forward  from  :01  to  500  yards; 
advanced  posts  to  the  north  and  north-east  of 
the  redovibt  were  secured  and  most  of  the  Stuff 
and  Regina  trenches  captured.  Over  1,000 
prisoners  were  taken,  a  figure  only  slightly 
exceeded  by  our  casualties. 

In  the  meantime  the  Germans  renewed  their 
desperate    efforts    to    recover    Sailly-Saillisel. 


verse.  Near  Belloy  that  day  General  Marohand, 
who  had  been  badly  wounded  at  the  Battle  of 
the  Champagne  Pouilleuse,  was  slightly  in- 
jured. He  refused  to  relinquish  his  command. 

Finally,  on  the  21st,  the  French  mastered  the 
Bois  Etoile  north  of  Chaulnes  from  its  western- 
edge  to  the  central  cross-roads.  They  captured 
250  prisoners  and  beat  off  an  attack  of  part  of 
the  Chaulnes  garrison  which  had  issued  from 


LOADING    A    HEAVY    BRITISH    HOWITZER. 


[Official  photograph . 


Three  regiments  of  the  2nd  Bavarian  Division 
were  flung  at  the  ruins  after  artillery  prepara- 
tions of  an  extremely  violent  character. 
Barrages  and  machine-gun  fire  .broke  the  waves 
of  the  assaulting  infantry.  Thrice  they  came 
forward  and  thrice  were  they  driven  back. 
South  of  the  Somme  at  2  p.m.  the  Germans 
with  flammenwerfer  attacked  the  positions 
recently  lost  by  them  between  Biaches  and  La 
Maisonnette.  The  struggle  was  peculiarly 
bitter  in  the  Blaise  Wood,  in  some  trenches 
north  of  which  the  enemy  obtained  a  footing. 
At  all  other  points  they  met  with  a  bloody  re- 


the  village  to  support  the  Saxons  garrisoning 
the  wood. 

On  Sunday,  October  22,  the  French  extended 
their  gains  west  of  Sailly-Saillisel,  south  of  the 
Somme.  The  Germans  attacked  the  French 
positions  in  the  wood  north  of  Chaulnes.  The 
attack  was  repulsed  with  heavy  losses.  At 
1  p.m.  the  Germans  again  advanced  on  the 
French  trenches  on  the  southern  end  of  the 
wood,  but  only  to  be  driven  back,  leaving 
behind  them  a  litter  of  dead  and  wounded,  and 
losing  numerous  prisoners  ;  in  the  previous 
attack  alone  150  had  been  captured. 


416 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


The  next  day  (October  23)  the  Germans,  who 
before  dawn  had  attempted  to  raid  our  trenches 
in  the  Gommecourt  region,  massed  south  of 
Grandcourt,  on  the  Ancre,  as  if  they  intended 
to  commence  a  counter-attack  on  the  Regina 
trench.  This  movement  was  at  once  notified 
to  our  artillery,  and  the  British  gunners  hurled 
high  explosives  and  shrapnel  at  the  enemy,  who 
speedily  dispersed.  About  the  same  time  Sir 
Henry  Rawlinson's  troops,  in  conjunction  with 
the  French,  pushed  forward  east  of  Gueudecourt 
and  Lesboeufs.  The  rain  had  increased  during 
the  night,  and  numerous  German  trenches — 


Dewdrop,  Rainbow,  Hazy,  Misty,  Sleet,  Frosty, 
Zenith,  Orion,  Spectrum — and  the  craters  were 
full  of  water. 

The  object  of  this  minor  operation  was  to 
straighten  the  British  front  before  Le  Transloy. 
The  Germans  had  dug  two  lines  of  trenches  in 
front  of  the  village  embracing  the  cemetery  on 
the  Lesboeufs  road.  Behind  them  were  many 
machine-gun  emplacements,  giving  a  wide  field 
of  fire  against  the  British  and  against  any 
French  troops  moving  on  Le  Transloy  down 
the  Peronne-Bapaume  road,  who  had  to  pass 
over  an  average  distance  of  1,200  yards  of  No- 


BR1TISH    TROOPS    REPELLING    A    STRONG    COUNTER-ATTACK. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


417 


OFFICERS    OBSERVING    FROM    A    CAPTURED    TRENCH. 


[Official  ph-.tigraph. 


Man's  Land.  The  fighting  which  ensued  was  of 
a  confused  character.  One  strip  of  trench 
changed  hands  no  less  than  five  times,  and  a 
group  of  gun  pits,  in  which  the  guns  had  been 
replaced  by  machine-guns,  was  obstinately 
attacked  and  obstinately  defended. 

Details  of  the  64th  Brandenburg  Regiment, 
the  regiment  which  took  Douaumont  in 
February,  1916,  and  of  the  24th  Bavarian 
Regimen^,  which  had  carried  Fort  Vaux,  with 
Hamburgers  and  Hanoverians,  strove  des- 
perately to  keep  the  British  from  approaching 
nearer  to  Le  Transloy,  the  most  formidable  of 
the  village  fortresses  still  blocking  the  road  to 
Bapaume.  Nevertheless,  at  nightfall,  we  had 
captured  over  1,000  yards  of  trenches,  while  the 
French  had  made  appreciable  progress  north- 
east of  Morval  in  the  direction  of  Le  Transloy. 

Nothing  occurred  worth  recording  on 
October  24  and  25.  The  rain  continued  to 
pour  down,  converting  low-lying  portions  of  the 
battlefield  into  a  quagmire.  But  on  Thursday 
the  26th  there  was  a  sudden  liveliness.  The 
British  raided  enemy  trenches  north-east  and 
south  of  Arras,  and  in  the  morning,  after  a  pre- 
liminary bombardment,  the  Germans  attacked 
the  Stuff'  Trench.  They  were  driven  off  with 
considerable  loss,  leaving  41  prisoners  in  our 


hands.  An  attempt  of  the  enemy  to  recover 
the  Abb6  Wood,  south  of  Bouchavesnes,  was 
unavailing. 

Heavy  rain  once  more  fell  on  Friday, 
October  27,  and  the  operations  on  both  sides 
were,  apart  from  the  never-ceasing  artillery 
duels,  suspended. 

On  Saturday,  October  28,  our  artillery 
shelled  the  Germans  out  of  some  strong  points 
north-east  of  Lesboeufs.  As  the  enemy 
emerged  from  his  hiding  places  he  came  under 
a  murderous  fire  from  our  infantry.  Several 
important  trenches  passed  into  our  hands,  and 
about  100  prisoners  were  captured. 

On  Sunday,  October  29,  we  made  a  further 
forward  movement  in  the  same  region,  and  the 
French  by  advancing  300  yards  north-west  of 
Sailly,  parallel  with  the  Bapaume  Road, 
brought  their  front  into  line  of  our  new  positions. 
But  in  the  afternoon  they  suffered  a  some- 
what serious  reverse  to  the  south  of  the  Somme. 
Their  progress  between  Biaches  and  La  Maison- 
nette had  seriously  alarmed  the  German  com- 
manders, for  our  Allies  were  almost  in  the  out- 
skirts of  Peronne,  and  threatened  Barleux  from 
the  north.  Accordingly,  at  3  p.m.,  the  360th 
Regiment,  composed  of  Berlin  and  Branden- 
burg men,  whose  advance  had  been  preceded 


418 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


[Official  (holograph. 

PAGKMULES    CARRYING    AMMUNITION    TO   THE    TRENCHES. 


by  an  unusually  severe  bombardment,  was 
launched  at  the  farm  of  La  Maisonnette. 
Other  troops  attacked  on  both  sides  of  the  farm, 
and  the  assaulting  masses  were  accompanied 
by  a  liberal  supply  of  flammsnwerfer.  For  a 
time  the  French,  supported  by  their  artillery, 
held  their  own,  but  during  the  night  the  enemy 
was  once  more  in  the  farm.  It  was  claimed 
by  him  that  he  captured  412  men  and  15 
officers.  All  efforts,  however,  to  drive  the 
French  from  Hill  97  failed.  The  next  day  the 


French  as  an  offset  to  this  reverse  carried  a 
system  of  trenches  north-west  of  Sailly-Saillisel. 
On  Wednesday,  November  1,  the  Germans, 
after  a  vigorous  bombardment  and  discharges 
of  poisonous  gas,  attacked  Sailly-Saillisel. 
Seven  battalions  drawn  from  different  divisions 
were  launched  against  the  village  on  the  north 
and  east.  Xo  fewer  than  six  attempts  were 
made  by  the  enemy's  columns  to  force  their 
way  in  ;  but  apart  from  a  small  success  the 
German  efforts  were  abortive.  In  the  after- 


WATERING    HORSES    BEHIND    THE    BATTLE-FRONT. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY     OF    THE    WAR. 


419 


noon  the  Allies  took  the  offensive  in  this 
region.  North-east  of  Lesboeufs  the  French 
captured  two  trenches  and  made  125  prisoners, 
while  the  British  gained  some  ground  between 
Lesboeufs  and  Le  Transloy.  Another  attack, 
made  by  the  French  to  the  south-east  of 
Saillisel,  secured  them  a  strongly  organized 
system  of  trenches  on  the  western  outskirts 
of  the  wood  of  St.  Pierre  Vaast. 

On  November  2,  in  despite  of  heavy  rain, 
more  ground  was  gained  by  the  French  between 
Lesboeufs  and  Sailly-Saillisel  ;  the  total 


Vaast   Wood.     The   attack   was   shattered    by 
curtain  and  machine-gun  fire. 

On  Sunday,  November  5,  according  to  the 
German  Higher  Command,  the  British  and 
French  "  began  a  gigantic  blow  against  the 
Army  front  of  General  von  Below."  According 
to  the  same  veracious  account,  "  the  troops  of 
the  various  German  tribes,  under  Generals 
von  Marschall,  von  Deimling,  and  von  Gamier, 
tenaciously  resisting,  inflicted  on  the  enemy 
a  severe  defeat."  The  real  facts  were  as 
follows  : 


[French  official  photograph. 

GERMAN    GUNS    AND    FLAME-THROWERS    CAPTURED    BY    THE    FRENCH. 


prisoners  captured  on  the  1st  and  2nd  amounted 
to  736,  including  20  officers,  and  a  dozen 
machine-guns  were  also  taken.  The  net 
re-suit  of  the  righting  was  that  the  British  were 
within  200  yards  of  Le  Transioy,  which  was 
also  threatened  by  the  French  from  the 
south. 

On  Friday,  November  3,  the  enemy  counter- 
attacked the  British  east  of  Gueudecourt  and 
were  beaten  back,  suffering  heavy  losses  and 
losing  four  machine-guns.  The  Germans  left 
behind  them  over  100  dead  and  30  prisoners. 

On  November  4  the  Germans  vainly  en- 
deavoured to  expel  the  French  from  the 
trenches  on  the  western  edge  of  St.  Pierre 


In  the  morning  of  the  5th  the  troops  of  Sir 
Henry  Rawlinson  moved  towards  the  Butte 
de  Warlencourt  and  seized  the  heights  east  of 
Le  Sars  and  north-east  of  Gueudecourt  on  a 
front  of  1,000  yards,  approaching  some  400 
yards  nearer  to  the  Butte.  For  a  short  time 
the  Butte  passed  into  our  power ;  but  during 
the  night  the  Germans  drove  us  back.  In  the 
Lesboeufs  region  we  captured  what  was 
known  as  the  Hazy  Trench,  and  reached  a 
point  almost  at  the  further  edge  of  the  minor 
ridge  running  northwards  before  Le  Transloy. 
In  the  meantime  the  French,  from  the  south  of 
Le  Transloy  to  the  South  of  St.  Pierre  Vaast 
Wood,  took  the  offensive.  Between  Lesboeufs 


4-30 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


and  Sailly-Saillisel  they  progressed  in  the 
direction  of  Le  Traiisloy.  Issuing  from  Sailly 
they  reconquered  the  greater  part  of  Saillisel 
and  works  to  the  south  of  it  ;  then  attacking  on 
three  sides  at  once  the  St.  Pierre  Vaast  Wood, 
they  captured  three  trenches  defending  the 
northern  corner  of  the  wood,  and  the  whole  of 
the  hostile  position  on  the  south-western 


GENERAL    MAISTRE. 
A  French  Commander    under   General    Micheler. 

outskirts.  All  through  the  afternoon  German 
reinforcements  from  Moislains  struggled  hard 
to  regain  the  lost  ground  ;  but  by  4  p.m.  they 
were  beaten,  and  another  attempt  in  the 
evening  made  by  them  was  also  driven  back. 
Over  600  prisoners,  including  15  officers,  were 
taken  by  the  French. 

On  November  7,  in  an  almost  incessant 
deluge  of  rain,  the  French  scored  another 
brilliant  success,  this  time  south  of  the  Somme. 
Bretons  and  Parisians  of  General  Micheler's 
Army,  under  the  command  of  Generals  Anthoine 
and  Maistre,  issued  at  9.45  a.m.  from  Gener- 
mont  sugar  refinery,  from  the  Serpentine 
Trench  south-east  of  Vermandovillers,  and  from 
the  northern  spur  of  Chaulnes  Wood.  The 
two  lines  of  concreted  trenches,  forming  the 
outwork  of  the  long  Germania  trench  which  ran 
a^  far  south  as  Hyencourt-le-Grand,  were  at 
once  captured,  all  the  occupants  being  either 
killed  or  taken  prisoners.  Similarly,  the  Ger- 
mans between  the  south  of  Pressoire  and 
Chaulnes  Wood  received  short  shrift.  Only 


in  Ablaincourt  and  Pressoire  itself  did  the 
Germans  put  up  a  good  fight.  During  the  pre- 
liminary bombardment  they  had  taken  refuge 
in  their  subterranean  chambers,  and  as  soon  as 
the  attack  began  they  came  to  the  surface  and 
played  their  machine-guns  on  the  French 
attacking  waves.  In  the  southern  portion  of 
Ablaincourt  a  severe  struggle  took  place 
A  stack  of  houses  defended  by  Bavarians  were 
thrice  taken  and  retaken.  In  the  church  a 
Bavarian  company  fought  almost  to  the  last 
man.  The  cemetery,  500  yards  east  of  the 
village,  was  also  the  scene  of  fierce  encounters  ; 
it  was  carried  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 
Between  Ablaincourt  and  Pressoire  a  single 
French  company  routed  a  whole  Prussian 
battalion.  By  nightfall  the  French  had  secured 
Pressoire  and  were  on  the  outskirts  of  Omie- 
court.  They  had  captured  hundreds  of 
prisoners  and  a  position  from  which  their 
guns  could  command  the  plateau  of  Villers- 
Carbonnel,  the  batteries  on  which  prevented 
the  French  from  taking  Barleux. 

The  weather  had  now  somewhat  moderated  ; 
it  remained  dry  and  cold,  with  frosty  nights 
and  misty  mornings.     Final  preparations  were 
pushed  on  by  Sir  Douglas  Haig  for  the  attack 
which  he  proposed  to  deliver  on  the  Ancre. 
On  November  9,  while  fighting  continued  round 
Saillisel   and   south   of   Pressoire,    the    British 
remained   quiescent — at   least  so   far   as   their 
infantry  was  concerned.     The  day  was,  how- 
ever,  rendered  memorable   by   a   great   aerial 
battle,    in    which    a    squadron    of    30    British 
aeroplanes    engaged    from    36    to    40    German 
machines.      The    action    took    place    between 
9   a.m.   and    10   a.m.   north-east   of   Bapamne. 
Near  the  Villa  of  Mory  close  to  Vaulx-Vrau- 
court,   the   British,   who   were   on   a   bombing 
expedition,    sighted    the    enemy's    squadron. 
Some  of  our  machines  were  at  a  higher  level 
than    the    enemy.      They    plunged    down    to 
join     their     comrades     in     the     engagement 
which  was  fought  some   5,000  feet  above  the 
ground.       For     twenty     minutes     among     the 
clouds    there    was    an    inextricable    tangle    of 
darting,  swirling  machines.     Four  of  ours  wen- 
lost,  six  of  the  enemy  were  sent  to  earth,  and 
the  whole  enemy  formation  broke  and  scattered. 
Our     airmen     bombed     Vaulx-Vraucourt     and 
returned  home  unmolested. 

On  the  10th  the  French  captured  more 
trenches  north-east  of  Lesboeufs,  and  in 
Saillisel  repulsed  a  counter-attack. 

The   next   day,    in   the   early   hours   of   the 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


421 


morning,  the  Canadians  attacked  troops  of  the 
Prussian  Guard  and  Saxon  Regiments  holding 
the  Farmers  Road,   an  easterly  extension  of 
Regiiia   Trench,   on   a   front   of    1,000   yards; 
.60  prisoners,  including  four  officers,  were  taken! 
An   unpleasant   interruption   to   our  line    had 
been  removed,   and  we   were  close  upon  the 
strong  German  position  running  immediately 
in  front  of  Pys  and  Warlencourt.     On  the  same 
day  the  French  seized  the  north-eastern  and 
south-eastern    outskirts    of    Saillisel,    but    the 
Germans   still    maintained    themselves   in   the 
easternmost  houses  of  the  village.    South  of  the 
Somme,  at  2.30  p.m.  the  enemy  with  flammen- 
werfer  attacked  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Denie- 
court.     He  was  beaten  back  with  heavy  losses. 
On  November   12  there  was  a  lull  on  the 
British  front,  but  the  fighting  went  on  in  Saillisel. 
which  finally  passed  into  the  possession  of  our 
Allies,  who  captured  220  men  and  seven  officers, 
with  eight  machine-guns.     South  of  the  Somme 
the  Germans,   attacking  south-east  of  Berny, 
succeeded  in  entering  some  advanced  trenches 
but  were  immediately  driven  out  by  a  counter- 
attack. 

Before  the  winter  set  in  Sir  Douglas  Haig 
determined  to  strike  a  last  blow  at  the  almost 
shattered   line   of   the   Germans   now  running 
from  the  east  of  Arras  to  Peronne.      The  main 
ridge    between    the    Schwaben    Redoubt    and 
Sailly-Saillisel  being  now  in  the  hands  of  the 
Allies,   it  was  possible   to   attack  successfully 
from  the  west  and  south  the  enemy's  salient 
on  both  sides  of  the  Ancre.   Since  the  ineffectual 
assault  by  the  British  on  July  1,  Sir  Hubert 
Gough's  troops  had  step  by  step  crept  towards 
the  hamlet  of  St.  Pierre  Divion  on  the  left  and 
the  village  of  Beaucourt-sur-Ancre  on  the  right 
bank    of    the    river.      They  *vere   well  within 
assaulting  distance  of  the  maze  of  vast  dug-outs, 
caverns  and  trenches  which  were  all  that  was 
left  of  Beaumont  Hamel  ;    Beaucourt,  higher 
up  the  Ancre,  was  situated  in  a  hollow.     North 
of  Beaumont  Hamel  the  plateau  up  to  the  village 
of  Serre  was  also  strongly  organized.       Before 
the  western  edge  of  Beaumont  Hamel,  down  to 
and  across  the  low  ground  before  our  linas,  ran 
successive  lines  of  trenches.     So  thick  were  the 
rusty  wire  entanglements — in  places  five  tiers 
deep,  each  often  8  feet  high  and  90  to  1 20  feet 
wide — that  from  a  distance  they  looked  like  a 
belt    of    brown    ploughed    land.       Behind    the 
trenches   and   entanglements   the   face   of   the 
slope  beyond  in  the  crease  of  the  hills  and  the 


LIEUT.-GENERAL  SIR   E.   A.    FANSHAWE, 
K.C.B. 

In  command  of  the   Fifth  Army  Corps. 

banks  of  the  Ancre  was  pierced  everywhere  with 
the   entrances   to   the   caverns   and   dug-outs. 
From  the  road  through  Beaumont  Hamel  to 
the  Ancre  a  deep  forked  ravine  descended  to 
the    enemy's    front    line    trench,    where    the 
extremities  of  the  prongs,  as  it  were,  of  the 
ravine  ended.       It  was  known  to  us  from  it? 
shape  as  the  "  Y  "  ravine  and  was  1,000  yards 
or  so  long.     At  these  western  points  the  prongs 
were  30  feet  and  more  in  depth,  with  precipitous 
sides  that  in  places  almost  overhung.      Below 
the  bottom  of  these  gullies  in  the  ground,  caves, 
some  of  them  large  enough  to  hold  a  battalion 
and  a  half  of  men,  had  been  constructed,  and  a 
tunnel  ran  back  to  the  fourth  line  trenches.     In 
caves  and   tunnels   the  enemy  lay  absolutely 
safe  from  shell-fire.     The  ruins  of  the  village  of 
Beaucourt  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Ancre  were 
not  furnished  with    underground  works  com- 


422 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAP. 


[Official  t 

BRINGING    IN    RIFLES   AND    EQUIPMENT    FROM    NO-MAN'S    LAND. 


parable  with  those  of  Beaumont  Hamel  and 
its  vicinity,  but  deep  dug-outs  there  provided 
accommodation  for  the  masses  held  in  reserve. 

Equally  formidable  were  the  defences  of  the 
hamlet  of  St.  Pierre  Divion  on  the  south  bank 
of  the  river.  Starting  from  four  recessed  and 
sheltered  entrances  on  the  river  level  a  great 
galley  ran  back  some  300  yards  into  the  hill. 
Then  it  branched  and  from  the  ends  of  the 
branches  passages  and  steps  led  up  to  the 
communication  and  other  trenches  on  the 
Thiepval  ridge  west  of  the  Sehwaben  Redoubt. 
This  network  of  tunnels  and  caverns,  some  of 
which  were  used  as  hospitals,  formed  perhaps 
the  largest  collection  of  underground  case- 
mates yet  discovered.  These  works  formed 
one  immense  fortress  with  a  front  of  nearly 
five  miles  lying  astride  the  Ancre  from  the 
Sehwaben  Redoubt  to  Serre.  At  the  end 
of  October  an  additional  Division — the  223rd, 
one  of  Hindenburg's  newly  constructed  divisions 
— had  been  added  to  the  garrison.  The  2nd 
(iiuird  Reserve  Division  was  on  the  north  of 
the  Ancre  ;  it  was  supported  by  troops  of 
the  12th,  55th,  58th,  62nd,  and  144th  Divisions. 
Kor  the  attack  on  the  3,000  yards  of  entrench- 
ments and  burrows  south  of  the  Ancre  and  of 
the  5,000  yards  north  of  the  river  only  troops 
recruited  in  the  British  Isles  were  employed. 
It  was  a  good  trial  of  strength  between  them 
and  the  inhabitants  of  Germany. 

At  a  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  November  11, 
the    preliminary    bombardment    of    the   Ancre 


fortress  had  begun.  It  continued  with  bursts 
of  great  intensity  until  the  morning  of  No- 
vember 13.  The  acres  of  barbed  wire  en- 
tanglements by  then  had  melted  away,  and  the 
surface  works  had  been  knocked  to  pieces. 
The  assault  was  fixed  for  6  a.m.  It  was 
preceded  by  a  sudden  and  very  effective 
barrage  fire.  A  dense  fog  covered  the  ground, 
and  the  fog  coupled  with  the  darkness  prevented 
the  Germans  from  perceiving  that  our  men  wen- 
concentrating  before  their  positions  in  un- 
usually large  numbers.  Consequently  the 
operation  partook  largely  of  the  nature  of  a 
surprise  South  of  the  Ancre  our  troops 
between  the  western  end  of  the  Regina  Trench, 
700  yards  north  of  the  Stuff  Redoubt  and  the 
Sehwaben  Redoubt,  attacked  the  formidable 
enemy  trench  known  as  "  the  Hansa  line," 
which  ran  unevenly  north-westward  down  to 
the  Ancre  just  opposite  Beaucourt  and  de- 
scended on  St.  Pierre  Divion.  By  7.20  a.m. 
our  objectives  east  of  the  hamlet  had  been 
reached  and  the  garrison  hemmed  in  between 
our  troops  and  the  river  were  isolated.  At 
7  a.m.  the  number  of  prisoners  captured  was 
greater  than  that  of  the  attacking  force.  Soon 
after  St.  Pierre  Divion  and  its  caverns  and 
tunnels  fell.  In  this  area  alone  nearly  1,400 
prisoners  were  taken  by  a  single  Division  at 
the  expense  of  less  than  600  casualties.  A 
Tank  had  rendered  considerable  assistance 
preceding  the  infantry.  The  new  ground  won 
was  a  wedge-shaped  piece  3,000  yards  in 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


423 


extreme    length    tapering    to    an    acute    angle 
where  it  reached  Regina  Trench. 

North  of  the  river  the  enemy  offered  a  more 
stubborn  resistance.  The  British  Naval  Di- 
vision had  been  allotted  the  task  of  storming 
the  enemy's  position  from  the  Ancre  to  the 
"  Y "  Ravine.  The  extreme  right  of  the 
Division  went  with  a  rush  across  the  level  of 
the  valley  bottom.  The  centre  had  to  attack 
diagonally  along  the  slope  of  the  hill  and  the 
extreme  left  to  mount  the  highest  point  of  the 
crest.  At  the  top  of  the  slope,  some  500  yards 
from  the  Ancre,  and  invisible  owing  to  being 
hidden  in  a  recess,  was  a  redoubt  comprised  of 
three  deep  pits  with  concrete  emplacements  for 
machine-guns,  which  could  fire  almost  flush 
with  the  surface  of  the  ground  in  all  directions. 
This  redoubt  was  situated  between  the  first  and 
second  trenches.  While  the  extreme  right  of 
the  Naval  Division  swept  up  the  valley,  the 
right  centre  was  hung  up  round  the  redoubt. 
The  left  of  the  Division,  however,  stormed  the 
ridge,  joined  hands  with  the  extreme  right, and 
formed  up  on  the  Beaumont  Hamel-Beaucourt 
road.  There  they  remained  for  the  rest  of  the 
day  and  during  the  night,  while  the  redoubt 
and  other  strong  points  were  being  reduced. 


At  3  a.m.  on  November  14,  a  Tank  arrived 
near  the  redoubt.  Unable  to  reach  it,  the  crew 
got  out  and  trained  their  machine-guns  on  it. 
The  survivors  of  the  garrison — 360  unwounded 
men — surrendered  and  the  advance  on  Beau- 
court  of  the  men  of  the  Naval  Division  pro- 
ceeded, the  same  Tank  or  another  accompany- 
ing our  infantry.  After  a  quarter  of  an  hour's 
fighting  the  village  was  captured,  and  at  day- 
light our  men  were  digging  themselves  in  on 
its  further  side.  The  Division  in  the  two  days' 
fighting  had  taken  1,725  prisoners  and  advanced 
2,000  yards  on  a  front  of  1,200. 

Meanwhile  a  Scottish  Division  had  been 
busy  in  the  "  Y "  Ravine  and  at  Beaumont 
Hamel.  At  all  points  except  at  the  entrances 
to  the  prongs  of  the  ravine,  the  Scottish  in- 
fantry broke  over  the  German  defences  without 
a  check.  Some  of  them  descended  into 
Beaumont  Hamel,  and  before  midday  were 
over  the  site  of  the  village  and  the  entrances 
of  the  caverns  beneath  it.  The  "  Y  "  Ravine 
was  the  theatre  of  a  long  and  bloody  contest. 
It  was  attacked  from  the  north  and  south.  At 
a  point  just  beyond  the  fork  of  the  "  Y  "  the 
Scots  tumbled  down  the  precipitous  sides, 
bombing  and  bayoneting  the  Germans  in  this 


BRITISH    AND    FRENCH    SOLDIERS    CLEANING    UP    CAPTURED    TRENCHES    AT 

ST.    PIERRE    DIVION. 


424 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF     THE    WAR. 


open  cutting.  Simultaneously  the  western 
entrances  of  the  ravine  were  attacked  and 
farther  up  towards  the  Beaumont  Hamel - 
Ke.'iucourt  road  other  parties  of  Scots  flung 
themselves  into  the  chasm.  The  surviving 
( Germans  fled  over  the  crest  of  the  ridge  or 
took  refuge  in  their  subterranean  laire,  from 
which  they  were  gradually  evicted.  The 
Scots,  as  a  whole,  took  1,400  prisoners  and  54 
machine-guns.  Farther  north  the  enemy's 
first-line  system  for  a  distance  of  half  a  mile 
beyond  Beaumont  Hamel  was  also  in  our  hands. 
Opposite  Serre  the  attack  was  not  pressed 


end  in  the  middle  of  November,  being  brought 
to  a  termination  by  the  bad  weather,  and 
henceforward  to  the  end  of  the  year  there  was 
no  really  important  fighting,  although  of  minor 
skirmishing  there  was  no  cessation,  and  we 
still  continued  to  make  some  little  but  con- 
tinuous progress.  On  November  15  the  gains 
of  the  two  previous  days  on  the  Ancre  were 
consolidated  and  further  gains  made.  One 
division  advanced  a  mile  on  the  north  side 
of  the  river  and  took  a  thousand  prisoners 
at  the  cost  of  only  450  casualties.  South  of 
the  Ancre  the  ground  raptured  east  of  the 


ermission,  from  the  Ojjtcial  Ancre  Film. 

SCOTTISH    TROOPS    ADVANCING    TO    THE    ATTACK. 


owing  to  the  morass-like  character  of  the  ground 
to  be  traversed.  On  the  morning  of  November 
14  our  line  was  extended  from  Beaucourt 
to  the  north-west  along  the  road  across  the 
southern  end  of  the  Beaumont  Hamel  spur. 
We  had  now  secured  the  command  of  the 
Ancre  on  both  banks  of  the  river  at  the  point 
where  it  entered  the  enemy's  lines.  On  the 
evening  of  the  14th,  Sir  Douglas  Haig  was  able 
to  report  that  he  had  captured  over  5,000 
prisoners  in  the  battle  of  the  Ancre.  The 
-erious  reverse  which  we  had  suffered  on  July  1 
at  this  part  of  the  field  had  been  wiped  out. 

On  the  14th  a  successful  advance  had  also 
been  made  east  of  the  Butte  de  Warleneoiirt, 
•100  or  500  yards  of  the  "  Grid  Trench  "  being 
taken  from  details  of  the  Prussian  1st  Guard 
Reserve  Division. 

Active    operations    practically    came    to    an 


Butte  de  Warlencourt  was  secured,  and  the 
enemy  massing  for  a  counter-attack  was 
dispersed  by  our  artillery  fire.  The  next  day 
there  was  considerable  fire  from  the  German 
artillery  north  and  south  of  the  Ancre,  but 
without  any  appreciable  result ;  and  the 
same  was  the  case  between  Le  Sars  and  Gueude- 
court.  On  the  other  hand  our  guns  caused 
several  explosions  in  the  German  positions. 
The  British  front  was  also  extended  to  the 
east  from  Beaucourt  along  the  north  bank  of 
the  Ancre.  The  enemy,  however,  managed  to 
ivgnin  a  part  of  the  ground  near  the  Butte  de 
Warlencourt,  which  hail  been  captured  from 
him  on  the  14th. 

Our  airmen  assumed  ae.tive  operations  against 
the  Germans.  Two  important  junctions  on 
their  lines  of  communication,  places  on  their 
railways,  billets  and  aerodromes  were  attacked 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


425 


with  bombs  and  machine-gun  fire  both  by 
night  and  day.  It  must  be  admitted  that 
the  enemy  displayed  more  enterprise  than 
usual,  but  he  lost  three  machines  on  the 
British  side  of  No  Man's  Land  and  two  on 
his  own,  while  five  more  were  compelled  to 
descend  to  earth  in  a  damaged  condition. 
Our  own  loss  was  three  aeroplanes.  By  this 
time  (since  September  13)  we  had  taken  6,190 
prisoners,  against  which  he  had  no  appreciable 
offset. 

On  Saturday,  November  18,  further  progress 
was  made  on  both  sides  of  the  Ancre,  but 
mostly  on  the  south,  where  we  gained  some 
500  yards  on  a  front  of  about  2£  miles  and 
reached  the  outskirts  of  Grandcourt.  On  the 
right  bank  of  the  river  we  advanced  about 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  to  the  north-east  of 
Beaucourt,  capturing  the  Bois  de  Hollaiide. 
Altogether  258  prisoners  were  taken. 

During  these  days  the  French  had  also  been 
heavily  engaged.  On  November  7  they  had 
captured  the  important  points  of  Ablaincourt 
and  Pressoir  to  the  north  of  Chaulnes.  It  was 
not  till  the  15th,  after  a  two  days'  bombard- 
ment, that  the  Germans  made  any  attempt  to 
recapture  this  portion  of  their  lost  position. 


A  very  serious  fight  then  ensued,  and  at  one 
time  they  managed  to  gain  a  footing  in  the 
eastern  part  of  Pressoir,  but  they  were  re- 
pulsed at  all  other  points  with  great  loss. 
A  like  fate  befel  them  north  of  the  Somme. 
Here  regiments  of  the  Prussian  Guards  attacked 
from  Lesboeufs  to  the  south  of  Bouchavesnes. 
They  managed  to  capture  the  northern  corner 
and  western  fringe  of  the  St.  Pierre  Vaast 
Wood,  but  were  beaten  back  all  along  the  rest 
of  the  front  attacked.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
French  progressed  on  the  northern  spur  of  the 
St.  Pierre  Vaast  Wood.  On  the  16th  tha 
Germans  claimed  to  have  entered  Saillisel  in 
the  morning,  but  by  the  evening  they  lost  it 
again,  and  were  also  turned  out  of  Pressoir. 
It  was  a  severe  repulse  for  three  German 
Divisions  in  ,which  they  suffered  very  heavy 
losses.  On  the  16th  French  airmen  fought 
54  engagements  with  German  aeroplanes, 
and  during  the  night,  they  dropped  a  ton  and 
a  half  of  bombs  on  a  railway  station  and 
aviation  park 

General  Headquarters  reported  that  on  the 
22nd  the  enemy's  aeroplanes  showed  more 
enterprise,  <and  some  of  them  crossed  the 
British  lines.  Three  fell  into  our  hands,  and  a 


[Uy  permission,  /rum  Hit  Official  Ancre  tilm. 


PRISONERS    FROM    BEAUMONT  HAMEL. 


42G 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


RUINS    OF    BEAUMONT    HAMEL    CHURCH. 


ii  in!  fhnlc.^raph. 


fourth  was  driven  down  behind  the  German 
line — one  of  ours  was  missing.  On  the  23rd 
twelve  of  our  machines  attacked  an  enemy 
formation  of  twenty,  and  dispersed  it.  One  of 
them  was  destroyed  and  several  driven  down 
damaged  ;  all  of  ours  returned  safely.  But 
in  other  fights,  where  our  men  destroyed  four 
of  the  enemy's,  we  lost  three. 

The  weather   was   now  very  bad,   and   the 
struggle  was  confined   to   the  artillery  with   a 


few  spasmodic  efforts  in  the  shape  of  trench 
raids  and  a  little  work  by  the  airmen. 

Thus  the  struggle  went  on  till  the  end  of  the 
month.  Nor  did  December  bring  any  increase 
in  military  enterprise  on  either  side,  although 
on  the  12th  the  German  report  was  that  the 
artillery  activity  again  temporarily  increased. 
It  was  backed  up  by  an  infantry  attack  on  the 
French  line  south  of  Roye.  A  few  small 
parties  managed  to  enter  our  Ally's  trenches, 


BEAUMONT    HAMEL. 


[Official  f  holograph. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


427 


but  they  were  driven  out  by  a  bomb  attack, 
and  the  position  was  completely  re-established 
Our  trench  raids  were  continued  along  the 
whole  line  held  by  the  French  and  ourselves. 
They  produced  a  certain  tale  of  prisoners, 
and  many  of  the  German  dug-outs  were 
injured. 

The  end  of  1916  found  the  Allies  in  the 
Western  Theatre  of  War  in  a  position  far 
different  from  that  which  they  had  held 
twelve  months  before.  Above  all,  the  pro- 


destruction  of  the  military  forces  of  the  Central 
Powers.  Thus  the  war,  both  on  the  Eastern 
and  Western  Fronts,  formed  part  of  the  general 
plan  for  the  defeat  of  the  Germans.  Nor  could 
the  Austro- Italian  Front  be  left  out  of  the 
Allied  Commanders'  calculations.  In  this 
theatre  by  the  beginning  of  June  the  Austrians 
had  made  considerable  impression  on  the  Italian 
line.  Plainly,  therefore,  the  situation  required 
fresh,  determined,  and  united  efforts  on  the 
part  of  the  Allies. 

The  Russians,  for  their  part,  in  the  campaign 


[Official  fltctograpn. 


QUIET    RESTING-PLACE    BEHIND    THE    TRENCHES. 


gress  made  in  the  last  half  of  the  year  had 
been  great. 

It  is  true  that  the  Germans  in  February, 
1916,  had  begun  their  attack  on  Verdun, 
and  they  had  continued  their  assaults  with 
sometimes  varying  success,  but,  on  the  whole, 
with  substantial  progress,  and  it  became 
evident  in  the  days  of  late  spring  that  some 
3ounter  blow  must  be  delivered  by  the  Allies 
to  relieve  the  pressure  on  this  important  point. 
Moreover,  it  was  necessary  not  to  look  upon 
the  different  campaigns  in  Europe  as  isolated 
efforts  without  relation  to  one  another,  but 
rather  as  forming  parts  of  one  scheme  for  the 


which  they  opened  at  the  beginning  of  June 
won  most  decided  successes  over  the  Austrians, 
and  led  to  the  transfer  of  considerable  German 
forces  from  the  Western  to  the  Eastern  Theatre 
of  War.  This  was  advantageous,  but  more 
was  needed.  The  British  and  French  leaders 
therefore  determined  on  a  combined  offensive 
at  the  end  of  the  month  to  pin  the  Germans 
to  that  part  of  the  front  of  operations  and 
prevent  them  from  aiding  the  Austrians  with 
troops  whether  against  the  Russians  or  Italians. 
The  Macedonian  operations  were  at  this  time 
only  a  minor  consideration. 

The  Allied  offensive  would  fulfil  two  other 


428 


fHK    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAIL 


objects.  It  would  relieve  the  pressure  on 
Verdun,  and,  at  the  same  time,  inflict  such 
I  c  >sses,  both  in  men  and  material,  on  the  Germans 
in  France  as  to  diminish  their  strength,  while 
the  moral  effect  of  driving  them  from  positions 
which  they  had  fortified  in  the  past  iwenty 
months  and  believed  to  be  impregnable  could 
not  fail  to  be  great.  .No  systematic  and  com- 
bined effort  had  yet  been  made  against  them  on 
a  large  scale,  extending  over  a  considerable 
stretch  of  country,  but  now  the  time  had  come 
when  it  could  be  undertaken  with  considerable 
prospect  of  success.  When,  with  inferior 
numbers,  both  of  men  and  guns,  the  Allies  had 
held  their  own  against  their  opponents,  they 
had  still  contrived  to  win  isolated  successes, 
and  the  attacks  of  the  Germans  had  been 
without  a  lasting  or  striking  result.  But  by 
the  middle  of  1916  both  British  and  French 
had  equipped  themselves  with  an  adequate 
artillery,  and  the  preponderance  in  guns  no 
longer  lay  with  their  opponents.  The  supplies 
of  ammunition  were  large  and  allowed  the 
continuous  bombardment  of  -the  German 
lines,  while  the  British  Infantry  had  been 
enormously  increased.  France,  too,  had 
strengthened  her  armies,  and  both  Allies 


were  now  capable  of  carrying  out  a  definite 
and  continuous  offensive  against  the  German 
positions.  Their  preparations  during  the  last 
months  had  put,  indeed,  a  very  different 
complexion  on  the  situation.  No  longer 
were  they  in  any  inferiority  with  regard  to 
weapons  ;  on  the  contrary,  both  in  numbers 
and  efficiency  they  were  better  off  than  were 
Germans.  This  has  been  clearly  shown  in 
the  previous  chapters  dealing  with  the  opera- 
tions on  the  Western  Front.  It  seems  probable 
that  the  German*  had  some  idea  of  a  limited 
offensive  in  tin  r-ai!\  summer,  for  on  May  21 
an  attack  had  been  made  by  the  Germans  on 
our  positions  on  the  Vimy  Ridge  and  south 
and  south-east  of  Souchez,  and  they  had  gained 
some  ground.  But  as  their  success  was  of 
no  strategic  or  tactical  value,  Sir  Douglas  Haig 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  better  to 
take  up  a  fresh  position  a  little  to  the  rear  of 
the  original  line  rather  than  use  up  troops  in  a 
counter-attack  who  could  be  better  employed 
in  the  larger  operatipn  he  had  in  view. 

On  June  2  the  enemy  made  a  determined 
attack  on  a  front  of  over  a  mile  and  a  half 
from  Mount  Sorrell  to  Hooge,  and  succeeded 
in  penetrating  our  line  to  a  depth  which,  at  its 


A    MEAL    AMONGST    THE    WRECKAGE. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAH. 


429 


MOVING    A   FIELD-GUN    TO    A    NEW    POSITION 


[Official 


greatest,  measured  some  .  700  yards.  As  the 
Germans  in  the  southern  part  of  the  captured 
position  commanded  the  British  trenches  more 
to  the  rear,  it  was  therefore  necessary  to  expel 
them  from  it.  This  was  done  on  June  13  by 
a  well-planned  and  well-executed  counter- 
stroke  and  the  original  trenches  were  recovered. 
The  Germans  showed  no  further  symptoms  of 
passing  to  the  offensive,  and  neither  one  nor 
other  of  these  affairs  in  any  way  delayed  the 
preparations  for  the  grand  attack  shortly  to 
be  undertaken. 

It  has  been  seen  how  successful  the  Somme 
operations  were.  The  pressure  on  Verdun  had 
been  relieved,  the  main  German  Army  had 
been  pinned  to  the  Western  front  of  operations 
and  its  strength  had  been  considerably  worn 
down.  The  sketch  annexed  shows  graphically 
the  gain  of  ground  made,  but  this  was  not  the 
only  gauge  by  which  success  was  to  be  esti- 
mated :  rather  was  it  to  be  found  in  the 
captures  of  prisoners  and  in  the  large  number 
of  weapons  won.  From  July  1  to  November  18, 
when  active  operations  practically  ceased, 
38,000  officers  and  men  had  been  taken, 
besides  29  heavy  guns,  96  field  guns  and 
howitzers,  136  trench  mortars  and  514  machine 
guns. 

Still  more  important  was  the  great  damage 
which  had  been  inflicted  on  the  German  moral. 
The  evidence  as  to  this  point  was  indubitable. 
Time  after  time  in  the  various  encounters  it 
had  been  noticed  that  the  Germans  no  longer 
Fought  as  well  as  they  had  done  earlier  in  the 
war.  It  is  certain  that  this  is  to  be  attributed 
to  the  fact  that  in  hand-to-hand  encounters 
they  found  they  were  opposed  by  better  men. 


No  soldiers  can  go  on  for  any  considerable 
time  recognizing  this  fact  without  suffering 
deterioration 

But  there  were  other  reasons  for  the  Allies' 
great    success.        In    the    contest    of    nations 


iCommgcourt 
/••  ^Bucquoy 

Hebuterne 


REFERENCE  .  ~~ '  fv 'xXXVv-N  W*   XT "^a* 

Babble  Line  Julyl*-—    ^XXv^^rERONNE 

Grouno 


SKETCH    MAP    SHOWING    THE    GROUND 

GAINED   BY  THE  BRITISH  AND  FRENCH 

IN    THE    BATTLE    OF    THE    SOMME. 

which  began  in  1914  the  destructive  power  of 
fire  had  been  enormously  developed.  It  had 
been  remarked  in  former  wars  of  recent  date 
that  they  had  become  less  bloody.  For  this 
the  main  reason  was  that,  while  improved 
weapons  had  increased  losses  at  the  actual 
points  of  contact,  the  same  intensity  along 
the  whole  line  of  battle  which  characterized 
the  encounters  of  earlier  time  wa*  no  longer 


430 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


seen.  Moreover,  the  great  sources  of  loss, 
disease  and  hardship,  due  to  want  of  food 
and  exposure,  were  better  in  hand.  But  in 
this  titanic  struggle,  although  medical  science 
had  practically  abolished  epidemic  disease 
from  the  armies  and  largely  diminished  the 
loss  from  exposure,  the  unprecedented 
progress  in  the  power  of  weapons  had 
enormously  increased  the  destruction  of  life 
on  the  battlefield.  Moreover,  there  was 
another  contributing  factor — the  continuous 
nature  of  the  struggle.  Before  the  supply  of 
food  and  ammunition  had  been  rendered  so 
much  easier  by  the  increased  facility  of  loco- 
motion due  to  liberal  construction  of  railways, 
good  roads  and  the  introduction  of  the  auto- 
mobile, there  were  constantly  occurring  pauses 

THE    STOKES    BOMB-THROWER. 


in  the  fighting,  and  battles  were  comparatively 
infrequent.  In  this  war,  whether  during  the 
time  the  operations  took  place  in  the  open 
country  or  during  those  which  were  made  up 
of  the  attack  and  defence  of  a  fortified  position, 
there  was  hardly  any  intermission.  Day  after 
day,  unless  the  weather  entirely  stopped 
operations,  there  were  encounters  of  a  more  or 
less  ardent  nature,  and  always  there  was  some 
artillery  work. 

The  struggle  on  the  ground  was  supplemented 
by  the  struggle  in  the  air,  which  had  a  very 
important  influence  on  the  conduct  of  war. 
If  two  large  armies  are  in  juxtaposition  with 
one  another,  both  sides  have  great  difficulty  in 
concealing  their  strategic  movements  from  one 
another.  For  the  aeroplanes,  with  their  long 
range,  can  ascertain  easily  what  movements  of 
troops  are  going  on  behind  the  enemy's  front, , 
provided  they  are  not  stopped  by  the  enemy's 
machines.  The  reconnoitring  duties  in  front 
of  the  army  had  been  largely  transferred  from 
the  cavalry  to  the  aviators,  and  it  is  just  as 
important  in  the  employment  of  airmen 
as  formerly  in  the  employment  of  horse- 
men to  ensure  the  predominance  of  the  recon- 
noitring arm — i.e.,  the  resistance  of  the  other 
side  must  be  disposed  of  just  as,  formerly, 


FITTING    FUSES    TO    STOKES    BOMBS. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


481 


the  enemy's  cavalry  had  to  be  torn  away 
before  the  duties  of  reconnaissance  could  be 
properly  carried  out.  It  is  plain  that  under 
modern  conditions  the  difficulty  of  executing 
strategical  movements  such  as  Xapoleon  em- 
ployed in  the  Marengo  campaign,  or  Wellington 
in  1813,  must  be  very  much  greater,  besides 
which  the  size  of  armies,  when  whole  nations 
are  in  arms,  makes  such  brilliant  movements 
still  more  difficult.  Fortunately  for  the  Allies 
both  British  and  French  airmen  at  the  time  of 
the  Battle  of  the  Somme  proved  themselves 
superior  on  the  whole  to  those  of  Germany. 

When  we  entered  on  tne  scene  of  action  in  the 
year  1914  our  soldiers  were  necessarily  armed 
and  trained  on  the  ideas  then  in  vogue.  They 
had  a  good  rifle,  a  moderate  equipment  of 
machine-guns,  possessed  in  their  guns  weapons 
which  were  more  powerful  than  those  of  other 
field  artilleries,  and  rather  more  numerous  than 
the  officially  published  endowment  of  the 
German  Army.  But  hardly  had  •  the  war 
begun  when  it  was  seen  that  Germany  had 
given  to  her  army  far  more  machine-guns, 
and  had  brought  far  heavier  guns  into  the 
field  and  in  greater  numbers  than  we  had 
expected  to  meet.  This  put  us  at  first  at  a 
great  disadvantage,  but  the  almost  super- 
human exertions  we  made  in  order  to  overcome 
it  brought  about  in  due  time  a  complete 
change.  Our  heavy  guns  were  more  numerous 
and  more  copiously  provided  with  ammuni- 
tion ;  we  had  brought  the  factory  on  to  the 
FlG.I. 

Company  Column. 


FIG. 2. 
Broad  Column. 


GERMAN  INFANTRY  COLUMNS. 
In  the  Company  Column  the  three  sections  are 
one  behind  the  other  at  nine  paces  distance.  The 
Broad  Column  consists  of  the  four  Company 
Columns  of  the  Battalion  with  intervals  of  five 
paces  between  them. 

battlefield  to  take  part  in  the  struggle.  The 
number  of  machine-guns  had  been  enormously 
increased,  and  the  infantry  had  been  provided 
with  the  Lewis  gun,  technically  a  machine- 
gun,  but  in  reality  an  automatic  rifle  which 
one  man  can  carry  and  manipulate,  and  which 
yet  gives  a  fire  equal  to  that  of  25  rifles.  This 


THE    STOKES     BOMB-THROWER    AND 

ITS    INVENTOR. 

This  illustration  shows  how  easily  the  arm  can  be 
carried. 

weapon  was  also  largely  used  in  our  aeroplanes, 
for  which  its  light  weight  rendered  it  peculiarly 
suitable.  The  cavalry,  too,  was  provided 
with  machine-guns,  because  so  much  of  its 
fighting  had  to  be  done  on  foot.  Great  use 
had  been  made  of  grenades  in  the  trench  warfare, 
and  our  trench  mortars — i.e.,  the  weapons 
which  hurl  bombs  of  various  sizes  at  a  very 
high  angle  of  fire  for  a  comparatively  short 
distance — were  distinctly  superior  to  those  of 
the  enemy.  Grenadiers  had  been  revived,  and 
formed  an  integral  part  of  every  company. 
The  special  form  known  as  the  Stokes  mortar 
or  howitzer  had  undoubtedly,  by  its  rapid  fire, 
produced  a  great  impression  on  the  Germans. 
All  these  inventions  and  improvements  enor- 
mously increased  the  amount  of  fire  on  the 
modern  battlefield.  The  old  doctrine  of  hus- 
banding ammunition  had  given  way  to  the  more 
rational  view — expend  as  much  as  you  can, 
provided  a  reasonable  effect  is  obtained  from 
it.  This,  of  course,  involved  enormous  supplies, 
^.idi  as  in  1914  were  undreamt  of.  War  had 
become  largely  a  question  of  material.  No 
soldiers,  however  good,  could  succeed  without  it. 


432 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


TROOPS    RESTING    BEHIND    A    SHELTERED    BANK. 


[Official  photograph. 


It  is  a  curious  thing  that  just  when  fire  had 
been  rendered  more  intense,  when  the  great 
object  of  rationally  manoeuvred  infantry  was 
to  use  formations  which  offered  as  little  target 
as  possible,  compatible  with  a  proper  develop- 
ment of  fire  power,  without  which  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  advance  against  a  well- 
defended  position,  the  Germans  should  have 
harked  back  to  the  worst  type  of  French 
tactics  of  a  hundred  years  before.  Large  and 
dense  columns  were  then  found  impossible  on 
the  battlefield,  but  they  were  seen  once  more 
in  the  German  Army.  There  had  always  been 
a  certain  school  in  it  which  believed  in  them, 
arid  they  were  employed  fairly  frequently  on 
the  battlefields  in  France,  causing  frightful 
losses,  and  never  succeeding  unless  the  troops 
attacked  were  on  the  point  of  going  back,  and 
so  were  unable  to  bring  sufficient  fire  to  bear 
on  them. 

The  narrative  has  shown  that  the  Allies 
really  obtained  the  results  they  sought  for  in 


the  Battle  of  the  Somme.  But  it  was  scarcely 
to  be  expected  that  the  Germans  would  in 
any  way  admit  this.  On  the  contrary,  the 
newspapers,  the  General  Headquarters  and  the 
German  people  claimed  that  they  had  won  the 
battle. 

The  German  Headquarter  Staff  at  the  end 
of  December  declared  that  "  the  great  battle 
of  the  Somme  was  actually  ended.  Since 
the  last  infantry  attacks  failed  lamentably 
over  four  weeks  ago  the  fire  of  the  French 
and  British  artillery  had  also  diminished  to 
such  an  extent  that  it  became  possible  for  the 
defenders  to  rebuild  their  defences,  which  at 
places  only  consisted  of  shattered  trenches 
and  shell  craters.  These  four  weeks  of  relative 
calm,  which  the  exhausted  assailants  were 
forced  to  allow  the  defenders,  have,  once  and 
for  all,  sealed  the  fate  of  the  Somme  Battle  !  " 
A  few  months  later  the  Germans  were  scuttling 
back  as  hard  as  they  could  from  a  position 
which,  according  to  Iheir  own  statements, 
had  been  restored  to  its  pristine  strength  ! 


CHAPTER     CLXXIX. 
THE 

RUMANIAN  CAMPAIGN  OF  1916: 
(II.)  TO  FALL  OF  BUKAREST. 

THE  STRATEGIC  POSITION  IN  OCTOBER,  1916 — THE  PASSES  LEADING  INTO  RUMANIA — FIGHTING 

IN  THE  TORZBURG  AND  PflEDEAL  PASSES ENEMY  OFFENSIVE  ON  THE  MOLDAVIAN  FRONTIER — 

RUSSIAN  REINFORCEMENTS — KRAFFT  VON  DELMENSINOEN  ATTACKS  THE  RED  TOWER  PASS — ENEMY 
ADVANCE  IN  THE  VULCAN  PASS — RUMANIAN  VICTORY  AT  TARGUL-JIU — FIGHTING  IN  THE  DOB- 
KUDJA — GENERAL  SAKHAKOFF  IN  COMMAND — GERMAN  ADVANCE  IN  THE  Jiu  VALLEY — FALL  OF 
CRAIOVA — MACKENSEN  CROSSES  THE  DANUBE — CONCENTRIC  ADVANCE  AGAINST  THE  ARGESH  LINE 
— BATTLE  OF  NEAJLOVU — RUMANIAN  DEFEAT — EVACUATION  OF  BUKAREST — GERMANS  ENTER  THE 
CITY. 


THE  Austro  -German  counter-offensive 
against     Rumania    falls    into    four 
marked  stages.     Its   first   task   was 
to    clear    Transylvania    and    regain 
control   of    the   semi-circle   of   railway   in   the 
Upper  Maros  and  Aluta  valleys  which  runs  in 
eastern    and    southern    Transylvania    almost 
parallel    to    the    Rumanian  frontier  and    at  a 
short  distance  from  it.     As  was  pointed  out  in 
Chapter    CLXXIII.,    this    railway    gave    to    an 
Austrian     offensive     against     the     Rumanian 
frontier  a  very  consideraV  le  strategic  advantage, 
because  a  Rumanian  army  attempting  to  defend 
the  frontier  of  its  country  did  not  dispose  of 
any  similar  convenient  lateral  communications.* 
The   Austro-German   offensive   began   about 
the    middle    of    September    and    succeeded    in 
recapturing    the    whole    of    Transylvania    by 
October  14.     Thenceforth,  the  Rumanians  had 
to  fight  at  the  gates  of  their  own  country,  in 
the  Carpathian  passes.     The  enemy  offensive 
against  Rumania  was  opened  by  a  simultaneous 
attack    practically    along    all    the    roads    and 
passes   which   lead   across   the  frontier   range ; 
it  was  in  the  interest  of  the  German  Command 
to  force  our  Allies  to  disperse  their  force*  along 


*  Cf.  p.  201. 
Vol.  XI — Part   142. 


the  entire  line.  The  German  Command  with 
the  help  of  its  much  superior  system  of  lateral 
railways  could  then  shift  the  main  weight  of 
its  offensive  with  incomparably  greater  speed 
than  the  Rumanians  could  achieve  in  read- 
justing their  dispositions  to  the  movements 
of  the  enemy. 

Three  distinct  sectors  may  be  distinguished 
within  the  battle-line  along  the  frontier  range, 
each  of  them  based  on  one  railway  connecting 
Transylvania  with  Rumania.     The  Moldavian 
sector  centring   round   the  Gyimes   pass   with 
minor  ramifications  in  the  Tolgyes,  the  Bekas, 
the  Uz  and  the  Oitoz  passes,  had  been  assigned 
during  the  Rumanian  offensive  of  September. 
1916,   to   the  Fourth  Rumanian  Army  under 
General  Presan.     The  region  of  the  six  passe* 
south  of  Kronstadt,  between  the  Busau  rivor 
in  the  east  and  the  Fogaras  mountain   range 
in  the  west,  which  may  be  described  as   the 
central  group  of  passes,  constituted  the  main 
front    of    the    Second  Rumanian  Army ;     its 
most  important  artery  of  communication  was 
the  road  and  railway  which  run  from  Bukarest 
and    Ploeshti    over    the    Predeal    Pass.     The 
Second   Rumanian   Army,    which   at   the   out- 
break of  the  War  was  commanded  by  General 


433 


434 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


Averescu,  had  for  about  a  month  remained 
under  the  leadership  of  General  Crainiceanu, 
whilst  Genera!  Averescu  was  in  charge  of  the 
Rumanian  operations  in  the  Dobrudja ;  by 
the  middle  of  October,  when  the  position  on 
the  Transylvanian  front  had  become  most 
critical,  he  was  transferred  back  to  his  old 
command,  and  a  short  time  afterwards  was 
entrusted  with  the  supreme  command  of  all 
the  Rumanian  armies.  The  third  sector  within 
the  Carpathian  front,  the  northern  border  of 
Wallachia,  was  the  field  within  which  operated 
the  First  Rumanian  Army  under  General  Culcer. 
Its  centre  lay  round  the  Red  Tower  Pass  in  the 
Aluta  Valley,  where  the  railway  from  Hermann- 
stadt  to  Rimnic  and  Slatina  crosses  the  frontier  ; 
its  secondary  centres  lay  in  the  Vulcan  and 
Szurduk  passes  at  the  head -waters  of  the 
Jiu  river,  and  near  Orsova  on  the  Danube  at 
the  meeting-point  of  Rumania,  Serbia  and 
Hungary.  The  disposition  of  the  Rumanian 
armies  along  this  front  remained  in  its  main 
outlines,  even  after  the  retreat  from  Tran- 
sylvania, what  it  had  been  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  war.  But  the  Rumanians,  having  lost 
considerably  during  the  first  seven  weeks  of 
the  campaign  and  being  faced  by  an  enemy 


much  superior  in  numbers  and  still  more  in 
artillery  and  other  war  material,  were  in  sore 
need  of  help.  This  they  were  soon  to  receive 
from  Russia.  Whilst  the  battle  was  still 
proceeding  along  the  frontier  range  the  Rus- 
sians gradually  took  over  the  northern  part 
of  the  Moldavian  sector,  thereby  enabling  the 
Rumanians  to  concentrate  the  Fourth  and 
Second  Armies  for  the  defence  of  the  angle 
between  Moldavia  and  Wallachia.  Also  the 
defence  of  the  Dobrudja  front  was  gradually 
taken  over  by  the  Russians. 

The  German  counter-offensive  under  General 
von  Falkenhayn  in  Transylvania  had  proceeded 
from  west  to  east,  starting  about  the  middle 
of  September  in  the  Streiu  Valley  south  of 
Hatszeg,  then  proceeding  to  Hermannstadt 
and  the  Red  Tower  Pass  (which  it  reached 
towards  the  end  of  September),  and  finishing 
in  the  battle  of  Kroristailt  (about  October  10). 
Concurrently  with  it  the  Austro-Hungarian 
armies  under  General  von  Arz  advanced  from 
central  and  northern  Transylvania  against  the 
western  frontier  of  Moldavia.  Important  forces 
had,  of  course,  been  left  behind  by  the  Germans 
in  front  of  the  Red  Tower  Pass  in  order  to 
guard  against  a  possible  Rumanian  counter- 


AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN     FOOD    CONVOY    IN    THE    TRANSYLVANIAN    ALPS. 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


485 


RUMANIAN    TROOPS    ON    THE    WAY    TO    THE    FRONT. 


stroke  which  might  have  cut  Falkenhayn' s 
connexions  with  his  base  in  the  Hungarian 
plain.  Yet  it  was  natural  that  the  first  attack 
against  the  Rumanian  defences  in  the  passes 
should  have  been  delivered  in  the  direction  in 
which  the  main  armies  of  Falkenhayn  and  Arz 
were  moving — i.e.,  against  the  central  group 
of  passes  south  of  Kronstadt  and  against  the 
Moldavian  frontier.  After  these  attacks  had 
met  with  failure,  but  the  enemy  offensive 
which  followed  against  western  Wallachia  had 
succeeded,  the  German  semi-official  comment 
tried  to  make  out  that  it  had  never  been  the 
intention  of  their  Supreme  Command  to  break 
through  in  the  south-eastern  passes,  but  that 
this  had  always  been  a  mere  mano3uvre  which 
aimed  at  attracting  and  binding  Rumanian 
forces  in  an  area  other  than  that  singled  out 
for  the  main  attack.  The  truth  of  the  matter 
was  probably  this  :  that  the  German  Supreme 
Command  acted  on  a  plan  which,  if  successful, 
would  have  given  them  an  overwhelming 
victory,  but  which,  even  if  only  partially 
carried  out,  yet  gave  them  the  means  of  achiev- 
ing remarkable  though  less  overwhelming 
successes.  Falkenhayn's  attack  south  of  Kron- 
stadt opened  about  October  12  ;  by  October  15 
it  attained  its  full  development.  Concurrently 
with  it  Mackensen  reopened  his  offensive  in 
the  Dobmdja,  taking  the  crossings  of  the 
Danube  at  Cernavoda  and  Hirshova  for  his 
objective.  These  two  combined  movements 
threatened  to  pierce  Rumania  through  the 
laiddle,  somewhere  along  the  line  of  the  river 


Jalomitsa  or  of  the  Busau.  It  would  have  cut 
off  practically  the  whole  of  Wallashia  with 
the  capital  of  Bukarest  from  all  connexion 
with  Moldavia  and  Russia.  In  fact,  if  fully 
successful  it  would  probably  have  proved  the 
greatest  feat  of  arms  of  the  war.  These  at- 
tempts, though  they  failed  to  achieve  their 
major  objective,  yet  proved  of  pre-eminent 
strategic  value.  Mackensen,  even  after  having 
been  driven  back  for  some  distance  by  the 
Russian  counter-offensive  in  the  first  half  of 
November,  still  retained  command  of  the  central 
belt  in  the  Dobrudja  and  of  the  Cernavoda- 
Constanza  railway,  thus  depriving  the  Ru- 
manians of  an  important  line  of  communi- 
cation whereby  supplies  could  be  brought  up 
from  Russia  by  way  of  the  Black  Sea ;  he 
further  lengthened  considerably  his  front 
along  the  Danube,  and  every  lengthening  of  the 
battle-line  was  to  the  disadvantage  of  the 
Rumanians,  who  were  now  entirely  on  the 
defensive.  Finally,  by  forcing  the  Russians 
to  undertake  a  counter-offensive  in  the  northsrn 
Dobrudja  and  at  the  Wallachian  end  of  the 
Cernavoda  bridges,  he  compelled  them  to 
direct  into  that  theatre  of  war  reinforcements 
which  might  otherwise  have  been  used  on  the 
Transylvanian  border.  In  the  passes  south 
of  Kronstadt  Falkenhayn  forced  his  way  to 
a  distance  varying  from  5  to  15  miles  ;  it  is 
clear  that  a  further  advance  at  that  rate  could 
not  have  yielded  any  decisive  results  within 
the  short  time  which  the  German*  had  for 
their  operations  against  Rumania.  Yet  the 


436 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


DEFENDING    THE    MAIN    ROAD    FROM    KRONSTADT    TO    BUKAREST    IN    THE 

PREDEAL    PASS. 


advance  was  sufficient  to  bind  considerable 
Rumanian  forces  in  these  passes.  When, 
towards  the  beginning  of  November,  the  main 
weight  of  the  German  offensive  was  shifted 
to  Western  Wallachia,  our  Allies  found  it 
impossible  to  detach  any  troops  from  southern 
Moldavia  or  from  the  central  passes  for  the 
defence  of  the  Jiu  and  Aluta  valleys.  Had 
they  done  so,  the  German  Command  might 
have  resumed  its  original  attempt  at  piercing 
Rumania  in  the  district  where  the  salient  of 
south-eastern  Transylvania  protrudes  towards 
the  Central  Dobrudja,  and  in  view  of  their 
inferiority  in  communications  the  Rumanians 
would  probably  not  have  been  able  to  follow 
up  the  movement  with  sufficient  speed  to 
avert  disaster.  The  First  Rumanian  Army- 
was  therefore  told  that  it  could  not  expect  help 
from  the  other  groups,  but  must  battle 
exclusively  with  its  own  forces.  So  it  did 
for  a  while  with  remarkable  success  The 
first  battle  of  Targul-Jiu  (October  24  to 
October  30),  in  which  unfortunately  General 
Dragalina  lost  his  life,  was  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  victories  won  by  the  Rumanians 
during  the  second  stage  of  the  enemy's  counter- 
offensive.  But  a  fortnight  later  the  German 


attempt  at  debouching  from  the  Vulc-an  Pass 
into  the  Wallachian  plain  was  repeated  with 
infinitely  stronger  forces  by  the  Army  Group 
of  General  von  Kiihne.  On  November  18. 
after  more  than  a  month  of  fighting  in  tho 
passes,  the  Germans  forced  a  gate  into  Ru- 
mania and  by  November  21  reached  the  town 
of  Craiova  m  the  centre  of  tho  Wallachian 
plain. 

With  the  breakdown  of  the  Rumanian 
defences  along  the  frontier  ridge  begins  the 
third  and  shortest  stage  of  the  German  offen- 
sive, the  conquest  of  Wallachia  up  to  Bukarest. 
Any  attempt  to  stop  the  invasion  east  of  the 
Bukarest-Ploeshti  line  would  have  been  doomed 
to  failure.  The  position  in  the  enormous 
salient  of  Wallachia,  sandwiched  in  between 
Transylvania  and  Bulgaria,  had  always  been 
one  of  considerable  difficulty.  Now  that  the 
Germans  had  forced  their  way  into  its  centre, 
and  were'  advancing  along  the  line  which 
forms  the  backbone  of  the  railway  system  in 
Wallachia,  the  position  became  untenable. 
For  a  large  part  of  the  Rumanian  forces  which 
held  the  two  parallel  flanks  along  the  Car- 
pathian range  and  along  the  Danube,  the  roads 
and  railway  in  the  centre  of  tho  Wallachian 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


437 


plain  were  both  the  purveyors  of  supplies  and 
the  only  convenient  line  of  retreat  No 
considerable  forces  could  now  be  placed  on  the 
flanks  to  maintain  their  defences  intact  at  any 
cost,  because  a  reverse  in  the  centre  might 
easily  have  cut  'them  off  in  their  isolated  ad- 
vanced positions.  On  the  other  hand  none  of 
the  many  river  lines  which  traverse  the  Walla- 
chian  plain  from  north  to  south  could  have 
been  held  if  the  flanks  were  not  sufficiently 
covered.  The  problem  of  holding  Wallachia 
west  of  the  Argesh  was  thus  a  vicious  circle, 
and  the  Rumanians  had  to  think  of  how  to 
effect  their  retreat  from  the  salient  of  which 
the  defences  were  crumbling  rather  than  of 
arresting  the  invasion  of  their  country  by  the 
enemy.  From  the  west  the  Army  Group  of 
General  von  Kiihne,  supported  by  the  Cavalry 
Corps  under  General  Count  Schmettow,  was 
pressing  its  advance,  whilst  on  the  Traiisyl- 
vanian  frontier  the  Army  Group  of  General 
Krafft  von  Delmensingen  was  debouching 
from  the  Red  Tower  Pass,  and  that  of  General 
von  Morgen  from  the  Torzburg  and  the  Pre- 
deal.  Meantime,  in  the  last  week  of  November, 
on  the  southern  front  Field-Marsha!  von 
Mackensen  had  thrown  his  left  wing  across  the 
Danube,  effecting  a  junction  with  the  armies 
of  General  von  Falkenhayn.  The  so-called 
Danube  Army  under  General  von  Kosch 
crossed  round  Sistovo  and  Zimnicea,  leaving 
the  Dobrudja  front  in  charge  of  the  Third 
Bulgarian  Army  under  General  Nerizoff.  On 
November  30  Mackensen  himself  took  over 
the  supreme  command  of  the  vast  array  of 
generals  and  armies  wliich  were  approaching 
the  base  of  the  Wallachian  salient.  There, 
on  the  Argesh,  the  first  serious  resistance  was 
offered  by  our  Allies  to  the  enemy  advance.. 
Help  from  Russia  was  forthcoming  :  Russian 
troops  were  arriving  in  considerable  force  ;  it 
seemed  that  successful  resistance  had  now 
become  possible.  Had  it  not  been  for  the 
indolence,  in  one  case  even  the  criminal  indo- 
lence, of  some  subordinate  commandei-s,  maybe 
the  German  offensive  would  have  been  arrested 
on  that  line.  With  the  loss  of  the  batt!6 
and  the  line  of  the  Argesh  and  the  enemy 
occupation  of  Bukarest  on  December  6  opens 
the  fourth  stage  of  the  Austro-German 
offensive  against  Rumania  during  which  the 
evacuation  of  Wallachia  and  of  the  Dobrudja 
was  completed  and  the  battle-front  was  with- 
drawn to  the  Sereth  line.  The  enemy  advance 
was  finally  brought  to  a  stop  about  the  middle 


of  January,  1917,  on  a  line  running  close  to  the 
frontier  of  .Moldavia  from  the  north  down  to 
the  Gyimes  Pass,  and  then  from  about  Agas  in  " 
the  Trotus  Valley  to  Vadeni,  south  of  Galatz, 
the  town  of  Okna  remaining  in  the  hands  of 
the  Rumanians,  but  Focshani  coming  just 
within  the  lines  of  the  enemy. 

South  of  Kronstadt  six  important  passes  open 
into  Rumania  within  a  sector  which,  as  the 


LIEUT.-GENERAL    KRAFFT    VON 

.  DELMENSINGEN. 
In  command  of  the  German  Aluta-Group. 

crow  flies,  measures  only  about  45  miles.  Across 
the  most  westerly  of  them,  the  Torzburg,  runs 
the  high  road  to  Dragoslavele  and  Campolung. 
South-west  of  the  old-Saxon  colony  of  Rosenau 
and  its  "  Peasants'  Stronghold  " — wherein  in 
past  ages  the  settlers  used  to  take  refuge  at  the 
approach  of  Turkish  armies — the  road  leaves 
the  wide,  open  fields  of  the  Burzenland,  and 
rises  towards  the  Carpathian  Alps.  From  the 
Knights'  Castle,  which  crowns  the  high  ledge 
of  rock  above  Torzbach,  one  catches  a  last  clear 

142—2 


438 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


view  of  the  plain ;  then  the  road  recedes 
between  the  dark  mountains  and  climbs  by 
winding  serpentines  on  to  higher  and  higher 
levels.  In  between  a  maze  of  heights,  above 
deep  ravines  and  their  rumbling  waters,  through 
primeval  forests  of  firs  and  pines  the  narrow 
road  runs  towards  the  continually  receding 
sombre  mass  of  the  main  ridge.  One  might 
almost  despair  of  reaching  it,  but  the  mountain 
tops  which  have  been  left  behind  sink  one  by 
one  to  lower  levels,  clouds  fill  the  ravines,  the 
forests  recede,  and  over  open  mountain-sides 
one  approaches  the  rocky  summits  which  sur- 


rest,  the  other  continuing  to  the  south-west, 
towards  Campolung,  the  terminus  of  the  railway 
from  Piteshti.  Besides  this  railway  four  other 
lines  meet  at  Piteshti,  the  most  important  rail- 
way junction  in  Rumania  west  of  Ploeshti  and 
Bukarest.  Some  minor  mountain  roads  which, 
near  the  town  of  Torzburg  on  the  northern 
slope  of  the  pass,  branch  off  from  the  main 
highway  rejoin  it  between  Dragoslavele  and 
Targovishte,  but  south  of  Rosenau  not  a  single 
convenient  lateral  track  connects  it  with  the 
neighbouring  road  and  pass  of  the  Predeal. 
The  wild,  pathless  Butzegi  Mountains,  which 


JJn 
fa 
C3ria  Homeric 

\  .  Slaniku 

marnic     Bertea 


oC&rhurtesri 

ValenideMunfce 

Scale oF  Miles. 


MAP    OF    THE    EAST    WALLACHIAN    PASSES. 
The  scene  of  the  German  attempts  to  cut  off  the   \\alluchian  salient. 


round  the  Torzburg  Pass.  Having  crossed  the 
main  ridge  the  wanderer  sees  stretching  before 
him  several  heavy,  parallel  mountain  walls,  the 
spurs  of  the  Fogaras  Mountains,  of  which  the 
main  part  extends  due  east  and  west,  but  which 
in  this  region  bend  towards  the  south-east.  Far 
away,  beyond  the  valleys  in  which  the  villages 
of  Rucar  and  Dragoslavele  lie  hidden  from 
him,  his  eye  may  catch  at  sunset  the  distant 
gilded  cupolas  of  the  stately  Byzantine 
churches  of  Campolung. 

The  road  across  the  Torzburg  is  one  of  the 
lu'st  which  lead  into  Rumania,  and  is  equal  in 
quality  to  that  of  the  Predeal.  At  Dragoslavele 
it  divides,  one  branch  following  to  the  south  the 
River  Dambovitsa,  on  whose  banks  lies  Buka- 


rise  to  a  height  of  about  8,000  feet,  intervene 
between  the  two. 

Through  the  Predeal  or  Toivos  Pass  leads  the 
shortest  and  most  direct  road  from  Kronstadt 
to  Ploeshti  and  Bukarest,  and  the  only  railway 
which  crosses  the  frontier  within  the  central 
groups  of  passes.  Near  Bacsfalu  the  road  and 
railway  leave  the  long-drawn  street  of  the  Seven 
Villages  and  turn  off  into  the  narrow  valley  of 
the  Tomos,  a  tributary  of  the  Aluta.  They 
repeatedly  cross  and  recross  the  narrow  gorge 
of  the  river  in  search  of  even  ground  between 
the  steep,  wooded  slopes  of  the  Schuler  Moun- 
tain ( 6,000  feet  high)  in  the  west,  and  the  slightly 
higher  Hohenstein  in  the  east.  Beyond  the 
village  of  Tomos  the  frontier  ridge  bars  the 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


489 


THE    PRINCIPAL    STREET    IN    PREDEAL. 
Showing  effects  of  the  German  bombardment. 


southern  entrance  of  the  defile,  extending  like  a 
high  causeway  between  the  mountains  on  both 
sides.     The  level  of  the  ridge  slowly  drops  from 
the  east  across  the  wide  open  top  of  the  Csaplyat 
towards  the  depression,  where  in  the  midst  of 
magnificent,    old    pine    forests    the    road    and 
railway  cross  the  Predeal  Pass  at  a  height  of 
about  3,300  feet.     At  the  end  of  the  last  ser- 
pentine the  silhouette  of  a  building  rises  against 
the  sky-line — the  last,  most  northerly  house  of 
Predeal,    the    well-known    Rumanian    health- 
resort.     Placed  in  the  midst  of  beautiful  pine- 
forests,  on  the  southern  slope  of  the  frontier 
ridge,    Predeal    consisted    almost     entirely    of 
villas,  owned  by  rich  or  well-to-do  Bukafest 
families  who  used  to  retire  there  in  the  summer 
to  escape  the  heat  and  dust  of  the  Wallachian 
plain.     It  was  to  be  now  the  first  object  on 
Rumanian  soil  on  which  the  furor  Teutoni^uK 
could  vent  itself  ;    although  an  open  town  of 
little  strategic  importance — the  main  Rumanian 
defences  were  placed  on  the  hills  which  dominate 
the  pass,  and  not  across  the  road — it  was  day 
after  day  bombarded  by  the  enemy  artillery. 
Dr.  Blasel,  as  an  eye-witness,  put  on  record  in 
the  Vienna  Ncue  Freie  Presse  of  December  20, 
1916,  a  description  of  Predeal  after  the  Ruma- 
nian forces  had  been  withdrawn  to  the  second 
line  of  heights  and  the  Germans  and  Magyars 
had  entered  the  town.      "  In  the  course  of  the 


war  I  have  seen  in  Galicia  and  in  Poland  many 
towns  which  had  suffered  complete  destruction," 
writes  Dr.  Blasel  in  his  admiring  commemora- 
tion of  frightfulness,  "  but  these  had  suffered 
mainly  from  conflagration,  whilst  Predeal  has 
been  completely  shot  to  pibces.  There  is  not 
a  single  house  which  does  not  show  the  results 
of  a  few  well-aimed  shots.  The  roofs  of  the 
turrets  slant  sharply,  other  roofs  which  had 
been  covered  with  tiles  are  changed  into  skele- 
tons— the  tiles  broken  by  shrapnel  have  fallen 
down  and  only  the  rafters  remain.  Half  of  the 
railway  station  is  destroyed,  and  also  the  villa 
of  Bratianu  (the  Rumanian  Prime  Minister)  has 
been  hit  several  times.  The  intensity  of  the 
bombardment  can  be  seen  also  in  the  forest  in 
front  of  Predeal — its  trees  are  changed  into 
match-wood,  not  a  single  branch  remains  un- 
scarred." 

"  The  northern  part  of  Predeal  has  been 
demolished,"  wrote  the  correspondent  of  the 
Frankfurter  Zeitung  under  date  of  October  25, 
in  an  even  more  outspoken  strain  of  jubilation, 
"  the  villas  and  summer  residences  of  Bukarest 
society — some  of  them  very  elegant  indeed — 
are  desolate  ruins.  The  villa  of  Bratianu  has 
been  turned  into  mere  wreckage  and 
rubbish." 

The  second  and  main  defensive  position  of 
the  Rumanians  in  the  pass  ran  south  of  the 


440 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


town  of  Predeal.  The  road  and  railway 
descend  from  the  frontier  ridge  into  the  narrow 
gorge  of  the  Prahova  Valley,  enclosed  on 
both  sides  by  the  massif  of  the  Clabucetu 
mountains,  which  overtower  by  far  the  pass 
and  its  heights.  The  Baiu  (4,600  feet)  in  the 
west  and  the  Taur  (5,000  feet)  east  of  the 
Prahova  were  like  guarding  bastions  which 


with  its  western  tributary,  Cerbul,  lies  the 
industrial  settlement  of  Azuga.  Whilst  the 
battle  still  raged  for  the  frontier  ridge  its 
railway  station,  in  its  central  position  near  the 
junction  of  the  valleys,  served  as  the  terminal 
depot  for  the  Rumanian  troops  in  the  Predeal 
sector.  The  spacious  buildings  of  its  factories, 
their  yards  and  storehouses  contributed  to  make 


THE    KING  OF  RUMANIA    AND    M.    BRATIANU. 


barred  the  road  to  an  enemy  advance  to  the 
south.  Nor  could  this  position  have  been 
turned,  as  its  flanks  were  fully  protected  by 
the  Omul  ("The  Man")  mountain  group 
(8,100  feet)  and  the  Rus  (6,600  feet).  Beyond 
it,  south  of  the  Clabucetu  range,  where  the 
Prahova  River  is  joined  from  the  east  by  the 
Azuga,  and  a  short  distance  above  its  junction 


it  a  suitable  military  base.  A  very  consider- 
able number  of  the  factories  at  Azuga,  which 
used  the  wood  of  the  surrounding  forests 
(sawmills,  paper-mills,  etc.),  were  owned  by 
Austro-Hungarian  firms,  whose  employees 
had  thus  been  able  before  the  war  to  traverse 
the  frontier  range  in  all  directions,  to  record 
or  even  map  out  convenient  tracks,  to  mark 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


441 


trees,  etc. — all,  of  course,  "  exclusively  with  a 
view  to  business."  It  would  be  instructive 
to  know  how  many  of  them  in  October,  1916, 
returned  as  army  officers  to  their  familiar 
haunts. 

Seven  miles  south  of  Azuga,  in  the  shadow 
of  Mount  Sinai,  with  its  old  Greek-Orthodox 
monastery  (founded  in  1083)  and  its  magni- 
ficent Byzantine  church,  lies  Sinaia,  the  summer 
capital  of  Rumania.  A  modern  town.,  had 
grown  up  there  since  about  1880,  when  the 
Royal  Palace  was  built  on  the  hill  below  the 
monastery  ;  the  foreign  legations,  members 
of  the  Rumanian  Government  and  the  society 
of  Bukarest  used  to  gather  here  in  summer. 
The  exterior  of  the  Palace  itself  is  sumptuous 
rather  than  beautiful  ;  it  is  one  of  those  struc- 
tures which  imitate  mediaeval  German  castles 
and  which,  fashionable  some  thirty  years  before 
the  war,  disfigure  many  a  European  town  even 
beyond  the  frontiers  of  Germany.  The  interior, 
however,  contained  most  magnificent  halls 
filled  with  treasures  of  art,  both  Oriental  and 
European  (the  picture  gallery  included  work-s 
of  some  of  the  best-known  old  masters).  In 
the  hope  of  loot  the  Germans,  when  they  reached 
Sinaia  towards  the  end  of  November,  refrained 
from  bombarding  the  castle. 


Following  from  Kronstadt  and  Baesfalu  the 
main  street  of  the  Seven  Villages — the  home  of 
a  quaint,  isolated,  mongrel  tribe,  the  so-called 
Csango-Magyars — one  approaches  the  village 
of  Altschanz  where  the  road  forks,  one  branch 


M.    BRATIANU'S    VILLA    AT    PREDEAL. 

running  to  the  Predelus  or  Altschanz,  the  other 
to  the  Bratocea  Pass.  The  roads  are  bad,  the 
hills  covered  with  moors,  the  valleys  narrow 
and  marshy.  These  two  passes,  as  well  as  the 
Tetar  and  the  Busau  Pass,  never  assumed  in 
the  operations  of  the  autumn  of  1916  the 
importance  which  attached  to  the  Torzburg 
and  the  Predeal,  although  even  they  were  the 


PREDEAL    STATION    AFTER   THE    BOMBARDMENT. 


442 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


THE    MONASTERY    OF   TISMANA. 
In  the  Jiu  Valley. 


scene  of  many  a  lively  content,  of  enemy 
attempts  to  advance  and  Rumanian  counter- 
movements. 

The  first  attack  against  Rumanian  territory 
south  of  Kronstadt  was  delivered  in  the  Torz- 
burg  Pass.  On  October  8  the  enemy  had 
reached  the  town  of  Torzburg,  and  on  the  10th 
the  frontier  ridge.  After  engagements  fought 
round  Giuvala  the  Rumanians  were  obliged  to 
withdraw  on  Rucar,  some  six  miles  beyond  the 
frontier.  The  enemy  had  thus  got  well  below 
the  highest  level  of  the  pass  and  was  threatening 
to  debouch  into  the  high,  rolling  country  round 
Campolung.  The  central  of  the  three  mountain 
walls  which  intervene  between  the  Pass  and 
Campolung  became  now  the  scene  of  daily 
battles.  Soon  the  Germans  recognized  that 
they  would  not  be  able  to  break  through  by 
frontal  attacks,  and  attempts  were,  therefore, 
made  to  turn  from  the  flanks  the  Rumanian 
defences  astride  the  Dambovitsa  Valley. 
These  attempts  led  to  an  extension  of  the  front 
on  both  sides  of  the  pass — the  usual  develop- 
ment of  mountain  warfare  whenever  it  tends 
to  assume  a  more  or  less  stationary  character. 
West  of  the  road  to  Campolung  the  enemy  had 
reached  by  the  end  of  October  the  village  of 
Lireshti,  but  by  a  brilliant  counter-attack 
it  was  recaptured  by  the  Rumanians  on  October 
28.  The  fighting  in  this  region  continued 


without  slackening  throughout  the  first  half 
of  November,  but  in  spite  of  the  most  strenuous 
efforts  made  during  the  week  November  11-17, 
on  the  day  when  the  gate  into  Western  Wallachia 
was  forced  by  the  enemy  at  Targul-Jiu  (Xovem- 
ber  18),  below  the  Torzburg  Pass  his  most 
advanced  outposts  stood  only  a  few  miles 
south  of  the  Dragoslavele-Lireshti  line.  It  was 
only  under  the  pressure  of  the  German  advance 
from  the  west  that  General  Averescu's  troops 
evacuated  in  the  last  days  of  November  the 
hotly  contested  positions  in  front  of  Campolung. 
In  the  Predeal  Pass  the  Rumanian  troops 
belonging  to  the  Second  Bukarest  Army  Corps 
had  slowly  withdrawn  on  to  the  frontier  range, 
which  they  reached  on  October  12-13.  The 
Germans  and  Magyars  followed  up  their  retreat 
and  on  October  12  began  to  bombard  the  bare 
heights  of  the  Csaplyat.  The  bombardment 
was  followed  up  on  October  14  by  infantry 
fighting,  but  in  spite  of  heavy  sacrifices  the 
enemy  achieved  very  little.  By  capturing  the 
Csaplyat  he  gained  part  of  the  frontier  ridge, 
only  to  find  himself  under  cross  fire  from  the 
Rumanian  lines  which  extended  on  the  ad- 
joining wooded  heights  in  the  west  and  from 
their  positions  on  the  Clabucetu  mountain- 
range.  Even  three  days  later  the  Germans 
had  not  yet  entered  the  town  of  Predeal, 
and  merely  continued  from  a  distance  their 
work  of  destruction.  On  October  20  an 


THE    TIMEti    HISTORY    (JF    THE     WAR. 


448 


attempt  was  made  by  them  to  turn  the  posi- 
tions west  of  the  pass  by  pushing  forward 
from  the  Csaplyat  against  the  mountain-group 
of  the  Taur  ;  it  failed  completely.  Then  the 
enemy  resumed  his  slow  and  steady  operations 
against  the  town  of  Predeal.  On  October  23, 
after  an  entire  day  of  fighting,  the  Germans  and 
Magyars  entered  it  and  captured  the  railway 
station,  but  it  was  not  until  two  days  later,  and 
after  some  more  severe  fighting  with  the  bayonet 
and  hand  grenades,  that  the  last  Rumanian 
detachment  withdrew  from  the  southern  out- 
skirts of  Predeal.  Meantime  th«  battle  was 
steadily  developing  in  the  eastern  sector  of  the 
Clabucetu  mountains.  This  also  was  fighting 


after  having  reached  the  frontier  range — his 
main  forces  had  advanced  for  a  distance  of  only 
about  four  miles  beyond  it.  The  following  week 
witnessed  further  fighting  in  the  mountains 
west  of  Azuga  and  Busteni,  but  hardly  any 
progress  by  the  enemy.  As  an  attempt  to 
break  through  into  the  VVallachian  plain,  the- 
operations  in  the  Predeal  district  had  thus 
proved  a  failure.  It  was  admitted  from  semi- 
official German  sources  that  "  the  Rumanian 
defends  his  country  with  unsparing  energy." 

More  varied,  though  by  no  means  more 
encouraging  for  the  enemy,  were  the  results  of 
his  offensive  against .  the  western  frontier  of 


•   t 


.' 


4USTRIAN    MACHINE-GUN    POSITION    ON    THE    WALLACHIAN    BORDER. 


in  detail — for  particular  ravines,  woods,  slopes 
or  summits.  The  enemy  was  straining  his 
forces  to  the  utmost,  as  it  was  from  here  that 
he  aimed  the  chief  blow  or  threat  against 
Rumania.  Yet  his  progress  was  extremely 
slow.  It  was  not  until  October  26  that  the 
Magyar  Honveds  had  captured  the  Taur  ;  on 
the  next  day  the  German  troops  extended  their 
line  to  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Clabucetu 
Azugii,  thus  outflanking  from  the  east  the  cen- 
tral Rumanian  positions  round  the  town  of 
Azuga.  Another  four  days  of  fighting,  several 
sore  reverses  and  even  more  costly  advances 
were  the  price  which  the  enemy  had  to  pay  for 
the  conquest  of  the  western  bastion  on  the 
Predeal-Azuga  road,  the  mountain  group  of  the 
Baiu.  By  November  4 — i.e.,  fully  three  weeks 


Moldavia.  When  the  Fourth  Rumanian  Army 
under  General  Presan,  conforming  with  the 
general  retirement,  withdrew  to  the  Rumanian 
frontier,  its  forces  divided  into  two  main 
groups.  The  northern  retreated  into  the  moun- 
tains round  the  Tolgyes  and  the  Bekas  Pass, 
thus  covering  the  access  to  the  Upper  Bistritza 
and  to  the  town  of  Bicaz,  the  terminus  of  the 
railway  line  which  at  Bacau  branches  off  from  the 
main  railway  in  the  Sereth  Valley  ;  the  southern 
group  had  to  protect  in  its  retreat  the  line  which 
connects  the  Transylvanian  with  the  Moldavian 
railway  system.  This  railway  runs  through  the 
Trotus  Valley  and  crosses  the  frontier  range  by 
the  Gyimes  Pass  ;  on  the  Rumanian  side  down 
to  the  town  of  Oneshti  it  continues  for  more  than 
30  miles  in  the  proximity  of  the  frontier 


444 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


O 

z 

35 


04 
to 


a 


o 

O 

Q 
Z 


en 
Z 


Z 

<< 
s 

3 
as 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


445 


receding  hardly  anywhere  to  a  distance  of  more 
than  10  miles.  A  number  of  valleys  and  roads 
from  Transylvania  open  into  the  Trotus  Valley 
above  Oneshti,  thus  giving  access  to  the  chief 
Rumanian  lines  of  communication  in  the  rear  of 
the  Gyimes  Pass  ;  hence  the  strategic  impor- 
tance which  attached  to  the  minor  passes  south 
of  the  Gyimes,  most  of  all  to  those  of  the  Uz 
and  the  Oitoz. 

Violent  fighting  began  in  these  two  passes  on 
October  14.        Positions  were  lost  and  gained, 
but  in   the  main  the  Rumanians  maintained 
themselves  in  close  proximity  to  the  frontier 
range,   or  even  on  the  range  itself,   inflicting 
reverses  and  serious  losses  on  the  enemy,  who 
continued  his  attacks.     In  the  Gyimes  Pass  the 
enemy   was   more   successful    at   first.      After 
severe  fighting  round  Palanka  (October  13-15) 
he  reached  on  the  17th  the  village  of  Agas,  thus 
penetrating  the  Trotus  Valley  for  about  seven 
miles   from   the   frontier.      The   next   day   he 
attempted  a  farther  advance,  but  soon  found 
himself  in  serious  straits.   Whilst  one  Rumanian 
detachment  counter-attacked  from  the  direction 
of    Goioasa,    another,    having    crossed    Mount 
Lampris,  took  near  Agas  his  forces  in  the  flank. 
The  Austrian  troops  had  to  retire  hurriedly, 
losing   almost    1,000    prisoners,    12    guns   and 
numerous  machine-guns.      Having  then  failed 
to  force  his  way  through  the  Trotus  Valley,  the 
enemy  resumed  the  offensive  in  the  Uz  and 
Oitoz   Passes,   but   wherever   he  succeeded   in 
advancing  he  was  soon  again  thrown  back  by 
the    Rumanian     troops    under    the     brilliant 
leadership  of  General  Presan.      The  Bukarest 
communique  of  October  26  thus  sums  up  the 
results  of  that  fortnight  of  battle  on  the  western 
frontier  of  Moldavia  :    "  After  violent  combats, 
the  enemy  has  everywhere  been  repulsed  beyond 
the  frontier.      He  now  occupies  but  a  small 
portion   of   territory   between   the   Sultza   and 
Trotus  valleys  and  a  small  insignificant  portion 
of  the  Uz  Valley.     His  losses  are  very  heavy." 
Meantime  both  sides  were  bringing  up  rein- 
forcements.     Towards    the    end    of    October 
Bavarian  troops  made  their  appearance  north 
of  Oitoz,  and  in  the  course  of  the  following 
month  the  group  of  divisions  under  the  German 
General  von  Gerok,  which  in  September  had 
defended  in  Galician  Podolia  the  line  of  the 
River  Narayovka   (south  of   Bzhezhany)   was 
transferred  to  Transylvania,  taking  up  positions 
on  the  right  wing  of  the  First  Austro-Hungarian 
Army  under  General  von  Arz       On  the  side  of 
our    Allies    a    steady    concentration    of    the 


Rumanian  forces  to  the  south  was  proceeding, 
the  northern  group  of  passes  on  the  Moldavian 
frontier  being  taken  over  by  the  Russians. 

The   Austro-Hungarian    troops    followed    up 
by  three  main  roads  the  retreat  of  the  right 
wing  of  General  Presan's  Army.      Their  most 
northerly  group  advanced  through  the  Maros 
Valley  to  Toplitsa,  and  then  by  Borszek  and 
Hollo  against  the  Tolgyes  Pass  ;     the   central 
group    marched    from    Libanfalva    on    Putna, 
joining  from  there  in  the  attack  against  the 
Tolgyes ;     the   third  group   followed   the   road 
from  Parajd  to  Gyergo  St.  Miklos,  and  then 
advanced  down  the  Bekas  Valley  against  the 
Bekas  Pass       Throughout  the  second  half  of 
October  the  Rumanian  troops,   much  inferior 
in  numbers,  had  to  defend  their  positions  on 
the  frontier  range  against  the  steadily  increasing 
pressure    of    the    enemy  ;     a    piercing    of    the 
Rumanian    line    in    this    sector    would    have 
seriously    compromised    the    cooperation    with 
the  adjoining  Russian  forces.      But  gradually 
reinforcements     were    arriving    from     General 
Lechitsky's   Army,    and    in    the    first   days   of 
November    the    Rumanian    troops    completely 
withdrew    from    the    north-western    corner   of 
Moldavia.      The  Russian  regiments  which  took 
over  the  defence  of  the  Tolgyes  and  the  Bekas 
Passes   were   under  the  command  of  General 
Count  Keller,  who,  after  many  famous  feats  in. 
the   earlier   stages   of   the   war,    had   specially 
distinguished   himself   during   the   Russian   in- 
vasion   of    the    Bukovina    and    south-eastern 
Galicia   in   the  summer   of    1916.      His   army 
corps  included  some  of  the  best-known  regiments 
of  Orenburg  and  Terek  Cossacks,  and  also  some 
Circassian  horse      The  use  of  cavalry  regiments 
in  mountain  warfare  might  seem  at  first  sur- 
prising, but  then  these  were  riders  and  horses 
whose   homes  were   in   the   mountains  of  the 
Ural  and  the  Caucasus.       "  Minor  encounters 
with   them   have   repeatedly    proved   the   im- 
petuosity and  daring  of  these  Cossacks,"  wrote 
the  correspondent  of  the  Pester  Lloyd  from  the 
Headquarters   of  the   First   Austro-Hungarian 
Army  under  date  of  November  16.      "  There 
are  no  deserters  among  them..      They  fight  for 
life  and  death."     Again  and  again  these  unique 
horsemen   from   the   mountains   succeeded    in 
slipping  through  the  Austrian  line,  carrying  on 
their  disconcerting  activities  in  the  rear  of  the 
enemy  forces.       On  November  5  the  Russians, 
partly   in   order   to   cover   the    regrouping   of 
forces  which  was  then  proceeding,  delivered  a 
short  offensive  stroke  across  the  Tolgyes  Pass 

H2— 3 


446 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


against  Hollo  and  Putna.  The  Austrian 
formations  broke  up,  leaving  15  officers,  800 
men  and  eeven  machine-guns  in  the  hands  of 
our  Allies.  But  again  the  excellent  system  of 
railways  and  roads  in  his  rear  saved  the  enemy 
from  serious  disaster  German  reinforcements 
were  hurried  up  in  hot  haste  by  train  and  by 
motor  lorries  ;  artillery  was  moved  along  the 
roads  at  the  speed  of  12  miles  an  hour.  On 
November  8  the  fresh  forces  came  into  action 


4f?'"''  "     •"•''•'•'•'''"''••"  • 


PlETROAsAy::';«,'-$i 


Calimaneshti 

•••//  9 


MAP    OF    THE    ALUTA    DEFILE. 

both  on  the  Hollo  and  the  Putna  front,  and  our 
Allies  withdrew  to  the  frontier  heights.  The 
Tolgyes  Pass  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
Russians. 

Although  with  a  view  to  the  disposition  of 
forces  the  Red  Tower  Pass  was  included  in  the 
area  of  the  western  Wallachiaii  army,  strate- 
gically it  stood  in  close  connexion  with  the 
central  group  of  passes  south  of  Kronstadt. 
From  Piteshti  two  railway  lines  extend  against 
the  Transylvanian  frontier,  one  to  the  north- 
east with  its  terminus  at  Campolung,  at  the 
foot  of  the  Torzburg  Pass,  the  other  to  the 
north-west  with  its  terminus  at  Curtea  de 
Argesh.  The  distance  from  Curtea  de  Argesh 
to  Rimnie  Valcea,  the  southern  mouth  of  the 
Aluta  defile,  of  which  the  Red  Tower  Pass 
marks  the  northern  end,  amounts  to  only  about 
15  miles.  But  there  was  as  yet  in  the  autumn 
of  1916  no  direct  railway  connexion  either 
from  the  Red  Tower  Pass  or  the  Torzburg  to 


Piteshti,  only  the  roundabout  route  by  way 
of  the  centre  of  the  Wallachian  plain — the 
projected  railway  line  from  Calimaneshti  to 
Curtea  de  Argesh  had  not  been  carried  out. 
It  seems  that  a  concentric  movement  against 
Piteshti  from  the  Aluta  Valley  by  way  of 
Salatrucul  and  Curtea  de  Argesh,  and  from 
the  Torzburg  by  way  of  Campolung,  had  been 
schemed  by  the  German  Supreme  Command  as 
the  first  blow  against  Rumania.  The  capture 
of  Piteshti,  the  junction  of  all  the  main  railways 
of  western  Wallachia,  would  have  been  a 
victory  only  second  in  greatness  to  a  successful 
piercing  of  Rumania  along  the  Busau  line. 
This,  however,  could  have  been  achieved  only 
by  a  lightning  blow,  as  the  pre-eminent  im- 
portance of  the  objective,  the  facilities  which 
the  Rumanians  possessed  for  concentrating 
forces  on  Piteshti,  and  lastly  the  great  diffi- 
culties in  an  advance  from  either  pass  rendered 
the  chance  of  systematic  operations  against 
Piteshti,  resulting  in  a  conquest  of  Wallachia 
during  the  autumn  of  1916,  as  slender  as  was 
that  of  the  advance  due  south  of  Kronstadt. 
But  whilst  the  pressure  in  the  Predeal  region 
bovmd  the  main  Rumanian  forces  in  a  district 
from  which  transfers  to  the  west  required  con- 
siderable time,  an  offensive  against  Piteshti 
would  have  left  them  in  a  central  position 
between  the  Jiu  sector  in  the  west  and  the 
Predeal  in  the  east.  Attempting  a  surprise, 
Falkenhayn  pushed  forward  the  group  which 
marched  against  the  Torzburg  across  the  Per- 
san  Mountains  even  before  he  had  fought  at 
Kronstadt  the  main  battle  against  the  Second 
Rumanian  Army,  and  as  soon  as  the  pass  had 
been  forced  by  the  troops  under  General  von 
Morgen,  General  Krafft  von  Delmensingeii 
threw  his  main  forces  into  an  advance  from 
the  Red  Tower  Pass  across  the  mountains 
against  Curtea  de  Argesh. 

Anyhow,  an  advance  south  of  the  Red  Tower 
Pass  could  not  have  been  attempted  along  the 
Aluta.  The  gorge  through  which  the  river 
breaks  its  way  for  some  30  miles  south  of 
Caineni  is  iiripregnable  to  a  frontal  attack. 
Most  of  it  can  hardly  be  called  a  valley  ;  it  is 
much  rather  an  enormous  rift  in  the  mountains 
filled  by  the  stream  which,  insignificant  in  the 
dry  season,  swells  to  the  size  of  a  wild  torrential 
river  in  spring  and  autumn.  The  road  and 
railway  cling  to  the  rocky  walls  of  the  defile, 
and  at  many  places  have  to  pierce  them  by 
tunnels  or  by  grooves  blasted  out  in  their  side. 
Only  where  other  streams  join  the  Aluta  does 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


447 


its  bed  open  out  into  small  basins  yielding 
space  for  villages  or  towns.  At  such  junctions 
lie  Caineni,  Racovitsa,  Golotreni  fat  the 
confluence  with  the  Lotru)  and  Calimaneshti. 
It  was  only  across  the  mountains  on  both 
sides  and  then  down  the  valleys  of  the  con- 
fluents of  the  Aluta  that  the  consecutive 
sectors  of  the  defile  could  be  captured  by  the 
enemy. 

When,  after  the  battle  of  Hermannstadt, 
in  the  last  days  of  September,  1916,  General 
von  Falkenhayn  continued  with  his  main 


Bavarians — and  of  two  Austro  •  Hungarian 
mountain  brigades.  On  the  left  flank  th« 
second  Austro-Hungarian  Mountain  Brigade 
was  ordered  to  advance  by  the  mountain-track 
which  crosses  the  Moscovul  Pass  at  a  height 
of  almost  7,000  feet,  and  then  down  the 
Topologu  Valley  against  Salatrucul.  In  the 
centre  the  Alpine  Corps  advanced  between  the 
Aluta  and  the  Topologu  south  of  Mount  Surul, 
ready  to  press  forward  along  the  road  from 
Caineni  to  Salatrucul  as  soon  as  the  Austrian? 
should  have  outflanked  from  the  east  the 


THE    ALUTA    VALLEY    AND    MONASTERY    OF    COZ1A. 


force  the  advance  to  the  east,  he  left  in  front 
of  the  Red  Tower  Pass  a  group  of  divisions 
under  the  command  of  General  Krafft  von 
Delmensingen  to  protect  his  right  flank  in 
the  Sibin  and  Fogaras  Mountains.  During  the 
first  half  of  October  their  task  consisted  in 
holding  the  frontier  range  and  preparing  the 
ground  for  a  farther  advance.  On  October  15, 
the  day  on  which,  in  the  district  south  of 
Kronstadt,  Rucar  was  entered  and  the  attack 
against  the  town  of  Predeal  begun,  General 
von  Krafft,  having  received  reinforcements, 
resumed  tho  offensive.  The  attacking  force 
consisted  of  the  German  Alpine  Corps— mainly 


Rumanian  forces  in  that  district.  West  of 
the  Aluta  the  10th  Austrian  Mountain  Brigade 
was  to  press  forward  across  the  Pietroasa  and 
the  Veverita  Mountains  into  the  valley  of  the 
Lotru,  thus  covering  the  right  flank  of  the 
Army  Group  which  had  Curtea  de  Argesh  for 
its  objective.  The  Austrian  troops  to  whom 
the  most  difficult  and  most  risky  task  had  been 
assigned — namely,  to  force  their  way  across  the 
Fogaras  range  into  the  Topologu  Valley- — suc- 
ceeded in  advancing  in  two  days  across  the 
pass  and  in  capturing  Hill  2313  to  the  west 
of  it.  By  the  night  of  October  18  their  advance 
had  carried  them  across  the  mountain  pass  of 


448 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


A     FIELD    TELEPHONE. 

the  Poiana  Lunga  and  Frunto  (about  5,000  feet 
high)  and  they  reached  the  slopes  facing 
Salatrucul.  Here,  however,  they  were  met  by 
Tlumanian  forces  advancing  both  from  the 
Aluta  and  the  Argesh  valleys.  By  this  con- 
verging movement,  carried  out  with  great 
skill  and  determination,  our  Allies  almost 
succeeded  in  encircling  arid  cutting  off  the 
Avistrian  brigade.  It  was  only  owing  to  the 
arrival  of  considerable  German  reinforcements 
from  the  north,  and  to  the  fact  that  a  very 


heavy  snowfall  and  intense  cold  had  nsmpererl 
the  development  of  the  Rumanian  operations 
in  their  last  stages,  that  the  Second  Austrian 
Mountain  Brigade  escaped  capture.  Similarly 
the  attempt  of  the  other  Austrian  Mountain 
Brigade  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Aluta 
failed  to  achieve  its  purpose.  Having  crossed 
Mount  Robu,  the  enemy  was  met  on  tho 
Pietroasa  range  by  infantry  detachments  from 
the  13th  Rumanian  Division,  and  thrown  back 
with  considerable  losses.  The  German  Alpine 
Corps,  which  was  to  have  advanced  in  the 
centre  after  the  Rumanian  positions  on  both 
sides  of  the  Aluta  had  been  outflanked  by 
the  two  Austrian  Mountain  Brigades,  does  not 
seem  to  have  come  into  serious  action  during 
this  first  unsuccessful  offensive  south  of  the 
Red  Tower  Pass. 

In  the  last  days  of  October  the  offensive  was 
resumed,  and  this  time  the  Germans  opened 
their  operations  across  the  mountains  bordering 
on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Aluta  defile.  By 
October  28  a  German  detachment  consisting 
of  Mecklenburg  and  Hanoverian  troops  had 
turned  by  way  of  the  Boia  Mare  Valley  the 
Mormonta  Mountain  east  of  Caineni  and  then 
by  a  concentric  attack  had  conquered  the 
mountain  itself.  From  the  captured  positions 
on  the  Mormonta  they  continued  their  offensive 
against  the  chain  of  heights  north  of  the 
valley  which  extends  between  the  villages  of 


OFFICERS    OF    THE    KING    OF    RUMANIA'S    BODYGUARD, 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


449 


A    WALLACHIAN    VINEYARD. 

Racovitsa    and    Titeshti,    and    reached    that 
•valley  by  the  end  of  October. 

A  period  of  incessant  fighting  ensued.  The 
First  Rumanian  Army  Corps,  which  from  the 
beginning  of  the  war  had  formed  the  so-called 
Aluta  Group,  had  been  reinforced  by  part  of 
ttie  Fourth  Army  Corps,  which  had  previously 
been  included  in  the  Fourth  Army  but  had  now 
been  released  from  the  Moldavian  frontier  by 
the  Russians  having  taken  over  its  northern 
sectors.  Towards  the  end  of  October  the 
first  German  attack  from  the  Vulcan  Pass 
into  the  Jiu  Valley  had  been  defeated,  and  the 
second  and  even  more  serious  attempt  was 
being  prepared  during  the  .  first  fortnight  of 
November.  Under  these  circumstances  it  was 
essential  for  the  Germans  to  pin  the  Rumanian 
forces  in  the  Aluta  region  to  the  defence  of 
their  own  sector  and  to  prevent,  or  at  least 
delay,  the  dispatch  of  reinforcements  from 
there  to  the  Jiu.  Moreover,  in  case  the  forces 
which  were  to  attack  again  in  the  Jiu  Valley 
succeeded  in  reaching  the  plain,  it  was  of  the 
greatest  importance  for  the  further  develop- 
ment of  the  operations  that  the  group  attacking 
in  the  Aluta  district  should  have  reached  posi- 
tions from  which  it  could  soon  establish  effective 
.cooperation  with  the  forces  invading  Wallachia 


from  the  west.  During  the  first  fortnight  of 
November  the  battle  south  of  the  Red  Tower 
Pass  was  raging  on  a  wide  front  from  the 
Upper  Argesh  and  Mount  Poiana  Lunga  in 
the  east  to  Mount  Pietroasa  and  the  Upper 
Lotru  in  the  west.  Between  November  6  and 
November  9  the  Germans  conquered  the 
heights  of  Sate  and  Fruntu,  and  lastly  the 
highly  important  mountain  group  of  the  Cozia, 
which  from  the  west  overtowers  the  Aluta 
defile  and  faces  the  entrance  into  the  Lotru 
Valley.  Our  Allies  counter-attacked  at  once 
and  by  November  1 1  had  reconquered  th< 
position  on  Mount  Fruntu,  but  it  proved  im 
possible  to  develop  any  farther  this  initia. 
success.  Whilst  the  Germans  under  Genera 
von  Krafft  had  received  reinforcements  ex> 
ceeding  a  division,  the  Rumanian  Command, 
faced  by  disaster  in  the  Jiu  Valley,  sawitsell 
compelled  at  the  last  moment  to  detach  a 
considerable  force,  which  was  sent  to  the  west 
across  the  mountains  in  the  hope  that  by 
attacking  the  left  flank  of  the  enemy,  who  was 
debouching  into  the  Jiu  Valley,  it  might  yet 
save  the  position  at  the  western  end  of  Wal- 
lachia. Thxis  weakened,  the  Aluta  group  had 
to  give  ground  ;  its  retreat  was  hastened  still 
more  after  the  defeat  on  the  Jiu  had  proved 


450 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


decisive.  By  November  18  the  Germans  had 
reached  the  valley  and  road  which  run  from 
Suitsi  to  Calimaneshti. 


GENERAL    VON    KNEUSSL. 
In  Command  of  the  llth  Bavarian  Division. 

The  joy  of  success  was  no  doubt  marred  for 
General  von  Krafft's  Army  Group  by  the  fact 
that  in  an  encounter  fought  on  November  7, 
the  Bavarian  Life  Guards,  which  formed  part 
of  the  brigade  of  General  von  Epp  in  the 
Alpine  Corps,  had  lost  a  highborn  officer, 
Prince  Henry  of  Bavaria,  a  nephew  of  the 
King.  In  the  moment  of  death,  fully  conscious 
that  the  death  of  a  prince  was  more  important 
than  that  of  thousands  of  ordinary  men,  he 
was  reported  to  have  murmured  the  words 


noblesse  oblige.  The  quotation  was  considered 
by  all  loval  Germans  so  appropriate  to  the 
greatness  of  the  moment  that  thev  readily 
overlooked  the  fact  that  a  member  of  a  German 
Royal  House  used  an  enemy  language  to  the 
last. 

During  the  month  which  followed  on  the 
battles  fought  in  the  Streiu  Valley  and  in  the 
Hatszeg  Mountains  only  minor  encounters  took 
place  on  the  frontier  range  west  of  the  Szurduk 
Pass.  About  the  middle  of  October  the  llth 
Bavarian  Division,  under  General  von  Kneussl, 
which  at  the  beginning  of  the  month  had  still 
stood  on  the  Stokhod  in  northern  Volhynia, 
was  moved  to  Transylvania  and  assigned 
positions  on  the  frontier  range  south  of  the 
valley  of  the  Silu  Romanesca.  On  October  23 
General  von  Kneussl's  force,  supported  by  an 
Austrian  mounted  brigade  and  one  division  of 
German  cavalrv,  began  its  advance  to  the  south, 
the  'extreme  left  wing  advancing  from  the 
Vulcan  Pass  through  the  Jiu  Valley,  whilst  the 
farthest  westerly  detachment  followed  the 
Bistritza.  In  the  centre  four  groups  were 
advancing  on  Sambotinul,  Rugii,  Valarii  and 
Dobritza  with  a  view  to  an  ultimate  concentra- 
tion in  the  Jiu  Valley  between  Bumbeshti  and 
Targul-Jiu.  During  the  first  few  days  the 
German  plan  seemed  to  develop  with  consider- 
able success.  General  Dragalina,  who  had 
hitherto  led  the  First  Rumanian  Division  at. 
Orsova  and  who  succeeded  General  Culcor  in 


AN    AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN    FIELD-GUN    IN    THE    CARPATHIANS. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


451 


the  command  of  the  entire  First  Army  *  on  the 
very  day  on  which  the  Germans  opened  their 
offensive  in  the  Jiu  districts,  had  only  inferior 
numbers  with  which  to  meet  the  enemy  attack 
The  Rumanian  forces  in  that  sector  consisted  of 
the  21st  Mixed  Brigade,  under  Colonel  Jippa, 
composed  of  7J  battalions  of  infantry  and  four 
batteries,  and  of  two  other  minor  detachments 
which  comprised  together  six  battalions  of 
infantry  and  three  batteries  ;  one  of  them  was 
commanded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Obogeanu, 
the  other  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Trusculescu. 


Aluta  Group.  These  forces  were  then  dis- 
tributed in  the  following  manner:  the  21st 
brigade  had  to  guard  the  mouth  of  the  Szurduk 
defile  at  Bumbeshti  and,  deploying  on  the  Jiu 
line  to  south  of  Sambotinul,  to  attack  the  left, 
flank  of  the  German  troops  which  were  advanc- 
ing in  the  centre.  The  other  two  detachments 
of  the  original  Jiu  Group  were  to  hold  thf> 
centre  from  Turcinesti  to  Rashovitsa.  The 
forces  brought  up  from  the  Aluta  were  formed 
into  a  general  reserve  north-east  of  Targul-Jiu 
The  detachment  under  Lieutenant-Colonel 


mmamaum 


RUMANIANS    CROSSING    A   PONTOON    BRIDGE. 


Aware  of  the  supreme  danger  with  which  a 
successful  German  offensive  in  this  district 
threatened  the  entire  Wallachian  front,  and  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  the  First  Rumanian 
Army  had  no  reserves  at  its  disposal,  General 
Dragalina  at  once  ordered  a  detachment 
of  four  battalions,  one  squadron  and  two 
batteries  to  be  sent  from  the  Orsova  Division, 
and  the  Danube  detachment,  composed  of 
5J  battalions,  to  be  brought  up  from  th« 


*  Genera!  Dragalina  was  succeeded  in  the  commana 
of  the  First  Division  at  Orsova  by  Colonel  Anastasiii, 
who  in  the  succeeding  operations  was  fully  to  justify  this 
choice. 


Dejoianu  which  by  forced  marches  was  coming 
up  from  Orsova  was  ordered  to  counter- 
attack vigorously  with  part  of  its  effectives  the 
German  troops  which  were  a'dvancing  on  the 
extreme  right  of  the  enemy  line,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  attack  with  its  remaining  strength  the 
thus  uncovered  flank  of  the  central  German 
group.  The  leading  idea  of  this  disposition  was 
to  form  a  kind  of  semi-circle  round  the  advanc- 
ing forces  of  the  enemy  and  to  counter-attack 
him  in  front  and  fall  upon  his  flanks  before  his 
different  detachments  which  were  moving  along 
separate  mountain  roads  and  tracks  had 
effected  a  junction.  The  events  of  the  next  few 


452 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAI! 


u 

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O 
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W 

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O 


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O 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


458 


days  brilliantly  justified  the  plan,  but  it  was 
not  given  to  General  Dragalina  to  carry  out 
the  operations  on  the  Jiu.  On  the  first  day  of 
the  German  advance,  after  having  inspected 
the  most  exposed  positions  of  his  troops,  he 
hurried  back  to  the  rear  to  make  further 
dispositions.  Although  the  quickest  way  passed 
very  close  to  the  German  lines  he  decided  to 
take  this  and  drove  through  the  fire  of  the 
German  machine-guns.  Two  bullets  hit  him 
in  the  arm,  which  had  finally  to  be  amputated  ; 
the.  operation  was.  performed  too  late  and 
General  Dragalina  died  on  November  9.  The 
command  on  the  Jiu  passed  immediately  to 
General  Vasilescu,  and  in  the  command  of  the 
First  Army  Dragalina  was  succeeded  by 
General  Petala. 

By  October  27  the  Germans  had  reached 
almost  on  the  entire  length  between  Dobritza 
and  Bumbeshti  the  road  at  the  foot  of  the 
Vulcan  Range,  and  had  even  crossed  it  in  the 
east  and  in  the  centre.  On  the  morning  of 
October  27,  to  forestall  the  Rumanian  attack 
from  the  east,  they  attempted  a  descent  across 
the  Jiu  Valley  in  the  rear  of  the  Rumanian 
detachments  which  guarded  the  southern  mouth 
of  the  Szurduk  Pass.  The  attempt  was  de- 
feated, and  the  Germans,  having  been  thrown 
back  beyond  the  Jiu,  withdrew  in  disorder  on  to 
Sambotinul  and  the  hill  to  the  north  of  it. 
During  tha.t  action  Sub-Lieutenant  Patrascoju, 
from  the  7th  Company  of  the  18th  Regiment, 
advanced  at  the  head  of  his  unit  to  the  village 
of  Arsuri,  driving  out  the  enemy  and  capturing 
two  4-inch  howitzer  batteries  which  belonged  to 
the  21st  Regiment  of  Bavarian  artillery.  The 
guns  were  immediately  put  into  action  against 
the  enemy,  rendering  excellent  service.  On  the 
same  day  the  Rumanians  had  to  encounter  an 
even  more  determined  enemy  attack  in  front 
of  Turcinesti.  At  7  a.m.  the  Germans  began 
their  descent  into  the  Jiu  Valley,  and  2J  hours 
later  they  reached  the  river.  Here  they  were 
met  by  a  counter-attack  from  the  Rumanian 
right  centre,  driven  back  with  considerable  losses 
in  men  and  material,  and  pursued  until  5  p.m., 
when  torrential  rains  and  darkness  prevented 
further  operations.  Meantime,  near  Rashovitsa 
the  left  Rumanian  centra  was  engaged  in  H 
fierce  battle  which  remained  doubtful  till  about 
1.30  p.m.  ;  it  was  then  decided  in  favour  of  our 
Allies  by  the  appearance  of  troops  from  the 
Orsova  detachments  in  the  flank  and  rear  of 
the  German  forces.  Their  positions  were 
captured  about  2  p.m.,  and  400  prisoners  and 


12  machine-guns  were  taken.  The  remaining 
German  troops  in  that  district  withdrew  in 
haste.  On  the  extreme  left  flank,  in  the  valley 
of  the  Bistritsa,  the  Rumanians  were  not  able 
to  make  any  considerable  headway,  but  had. 
to  remain  satisfied  with  containing  the  enemy 
forces.  Meantime  an  enemy  unit  had  succeeded 
in  penetrating  in  the  centre  and  in  throwing 
themselves  over  the  bridge  on  the  road  which 
approaches  Targul-Jiu  from  the  west.  A 
battalion  of  militia  from  Gorj  which  was  posted 
near  the  bridge  was  taken  by  surprise,  yet 
supported  by  a  scratch  force  from  Targul-Jiu, 
held  out  till  4.30  p.m.,  when  help  sent  up  from 


MAP    ILLUSTRATING    THE    FIGHTING 
NORTH  OF  TARGUL-JIU  ON  OCTOBER  27. 

the  left  centre  and  from  the  Orsova  Group 
enabled  them  finally  to  defeat  the  German 
move.  The  enemy  had  to  retire,  leaving 
prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the  Rumanians.  An 
order  was  found  on  them  to  "  take  possession 
of  Targul-Jiu  on  October  27  at  two  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon." 

On  the  next  day,  October  28,  the  Rumanian 
advance  continued  along  the  entire  front  ;  the 
enemy  columns  had  been  attacked  before  they 
had  effected  a  junction,  the  cooperation 
between  them  was  as  yet  weak,  and  no  general 
reserve  was  in  existence  to  intervene  at  the 
points  of  danger.  On  this  day  the  most  violent 
fighting  took  place  on  the  hill  south  of  Horez  ; 
towards  the  close  of  the  day  the  Bavarians  were 
forced  to  retire,  leaving  in  the  hands  of  our 
Allies  eight  guns,  two  machine-guns,  consider- 
able stores  of  munitions  and  supplies  and  nine 
Rumanian  guns  which  had  been  lost  on  October 
24.  On  October  29  the  work  of  the  preceding 
two  days  was  continued,  the  Rumanians  driving 
back  the  Germans  into  the  mountain  defiles. 
The  pursuit  continued  till  November  1  ;  the 
total  number  of  enemy  dead  buried  by  the 


454 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


Rumanians  amounted  to  more  than  1,500, 
\vliile  the  number  of  prisoners  exceeded  1,600. 
"  The  battlefield  which  I  visited  to-day,"  wrote 
the  special  correspondent  of  The  Time..?  under 
date  of  November  8,  "  presents  a  remarkable 
spectacle.  Burnt  motor-cars,  rifles,  bayonets 
and  saddles  are  spread  over  the  field,  and 
hundreds  of  crosses  mark  the  places  where  the 
Bavarians  are  buried."  On  the  very  eve  of 


MAP  OF  THE  NORTHERN  DOBRUDJA. 

the  defeat  the  German  Emperor  had  congratu- 
lated General  von  Kneussl's  "  gallant  troops  on 
their  success." 

About  the  middle  of  October  the  positions 
of  the  amiies  which  faced  each  other  in  the 
Dobrudja  were  still  approximately  the  same 
which  had  been  taken  up  by  them  towards 
the  end  of  September,  after  Mackensen's 
forces  had  been  defeated  in  their  attack 
against  the  Rashova-Tuzla  line.  It  seems 
that  originally  our  Allies  planned  to  follow  up 
the  rout  of  the  enemy  by  a  counter-offensive 
on  a  large  scale.  In  the  fir.st  days,  of  October 
fighting  developed  along  the  entire  Dobrudja 
front,  and  several  marked  successes  were  won 
by  the  Rumanians,  especially  in  the  district 
south  of  Toprosari  On  October  3  they  took 
the  enemy  positions  at  Amzacea,  capturing 


seven  guns,  more  than  1,000  prisoners  amf 
much  war  material.  In  connexion  with  these 
operations  a  few  Rumanian  battalions  had  on 
October  1  crossed  the  Danube  at  Rahovo, 
between  Tutrakan  and  Rustchuk.  But  in 
view  of  the  increasing  enemy  pressure  in 
Transylvania,  the  offensive  in  the  Dobrudja 
was  abandoned,  the  troops  which  had  crossed 
the  Danube  were  withdrawn,  and  no  further 
serious  fighting  developed  in  that  theatre  of 
war,  until  simultaneously  with  Falkenhayn's 
attack  against  the  central  passes,  Mackensen 
resumed  his  offensive  against  the  Cernavoda- 
Constanza  line. 

During  the  first  half  of  October  reinforce- 
ments   consisting    of    two    Turkish    and    one 
North  German  division  had  reached  Mackensen. 
The    German    division,    which    included    some 
crack  regiments  of  Pomeranian  infantry,  and 
was   supported    by   Bulgarian   cavalry   and   a 
very  powerful  concentration  of  heavy  artillery, 
was  directed  against  the  district  of  Toprosari, 
in    the    eastern    half   of    the   Dobrudja   front. 
The  Turks  stood  on  the  extreme  right  enemy 
wing    near    the    sea ;    the    Bulgarian    infantry 
was  distributed  all  along  the  line.     On  the  side 
of   our  Allies,    whose   effectives   south   of   the 
Danube  had  been  weakened  by  recent  with- 
drawals    for     the     Transylvanian     front,     the 
Russians  stood  in  the  centre,  the  Rumanians 
on  the  two  wings  ;  the  district  round  Toprosari 
was    held    by    Rumanian    forces    and    by    the 
Serbian    division    under    General    Zhivkovitch. 
After   a    prolonged    bombardment    the   enemy 
opened  his  offensive  on  October  19,  capturing 
on   that   day  some   hills  south-west  of  Tuzla 
and     south     of     Toprosari.      Here,     however, 
his  attacks  met  with  a  most  dogged  resistance. 
Although  Tuzla  was  lost  on  October  20,  and 
the   enemy,   under   the   personal    direction   of 
Field-Marshal    von-  Mackensen   and    his   Chief 
of  Staff,   General  von  Tappen,  was  attacking 
incessantly    with    much    superior    forces,    the 
Rumanians    and    Serbs    at    Toprosari    main- 
tained   their   positions   for   another    24    hours, 
fighting    on    two    fronts,    and    inflicting    very 
severe  losses  on  the  enemy.     They  evacuated 
Toprosari     on     October     21,     about    mid-clay, 
having   been  completely  outflanked  from   the 
east ;  on  the  same  day  the  enemy  got  within 
six  miles  of  Constanza.     Simultaneously  with 
the    fighting   round   Toprosari   another    battle 
was  fought  in   the  centre,   near  Copadinu   on 
the   railway   leading  to   Dobritch.     Here   also 
our  Allies  had  to  give  ground  and  withdrew 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


455- 


CONSTANZA. 
The  Rumanian  Port  on  the  Black  Sea. 


on  Megidia.  On  the  same  day  (October  21) 
the  enemy  reached  the  trans-Dobrudja  railway 
at  a  point  east  of  Murfatlar,  about  20  miles 
west  of  the  coast.  The  connexion  between 
Cernavoda  and  Constanza  was  cut,  and  the 
latter,  Rumania's  largest  port,  had  to  be 
abandoned.  From  October  21  the  town 
was  under  gunfire,  and  on  October  22  the 
last  refugees  left  Constanza.  But  the  autho- 
rities gallantly  stuck  to  the  work  of  getting 
stores  away  by  railway,  road,  and  sea.  The 
grain  elevators  and  the  stores  of  cereals,  flour, 
naphtha,  kerosene,  and  benzine,  which  there 
was  no  time  to  remove,  were  burnt.  Finally, 
on  October  23,  the  troops  began  to  retire, 
fighting  rearguard  actions  against  ail  enemy 
of  superior  force.  They  were  well  supported 
by  the  Russian  flotilla,  which  did  not  leave  the 


bay  until  the  harbour,  with  everything  useful' 
to  the  enemy,  was  in  flames.  On  Sunday 
night  (October  23)  Bulgarian  cavalry  and 
infantry,  supported  by  German  troops,  entered 
Constanza,  but  in  that  seaport,  with  docks 
covering  an  area  of  150  acres  and  with  a  trade 
amounting  to  1,250,000  tons  a  year,  all  the 
booty  they  could  boast  of  was  500  (presumably 
empty)  railway  trucks  and  several  locomotives. 
On  the  same  day  (October  23)  the  Fourth 
Bulgarian  Division  occupied  Megidia,  half-way 
between  Cernavoda  and  Constanza  ;  on  the 
left  wing,  close  to  the  Danube,  our  Allies  had 
to  abandon  their  lines  in  front  of  Rashova,. 
thus  conforming  to  the  withdrawal  in  the 
centre  and  on  the  right  wing.  The  position 
round  Cernavoda  was  becoming  untenable. 
The  Rumanians  withdrew  after  having  de- 


GRAIN    WAREHOUSES    AT    CONSTANZA. 


456 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


GENERAL    COUNT    SCHMETTOW. 
In  command  of  the  German  Cavalry  Corps. 

stroyed  the  bridge,  and  on  October  25  the 
First  Bulgarian  Infantry  Division  entered 
the  town  of  Cernavoda.  During  the  next 
few  days  our  Allies  continued  their  retreat. 
On  October  26  they  had  retired  beyond  Hir- 
shova and  Casapkioi,  about  25  miles  north 
of  the  Cernavoda-Constanza  railway,  and  by 
the  29th  had  reached  a  front  extending  from 
Ostrov  to  Babadag.  Here,  in  the  broken  hills 
of  the  Northern  Dobrudja,  our  Allies  rallied 
their  forces  and  arrested  the  advance  of  the 
enemy.  He  had  failed  to  reach  in  time  the 
northern  crossings  of  the  Danube  at  Machin, 
Isaccea  and  Tulcea,  and  was  thus  unable 
to  prevent  the  Russians  from  sending  reinforce- 
ments to  the  hard-pressed  troops  in  the 
Dobrudja.  The  reinforcements  were  coming, 
and  were  soon  to  turn  the  tide  of  events. 

On    November    1,    General    Sakharoff.    the 


victor  of  Berestechko  and  Brody,  hitherto 
commander  of  the  Eleventh  Russian  Army,  was 
appointed  Chief  Commander  of  the  Allied  forces 
in  the  Dobrudja.  About  a  week  later  he  opened 
his  counter-offensive,  which  to  the  enemy 
came  like  a  bolt  from  the  blue.  "  Russian 
reinforcements,  composed  of  excellent  troops," 
wired  The  Times  correspondent  from  Bukarcst 
under  date  of  November  8,  "  are  fighting  with 
great  energy,  ably  supported  by  Rumanian 
forces.  General  Sakharoff,  in  a  stirring  address, 
exhorted  his  men  to  advance  always,  and 
never  to  retire."  "  On  the  front  of  the  Army 
Group  of  Marshal  von  Mackensen,  in  the 
Northern  Dobrudja,"  reads  the  German  official 
communique  of  November  9,  "  advanced  recon- 
noitring detachments,  in  accordance  with  their 
instructions,  avoided  all  engagements  with  the 
enemy  infantry  " — a  most  eloquent  description 
of  a  hurried  retreat.  Our  Allies  were  at  their 
heels,  and  the  Danube  Squadron  was  harassing 
their  flank.  Yet  even  so  the  Germans  and 
Bulgarians  found  time  for  their  usual  work  of 
destruction  ;  in  their  retreat  they  were  setting 
fire  to  towns  and  villages.  On  November  9 
the  Russians  regained  the  important  Danube 
crossing  of  Hirshova,  and  in  the  centre  of  the 
Dobrudja  they  reached  the  villages  of  Muslu  and 
Casimcea.  On  the  same  day  a  vigorous  attack 
from  Feteshti,  the  Wallachian  end  of  the 
Cernavoda  bridge,  carried  the  Russian  forces  to 
Dunarea  (the  Danube  station)  in  the  inundation 
belt  of  the  Danube,  about  two  miles  west  of 
Cernavoda.  The  Russian  advance  to  the 
south,  towards  the  centre  of  the  Dobrudja,  still 
continued  for  a  few  days.  By  November  23 
it  attained  a  line  extending  from  Boascic,  on 
the  Danube,  some  seven  miles  north  of 
Cernavoda,  to  Lake  Tashavlu  on  the  coast  of 
the  Black  Sea,  some  1 5  miles  north  of  Constanza. 
The  enemy  had  lost  his  hold  on  the  convenient 
crossing  of  Hirshova,  and  of  the  Cernavoda 
bridge  he  retained  merely  the  farthest  eastern 
end.  These  two  gates  into  Rumania,  through 
which  he  threatened  a  flank  attack  against 
eastern  Wallachia  at  the  very  time  when  its 
defences  were  being  breached  in  the  west,  were 
closed  to  him.  But  our  Allies  failed  to  regain 
the  Cernavoda-Constanza  railway.  Before  they 
had  been  able  to  break  through  the  lines  which 
the  enemy  had  begun  to  construct  north  of  it 
immediately  after  having  captured  the  railway, 
the  fateful  decision  was  reached  in  the  west,  in 
the  second  battle  of  Targul-Jiu.  Whatever 
forces  could  be  spared  from  the  Dobrudja 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


46? 


BUCOVETIGH,    IN    THE    JIU    VALLEY. 

had  to  be  hurried  to  Wallachia  in  an  attempt 
yet  to  arrest  the  enemy  advance  against 
Bukarest. 

The  Gennans  had  not  given  up  the  game  for 
lost  when  defeated  south  of  the  Vulcan  Range 
in  the  last  days  of  October.  At  Targul-Jiu 
they  decided  to  make  their  greatest  and  final 
attempt  at  forcing  a  gate  into  Rumania  at 
the  only  time  when  they  could  spare  consider- 
able forces  for  their  operations  in  that  theatre 
of  war.  The  41st  Prussian  Division,  under 
General  Schmidt  von  Knobelsdorf,  was  brought 
up  from  Volhynia,  where  about  the  middle  of 
October  it  had  taken  part  in  the  battle  of 
Korytnitsa.  Further,  the  109th  Prussian 
division,  a  cavalry  division  and  a  Magyar 
Honved  brigade  were  included  in  the  group 
of  General  von  Kiihne,  which  assumed  the 
offensive  in  the  Vulcan  Mountains.  The  de- 
feated llth  Bavarian  Division  under  General 
von  Kneussl  was  left  as  a  reserve  to  the  troops 
which  had  now  taken  over  its  task  in  the  Jiu 
Valley.  Lastly  an  independent  cavalry  corps, 
consisting  of  the  6th  and  7th  German  cavalry 
divisions,  was  added  to  the  enemy  forces  in 
that  region,  and  the  Austrian  brigade  under 
Colonel  von  Szivo,  which  had  hitherto  held  the 
positions  on  the  Cerna  west  of  Orsova,  was 
ordered  to  cooperate  with  the  attacking 
German  forces.  The  German  cavalry  corps, 
which  was  to  play  a  considerable  part  in  the 
invasion  of  Rumania,  stood  under  the  command 
of  General  Eberhard  Count  Schmettow, 
one  of  the  best-known  Prussian  cavalry  com- 
manders. .\  member  of  a  family  in  which 
army  service  has  been  a  tradition,  he  had  served 
in  different  cavalry  regiments  of  the  Guard 
and  Cuirassiers,  and  from  1901  to  1903  had 
been  first  aide-de-camp  to  the  famous  chief 


of  the  German  General  Staff,  Field -Marshal 
von  Schlieffen.  General  von  Falkenhayn  came 
down  himself  to  Petroseny  on  November  10- 
to  watch  the  development  of  the  operations. 
Meantime  General  Krafft  von  Delmensingen, 
late  Chief  of  the  Bavarian  General  Staff  and 
now  Commander  of  the  German  Aluta  Group, 
and  General  von  Morgen,  commanding  in  the 
central  group  of- passes  south  of  Kronstadt, 
were  ordered  to  resume  with  all  force  their 
attacks  against  Wallachia.  In  short,  the 
German  Army  Command  concentrated  all  its 
best  forces  and  its  best  leaders  for  the  new 
attack  against  Rumania.  To  the  vast  array 
of  forces  gathered  west  of  the  Vulcan  Pass  the 
Rumanians  could  oppose  only  the  very  much 
depleted  First  Division  at  Orsova  and  the 
Army  Group  at  Targul-Jiu,  whose  effectives 
were  even  weaker  than  they  had  been  during 
the  first  German  attack. 


LIEUT.-GENERAL    VON    MGRGEN. 

In  command  of  the  German  forces  south  of 

Kronstadt. 


458 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


FETCHING    WOOD    IN    THE    CARPATHIANS. 


The  fortnight  following  on  the  defeat  of  the 
Bavarian  Division  was  used  by  the  Germans 
for  improving  still  further  the  roads  and  paths 
across  the  Vulcan  mountains,  and  especially 
in  devising  contrivances  which  would  enable 
them  to  move  heavy  artillery  across  the 
frontier  ridge.  The  front  singled  out  for  attack 
was  very  much  enlarged,  and  extended  from 
the  Moldevisu  Mountain  in  the  east  for  some 
20  miles  to  the  Upper  Motru  Valley  in  the  west. 
The  plan  of  operations  was  as  follows  :  Two 
German  divisions  opened  on  November  10 
the  .attack  in  the  Jiu  district,  one  between  the 
Vulcan  and  the  Szurduk  Pass,  the  other  east 
of  the  Szurduk.  The  smaller  groups  which 
were  to  advance  through  the  mountains 
farther  west  were  not  pushed  forward  far 
toward  the  plain  until  the  issue  was  decided  by 
the  main  concentration  of  forces  on  the  Jiu. 
The  Germans  were  careful  not  to  repeat  the 
ill-starred  experiment  of  General  von  Kneussl. 
Only  farthest  to  the  west  an  Austro -Hungarian 
group  advancing  into  the  Upper  Mortu  Valley, 
where  the  Rumanians  had  hardly  any  troops, 
pressed  forward  at  a  quick  pace  with  a  view 
to  outflanking  the  Rumanian  positions  round 
Targul-Jiu. 

On  November  10  the  mountains  Garnicelui, 
Plesa,  and  the  Moldevisu  on  both  sides  of  the 
Jiu  were  occupied  by  the  Germans.  On  the 
next  day  the  advance  on  the  German  right  wing 
was  pressed  still  farther  with  fair  success  ;  but 
in  the  east,  north  of  Bumbeshti,  our  Allies 


were  able  to  arrest  for  a  while  the  enemy 
advance  on  positions  provided  with  armoured 
forts.  These,  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  were 
obsolete  in  their  structure,  were  captured  by 
the  Germans  on  November  13  after  they  had 
brought  into  action  their  heavy  howitzers. 
At  Bumbeshti  the  Germans  gained  the  terminus 
of  the  railway  from  Craiova  ;  this  line  did  not 
originally  lead  beyond  Targul-Jiu,  but  had  been 
recently  extended.  By  the  night  of  Novem- 
ber 13  the  enemy  had  reached  the  position 
which,  astride  the  Jiiv  Valley,  extended  from 
Valari  past  Sambotinul  to  Borcaciu.  This 
line  lay  only  some  six  miles  north  of  the  town 
of  Targul-Jiu,  which  was  entered  by  the  enemy 
on  November  15.  The  Rumanian  forces  with- 
drew to  positions  which  ran  from  Copaceni, 
south-west  of  Targul-Jiu,  to  the  river  Gilort 
in  the  east.  Meantime  a  Rumanian  relief 
force  was  coming  up  by  forced  marches  from 
the  Aluta  Valley  along  the  road  from  Rimnic 
Valcea.  But  before  this  column  could  reach 
the  hard-pressed  forces  in  the  Jiu  Valley,  the 
battle  was  fought,  and  on  November  17  the 
positions  between  the  Jiu  and  the  Gilort  were 
forced  by  the  enemy.  The  Rumanian  front  in 
western  Wallachia  had  been  left  without  any 
reserves,  and  now  that  these  last  defences  had 
been  broken  through  there  was  no  sufficient 
force  to  resist  the  enemy,  who  on  a  wide  front 
was  advancing  to  the  south  and  to  the  east. 
By  November  19  the  Germans  reached,  in  the 
centre  Filiasa,  the  junction  of  the  railways 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


459 


from  TarguI-Jiu  and  Orsova ;  in  the  west 
Strehaia,  on  the  River  Motru  ;  in  the  east 
Baleshti,  on  the  Oltetz  ;  whilst  farther  north 
another  detachment  advanced  by  Candalesti 
.against  the  Aluta,  thus  covering  the  left  flank 
.of  the  troops  which  ,  were  advancing  to  the 
.south.  As  soon  as  the  road  to  Targul-Jiu  had 
been  opened  the  cavalry  corps  of  Count 
Schmettow  was  pushed  forward  to  the  south 
to  turn  the  flank  and  get  into  the  rear  of  the 
Rumanian  forces  which  were  still  resisting  east 
of  the  Jiu  Valley,  and  also  to  clear  of  Rumanian 
troops  the  district  between  the  Jiu  and  the 
river  Motru.  It  subsequently  rejoined  the 
Army-Group  of  General  von  Kiihne  in  the  region 
of  Craiova. 

About  the  same  time  the  brigade  of  Colonel 
von  Szivo  was  reinforced  by  German  cyclists 
And  infantry  and  ordered  to  advance  along  the 
Danube.  But  the  small  Rumanian  Orsova 
Group  under  Colonel  Anastasiu  stubbornly 
maintained  its  positions  at  the  Iron  Gates  and 
its  hold  on  the  river  traffic.  It  was  not  until 
November  25  that  it  evacuated  the  town  of 
.Orsova  and  began  its  retreat  in  a  south- 
easterly direction,  a  real,  new  Anabasis.  Cut  off 
from  the  main  Rumanian  forces,  this  detach- 
ment, about  7,000  men  strong,  tried  to  escape 
the  grip  of  the  overwhelming  German  forces  and 


to  regain  connexion  with  its  own  armies,  whilst 
all  the  time  harrying  the  enemy  rear.  The 
retreat  lasted  more  than  three  weeks,  and 
carried  them  as  far  as  the  Aluta  Valley.  It  was 
not  until  December  7,  the  day  after  the  fall  of 
Bukarest,  that  they  surrendered  at  Caracalu, 
having  by  their  courage  and  determination 
earned  the  esteem  and  praise  even  of  the  enemy. 
"  Amidst  continuous  fighting  and  delivering 
repeated  counter-attacks,"  says  the  German 
official  report,  "  the  Orsova  Group  withdrew 
slowly  towards  the  south-east."  "It  resisted 
and  fought  for  the  honour  of  its  arms,"  says 
another  passage  of  the  account ;  for  indeed  its 
enterprise,  in  so  far  as  it  aimed  at  rejoining  the 
main  Rumanian  forces,  was  from  the  very 
outset  doomed  to  failure. 

On  November  21  East  and  West  Prussian 
infantry  from  the  41st  Division  and  a  Cuirassier 
Regiment  from  Count  Schmettow's  Corps 
entered  the  town  of  Craiova  ;  the  Rumanians 
had  evacuated  it,  carrying  away  all  their 
artillery  material,  including  several  heavy  guns. 
The  enemy  forces  had  now  emerged  from  the 
belt  of  wooded  hills  which  extend  at  the  foot  of 
the  Carpathian  range  and  reached  the  lowlands 
of  Wallachia.  The  rich  wide  plain  stretched 
before  them  ;  only  here  and  there  small, 
unimportant  undulations  of  the  ground  rise  in 


A    COMMUNICATION    TRENCH. 


460 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


461 


the  open  country,  which  gently,  almost  inappre- 
ciably, slopes  from  west  to  east.  Its  level  above 
the  sea,  which  round  Craiova  amounts  to  an 
average  of  about  400  feet,  falls  to  200  feet  in 


LIEUT.-GENERAL    VON    KLJHNE. 

In  command  of  the  German  Army  in  Western 

Wallachia. 

the  east,  and  by  a  more  sudden  drop  to  the  south 
to  only  40-100  feet  in  the  marshy  valley  of  the 
Danube.  Craiova,  in  the  centre  of  Western 
•or  Little  Wallachia,  is  its  capital  and  in  peace- 
time the  headquarters  of  the  First  Rumanian 
Army  Corps.  It  is  the  junction  of  eight  high- 
roads and  of  four  railways  leading  to  Slatina, 
'Targul-Jiu,  Turnu  Severin  and  Calafat  (on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Danube,  opposite  the  Bulgarian 
town  of  Vidin),  and  is  the  centre  of  the  grain 
trade  of  one  of  the  richest  agricultural  districts 
in  Europe.  Fifty  millionaires  (in  francs)  are 
reported  to  have  resided  at  Craiova  before  the 
war,  a  fact  of  which  the  Germans  now  quickly 
availed  themselves  to  impose  on  the  town  a 
•contribution  of  about  two  million  pounds 
sterling.  The  numerous  old  "  Boyar  "  palaces 
and  the  rich  residences  of  merchant  families 
testify  to  the  length  of  Craiova's  history,  whilst 
their  names,  derived  from  various  regions  of 
Europe  and  Asia,  speak  of  its  varied  character. 
Also  in  recent  years  foreign  immigrants  came 
in  large  numbers  to  Craiova  and  the  surround- 
ing district  ;  of  unnaturalised  Austrians  and 
Hungarians  alone  Little  Wallachia  counted 
before  the  war  no  less  than  30,000,  a  valuable 
asset  for  the  enemy  when  he  invaded  the 
country. 

From  Craiova  the  enemy  offensive  continued 
against  the  Aluta  Valley.  The  Army  Group  of 
•General  von  Kiihne  was  ordered  to  advance 


against  the  sector  Dragashani-Slatina,  the 
Cavalry  Corps  of  Count  Schmettow  against  the 
front  between  Slatina  and  Caracalu.  Their 
movements  were  naturally  quick,  as  they 
advanced  where  there  was  no  serious  force  to. 
resist  them  ;  the  weak  detachments  which  had 
not  been  able  to  hold  the  mountain  passes 
against  the  array  of  German  armies,  and  the  few 
reinforcements  which  the  Rumanian  Command 
was  able  to  throw  into  the  Wallachian  plain, 
could  fight  only  rearguard  actions  covering  a 
regrouping  farther  east.  By  November  23 
the  cavalry  of  Count  Schmettow  had  reached 
Caracalu  and  the  bridgehead  of  Stonoeshti,  a 
few  miles  east  of  it,  the  troops  of  von  Kiihne 
had  crossed  the  Pesteana  River  and  were 
approaching  Dragashani,  whilst  in  the  centre 
both  groups  were  converging  towards  Slatina 
and  the  railway  bridge  whereby  the  railway 
from  Piteshti  to  Craiova  crosses  the  Aluta.  A 
group  of  small  hills  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the 
Aluta  favoured  the  defence.  Here  the  Ru- 
manians put  up  a  determined  resistance, 
repelling  repeatedly  with  heavy  losses  the 
German  attempts  at  forcing  the  river  passage. 
But  their  forces  were  not  sufficient  to  hold  the 
river  line  in  its  entire  length,  and  the  enemy, 
not  being  able  to  break  through  at  Slatina, 


A    STREET    IN    CRAIOVA. 


462 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


transferred  the  weight  of  his  attack  to  Caracalu 
and  Stonoeshti.  Having  crossed  the  Aluta  at 
that  ooint,  Count  Schmettow's  forces  pressed 
forward  to  the  east  against  Rosiori  de  Vede. 
whilst  General  von  Kiihne  advanced  to  the 
north  against  the  flank  of  the  Rumanian  forces 
which  held  the  bridgehead  of  Slatina.  They 
had  no  choice  but  to  withdraw,  having  first 


GENERAL    VON    KOSCH. 

In  command  of  the  German  Danube  Army  in 

Wallachia. 


blown  up  the  railway  bridge  and  destroyed  all 
the  stores  of  cereals  at  Slatina  ;  by  November  27 
the  entire  Aluta  line  was  abandoned  by  our 
Allies.  In  the  ten  days  following  on  the  second 
battle  of  Targul-Jiu  the  enemy  columns  had 
traversed  distances  varying  from  60  to  140  miles. 
The  advance  was  executed  with  such  a  speed 
and  with  such  a  disregard  of  precautions,  as  was 
but  natural  in  a  movement  of  that  kind,  that 
had  there  been  but  a  few  divisions  in  reserve  in 
Central  Wallachia  capable  of  counter-attacking 
vigorously  the  flank  of  the  Germans  whilst  they 
were  descending  into  the  plain  near  Craiova  or 
whilst  they  were  wheeling  towards  the  Aluta,  the 
position  might  yet  have  been  saved.  Once  the 
two  groups  which  advanced  through  the  plain 
had  reached  a  front  facing  due  east,  their  posi- 
tion became  strategically  very  much  superior 
to  that  of  the  Rumanian  forces.  The  flanks  of 
the  German  forces  in  the  plain  now  rested  on 
Transylvania  and  Bulgaria,  whilst  the  northern 
flank  of  our  Allies  in  Wallachia  was  threatened 
by  the  Group  of  General  Krafft  von  Delmen- 
singen  from  the  Red  Tower  Pass,  and  their  left 
flank  was  exposed  to  attacks  of  a  new  enemy, 
the  Army  Group  of  General  von  Kosch,  which 
Mackensen  had  thrown  across  the  Danube. 


During    the    night    and    early    morning    of 
November  23  the  army  of  Field-Marshal  von 
Mackensen  began  to  cross  the  Danube  in  the 
neighbourhood    of    Sistovo.     About    the    same 
time  minor  attempts  were  carried  out  at  other 
points,  largely  in  order  to  mislead  the  Ruma- 
nians concerning  the  point  chosen  for  the  main 
crossing.     The  Germans  had  command  practi- 
cally of  the   entire   river-line.     Their  aiiillery 
by    far    outranged    that    of    the    Rumanians, 
and  dominated  the  Danvibe,  seriously  hampering 
the  activities  of  the  Rumanian  river  monitors 
and  protecting  those   of  the  Austrian   flotilla 
and    the    auxiliary    German    craft.     Further, 
the   supremacy    in    the   air,    which   the    small 
number  of  Rumanian  and  of  Allied  aviators, 
brought  up  to  Rumania  since  the  outbreak  of 
the  war,  coxild  not  dispute  with  the  Germans, 
enabled  the  enemy  to  keep  close  observation 
on  the  movements  of  the  Rumanian  troops  in 
the  open  lowlands  north  of  the  Danube,  whilst 
the  Rumanians  remained  in  the  dark  concerning 
the  enemy  preparations  for  the  crossing  of  the 
river.     These  preparations  had,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  been  carried  on  for  a  very  considerable 
time.     The  many  branches  and  lakes  also  into 
which'  the    Danube;   divides    on    its    southern 
bank  and  which  on  that  bank  form  Bulgarian 
territorial    waters    offered    favourable    condi- 
tions  for   the   work.     The   islands   and   banks 
are    covered    by    dense    shrubbery,  an   effec- 
tive    screen     against'    observation     from     the 
low    northern    bank.     Whilst    yet    at    peace 
with    Rumania    the    Austrians    and    Germans 
had,  in  sight  of  the  Rumanian  river  guards, 
in  July,  1916,  sent  bridging  material  down  the 
Danube    to    sectors    of    the    Bulgarian    shore, 
which  had  been  singled  out  as  favourable  for 
an  offensive  against  Rumania.     The  Austrian 
Danube    flotilla,    which    in    the    summer    of 
1916  was  hovering  close  to  the  Bulgarian  banks 
of  the  Danube,  was  not  removed  to  the  north 
of  the  Iron  Gate,  as  was  stated  at  the  time,  but 
lay  hidden  in  the  Blene  Channel  near  Sistovo. 
Here  the  work  on  the  construction  of  pontoons, 
ferries,   of   different  parts   of   a   bridge,   which 
could  subsequently  be  constructed  within  a  day, 
was    going    on    incessantly.     As    soon    as    the 
German    invasion    of    western    Wallachia    had 
materialised     and     their     forces     begun     their 
advance     to     the     west,     Field -Marshal     von 
Mackensen  was  to  throw  a  considerable  part  of 
his  army  across  the  Danube.     The  time  when 
the  German  armies  were  approaching  the  line 
of  the  Aluta  was  considered  most  appropriate 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


46$ 


RUMANIAN  CAVALRY  ON  THE  NORTH  BANK  OF  THE  DANUBE. 


for  a  crossing  in  force  at  Sistovo.  This  town, 
the  terminus  of  a  Bulgarian  railway,  lies  about 
25  miles  east  of  the  line  of  the  lower  Aluta, 
which  Count  Schmettow's  forces  were  just 
approaching.  It  was  so  advanced  that  a 
crossing  of  the  river  by  the  enemy  seriously 
threatened  the  flank  and  lines  of  retreat  of 
any  forces  which  the  Kumanians  might  gather 
on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Aluta,  but  was 
yet  sufficiently  near  to  the  district  reached 
by  the  German  forces  which  advanced  from 
the  west,  to  secure  a  safe  and  speedy  junction 
between  the  two  armies. 

On  November  19  the  German  long-range 
batteries  opened  a  bombardment  across  the 
river.  During  the  night  of  November  22-23, 


after  the  enemy  artillery  had  silenced  the 
much  weaker  Rumanian  guns,  the  Danube 
was  suddenly  covered  with  enemy  craft  which 
had  hitherto  lain  hidden  in  the  channels 
and  lakes  on  the  Bulgarian  bank.  Steam 
ferries  carried  the  first  German  detachments* 
across  the  river,  and  as  soon  as  they  had 
gained  a  firm  foothold  on  the  opposite  side 
a  pontoon  bridge  was  thrown  across  it  and 
then  strengthened  by  the  Austrian  engineer* 
according  to  the  so-called  "  Herbert  "  system. 
Its  structure  was  such  as  to  admit  the  transport 
even  of  heavy  artillery.  The  passage  was 
effected  at  the  same  place  at  which  the  Russians 
had  crossed  the  river  in  1877,  but  whilst  40  years 
earlier  technical  resources  were  as  yet  so  little- 


A    BRIDGE    OVER    THE    ARGESH. 


464 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR 


developed  that  the  work  had  taken  fully  33 
days,  in  1910  a  river  about  1,000  yards  wide  was 
bridged  in  18  hours.  The  enemy  operations 
were  very  much  favoured  by  the  weather 
prevailing  in  the  Danube  region  towards  the 
end  of  November.  It  had  been  thawing  for  a 
few  days  and  the  air  was  mild,  almost  warm, 
but  the  water  of  the  Danube  was  cold  with 
melted  snow  ;  the  warm  air  over  the  cold  water 
was  naturally  filled  with  dense  fog.  The  first 
crossings  of  the  river  could  thus  be  effected 
under  cover. 

By  November  26  an  entire  army-group 
composed  of  German,  Bulgarian  and  Turkish 
troops  had  reached  the  Rumanian  bank  of 
the  river  and  deployed  fan-like  towards  the 
north.  It  was  led  by  General  von  Kosch, 
who,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  had  been  in 
command  of  the  10th  Prussian  Division  at 
Posen.  By  November  26  his  troops  stood 
before  the  gates  of  Alexandria.  Meantime 
the  landing  operations  were  extended  in  both 
directions  ;  in  the  west,  detachments  of 
inferior  troops  used  only  for  service  behind  the 
lines  were  moved  across  the  Danube  into  the 
occupied  parts  of  Wallachia  to  relieve  the 
invading  armies  of  the  care  of  the  districts 
in  their  rear.  At  Corabia,  in  the  centre, 


Bulgarian  cavalry  was  thrown  across  the 
Danube  to  co-operate  with  Count  Schmettow's 
forces.  At  Samovita,  at  the  terminus  of  the 
railway  from  Sofia,  a  crossing  had  been  effected 
on  the  same  day  as  at  Sistovo.  Finally, 
some  30  miles  east  of  Sistovo,  opposite  the 
town  of  Ru-:tehuk,  the  terminus  of  Bulgarian 
railways  from  Tirnova  and  from  Varna,  artillery 
preparations  were  begun  for  crossing  tin 
Danube  only  some  30  miles  due  south  of  Buka- 
rcst.  On  November  27  the  Bulgarians  crossed 
the  river  and  occupied  the  town  of  Giurgevo. 
Soon  nothing  was  left  of  the  once  prosperous 
town.  "The  view  of  the  gaping  ruins  of 
Giurgevo  is  simply  gruesome,"  wrote  the 
special  correspondent  of  the  Vienna  Arbeiter- 
Zeitung  under  date  of  December  16,  1916 — 
his  name  was  Hugo  Schulz,  and  his  feelings 
Bulgaro-German.  "  Giurgevo  had  first  become 
the  target  of  heavy  artillery  during  the  artillery 
duel  which  had  been  proceeding  from  bank  to 
bank,  and  whatever  had  survived  it  perished 
during  the  capture  and  the  street  fighting 
which  took  place  in  the  town.  The  Bulgarians, 
who  take  the  war  against  Rumania  as  an 
entirely  personal  matter,  gave  way  to  their 
bitter  hatred  and  did  the  work  whole-heartedly. 
Whatever  had  been  spared  by  the  flames,  the 


I 


OLTENITZA    ON    THE    ARGESH. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


465 


A    WAR    CORRESPONDENT'S    GAR    FORDING    A    STREAM    DURING    THE    RETREAT 

OF    THE    RUMANIANS. 


Bulgarians  utterly  destroyed  in  their  wrath." 
In  the  further  invasion  of  the  country  they  vied 
with  the  Germans  in  looting  and  devastations. 
Indeed,  "  requisitioning  "  was  done  under  the 
highest  auspices  and  based  on  a  definite  theory 
that  "  Rumania  should  pay  in  full  the  expenses 
of  its  own  invasion."  German  military  cor- 
respondents, in  their  utter  absence  of  all  moral 
sense,  have  left  in  many  dispatches  plentiful 
testimony  of  the  way  in  which  their  armies 
exploited  the  country  ;  no  less  interesting  is 
the  complacency  with  which  these  authorised 
eye-witnesses  watched  their  procedure.  Even 
Herr  Schulz  of  the  Vienna  Arbeiter-Zeitung, 
whom  his  Socialist  views  might  have  endowed 
with  sympathies  extending  beyond  the  borders 
of  his  own  country,  watched  the  spoliation 
and  misery  of  the  Rumanian  peasant  with  the 
higher  philosophical  calm.  "  Our  troops  could 
not  possibly  have  marched  at  this  rate  had  not 
Rumania  so  much  cattle,  so  .  many  geese, 
pigs  and  poultry.  The  Wallachian  plain  is 
covered  with  thriving  villages  very  different 
from  the  poor  hamlets  in  the  mountains  on 
the  northern  border  of  the  country.  The 
invading  forces  live  here  in  great  style  .  .  ." 
As  to  the  feelings  of  the  Rumanian  peasant, 


Herr  Schulz  consoles  himself  and  his  Socialist 
leaders  in  another  dispatch  by  saying  that 
"  after  all  the  war  is  not  a  philanthropic 
institution  and  least  of  all  in  enemy  country  " — • 
especially  when  the  Germans  and  Bulgarians 
are  the  invaders,  he  might  have  added  with 
good  justification. 

November  25  approximately  marks  the 
beginning  of  the  concentric  enemy  advance 
in  the  direction  of  the  river  Argesh,  which 
extends  in  front  of  Bukarest  across  the  Wal- 
lachian plain.  The  army-group  under  General 
von  Morgen,  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  German 
line,  finding  it  impossible  to  break  through 
along  the  road  from  Predeal  to  Ploeshti — it 
did  not  reach  even  Sinaia  until  December  5 — • 
directed  its  main  forces  towards  Campolung 
and  entered  it  on  November  29.  Their  success 
in  that  region  was  due  not  to  any  superiority 
over  the  opposing  Rumanian  forces,  but  to  the 
pressure  exercised  by  the  neighbouring  German 
army-group  from  the  direction  of  the  Red 
Tower  Pass.  In  view  of  the  enemy  advance 
in  the  district  of  Dragashani,  Slatina,  and 
Caracalu,  the  Rumanian  Aluta  Group  had  had 
to  retire  from  its  position  in  the  mountains, 


466 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


AUSTRIAN    HUSSAR    GAMP    IN    RUMANIA. 


.and  on  November  25  the  troops  of  General 
Krafft  von  Delmensingen  had  reached  Rim- 
•nic  Valcea  and  Tigveni  (in  the  valley  of  the 
Topologu).  In  front  of  Curtea  de  Argesh  the 
<rearguards  of  the  Rumanian  First  Army 
offered  a  determined  resistance,  and  it  was 
•not  until  November  27  that  the  Germans 
•captured  this  important  railhead  at  the  foot 
•of  the  main  Carpathian  range.  By  the  night  of 
November  27  the  enemy  line  extended  from 
Darmaneshti,  in  the  valley  of  the  Domna, 
past  Dragani,  on  the  road  from  Rimnic  to 
Piteshti,  past  Vatasesti  to  Isvoru,  south-east  of 
.Slatina  and  some  75  miles  west  of  Bukarest. 
On  November  29  the  enemy  entered  Piteshti, 
in  the  rear  of  the  Campolung  Group,  which  had 
now  to  retreat  through  the  Dambovitsa  Valley 
towards  Targovishte.  Meantime,  in  the  centre, 
,the  army-groups  of  General  von  Kiihne  and 
Count  Schmettow  continued  their  advance  to 
.the  west,  whilst  south-west  of  Bukarest  the 
growing  forces  of  Germans,  Bulgarians,  and 
Turks  under  General  von  Kosch  had  reached, 
on  November  27,  a  line  which  extended  from 
Giurgevo  past  Draganesti  towards  the  upper 
course  ol  the  Vedea  river 

To  meet  the  attack  of  the  enemy  the 
Rumanians  had  re-distributed  their  forces, 
•concentrating  them  in  two  main  groups  north- 
west and  south-west  of  Bukarest.  They  had 
been  enabled  to  do  so  by  the  plentiful  help 
which  they  were  now  receiving  from  Russia. 
The  entire  Moldavian  front  had  been  taken 


over  by  the  Russian  armies  so  as  to  enable  the 
Rumanians  to  fill  the  gap  which  had  opened  up 
between  the  Carpathians  and  the  Danube  after 
the  Germans  had  broken  through  at  Targul-Jiu 
and  invaded  the  Wallachian  plain.  The  armies 
of  General  Lechitsky  and  General  Kaledin. 
of  Lutsk  fame,  were  now  covering  the  western 
frontier  of  Moldavia,  and  by  assuming  the 
offensive  against  the  Austrian  forces  in  the 
beginning  of  December  deprived  them  of  the 
initiative  in  that  sector  of  the  front.  For  the 
enemy  also  had  concentrated  troops  in  that 
region,  evidently  intending  to  debouch  from 
the  mountains  into  Moldavia ;  had  he  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  the  Sereth  line,  his  movement 
would  have  seriously  compromised,  if  not 
completely  cut  off.  the  retreat  of  our  Allies 
from  Wallachia.  Besides  the  First  Austro- 
Hungarian  Army  under  General  von  Arz. 
which  had  been  concentrated  mainly  in  the 
southern  parts  of  the  Moldavian  plain,  our 
Allies  had  to  face  in  the  northern  sectors  the 
7th  Austro-Hungarian  Army  under  General 
von  Kovess.  The  Russians  had  also  taken 
over  practically  the  entire  defence  of  the 
Dobrudja.  which  now  rested  in  the  hands  of 
General  Sakharoff.  Finally,  Russian  troops 
were  beginning  to  appear  even  in  the  plain 
south  of  Bukai-est.  The  Rumanian  armies, 
now  under  the  supreme  command  of  General 
Averescu,  were  distributed  in  the  following 
manner:  the  Second  Army  continued  to  hold 
the  passes  south  of  Kronstadt,  whilst  the 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


467 


First  Army  was  holding  the  region  of  Piteshti, 
west-north-west  of  Bukarest.  South  and 
south-west  of  Bukarest  a  new  group  of  divi- 
sions, including  parts  of  what  had  previously 
been  the  3rd  and  4th  Armies,  was  constituted 
under  the  leadership  of  General  Presan,  who 
had  previously  highly  distinguished  himself 
as  Commander  of  the  4th  Army.  Whilst  on 
the  northern  and  north-western  front  it  was 
the  intention  of  the  Rumanians  merely  to 
contain  the  enemy  forces,  south-west  of 
Bukarest  our  Allies  proposed  to  assume  the 


eshti.  It  was  on  this  line  that  General  Presan 
had  decided  to  meet  the  enemy  advance,  and 
the  next  day  saw  the  opening  of  his  counter- 
offensive.  The  forces  under  his  command  were 
grouped  in  the  following  way :  south-east 
of  Bukarest,  between  the  town  and  the  Danube 
the  40th  Russian  Division  was  advancing 
to  the  west ;  due  south  of  Bukarest  stood  a 
Rumanian  detachment  under  the  command 
of  General  Jancovescu ;  next  to  it,  south- 
west of  Bukarest.  the  21st  Division ;  the 
right  wing  of  General  Presan's  forcss  was 


RUM  4NIAN    FIELD    KITCHENS    NEAR    PLOESHTI. 


offensive,  to  outflank  from  the  north  the 
German  Army  of  the  Danube  under  General  von 
Kosch  and  to  press  it  back  against  the  Danube. 
By  November  29  the  Army  of  General  von 
Kosch,  composed  of  North-German,  Bavarian, 
Bulgarian,  Turkish,  and  Austro-Hungarian 
troops,  had  reached  a  line  extending  from 
Gumantzi,  past  Calugareni  to  Comana  on  the 
river  Neajlovu,  a  railway  station  about  half 
way  between  Giurgevo  and  Bukarest — i.e., 
only  some  16  miles  from  that  city.  About 
the  same  time  its  left  wing  crossed  the  Piteshti- 
Giurgevo  railway  in  the  valley  of  the  river 
Glavaciocul.  On  November  30  the  enemy 
forced  a  crossing  of  the  Neajlovu  near  Mihal- 


formed  of  two  groups,  one  consisting  of  the 
9th  and  19th  Divisions  previously  employed 
in  the  Dobrudja,  the  other  of  the  2nd  and  5th 
Divisions.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  intention 
of  the  Rumanian  Command  to  advance  on  the 
extreme  right  wing  a  strong  force  which  would 
have  pushed  its  way  in  between  the  Danube 
Army  and  the  German  centre.  The  plan  was 
perfectly  sound,  and  came  very  near  being 
realised.  If  fully  successful,  it  would  have 
resulted  in  a  veritable  disaster  for  the  German 
right  wing.  On  December  1  the  Rumanian 
troops  threw  the  advanced  enemy  forces  back 
across  the  river  Neajlovu,  defeated  on  the 
Glavaciocul  the  Turkish  division  which  moved 


4G8 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


o 

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z 

5 

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K 

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O 


THE    TIMES    HLSTOBY    OF    THE    WAR. 


on  the  extreme  left  wing  of  the  army-group  of 
General  von  Kosch  and  also  the  main  body  of 
the  Germane-Bulgarian  forces  in  the  region  of 
Ghimpati  and  Mihalesti,  driving  them  towards 
the  south  and  capturing  30  guns  and  a  few 
thousand  prisoners.  Following  up  this  initial 
victory  our  Allies  succeeded  in  encircling  part 
of  the  German  forces  and  the  position  of  the 
enemy  seemed  already  hopeless  when  at  the 
last  moment  a  Turkish  division  appeared 
in  the  rear  of  General  Presan's  troops  instead 
of  a  Rumanian  division. — this  failed  to  come 
in  time.  For  a  second  time  Mackensen, 
by  his  impetuous  tactics,  had  come  very 
near  suffering  defeat,  and  again,  as  in  the 
Battle  of  Lodz  in  1914,  he  was  saved  by 
the  fact  that  a  subordinate  commander  on 
the  side  of  our  Allies  failed  to  play  his  part 
in  the  battle.  Following  on  the  arrival  of  the 
Turkish  division  further  German  reinforce- 
ments made  their  appearance  and  the  situation 
changed  completely.  The  Rumanians  found 
themselves  surrounded  in  the  district  north  of 
Calugareni,  the  group  composed  of  the  2nd 
and  5th  Divisions  broke  and  retired  in  disorder 
in  the  direction  of  Bukarest  ;  of  tho  9th  ani 
19th,  two  of  the  best  Rumanian  Divisions, 
only  remnants  succeeded  in  fighting  their  way 
through  to  the  rear.  General  Presan's  right 
wing,  which  only  on  the  previous  day  had  won 
such  a  signal  success,  now  suffered  a  crushing 
defeat.  Many  of  the  details  of  the  battle  are 
bound  to  remain  for  ever  moot  points  of 
history.  Even  the  reports  given  out  from 
the  best-informed  quarters  seem  to  co.ntra- 
dict  one  another  on  certain  points,  and  much 
of  the  confusion  which  surrounds  the  actions 
of  December  2  and  December  3  is  not  likely 
ever  to  be  unravelled.  The  Germans  claim 
to  have  found  in  possession  of  two  staff  officers 
belonging  to  the  8th  Rumanian  Division, 
whom  they  captured  on  December  1  at  Ratesti 
(on  the  Piteshti-Bukarest  road),  orders  which 
disclosed  to  them  the  nature  of  the  Rumanian 
strategic  plan.  They  further  claim  that, 
having  thus  found  out  that  the  Rumanian 
forces  were  all  concentrated  in  two  groups 
and  that  no  serious  counter-attacks  or  resist- 
ance need  have  been  expected  in  the  centre, 
their  Command  immediately  decided  to  break 
up  the  army-group  of  General  von  Kiihne 
which  operated  in  that  region  ;  its  left  wing, 
including  the  41st  Division  under  General 
Schmidt  von  Knobelsdorf,  wheeled  towards 
the  north  against  the  left  flank  of  the  Rumanian 


armies  which  were  holding  the  region  of  Piteshti 
and  Targovishte.  The  right  wing  of  the  group, 
including  the  llth  Bavarian  Division  and  also 
Austro-Hungarian  troops,  wheeled  in  the 
opposite  direction,  turning  its  face  to  the  south, 
and  thus  came  up  on  the  right  flank  of  General 
Presan's  forces.  Meantime  the  cavalry  of 
Count  Schmettow  drew  a  screen  across  the 
German  centre.  This  may  or  may  not  be  part 
of  the  true  history  of  the  double  battle  fought 
on  the  river  Argesh  north-west  and  south-west 
of  Bukarest.  One  thing,  however,  is  certain — 
that  even  so  it  would  not  have  resulted  in  a 
decisive  defeat  had  it  not  been  for  the  indolence 
of  certain  Rumanian  subordinate  commanders 
and  the  downright  negligence  of  one  of  them, 
a  certain  General  Sosescu  who  was  a  naturalized 
German,  and  whose  original  name  had  been 
Sosek.  He  was  subsequently  court-martialled, 
cashiered,  and  condemned  to  imprisonment. 
The  Rumanian  chief  commander,  in  the  battle 
south-west  of  Bukarest — also  called  the  battle 
of  the  Neajlovu — General  Presan,  conducted  the 
battle  in  a  way  which  did  him  honour  and  no 
blame  for  the  defeat  attached  to  him.  In 
acknowledgment  of  the  distinguished  work 
done  by  him  he  was  soon  after  the  battle  of 
Neajlovu  appointed  Chief  of  the  Rumanian 
General  Staff. 

Meantime,  on  the  north-western  front  the 
enemy  forces  were  advancing  down  the  Argesh, 
the  Dambovitsa  and  the  Upper  lalomitsa  valleys 
against  a  line  extending  from  Gaeshti  past 
Targovishte  to  Valea  Lunga.  The  Rumanian 
troops  under  Generals  Petala  and  Lombru  were 
holding  out  bravely,  but,  overwhelmed  by  the 
superior  German  forces,  had  to  give  way,  and 
withdrew  in  the  direction  of  Titu,  the  junction 
of  the  railways  from  Piteshti  and  Targovishte. 
Also  here  our  Allies  suffered  much  from  defects 
in  their  organization.  At  one  time  during  the 
retreat  a  situation  arose  from  which  consider- 
able gain  might  have  accrued  to  the  Rumanians. 
One  of  their  divisions  succeeded  in  getting  into 
the  rear  of  the  enemy,  but  this  information 
did  not  reach  the  commanding  general  until  it 
was  too  late,  when  the  main  army  had  already 
withdrawn  across  a  river  and  blown  up  the 
bridge.  The  Germans  continued  advancing 
on  the  entire  front.  With  the  capture  of 
Targovishte  they  reached  the  edge  of  the 
Rumanian  oilfields  and  the  lateral  road  which 
leads  to  the  east  in  the  direction  of  Ploeshti. 
They  had  hopes  of  rich  booty  and  great  captures. 
Neither  was  to  materialize. 


470 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


RUMANIANS    RETIRING    ACROSS    THE    RIVER    ARGESH. 


By  December  4  all  hope  of  holding  Bukarest 
was  entirely  abandoned,  and  the  Rumanian 
troops  were  withdrawing  towards  the  east 
through  the  whole  width  of  Eastern  Wallachia. 
There  had  never  been  any  intention  of  holding 
Bukarest  itself  as  a  fortress.  It  is  true  the  city 
is  surrounded  by  an  impressive  girdle  of 
detached  works  composed  of  18  large  forts 
and  an  equal  number  of  smaller  forts  and 
batteries.  These  are  situated  at  distances 


from  the  centre  varying  between  three  and 
seven  miles  and  are  separated  by  intervals  not 
exceeding  three  miles.  Even  the  principal 
line  of  resistance,  therefore,  amounted  to  a 
length  of  about  50  miles,  and  it  was  calculated 
that  at  least  120,000  men  would  have  been 
required  to  hold  the  fortress.  But  the  most 
important  of  these  defences  had  been  organized 
so  far  back  as  1886  and  were  completely 
obsolete.  Even  the  experiences  of  the  Austrian* 


THE    RUMANIAN    RETREAT:    AN    IMPROVISED    BRIDGE. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


471 


in  Przemysl,  where  they  had  an  immense 
superiority  of  artillery  over  the  besieging 
Russian  forces,  can  hardly  have  encouraged 
the  Rumanians  to  try  to  hold  Bukarest.  It 
would  have  been  sheer  folly  to  shut  up  an  army 
of  such  size  in  a  fortress  of  an  obsolete  type, 
insufficiently  supplied  with  artillery.  If  the 
Germans  were  spreading  news  for  a  fortnight 
before  the  fall  of  Bukarest  about  the  greatness 
of  the  fortress  and  its  importance,  this  was 
partly  due  to  a  desire  to  make  the  most  of  the 
expected  capture,  and  partly  in  order  to  enable 
the  German  command  to  indulge  in  the  de- 


the  Danube  at  Sistovo  reached  the  city. 
This  news  had  fallen  like  a  thunderbolt  on  the 
capital,  and  the  authorities  received  the  order 
to  evacuate  it  as  soon  as  possible.  "  The  first 
few  days  which  followed  after  the  evacuation  of 
the  town,"  wrote  an  eye-witness,  "  will  remain 
deeply  engraved  in  the  memory  of  the  in- 
habitants. The  cry  '  The  Germans  are  coming  !  ' 
filled  the  population  with  terror,  and  everybody 
tried  to  escape.  The  word  '  overcrowded  ' 
only  inadequately  describes  the  state  of  the 
trains.  Prices  like  £80  were  offered  for 
carriages  to  Ploeshti,  which  is  distant  some 


THE    OILFIELD    AT    MORENI. 


struction  of  an  open  town.  On  December  3 
the  Rumanian  Government  promptly  counter- 
acted that  propaganda  by  declaring  officially 
that  "  well  before  the  commencement  of  the 
war,  as  is  known  to  our  enemies,  Bukarest  was 
deprived  of  the  character  of  a  fortress,  and 
when  the  danger  of  occupation  presented  itself 
steps  were  taken  for  the  evacuation  of  the  city 
by  the  military  elements,  but  not  by  the  civil 
population,  which  has  been  enjoined  to  remain 
in  the  city." 

The  evacuation  of  Bukarest   began  on   the 
day  when  the  news  of  the  enemy  having  crossed 


30  miles  from  Bukarest."  The  Ministers, 
the  Allied  Legations  and  the  banks  were 
transferred  to  Jassy,  and  by  a  Royal  Decree 
the  meeting  of  the  Rumanian  Parliament  was 
postponed  and  Parliament  was  ordered  to  re- 
assemble at  Jassy.  On  December  1  the  last 
members  of  the  Cabinet  left  Bukarest.  The 
thunder  of  the  invaders'  guns  could  be  already 
distinctly  heard  in  the  city,  but  the  panic 
which  had  at  first  broken  out  in  the  town 
gave  place  to  a  feeling  of  depression  and 
resignation.  The  streets  were  patrolled  by 
troops  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  order. 


472 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


As  a  matter  of  fact  this  was  not  necessary, 
as  life  seemed  to  have  become  completely 
paralyzed  in  the  gay  and  busy  city.  On 
Monday,  December  4,  a  terrific  report  awoke  the 
capital.  The  arsenal  had  been  blown  up  by 
the  authorities.  With  the  destruction  of  this 
establishment  the  last  hopes  of  the  Bukarest 
population  were  gone.  There  could  be  no 
doubt  regarding  the  future. 

On  December  5  Field-Marshal  von  Mackensen 
sent  an  officer  under  the  flag  of  trucj  into 
Bukarest,  calling  upon  it  to  surrender.  He 
came  back  in  the  early  morning  of  the  following 
day  with  the  report  that  there  waa  no  fortress 
of  Bukarest  and  no  commander,  and  that  the 
impressive  ceremony  for  which  the  Field  - 
Marshal  had  been  preparing  coxild  not  be 
enacted.  On  the  same  day  the  Germans  entered 
the  city,  Mackensen  with  his  staff  taking  up 
headquarters  in  the  Royal  Palace.  But  the 
day  on  which  they  entered  the  capital  was 
dark  with  smoke  and  the  night  which  f"l  lowed 
was  illuminated  ;  the  flames  and  the  smoke 
were  rising  from  the  burning  oil-tanks  and 
wells  in  the  district  of  Ploeshti.  One  of  the 
richest  regions  of  the  world  was  being  destroyed 
in  order  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  getting  the 
much -coveted  oil.  This  was  the  work  of 
Colonel  Norton  Griffiths,  M.P.,  who  acted  with 
extraordinary  speed,  energy  and  courage. 

On  December  4  General  Tiilff  von  Tschepe 
und  Weidenbach,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
Commander  of  the  8th  Rhenish  Army  Corps 
at  Koblenz,  was  appointed  military  Governor- 
General  of  the  occupied  districts  of  Rumania. 
Austrian  and  Bulgarian  Vice-Governors  were 
placed  under  him.  He  was  instructed  by 
German  headquarters  to  use  Rumanian  lar.d 
in  the  same  way  as  Belgium  and  Poland  had 


been  used.  To  him  these  words  contained  a 
very  material  meaning,  for  at  the  head  of  the 
8th  Army  Corps  he  had  taken  part  in  that  first 
invasion  of  Belgium  which  will  for  ever  remain 
a  stain  on 'the  honour  of  the  German  nation. 
He  was  now  explicitly  instructed  to  try  to 
provide  from  Rumania  the  needs  of  the  Central 
Powers  which  were  "  illegally  cut  off  "  from 
the  High  Seas  by  Great  Britain.  That  he 
should  not  be  able  to  do  so  had,  however,  been 
seen  to  by  the  Allied  Commanders.  On  the 
fall  of  Bukarest,  General  von  Heinrich,  pre- 
viously Governor  of  Lille — hence,  also  an 
experienced  man — was  appointed  Military 
Governor  of  Bukarest.  One  of  the  first  acts 
of  the  German  administration  was  an  ingenious 
edict  whereby  a  heavy  war  tax  was  levied  from 
the  capital.  The  circulation  of  pap  -r  money 
was  forbidden,  unless  marked  as  German,  for 
which  30  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  the  notes  was 
demanded. 

Meantime,  the  German  and  Austrian  Press 
was  busy  spreading  throughout  the  world 
allegations  to  the  effect  that  enemy  troops 
had  been  welcomed  in  the  capital  of  Rumania 
The  true  explanation  of  whatever  facts  there 
were  for  that  allegation  can  be  found  in  a 
despatch  from  Dr.  Koester  published  in  the 
Vienna  Arbeiter-Zeilung  and  dated  December, 
1916.  Bukarest,  he  says,  is  really  judged  by 
its  main  street,  and  what  happens  in  this  half- 
mile,  with  its  theatres,  cinemas  and  cafes,  is 
described  as  representing  its  public  opinion. 
"  It  is  natural  that  the  Germans,  Austrians 
and  Hungarians  resident  in  the  town  are  now 
pushing  forward  in  this  half-mile  an  1  that 
many  who  had  hitherto  kept  siknt  now 
suddenly  have  rediscovered  their  Gern.an 
hearts." 


CHAPTER  CLXXX. 

THE  GERMAN  PEACE  CAMPAIGN 
OF  DECEMBER,   1916. 

SITUATION  IN  GERMANY,  AUGUST,  1916 — STOCK-TAKING  IN  BERLIN — MILITARY  DISAPPOINTMENTS 
AND  NEW  POLICY — DISMISSAL  OF  FALKENHAYN  AND  APPOINTMENT  OF  HINDENBURG — BELGIAN 
DEPORTATIONS — "  FREEDOM  "  AND  CONSCRIPTION  FOR  THE  POLES — THE  AUXILIARY  SERVICE 
LAW — PEACE  OR  "  RUTHLESS  "  SUBMARINE  WARFARE — ORIGINS  OF  THE  PEACE  CAMPAIGN — 
THE  GERMAN  NOTES  OF  DECEMBER  12 — BOASTS  OF  VICTORY — THE  AMERICAN  PEACE  NOTE — 
SCANDINAVIAN  AND  Swiss  NOTES — GERMAN  REPLY  TO  UNITED  STATES — ALLIES'  REPLY  TO  ENEMY 
POWERS — GERMANY  AND  NEUTRALS — ALLIES'  REPLY  TO  UNITED  STATES — THE  BELGIAN  NOTE — 
MR.  BALFOUR'S  DISPATCH  TO  WASHINGTON — GERMANY  AND  THE  ALLIES'  TERMS — MR.  WILSON'S 
SPEECH  TO  THE  SENATE — GERMAN  ANNOUNCEMENT  OF  "  UNRESTRICTED  "  SUBMARINE  WARFARE — 
PERFECT  PIRACY — GERMANY  DEFIES  THE  WORLD. 


ON  several  occasions  during  the  first 
two  years  of  war  German  diplomacy 
tested  the  firmness,  now  of  one  and 
now  of  another,  of  the  Entente 
Powers  by  suggestions  of  peace  which  were  con- 
veyed through  neutral  channels  with  varying 
degrees  of  definiteness.  While,  however,  there 
were  periods  in  1915  and  at  the  beginning  of 
1916  when  both  the  German  Government  and 
the  German  public  seriously  believed  in  the 
possibility  of  a  separate  peace  with  one  or  other 
of  the  Allies,  the  year  1916  was  a  year  of 
dwindling  hope.  As  has  already  been  observed, 
the  German  peace  talk  merely  strengthened 
the  determination  of  the  Allies.*  The  assault 
on  Verdun  was  a  costly  military  failure  ;  it 
was  also  a  political  disaster.  As  the  dis- 
tinguished German  historian,  Professor 
Meinecke,  explained  in  the  Frankfurter  Zeitung 
on  December  31,  1916,  the  political  origin  of 
the  undertaking  against  Verdun  was  the  belief 
that  it  would  "  prove  to  the  French  that  they 
could  no  longer  win,  and  that  they  would  do 

»  Vol.  IX.,  p.  361  foil. 
Vol.  XI.— Part  143  473 


better  to  end  a  war  which  had  lost  all  prospects 
for  them."  The  collapse  of  the  German 
"  politico  -military  idea"  was  followed  by  the 
tremendous  Battle  of  the  Somme,  which 
deprived  Germany  of  the  initiative  and  taught 
her,  in  particular,  that  she  no  longer  held  the 
superiority  in  organization  and  material. 
Germany  was  compelled  to  review  the  whole 
situation  afresh,  and  to  prepare  for  greater 
efforts  than  any  she  had  yet  made,  and  to  do 
so  in  full  recognition  of  the  fact — to  quote 
Professor  Meinecke's  lucid  statement — that 
she  could  no  longer  look  for  military  decisions 
"  in  the  full  peace-compelling  sense,"  and  that 
she  must  fall  back  upon  "  the  idea  that  the 
sacrifices  demanded  by  the  continuation  of  the 
war  no  longer  bear  any  relation  to  the  military 
results  which  can  still  be  expected,  and  that  it 
is  statesnvanlike,  intelligent  and  wise  to  abandon 
the  intention  of  destruction,  which  after  all 
does  not  lead  to  destruction,  and  to  seek  a 
reasonable  compromise." 

At  the  end  of  August  German  anxieties  were 
increased  by  the  intervention  of  Rumania  and 


474 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


the  Italian  declaration  of  war  on  Germany, 
and  Berlin  at  once  set  about  a  general  military 
and  political  stock-taking.  The  results  were 
only  gradually  disclosed,  and  the  sequence  of 
events  was  calculated  to  obscure  the  character 
and  purpose  of  the  German  decisions.  They 
were,  first,  to  reorganize  the  supreme  command, 
especially  by  making  Marshal  von  Hindenburg, 
in  name  at  least,  military  dictator  ;  secondly,  to 
increase  German  man -power,  especially  for  the 
purposes  of  the  munitions  industry,  by  a  new 


HERR    VON     BETHMANN-HOLLWEG    ON 
HIS    60th    BIRTHDAY    (NOV.    29,    1916). 

He  is  seen  walking  in  the  Garden  of  the 

Reichskanzlerpalais  with  his  Under-Secretary, 

Herr  Wahnschaffe. 

form  of  industrial  conscription  in  Germany,  by 
the  deportation  of  the  able-bodied  civilian  popu. 
lation  of  Belgium,  and  by  the  proclamation  of 
a  sham  kingdom  in  Russian  Poland  as  a  step 
to  conscription  of  the  Poles  ;  thirdly,  to  prepare 
by  the  speediest  possible  construction  of  sub- 
marines and  training  of  crews  for  the  intro- 
duction of  "ruthless"  submarine  warfare 
against  England ;  and,  fourthly,  to  initiate 
proposals  of  peace,  which,  if  they  did  not 
achieve  direct  success,  might  serve  as  justi- 
fication— certainly  in  German  eyes,  and  con- 
ceivably in  neutral,  and  especially  American, 
eyes — for  the  new  submarine  campaign.  It 
has  already  been  seen  (Chapter  CLXXVII.)  how 
the  efforts  to  entangle  the  United  States  in  the 
peace  intrigue  led  speedily,  as.  soon  as  Germany 


proceeded  to  disavow  her  pledges  regarding 
submarine  warfare,  to  the  American  rupture  of 
diplomatic  relations,  and  then  to  the  American 
declaration  of  war.  It  is  now  necessary  to 
review  the  peace  campaign  itself,  to  sketch 
the  developments  in  Germany  of  which  the 
peace  campaign  formed  an  essential  part,  and 
to  record  the  important  and  far-reaching 
declarations  of  policy  which  it  produced. 

The  first  move  in  the  new  direction  was  the 
announcement  on  August  30,  1916,  that  General 
von  Falkenhayn,  who  had  supplanted  Count 
Moltke  at  the  end  of  1914,  had  been  removed 
from  the  office  of  Chief  of  the  Great  General 
Staff,  that  Field -Marshal  von  Hindenburg  had 
been  appointed  "  Chief  of  the  General  Staff 
of  the  Field  Army,"  and  that  Hindenburg's 
chief  supporter  and  adviser,  General  von 
Ludendorff,  had  been  given  the  new  appoint- 
ment of  "  First  Quartermaster-General."  The 
disgrace  of  Falkenhayn  was  ostentatious 
punishment  for  the  disastrous  Western  Cam- 
paign of  1916,  and  Falkenhayn  was  promptly 
sent  away  to  deal  with  Rumania,  for  whose 
intervention  his  strategy  was  held  responsible  ; 
politically,  Falkenhayn's  fall  was  a  triumph 
for  the  Imperial  Chancellor,  Herr  von  Beth- 
m-ann-Hollweg,  against  whom  he  had  intrigued 
almost  as  persistently  as  had  Admiral  von 
Tirpitz.  Henceforward  the  Hindenburg- 
Ludendorff  combination  was  to  be  supreme. 
It  was  notorious,  in  all  circles  that  knew  any- 
thing of  the  truth,  that  Ludendorff  was  the 
brain  of  the  partnership,  and  that  Hinden- 
burg's "  genius  "  was  mainly  the  creation  of 
the  Berlin  Press  Bureau.  But  Hindenburg — 
"  the  victorious  protector  of  the  Eastern 
front,"  as  the  Kaiser  called  him  in  the  Order 
announcing  his  appointment — was  the  idol  of 
the  people,  and  his  name  was  as  svire  to  justify 
fresh  sacrifices  as  to  cover  a  multitude  of 
failures.  As  The  Times  observed,  the  Hinden- 
burg legend  had  endvired  more  persistently 
than  anything  else  in  German  public  opinion  ; 
it  had  developed  a  veritable  Hinderiburg 
mania,  and  the  Government  rightly  calculated 
that  the  country  would  accept  almost  anything 
that  was  proposed  on  Hindenburg's  authority. 

The  first  task  of  the  new  regime  was  to 
reorganize  and  expand  all  possible  resources  in 
men  and  munitions.  It  was  decided  to 
initiate  legislation  which  would  *  give  the 
military  authorities  effective  control  of  labour 
outside  the  limits  of  the  obligation  to  perform 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


475 


military  service,  and  plans  were  made  to  secure 
special  rations  for  the  labour  employed  in  war 
industries.  As  the  economic  pressure  on  Ger- 
many increased,  the  idea  of  the  military 
authorities  was  to  feed  the  army  first  and  the 
war  workers  second,  and  to  leave  the  "  useless  " 
civil  population  what  remained.  On  Sep- 
tember 27  Hindenburg,  in  a  letter  which  was 
not  published  until  nearly  two  months  later, 
wrote  to  the  Imperial  Chancellor  : 

Your  Excellency  knows  what  tremendous  tasks  face 
our  munition  industry  if  a  successful  result  of  the  war 
is  to  be  attained.  The  decisive  factor  is  the  solution  of 
the  labour  problem,  not  only  as  regards  the  numbers  of 
workpeople,  but  specially  as  regards  the  provision  of 
ample  food  to  enable  each  individual  to  put  forth  his 
maximum  effort.  ...  It  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be 
sufficiently  recognized  everywhere  among  the  officials 
that  the  existence  or  non-existence  of  our  people  and 
Empire  is  at  stake.  ...  It  is  impossible  for  our  working 


people  to  maintain 'their  fuir  strength  if  they  do  not 
succeed  in  obtaining  a  sufficient  supply  of  fat,  allotted 
to  them  on  a  proper  basis.  .  .'  . 

I  beg  your  Excellency  most  urgently  to  impress  upon 
all  Federal  Governments,  administrative  and  communal 
authorities,  the  seriousness  of  the  situation,  and  to 
demand  that  they  shall  use  every  means  to  provide 
sufficient  nourishment  for  our  munition  workers,  and 
unite  all  the  leading  men  of  all  parties  as  leaders  of  the 
Army  at  home  behind  the  plough  and  the  lathe  to  work 
together  and  arouse  the  furor  Teutonic.ua  among  the 
tillers  of  the  soil- as  well  as  among  the  townspeople 
and  munition  workers. 

While  Hindenburg  and  his  subordinates  were 
working  out  their  schemes  of  reorganization, 
the  Imperial  Chancellor  was  educating  the 
Reichstag  and,  as  afterwards  appeared,  plot- 
ting peace  schemes  with  the  Kaiser.  In  the 
middle  of  October  there  was  an  outburst  of 
vague  peace  talk  in  the  Reichstag,  which  was 
informed  by  the  Chancellor  that  the  military 


THE    KAISER,    HINDENBURG    AND    LUDENDORFF    IN    CONFERENCE. 


476 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


[By  special  permission  from  "Punch"  of  January  24,  1917- 

"I    AM    THE    MAN!" 

situation  was  "grave  and  difficult,"  but  that  Kaiser  had  on  October  31  written  the  following 

Hindenburg  and  Ludendorff  were  full  of  con-  letter  from  the  Neues  Palais,  Potsdam,  to  the 

fidence.     As    for    the    peace    scheme    it    wa ,  Imperial     Chancellor  : 

announced    in    Berlin    on    January    15,    1917,  My  DEAR  BKTHMANN>_I  havo  since  been  turnins 

aftor  the  peace  campaign  had  failed,  that  the  <mr  conversation   thoroughly   ovt-r  in   mv   mind.      It 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


477 


is  clear  that  the  peoples  of  the  enemy  countries,  kept 
in  -a  morbid  war  atmosphere,  and  labouring  under 
lies  and  frauds,  and  deluded  by  fighting  and  hatred, 
possess  no  men  who  might  be  able,  or  who  might  have 
the  moral  courag),  to  spiak  the  liberating  word. 

To  make  the  proposal  for  peace  is  a  moral  deed, 
which  is  necessary,  in  order  to  free  the  world,  including 
neutrals,  from  the  pressure  which  weighs  upon  all. 
Such  a  deed  requires  a  ruler  who  has  a  conscience,  who 
feels  that  he  is  responsible  to  God,  who  has  a  heart  for 
his  own  people,  and  for  those  of  his  enemies,  who, 
indifferent  as  to  any  possible  wilful  misinterpretation 
of  his  action,  possesses  the  will  to  free  the  world  from 
its  suffering*.  I  have  the  courago.  Trusting  in  God, 
I  shall  dare  to  take  this  step.  Lay  the  Notes  before  me 
soon  and  prepare  everything. 

(Signed)  WILLIAM  I.R. 

When     this     characteristic     document     was 
published,    doubts    were    expressed    as    to    its 
authenticity,   or,   at  any  rate,   as  to  its  date. 
In  reality  the  letter  of  October  31  shows  how 
nicely     calculated     was     the     whole     German 
operation.         Six    weeks    elapsed    before    the 
Chancellor    was    ready,    in    the    light    of    the 
Emperor's    "conscience"   and    "responsibility 
to  God,"  to  produce  the   "  deed  "  which  was 
"  to  free  the  world  from  its  sufferings."     There 
was  much  to  be  done  in  the  interval — -much 
that  was  worthy  of  the  heart  that  had  "  bled 
for    Louvain "    and   was   now   moved    by   the 
sufferings  both  of  the  German  people  and  of 
enemy  peoples.     At  precisely  the  same  moment 
when  he  was  ordering  the  Chancellor  to  prepare 
peace  proposals  the  Kaiser  had  sanctioned  the 
new  man-power  scheme,  the  Belgian  deporta- 
tions,  and    the   cunning   proclamation   of   the 
"freeing    of    Poland."     The    period    between 
the  end  of  October  and  the  middle  of  December 
was  occupied  in  carrying  out  this    "Hinden- 
burg  programme." 

On  October  29,  two  days  before  the  Kaiser 
wrote  his  "  peace  "  instructions  to  the  Chan- 
cellor, it  was  announced  that  General  von 
Stein  had  been  brought  home  from  the  Somme 
to  be  Prussian  Minister  of  War,  in  place 
of  General  Wild  von  Hohenborn  ;  it  was 
openly  stated  that  Stein's  appointment  was 
due  to  the  necessity  of  overhauling^  the 
Berlin  organization  in  the  light  of  the  new 
experiences  to  which  the  German  Army  had 
been  introduced  in  the  West.  Secondly,  there 
was  established  within  the  Ministry  of  War 
an  entirely  new  War  Bureau  (Kriegsamt), 
under  a  Wurtemberg  general,  Groner,  who 
had  hitherto  been  Director  of  Field  Rail- 
ways. The  War  Bureau  was  to  deal  with  "  all 
matters  connected  with  the  general  con- 
duct of  the  war,  the  provision,  employment, 
and  feeding  of  the  workmen,  and  the  pro- 


vision of  raw  materials,  arms,  and  munitions," 
and  to  be  responsible  for  all  matters  connected 
with  the  supply  of  drafts  to  the  Army.  It  was, 
in  fact,  a  belated  imitation  of  the  British  Minis- 
try of  Munitions,  but  at  the  same  time  a  Man- 
Power  Office,  and,  under  the  stress  of  the 
economic  situation,  it  had  to  concern  itself 
with  the  feeding  of  the  munition  workers  and 
their  families  as  well  as  with  the  supply  of  raw 
materials. 


GENERAL    GRONER, 

Chief  of  the    "War  Bureau"    of  the  Prussian 
Ministry  of  War. 

The  new  War  Bureau  at  once  began  a  cam- 
paign on  behalf  of  industrial  conscription,  the 
proclamation  at  Warsaw  was  taken  to  herald 
the  raising  of  a  "  Polish  Army  "  on  the  side 
of  the  Central  Powers,  and  the  Belgian  deporta- 
tions were  carried  on  with  extreme  energy 
and  brutality.  As  the  Berlin  Tdgliche  Rund- 
schau candidly  observed  on  November  23  : 

In  everything  which  has  been  done  and  initiated  in 
the  way  of  organization  since  Hindenburg's  appoint- 
ment we  feel  a  single  will.  The  solution  of  the  Belgian 
unemployment  problem  (sic),  the  creation  of  a  Polish 
army,  the  reorganization  of  our  munitions  system,  and 
the  proclamation  of  a  compulsory  Labour  Law,  are 
things  procesding  from  a  single  root  and  a  single  will. 

The  German  Government  was,  indeed,  in 
all  things — whether  in  Belgium,  Poland,  or 
Germany — entirely  under  Prussian  military 
orders. 

143—2 


478 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


The  German  man-power  scheme  ultimately 
took  shape  in  a  Patriotic  Auxiliary  Service 
Bill,  as  it  was  called,  which  was  introduced 
on  November  24  and  rapidly  passed  by  the 
Reichstag.  The  new  law  provided  that  "  every 


As  a  proof  of  "democracy"  the  .Inscription 

"DEM    DEUTSCHEN    VOLK" 

("To  the  German  People")  was  placed  on  the 

front  of  the  Reichstag  in  1916. 

male  German,  from  the  completion  of  his 
seventeenth  to  the  completion  of  his  sixtieth 
year,  is,  in  so  far  as  he  has  not  been  summoned 
to  service  with  the  armed  forces,  liable  to 
patriotic  auxiliary  service  during  the  period  of 
the  war."  Patriotic  auxiliary  service  was 
defined  as  consisting,  "  apart  from  service  in 
Government  offices  and  official  institutions, 
in  particular  in  service  in  war  industry,  in 
agriculture,  in  the  nursing  of  the  sick,  and  in 
organizations  of  every  kind  of  an  economic 
character  connected  with  the  war,  as  well  as 
in  other  undertakings  which  are  immediately 
or  indirectly  of  importance  for  purposes  of  the 
conduct  of  the  war  or  the  provision  of  the  re- 
quirements of  the  people."  The  control  of 
the  scheme  was  entrusted  in  Prussia  to  the 
War  Bureau,  and  in  the  States — Bavaria, 
Saxony,  and  Wurtemburg — which  still  enjoyed 
a  measure  of  military  independence,  to  organi- 
zations established  on  the  lines  of  the  Prussian 
War  Bureau.  Thus,  at  the  beginning  of 
December,  there  had  been  imposed  upon  the 
thorough  system  of  military  service  a  thorough 
system  of  compulsory  labour  in  Germany  and 
of  slavery  in  the  occupied  territories.  At  the 
same  time  the  construction  of  submarines  was 
proceeding  apace,  and  every  effort  had  been 
made  to  beguile  American  and  other  neutral 
opinion.  Germany  was  now  ready  to  offer 
the  world  the  blessings  of  a  German  peace.  As 


>\  preliminary  to  the  operations  the  Secretary 
of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  Herr  von  Jagow, 
resigned  office  at  the  end  of  November,  and 
was  succeeded  by  the  Under-Secretary  in  the 
Foreign  Office,  Herr  Zimmermann.  According 
to  some  accounts,  Herr  von  Jagow  was  unable 
to  stomach  the  Belgian  deportations  and  the 
proposed  defiance  of  the  whole  civilized  world  ; 
according  to  others  he  was  dismissed  as  unfit 
for  the  work  in  hand. 


On    December    12    the    Kaiser    issued 
following  order  to  the  German  Army  : 


the 


Under  the  influence  of  the  victory  which  you  have 
pained  by  your  bravery,  I  and  the  Monarchs  of  the 
three  States  in  alliance  with  me  have  made  an  offer 
of  peace  to  the  enemy.  It  is  uncertain  whether  tha 
object  to  which  this  offer  is  aimed  will  be  reached. 
You  will  have  meanwhile,  with  God's  help,  to  continue 
to  resist  and  defeat  the  enemy. 

The  Kaiser  addressed  the  same  order  "  to 
my  Navy,  which  in  the  common  fight  has 
loyally  and  effectively  staked  all  its  strength." 

On  the  same  day  the  Imperial  Chancellor 
appeared  in  the  Reichstag,  which  had  been 
specially  summoned,  and  announced  that  the 
following  Note  had  that  morning  been  trans- 
mitted by  Germany,  Austria-Hungary,  Bul- 
garia, and  Turkey  to  all  the  enemy  Powers  : 

The  most  formidable  war  known  to  history  has  been 
ravaging  for  two  and  a  half  years  a  great  part  of  the 
world.  That  catastrophe,  which  the  bonds  of  a  common 
civilization  more  than  a  thousand  years  old  could  not 
stop,  strikes  mankind  in  its  most  precious  patrimony; 
it.  threatens  to  bury  under  its  ruins  the  moral  and 
physical  progress  on  which  Europe  prided  itself  ut  the 
dawn  of  the  twentieth  century.  In  that  strife  Germany 
and  her  Allies,  Austria-Hungary  and  Turkey,  have  given 
proof  of  their  indestructible  strength  in  winning  COH*K!<  i '• 
able  successes  at  war.  Th3ir  unshakable  lines  resist 
ceaseless  attacks  of  their  enemies'  arms.  The  r.'rent 
diversion  in  the  Balkans  wa<  speedily  and  victoriously 
thwarted.  The  latest  events  have  demonstrated  that 
a  continuation  of  the  war  cannot  break  their  resisting 
power.  The  general  situation  much  rather  justified 
their  hope  of  fresh  successes.  It  was  for  the  defence 
of  their  existence  and  freedom  of  their  national  develop- 
ment that  the  four  Allied  Powers  were  constrained  to 
take  up  arms.  The  exploits  of  their  armies  have  brought 
no  change  therein.  Not  for  an  instant  have  they 
-wrrvfd  from  the  conviction  that  the  respect  of  the 
rights  of  other  nations  is  not  in  any  degree  incompatible 
with  their  own  rights  and  legitimate  interests.  They  do 
not  seek  to  crush  or  annihilate  their  adversaries.  Con. 
scious  of  their  military  and  economic  strength  and  ready 
to  carry  on  to  the  end,  if  they  must,  the  «t  niggle  that  is 
forced  upon  them,  but  animated  at  the  same  time  by 
the  desire  to  stem  the  flood  of  blood  and  to  bring  the 
horrors  of  war  to  an  end,  the  Jour  allied  Powers  propose 
to  enter  eren  now  into  peace  negotiation*.  They  feel  sure 
that  the  propositions  which  they  would  bring  forward, 
and  which  would  aim  to  assure  the  existence,  honour, 
and  free  development  of  their  people-,  would  bo  such 'as 
to  serve  as  a  basis  for  the  restoration  of  a  lasting  peace. 
//,  notwithstanding  this  offer  of  peace  and  conciliation 
the  struggle  should  continue,  the  four  allied  Powers  on 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


479 


resolved  to  carry  it  on  to  an  end,  while  solemnly  dis- 
claiming any  responsibility  before  mankind  and 
history.* 

The  German  Note  to  enemy  Powers  was  also 


*  The  text  quoted  is  that  of  the  Note  actually  delivered 
to  the  British  Government  by  the  American  Ambassador 
jn  London.  It  was  an  inaccurate  and  incomplete 
translation,  for  which  the  German  Foreign  Office  was 
responsible,  of  the  original  French.  The  passages 
printed  in  italics  were  as  follows  in  the  original  : — 

"  Dans  cette  lutte  1'Autriche-Hongrie  et  sas  allies  : 
PAIlemagnc,  la  Bulgarie  et  la  Turquie,  ont  fait  prsuvo 


communicated  to  the  Vatican,  together  with 
the  following  appeal  to  the  Pope  : 

The  reasons  which  prompted  Germany  and  her  allies 
to  this  step  are  manifest.  For  two  years  and  a  half 

de  leur  force  indestructible  en  remportant  des  succes 
considerables  sur  des  adversairea  superieurs  en  nombre 
et  en  materiel  de  guerre." 

"  Les  quatre  Puissances  alli6es  proposent  d'entrer 
dea -d -present,  en  negociations  de  paix." 

"  Si,  malgre'  cette  offre  de  paix  et  de  conciliation,  la 
lutte  devait  continuer,  les  quatre  Puissances  a)li£es  sont 
determiners  a  la  conduire  jusqu'»i  une  fin  rirlnricttje." 


HERR    VON    BETHMANN-HOLLWEG'S    SPEECH     IN    THE   REICHSTAG    ON 

DECEMBER    12,  1916. 

(1)  The  Imperial  Chancellor.        (2)  Admiral  von  Capelle,   Secretary  of  State  for  the   Navy.        (3)   Herr 
Helfferich,  Minister  of  the   Interior.          (4)  Herr  Zimmermann,  Foreign  Secretary.         (5)  Herr  Kaempf, 

President  of  the  Reichstag. 


430 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


a  terrible  war  has  boon  devastating  the  European 
Continent.  Unlimited  tiva-iires  of  civilization  have 
been  destroyed,  extensive  areas  have  been  soaked 
with  blood,  millions  of  brave  soldiers  have  fallen  in 
battle,  and  millions  have  returned  home  as  invalids. 
Grief  and  sorrow  fill  almost  every  house.  Not  only 
upon  belligerent  nations,  but  also  upon  neutrals  the 
destructive  consequences  of  the  gigantic  struggle 
weigh  heavily.  Trade  and  commerce  carefully  built 
up  in  years  of  peace  have  been  depressed.  The  best 
forces  of  the  nations  have  been  withdrawn  from  the 
production  of  useful  objects.  Europe,  which  was 
formerly  devoted  to  the  propagation  of  religion  and 
civilization,  which  was  trying  to  find  a  solution  for  social 
problems,  and  was  the  home  of  science  and  art  and  all 
peaceful  labour,  now  rssembles  an  immense  war  camp 
in  which  the  achievement*  and  works  of  many  decades 
are  doomed  to  annihilation. 

Germany  is  carrying  on  a  war  of  defence  against 
the  enemies  who  aim  at  her  destruction.  She  fights 
in  order  to  assure  the  integrity  of  her  frontiers  and  the 
1.  jerty  of  the  German  nation  in  the  right  which  she 
claims  to  develop  freely  her  intellectual  and  economic 
energies  in  peaceful  competition  and  on  an  equal  footing 
with  other  nations.  All  the  enemies'  efforts  are  unable 
to  shatter  the  heroic  armies  of  the  allies  that  protect 
the  frontiers  of  their  countries.  Strengthened  by  the 
Certainty  that  the  enemy  shall  never  pierce  the  iron 
wall,  those  fight'ing  on  the  front  know  that  they  are 
supported  by  the  whole  nation,  which  is  inspired  by 
love  for  its  country,  ready  for  the  greatest  sacrifices, 
and  determined  to  defend  to  the  last  extremity  the 
inherited  treasure  of  intellectual  and  economic  work 
and  social  organization  and  the  sacred  soil  of  the  country. 
Sure  of  our  own  strength,  but  realizing  Europe's  sad 
future  if  this  war  continues,  seized  with  pity  in  the 
face  of  the  unspeakable  misery  of  humanity,  the  German 
Empire,  in  accord  with  her  allies,  solemnly  repeats 
what  the  Chancellor  already  declared  one  year  ago, 
that  Germany  is  ready  to  give  peace  to  the  world  by 
setting  before  the  whole  world  the  question  whether  or 
no  it  is  possible  to  find  a  basis  for  an  understanding. 

Since  the  first  day  of  his  Pontifical  reign  his  Holiness 
the  Pope  has  unswervingly  demonstrated  in  a  most 
generous  fashion  his  solicitude  for  the  innumerable 
victims  of  this  war,  has  alleviated  the  sufferings  and 
ameliorated  the  fate  of  thousands  of  men  injured  by 
this  catastrophe.  Inspired  by  the  exalted  ideas  of 
his  ministry,  his  Holiness  seized  every  opportunity  in 
humanity's  interest  in  order  to  bring  to  an  end  so 
sanguinary  a  war.  The  Imperial  Government  is  firmly 
confident  that  the  initiative  of  the  four  Powers  will 
find  a  friendly  welcome  on  the  part  of  his  Holiness  and 
that  the  work  of  peace  can  count  upon  the  precious 
support  of  the  Holy  See. 

In  his  speech  the  Imperial  Chancellor  boasted 
of  the  military  situation,  of  the  overthrow  of 
Koumania,  of  the  "  heroic  deeds  "  of  the  German 
submarines  which  were  threatening  the  enemy 
with"  the  spectre  of  famine,"  and  finally  of 
the  Auxiliary  Service  Law  which  had  given 
Germany  "  a  new  offensive  and  defensive 
bulwark."  Germany,  he  said,  went  steadily 
forward,  always  "  ready  to  fight  for  the  nation's 
existence,  for  its  free  and  safe  future,"  and 
"  always  ready  to  stretch  out  her  hand  for 
peace."  He  enlarged  especially  upon  the 
Kaiser's  "  deep  moral  and  religious  sense  of 
duty  towards  the  nation  and  beyond  it  towards 
humanity."  They  would  await  the  reply  of 


their  enemies  "  with  the  calm  which  is  given 
to  us  by  our  exterior  and  interior  strength 
and  clear  conscience."  And  he  concluded  : 

On  a  fateful  hour  we  have  taken  the  fateful  decision  ; 
it  is  drenched  with  the  blood  of  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  our  sons  and  brothers  who  have  given  their  lives 
for  the  security  of  home.  In  this  struggle  of  the  peoples, 
which  has  unveiled  all  the  terrors  of  earthly  life  and  at 
the  same  time  all  the  greatness  of  human  courage 


HERR    ZIMMERMANN. 

Appointed  Secretary  of   State  for   Foreign  Affairs 
1916. 

in  a  fashion  never  yet  seen,  the  wit  of  man  and  the 
hand  of  man  cannot  avail  to  the  very  end.  God  will 
help.  Fearless  and  upright  we  will  follow  our  path, 
determined  for  \var,  ready  for  peace. 

The  German  Note  was  immediately  hailed 
in  all  parts  of  the  world  as  an  attempt  to  place 
the  Allies  in  a  false  position  with  regard  to 
neutral  opinion.  In  all  the  Allied  countries 
it  was  considered  that  the  German  "  offer " 
was  insincere,  and  the  only  fear  was  that 
Germany  might  in  some  way  profit  by  the 
appearance  of  readiness  to  end  the  war.  "  I 
have  not  the  right,"  said  the  French  Premier, 
M.  Briand,  in  the  Chamber  on  December  13, 
"  to  express  myself  with  regard  to  the  German 
proposals  exce'pt  in  full  accord  with  our  Allies, 
but  I  have  the  right  to  warn  the  country  against 
the  possible  poison  of  such  attempts.  The 
proposal  is  that  we  should  negotiate  a  peace. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


481 


Yes,  but  Serbia,  Belgium,  and  Roumania  are 
invaded,  and  the  crime  is  unchastized.     It  is  a 
step  designed  to  trouble  our  consciences.     Herr 
von  Bethmann-Hollweg  says  :     '  It  is  not  we 
who  wanted  this  horrible  war.     It  was  forced 
upon  us.1     To  that  I  reply  for  the  hundredth 
time  :  '  You  were  the  aggressors,  and  whatever 
you  may  say  the  facts  prove  it,  and  the  blood- 
shed is  on  your  heads,  not  on  ours.'     It  is  my 
right  to  denounce  this  trap."      From  Russia 
came  the  most  emphatic  denunciations  of  the 
German  manoeuvre,  and  the  Duma  on  December 
15  unanimously  passed  a  resolution  in  favour 
of  "  a  categorical  refusal  by  the  Allied  Govern- 
ments to  enter  under  present  conditions  into 
any  peace  negotiations  whatever."     The  Duma 
declared  that  "  a  lasting  peace  will  be  possible 
only  after  a  decisive  victory  over  the  military 
power  of  the  enemy,   and  after  the   definite 
renunciation  by  Germany  of   the  aspirations 
which  render  her  responsible  for  the  world  war 
and  for  the  horrors  by  which  it  is  accompanied." 
Meanwhile  all  the  German  diplomatists,  and 
especially    Count    Bernstorff    in    Washington, 
were  busily  pretending  that  Germany  meant 
even  more  than  she  said;    that,  if  only  the 
belligerents   could   be   brought   together   at   a 
conference,  it  would  be  found  that  Germany's 


HERR    VON    STUMM, 
Uoder-Secretary  of  the  Foreign  Office. 

"  terms  "  were  extremely  reasonable  ;  and,  in 
particular,  that  the  only  roal  obstacle  woul.l 
be  British  pretensions  in  regard  to  sea  power. 
The  truth,  of  course,  was  that  Germany  was 
not  proposing  peace,  but  a  conference  in  which 
she  hoped  that  the  general  desire  for  peace 
would  enable  her  to  achieve  her  aims. 

In  England  Mr.   Lloyd  George  had  become 


Prime  Minister  on  December  7.  Owing  to 
illness  he  did  not  meet  the  House  of  Commons 
until  December  19.  He  then  said  that  the 
Allies  had  "each  of  them  separately  and 
independently  arrived  at  identical  conclusions." 
It  was  well  that  France  and  Russia  should  have 
given  the  first  answer  :  "  The  enemy  is  still 
on  their  soil  ;  their  sacrifices  have  been  greater." 


BARON     VON     DEM     BUSSCHE-HADDEN- 

HAUSEN. 

Assistant  Under-Secretary  of  the    Foreign    Office, 
formerly  German  Minister  in  Bukare&t. 

The  Prime  Minister  then  quoted  the  famous 
words  of  Abraham  Lincoln  spoken  under 
similar  conditions  :  "  We  accepted  this  war 
for  an  object,  and  a  worthy  object,  and  the  war 
will  end  when  that  object  is  attained.  Under 
God  I  hope  it  will  never  end  until  that  time." 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  proceeded  : 

There  has  been  some  talk  about  proposals  of  peace. 
What  are  tho  proposals  ?  There  are  none.  To  enter 
at  the  invitation  of  Germany,  proclaiming  herself 
victorious,  without  any  knowledge  of  the  proposals 
she  proposes  to  mako,  into  a  conference,  is  to  put  our 
heads  into  a  noose  with  the  rope  end  in  the  hands  of 
Germany. 

The  Prime  Minister  recalled  the  Napoleonic 
wars,  and  the  way  Napoleon  used  to  appear 
"  in  the  garb  of  the  angel  of  peace  " — especially 
when  he  needed  time  and  his  subjects  showed 
symptoms  of  fatigue  and  war  weariness. 
"  Invariably  the  appeal  was  made  in  the  name 
of  humanity  ;  and  he  demanded  an  end  to 
bloodshed  at  which  he  professed  himself  to  be 
horrified,  but  for  which  he  himself  was  mainly 
responsible.  Our  ancestors  were  taken  in 
once,  and  bitterly  they  and  Europe  rued  it." 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  reaffirmed  the  terms  of  the 
Allies  as  "  restitution,  reparation,  guarantee 
against  repetition,"  and  went  on  to  expose 


482 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


THE    GERMAN    PROCLAMATION    OF    THE    KINGDOM    OF    POLAND:     STUDENTS' 

PROCESSION   AT    WARSAW. 


the  hollowness  of  the  German  pretence.  Finally 
he  declared  : 

Now  that  this  great  war  has  been  forced  by  the  Prussian 
military  leaders  upon  France,  Russia,  Italy,  and  our- 
selves, it  would  be  folly,  it  would  be  cruel  folly,  not  to 
see  to  it  that  this  "  swashbuckling  "  through  the  streets 
of  Europe  to  the  disturbance  of  all  harmless  and  peaceful 
citizens  shall  be  dealt  with  now  as  an  offence  against  the 
law  of  nations.  The  mere  word  that  led  Belgium  to  her 
own  destruction  will  not  satisfy  Europe  any  more.  We 
all  believed  it.  We  all  trusted  it.  It  gave  way  at  the 
first  pressure  of  temptation,  and  Europe  has  been 
plunged  into  this  vortex  of  blood.  We  will,  therefore, 
wait  until  we  hear  what  terms  and  guarantees  the 
German  Government  offer  other  than  those,  better  than 
those,  surer  than  those  which  she  so  lightly  broke,  and 
meanwhile  we  shall  put  our  trust  in  an  unbroken  army 
rather  than  in  a  broken  faith. 

Forty-eight  hours  after  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
had  spoken  the  whole  world  was  astonished 
by  the  publication  of  a  Note  addressed  to  all 
the  belligerent  Powers  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  anil  suggesting  that  an  early 
occasion  should  be  sought  for  an  avowal  of 
their  respective  views  as  to  the  terms  upon 
which  the  war  might  be  concluded.  The  Note 
as  communicated  by  the  American  Ambassador 
in  London  was  dated  December  20,  and  ran 
as  follows  : 

The  President  of  the  United  States  has  instructed 
me  to  suggest  to  tho  Government  of  his  Britannic 
Majesty  u  course  of  action  with  regard  to  the  present 
war  which  he  hopos  that  his  Majesty's  Government 


will  take  under  consideration,  as  suggested  in  the  most 
friendly  spirit  and  as  coming  not  only  from  a  friend, 
but  also  as  coming  from  the  representative  of  a  neutral 
nation,  whose  interests  have  been  most  seriously 
affected  by  the  war,  and  whose  concern  for  its  early 
conclusion  arises  out  of  a  manifest  necessity  to  determine 
how  best  to  safeguard  those  interests  if  the  war  is  to 
continue. 

The  suggestion  which  I  am  instructed  to  make  the 
President  has  long  had  it  in  mind  to  offer.  He  is 
somewhat  embarrassed  to  offer  it  at  this  particular 
time,  because  it  may  now  seem  to  have  been  prompted 
by  the  recent  overtures  of  the  Central  Powers.  It  is 
in  fact  in  no  way  associated  with  them  in  its  origin, 
and  the  President  would  have  delayed  offering  it  until 
those  overtures  had  been  answered  but  for  tho  fact  that 
it  also  concerns  the  question  of  peace  and  may  best 
be  considered  in  connexion  with  other  proposals  which 
have  the  same  end  in  view.  Tho  President  can  only 
bog  that  his  suggestion  be  considered  entirely  on  its 
own  merits  and  as  if  it  had  been  made  in  other  cir- 
cumstances. 

The  President  suggests  that  an  early  occasion  be 
Miuuht  to  call  out  from  all  the  nations  now  at  war 
such  an  avowal  of  their  respective  views  as  to  the  terms 
upon  which  the  war  might  be  concluded  and  the  arrange- 
monts.which  would  be  deemed  satisfactory  as  a  guarantee 
against  its  renewal  or  the  kindling  of  any  similar  conflict 
in  the  future  as  would  make  it  possible  frankly  to 
compare  them.  He  is  indifferent  as  to  the  means  taken 
to  accomplish  this.  He  would  be  happy  himself  to  serve, 
or  even  to  take  the  initiative  in  its  accomplishment,  in 
any  way  that  might  prove  acceptable,  but  he  has  no 
desire  to  determine  the  method  or  the  instrumentality. 
One  way  will  be  as  acceptable  to  him  as  another  if  only 
the  great  object  he  has  in  mind  be  attained. 

He  takes  the  liberty  of  calling  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  objects  "which  the  statesmen  of  the  belligerents 
on  both  sides  have  in  mind  in  this  war  are  virtually 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


488 


the  samej  as  stated  in  general  terms  to  their  own  people 
and  to  the  world.  Each  side  desires  to  make  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  weak  peoples  and  small  States  as 
secure  against  aggression  or  denial  in  the  future  as  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  great  and  powerful  States 
now  at  war.  Each  wishes  itself  to  be  made  secure  in 
the  future,  along  with  all  other  nations  and  peoples,  . 
against  the  recurrence  of  wars  like  this,  and  against 
aggression  or  selfish  interference  of  any  kind.  Each 
would  be  jealous  of  the  formation  of  any  more  rival 
leagues  to  preserve  an  uncertain  balance  of  power  amidst 
multiplying  suspicions  ;  but  each  is  ready  to  consider 
the  formation  of  a  league  of  nations  to  ensure  peace 
and  justice  throughout  the  world.  Before  that  final 
step  can  be  taken,  however,  each  deems  it  necessary 
first  to  settle  the  issues  of  the  present  war  upon  terms 
which  will  certainly  safeguard  the  independence,  the 
territorial  integrity,  and  the  political  and  commercial 
freedom  of  the  nations  involved. 

In  the  measures  to  be  taken  to  secure  the  future  . 
paace  of  the  world  the  people  and  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  are  as  vitally  and  as  directly 
interested  as  the  Governments  now  at  war.  Their 
interest,  moreover,  in  the  means  to  be  adopted  to  relieve 
the  smaller  and  weaker  peoples  of  the  world  of  the  peril 
of  wrong  and  violence  is  as  quick  and  ardent  as  that  of 
any  other  people  or  Government.  They  stand  ready, 
and  even  eager,  to  cooperate  in  the  accomplishment 
of  these  ends  when  the  war  is  over  with  every  influence 
and  resource  at  their  command.  But  the  war  must 
first  be  concluded.  The  terms  upon  which  it  is  to  be 
concluded  they  are  not  at  liberty  to  suggest ;  but  the 
Prssident  does  feel  that  it  is  his  right  and  his  duty  to 
point  out  their  intimate  interest  in  its  conclusion,  lest 
it  should  presently  be  too  late  to  accomplish  the  greater 
things  which  lie  beyond  its  conclusion,  lest  the  situation 
of  neutral  nations,  now  exceedingly  hard  to  endure, 
be  rendered  altogether  intolerable,  and  lest,  more  than 


all,  an  injury  be  done  civilization  itself  which  can 
never  be  atoned  or  repaired. 

The  President,  therefore,  feels  altogether  justified 
in  suggesting  an  immediate  opportunity  for  a  com- 
parison of  views  as  to  the  terms  which  must  precede 
those  ultimate  arrangements  for  the  peace  of  the  world 
which  all  desire,  and  in  which  the  neutral  nations  as  well 
as  those  at  war  are  ready  to  play  their  full  responsible 
part.  If  the  contest  must  continue  to  proceed  towards 
undefined  ends  by  slow  attrition  until  one  group  of 
belligerents  or  the  other  is  exhausted,  if  million  after 
million  of  human  lives  must  continue  to  be  offered  up 
until  on  the  one  side  or  the  other  there  are  no  more  to 
offer,  if  resentments  must  be  kindled  that  can  never  cool 
and  despairs  engendered  from  which  there  can  be  no 
recovery,  hopes  of  peace  and  of  the  willing  concert  of 
free  peoples  will  be  rendered  vain  and  idle. 

The  life  of  the  entire  world  has  been  profoundly 
affected.  Every  part  of  the  great  family  of  mankind 
has  felt  the  burden  and  terror  of  this  unprecedented 
contest  of  arms.  No  nation  in  the  civilized  world  can 
be  said  in  truth  to  stand  outside  its  influence  or  to  be 
safe  against  its  disturbing  effects.  And  yet  the  con- 
crete objects  for  which  it  is  being  waged  have  never 
been  definitely  stated. 

The  leaders  of  the  several  belligerents  have,  as  has 
been  said,  stated  those  objects  in  general  terms.  But, 
stated  in  general  terms,  they  seem  the  same  on  both 
sides.  Never  yet  have  the  authoritative  spokesmen  of 
either  side  avowed  the  precise  objects  which  would,  if 
attained,  satisfy  them  and  their  people  that  the  war  had 
been  fought  out.  The  world  has  been  left  to  conjecture 
what  definite  results,  what  actual  exchange  of  guaran- 
tees, what  political  or  territorial  changes  or  readjust- 
ments, what  stage  of  military  success  even,  would  bring 
the  war  to  an  end. 

It  may  be  that  peace  is  nearer  than  we  know  ;  that 
the  terms  which  the  belligerents  on  the  one  side  and 


PROCLAMATION    OF    THE    KINGDOM    OF    POLAND  :    ORGANIZED    STREET    SCENES 

IN    WARSAW. 


484 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


on  the  other  would  deem  it  necessary  to  insist  upon  are 
not  so  i rreconcilable  as  some  have  feared  ;  that  an 
interchange  of  views  would  clear  the  way  at  least  for 
conference  and  make  the  porraanent  concord  of  the 
nations  a  hope  of  the  immediate  future,  a  concert  of 
nations  immediately  practicable. 

The  President  is  not  proposing  peace  ;  he  is  not 
even  offering  mediation.  He  is  merely  proposing  that 
sounding*  be  taken  in  order  that  we  may  leafn,  tlm 
neutral  nations  with  the  belligerents,  how  near  th«> 
haven  of  peace  may  be  for  which  all  mankind  long-; 
with  an  intense  and  increasing  longing.  He  believes 
that  the  spirit  in  which  he  speaks  and  the  objects  which 
ho  seeks  will  be  understood  by  all  concerned,  and  he 


M.    CAMILLE    DECOPPET, 
President  of  the  Swiss  Republic  in  1916. 

confidently  hopes  for  a  response  which  will  bring  a  new 
light  into  the  affairs  of  the  world. 

The  place  of  this  remarkable  Note  in  the 
evolution  of  American  policy  has  already  been 
denned,  and  it  has  been  seen  why  Mr.  Wilson 
suggested  peace.  He  did  so  partly  because  he 
thought  it  his  duty  to  make  a  powerful  effort 
at  this  stage  to  avert  the  consequences  to  the 
United  States  which  he  already  foresaw,  if 
the  war  were  continued — submarine  "  ruth- 
N 'ssi  icss  "  of  a  still  more  complete  kind  on  the 
part  of  Germany,  followed  inevitably  by  rupture 
of  relations  with  Germany  by  the  United 
States,  and  probably  by  war.  He  also  desired 
to  give  the  Allies  emphatic  assurance  that,  if 
peace  could  be  obtained,  he  would  do  every- 
thing possible  to  guarantee  American  support 
of  that  peace  against  future  assaults.*  Mr. 

*  See  Chapter  C'LXXVH.,  pag<-  378. 


Wilson's  attitude  was  in  some  respects  very 
like  that  of  Sir  Edward  Grey  when,  on  the  very 
eve  of  war  with  Germany,  he  was  pleading  for 
Utopian  ideals  which  might  be  realized  if  only 
"this  present  crisis"  were  "safely  passed,' 
and  urging  upon  the  German  Imperial  Chan- 
cellor (dispatch  to  Sir  Edward  Goschen,  July 
30,  1914)  that  "  the  one  way  of  maintaining 
the  good  relations  between  England  and  Ger- 
many is  that  they  should  continue  to  work 


M.    EDMOND    SCHULTHESS, 
President  of  the  Swiss  Republic  in   1917. 

together  to  preserve  the  peace  of  Europe." 
Germany  was  as  certain  to  defeat  the  one  hope 
as  the  other,  and  the  United  States  acted 
as  Great  Britain  had  acted ;  but  seen  in 
retrospect  the  effort  of  the  American  Presi- 
dent in  1916  was,  perhaps,  not  less  defensible 
than  the  effort  of  the  British  Foreign  Secretary 
in  1914. 

When,  however,  Mr.  Wilson's  Note  surprised 
the  world  it  was  impossible  for  the  enemies  of 
Germany  to  see  it  in  that  calm  light.  What 
could  be  better  calculated  to  assist  German 
diplomacy  ?  How  could  the  peoples  of  all 
the  countries  that  were  staking  their  all  for 
liberty  fail  to  be  shocked  by  the  apparent  belief 
of  the  President  that  the  objects  on  both  sides 
were  "  virtually  the  same  "  ?  What  could 
seem  to  them  more  unjust  than  Mr.  Wilson's 
cold  "  impartiality  "  ?  Little  wonder  that  all 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


485 


the  peoples  of  the  Entente  countries  endorsed 
the  phrases  of  Mr.  Bonar  Law  :  "  What  Presi- 
dent Wilson  is  longing  for  we  are  fighting  for. 
Our  sons  and  brothers  are  dying  for  it,  and  we 
mean  to  secure  it.  The  heart  of  the  people  of 
our  country  is  longing  for  peace.  We  are 
praying  for  peace,  a  peace  that  will  bring 
back  in  safety  those  who  are  dear  to  us,  but  a 
peace  which  will  mean  this — that  those  who 
will  never  come  back  shall  not  have  laid  down 
their  lives  in  vain." 

The  American  Note  was  followed  almost 
immediately  by  two  other  communications  to 
the  belligerents — a  Note  from  Switzerland, 
presented  on  December  22,  and  a  Note  from 
the  three  Scandinavian  Governments,  presented 
on  December  29.  The  Scandinavian  repre- 
sentations were  little  but  a  formal  reminder 
that  Denmark,  Norway  and  Sweden  were,  as 
they  said,  not  wanting  in  "  their  duty  to  their 
own  people,  as  well  as  to  humanity,"  and  an 
expression  of  their  "warmest  sympathy  with 
any  efforts  tending  to  end  all  the  sufferings 
and  losses,  moral  as  well  as  material,  which 
are  being  continually  incurred." 

The  Swiss  Note  was,  perhaps,  more  signifi- 


cant. In  the  first  place  it  stated  that  the 
Swiss  Federal  Council,  "  inspired  by  the  ardent 
desire  to  see  an  early  cessation  of  hostilities," 
had  "  got  into  touch  "  with  President  Wilson 
"  five  weeks  "  before  and  the  Note  said  : 

The  generous  personal  initiative  of  President  Wilson 
will  not  fail  to  awaken  in  Switzerland  a  deep  echo. 
Faithful  to  the  duties  which  the  strictest  observation 
of  neutrality  imposes  upon  her,  united  by  the  same 
friendship  to  the  two  groups  of  Powers  at  present  at  war. 
isolated  in  the  middle  of  the  frightful  struggle  of  peoples, 
seriously  threatened  and  struck  in  her  spiritual  and 
material  interests,  our  country  longs  for  peace. 

Switzerland  is  ready  .to  aid  "with  all  her  feeble  strength 
in  putting  an  end  to  the  sufferings  of  the  war  which  she 
sees  going  on  every  day — the  interned,  the  seriously 
wounded,  and  the  repatriated.  She  is  also  desirous  to 
assist  in  the  fruitful  collaboration  of  the  peoples.  .  .  . 
She  would  consider  it  a  happy  duty  to  work  even  in  the 
most  modest  measure  towards  the  rapprochement  of  thf 
nations  at  war  and  the  establishment  of  a  lasting  peace. 

The  Swiss  Note  gave  the  Allies  at  least  a 
welcome  opportunity  to  declare  (January  17, 
1917)  that  "the  whole  world  knows  Switzer- 
land's generous  efforts  to  lighten  the  sufferings 
of  the  interned,  the  severely  wounded,  the 
people  ejected  from  their  homes,  to  all  of 
whom  the  most  devoted  care  has  been  given." 

Thus,  to  return  to  the  main  issues,  the 
Allies  were  in  presence  of  proposals  from  their 


SWITZERLAND    PROVIDES    AN    ASYLUM    FOR    BRITISH    PRISONERS    OF    WAR. 
The  illustration  shows  the  mixed  German  Swiss  Commission  before  which  the  prisoners  about  to  be 
exchanged  were  brought  for  a  second  and  final  examination.     The  standing  figure  marked  with  an  X 

is  Prince  Max  of  Baden. 

143—3 


486 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


enemies  and  recommendations  from  the  United 
States.  Before  they  could  reply  to  their 
enemies  Germany  hastened  (December  25)  to 
register  her  reply  to  Mr.  Wilson  : 

Thie  high-minded  suggestion  made  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  order  to  create  a 
basis  for  the  establishment  of  lasting  peace  has  been 
received  and  considered  by  the  Imperial  Government  in 
the  friendly  spirit  in  which  it  is  expressed. 

In  the  Presidents  communication  the  President 
points  out  that  which  he  lias  at  heart  and  leaves  open 
the  choice  of  the  road.  To  the  Imperial  Government  an 
immediate  exchange  of  views  seems  to  be  the  most 
appropriate  road  in  order  to  reach  the  desired  result. 
It  begs,  therefore,  in  the  sense  of  the  declaration  made 
on  December  12,  which  held  out  a  hand  for  peace 


negotiations,  to  propose  an  immediate  meeting  of  dele- 
gates of  the  belligerent  States  at  some  neutral  place. 

The  Imperial  Government  is  also  of  opinion  that 
the  great  work  of  preventing  future  wars  can  be  begun 
only  after  the  end  of  the  present  struggle  of  nations. 
It  will,  when  the  moment  shall  have  come,  be  ready 
with  pleasure  to  collaborate  fully  with  the  United 
States  in  this  exalted  task. 

The  insolence  of  this  communication  was 
clear  enough.  "  Coolly,  skilfully  and  com- 
pletely," observed  the  New  York  Times,  "  the 
Germans  have  turned  the  Wilson  Note  to  their 
own  ends."  They  had  totally  evaded  the 
issue,  and  could  hardly  have  stated  more 
plainly  that  for  Germany  the  neutral  Powers 


[/'Vow  the  \ienna  "JffcfAfff 

PEACE    AND    JOHN    BULL. 
Peace  :    "  This  year  I  will  not  allow  myself  to  be  put  cff  any  longer,   Mister  John." 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


487 


were  tools,  whose  only  acceptable  service  was 
to  assist  Germany  in  bringing  her  enemies  to 
conference.  The  German  plan  was  to  refuse 
to  state  terms,  and,  as  the  New  York  Tribune 
put  it,  to  "  blackmail  President  Wilson  by  the 
threat  of  a  German  submarine  campaign  into 
an  endorsement  of  the  German  proposals  of  a 
conference  of  the  belligerents. ' '  Henceforward , 
at  any  rate,  it  was  certain  that  the  whole 
German  manoeuvre  was  doomed  to  failure.  It 
remains  to  describe  the  momentous  pronounce- 
ments to  which  it  gave  rise — pronouncements 
which  reflected  the  whole' truth  of  the  situation 
after  two  and  a  half  years  of  war,  and  marked 
out. in  clear  lines  the  road  along  which  the 
civilized  world  had  still  to  travel  to  its  goal  of 
liberty  and  peace. 

The  Allies'  reply  to  the  enemy  Powers  was 
communicated  by  the  French  Government  on 
December  30,  1916,  to  the  American  Ambas- 
sador in  Paris.  The  following  was  the  official 
English  translation,  with  the  insertion  in  some 
passages  of  the  original  French  and  a  more 
faithful  English  rendering  : 

The  Allied  Governments  of  Russia,  France,  Great 
Britain,  Japan,  Italy,  Serbia,  Belgium,  Montenegro, 
Portugal,  and  Rumania,  united  for  the  defence  of  th  • 
freedom  of  nations  and  faithful  to  their  undertaking: 
not  to  lay  down  their  arms  except  in  common  accord, 
have  decided  to  return  a  joint  answer  to  the  illusory 
peace  proposals  which  have  been  addressed  to  them  by 
the  Governments  of  the  enemy  Powers  through  th.i 
intermediary  of  the  United  States,  Spain,  Switzerland, 
and  the  Netherlands. 

As  a  prelude  to  any  reply,  the  Allied  Powers  feel 
bound  to  protest  strongly  against  the  two  material 
assertions  made  in  the  Note  from  the  enemy  Powers, 
the  one  professing  to  throw  upon  the  Allies  the  responsi- 
bility of  the  war,  and  the  other  proclaiming  the  victory 
of  the  Central  Powers.  • 

The  Allies  cannot  admit  a  claim  which  is  thus  untrue 
in  each  particular,  and  is  sufficient  alone  to  render 
sterile  all  attempt  at  negotiations. 

The  Allied  nations  have  for  30  months  been  engaged 
in  [subissent — have  had  to  endure]  a  war  which  they  had 
done  everything  to  avoid.  They  have  shown  by  their 
actions  their  devotion  to  peace.  This  devotion  is  as 
strong  to-day  as  it  was  in  1914  ;  and  after  the  violation 
by  Germany  of  her  solemn  engagements,  Germany's 
promise  is  no  sufficient  foundation  on  which  to  re- 
establish the  peace  which  she  broke. 

A  mere  suggestion,  without  statement  of  terms,  that 
negotiations  should  be  opened,  is  not  an  offer  of  peace. 
The  putting  forward  by  the  Imperial  Government  of  a 
sham  \_pr6tendue — pretended]  proposal,  lacking  all 
substance  and  precision,  would  appear  to  be  less  an  offer 
of  peace  than  a  war  manoeuvre. 

It  is  founded  on  a  calculated  misinterpretation  of  Hi.- 
character  of  the  struggle  in  the  past,  the  present,  and 
the  future. 

As  for  the  past,  the  German  Note  takes  no  account 
of  the  facts,  dates,  and  figures  which  establish  that  the 
war  was  desired,  provoked  and  declared  by  Germany 
and  Austria-Hungary. 

At  the  Hague  Conference  it  was  the  German  delegate 
who  refused  all  proposals  for  disarmament.  In  July, 
1914,  it  was  Austria-Hungary  who,  after  having  addressed 


MR.    W.    G.    SHARP, 
United  States  Ambassador  in  Paris. 

to  Serbia  an  unprecedented  ultimatum,  declared  war 
upon  her  in  spite  of  the  satisfaction  which  had  at  onc-> 
been  accorded.  The  Central  Empires  then  rejected  all 
attempts  made  by  the  Entente  to  bring  about  a  pacific 
solution  of  a  purely  local  conflict.  Great  Britain  sug- 
gested a  Conference,  France  proposed  an  International 
Commission,  the  Emperor  of  Russia  asked  the  German 
Kmperor  to  go  to  arbitration,  and  Russia  and  Austria- 
Hungary  came  to  an  understanding  on  the  eve  of  th  • 
conflict ;  but  to  all  these  efforts  Germany  gave  neither 
answer  nor  effect.  Belgium  was  invaded  by  an  Empire 
which  had  guaranteed  her  neutrality  and  which  has  had 
the  assurance  to  proclaim  that  treaties  were  "scraps  of 
paper  "  and  that  '*  necessity  knows  no  law.*' 

At  the  present  moment  these  sham  [prdtcndues — 
pretended]  offers  on  the  part  of  Germany  rest  on  a 
"  War  Map  "  of  Europe  alone,  which  represents  nothing 
more  than  a  superficial  and  passing  phase  of  the  situa- 
tion, and  not  the  real  strength  of  the  belligerents.  A 
peace  concluded  upon  these  terms  would  be  only  to  the 
advantage  of  the  aggressors,  who,  after  imagining  that 
they  would  reach  their  goal  in  two  months,  discovered 
after  two  years  that  they  could  never  attain  it. 

As  for  the  future,  the  disasters  caused  by  the  German 
declaration  of  war  and  the  innumerable  outrages  com- 
mitted by  Germany  and  her  Allies  against  both  belli- 
gerents and  neutrals  demand  penalties  [sanctions — retri- 
bution], reparation,  and  guarantees  ;  Germany  avoids  the 
mention  of  any  of  these. 

In  reality  these  overtures  made  by  the  Central  Powers 
are  nothing  more  than  a  calculated  attempt  to  influence 


488 


THE    TIMES    HISTOEY    OF    THE    WAR. 


the  future  course  of  the  war,  and  to  end  it  by  imposing 
a  German  peace. 

The  object  of  these  overtures  is  to  create  dissension 
in  public  opinion  [troubler  Fopinion — disturb  opinion] 
in  Allied  countries.  But  that  public  opinion  has,  in 
spite  of  all  the  sacrifices  endured  by  the  Allies,  already 
given  its  answer  with  admirable  firmness,  and  has 
denounced  the  empty  pretence  [ride — emptiness]  of  the 
declaration  of  the  Enemy  Powers. 

They  have  the  further  object  of  stiffening  public 
opinion  in  Germany  and  in  the  countries  allied  to  her  ; 
one  and  all,  already  severely  tried  by  their  losses,  worn 


BARON    BEYENS, 
Belgian  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs. 

out  by  economic  pressure  and  crushed  by  the  supreme 
effort  which  has  been  imposed  upon  their  inhabitants. 

They  endeavour  to  deceive  and  intimidate  public 
opinion  in  neutral  countries  whose  inhabitants  have  long 
•since  made  up  their  minds  where  the  initial  responsibility 
rests,  have  recognized  existing  responsibilities,  and  are 
far  too  enlightened  to  favour  the  designs  of  Germany 
by  abandoning  the  defence  of  human  freedom. 

Finally,  these  overtures  attempt  to  justify  in  advance 
in  the  eyes  of  the  world  a  new  series  of  crimes — submarine- 
warfare,  deportations,  forced  labour  and  forced  enlist- 
ment of  inhabitants  against  their  own  countries,  and 
violations  of  neutrality. 

Fully  conscious  of  the  gravity  of  this  moment,  but 
•qually  conscious  of  its  requirements,  the  Allied  Govern- 
ments, closely  united  to  one  another  and  in  perfect 
sympathy  with  their  peoples,  refuse  to  consider  a  pro- 
posal which  is  empty  and  insincere. 

Once  again  the  Allies  declare  that  no  peace  is  possible 
so  long  as  they  have  not  secured  reparation  of  violated 
rights  and  liberties,  recognition  of  the  principle  of 
nationalities,  and  of  the  free  existence  of  small  states  ; 
so  long  as  they  have  not  brought  about  a  settlement 
calculated  to  end,  once  and  for  all,  forces  [causes — 
causes]  which  have  constituted  a  perpetual  menace  to 
the  nations  [qui  depuis  si  longtemps  onl  menact  lea 
nations — which  have  so  long  threatened  the  nations  1 


and  to  afford  the  only  effective  guarantees  for  the  future 
security  of  the  world. 

In  conclusion,  the  Allied  Powers  think  it  necessary  to 
put  forward  the  following  considerations,  which  show 
the  special  situation  of  Belgium  after  two  and  a  half  years 
of  war. 

In  virtue  of  international  treaties  signed  by  five 
great  European  Powers,  of  whom  Germany  was  one, 
Belgium  enjoyed,  before  the  war,  a  special  status 
rendering  her  territory  inviolable  and  placing  her,  under 
the  guarantee  of  the  Powers,  outside  all  European 
conflicts.  She  was,  however,  in  spite  of  the.sr  trvatir- 
the  first  to  suffer  the  aggression  of  Germany.  For  this 
reason  the  Belgian  Government  think  it  necessary  to 
define  the  aims  which  Belgium  has  never  ceased  to 
pursue,  while  fighting  side  by  side  with  the  Entente 
Powers  for  right  and  justice. 

Belgium  has  always  scrupulously  fulfilled  the  duties 
which  her  neutrality  imposed  upon  her.  She  lias  taken 
up  arms  to  defend  her  independence  and  her  neutrality 
violated  by  Germany,  and  to  show  that  she  remains 
faithful  [el  pour  rester  fidele — and  to  be  true]  to  her 
international  obligations.  On  August  4,  1914,  in  the 
Reichstag,  the  German  Chancellor  admitted  that  this 
aggression  constituted  an  injustice  contrary  to  the  laws 
of  nations  and  pledged  himself  in  the  name  of  Germany 
to  repair  it. 

During  two  and  a  half  years  this  injustice  has  been 
cruelly  aggravated  by  the  proceedings  of  the  occupying 
forces,  which  have  exhausted  the  resources  of  the 
country,  ruined  its  industries,  devastated  its  towns  and 
villages,  and  have  been  responsible  for  innumerable 
ma-sacres,  executions,  and  imprisonments.  At  this 
very  moment,  while  Germany  is  proclaiming  peace  and 
humanity  to  the  world,  she  is  deporting  Belgian  citizens 
by  thousands  and  reducing  them  to  slavery. 

Belgium  before  the  war  asked  for  nothing  but  to  live 
in  harmony  with  all  her  neighbours.  Her  King  and  her 
Government  have  but  one  aim — the  re-establishment  of 
peace  and  justice  [droit — right].  But  they  only  desire 
[desire  only]  a  peace  which  would  assure  to  their  country 
legitimate  reparation,  guarantees,  and  safeguards  for  the 
future. 

The  reply  of  the  Allies  was  received  in 
Germany  with  a  great  exhibition  of  indignation. 
The  Government  organs  were  shocked  by  its 
"  shallowness,"  "  levity,"  "  mendacity,"  and  so 
on,  and  declared  in  a  shrill  chorus  that  proud 
and  injured  Germany  could  answer  'such 
insults  only  with  the  sword.  "  We  have  done 
what  we  could,"  said  the  German  Imperial 
Chancellor  to  the  Berlin  correspondent  of  the 
Vienna  Neue  Freie  Presse,  "  to  spare  the  world 
further  bloodshed.  If  the  New  Year  has  not 
brought  us  nearer  to  peace,  that  is  the  fault  of 
our  enemies."  Ultimately  (January  11)  Ger- 
many sent  out  a  fresh  Note  to  the  United 
States,  Spain  and  Switzerland,  saying  that  in 
view  of  the  form  in  which  the  Allies  had 
couched  their  rejection  of  the  peace  proposal  a 
reply  to  them  was  "impossible,"  but  that  the 
German  Government  "thinks  it  important  to 
communicate  to  the  neutral  Powers  its  view  of 
the  state  of  affairs." 

This  time  the  German  Government  declared 
that  "  history  "  should  be  left  to  judge  the 
origins  of  the  war.  Germany  and  her  Allies, 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


489 


"  who  were  obliged  to  take  up  arms  to  defend 
their  freedom,"  now  regarded  this  aim  as 
"  attained."  On  the  other  hand  the  enemy 
Powers  were  aiming,  "  among  other  things,"  at 
"  the  conquest  of  Alsace-Lorraine  and  several 
Prussian  provinces,  the  humiliation  and  dimi- 
nution of  Austria-Hungary,  the  disintegration 
of  Turkey,  and  the  mutilation  of  Bulgaria." 
The  Note  proceeded  : 

Our   enemies    describe   the    peace   offer   of   the   four 


allied  Powers  as  a  war  manoeuvre.  Germany  and  her 
allies  most  emphatically  protest  against  such  a  falsi- 
fication of  their  motives,  which  they  openly  stated. 
Their  conviction  was  that  a  just  peace  acceptable  to 
all  belligerents  was  possible,  that  it  could  be  brought 
about,  and  that  further  bloodshed  could  not  be  justified. 
Their  readiness  to  make  known  their  peace  conditions 
without  reservation  at  the  opening  of  negotiations 
disproves  any  doubt  of  their  sincerity. 

Our  enemies,  in  whose  power  it  was  to  examine  the 
real  value  of  our  offer,  neither  made  any  examination 
nor  made  counter-proposals.  Instead  of  that,  they 
declared  that  peace  was  impossible  so  long  as  the 


M   BRIAND    PRESENTING    TO    THE    AMERICAN    AMBASSADOR     IN     THE 

OF    THE    BELGIAN    MINISTER    FOR    FOREIGN    AFFAIRS,    THE    REPLY    OF    THE 
ALLIES    TO    PRESIDENT    WILSON'S    PEACE     NOTE. 


490 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


S 
oi 
w 
O 

as 
O 
b 


O 

en 
Z 


O 

E 
aa 


Z 

O 

H 

<: 

a: 
O 
- 
w 
a 

w 

K 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


491 


restoration  of  violated  rights  and  liberties,  the  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  principle  of  nationalities,  and  the  free 
existence  of  small  States  were  not  guaranteed.  The 
sincerity  which  our  enemies  deny  to  the  proposal 
of  the  four  allied  Powers  cannot  be  allowed  by  the 
world  to  these  demands  if  it  recalls  the  fate  of  the 
Irish  people,  the  destruction  of  the  freedom  and  inde- 
pendence of  the  Boer  Republics,  the  subjection  of 
Northern  Africa  by  England,  France,  and  Italy,  the 
suppression  of  foreign  nationalities  in  Russia,  and, 
finally,  the  oppression  of  Greece,  which  is  unexampled 
in  history. 

There  was  then  a  long  dissertation  on  the 
abandonment  of  the  Declaration  of  London, 
the  "starvation  campaign  against  Germany,"- 
the  wickedness  of  "  the  extension  of  the  war 
to  Africa,"  and  finally  an  insolent  attack  on 
Belgium,  on  the  ground  especially  that  she  did 
not  accept  the  German  proposal  that  the 
German  armies  should  march  through  Belgium 
unopposed. 

A  similar  Note  was  sent  out  from  Vienna,  the 
chief  difference  being  that  Austria-Hungary 
slandered  Serbia  as  Germany  slandered  Belgium. 

Those  Teutonic  protestations  made  little  or 
no  impression  in  foreign  countries  ;  they  were, 
indeed,  only  intended  to  divert  attention  in 
the  Central  Empires  themselves  from  the 
detailed  statements  of  the  policy  and  aims  of 
the  Allies  which  were  now  forthcoming.  On 
January  10,  1917,  M.  Briand  handed  to  Mr. 
Sharp,  the  American  Ambassador  in  Paris,  the 
following  reply  from  the  Allies  to  Mr.  Wilson's 
Note  : 

1.  The  Allied  Governments  have  received  the  Note 
delivered   to   them   on   November    19   in   the   name   of 
the    United   States    Government.      They   have   studied 
it   with  the   care   enjoined    upon   them    both   by   their 
accurate  sense  of  the  gravity  of  the  moment  and  by  their 
sincere  friendship  for  the  American  people. 

2.  In  general,  they  make  a  point  of  declaring  that 
they   pay   homage   to  the   loftiness   of  the  sentiments 
inspiring  the  American  Note,  and  that  they  associate 
themselves   wholeheartedly   with   tho   plan   of   creating 
a  League  of  the  Nations  to  ensure  peace  and  justice 
throughout  the  world.     They  recognize  all  tho  advan- 
tages that  would  accrue  to  the  cause  of  humanity  and 
civilization     by     the     establishment     of     international 
settlements  designed  to  avoid  violent  conflicts  between 
the  nations — settlements  which  ought  to  be  attended  by 
the  sanctions  necessary  to  assure  their  execution,  and 
thus    to    prevent    fresh  aggressions   from    being    made 
easier  by  an  apparent  security. 

3.  But  a  discussion  of  future  arrangements  designed 
to   ensure   a  lasting  peace   presupposes   a  satisfactory 
settlement   of   the   present   conflict.     Tho   Allies   feel   a 
desire  as  deep  as  that  of  tho  United  States  Government 
to  see  ended,  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  the  var 
for  which  the  Central  Empires  are  responsible,  and  which 
inflicts  sufferings  so  cruel   upon   humanily.      But  they 
judge  it  impossible  to-day  to  bring  about  a  peace  that 
shall  assure  to  them  the  reparation,  the  restitution,  and 
the  guarantees  to  which  they  are  entitled  by  the  aggres. 
sion  for  which  tho  r3sponsibility  lies  upon  the  Central 
Powers — and  of  which  the  very  principle  tended  to  under- 
mine- the  safety  of  Europe — a  peace  that  shall  also  permit 


the  establishment  upon  firm  foundations  of  the  future  of 
the  nations  of  Europe.  The  Allied  nations  are  con- 
scious that  they  are  fighting  not  for  sflfish  interests, 
but,  above  all,  to  safeguard  the  independence  of  peoples, 
right,  and  humanity. 

4.  The  Allies  are  fully  alive  to  and  deplore  the  losses 
and  sufferings  which  the  war  causes  neutrals,  as.  well  as 
belligerents,  to  endure  ;    but  they  do  not  hold  them- 
selves responsible,  since  in  no  way  did  they  desire  or 
provoke  this  war ;   and  they  mak-3  every  effort  to  lessen 
such  damage  to  the  full  extent  compatible  with  the 
inexorable   requirements   of   their  defence   against   the 
violence  and  the  pitfalls  of  the  foe. 

5.  Hence  they  note  with  satisfaction  the  declaration 
that  as  regards  its  origin  the  American  communication 
was   in   no   wise   associated   with    that    of   the   Central 
Powers,   transmitted  on  December   18  by  the   United 
States  Govt* rnment ;   neither  do  they  doubt  the  resolve 
of  that  Government  to  avoid  even  the  appearance  of 
giving  any,  albeit,  only  moral,  support  to  the  responsible 
authors  of  the  war. 

6.  The  Allied  Governments  hold  themselves  bound  to 
make  a  stand  in  the  friendliest  yet  in  tho  clearest  way 
against  the  establishment  in  the  American  Note  of  a 
likeness  between  the  two  belligerent  groups  ;    this  like- 
ness, founded  upon  the  public  statements  of  tho  Central 
Powers,   conflicts  directly  with   the  evidence,   both  as 
regards  the  responsibilities  for  the  past  and  the  guaran- 
tees for  the  future.     In  mentioning  this  likonoss  Presi- 
dent Wilson  certainly  did  not  mean  to  associate  himself 
with  it. 

7.  If  at  this  moment  there  bo  an  established  historical 
fact,  it  is  the  aggressive  will  of  Germany  and  Austria  to 
ensure  their  mastery  over  Europe  and  their  economic 
domination  over  the  world.     By  her  declaration  of  war, 
by  the  immediate  violation  of  Belgium  and  Luxemburg, 
and  by  the  way  she  has  carried  on  the  struggle,  Germany 
has    also    proved    her   systematic    contempt    of    every 
principle  of  humanity  and  of  all  respect  for  small  States  ; 
in  proportion  as  the  conflict  has  developed,  the  attitude 
of  tho  Central  Powers  and  of  their  Allies  has  been  a 
continual    challenge   to   humanity   and   to   civilization. 
Noed  we  recall  the  horrors  that  accompanied  the  in- 
vasion of  Belgium  and  of  Serbia,  the  atrocious  rule  laid 
upon  the  invaded  countries,  the  massacre  of  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  inoffensive  Armenians,  the  barbarities 
committed  agaiast  the  inhabitants  of  Syria,  the  Z.  ppolin 
raids,  upon  open  towns,  the  destruction  by  submarines 
of  passenger  steamers  and  merchantmen,  even   undsr 
neutral  flags,  the  cruel  treatment  inflicted  upon  prisoners 
of  war,  the  judicial  murders  of  Miss  Cavell  and  of  Captain 
Fryatt,  the  deportation  and  tho  reduction  to  slavery 
of  civil  populations  ?     The  accomplishment  of  such  a 
series  of  crimes,  perpetrated  without  any  regard  for  the 
universal  reprobation  they  aroused,  amply  explains  to 
President  Wilson  the  protest  of  the  Allies. 

8.  They  consider  that  the  Note  they  handed  to  the 
United  States  in  reply  to  the  Gorman  Note  answers  the 
question  put  by  the  American  Government,  and  forms, 
according  to  the  words  of  that  Government,  "  an  avowal 
of  their  respective  views  as  to  the  terms  on  which  the 
war  might  be  concluded.'*     Mr.  Wilson  wishes  for  more  : 
he  desires  that  the  belligerent  Powers  should  define,  in  tho 
full  light  of  day,  their  aims  in  prosecuting  tho  war.     The 
Allies  find  no  difficulty  in  answering  this  request.     Their 
war  aims  are  well  known  ;    they  have  been  repeatedly    , 
defined   by   the   hoods   of   their   various    Governments. 
These  war  aims  will  only  be  set  forth  in  detail,  with  all 
tho  compensations  and  equitable  indemnities  for  harm 
suffered,    at    the    moment    of    negotiation.      But    the 
civilized  world  knows  that  they  imply,  necessarily  and 
first    of   all,   the   restoration    of    Belgium,    Serbia,    and 
Montenegro,    with    the    compensations    due    to    them; 
the  evacuation  of  the  invaded  territories  in  France,  in 
Russia,  in  Rumania,  with  just  reparation  ;  the  reorganize- 


492 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


tion  of  Knrope.  ^narnnteeii  by  a  slut)!-1  regime  and  based 
at  once  on  respect  for  nationalities  and  on  the  right  to 
full  security  and  liberty  of  economic  development 
possessed  by  all  peoples,  small  aud  great,  and  at  the  same 
time  upon  territorial  conventions  and  international 
settlements  such  as  to  guarantee  land  and  sea  frontiers 
against  unjustified  attack  ;  the  restitution  of  provinces 
formerly  torn  from  the  Allies  by  force  or  against  the  wish 
of  their  inhabitants  ;  the  liberation  of  the  Italians,  as 
also  of  the  Slavs,  Rumanes,  and  Czecho-Slovaks  from 
foreign  domination  ;  the  setting  free  of  tho  populations 


GENERAL    VON    STEIN, 
Prussian  Minister  of  War. 

subject  to  the  bloody  tyranny  of  the  Turks  ;  and  ths 
turning  out  of  Europe  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  as 
decidedly  foreign  to  Western  civilization. 

9.  The   intentions    of    his    Majesty   the    Emperor   of 
Russia  in  regard  to  Poland  have  been  clearly  indicated 
by  the  manifesto  he  has  just  addressed  to  his  Armies. 

10.  There  is  no  need  to  say  that,  if  the  Allies  desire 
to  shield  Europe  from  the  covotous  brutality  of  Prussian 
militarism,  the  extermination  and  the  political  disap- 
pearance of  the  German  peoples  have  never,  as  has  been 
pretended,  formed  part  of  their  designs.     They  dcsir. 
above  all  to  ensure  peace  on  the  principles  of  liberty  ami 
justice,  and  upon  the  inviolable  fidelity  to  international 
engagements  by  which  the  Government   of  the  United 
States  have  ever  been  inspired. 

11.  United  in  the  pursuit  of  this  lofty  aim,  the  Allies 
are  determined,  severally  and  jointly,  to  act  with  all 
their  power  and  to  make  all  sacrifices  to  carry  to  a 
victorious  end  a  conflict  upon  which,  1  hey  arc  convinced, 
depend  not  only  their  own  welfare  and  prosperity  but 
the  future  of  civilization  itself. 

Together  with  the  joint  Reply  of  the  Allies 
to  President  Wilson,  an  additional  Note  from 
Belgium  was,  in  the  presence  of  Baron  Beyens, 
Belgian  Minister'  for  Kmrign  Affairs,  delivered 
to  the  American  Ambassador.  The1  principal 
passages  rim  as  follows  : 

As  much  a-  Air.  Woodrow  Wilson,  the  Royal  Govern- 
ment \vimlcl  \vi~li  to  see  this  war  come  to  an  end  as  soon 
us  possible. 

But  the  President  seems  to  think  that  tin-  statesmen 
in  the  two  ho-tile  eamps  are  pursuing  the  same  war 
aims.  The  example  of  Belgium  unhappily  demonstrates 
that  this  is  not  the  case.  .  Unlike  the  Central  Powers, 
Hi  Itiiinn  luis  never  aimed  at  conquest.  The  barbarous 


manner  in  which  the  German  Government  has  treated 
and  still  treats  the  Belgian  nation  does  not  admit 
of  any  supposition  that  Germany  will  make  it  her 
care  to  guarantee  for  the  future  the  rights  of  weak 
peoples  which  she  has  not  ceased  to  trample  under  foot 
ever  since  the  war  that  she  let  loose  began  to  ravage 
Europe. 

On  the 'other  hand,  the  Royal  Government  notes  with 
pleasure  and  with  confidence  the  assurance  that  the 
United  States  impatiently  await  the  moment  to  cooperate 
in  the  measures  which  will  be  taken,  after  peace,  to  pro- 
tect and  guarantee  small  nations  against  violence  and 
oppression. 

Until  Germany  delivered  her  ultimatum,  Belgium's 
sole  aspiration  was  to  live  on  good  terms  with  all  her 
neighbours  ;  towards  each  of  them  she  discharged  with 
scrupulous  loyalty  the  obligations  imposed  on  her  by  her 
neutrality.  How  was  she  rewarded  by  Germany  for  the 
confidence  she  showed  ?  Overnight,  without  plausible 
warrant,  her  neutrality  was  violated,  her  territory  was 
invaded,  and  th?  Imperial  Chancellor,  in  announcing  to 
the  Reichstag  this  violation  of  right  and  of  treaty,  was 
compelled  to  admit  the  iniquity  of  such  an  act  and  to 
promise  that  reparation  would  be  made.  But  the 
Germans,  after  occupying  Belgian  territory,  showed 
themselves  no  more  observant  of  tho  rules  of  interna- 
tional law  or  of  the  provisions  of  The  Hague  Conventions. 
They  exhausted  the  resources  of  the  country  by  exac- 
tions as  heavy  as  they  were  arbitrary  :  they  d<>libern  ely 


ADMIRAL   VON    HOLTZENDORFF, 
Chief  of  the  German   Admiralty   Staff. 

ruined  its  in-hist ries,  destroyed  whole  towns,  and  put 
to  death  or  imprisoned  a  considerable  number  of  in- 
habitants. Even  now,  while  they  loudly  proclaim  their 
dcsiro  to  put  an  end  to  the  horrors  of  the  war,  they 
aggravate  the  rigours  of  the  occupation  by  carrying 
Belgian  workmen  into  slavery  by  thousands. 

If  there'  is  a  country  that  is  entitled  to  say  that  it 
took  up  arms  in  order  to  defend  its  existence,  that 
country  assuredly  is  Belgium.  Compelled  by  force  to 
fight  or  to  submit  to  dishonour,  she  passionately  desires 
that  an  end  may  be  set  to  the  unheard-of  sufferings 
of  her  population.  But  she  could  accept  only  a  peace 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


493 


that  assures  to  her,  together  with  equitable  reparation, 
securities  and  guarantees  for  the  future. 

Finally,  the  Belgian  Government  expressed 
"  the  legitimate  hope  that,  at  the  final  settle- 
ment of  this  long  war,  the  voice  of  the  Entente 
Powers  will  find  in.  the  United  States  a  unani- 
mous echo  to  claim  for  Belgium,  the  innocent 
victim  of  German  ambition  and  of  German 
greed,  the  rank  and  position  that  are  marked 
out  for  her  among  the  civilized  nations,  by 
virtue  of  her  blameless  past,  by  the  valour  of 
her  soldiers,  by  her  fidelity  to  b/mour,  and 
by  her  people's  remarkable  aptitude  for 
work." 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the 
attitude  of  Switzerland  and  the  Scandinavian 
States  towards  Mr.  Wilson's  Note  to  the 
belligerents.  The  Spanish  Government,  for 
its  part,  published  on  December  30  a  reply  to 
the  United  States  which  disclosed  the  fact  that 
on  December  22,  after  communication  of  the 
American  Note  to  the  belligerents,  the  United 
States  had  directly  invited  Spain  to  make  a 
demarche  on  her  own  account.  Spain  refused, 
and  rather  pointedly  expressed  "  the  opinion 
that,  now  that  the  President  of  the  United 
States  has  taken  this  initiative  and  the  different 
impressions  which  it  has  produced  are  already 
known,  the  demarche  which  the  United  States 
invites  Spain  to  make  would  not  be  effective, 
all  the  more  as  the  Central  Empires  have 
already  expressed  their  firm  intention  that  the 
t  conditions  of  peace  should  be  concerted  be- 
tween the  belligerent  Powers  alone."  The 
Spanish  Government  "  suspended  its  action 
and  reserved  it  for  a  moment  when  the  efforts 
of  all  those  who  desire  peace  can  have  greater 
utility  and  efficacy  than  they  have  now, 
supposing  that  at  that  moment  there  were 
reason  to  believe  thart  its  initiative  or  inter- 
vention might  have  good  results." 

So  much  for  the  official  pronouncements  of 
the  various  Governments.  But  no  account  of 
them  would  be  complete  without  the  inclusion 
of  a  dispatch  which  Mr.  A.  .J.  Balfour,  now 
Foreign  Secretary  in  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  ad- 
ministration, addressed  to  the  British  Ambas- 
sador at  Washington,  in  sending  him  a  trans- 
lation of  the  Allied  Note  to  the  United  States. 
"This  powerful  and  lucid  development  of  the 
main  points  in  the  case  of  the  Allies,"  observed 
The  Times,  "brings  out  the  intimate  logical 
connexion  of  the  terms  which  they  have  laid 
down  with  impressive  cogency  and  force.  It 
possesses  all  the  superiority  in  reasoning  and 


in  form  which  the  product  of  a  single  intelli- 
gence, belonging  to  the  first  order,  enjoys  over 
a  composite  production,  retouched  to  satisfy 
the  criticisms  of  many  different  minds."  Mr. 
Balfour  wrote  : 

I  gather  from  the  general  tenor  of  the  President's 
Note  that,  while  he  is  animated  by  an  intense  dssire  that 
peace  should  come  soon,  and  that  when  it  conAs  it  should 
be  lasting,  he  does  not,  for  the  moment  at  least,  concern 
himself  with  the  terms  on  which  it  should  be  arranged. 
His  Majesty's  Government  entirely  share  the  President's 
ideals  :  but  they  feel  strongly  that  the  durability  of  the 
peace  must  largoly  depend  on  its  character,  and  that 


COUNT    ROMANONES, 
Spanish  Prime  Minister  in  1916. 

no  stable  system  of  international  relations  can  be 
built  on  foundations  which  are  essentially  and  hopelessly 
defective. 

This  becomes  clearly  apparent  if  we  consider  the  main 
conditions  which  rendered  possible  the  calamities  from 
which  the  world  is  now  suffering.  These  were  the 
existence  of  a  Great  Power  consumed  with  the  lust  of 
domination,  in  the  midst  of  a  community  of  nations  ill 
prepared  for  defence,  plentifully  supplied,  indeed,  with 
international  laws,  but  with  no  machinery  for  enforcing 
them,  and  weakened  by  the  fact  that  neither  the 
boundaries  of  the  various  States  nor  their  internal  con- 
stitution harmonized  with  the  aspirations  of  their 
constituent  races,  or  secured  to  them  just  and  equal 
treatment. 

That  this  last  evil  would  be  greatly  mitigated  if  the 
Allies  secured  the  changes  in  the  map  of  Europe  outlined 
in  their  joint  Note  is  manifest,  and  1  need  not  labour 
the  point. 

It  has  been  argued,  indeed,  that  the  expulsion  of  the 
Turks  from  Europe  forms  no  proper  or  logical  part  of 
this  general  scheme.  The  maintenance  of  the  Turkish 
Empire  was  during  many  generations  regarded  by  states- 
men of  world-wide  authority  as  essential  to  the  main* 


494 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


GERMANY'S    NATIONAL 
EFFORT. 

Above  :  Men  at  work  in  a  gun-finishing 
shop  at  Essen. 

Below  :  Women  workers  in  a  turning 
shop  at  Diisseldorf. 

Inset :  A  hydraulic  press  for  shell 
making. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


495 


tenanee  of  European  peace.  Why,  it  is  asked,  should 
the  cause  of  peace  be  now  associated  with  a  complete 
reversal  of  this  traditional  policy  ? 

The  answer  is  that  circumstances  have  completely 
changed.  It  is  unnecessary  to  consider  now  whether 
the  creation  of  a  reformed  Turkey  mediating  between 
hostile  races  in  the  Near  East  was  a  scheme  wliich,  had 
the  Sultan  baen  sincere  and  the  Powers  united,  could 
ever  have  been  realized.  It  certainly  cannot  be  realized 
now.  The  Turkey  of  "  Union  and  Progress  "  is  at  least 
as  barbarous  and  is  far  more  aggressive  than  the  Turkey 
of  Sultan  Abdul  Hamid.  In  the  hands  of  Germany  it 
has  ceased  even  in  appearance  to  be  a  bulwark  of  peace, 
and  is  openly  used  as  an  instrument  of  conquest.  Under 
German  officers  Turkish  soldiers  are  now  fighting  in 
lands  from  which  they  had  long  been  expelled,'  and  a 
Turkish  Government,  controlled,  subsidized,  and  sup- 
ported by  Germany,  hai  been  guilty  of  massacres  in 
Armenia  and  Syria  more  horrible  than  any  recorded  in 
the  history  even  of  those  unhappy  countries.  Evidently 
the  interests  of  peace  and  the  claims  of  nationality 
alike  require  that  Turkish  rule  over  alien  races  shall, 
it  possible,  be  brought  to  an  end  ;  and  we  may  hope  that 
the  expulsion  of  Turkey  from  Europe  will  contribute 
as  much  to  the  cause  of  peace  as  the  restoration  of 
Alsace-Lorraine  to  France,  of  Italia  Irredenta  to  Italy, 
or  any  of  the  other  territorial  changes  indicated  in  the 
Allied  Note. 

Evidently,  however,  such  territorial  rearrangements, 
though  they  may  diminish  the  occasions  of  war,  provide 
no  sufficient  security  against  its  recurrence.  If  Germany, 
or,  rather,  those  in  Germany  who  mould  its  opinions 
and  control  its  destinies,  again  sot  out  to  dominate  the 
world,  they  may  find  that  by  the  new  order  of  things 
the  adventure  is  made  more  difficult,  but  hardly  that  it  is 
made  impossible.  They  may  still  have  ready  to  their 
hand  a  political  system  organized  through  and  through 
on  a  military  basis  ;  they  may  still  accumulate  vast  stores 
of  military  equipment ;  they  may  still  perfect  their 
methods  of  attack,  so  that  their  more  pacific  neighbours 
will  be  struck  down  before  they  can  prepare  themselves 
for  defence.  If  so,  Europe  when  the  war  is  over  will  be 
far  poorer  in  men,  in  money,  and  in  mutual  good  will 
than  it  was  when  the  war  began,  but  it  will  not  be 
safer  ;  and  the  hopes  for  the  future  of  the  world  enter- 
tained by  the  President  will  be  as  far  as  ever  from 
fulfilment. 

There  are  those  who  think  that,  for  this  disease,  inter- 
national treaties  and  international  laws  may  provide 
a  sufficient  cure.  But  such  persons  have  ill  learned  the 
lessons  so  clearly  taught  by  recent  history.  While 
other  nations,  notably  the  United  States  of  America  and 
Britain,  were  striving  by  treaties  of  arbitration  to  make 
sure  that  no  chance  quarrel  should  mar  the  peace 
they  desired  to  make  perpetual,  Germany  stood  aloof. 
Her  historians  and  philosophers  preached  the  splendours 
of  war  :  power  was  proclaimed  as  the  true  end  of  the 
State  ;  the  General  Staff  forged  with  untiring  industry 
the  weapons  by  which,  at  the  appointed  moment,  power 
might  be  achieved.  These  facts  proved  clearly  enough 
that  treaty  arrangements  for  maintaining  peace  were 
not  likely  to  find  much  favour  at  Berlin  ;  they  did  not 
prove  that  such  treaties,  once  made,  would  be  utterly 
ineffectual.  This  became  evident  only  when  war  had 
broken  out :  though  the  demonstration,  when  it  came,  • 
was  overwhelming.  So  long  as  Germany  remains  the 
Germany  which,  without  a  shadow  of  justification,  over- 
ran and  barbarously  ill-treated  a  country  it  was  pledged 
to  defend,  no  State  can  regard  its  rights  as  secure  if 
they  have  no  better  protection  than  a  solemn  treaty. 

The  case  is  made  worse  by  the  reflection  that  these 
methods  of  calculated  brutality  were  designed  by  the 
Central  Powers  not  merely  to  crush  to  tho  dust  those 
with  whom  thny  were  at  war,  but  to  intimidate  those 
•with  whom  they  were  still  at  peace.  Belgium  was  not 
only  a  victim — it  was  an  example.  Neutrals  were 


intended  to  note  the  outrages  which  accompanied  its 
conquest,  the  reign  of  terror  which  followed  on  its  occupa- 
tion, the  deportation  of  a  portion  of  its  population,  the 
cruel  oppression  of  the  remainder.  And  lest  nations 
happily  protected,  either  by  British  fleets  or  by  their 
own,  from  German  armies  should  suppose  themselves 
safe  from  German  methods,  the  submarine  has  (within 
its  limits)  assiduously  imitated  the  barbaric  practices 
of  the  sister  service.  The  War  Staffs  of  the  Central 
Powers  are  well  content  to  horrify  the  world  if  at  the 
same  time  they  can  terrorize  it. 

If,  then,  the  Central  Powers  succeed,  it  will  be  to 
methods  like  these  that  they  will  owe  their  success. 
How  can  any  reform  of  international  relations  be  based 


COUNT    CZERNIN, 
Appointed  Austrian  Foreign  Minister  in  1916. 

on  a  peace  thus  obtained  J  Such  a  peace  would  repre- 
sent the  triumph  of  all  the  forces  which  make  war  certain 
and  make  it  brutal.  It  would  advertise  the  futility  of 
all  the  methods  on  which  civilization  relies  to  eliminate 
the  occasions  of  international  dispute  and  to  mitigate 
their  ferocity. 

Germany  and  Austria  made  the  present  war  inevitable 
by  attacking  the  rights  of  one  small  State,  and  they 
gained  their  initial  triumphs  by  violating  the  treaty- 
guarded  territories  of  another.  Are  small  States  going 
to  find  in  them  their  future  protectors,  or  in  treaties 
made  by  them  a  bulwark  against  aggression  ?  Terrorism 
by  land  and  sea  will  have  proved  itself  the  instrument  of 
victory.  Are  the  victors  likely  to  abandon  it  on  the 
appeal  of  the  neutrals  ?  If  existing  treaties  are  no  m  ore 
than  scraps  of  paper  can  fresh  treaties  help  us  ?  If  tha 
violation  of  the  most  fundamental  canons  of  international 
law  be  crowned  with  success,  will  it  not  be  in  vain  that 
the  assembled  nations  labour  to  improve  thsir  code  t 
None  will  profit  by  their  rules  but  the  criminals  who- 
break  them.  It  is  those  who  keep  them  that  will  suffer* 
Though,  therefore,  the  people  of  this  country  share 
to  the  full  the  desire  of  the  President  for  peace,  they  do 
not  believe  that  peace  can  bn  durable  if  it  be  not  based 
on  the  success  of  the  Allied  cause.  For  a  durable  peace 
can  hardly  be  expected  unless  three  conditions  are 
fulfilled.  The  first  is  that  the  existing  causes  of  inter- 
national unrest  should  be,  as  far  as  possible,  removed 
or  weakened.  The  second  is  that  the  aggressive  aims 


496 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


and  the  unscrupulous  methods  of  the  Central  Powers 
should  fall  into  disrepute  among  their  own  peoples. 
The  third  is  that  behind  international  law,  and  behind 
all  treaty  arrangements  for  preventing  or  limiting  hos- 
tilities, some  form  of  international  sanction  should  be 
devised  which  would  give  pause  to  the  hardiest  aggressor. 
These  conditions  may  be  difficult  of  fulfilment.  But 
we  believe  them  to  be  in  general  harmony  with  the 
President's  ideals  and  we  are  confident  that  none  of 
them  can  be  satisfied,  even  imperfectly,  unless  peace 
b«  secured  on  the  general  lines  indicated  (so  far  as 
Europe  is  concerned)  in  the  Joint  Note.  Therefore  it  is 
that  tliis  country  has  made,  is  making,  and  is  prepared 
to  make  sacrifices  of  blood  and  treasure  unparalleled  in 
its  history.  It  bears  these  heavy  burdens  not  merely 
that  it  may  thus  fulfil  its  treaty  obligations,  nor  yet 
that  it  may  secure  a  barren  triumph  of  one  group  of 
nations  over  another.  It  bears  them  because  it  firmly 
believes  that  on  the  success  of  the  Allies  depend  the 
prospects  of  peaceful  civilization  and  of  those  interna- 
tional reforms  which  the  best  thinkers  of  the  New 
World,  as  of  the  Old,  dare  to  hope  may  follow  on  the 
cessation  of  our  present  ralumit  i  's. 

Immediately  after  the  publication  of  the 
Reply  of  the  Allies  to  President  Wilson,  the 
Kaiser  addressed  the  following  proclamation 
to  the  German  people  : 

Our  enemies  have  dropp3d  the  mask.  After  refusing 
with  scorn  and  hypocritical  words  of  love  for  peace 
and  humanity  our  honest  peace  offer  they  now,  in  their 
reply  to  the  United  States,  have  gone  beyond  that, 
and  admitted  their  lust  for  conquest,  the  baseness  of 
which  is  further  enhanced  by  their  calumnious  asser- 


tions. Their  aim  is  the  crushing  of  Germany,  the  dis- 
memberment of  the  Powers  allied  to  us,  and  the  enslave- 
ment of  the  freedom  of  Europe  and  the  seas  under  the 
same  yoke  that  Greece,  with  gnashing  teeth,  is  now 
enduring.  But  what  they  in  thirty  months  of  the 
bloodiest  fighting  and  unscrupulous  economic  war 
could  not  achieve  they  will  also  in  all  the  future  not 
accomplish. 


FRL.    LUDERS, 

Head  of  the  Women's  Department  of  the 
Prussian  "War  Bureau." 


BARON    VON    FREYTAG-LORINGHOVEN. 
Deputy-Chief  of  the  German  General  Staff,  1916. 

Our  glorious  victories  and  our  iron  strength  of  will 
with  which  our  fighting  people  at  the  front  and  at 
home  have  born  all  hardship  and  distress,  guarantee 
that  also  in  ths  future  our  beloved  Fatherland  has 
nothing  to  fear.  Burning  indignation  and  holy  wrath 
will  redouble  the  strength  of  every  German  man  and 
woman,  whether  it  is  devoted  to  fighting,  work,  or 
suffering.  We  are  ready  for  all  sacrifices.  The  God 
who  planted  His  glorious  spirit  of  freedom  in  our  brave 
people's  heart  will  also  give  us  and  our  loyal  alli?s, 
tested  in  battle,  full  victory  over  all  the  enemy  lust 
for  power  and  rage  for  destruction. 

This  proclamation  and  the  flood  of  similar 
utterances  which  were  now  emitted  from 
Germany  were  no  doubt  sincere  enough  in 
the  sense  that  Germany  was  much  disgusted 
by  the  Allies'  frank '  definition  of  their  aims 
in  prosecuting  the  war.  The  statements  of 
the  Allies  were,  indeed,  of  the  most  damaging 
kind,  and  the  German  peace  manoeuvre  as 
such  had  failed  ignominiously.  But  although 
the  failure  was  unpleasantly  ignominious, 
German  expectation  of  direct  success  had 
always  been  extremely  faint.  The  main  object 
was  to  clear  the  political  decks  for  more 
"  ruthless  "  prosecution  of  the  war.  Germany 
was  about  to  throw  out  her  final  challenge  to 
the  world.  She  was  aware  that  she  was  now 
staking  everything.  In  view  especially  of  the 
experiences  of  Belgium,  Serbia  and  Rumania, 
it  was  improbable  that  any  of  the  other  European 
States  would  intervene  at  this  stage.  But, 
for  the  rest,  it  was  "  Central  Europe  "  against 
the  world,  and  Germany  was  risking  the  whole 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


497 


of  the  Germanic  structures  which  she  had  so 
painfully  built  up  in  the  United  States,  in 
South  America,  and  in  the  Far  East.  There 
could  be  no  better  evidence  of  the  German 
view  than  the  astounding  instructions  sent 
from  Berlin  to  Count  Bernstorff  in  Washington 
for  transmission  to  the  German  Minister  in 
Mexico.*  Herr  Zimmermann,  the  new  German 
Foreign  Secretary,  was  writing,  it  must  be 
remembered,  on  January  19,  while  Germany 
was  nominally  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with 
the  United  States.  He  already  announced 
that  "  unrestricted  "  submarine  warfare  would 


of  an  alliance  with  Persia  in  1807  !  As  for 
the  intended  proposal  to  Japan,  it  could  bo 
appreciated  only  by  the  German  Government 
which  during  the  spring  and  summer  of  1914 
had  been  trying  to  prepare  for  its  coming  war 
by  securing  Japanese  neutrality,  and  by  the 
German  people  which  had  seriously  believed 
at  the  beginning  of  August,  1914,  that  Japan 
had  declared  war  on  Russia. 

Whether  or  not  President  Wilson  was 
already  aware  of  the  true  character  of  German 
policy,  he  continued  calmly  on  his  course. 
On  January  22  he  delivered  a  speech  to  the 


FUNERAL   OF   THE    EMPEROR    FRANCIS   JOSEPH  OF  AUSTRIA,  KING   OF    HUNGARY. 

He  died  on  November  21,  1916. 


begin  on  February  1  ;  he  declared  that 
Germany  "  intended  to  endeavour  to  keep 
neutral  "  the  United  States  ;  and  yet  he  was 
already  prepared,  "  as  soon  as  it  is  certain  that 
there  will  be  an  outbreak  of  war  with  the 
United  States,"  to  make  a  definite  alliance 
with  Mexico,  and  to  invite  Japan  to  desert  her 
Allies.  Seldom  in  the  history  of  diplomacy 
had  there  been  such  a  combination  of  cyniei^'ii 
and  folly ;  when  Herr  Zimmermann  was 
criticised  in  the  Reichstag,  the  National 
Liberals  cited  Frederick  the  Great  and  Napoleon 
in  his  defence — especially  Napoleon's  proposal 

*  For  the  text  of  the  Notj  see  Chapter  CLXXVIII., 
p.  373. 


Senate  which,  in  spite  of  its  apparent  irrelevance 
to  the  events  that  were  immediately  impending, 
must  be  recorded  here  as  one  of  the  most 
memorable  State  papers  in  the  history  of  the 
time.  Mr.  Wilson  said  : 

On  December  18  last  I  addressed  an  identic  Note 
to  the  Governments  of  the  nations  now  at  war  requesting 
them  to  state,  more  definitely  than  they  had  yet  been 
by  either  group  of  belligerents,  the  terms  upon  which 
they  would  deem  it  possible  to  make  peace. 

I  spoke  on  behalf  of  humanity  and  of  the  rights  of 
oil  neutral  nations  like  our  own,  many  of  whose  most 
vital  interests  the  war  puts  in  constant  jeopardy. 

The  Central  Powers  united  in  a  reply  which  stated 
merely  that  they  were  ready  to  meet  their  antagonists 
in  conference  to  discuss  terms  of  peace. 

The  Entente  Powers  have  replied  much  more  definitely 
and  have  stated,  in  general  terms  indeed,  hut  with 


498 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WALt. 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


499 


sufficient  dofiniteness  to  imply  details,  tho  arrange- 
ments, guarantees,  and  acts  of  reparation  which  they 
deem  to  be  the  indispeasabb  conditions  of  a  satisfactory 
settlement. 

We  are  much  nearer  a  definite  discussion  of  the 
peace  which  shall  end  the  present  war.  We  are  that 
much  nearer  tho  discussion  of  the  international  concert 
which  must  thereafter  hold  the  world  at  peace.  In 
every  discussion  of  the  peace  that  must  end  this  war 
it  is  taken  "for  granted  that  peace  must  be  followed  by 
definite  concert  of  the  Powers  which  will  make  it  vir- 
tually impossible  that  any  such  catastrophe  should  ever 
overwhelm  us  again.  Every  lover  of  mankind,  every 
sane  and  thoughtful  man,  must  take  that  for  granted. 

I  have  sought  this  opportunity  to  address  you  because 
I  thought  that  I  owed  it  to  you,  as  the  council  asso- 
ciated with  me  in  the  final  determination  of  our  inter- 
national obligations,  to  disclose  to  you  without  reserve 
the  thought  and  purpose  that  have  been  taking  form  in 
my  mind  with  regard  to  the  duty  of  our  Government 
in  the  days  to  come,  when  it  will  be  necessary  to  lay 
afresh  and  upon  a  new  plan  the  foundations  of  peace 
among  tha  nations. 

It  is  inconceivable  that  the  people  of  the  United 
Slates  should  play  no  part  in  that  gr^at  enterprise. 
To  take  part  in  such  a  service  will  be  the  opportunity 
for  which  they  have  sought  to  prepare  themselves 
by  the  very  principles  and  purposes  of  their  polity 
and  the  approved  practices  of  their  Government  ever 
-since  the  days  when  they  set  up  a  new  nation  in  tho 
high  and  honourable  hope  that  it  might  in  all  that  it 
was  and  did  show  mankind  the  way  to  liberty.  They 
cannot  in  honour  withhold  the  service  to  which  they  arc 
'  now  about  to  be  challenged.  They  do  not  wish  to  with- 
hold it.  But  they  owe  it  to  themselves  and  to  th j 
othor  nations  of  tho  world  to  state  the  conditions  und^r 
which  they  will  feel  free  to  render  it. 

That  service  is  nothing  less  than  this  :  To  add  their 
authority  and  their  power  to  the  authority  and  force  of 
other  nations  to  guarantee  peace  and  justice  throughout 
the  world.  Such  a  settlement  cannot  now  be  long 
postponed.  It  is  right  that  before  it  comes  this  Govern- 
ment should  frankly  formulate  the  conditions  upon 
which  it  would  feel  justified  in  asking  our  people  to 
approve  its  formal  and  solemn  adherence  to  a  league  for 
p. -ace.  I  am  here  to  attempt  to  state  those  conditions. 

The  present  war  must  first  be  ended,  but  we  owe 
it  to  candour  and  to  a  just  regard  for  the  opinion  of 
mankind  to  say  that,  so  far  as  our  participation  in 
guarantees  of  future  peace  is  concerned,  it  makes  a 
great  deal  of  difference  in  what  way  and  upon  what 
terms  it  is  ended. 

The  treaties  and  agreements  which  bring  it  to  an  end 
must  embody  terms  that  will  create  a  poace  that  is 
worth  guaranteeing  and  preserving,  a  peace  that  will 
win  the  approval  of  mankind,  not  merely  a  peace  that 
will  serve  the  several  interests  and  immediate  aims  of 
the  nations  engaged. 

We  shall  have  no  voice  in  determining  what  those 
terms  shall  be,  but  we  shall,  I  feel  sure,  have  a  voico 
in  determining  whether  they  shall  be  made  lasting 
or  not  by  the  guarantees  of  a  universal  covenant  ;  and 
our  judgment  upon  what  is  fundamental  and  essential 
as  a  condition  precedent  to  permanency  should  be 
spoken  now,  not  afterwards,  when  it  may  be  too  late. 

No  covenant  of  cooperative  peace  that  does  not 
"ncludo  tho  peoples  of  the  New  World  can  suffice  to 
keep  the  future  safe  against  war  ;  and  yet  there  is  only 
one  sort  of  peace  that  tho  peoples  of  America  could 
join  in  guaranteeing.  Tho  elements  of  that  peacu 
must  be  elements  that  engage  the  confidence  and 
satisfy  the  principles  of  the  American  Government, 
elements  consistent  with  the  political  faith  and  the 
practical  convictions  which  the  peoples  of  America  have 
once  for  all  embraced  and  undertaken  to  defend. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  any  American  Government 
•would  throw  any  obstacle  in  the  way  of  any  terms  of 


peace  the  Governments  now  at  war  might  agree  upon . 
or  seek  to  upset  them  when  made,  whatever  they  might 
be,  I  only  take  it  for  granted  that  mere  terms  of  peace 
between  the  belligerents  will  not  satisfy  even  the  belli- 
gerents themselves.  Mere  agreements  may  not  make 
peace  secure. 

It  will  b?  absolutely  necessary  that  a  force  be  created 
as  a  guarantor  of  the  permanency  of  tho  settlement  so 
much  greater  than  tho  force  of  any  nation  now  engaged 
or  any  alliance  hitherto  formed  or  projected,  that  no 
nation,  no  probable  combination  of  nations,  could  faff 
or  withstand  it.  If  the  peace  presently  to  be  made  is 
to  endure,  it  must  be  a  peace  made  secure  by  the  orga- 
nized major  force  of  mankind. 

The  terms  of  the  immediate  peace  agreed  upon  will 
determine  whether  it  is  a  peace  for  which  such  a  guarantee 
can  be  secured.  The  -question  upon  which  th>^  whole 


CARL,    EMPEROR    OF    AUSTRIA    AND 
KING    OF    HUNGARY. 

future  peace  and  policy  of  tho  world  depends  is  this  : 
Is  tho  present  a  struggle  for  a  just  and  secure  peace  or 
only  for  a  new  balance  of  power  ?  If  it  bo  only  a 
struggle  for  a  new  balance  of  power,  who  will  guarantee, 
who  can  guarantee  the  stable  equilibrium  of  the  new 
arrangement  ?  Only  a  tranquil  Europe  can  bo  a  stable 
Europe.  There  must  bo,  not  a  balance  of  power,  but  a 
community  of  power;  not  organized  rivalries  but  an 
organized  common  peace. 

Fortunately  we  have  received  very  explicit  aifurancos 
on  this  point. 

The  statesmen  of  both  of  tin  group:  of  na'ions  now 
arrayed  against  one  another  havo  said,  in  terms  that 
could  not  bo  misinterpreted,  that  it  was  no  pirt  of  tho 
purpose  they  had  in  mind  to  cruih  thoir  antagonists. 
But  the  implications  of  these  assurances  may  not  bo 
equally  clear  to  all — may  not  be  the  same  on  both  sides 
of  the  water.  I  think  it  will  be  serviceable  if  I  attempt 
to  set  forth  what  we  understand  them  to  be. 

They  imply,  first  of  all,  that  it  must  be  a  peace  without 
victory. 

I  beg  that  I  may  be  permitted  to  put  my  own  inter- 
pretation upon  it  and  that  it  may  be  understood  that 
no  other  interpretation  was  in  my  thought.  I  am  seeking 


500 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAB. 


only  to  face  realities,  and  to  face  them  without  soft 
concealments. 

Victory  would  mean  peace  forced  upon  the  loser,  a 
victor's  terms  imposed  upon  the  vanquished.  It  would 
be  accepted  in  humiliation,  under  duress,  at  intolerable 
sacrifice,  and  would  leave  a  sting,  a  resentment,  a  bitter 
memory  upon  which  terms  of  peace  would  rest,  not 
permanently,  but  only  as  upon  quicksand.  Only  a  peace 
between  equals  can  last — only  a  peace  the  very  principle 
of  which  is  equality  and  a  common  participation  in  a 
common  benefit.  The  right  state  of  mind,  the  right 
feeling  between  nations  is  as  necessary  for  a  lasting  peace 
as  is  the  just  settlement  of  vexed  questions  of  territory 
or  of  racial  and  national  allegiance. 

The  equality  of  nations  upon  which  peace  must  be 
founded,  if  it  is  to  last,  must  be  an  equality  of  rights  : 
the  guarantees  exchanged  must  neither  recognize  nor 


security  of  life,  of  worship,  and  of  industrial  and  social 
development  should  be  guaranteed  to  all  peoples  who 
have  lived  hitherto  under  the  power  of  Governments 
devoted  to  a  taith  and  purpose  hostile  to  their 
own. 

I  speak  of  this,  not  because  of  any  desire  to  exalt  an 
abstract  political  principle  which  has  always  been  held 
very  dear  by  those  who  have  sought  to  build  up  liberty 
in  America,  but  for  the  same  reason  that  I  have  spoken 
of  the  other  conditions  of  peace  which  seem  to  me  clearly 
incli-pensable — because  I  wish  frankly  to  uncover 
realities. 

Any  peace  which  does  not  recognize  and  accept  this 
principle  will  inevitably  be  upset.  It  will  not  rest  upon 
the  affections  or  the  convictions  of  mankind.  The  fer- 
ment of  spirit  of  whole  populations  will  fight  subtly  and 
constantly  against  it,  and  all  the  world  will  sympathize. 


THE    KAISER'S    "PEACE   VISIT"    TO    KING    OF    BAVARIA    AT     MUNICH, 

DECEMBER    12,    1916. 


imply  a  difference  between  big  nations  and  small  ; 
between  those  that  are  powerful  and  those  that  are 
weak.  Right  must  be  based  upon  the  common  strength, 
not  upon  the  individual  strength,  of  the  nations  upon 
whose  concert  peace  will  depend. 

Equality  of  territory  or  of  resources  there,  of  course, 
cannot  be  ;  nor  any  other  sort  of  equality  not  gained 
in  the  ordinary  peaceful  and  legitimate  development  of 
the  people  themselves.  *  But  no  one  asks  or  expects 
anything  more  than  an  equality  of  rights.  Mankind  is 
looking  now  for  freedom  of  life,  not  for  equipoi-es  of 
power. 

And  t hero  is  a  deeper  t  hi ng  involved  t nan  even  equality 
of  right  among  organized  nation". 

No  peace  can  last,  or  ought  to  last,  which  does  not 
recognize  and  accept  the  principle  that,  Governments 
derive  all  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the 
governed,  and  that  no  right  anywhere  exists  to  hand 
peopN-s  about  from  poientate  to  potentate  as  if  thev 
were  property. 

I  take  it  for  granted,  for  instance,  if  I  may  venture 
upon  a  single  example,  that  statesmen  everywhere  are 
agreed  that  there  -hould  be  a  united,  independent,  and 
autonomous  Poland,  and  that  henceforth  inviolable 


The  world  can  be  at  peace  only  if  its  life  is  stable,  and 
there  can  be  no  stability  where  the  will  is  in  rebellion, 
where  there  is  not  tranquillity  of  spirit  and  a  .sense  of 
justice,  of  freedom,  and  of  right. 

So  far  as  practicable,  moreover,  every  great  people 
now  struggling  towards  a  full  development  of  its  resources 
and  of  its  powers  should  be  assured  a  direct  outlet  to 
the  great  highways  of  the  sea. 

Where  this  cannot  be  done  by  the  cession  of  territory 
it  no  doubt  can  be  done  by  the  neutralization  of  direct 
rights  of  way  under  the  general  guarantee  which  wil! 
assure  the  peace  itself.  With  a  right  comity  of  arrange- 
ment no  nation  need  be  shut  away  irom  free  access  to 
the  open  patlis  of  the  world's  commerce. 

And  the  paths  of  the  sea  must  alike  in  law  and  in  fact 
be  free.  The  freedom  of  the  seas  is  the  sine  qua  non  ot 
peac.?,  equality,  and  cooperation. 

No  doubt  a  somewhat  radical  reconsideration  of  many 
of  the  rules  of  international  practice  hitherto  thought 
to  be  established  may  be  necessary  in  order  to  make  tho 
seas  indeed  free  and  common  in  practically  all  circum- 
stances for  the  use  of  mankind  ;  but  the  motive  for  :--"ch 
changes  is  convincing  and  compelling.  There  can  bo 
no  trust  or  intimacy  between  the  peoples  of  th^  world 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAIi. 


501 


without  them.  The  free,  constant,  unthreatened  inter, 
course  of  nations  is  an  essential  part  of  the  process  of 
peace  and  of  development.  It  need  not  be  difficult  either 
to  define  or  to  secure  the  freedom  of  the  seas  if  the 
Governments  of  the  world  sincerely  desire  to  come  to 
an  agreement  concerning  it. 

It  is  a  problem  closely  connected  with  the  limitation 


henceforth  to  continue  here  and  there  to  be  built  up  and 
maintained.  The  statesmen  of  the  world  must  plan  for 
peace  and  nations  must  adjust  and  accommodate  their 
policy  to  it  as  they  have  planned  for  war  and  made 
ready  for  pitiless  contest  and  rivalry. 

The  question  of  armaments,  whether  on  land  or  on 
sea,  is   the  most  immediately   and  intensely  practical 


[From  "  Ulk,"  January  12,  1917. 

"THE    EXTINGUISHED     LAMP    OF    PEACE." 

German  soldiers  are  represented  in  pursuit  of  the  Powers  which  have  refused    the  Germin  peace 
proposal,   and  as  determined  now  to  "thrash"  them. 


of  naval  armaments  and  the  cooperation  of  the  navies 
of  the  world  in  keeping  the  seas  at  once  free  and  safe, 
and  the  question  of  limiting  naval  armaments  opens  the 
wider  and  perhaps  more  difficult  question  of  the  limiui- 
tion  of  armies  and  of  all  programmes  of  military  prepara- 
tion. Difficult  and  delicate  as  these  questions  arc,  they 
rmi^t  be  faced  with  the  utmost  candour  and  decided  in 
a  spirit  of  real  accommodation,  if  peace  is  to  come  with 
healing  in*  its  wings,  and  come  to  stay.  Peace  cannot 
be  had  without  concession  and  sacrifice. 

There  can  be  no  sense  of  safety  and  equality  among 
tho  nations  if  great  and  preponderating  armaments  are 


question  connected  with  the  future  fortunes  of  nations 
tind  of  mankind. 

I  have  spoken  upon  these  great  matters  without 
reserve  and  with  the  utmost  explicitness,  because  it  has 
seemed  to  me  to  be  necessary  if  the  world's  yearning 
desire  for  peace  was  anywhere  to  find  voice  and  free 
utterance. 

Perhaps  I  am  the  only  person  in  high  authority 
amongst  all  the  peoples  of  the  world  who  is  at  liberty  to 
speak  and  hold  nothing  back.  I  am  speaking  as  an 
individual,  and  yet  I  am  speaking  also,  of  course,  as  the 
responsible  head  of  a  great  Government,  and  I  feel 


502 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


[From  "Laslige  Blatter." 


"THE    BLOCKADE    OF   THE   CHANNEL." 

"England  is  becoming  more  and  more  like  a 

mouse-trap." 

confident  that  I  have  said  what  the  people  of  the  United 
States  would  wish  me  to  say. 

May  I  not  add  that  I  hope  and  believe  that  I  am  in 
effect  speaking  for  liberals  and  friends  of  humanity  in 
every  nation  and  of  every  programme  of  liberty  ?  I 
would  fain  believe  that  I  am  speaking  for  the  silent  mass 
of  mankind  everywhere  who  have  yet  had  no  place 
or  opportunity  to  speak  their  real  hearts  out  con- 
cerning the  death  and  ruin  they  see  to  have  coma 
already  upon  the  persons  and  the  homes  thay  hold 
most  dear. 

And  in  holding  out  the  expectation  that  the  people 
and  Government  of  the  United  States  will  join  the  other 
civilized  nations  of  the  world  in  guaranteeing  the  perma- 
nence of  peace  upon  such  terms  (as)  I  have  named  I 
speak  with  the  greater  boldness  and  confidence  because 
it  is  clear  to  every  man  who  can  think  that  there  is  in 
t  his  promise  no  breach  in  either  our  traditions  or  our 
policy  as  a  nation,  but  a  fulfilment,  rather,  of  all  that 
we  have  professed  or  striven  for. 

I  am  proposing,  as  it  were,  that  the  nations  shoulil 
with  one  accord  adopt  the  doctrine  of  President  Monro-- 
as  the  doctrine  of  the  world  :  that  no  nation  should  seek 
to  extend  its  polity  over  any  other  nation  or  people,  bu- 
that  every  people  should  be  left  free  to  determine  its 
own  polity,  its  own  way  of  development,  unhindered, 
unthroatcned,  unafraid,  the  little  along  with  the  grea' 
and  powerful. 

I  am  proposing  that  all  nations  henceforth  avoid 
entangling  alliances  which  would  draw  them  into  com- 
p. 'lit ions  of  power,  catch  them  in  a  net  of  intrigue  and  set- 
IKh  rivalry,  and  disturb  their  own  affairs  with  influences 
intruded  from  without.  There  is  no  entangling  alliance 
in  a  concert  of  power.  When  all  unite  to  act  in  the  same 
-'•n-e  and  with  the  same  purpose  all  act  in  common 
interest  ami  are  free  to  live  their  own  lives  under  a 
common  protection. 

I  am  proposing  government  by  the  consent  of  the 
governed  ;  that  freedom  of  the  seas  which  in  internationa! 
conference  after  conference  representatives  of  the  people 
of  the  United  States  have  urged  with  the  eloquence  of 
tlmsK  who  are  the  convinced  disciples  of  liberty;  and 
that  moderation  of  armaments  which  makes  of  armies 
and  navies  a  power  for  order  merely,  not  an  instrument 
of  aggression  or  of  selfish  violence. 


These  are  American  principles,  American  policies.  We 
could  stand  for  no  others.  And  yet  they  are  the  prin- 
ciples and  policies  of  forward-looking  men  and  women 
everywhere,  of  every  modern  nation,  of  every  enlightened 
community.  They  arn  the  principles  of  mankind  am' 
must  prevail. 

Meanwhile  Germany  was  completing  her 
preparations.  On  the  evening  of  January  31 
the  American  Ambassador  in  Berlin,  Mr. 
Gerard,  was  summoned  to  the  Foreign  Office, 
and  was  informed  that  at  midnight — this  was 
just  three  and  a  half  hours'  notice  ! — Germany 
would  "  abandon  the  limitations  which  she  had 
hitherto  imposed  on  herself  in  the  employ- 
ment of  her  fighting  weapons  at  sea."  Herr 
Zimmermann  produced  the  Memorandum 
designating  "  barred  zones  (sperrgebiete)  around 
Great  Britain,  France,  and  Italy,  and  in  the 
Eastern  Mediterranean,"  and  a  new  Note  to 
the  United  States.  The  Note  began  with  a 
reference  to  Mr.  Wilson's  speech  to  the  Senate, 
declaring  cynically  that  "  the  guiding  lines 
of  this  important  declaration  agree,  to  a  large 
extent,  with  the  principles  and  wishes  which 
Germany  professes."  Germany  would  "  sin- 
cerely rejoice  if  peoples  like  those  of  Ireland 
and  India  now  obtained  their  freedom."  The 
Note  then  referred  to  the  German  peace 
proposals,  and  declared  that  they  had  failed 
"owing  to  the  lust  of  conquest  of  their 
opponents  who  desire  to  dictate  peace." 
There  was  then  a  long  denunciation  of  the 


[l-'rt.m  "  >"im/>'t.  iystmj. 
"  Mister   Neptune,   the  Germans  are    in    the 
Athntic!" 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


508 


THE    HOSPITAL    SHIP     "LANFRANG" 

Torpedoed  on  the  South  Coast  without  warning,   April  17,   1917.     The  hospital  ship   "  Donegal  " 

was  sunk  on  the  same  day. 


Allies,   and  especially  of  the  British  Empire, 
and  the  Note  proceeded : 

Every  day  by  which  the  terrible  struggle  is  prolonged 
brings  new  devastations,  new  distress,  new  death. 
Every  day  by  which  the  war  is  shortened  preserves  on 
both  sides  the  lives  of  thousands  of  brave  fighters,  and 
is  a  blessing  to  tortured  mankind.  The  Imperial 
Government  would  not  be  able  to  answer  before  its  own 


conscience,  before  the  German  people,  and  before  history, 
if  it  left  any  means  whatever  untried  to  hasten  the  end 
of  the  war. 

With  the  President  of  the  United  States  it  had  hoped 
to  attain  this  aim  by  negotiations.  After  the  attempt 
to  reach  an  understanding  was  answered  by  the  enemy 
with  the  announcement  of  intensified  war,  the  Imperial 
Government,  if  it  desires  in  the  higher  sense  to  serve 
humanity  and  not  to  do  a  wrong  against  its  own  country- 


THE    HOSPITAL    SHIP    "GLOUCESTER    CASTLE" 
Sunk  without  warning  in  the  Channel  on  the  night  of  March  30-31,   1917. 


504 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAJL 


[By  special  permission  from  "Punch,"  January  3,  1917. 

GRETCHEN:   "Will  it  never  end?     Think  of  our  awful  responsibility  before  humanity." 
HANS  :    "And  these  everlasting  sardines  for  every  meal." 


men,  must  continue  with  all  its  weapons  the  battle  forced 
on  it  anew  for  existence. 

On  February  1,  1917,  the  German  Govern- 
ment completed  its  proclamation  of  piracy 
by  an  announcement,  accompanied  by  all 
manner  of  lying  allegations,  that  it  would 
"  henceforth  tolerate  no  hospital  ship "  in 
defined  areas,  and  would  treat  hospital  ships 
in  .such  areas  as  belligerents. 

Thus  Germany  reached  the  inevitable  results 
of  the  policy  upon  which  she  had  embarked 
five  months  before,  under  stress  of  the  campaign 
of  1916  and  the  decline  in  her  fortunes  which 
was  marked  especially  by  the  Battle  of  the 
Somme.  She  had  dragged  her  Allies  along 
with  her,  but  she  had  defied  the  world,  and  the 
world  was  not  slow  to  take  up  the  challenge. 
"  If  the  peace  offer,"  wrote  Professor  Delbriick, 
the  Berlin  historian,  in  the  Preussische  Jahr- 
bucher  for  February,  1917,  "  had  brought  us 
peace  negotiations,  I  should  have  welcomed 
it  very  heartily,  because  I  believe  that,  in 
view  of  the  present  war  situation,  we  should 
have  been  able  to  achieve  everything  necessary 
for  Germany.  But  of  a  truth  we  can  welcome 
also  the  powerful  stimulus  to  the  war-will  on 
our  side,  as  well  as  the  uncertainty  and  confusion 
which  we  have  produced  among  our  enemies." 
It  was  a  very  Prussian  calculation,  which  only 


omitted  the  other  side  of  the  account — that, 
to  use  a  phrase  which  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
subsequently  applied  to'  the  intervention  of 
America,  the  civilized  world  had  come  to  learn 
that  "  it  is  no  use  waving  a  neutral  flag  in  the 
teeth  of  a  shark,"  and  that  it  was  necessary 
"  to  put  down  this  pest  once  and  for  ever." 
There  was  no  longer  any  remnant  of  doubt 
about  Germany's  utter  insincerity.  In  announc- 
ing the  new  submarine  policy  to  the  Reichstag 
on  January  31,  the  Imperial  Chancellor,  Herr 
von  Bethmann-Hollweg,  who  had  hitherto 
posed  as  a  defender  of  the  principles  of  civiliza- 
tion against  the  doctrines  of  pan-German 
"  ruthlessness,"  avowed  that  he  had  never 
opposed  "  unrestricted "  submarine  warfare 
except  on  grounds  of  temporary  expediency. 
When  he  had  resisted,  and  defeated,  the 
demands  of  Tirpitz  in  the  spring  and  summer 
of  1916,  he  had  done  so  only  because  the  new 
submarine  policy  was  not  "  ripe."  Now 
Germany  was  ready,  and  "  must,  therefore, 
not  wait  any  longer." 

That  was  the  real  spirit  underlying  the 
German  peace  campaign,  which  was  initiated 
in  the  name  of  the  Kaiser's  "  conscience " 
"  moral  courage,"  and  "  responsibility  to  God." 
Germany,  in  the  Kaiser's  phrase,  had  "  dropped 
the  mask." 


END   OF   VOLUME    ELEVEN. 


INDEX   TO   VOLUME   XI. 


Ablaincourt :    fierce  fighting  in, 
409,  420  ;    French  advance 
on,  293 
Afghanistan,  failure  of  German 

intrigue  in,  352 

Aircraft  :  Allied,  on  the  Somme, 
October,  1916,  409,  414, 
420,  424-426  ;  on  the  Wes- 
tern Front,  120,  130,  131, 
141,  146,  295-297  ;  Septem- 
ber, 1916,  291  ;  October, 
1916,  401  ;  German  pri- 
soner's diary  quoted  on, 
120  ;  French  aviator  drops 
bombs  on  Essen,  296  ; 
German  attacks  on  mer- 
chant ships,  174,  175,  raids 
on  Bukarest,  235,  236 
Aluta  Valley  :  description  of, 

446  ;    fighting  in,  446-448 
American   Neutrality,   The   End 
of,   357-396  :    see    "  United 
States  " 
Amphilrite,   trawler,   shelled   by 

German  submarine,  180 
Ancona,  correspondence  between 
America  and  Austria-Hun- 
gary on  the,  359 
Ancre  :    Battle  of  the,  421-427, 
Sir  Douglas  Haig  on,  424  ; 
British  feints  on   the,   132, 
133 ;     British    preparations 
for    the    attack    on,    420 ; 
Germans    repulsed    to    the 
south  of  the,  291,  293 
Ancre  and  Somme,  British  posi- 
tion between,  Sir  D.  Haig's 
dispatch,  405 
Anthoine,       Gen.,      commander 

under  Gen.  Micheler,  420 
Antiseptics  :        see    .    "  Medical 

Work  " 

Aosta,  Duke  of,  in  command  f 
Italian  Army  in  Carso  0  • 
fensive,  240 

Arabia,  fishermen's  work  during 
sinking  of,  193  ;  heroism 
of  crew  and  passengers  on 
the,  172,  173 

Arabic,  German  defence  of  sink- 
ing of,  358,  359 

Argesh,     River :      Bulgaro-Ger- 
man  advance  on,  465-469  ; 
fighting  on,  469 
Armin,  Gen.  Sixt  von,  409 
Armoured    cars,    description    of 
various,      279  ;      see      also 
"  Tanks  " 

Artist,  torpedoed,  165 
Are,  Gen.  von,  advance  against 

Moldavia,  434,  466 
Asian,    Gen.  :     in    command    of 
3rd  Rumanian  Army,  205  ; 
replaced  by  Gen.  Averescu, 
218 
Asquith,     Mr.      H.      H.,     visits 

Somme  Front,  141 
Avchencrag,  sunk,  167,  168 
Australia,  wheat  crop,  transport 

of,  110,  111 

Averescu,  Gen.  :  in  command  of 
Rumanian  Armies,  203,  434, 
466  ;  relinquishes  command, 
209  ;  recalled  to  command 
on  Transylvanian  Front, 
233  :  transferred  from 
Transylvania  to  the  Do- 
brudja,  218 


B 

Balfour,  Rt.  Hon.  Arthur  J., 
dispatch  to  America  re 
Peace  proposals,  496  ;  on 
the  Admiralty  Transport 
Department,  82,  83 
Balkans,  Italian  co-operation  in 

the,  274 

Baltn,  Norwegian  steamer,  cap- 
tain taken  prisoner,  166 
Basarabescu,   Gen.,   attempt   to 

reach  Tutrakan,  215 
Bavaria,    Crown    Prince   of,    at- 
tempts     to      pierce      Gen. 
Fayolle's  lines  on  Western 
Front,  294,  295 
Bavaria,  Prince  Henry  of,  death. 

450 

Beauchamps,   C'apt.   de,   French 
aviator,    exploits    of,    296, 
297 
Beaumont    Hamel,    capture    of, 

424 

Belgian  Deportations,  36,  sanc- 
tioned by  the  Kaiser,  474, 
477 

Be'gium  under  German  Rule, 
Sept..  1914-Oct.,  1916,  1- 
40  ;  Banking.  German  con- 
trol of,  27-29  ;  "  Bulletin 
of  Laws  and  Decrees  for  the 
Occupied  Belgian  Terri- 
tory "  published,  5  ;  Cen- 
sorship, 19,  21  ;  decrees, 
various,  6-10, 13-17,  28-33  ; 
espionage,  9;  "Flemish 
Movement,"  21-23,  26  ; 
frontiers,  security  of,  17,- 
escape  of  Belgians  across, 
18 ;  German  requisitions 
in.  32,  33,  35,  36  :  hostages, 
taking  of,  10.  11  ;  "Mili- 
tary Tribunals,"  introduc- 
tion of,  7-10 ;  priestf , 
murder  of,  2  ;  proclamr- 
tions  issued  in  various  di:  - 
tricts,  36-40  ;  refugees,  r  - 
turn  of,  and  German  pledg  s 
to,  11-14;  war  contribi  - 
tions  imposed  on  populr- 
tion,  30  ;  Zones,  division 
into,  3,  4 
Below,  Gen.  von,  on  the  Somme. 

419 

Beresford,  Lord,  on  the  Mercan- 
tile Marine,  171 

Bernstorff,  Count  :  handed  his 
passports,  371,  372  ;  letter 
to  Mr.  Lansing  on  the 
Arabic  quoted,  359  ;  on 
the  submarine  warfare  con- 
troversy in  U.S.A.,  362 
Berny  -  en  -  Santerre,  French 

carry,  140 

Berthelot,  Gen.,  arrives  in  Ru- 
mania with  French  military 
mission,  234 

Beseler,  Gen.  von,  pledges  to 
returned  Belgian  refugees, 
12 

Bethmann-Hollweg,  Herr  von, 
peace  schemes  organization, 
475-477  ;  on  unrestricted 
submarine  warfare,  504  ; 
speech  on  peace  proposals 
in  the  Reichstag,  480 
"Bismuth  Emetine,"  use  of,  70 
Bissing,  Gen."  von  :  succeeds 
Gen.  von  der  Goltz  in  Bel- 
gium, 6  :  administration, 
7  ;  opens  "  Flemish  Univer- 
sity "  at  Ghent,  2f>  ;  various 

505 


decrees  issued  by,  6,  14,  16, 
19,  29,  30,  31,  35,  36 
"Black  List,"  British,  irritation 

in  U.S.A.,  387 

Blaikie,    Capt.,    taken    prisoner 
from  the  Caledonia,  Govern- 
ment action,  166 
"Blockade,"      British.      U.S.A. 

controversy,  380-388 
Boehn,  Gen.  von,  409 
"  Bombarde,"    Italian,    descrip- 
tion of,  238 

Boroevich,  Gen.,  Army  Order  to 
Austrian  troops  on  the 
Isonzo,  247 

Bouchavesnes,  French  take,  149, 
309  ;  fighting  in  region  of, 
294 

Bouleaux    Wood  :     fighting    in, 
299  ;      Germans     evacuate, 
300 
Bovent,    French    capture,    407, 

409 
Briand,    M.,   o'n    German    peace 

proposals,  480 
Brioche,  French  take,  149 
British  Naval   Division,   on   the 

Ancre,  423 

British  Navy,  R.N.R.  skippers 
and  fishermen,  personnel, 
177 

Brixham     Fishing     Fleet,     sub- 
marine raid  on,  ISO 
Browning,  Dr.,  research  work  on 
antiseptics,    50 ;     discovery 
of  "  Flavine,"  52 
Bukarest,   air  attacks   on,    235, 
236  ;     evacuation    of,    471  ; 
Mackensen      enters,      472  ; 
Rumanian        redistribution 
round,  466 

Bulgaria  :    declares  war  on  Ru- 
mania, 213  :    Bulgarians  in 
Dohrudja,  213-223 
Bumbeshti,  Germans  enter,  45S 
Burghele,     Brie.-Gen.     G.,     ap- 
pointed    Secretary  General 
to    Rumanian    Ministry    of 
War,  233 
Busa    Alta,    Italians    take    first 

peak  of,  271 
Bushire,   British  established  in, 

355 

Byng,  Sir  Julian,  in  command  of 
Canadian  Corps  on  Western 
Front,  290 


Cadorna,  Gen.,  plans  in  Italian 
offensive  1916.  239,  266 

Caledonia,  Anchor  liner,  sunk  by 
German  submarine,  Captain 
taken  prisoner,  166 

California,  heroism  of  crew,  172 

Calvario,  Monte,  Italians  storm, 
245 

Campolung  :  Germans  enter, 
465  ;  Rumanians  evacuate 
positions  at,  442 

Caracalu  :  Count  Schmettow's 
cavalry  reach,  461  ;  Ru- 
manian Orsova  group  sur- 
renders at,  459 

Carranza,  Gen.,  German  pro- 
posal to  for  alliance*  with 
Mexico,  373 

Carso,  description  of  country, 
252-255;  Italian  offensive 
in  the,  Aug.-Uec.,  1916, 
237-266 ;  Italian  push  on 
the  (Sept.  14,  1916),  255, 


506 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAE. 


(Oft.  and  Nov.,  1016),  257- 
266 

Carson.  Sir  Edward  :  on  arming 
ships,  170  :  on  transport 
statistics,  159  ;  tribute  to 
the  Merchant  Service,  161 

Cavallazza,  Italian*  occupy,  269 

Pavell.  Nurse  Edith,  execution 
of,  10 

Cerebro-Spinal  Meningitis  :  see 
••  Spotted  Fever  " 

Cernavoda,  Bulgarians  enter, 
456 

Cernavoda  Bridge,  strategic  im- 
portance of,'  216,  221 

Chaulnes  Wood  :  French  enter, 
130  ;  French  attacks  in, 
409 

Chenung,  attacked  by  German 
submarine,  369 

Chilly,  French  take,  139 

Christescu,  Gen.,  succeeds  Gen. 
Averescu  in  the  Dobrudja, 
233 

City  of  Birmingham,  torpedoed, 
162,  163,  165 

Clan  MacLeod,  sunk  by  German 
submarine,  171 

Clery-sur-Somme,  French  take, 
136 

Coal,  export  problem  to  Italy 
and  France,  95,  96 

Columbian,  sunk,  166 

Com  hies  :  Allies  advance  on, 
139,  bombard,  150;  close 
in  on,  298,  take,  302 ; 
French  advance  on,  293, 
295 

Combles  Valley,  French  attack 
on,  136 

Constanza  :  Bulgaro  -  German 
advance  on,  454 ;  Ru- 
manians abandon  and  Ger- 
mans enter,  455 

Cosmagnon,  Italians  take 
trenches  on  the,  272 

Courcelctte  :  Canadians  attack, 
283,  take,  290;  fighting 
near,  295  ;  "  Tanks  "  at 
2S9,  290 

Crainiceanu,  Gen.,  in  command 
of  Rumanian  Second  Army, 
223,  434 

Craiova,  Germans  enter,  459 

Crni  Hrib  (the  Black  Hill), 
Italians  occupy,  251 

Cugnac,  Gen.,  on  the  Soinme, 
412 

Culcer,  Gen.,  in  command  of 
Rumanian  First  Army,  203, 
434  ;  replaced  by  Gen.  Ion 
Dragalina,  233 

Curtea  de  Argesh,  Germans 
capture,  466 

Curtis,  Capt.,  description  of  life 
in  German  submarine,  166 

Curzon,  Lord  :  appointed  Chair- 
man of  Shipping  Control 
Committee,  91  ;  on  Govern- 
ment's Shipbuilding  efforts, 
108  ;  on  requisitioning  of 
ships,  82 ;  on  shipping 
losses  during  the  War,  85 

Cymric,  sunk,  173 


D 

Dakin's  solution  :  introduction 
of,  45  ;  use  of,  46,  47,  50,  51 

Danube  :  Macfcensen's  forces 
cross  at  Sistovo,  462—165  ; 


Rumanians  cross  at  Rahovo, 
454 

Dciiriling,  Gen.  von,  on  the 
Somme,  419 

Delbriick,  Professor,  on  German 
Peace  Note,  504 

Delvillo  Wood  :  British  attack 
on  "Mystery  Corner"  in, 
284  ;  fighting  in,  124,  125, 
128,  130 

Denit-court,  French  take,  293 

Director,  Harrison  liner,  pursued 
by  German  submarine,  170 

Doberdo,  Italians  in,  251 

Dobritch,  Bulgarians  enter,  214 

Dobrudja  :  description  and  his- 
tory of,  219-221  ;  Allied 
counter-offensive  in  the, 
223  ;  enemy  defeated  in, 
223  ;  Mackensen's  offen- 
sive in,  435,  454-457  ; 
Rumanian  resistance  at 
Lipnitsa  and  Kara  Orman, 
217  ;  Sakharoff's  counter- 
offensive,  456  ;  strategical 
position,  199 

Dorme,  Adjutant,  German  aero- 
planes brought  down  by, 
120,  121,  131,  146 

Dragalina,  Gen.  Ion  :  advances 
against  the  Cerna  Line, 
213  :  in  the  Jiu  Valley, 
450-452  ;  succeeds  Gen. 
Culcer  as  commander  of 
Rumanian  First  Army,  233  ; 
death  from  wounds  at 
Targul-Jiu,  436,  453 

Duport,  Gen.,  Chief  of  French 
General  Staff,  294 

Dysentery  :  research  on  problem 
of  carriers,  67-71  ;  use  of 
"  Bismuth  Emetine,"  70 

E 

Eaucourtl'Abbaye  :  Britishgain 
foothold  at,  303,  take  and 
lose,  398,  399,  recapture, 
400 

Eclchardt,  Herr  von.  instructed 
to  attempt  Alliance  between 
Germany  and  Mexico,  373, 
374 

Epp,  Gen.  von,  in  Rumania,  450 
Espionage,  in  U.S.A.,  374-376 
Essen,  French  drop  bombs   on, 
296 

F 

Fajti  Ridge,  Italians  take,  263 

FalfemontFarm  :  British  attack 
on,  133  ;  reoccupied  by  tl  e 
Germans,  136 

Falkenhayn,  Gen.  von,  German 
counter-offensive  in  Ru- 
mania, 434  ;  in  command 
in  Jiu  Valley,  457  ;  in 
Transylvania,  226,  231  ; 
dismissal  of,  474 

Farman  Farma,  Price,  Prime 
Minister  of  Persia,  loyalty 
to  Allies,  353 

Fassa  Alps  :  description  of 
Passes  in  the,  268  ;  Italian 
advance  on  the,  267-272 

Favolle,  Gen.  :  advance  on 
Sailly  -  Saillfeel,  401, 

403-404  :  at  Maurepas, 
136  ;  attack  on  St.  Pierre 
Vaast  Wood,  293  ;  dis- 
positions in  attack  on 


Combles  and  Sailly-Sailli- 
sel,  152-155 

Filiasa,  Germans  enter,  458 

Fishermen  and  the  War  'II. 1 
177-196  ;  acts  of  heroism 
by,  187  :  prisoners  of  war. 
care  of,  194  ;  Ijcill  of 
Honour.  187  ;  services  ren- 
(Icn-rl  to  Arabic  passengers. 
193  ;  special  funds  and 
agencies  for,  194-196 

Fhunmenuerfer,  on  the  Somme, 
146 

"  Flavine,"  discovery  of,  52 

Flers  :  British  advance  on,  283, 
286,  take,  286,  287  ;  New 
'  Zcalajiders  in  Fighting  at, 
286,  287  ;  "Tanks  '.'  in  ad- 
vance on,  281,  282,  285,  286 

Fogaras  :  Austro  -  Hungarian 
frightfulness  in,  235 ; 
Rumanians  enter,  223  ; 
Rumanians  evacuate,  231 

Franz  Fixcher.  coasting  collier, 
sunk  by  Zeppelin,  175 

Frcgicourt,  French  storm,  298 

G 

Gaeln,  sunk,  16s 

Gamier,  Gen.  von,  409  ;  on  the 
Somme,  419 

Gas  attacks,  British,  on  the 
Somme,  401 

Gavnnescu,  Lt.-Col.  0.,  233 

Genermont  :  fighting  at,  409  ; 
French  capture,  410 

George,  King,  tribute  to  the 
Merchant  Service,  161 

Gerard,  Mr.  James  W.,  in- 
formed of  Germany's  sub- 
marine policy,  502  ;  leaves 
Berlin,  372 

Gcrd'i,  used  by  Germans  as  a 
decoy,  sunk,  168 

German  Army  :  Divisions  em- 
ployed at  Battle  of  the 
Somme,  316;  reorganiza- 
tion, effects  in  Transyl- 
vania, 224 

Germany  :  announcement  of  un- 
restricted submarine  war- 
fare, 502,  504  ;  controversy 
with  United  States — see 
"  United  States  "  ;  Indus- 
trial reorganization,  474, 
475  ;  Man  Power  scheme, 
Patriotic  Auxiliary  Service 
Bill  introduced  and  passed, 
478  ;  situation  in  1016  re- 
viewed, 473,  474 

Gerok,  Gen.  von,  in  Rumania, 
445 

Ghent  University,  reopened  by 
Gen.  von  Bissing,  24,  25 

Ginchy  :  British  bombard,  cap- 
ture, and  lose,  135,  again 
assault,  130,  take,  141-144  ; 
fighting  at,  125,  127; 
Officer's  letter  on,  125; 
German  counter-attacks, 
146;  Irish  at,  142-145; 
prisoners  taken  at.  144.  145 

Giurgevo,  Bulgarians  occupy, 
464 

Glavaciocul,  River,  fighting  on 
the,  467 

Colt?,  1'ield- Marshal  von  der, 
first  German  Governor- 
General  in  Belgium,  various 
decrees,  4,  6,  19,  27,  36 

Gorizia,  Italians  enter,  248 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


507 


Gorizia  Line,  positions  on  the, 

242 

Gough,  Gen.  Sir  Hubert  :  attack 
on  Thiepval,  Courcelette 
and  Martinpuich,  150-152, 
283  ;  advance  on  Thiepval, 
121,304;  insignia  of  .Grand 
Officer  of  the  Legion  of 
Honour  conferred  on,  400 
Grahame,  Mr.,  British  Consul- 
General  at  Ispahan,  at- 
tacked and  wounded,  352 
Grandcourt,  British  reach  out- 
skirts of,  425 

Great  Britain  :  history  of  con- 
nexion with  Persia,  324- 
335  ;  Shipping,  see  "  Ship- 
ping " 

Grey,  Sir  Edward,  on  Persia,  353 
Griffiths,  Col.  Norton,  destroys 

oil  wells  at  Ploeshti,  472 
Groner,  General,  Chief  of  "  War 
Bureau  "  of  Prussian  Minis- 
try of  War,  477 
Gueudecourt  :    British  advance 

and  entry  into,  300,  302 
Guillemont  :    British  take,   134, 
135  ;     Prussian    Guard   de- 
feated  at,    134,    135 
Guynemer,  Lieut.,  French  avia- 
tor,   exploits    on    Western 
Front,    296 
Gyimes  Pass,  righting  in  the,  445 


Haig,  Gen.  Sir  Douglas  :   dispo- 
sitions in  advance  on  Mor- 
val,    152,    153  ;     dispatches 
on  the  position  between  the 
Ancre  and  Somme  quoted, 
405,  406  ;    on  the   fighting, 
Sept.     15-16,     1916,     291  ; 
replies  to  Gen.  Joffre's  con- 
gratulations, 292 
Hallbjorg,  sunk,   176 
Hamadan,  Russians  take,  355 
Hatszeg,  Rumanian  advance  on, 

213 

Heinrich,  General  von,  appointed 
Military  Governor  of  Buka- 
rest,  472 

Hermada    Ridge,    Austrian    de- 
fences on  the,  265,  266 
Hermannstadt  :        Austro-Hun- 
garians       evacuate,       211  ; 
Battle  of,  226  ;   Gen.  Mano- 
lescu     defeated     at,     226  ; 
German  captures  at,  230 
High   Wood  :    fighting  at,   141, 
289  ;      German    attack    at, 
129  ;     Sir   Hubert   Gough's 
attack  on,  283 
Hill  76,  French  take,  149 
Hill   120,  French  take,  297 
Hill  121,  French  take,  127,  128 
Hill   130,  French  take,  297 
Hill   145,  French  take,  148 
Hindenburg,    General    von,   ap- 
pointed   Chief    of    General 
Staff,  474  ;   letter  on  muni- 
tions industry  quoted.  475 
Hobokon,    British    bomb    ship- 
building yards  at,   131 
Hopfcr,    General,    proclamation 

in  Tournai,  37,  29 
Hopital   Farm,   French  capture, 

136 

Hospital     ships,     German     an- 
nounce  war  on,  504 
Hughes,  Mr.,  difficulties  of  Aus- 
tralian wheat  transport,!  10, 
111 


lancovescu,  General,  appointed 
to  Rumanian  General  Staff 
233,  467 

Igel,  Herr  von,  arrested  in  New 
York,  376 

Inchcape,  Lord,  appointed 
Chairman  of  Ports  Con- 
gestion Committee,  87 

Isonzo  :  Austrian  retreat  on  the, 
248  ;  Italian  advance  on 
the,  240-257  ;  preparations 
for  offensive  on  the,  239 

Ispahan,  British  and  Russian 
community  leave,  353 

Italian  Army :  force  arrives  in 
Salonica,  274  ;  strength,  in- 
crease at  end  of  1916,  273 

Italian  offensive  in  the  Carso, 
Aug. -Dec.,  1916,  war  with 
Germany,  237-276  ;  cap- 
tures in  Aug.,  247,  251  ; 
preparations  for,  238,  239 

Italy :  declares  War  on  Ger- 
many, 274-276  ;  Govern- 
ment, Balkan  muddle,  criti- 
cism, 273,  274  ;  munitions, 
supply  organization,  273 


Jagow,  Herr  von,  resigns  office 
as  Secretary  of  State  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  478 

Japan,  German  attempt  to  em- 
broil with  U.S.A.,  374,  497 

Jassy,  Rumanian  Government 
transferred  to,  471 

Jellicoe,  Admiral  Sir  John,  tri- 
bute to  Merchant  Service, 
161 

Jiu  Valley  :  German  advance  in, 
457-459  ;  fighting  in  the, 
450-454 

Joffre,  General,  congratulations 
to  General  Haig  on  the  vic- 
tories of  Sept.  15  and  16, 
1916,  292 

Jostoff,  General,  death,  213 

Jugo-Slav  Division,  in  the  Dob- 
rudja,  218 

K 

Kaiser,  The  :  letter  to  Beth- 
mann-Hollweg  on  Peace 
schemes  quoted,  476,  477  ; 
order  to  Army  and  Navy  on 
Peace  quoted,  478  ;  procla- 
mation to  German  people 
after  refusal  of  peace  pro- 
posals, 496 

Kaledin,  General,  on  the  Molda- 
vian frontier,  466 

Keller,  General  Count,  in  com- 
mand of  Russian  armies  in 
Moldavia,  445 

Keogh,  Sir  Alfred  :  organizes 
campaign  against  spotted 
fever,  53  ;  on  typhoid  fever, 
72 

Kerind,  Russians  at,  356 

Kermansh&h,  Turks  retake,  355, 
356 

Kezdi  -  Vasarhely,  Rumanians 
capture,  211 

Kilpurney,  sunk,   167 

King  Stephen,  trawler,  finds 
£19  in  North  Sea,  175 

Kirchbach,  General  von,  on  the 
Somme.  146 


Kiseloff,  General,  in  command  of 
Bulgarian  Divisions  in  at- 
tack on  Tutrakan,  214 

Kneussl,  General  von,  attacks  in 
Jiu  Valley,  450-454,  457 

Kosch,  General  von,  in  command 
of  German  Danube  Army, 
437  ;  crosses  Danube,  462- 
464  ;  on  the  Neajlovu  line, 
467 

Kothen,  General  von,  in  com- 
mand of  German  defence 
round  Chaulnes,  407 

Kovess,  General  von,  on  the 
Moldavian  Frontier,  466 

Krafft  von  Delmensingen,  Gen., 
in  command  of  Alpine 
Corps  at  Hermannstadt, 
227  ;  in  Rumania,  437  ; 
advance  on  Red  Tower 
Pass,  446-450  ;  in  ths 
Aluta  Valley,  457,  462  ; 
reaches  Rimnic  Valcea,  466 

Kronstadt :  Battle  of,  232; 
Falkenhayn's  attack  on, 

435  ;  German  Magyar  Army 
enters,     232  ;      Rumanians 
take,  211 

Kiihne,  Gen.  von,  in  Rumania, 

436  ;  advance  in  Wallnchia, 

437  ;       on      Slatina,     461  ; 
offensive    in    Vulcan    Pass, 
457 

Kum,  Russians  take,  355 


i!9  (Zeppelin)  found  in  North 

Sea,  175 
Lacapedle,  Gen.,  on  the  Somme, 

412 

La     Maisonette,     Germans     re- 
capture, 418 

Lansing,  Mr.  :  correspondence 
with  Count  Bernstorff  on 
the  Arabic,  359  ;  Note  con- 
cerning sinking  of  Ancona 
quoted,  359 ;  Note  to  Allies 
deprecating  the  arming  of 
merchant  ships,  361 
Law,  Mr.  Bonar,  on  President 
Wilson's  Note  of  Dec.  20, 
1916,  484 

Lechitsky,  Gen.,  in  command 
of  9th  Russian  Army,  205  ; 
on  the  Moldavian  Frontier, 
466 

Le  Forest,  French  storm,  136 
Le  Priez  Farm,  French  take,  149 
Le  Sars,  British  attack  and  take, 

398,  402 

Lesbceufs  :     British    enter    vil- 
lage of,  300,  302 
Le  Transloy,  fighting  in  front  of, 

416,  417 
Leuze  Wood  :    bombardment  of, 

135  ;    British  take,  136 
Ligny-Tilloy,     British     advance 

on,  403 

Lloyd  George,  Rt.  Hon.  David  : 
further  import  restrictions, 
92  ;  visits  the  Somme,  148  ; 
on  German  Peace  proposals, 
481 

Lokvica :  Austrian  resistance 
in,  259 ;  Italians  occupy, 
260 

Lombru,   Gen.,  on  the  Argesh, 
469 


508 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


Ludendorff,  Gen.  von,  appointed 
First  Quartermaster  Gene- 
ral, 474 

Lupesco,  Gen.  A.,  233 

Lusitania,  controversy  bet\  een 
Germany  and  U.S.A.  ior- 
cerning,  360 

Liittwitz,  Baron  von,  Militi  ly 
Governor  of  Brussels,  6 

Lynx,  trawler,  shelled  by  Gel- 
man  submarine,  180 

Lytton,  Lord,  on  submai  ne 
warfare,  169 


M 

Mackensen,  Field-Marshal  von  : 
in  the  Dobrudja,  213,  435, 
454-456  ;  defeated,  223  ; 
enters  Bukarest,  472 

Maclay,  Sir  Joseph  :  appointed 
Shipping  Controller,  96 ; 
forms  Committee  to  advise 
on  shipbuilding  programme, 
103 

Macnamara,  Dr.  :  on  policy  of 
Admiralty  in  losses  from 
submarines,  182;  on  the 
Merchant  Service,  173 

Maistre,  Gen.,  Commander  under 
Gen.  Micheler,  420 

Maloja,  mined  off  Dover,  174 

Manolescu,  Gen.,  in  Command 
of  Rumanian  Army  ad- 
vancing against  Hermann- 
stadt,  209,  defeated  at,  226 

Marchand,  Gen.  :  in  command 
of  French  Colonial  troops 
on  the  Somme,  410  ; 
wounded,  415 

Marina,  torpedoed,  173,  369 

Marr  eres  Wood,  French  enter, 
136 

Marschall,  Gen.  Baron  von,  on 
the  Somme,  146,  419 

Martinpuich:  British  take,  289  ; 
fighting  near,  295  ;  Sir 
Hubert  Cough's  attack  on, 
283 

Maurepas,  French  take,  127,  128 

Max,  Burgomaster,  deported  to 
a  Silesian  fortress,  36 

Medical  Research  Committee's 
work  on  antiseptics,  50  ; 
on  dysentery,  68  ;  on 
spotted  fever,  54 

Medical  Work  and  the  Health  of 
Armies  (II.),  41-76;  Anti- 
septics, research  work  on, 
41-52  ;  dysentery  carriers, 
research  upon,  67-71  ;  epi- 
demic jaundice,  73,  75,  76  ; 
"  Flavine,"  discovery  of, 
52;  "Spotted  Fever,"  ic- 
search  work  on,  52-67  ; 
typhoid  fever,  71  ;  typhus 
in  Siberia,  73 

Meinecke,  Prof.,  on  the  situation 
in  Germany  at  end  of  1!)I6, 
473 

Mercantile  Marine,  the  Work  of 
the  (II.),  157-17H  :  air  at- 
tacks on  the,  174  :  arming 
of  ships  increased,  169,  170  ; 
awards  granted  for  heroism, 
158  ;  Germans  seize  cap- 
tains of  the,  166;  impor- 
tance of,  158  ;  King  George 
and  Sir  J.  Jellicoe,  tribute 
to,  161  ;  Dr.  Macnamara 
on,  173  ;  Lord  Beresfordon, 


171  ;  transport  statistics, 
159 

Merchant  ships  :  arming  of, 
Mr.  Lansing's  Note  to  Allies 
deprecating,  361  ;  German 
Note  to  U.S.A.  on  arming 
of,  362  ;  unarmed,  Ger- 
many's pledge  not  to  sink, 
360 

Mercier,  Cardinal  :  German 
pledges  to  re  returned  Bel- 
gian refugees,  12  ;  pastoral 
letter,  39,  40 

M  -'sor,  Austro-Hungarians  re- 
pulsed at,  213 

Mexico,  German  proposal  of 
Alliance,  document  quoted, 
373,  374,  497 

Micheler,  Gen.  :  at  the  battle  of 
the  Somme,  139  ;  attack 
on  Bovent,  Ablaincourt, 
and  Pressoire,  407  ;  dis- 
positions south  of  the 
Somme,  155,  156 

Mines  and  mine-laying  by  Ger- 
man submarines,  173,  174  ; 
mine-sweeping  in  the  North 
Sea,  179 

Moldavia:  defence  of,  466 ;  Ger- 
man offensive  against,  443- 
446;  Russian  reinforcements 
on,  445 

Money,  Sir  Leo  :  appointed 
Parliamentary  Secretary  to 
Ministry  of  Shipping  Con- 
trol, 97  ;  on  functions  of 
Shipping  Controller,  98  ; 
on  requisitioning  of  ship- 
ping, 82  ;  statement  on 
shipbuilding  programme, 
quoted,  105,  106 

Monfalcone  :  Italian  feint  at, 
240  ;  Italians  take  Hill  85. 
245 

Morgen,  Gen.  von,  437,  446  ; 
commanding  south  of 
Kronstadt,  457  ;  enters 
Campolung,  465 

Morval  :  British  storm,  298, 
302  ;  fighting  in  front  of, 
404  ;  Sir  Douglas  Haig's 
dispositions,  152 

Mouquet  Farm  :  Anzacs  capture, 
133  ;  Canadians  take 
trenches  (Sept.,  1916),  289  ; 
fight  for  defences  round, 
128,  291,  292  ;  Prussian 
Guard  defeated  at,  132,  133 

Mowe,  German  raider,  175 


N 

Nad  Logem,  Italians  storm,  251 
Neajlovu,  River,  Rumanian  of- 
fensive   on,    467,     victory, 
468,  defeat,  469 
Nerizoff,   Gen.,  in   command  of 
Third  Bulgarian  Army,  437 
North    Wales,   torpedoed,    162 
Nova  Vas  :    fighting  near,  250  ; 
Italians   take,   257 

o 

O'Connor,  Col.,  taken  prisoner 
by  the  Germans  at  Shiraz, 
355 

Oitoz  Pass,  fighting  in,  445 

Omiecourt  :  French  on  the  out- 
skirts of,  420  ;  French 
take,  136 

Omsk,  sunk,   167 


Oppacchiasella,  Italians  take* 
251 

Orsova,  Rumanians  enter,  213  ; 
evacuate,  459 

Orsova  Group  (Rumanian),  re- 
sistance and  surrender  of, 
459 

Oslavia,  Italian  attack  on,  244. 
245 


Panama  Canal,  closing  of,  effect 
on  shipping,  85 

Paneveggio,  Italians  occupy,  269 

Paper  Imports,  reduction,  92 

Pasubio,  Italian  local  offensive 
on  the,  271 

Peice  Campaign  of  Dec.,  1916, 
German,  473-504  ;  Allies' 
refusal  to  enter  into  negotia- 
tions, 481,  482;  Kaiser'; 
Order  to  Army  and  Navy 
quoted,  478  ;  Mr.  Balfour's 
dispatch  to  Washington, 
493-496  ;  Notes  :  see 
"  Peace  Notes." 

P  ace  Notes  :  American  :  Mr. 
Lansing's  Note  of  Dec., 
1916,  quoted,  371,  395, 
President  Wilson's,  Dec., 
1916.  482-484,  Note,  criti- 
cism on,  378-380,  Allies' 
reply,  491,  Belgian  addi- 
tional reply,  492.  4!)3. 
German  reply,  485,  486, 
Neutral  attitude  towards, 
493;  German:  Dec.  12. 
1916,  quoted,  478  ;  Allies' 
reply,  487,  488  ;  German 
indignation  at  reply  and 
further  Note,  488,  491  ; 
Prof.  Dclbruek  on,  504  ; 
German  appeal  to  Vatican, 
479,  480  ;  Scandinavian. 
485  ;  Swiss,  485 

Pecinka,  Italians  push  towards 
summit  of,  258  ;  take,  260 

Peronne,  position  of,  at  end  of 
Sept.,  1916,  315 

Persia  and  the  War,  317-356  ; 
after  two  years  of  war,  356  ; 
Anglo-Russian  Convention 
(1907),  341-347  ;  geography 
and  topography,  317-320; 
German  intrigue  in,  349- 
355  ;  history,  321-324  ;  his- 
tory of  British  connexion 
with,  324-335  ;  neutrality 
of  (1914),  350;  operations 
in  1915-16,  355,  356;  Shah 
of,  German  attempt  to 
induce  him  to  leave  Teheran, 
353  ;  Turkish  invasion  of, 
352 

Petala,  Gen.,,  succeeds  Gen. 
Dragalina"  453  ;  on  the 
Argesh,  4fi9 

Pctroseny,  Rumanians  occupy, 
213  ;  evacuate,  225 

Piteshti,   Germans  enter,   466 

Pcttitti,  Gen.,  in  command  of 
Italian  force  in  Salonika, 
274 

Ploeshti,  oil  wells  destroyed  at, 
472 

Podgora,  Austrian  defences  on, 
242,  243  ;  fall  of,  245 

Poincare,  President,  visit  to 
Allied  Front,  399  ;  confers 
honours  on  Sir  Hubert 
Gough,  400 

Poland,    Russian,    German    at- 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


509 


tempt  to  conscript  Poles, 
474,  477 

Pope,  The  :  German  Peace  Note, 
479-480 

Predeal,  Germano-Magyar  entry 
into,  443 

Predeal  Pass,  Battle  of  the,  439- 
443 

Presan,  Gen.,  appointed  Chief 
of  Rumanian  General  Staff, 
469;  in  command  of  Fourth 
Rumanian  Army,  205,  433, 
443  ;  in  Eastern  Transyl- 
vania, 223  ;  opens  offensive 
on  River  Neajlovu,  467  ; 
defeated,  469 

Pressoir :  fighting  in,  425  ; 
French  advance  on,  409  ; 
take,  420 

Priez  Farm,  fighting  at,  294 

Provident,  trawler,  attacked  by 
German  submarine,  180 

Prussia,  Prince  Eitel  Friedrich 
in  command  of  1st  Division 
of  Prussian  Guard  on 
Western  Front,  121 

Prussian  Guard,  defeated  at 
Thiepval,  123  ;  at  Guille- 
mont  and  Mouquet  Farm, 
132-135 

Putman,  Mr.  George  H.,  380 

Pys,  Canadians  in,  309 


Q 

Quast,  Gen.  von,  on  the  Somme, 
146 


E 

Rancourt,  French  take,  298 
Rap pahan nock,  torpedoed,  161 
Rawlinson,     Gen.     Sir    Henry  : 
advance  on  Flers,  283  ;  on 
Ginchy      and      Guillemont, 
133  ;   on    Morval,    154  ;   on 
Le     Sars,     398,     401-403  ; 
attack    on    Flers,    127  ;    on 
Ginchy,   127,   141  ;  on   Les- 
boeufs,     Gueudecourt     and 
Morval,  299  ;  takes  and  lose  s 
Butte  de  Warlencourt,  419 
Red   Tower   Pass,    Germans   at- 
tack the,  228,  446-450 
Refugees,     Belgian,     return     to 
Belgium,  German  treatment 
of,  11-14 

Regina    Trench.    Canadians    at- 
tack. 397,  398 

Reuss,  Prince  of,  Austrian  Minis- 
ter in  Persia,  351 
Rimnic  Valcea,  Germans  reach, 

466 

Roosevelt,     Mr.,    on     President 
Wilson's   Peace   Note,  378- 
380 
Root,   Mr.    Elihu,   on   American 

neutrality,  378 
Roques,    Gen.,    visits    Western 

Front,  400 

Rowanmore,  torpedoed,  369 
Rumania  :  French  Military  Mis- 
sion under  Government 
transferred  to  Jassy,  471  ; 
Gen.  Berthelot,  arrival  in, 
234,  437-439  ;  passes  and 
communications,  201;  stra- 
tegical position  on  entry 
into  war,  197 

Rumania.   Queen   of,   article  on 
Dobrudja  quoted,  220 


Rumanian  Army  :  commands, 
changes,  233  ;  equipment, 
insufficiency  of,  203;  re- 
grouping of,  466,  467  ; 
strength,  202  ;  weakened 
on  the  Transylvanian  Front, 
211 

Rumanian  Campaign  of  1916 
(I.)  Transylvania,  197-230  ; 
(II.)  To  Fall  of  Bukarest, 
433-472  ;  retreat  of  First 
Rumanian  Army  from.  Her- 
mannstadt,  226  ;  Rumanian 
captures.  233  ;  Russian  help 
in  the,  434,  437  ;  strategic 
position  in  Oct.,  1916,  433  ; 
Transylvania,  invasion  of, 
weakness  of  Rumanian 
plans,  205,  208,  209 

Rumanian  Front :  description 
of,  199  ;  Austro-Hungarian 
forces  on  the,  strength,  207, 
208 

Runciman,  Mr.  Walter,  hand- 
ling of  the  shipping  problem, 
78,  91  ;  limitation  scheme 
of  prices  and  freights,  96  ; 
restriction  of  imports,  92  ; 
on  shipbuilding,  104  ;  on 
the  work  of  the  Merchant 
Service,  158,  159 

Runciman,  Sir  Walter,  on  ship- 
ping profits,  95 

Russian,  sunk,  369 

Russian  Army,  in  Rumanian 
campaign,  218,  219,  434, 
437,  445,  454-456,  466 

Russian  Navy,  cooperation  with 
land  forces  at  Constanza, 
4,r>5 


S 

Sabotino  Ridge  :  description  of, 
242  :   Italians   storm    (Aug. 
6,  1916),  244 
Saillisel,    French    capture,    413, 

420,  421 
Sailly,    Germans    driven    from, 

412 

Sailly  -  Saillisel  :  French  ad- 
vance on,  403  ;  attack,  411, 
412 ;  on  the  outskirts  of, 
315 ;  Gen.  Fayolle's  dis- 
positions, 152  ;  Sir  D.  Haig 
on  tactical  importance  of, 
406 

Sailly-Saillisel  Ridge,  French 
take  western  slope  of,  404 

St.  Pierre  Divion,  fall  of,  422 

St.  Pierre  Vaast  Wood  :  capture 
of  trenches  on  outskirts  of, 
410  ;  French  advance  on, 
293  ;  German  fortification 
of,  155 

St.  Quentin,  Mont,  strategic 
position  of,  150 

Sakharoff,  Gen.,  appointed 
Chief  Commander  of  Allied 
Forces  in  the  Dobrudja, 
456 

Salonika,  arrival  of  Italian 
troops  in,  274 

San  Grado  di  Merna,  Italians 
reach  and  take,  256 

San  Mauro,  Italians  take,  244 

San  Michele  Ridge,  Italians 
take,  245 

San  Valentino,  Italians  take,  244 

Saxons  in  Rumania.  234 

Schacht,  Dr.  Hjalmar,  in  Bel- 
gium, 28 


Schellenberg  :  Germans  attack, 
228;  Rumanians  enter,  211 
Schmettow,  Gen.  Count,  437  ; 
at  Caracalu,  461  ;  in  the 
Jiu  Valley,  457,  459 ;  on 
the  Argesh,  469 

Schmidt  von  Knobelsdorf,  Gen. 
in  command  of  41st  Prus- 
sian  Division  in    Rumania, 
457  ;  on  the  Argesh,  469 
Schiinemann,      Herr,      German 
agent  in   Persia,   351,  352; 
captured      and      sent      to 
Teheran,  356 
Schwaben       Redoubt,       British 

fighting  round,  410 
Science     and     the     Health     of 

Armies  (II.),  41-76 
Sepsi-St.     Gyorgy,     Rumanians 

capture,  211 

Serbian  Division  in  the  Dobru- 
dja, 218 

Setonia,    British   steamer,    sunk 
by  German  submarine  and 
captain  taken  prisoner,  166 
Shipping  :    Archangel,    ice    con- 
ditions,       85 ;       Australia, 
wheat  crop  transport,   110, 
111  ;    building  programme, 
Committee    formed    to    ad- 
vise    Shipping     Controller, 
102  ;    Canada,  construction 
in,    107,    108  ;    changes    in 
the  load-line,  98  ;  control  of 
frozen   meat  industry,   86  ; 
Controller       of       Shipping 
appointed,  96  ;  cooperation 
of     Controller     and     Ship- 
building Employers'  Federa- 
tion,    102  ;      freights,     ad- 
vance of  Italian  and  French 
coal,   95,   96,    115,   rise   in, 
80,     85,      94  ;     insurance, 
new    scheme,     116  ;    Inter- 
Allied     Chartering     Execu- 
tive   formed,    115;    Licen- 
sing Committee  appointed, 
87-89,   work  of,   89  ;    Neu- 
trals,   question    of    British 
port  facilities  for,  114,  115  ; 
Panama    Canal,    effect    of 
closing  on,  85  ;   Ports,  con- 
gestion,  83-85,   Committee 
appointed,       87  ;       requisi- 
tioning  by   the   Admiralty, 
78-80  ;  Requisitioning  Com- 
mittee for  carriage  of  food 
,     stuffs,      89  ;      standardized 
ships,  98-102  ;   The   Times 
article     quoted,     99,     101  ; 
tonnage,      increased      pro- 
duction       of,         104-106 ; 
United  States,  output,  106 
Shipping  Problem,  Aug.,   1914- 

Feb.,  1917,  77-116 
Silistria  :       Ninth       Rumanian 
Division  at,  215  ;    Ruman- 
ians    evacuate     and     Bul- 
garians enter,  216 
fiilius,    torpedoed     by    German 

submarine,  362 

Simonescu,  Gen.,  in  command 
of  Fourth  Rumanian 
Division,  223 

Sinaia,  Germans  reach,  441 
Slatina,  Germans  take,  462 
Sober,  Austrians  repulsed  at, 

258 

Somme,  Battle  of  the  (IV.), 
117-156,  Sept.,  1916  (V.). 
277-316,  (VI.),  397-432  ; 
Allied  line  on  Sept.  (i. 


510 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


1916,  136,  139;  British 
advance  on  Sept.  21-22, 
295  ;  British  and  French 
captures  to  end  of  Sept., 
1916,  296,  311  ;  fighting  on 
Sept.  15,  1916,  277,  282- 
287  ;  French  captures 
during,  314,  315,  in  Sept., 
1!HI>,  293-297;  French 
officer's  description  of,  297  ; 
Gen.  Micheler's  new  army 
at.  139  ;  German  Divisions 
employed  at,  316  ;  Ger- 
man fictitious  reports  on, 
128,  419  ;  German 

"  moral  "  on  the,  117,  129, 
311,  312;  German  regi- 
mental orders  on  position 
on  Sept.  15,  1916,  156 ; 
results  at  end  of  Sept., 
1916,  312-316  ;  review  of 
Allies'  achievements,  427- 
432 ;  Sir  D.  Haig's  dis- 
patch quoted  on  bad 
weather,  406,  on  position 
between  Ancre  and  Somme, 
405,  406  ;  "  Tanks  "  at 
Eaucourt  1'Abbaye,  399, 
403 

Sosescu,    Gen.,    imprisoned    for 
negligence      in     Rumanian 
Campaign,  469 
Southporl.  incident,  176 
Soy^court,  French  capture,  139 
Spain,  attitude  towards  Ameri- 
can Peace  Note,  493 
Spotted  Fever  :  carrier  problem, 
65-67  ;  research    work   on, 
52-65 

Staabs,  Lieut. -Gen.  von,  in 
command  of  German  and 
Magyar  regiments  in  the 
Strein  Valley,  225 
Standard  Ship  Building  Com- 
pany, formation  of,  101 
(see  Shipping) 

Stein,  Gen.  von,  appointed  Prus- 
sian Minister  of  War,  477 
Strathness,    fight    with    German 

submarine  described,  170 
Straussenberg,    Gen.    Arz    von, 
in     command     of     Austro- 
Hungarian    forces    on    Ru- 
manian     Front,     208  ;     in 
Transylvania,  230 
Strein  Valley,  German  attack  on 

Rumanian  positions,  225 
Stuff  and   Regina  trenches,   Sir 
Hubert   Gough   takes   most 
of,  414 

Submarines,  German  :  1749,  ex- 
ploits of  and  description  of 
life  in,  166  ;  UC5,  capture 
of,  174  ;  UC12  captured  by 
Italians,  174 

Submarine  warfare  ;  disputes 
between  United  Stales  and 
Central  Powers.  359-372  ; 
inr! hods  employed  by  the 
Germans,  107,  108  ;  new 
German  campaign  an- 
nounced (Jan.  31,  1917), 
371,  504 

Sussex,  American  threat  to  sever 
relations      with     Germany, 
Note  quoted,  363,  364 
Swedish  Prince,  sunk,  168 
Sweveghem,    Belgian    resistance 

at,  36,  39 

Switch  Trench,  British  take,  284, 
285 


Sykes,  Sir  Percy,  mission  in 
Persia,  march  from  Bunder 
Abbas  to  Ispahan,  356 

S/.ekels  :  see  "  Magyars  " 

S/.i  kely-Udvarhely,  Rumanians 
evacuate,  233 

S/.ivo,  Col.  von,  in  command  of 
Austrian  Brigade  in  the  Jiu 
Valley,  457,  459 


Taft,  Mr.,  President  of  League  to 
Enforce  Peace  organization, 
393.  394 

"  Tanks  "  :  description  of,  278- 
280  ;  at  Courcelette,  289, 
290,  Eaucourt  1'Abbaye, 
399,  403,  Flers,  285,  287, 
Gueudeeourt,  303  ;  in  tin- 
fighting  on  the  Western 
Front,  280-282  ;  on  the 
Anere,  423 

Tappen,  General  von,  Chief-of- 
Staff  to  Mackensen,  454 

Targovishte,  Germans  capture, 
469 

Targul-Jiu  :  Rumanian  victory 
at,  436,  453,  454  ;  second 
Battle  of,  458  ;  Germans 
enter,  458 

Tarnowski,  Count,  Austrian  Am- 
bassador in  Washington, 
372 

Teal,  German  air  attack  on,  174, 
175 

Theodor,  M.,  deported  to  Ger- 
many, 36 

Thiepval  :  bombardment  of 
Hindenburg,  Koenigstrasse 
and  Lemberg  trenches,  122, 
123  ;  British  assault  on, 
150-152  ;  British  feint  at, 
132  ;  description  of  re- 
doubts at,  304  ;  fighting 
round,  119  ;  letters  of  the 
German  garrison  quoted, 

305  ;    Prussian    Guard    de- 
feated at,  123  ;  struggle  for, 

306  ;  taken  by  the   British, 
307,   310  ;   The  Times  Cor- 
respondent on   capture   of, 
307,  309  ;   Wilts  and   Wor- 
cesters  at,  121-123  ;  "  Wun- 
derwerk  "  position  at,  150  ; 
fighting  in,  151,  152 

Thiepval-Stufen  Redoubt,  Brit- 
ish attack  on,  283 
Tisza.  Count  Stephen,  on  the  mi- 
preparedness   of    Rumania, 
208 
Tognola  Ridge,  Italians  occupy, 

268 

Tomos  Pass,  fighting  in,  210 
Toprosari.  fighting  at,  454 
Torzburg,  Germans  enter,  232 
Torzburg  Pass,  Battle  of  the,  442 
Tosheff,  General,  in  command  of 
Third  Bulgarian  Army,  214 
Trade:   imports   restricted,   92; 
paper  imports,  Royal  Com- 
mission appointed,  92 
Transylvania  :   German  counter- 
offensive    in,    224  ;    passes 
and  railways  in,  206,  207  ; 
Rumanian  invasion  of,  197- 
236;    Rumanian    1st,    2nd 
and     4th     Armies     retreat 
from,   231-234  ;  strategical 


and  political  considerations, 
201,  202  ;  objectives,  205 
Transyfvanian  Alps,  Rumanians 

cross,  210 

Trotus  Pass,  fighting  in,  445 
Tiilff  von  Tschepe  und  Weiden- 
bach,  General,  Military 
Governor-General  of  occu- 
pied districts  of  Rumania, 
472 

Tutrakan  :  Germano-Bulgarian 
attack  on,  214  ;  surrender 
of,  215 

Tuzla,  Rumanians  lose,  454 
Typhoid  Fever,  treatment  of,  71 
Typhus  Fever,  ridding  Serbia  of, 
73 


U 

Vnione,  sunk,  169 
United  States  :  Ancona  Note 
quoted,  359  ;  commercial 
and  financial  effects  of  the 
War,  391,  392  ;  declares 
Waron  Germany,  357  ;  Ger- 
man agents  and  propagan- 
dists in,  373-376  ;  President 
Wilson's  address  in  Con- 
gress quoted  (Nov.  7,  1915), 
375  ;  German  intrigue  in 
Mexico,  effect  on,  374  ; 
Great  Britain,  "  Blockade  " 
controversy,  386  -  388  ; 
Irish  influence  in,  385  ; 
irritation  with  British 
"  Black  List,"  387  ;  League 
to  Enforce  Peace,  resolu- 
tions, 394  ;  Lusitania  con- 
troversy, Germany's  surren- 
,  der,  360  ;  merchant  ships, 

arming  of,  German  Note, 
362,  Great  Britain's  atti- 
tude, 362,  opinion  on  Mr. 
Lansing's  Note  on,  361  ; 
Monroe  Doctrine  and  For- 
eign policy,  357  ;  neutrality, 
end  of,  357-396  ;  Peace 
Notes  (Dee.  18,  1916),  Mr. 
Lansing's  quoted,  371,  395, 
President  Wilson's,  482- 
484,  effect  produced  on 
Allies,  484  ;  Persia  sunk 
by  submarine,  359  ;  "  pre- 
paredness "  movement,  395; 
Presidential  Election,  1916, 
383  ;  President  Wilson's 
speech  on  International  re- 
lations after  the  War  (Jan. 
22,  1917),  499-502,  German 
reply,  502,  severs  relations 
with  Germany,  371  ;  sub- 
marine war,  controversies 
with  Germany,  May  1915- 
Jan.  1917,  358-372  ;  Sussex 
incident,  Note  to  Germany 
threatening  severance  of 
relations,  3fi3,  364,  German 
reply,  304-366  ;  £753  and 
action  of  American  Navy, 
Mr.  Franklin  Roosevelt's 
Memorandum,  367  -  30!)  ; 
£753  arrives  at  Newport, 
366-369,  sinks  six  ships 
within  sight  of  American 
coast,  367  ;  Wilson's  neu- 
trality policy  and  American 
opinion,  377-383 
United  States  Navy,  action  in 
case  of  f/53,  Mr.  Franklin 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


Roosevelt's     Memorandum, 
367 
Uz  Pass,  lighting  in,  445 


Va!  Cismon,  Italian  move  on  the, 

268 

Vallarsa,  Italians  attack,  272 
Vallone,  Italians  cross  the  (Aug 

10,  1916),  249,  251 
Valona  Zone,  Italian  advance  in, 

274 
Val   Pellegrino,   Italian  advance 

down,  269 
Vasilescu,    General,    takes    over 

command  on  the  Jiu,  453 
Veliki    Hribach,    Italian-;    take, 

260 
Vermandovillers  :      fighting    at, 

139-141  ;  French  in  fighting 

at,  293,  progress  at,  139 
Vertojbica.   Italians  advance  to 

the,  248 
Vipacco,  Italians  occupy  line  of, 

265 
Vulcan  Pass:    German  advance 

in  the,  450  ;  Germans  reach, 


225  ;      Rumanian    counter- 
attack in  the,  226 


w 

Wallachia,  German  invasion  of, 
437-442 

Warlencourt,  Butte  de  :  British 
advance  on,  413  ;  take  and 
lose,  419  ;  fighting  round, 
402,  405 

Wedge  Wood,  British  occupy, 
136 

Westminster,  torpedoed,  161,  162 

Wild  von  Hohenborn,  Gen., 
dismissal  of,  477 

Wilson,  President  Woodrow  : 
address  to  Congress  on 
severance  of  relations  with 
Germany,  371,  372  ;  ad- 
dress in  Congress  (Nov.  7, 
1915)  on  German  agents 
quoted,  375  ;  announces 
relations  severed  with  Ger- 
many, 357  ;  campaign 
speech  quoted,  394  ;  on 
America's  neutrality,  358  ; 
Peace  Note  (text)  482-484  ; 
re-election  of  in  1916,  383  ; 
speech  on  international  re- 


lations after  the  war  (Jan. 
22,  1917),  497-502,  German 
reply,  502  ;  warning  .  to 
Count  Bernstorff  on  f/53 
incident,  369 

Wood,  Gen.  Leonard,  Chief  of 
Staff,  U.S.  Army,  395 

Wounds,  treatment  of,  43-52 

Wright,  Sir  Almroth,  research 
on  wounds,  41 

"  Wunderwerk  "  position,  Brit- 
ish take,  151,  152 

z 

Zayonchkovski,  Gen.  :  in  com- 
mand of  Allied  Forces  in 
the  Dobrudja,  219  ;  opens 
counter-offensive,  223 

Zeppelins  :  see  i!9 

Znivkoviteh,  Gen.,  in  command 
of  Serbian  Division  at  Top- 
rosari,  454 

Zimmermann,  Herr  von,  ap- 
pointed Secretary  of  State 
for  Foreign  Affairs,  478 ; 
attempted  alliance  of  Ger- 
many and  Mexico,  373,  374, 
497 

Zollern  Redoubt,  British  take 
the,  306 


ILLUSTRATIONS   IN    VOLUME   XI. 


PLACES. 


PAGE 

Algiers,  The  Pasteur  Insti- 

tute at  63,  64,  65,  66 

Aluta     River,     Rocks     of 

Trajan  .  .          .  .     230 

Aluta  Valley  .  .  .  .  447 
Antwerp  .  .  .  .  4,  12,  13 

Argesh  River,  The  463,  464,  470 

Baltic  Exchange,  London  105 
Beaumont  Hamel  .  .  426 

Bsrlin  .  .  .  .  474,  479 

Bistritz,  The  "  Golden 

Valley  "  .  .  208,  209 
Bland-Sutton  Institute, 

London  .  .      46,  51,  53 

Bligny,  Sanatorium  at     .  .        68 
Brussels,  Palais  de  Justice     3,  9 
Bucovetich  .  .          .  .     457 

Budapest   .  .  .  .  .  .      498 

Bukarest    .  .  .  .  .  .      452 

Bunder  Abbas       .  .  .  .      321 

Bushire  .  .  326,  327,  331,  339 

Cairo  Railway  Station      .  .  49 
Carso  Plateau  255,  256,  258,  266 

Caspian  Sea,  View  on  the  328 

Charleston  Navy  Yard    .  .  360 

Chateau  Davignon            .  .  26 

Chaulnes  Wood     .  .           .  .  142 

Combles      ..  295,  298,  299,  300, 

302,  304 

Constanza               .  .           .  .  455 

Coureelette,  Capture  of  the 

Sugar  Refinery  at     .  .  288 

Cozia,  Monastery  of          .  .  447 

Craiova       .  .           .  .           .  .  461 

Curlu  Cemetery     ..           ..  155 


Diisseldorf . . 
Essen 

Fajti  Ridge 
Falfemont  Farm   . . 
Fogaras  Valley,  The 


PAGE 
.      494 

.     494 

.     264 
137 
,     232 

Ghent         24 

Gorizia  250,  252,  253,  254,  263 
Gradisca  and  the  Isonzo  .  .  255 
Guillemont  . .  . .  135 

Hermannstadt  ..  ..  211 
Hospital  ships  Oloucester 

Castle  and  Lan/ranc. .  503 

Hull,  Fish  Dock    . .          . .  194 


PAGE 

North  Shields,  Fish  Market     1 84 


Ispahan 


34-3 


Dinant 
Dorna  Vatra 


5 
198 


Karun  River          . .          319,  336 

Kasvin 350 

Koh-i-Kouadja,  Seistan  .  .  320 

Kotal  Pass,  The    . .          . .  339 

Liverpool   . .          . .          .  .  110 

Lloyd's  Underwriters' 

Room,  London         ..  115 

Lokvica,  Ruins  of             . .  265 

Lowestoft  Quay    . .           .  .  187 

Maurepas   . .          .  .         128,  129 

Mohammerah         . .           . .  332 
Monfalcone             . .  241,  244,  248 

Monte  Calvario     ..           ..  247 

Monte  Sabotino     . .           . .  243 

Moreni,  The  Oilfield  at     . .  471 

Munich 500 

Namur  Citadel       .  .           . .  25 
Neuilly,     American     Hos- 
pital at            . .           . .  42 
New  York,  Wall  Street    . ,  390 


Oltenitza    . . 


..      464 


Panama  Canal       . .  . .      102 

Pasubio,  Summit  of  . .     273 

Predcal       ..           ..  439,441 

Predeal  Pass          . .  . .     436 

Resht,  Road  to  Teheran         330 

Sailly  413 

Shiraz,  The  Gate  of  Bagh 

Shah 324 

Silistria 220 

Somme,  Cavalry  Lines  on 

the  (Sept.,  1916)  ..  308 
Somme  Front  398,  399,  409,  42? 

Tabriz         350 

Teheran  . .  338,  344,  345 
Thiepval  ..  ..  119,120 
Tismana,  The  Monastery  442 
Turco-Persian  Frontier  . .  320 
Tutrakan 214 


Uskub 


74 


Valcartier,  Canadian  Camp  394 
Valona  . .  . .  274,  275 

Vermandovillers,  Trenches 

at         293 

Warsaw  . .  .  .  482,  483 
Washington,  The  Capitol  378 
Washington,  The  German 

Embassy  .".  ..  368 
Washington,  The  White 

House  . .          . .     388 

Ypres          2 


512 


THE    TIMES    HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR. 


PORTRAITS. 


PAGE 

Afghanistan,  The  Amir  of  351 
Aosta,  The  Duke  of  . .  240 
Austria,  Carl,  Emperor  of 

498,  499 
Averescu,  Gen.      . .  .  .      205 

Baden,  Prince  Max  of  . .  485 
Baker,  Mr.  Newton  D.  367,  384 

Baratoff,  On 345 

Bavaria,  The  King  of  . .  500 
Bernstorff,  Count .  .  .  .  368 

Bethmann-Hollweg,  Herr 

von  . .  . .  474,  479 
Beuxin.  Lieut.  . .  . .  62 

Beyens,  Baron  . .  488,  489 
Biasing,  Gen.  von  . .  7,  17 

Blaikie,  Capt.  James  ..  166 
Boehn,  Gen.  von  . .  . .  410 

Bratianu,  M 440 

Briand,  M.  . .  . .  489 

Burleson,  Mr.  Albert  S.  384 
Bussche-  Hadden  -  Hausen , 

Baron  von  dcra         ..     481 

Capollc,  Adm.  von            . .  479 

Carranza,  Gen 373 

Carrel  1,  Dr.  Alexis            . .  46 

Christescu,  Gen 235 

Culcer,  (Jen.           . .           . .  206 

Czernin,  Count      . .           . .  495 

Daniels,  Mr.  Josephus  307,  384 
Decoppet,  M.  Camille  . .  484 
Delmensingen,  Lieut.  Gen. 

Kraft  von  . .  . .  437 
Duport,  Gen 294 

East,  2nd  Eng.  C.E.         ..      188 

Fanshawe,  Lieut. -Gen.  S.'r 

E.  A 421 

Fayolle,  Gen.         . .          141,  153 

Freytag-Loringhoven, 

Baron  von      . .  . .      496 

Gamier,  Gen.  von             . .  410 

Gerard,  Mr.  James  W.  369,  372 
Goltz,  Field- Marshal  von 

der 4 

Graham,  Mr.  Horace  F.  . .  383 

Gregory,  Mr.  Thomas  W.  384 

Groner,  Gen 477 

Guynemer,  Lieut.             ..  297 

Haig,  Sir  Douglas  . .      147 

Helffcrich,  Herr    . .  . .      479 


PAGE 
Hindenburg,  Field-Marshal 

von      . .           .  .           . .  475 

Holcomb,  Mr.  Marcus  H.  383 

Holtzcnrlorff,  Admiral  von  492 

Houston,  Mr.  David  F.    . .  384 

Hughes,  Mr.  Charles  E.   . .  382 

Hungary,  Carl,  King  of  . .  499 

lancovescu,  Grn. 
Inchcape,  Lord 

Joffre,  Gen. 


234 

78 

147 


Kaernpf,  Herr  . .  ..  479 
Kaiser,  The  . .  475,  500 
Kesson,  Mr.,  of  the  Cali- 
fornia . .  . .  170 
Keyes,  Mr.  Henry  W.  . .  383 
Kirchbach,  Gen.  von  . .  152 
Kneussl,  Gen.  von  . .  450 
Kosch,  Gen.  von  . .  . .  462 
Kiihne,  Lieut.-Gen.  von.  .  4IH 

Lane,  Mr.  Franklin  K.     . .  384 

Lansing,  Mr.  Robert        . .  384 

-Lewis,  Mr.  F.  W.              . .  89 

Lloyd  George,  Rt.  Hon.  D.  117 

Ludendorff.  Gen.  von       . .  475 

Liiders,  Frl.           . .          . .  496 

McAdoo,  Mr.  William  <;.. .  384 

McCall,  Mr.  Samuel  W.   . .  383 

Mackay,  Mr.  Clarence  H.  372 

Maistre,  Gen 420 

Marchand,  Gen.     ..           ..  411 

Marling,  Sir  Charles          . .  355 

Marschall,  Gen.  Baron  von  149 
Mercier,  Cardinal               . .  14,  15 

Micheler,  Gen.       ..           ..  154 

Milliken,  Mr.  Carl  E.        ..  383 

Monroe, .Mr.  James           ..  358 

Morgen,  Lieut.-Gen.  von  457 

Nicholls,  Mr.  Edward  F...  114 


O'Connor,  Col.  W.  F. 


352 


Persia,  Sultan  Ahmed,  Shah 

of  ....         322,  346 

The     Shah     and     hiS 

Ministers  . .      342 

Abdul   Kassirn,  Nasir- 

ul-Mulk..          ..     341 
Mirza   Hassan    Khan, 

Mohtasham  •  es  - 

Saltaneh  349 


PAGE 
Mirza   Hassan    Khan, 

Muihir-ed-Dowleh  348 

Mirza  Mi-hdi  Khan   ..  323 

Miiv.a  Mohamed  Ali . .  :i4(l 

Mirza     Mohamed     Ali 

Khan,      Ala  -  es  - 

Saltaneh              . .  34!) 

Muzaffer-ud-Din        . .  340 

Nadir  Shah    . .           . .  :iL>r> 

Nasir-ud  Din              . .  333 

Zil-es-Sultan,  The     . .  348 

Pillar,  Capt 180 

Polk,  Mr.  Frank  L.           ..  366 

Raemaekers' Cartoons.  !!<•- 

productions  of  20,  34,  40 
Redfield,  Mr.  William  C.  . .  384 
Reuss,  Prince  Henry  XXXI 

of        :{.-,:» 

Romanones,  Count  ..      4!»3 

Roosevelt,  Mr.  Franklin  D.  366 
Root,  Mr.  Elihu  . .  .  .  376 
Rumania,  King  Ferdi- 
nand of  . .  217,  440 
Rumania,  The  Queen  of. .  218 
Rumania,  The  Crown 

Prince  of       . .          . .     217 

Schmettow,  Gen.  Count  . .  456 

Schulthess,  M.  Edmond  . .  484 
Sharp,  Mr.  W.  G.. .         487,  489 

Spring-Rice,  Sir  Cecil       .  .  359 

Stanchfield,  Mr.  John  B.  :!72 

Stein,  Gen.  von         . .      . .  492 

Stokes,  Mr.  Wilfred          ..  431 

Stumm,  Herr  von              . .  481 

Sykes,  Sir  Percy   . .           . .  337 


Thomas,  M. 


147 


Wahnschafle,  Herr  .  .  474 

Wilson,  Chief  Eng.  F.  P..  .  188 
Wilson,  Mr.  William  B.  .  .  384 
Wilson,  President  Wood- 

row  370,  379,  380,  389, 

392,  393 
Wilson,  President  Wood- 

row,  and  his  Cabinet  384 
Wilson,  Mrs.  Woodrow  389,  393 
Wood,  Gen.  Leonard  .  .  395 


Zayonchkovski,  Gen. 
Zimmermann,  Herr 


.  .      221 
479,  480 


MAPS  AND  PLANS. 


PAGE 

Aluta  DeBle,  The  . .     446 

Austro  -  Italian     Frontier, 

Key  Map        . .          . .     238 

Belgium,    Territory    occu- 
pied by  Germans       ..        16 

Courcelette  and  Flers,  Cap- 
ture of  ..  ..      282 

Distinguished  Service  Cross  158 
Distinguished  Service  Medal  158 
Dobrudja,  The  . .  ..  2l(i 

Dobrudja,  The  Northern        454 


PAGE 
Fassa  Alps,  Fighting  in  ..     268 

German  Infantry  Columns  431 
Gori/ia  and  the  Cavsii  ..  240 
Gorizia,  Austrian  Defences 

Of  L'»L' 

Guillemont    and     Giiichy, 

Operations  around    . .      134 

Medical  Diagrams,  50,  54, 

56,  57,  67,  70,  75 


Peronnc  D!.-,lrict  . , 
Persia 


138 
318 


PAGE 

Rumania,  Fighting  North 
of  Targuf-Jiu  (Oct.  27, 
1916) 453 

Somme,     Battle     of     the, 

Ground  Gained          .  .      429 

Transylvania          ..  ..      204 

Tutrakan,    Approaches    to     213 

Wallachia 460 

Wallachian  Passes,  The 

East 438 

"  Wunderwerk  "  (near 

Thiepval),  Plan  of  The     151 


D 

501 

T5 

v.ll 


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The  Times  history  of  the 

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