t THE WAR
ILLUSTRATED
ALBUMttLUXE
ADMIRAL SIR JOHN RUSHWORTH JELLICOE. K.C.B.. K.C.V.O.
THE WAR
ILLUSTRATED
ALBUMDELUXE
The Story of the Great
European War told by
Camera, -Pen and Pencil
»*
^ ^'EDITED BY
J? £ HAMMERTON
CHAPTERS BY
H. G. WELLS, SIR GILBERT PARKER
SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
1,130 ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUME I.
THE FIRST PHASE
PUBLISHED BY
THE AMALGAMATED PRESS, LIMITED
LONDON, 1915
R07578
1 3. ST.
HE great conflict of the European nations,
brought about by the overmastering ambition
and narrow-minded self - sufficiency of the German
peoples, which changed, with awful suddenness, all the
long-established conditions of civilised society, will be
long memorable for a minor, but altogether extra-
ordinary, circumstance.
NOT only has this German-made war to be
accounted the most stupendous upheaval in all history,
but it is the first great armed conflict to be adequately
recorded during its progress by means of the most
wonderful inventions of human ingenuity. If the
telegraph and the instantaneous camera had been in
existence during the Napoleonic wars, how differently
the social life of those times would have been affected,
and what an abundance of documentary evidence would
have accumulated for the study and instruction of later
generations !
, we are all familiar with many of the count-
less drawings and sketches of the battles which
took place in that epic age of France ; the features
of Napoleon's great leaders are also well known in
their numerous painted portraits. But what would we
not give to-day fof a few photographs of actual scenes
in the retreat from Moscow, or on that fateful June day
one hundred years ago when Wellington, supported, as
the exigencies of the time demanded, by the very
nation which to-day is Britain's bitterest enemy, sealed
the fate of the great warrior, the descendants of whose
armies are now, by time's revenge, our warmest allies ?
HEREIN the Great European War, which differs
from all other wars in magnitude and character, differs
in its chronicling from all others of the past. The
perfection of the telegraph, the almost uncanny
efficiency of the wireless, have enabled the whole
world, day by day — nay, hour by hour — to follow the
epoch-making events in Europe, in Asia, and on the
remotest reaches of the seven seas.
\
ITHIN an hour or two of a great naval
encounter in the North Sea the story had
been told in our daily Press, and within a day
or two newspaper readers were looking upon actual
photographs of the vessels going into action, the sinking
of a mighty battleship, and the admiral who had charge
of the memorable operation was seen in photographic
Reproduction stepping ashore, or attending the funeral of
one of his men fallen in the action ! So used are we
in these marvellous times to the resources of modern
progress that we are apt to accept as commonplaces
things that are full of wonder, and it is doubtful if the
average reader more than dimly realises the tremendous
importance of the inexhaustible photographic documents
which have been presented to him, hot-foot on the
actualities, by the illustrated Press of to-day. Yet in
years to come these will be looked on by new generations
of our people with the profoundest interest, for they tell
a story more vivid than the most skilful pen can write.
T is not too much to say that among the con-
temporary records of the Great War no
publication has achieved the unique distinction of
THE WAR ILLUSTRATED. Devoted, almost exclusively,
to recording by means of the camera every aspect of the
historic happenings in the course of the world-wide
hostilities, it has presented to the reading public a
collection of contemporary photographic evidence such
as a few years ago could hardly have been conceived.
Its pages have teemed with pictorial records, the
interest of which will long endure, and no one in the
years to come who seeks to refresh his memory — or,
it may be, to acquaint himself for the first time with the
outward form and evidence of these world-shaking
events — will be able to turn to a more valuable store-
house of documentary evidence than is found within
the pages of THE WAR ILLUSTRATED.
T was felt that, in view of the great importance of
its pictorial contents and the popular form in
which the publication was first issued, an edition
printed on superior paper which would do more justice
to the illustrations, and would, naturally, endure much
longer than the cheaper publication, was imperatively
called for. Hence, the publishers of THE WAR
ILLUSTRATED, instead of binding up the separate parts
for after-sale in volume form, have decided to meet this
demand by the publication of its contents in the superior
form of. this "album de luxe." .Such errors as are
inevitable to any rapidly-produced periodical have
been carefully corrected, although the Editor is happy
to state that few indeed had found their way into its
pages. The pages of the earlier parts have been
rearranged in sections, and many valuable additions
have been made in the shape of colour plates, and also
in the publication of a revised and largely re-written
story of THE FIRST PHASE OF THE WAR.
S, in every sense of the word, it will be
admitted that this revised and re-edited edition
of THE WAR ILLUSTRATED is worthy of its description
as an " album de luxe," and the completed work,
wherein the Story of the War is " told by camera, pen.
and pencil," worthy of a place on the shelves of the
most select libraries in the land. J. A. H
Talbfle of
Principal Literary Contents
Why Britain Went to War. By H. G. Wells .
How the Boer War Prepared Us for the Great War. By
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle .....
Historic Words of Europe's Leaders in the Great War .
The Moving Drama of the Great War
King George's Message to the Expeditionary Army
Lord Kitchener's Counsel to the British Soldier .
The Rally of the Empire. By Sir Gilbert Parker
Albert the Brave, Defender of Civilisation ,
General Leman, the Hero of Liege ....
The Three Days' Battle of Mons ....
The Wonderful Retreat from Mons ....
How the French were Trapped on the Plateau near
Metz. By A 0. Hales
The Crown of Infamy on the Brow of " Kultur " .
The First Historic Battle of the Rivers .
PAGE PAGE
10 A Pen-Picture from the Long-Drawn Battle of the
Aisne. By A. O. //a/6! 157
1:2 How the Little British Army Crossed the Aisne . 166
14' The Heroic Adventure at Antwerp . . . .178
15 The Agony of a Nation. By A. G. Hales . .187
3-2 The Russian " Steam- Roller." By F A. McKenzie . I'Ui
33 The Great Russian Raid into East Prussia . . 222
56 Russky's Smashing Victory at Lemberg . . . 226
74 The First Historic Battle of the Polish Rivers . 232
75 The Battle of Heligoland Bight . . . .248
92 The First Sea Fight of its Kind— Thrilling Tale of the
100 Battle between the Carraania and the Cap Trafalgar 256
The Death Harvest of the Dastard Zeppelin. By A. G.
108 Hales 262
128 The Terrible Battle of Nicuport . . . .288
150 Diary of the War 356
List of Maps
The War Map of Western Europe .....
The North Sea and the Baltic Sea .....
The Eastern Area of the Great War .....
The Steady Progress of the Allies' Advance ....
Mons and Maubeuge District ......
First Positions of the Two Million Troops of the Warring Nations
The Battlefields of the Aisne, Oise, and Somme
Antwerp and Its Forts .......
The District Round Antwerp ......
Map Illustrating the Russian Invasion of East Prussia .
The Route of the Airmen Who Raided Diisseldorf and Cologne
The Belgian Coast
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296
Special Full-Colour Plates
Admiral Sir John Jellicoe .
Field-Marshal Sir John French
Frontispiece
Facing page 40
Monochrome Colour Plates
Vice-Admiral Sir John Jellicoe's Flagship, Iron Duke, Being Coaled at Sea : Inset, Vice-Admiral Jellicoe .
Guarding Britain's Food Supplies ...........
An Incident in the Hard-fought Retreat from Belgium : British Troops on the River Bank Prepared to
Resist the German Advance .............
The Hero King of Belgium in the Trenches With His Soldiers . . . . ' .
The Glorious Charge of the 9th Lancers During the Great Retreat from Mons to Cambrai ....
On the Heights Above Lenharee : The Scene of Terrific Fighting Before and After the Battle of the Marne .
Flashing the Signal to Charge by Searchlight ...........
The Zeppelin Bombardment of Antwerp in August, 1914, in Defiance of the Hague Convention
German Troops Occupying the City of Liege, while the Forts Still Thundered Defiance of the Invaders'
Advance .................
The Spirit of Our Old Navy Yet Lives — The " Drake Touch " in the North Sea .....
Wounded in War Arriving at Waterloo Station, London, as an Outward Troop Train is About to Leave
The Flower of the German Army in the Brussels Parade .
Facinf!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS— continued
First Phase of the War
Why Britain Went to War. By H. G. Wells .
How the Boer War Prepared us for the Great War. By
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle . . . .
Historic Words of Europe's Leaders in the Great War
The Moving Drama of the Great War .....
The War Map of Western Europe
The North Sea and the Baltic Sea
The Eastern Area of the Great War
The Steady Progress of the Allies' Advance
The British Army Goes to France
The British Army on its Way to War. King George's Message.
to the Expeditionary Army ......
Expeditionary Force Lands in France. Lord Kitchener's Counsel
to the British Soldier
Britain Prepares against the Teutonic Tyrant ....
Industrial England becomes an Armed Camp ....
Grenadier and Scots Guards off to the Front ....
An Historic Moment — General French Lands at Boulogne .
French Hero-worship of the British Soldier ....
Some Camera Pictures of British Soldiers on French Soil .
Building up Britain's Army on the Continent ....
All in a Day's Work — to the Front and Back Again .
France again Familiar with the " Garb of Old Gaul " .
With the Union Jack on the Continent .....
British Reinforcements for the Allied Armies ....
Britain's New Army in the Making
Britain's New Army of Freedom ......
Turning Young Patriots into Trained Fighting-Men . .
Building up the Grand Old Army ......
The New Million Army in the Making .....
Some Homely Scenes in War-time England ....
United Ireland — A New Source of Strength to the Empire
The Swelling Tide of Britain's New Army ....
Some Unusual Glimpses in the London Area ....
Sportsmen of Peace for the Grim Game of War
The Rally of the Empire
The Rally of the Empire. By Sir Gilbert Parker .
The Fervent Loyalty of the Indian Princes ....
Indian Contingent Reaches the Seat of War ....
The Flower of our Indian Army in France ....
Helping the Allies of the Great British Raj ....
The Terror by Night — The Gurkhas at Work ....
Peaceful Moments amid the Glare of War ....
Canada's Manhood at Britain's Service .....
Loyal Canada does Better than She Promised ....
The Arrival of the First Canadian Contingent ....
Over-seas Warriors Getting Fit for the Front ....
Gallant Canadians to Fight for King and Empire
1 German Bribery and Boer Loyalty in South Africa .
Australia's Army for the Defence of Empire ....
New Zealanders Ready to Meet the Turk In Egypt .
Waging War on the Outposts of Empire .....
Belgium's Heroic Stand
Albert the Brave, Defender of Civilisation ....
General Leman, the Hero of Liege ......
The Steel-capped Forts of Liege in Action — Upsetting the Plan
of the German Invaders .......
The Last Stand of the Defenders of Liege ....
The Belgians' GaHant Defence of Liege
The Terror let Loose on the Fair Land of Belgium .
How Brussels Prepared to Succour the Wounded
((rim and Gay — With the Fighters of Belgium ....
Belgian Rearguard Covering Retirement ....
Red W'ar among the Golden Cornfields .....
Germany's Empty Triumph in Brussels .....
Undaunted Malines Fighting for its Life
The Belgian " Won't-be-conquered " Spirit ....
Belgium's Dauntless Stand for Freedom
Belgium's Ceaseless Resistance to Enormous Odds .
Swift Justice to Spies — Fate of Franc-tireurs ....
Mons and the Great Retreat
The Three Days' Battle of Mons ......
New-formed Friendships that will not Fade ....
British Machine-guns Mow down German Column .
Fighting the Invaders " Yard by Yard " ....
Bedfordshires in a Hot Corner in France ....
Furious Charge of British Cavalry at Mons —
— The Uhlans get the Surprise of their Lives .
The Wonderful Retreat from Mons
Hammer Mightier than the Sword atCompiegne
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With the Fighting Forces of France
The Soldier-Leaders France Relied Upon ....
How the French Soldiers Set Out for the Front
Along the Fighting Front of the Great War ....
Peaceful Scenes Before the Tide of Battle Rose
How the French were Trapped on the Plateau near Metz. By
A. G. Hales
With the French Army near the Battle Front ....
Paris Preparing for Another Siege . . . . . .
With the French Behind the Fighting-line ....
The Trail of War amid the Peaceful Vineyards of Northern
France .
In the Field with the Soldier Citizens of the New France .
Touching Scenes from the Battlefields of France
French Troops March to the Battle of the Rivers
Sons of France in Her Fight for Freedom ....
French Night Attack on German Heavy Guns
Boys Amid Bullets Where their Fathers Fought
French Dragoons Uhlan-hunting in Belgium . . . • .
The Shameful Ruins of Rheims Cathedral ....
Death's Ghastly Harvest on the Battlefields ....
With the Gallant Turcos Fighting for France ....
Africa Helps to Save Europe's Civilisation ....
King and President at the Front with General Joffre
French Land-mining Wrecks a German Gun ....
French Troops entering Chauconier .....
In the Trail of the Hun
The Crown of Infamy on the Brow of " Kultur " .
II. — War of Terrorism on Old Men, Women, and Children .
III. — The Campaign of Pillage under Hohenzollern Tutelage
IV.— The Shell-shattered Glories of Medireval Architecture
What German " Civilisation " is Worth
War's Grim Realities as seen in Belgium. ....
Belgians' Pitiable Flight before the Invaders ....
The Wake of Ruin Behind the German Advance
Modern Huns Make War on Non-Combatants ....
German Bombs on Peaceful Homes .....
How Soulless Germany Robbed Civilisation ....
Victims of the War Driven from their Homes ....
The Inexpiable German Crime — Louvain ....
The Sacking of Flanders' Fairest City
Belgian Miners Form Living Shields for Germnr.s .
Ruined Malines and its Faithful Archbishop ....
Part of Belgium's Heavy Price of Liberty ....
German and French Treatment of Churches ....
The Trail of the " Blonde Beast " in Belgium ....
The Hateful Hun and His Handiwork
Homeless ! French and Belgian Victims of the War
The Turning of the Tide
The First Historic Battle of the Rivers
When the German Tide of Invasion began to Ebb
Scenes from the Fighting along the Maine ....
Some of the Men who Formed General French's " Spear-head "
against the Germans .
Irish Guards beat back with Bayonets a German Cavalry Charge
Turning of the Tide — The German Retreat ....
A Pen Picture from the Long-drawn Battle of the Aisne. By
A. G. Hales .........
British Soldiers Waist-deep in Flooded Trenches .
London Scottish give a Glorious Lead to Territorials : Routing
the Vaunted Bavarians in a Bayonet Charge .
With the London Scottish on Active Service ....
Hunting the Lurking Foe in a French Village ....
The Wild Stampede of a Terror-stricken Team ....
Rival Artillery — A Battle in a Thunderstorm ....
How the Little British Army Crossed the Aisne
The Frightful Havoc of a British Bomb ....
Siege and Fall of Antwerp
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Antwerp — Belgium's Last and Mightiest Stronghold
Preparing for the Great German Attack . . ,
Fire and Flood Meet the Germans at Antwerp . .
Wrecks of War on Belgium's Railways .
Holding Back the Enemy on the Road to Antwerp .
Flames of War Lighting German Approach to Antwerp
Austria's " Never - Victorious " Warriors in
Belgium ...... 176
The Bombardment of Belgium's Liverpool . 177
The Heroic Adventure at Antwerp . . 178
With the Gallant Defenders of Antwerp . 180
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175
TABLE OF CONTENTS— om
PAGE
Camera Glimpses Behind the Fortifications .... 181
British Naval Men Strengthen the Trenches — . . . 182
— Their Work Amid Shell and Fire in Antwerp . . . 183
French Marines also Tried to Succour the Bombarded Town . 184
Armoured Motor-car and Train in Action at Antwerp . . 185
The Weary Pilgrimage from the Bombarded City to Safety
The Agony of a Nation. By A. G. Hales . . . .187
The Tragedy of War Shorn of its Glory — .... 188
—The Pitiable Plight of the Belgian People 189
The Sad Wandering of a Fugitive Nation 190
German Army in Belgium and France
Germany's Evil Genius and Some of the Kaiser's Men . . 192
The Faces of Some of Civilisation's Foes 193
Germany's " War Lord " Dreams of Power .... 194
Glimpses of the German Army in the Field . . . .195
With the German Army In Belgium 196
The Kaiser's Hordes Lording it in Brussels . . . .197
Germany's " Higher Civilisation " and its Fruits . . .198
German Appreciation of French Art Treasures .... 199
With the German Invaders of Belgium ..... 200
Coward Work of Germany's Military Murderers . . .201
Germans Surrender to Inferior British Force .... 202
With the German Army in the Field 203
Silent Witnesses of German Orgy and Pillage .... 204
Germany Repeats in France its Outlawry in Belgium . . 205
Brave Nurse who Protected British Wounded . . . .206
German Rejoicings at British Naval Losses . . . .207
Horrors the Kaiser's Dreams Have Wrought .... 208
German Guns that Won't Trouble the Allies Again . . . 209
The German " Sweep " Into France — and After . . . 210
Britain's New Line of Imports from Germany .... 211
Was Britain Too Kind to German Prisoners ? . . . .212
German Military Prisoners at Work in England . . . 213
Attempted Escape of German Prisoners Foiled . . .214
Russia and Her Balkan Allies
The Russian " Steam-Roller." By F. A. McKenzie . . . 216
The Tsar's Leviathan Legions Move on Germany . . . 218
Russia's Millions Rolling Westward 219
The Cossack — the Grey Nightmare of Germany . . . 220
Tsar's Master-Stroke — Poland a Nation Again ! . . .221
The Great Russian Raid into East Prussia . . . .222
Germans Mowed Down on the River Niemen .... 224
Capturing Austrian Guns at Battle of Lemberg . . .225
Russky's Smashing Victory at Lemberg ..... 226
Scenes from the Eastern Area of Hostilities .... 228
Soldiers of the Tsar and the Foes they Faced . . . .229
German Fiendishness on the Russian Frontier .... 230
Russian Cavalry Put Austrlans to Flight ..... 231
The First Historic Battle of the Polish Rivers . . . .232
German Guns Stuck in Marshy Ground are Captured by Russians 234
Russia Crushes Austria while the Allies hold the Germans . . 235
The Finest Mounted Fighting Men the World Knows. . . 236
Austria's Cowardly Bombardment of Belgrade. . . .237
Victorious Serbians who Invaded Austria . . 238
" Serbia Must Be Crushed," says Berlin — Serbia Smiles . . 239
Victorious Serbs Prepare for Greater Serbia .... 240
The War on the Waters
British Navy's Victory in a Mine-Strewn Sea . . . . 242
Some Units of the Kaiser's " High Canal " Fleet . . .243
Mine-Laying in the North Sea Causes First Losses . . . 244
The Submerged Arm in Naval Warfare ..... 245
First Encounter of Warship and Submarine .... 246
The Coward Cruise of the Mighty Goeben 247
The Battle of Heligoland Bight 248
The Amazing Story of Submarine E4 249
Short Shrift for Cruisers " Made in Germany ". . . .251
The " Lion " Roared, and German Cruisers Sank . . . 252
The British Navy in Sunshine and Shade 253
Losses and Additions to the British Navy . . . .254
" Sunk the Lot I " — Captain Fox Pays Off His Score . . .255
The First Sea-Fight of its Kind — Thrilling Tale of the Battle
between the Carmania and the Cap Trafalgar . . .256
" Interned " in Hospitable Holland but — .... 258
— Still Smiling after their Antwerp Adventure .... 259
" Handy Men " Among Friends and Allies . . . .260
The War in the Air
The Death Harvest of the Dastard Zeppelin. By A. G. Hales . 262
Some Heroes of the British Royal Flying Corps 263
Victories of the Great French Air Fleet . . 264
British Sky Warriors — Guarding and Guarded 265
Britain Gaining Mastery of the Air . . 266
German Aeroplane (iocs to its Doom
Daring Raid on Dusseldorf by British Airmen .
Rescuing an Aviator's Mechanic from Uhlans .
The Motor Heroes who Fight by Land, Sea, or Air
Land Exploit by Britain's Daring Airmen
How Russians Brought a Zeppelin to Earth
Missions of Mercy in Wartime
Woman's Healing Work Among the Wounded .... 274
Invalided Home— but Aching to Fight Again . . . .275
Light-Hearted French Wounded Returning from the Front to
Recuperate in Paris ....... 276
Angels of Mercy Prepare to Play Their Part
Wounded Helgians and the Belgian Red Cross .... 278
Red Cross Heroines who Rode to the Battle Front . . . 279
From Red Field of Battle to Red Cross 280
The Unrequited Kindness of the British ..... 281
The Red Cross of Help and Sympathy— 282
—Mending the Warriors Broken in the War .... 283
Searchlights Assist Work of Rescuing Wounded . . . 284
King- Emperor and Queen among the Wounded . . . 285
Temporary Homes for Stricken Belgians ..... 286
The Fight for the Coast
The Terrible Battle of Nieuport 288
The " Conquering " of Defenceless Bruges .... 290
Ancient Ghent Falls to the Modern Huns 291
British Marines to the Rescue of Ostend 292
The Shroud of War on the Gay Resort 293
British Handymen Busy at Ostend
Reinforcements to " Take Calais or Die ! " . . . . 295
Scenes from the Great Battle of the Coast . . . .296
The Unparalleled Struggle for Calais 297
Help from the Sea for the Battle Ashore 298
The Titanic Struggle in all the Elements 299
The Amazing Vitality of King Albert's Valiant Army — . . 300
— History has no Finer Chapter than Belgium's Heroism . . 301
The Wonderful Belgians Still Facing the Foe . . . .302
French Colonial Troops in the Coast Battle . . . .303
After a Hard Day in the Coastal Fighting . . . .304
The Men Who Turned the Tide on the Yser . . . .305
Sikhs and Gurkhas Cut Up the Germans at Lille . . .306
Golden Deeds of Heroism
Mentioned in Sir John French's Despatches . . . .308
A Scot Captures a German Gun Single-Handed .... 309
Cossack Prisoner Who Ran Off with a Uhlan .... 310
One Brave Woman and Five Brave Men 311
Guards' Brilliant Capture of Machine-Guns .... 312
Manchester Men at the Battle of the Marne . . . .313
How French Infantry Crossed the River Aisne . . . .314
" From Scenes Like These Old Scotia's Grandeur Springs "
French Woman's Fearlessness in Face of Fire . . . .316
" It is Nothing, Messieurs ; it is for France !" .... 317
The One Solitary Instance of German Chivalry. . . . 318
Victoria Cross Heroes of Mons and Le Cateau . . . .3111
How Twelve Heroes of the Royal Engineers Checked the German
Advance 320
World-wide Echoes of the War
Tears and Laughter Mingle at Farewell 322
Some Notable Personalities in the War 323
Where the First Flame of War was Lighted . . . .324
Britain's Allies of the Far East Intervene ..... 325
The Colonies of Portugal Attacked by Germany . . . 326
Temporary Home of the Belgian Government .... 327
The " Sick Man of Europe " Resolves on Suicide . . . 328
Deceitful Germany Promises to Restore Egypt to Turkey . . 329
Baking Bread Behind the Fighting-Line . . . . 330
Friend and Foe at Feeding-Time .
Breaking Bridges and Making Bridges in War-time . . . '.
Skill of Military Engineers — British and German . . .333
London Scottish Off Duty in France 334
Camera Glimpses of Friends and Foes ..... 335
World-Wide Echoes of the Clash of Arms . . . .330
With the Camera in the War-Stricken Countries . . .337
People, Places, Things that are Making History . . .338
Men and Women in War's Searchlight ..... 339
Brave Britons Captive Among Coward Germans . . . 340
Dogs and Birds that Help the Allied Armies . . . .341
The Pitiable Martyrdom of Man's Faithful Friend . . . 342
Sad Friends and Sullen Foes Within the Gates . 343
The Soldiers' Humour in the Field of Danger . 344
Britain'. Roll of Honoured Dead . . 345
Diary of the War 356
Photo by KuniM'U & Soitt.
VICE-ADMIRAL SIR JOHN JELLICOE'S FLAGSHIP, IRON DUKE, BEING COALED AT SEA. INSET: VICE-ADMIRAL JEILICOE.
To /ace i>u-jt 3
Thou careless, awake ! The monarch Ambition
Thou peacemaker, fight ! Hath harnessed his slaves ;
Stand, England, for honour, But the folk of the Ocean
And God guard the right ! Are free as the waves.
Through Fire, Air, and Water
Thy trial must be ;
Bui they that love life best
Die gladly for thee.
— ROBERT BRIDGES.
THE ALLIES JOIN HANDS
France — Britain — -Belgium
t> 31 r
10
Why Britain Went to War
A uthor of
By H. G. WELLS
The War of the Worlds," "The War in the Air," etc., etc.
w
TH E cause of a war and the object of a war
are not necessarily the same. The cause
of this war is the invasion of Luxemburg
and Belgium. We declared war because we were
bound by treaty to declare war. We have been
pledged to protect the integrity of Belgium since the
kingdom of Belgium has existed. If the Germans had
not broken the guarantees they shared with us to
respect the neutrality of these little States we should
certainly not be at war at the present time. The
fortified eastern frontier of France could have been
held against any attack without any help from us.
We had no obligations and no interests there. We
were pledged to France simply to protect her from
a naval attack by sea, but the Germans had already
given us an undertaking not to make such an attack.
It was our Belgian treaty and the sudden outrage on
Luxemburg that precipitated us into this conflict.
No power in the world would have respected our Flag
or accepted our national word again if we had not
fought.
So much for the immediate cause of the war.
>£ had to fight because our honour and
our pledge obliged us.
But now we come to the object of this war. We
began to fight because our honour and our pledge
obliged us ; but so soon as we are embarked upon the
fighting we have to ask ourselves what is the end at
which our fighting aims. We cannot simply put the
Germans back over the Belgian border and tell them
not to do it again. We find ourselves at war with
that huge military empire with which we have been
doing our best to keep the peace since first it rose upon
the ruins of French Imperialism in 1871. And war
is mortal conflict. We have now either to destroy
or be destroyed. We have not sought this reckoning,
we have done our utmost to avoid it ; but now that it
has been forced upon us it is imperative that it should
be a thorough reckoning. This is a war that touches
every man and every home in each of the combatant
countries. It is a war, as Mr. Sidney Low has said,
not of soldiers but of whole peoples. And it is a war
that must be fought to such a finish that every man
in each of the nations engaged understands what has
happened. There can be no diplomatic settlement
that will leave German Imperialism free to explain
away its failure to its people and start new preparations.
We have to go on until we are absolutely done for, or
until the Germans as a people know that they are
beaten, and are convinced that they have had enough
of war.
loth AUGUST, 1914
We are fighting Germany. But we are fighting
without any hatred of the German people. We do
not intend to destroy either their freedom or their
unity. But we have to destroy an evil system of
government and the mental and material corruption that
has got hold of the German imagination and taken
possession of German life. We have to smash the
Prussian Imperialism as thoroughly as Germany in
1871 smashed the rotten Imperialism of Napoleon III.
And also we have to learn from the failure of that
victory to avoid a vindictive triumph.
^RUSSIAN Imperialism is
nuisance in the earth.
an intolerable
This Prussian Imperialism has been for forty years
an intolerable nuisance in the earth. Ever since the
crushing of the French in 1871 the evil thing has grown
and cast its spreading shadow over Europe. Germany
has preached a propaganda of ruthless force and political
materialism to the whole uneasy world. " Blood and
iron," she boasted, was the cement of her unity, and
almost as openly the little, mean, aggressive statesmen
and professors who have guided her destinies to this
present conflict have professed cynicism and an utter
disregard of any ends but nationally selfish ends, as
though it were religion. Evil just as much as good may
be made into a Cant. Physical and moral brutality has
indeed become a cant in the German mind, and spread
from Germany throughout the world. I could wish it
were possible to say that English and American thought
had altogether escaped its corruption. But now at
last we shake ourselves free and turn upon this boasting
wickedness- to rid the world of it. The whole world
is tired of it. And " Gott ! " — Gott so perpetually
invoked — Gott indeed must be very tired of it.
WAR to exorcise a world-madness and
end an age.
This is already the vastest war in history. It is war
not of nations, but of mankind. It is a war to exorcise
a world-madness and end an age.
And note how this Cant of public rottenness has had
its secret side. The man who preaches cynicism in his
own business transactions had better keep a detective
and a cash register for his clerks ; and it is the most
natural thing in the world to find that this system, which
is outwardly vile, is also inwardly rotten. Beside the
Kaiser stands the firm of Krupp, a second head to the
State ; on the very steps of the throne is the armament
trust, that organised scoundrelism which has, in its
relentless propaganda for profit, mined all the security
of civilisation, brought up and dominated a Press, ruled
a national literature, and corrupted universities.
11
WHY BRITAIN WENT TO WAR
By H. G. WELLS
" God Save the King !
Consider what the Germans have been, and what the
Germans can be. Here is a race which has for its chief
fault docility and a belief in teachers and rulers. For
the rest, as all who know it intimately will testify, it is
the most amiable of peoples. It is naturally kindly,
comfort-loving, child-loving, musical, artistic, intelligent.
In countless respects German homes and towns and
countrysides are the most civilised in the world. But
these people did a little lose
their heads after the vic-
tories of the sixties and
seventies, and there began a
propaganda of national
vanity and national ambi-
tion. It was organised by
a stupidly forceful states-
man, it was fostered by folly
upon the throne. It was
guarded from wholesome
criticism by an intolerant
censorship. It never gave
sanity a chance. A certain
patriotic sentimentality lent
itself only too readily to
the suggestion of the flat-
terer, and so there grew up
this monstrous trade in
weapons. German patriot-
ism became an " interest,"
the greatest of the " in-
terests." It developed a
vast advertisement propa-
ganda. It subsidised Navy
Leagues and Aerial Leagues,
threatening the world. Man-
kind, we saw too late, had
been guilty of an incalcul-
able folly in permitting
private men to make a
profit out of the dreadful
preparations for war. But
the evil was started ; the
German imagination was
captured and enslaved. On
every other European
country that valued its
integrity there was thrust
the overwhelming necessity
to arm and drill — and still
to arm and drill. Money
was withdrawn from edu-
cation, from social progress,
from business enterprise
and art and scientific re-
search, and from every kind
of happiness ; life was
drilled and darkened.
So that the harvest of
this darkness comes now
almost as a relief, and it is a
Britain's Sovereign in the Great Hour.
grim satisfaction in our discomforts that we can at last
look across the roar and torment of battlefields to the
possibility of an organised peace.
For this is now a war for peace.
It aims straight at disarmament. It aims at a settle-
ment that shall stop this sort of thing for ever. Every
soldier who fights against Germany now is a crusader
against war. This, the greatest of all wars, is not just
another war — it is the last war ! England, France, Italy;
Belgium, Spain, and all the little countries of Europe,
are heartily sick of .war ; the Tsar has expressed a
passionate hatred of war ; the most of Asia is unwarlike ;
the United States has no illusions about war. And never
was war begun so joyfessly, and never was war begun
with so grim a resolution. In England, France, Belgium,
Russia, there is no thought of glory.
We know we face
unprecedented slaughter
and agonies ; we know that
for neither side will there
be easy triumphs or pranc-
ing victories. Already, after
a brief fortnight in that
warring sea of men, there
is famine as well as hideous
butchery, and soon there
must come disease.
Can it be otherwise ?
We face perhaps the
most awful winter that
mankind has ever faced.
But we English and our
allies, who did not seek
this catastrophe, face it
with anger and determina-
tion rather than despair.
Through this war we have
to march, through pain,
through agonies of the
spirit worse than pain,
through seas of blood and
filth. We English have not
had things kept from us.
We know what war is ;
we have no delusions. We
have read books that tell
us of the stench of battle-
fields, and the nature of
wounds, books that Ger-
many suppressed and hid
from her people. And we
face these horrors to make
an end of them.
There shall be no more
Kaisers, there shall be no
more Krupps, we are re-
solved. That foolery shall
end!
And not simply the pre-
sent belligerents must come
into the settlement.
All America, Italy,
China, the Scandinavian
powers, must have a
voice in the final read-
justment, and set their
hands to the ultimate
uouuo tvy i-iiv^ UILlllidLC
guarantees. I do not mean that they need fire a single
shot or load a single gun. But they must come in.
And in particular to the United States do we look to
play a part in that pacification of the world for which
our whole nation is working, and for which, by the
thousand, men in Belgium are now laying down their
lives.
H. G. WELLS.
12
F
the Boer War be looked upon as a
full-dress rehearsal in preparation for
the much more serious war which was
to follow it, then the vast expenditure
and the considerable loss of life have
amply justified themselves, for they
have enabled our small professional Army,
led by officers who nearly all had the training of the South
African campaign, to start this vitally-important contest
•at a considerable advantage. Whether that advantage is as
:great as it should have been had we thoroughly digested
all our lessons is a delicate question for a civilian to discuss.
As I ventured, however, fourteen years ago to write a
cnapter upon the military lessons of the Boer War, I shall
now supplement it by a few remarks as to how these lessons
seem to have influenced our conduct.
Importance ol Good Shooting
and Necessity of Cover
The Continental military critics never understood the
importance of the Boer War because, as in the case of the
North and South struggle in America, they looked upon
it as a scrambling, amateurish business which bore no
relation to the clash of disciplined legions. Hence those
solid infantry formations and gigantic cavalry charges
which amazed our representatives at the various Kaiser
manoeuvres. It was their theory that if Buller's infantry
did not instantly win its way to Ladysmith over Botha's
trenches, or Methuen carry the lines of Magersfontein,
it was the fault of the soldiers and their leaders. Now
that the Germans have themselves tried what the com-
bination of trench and rifle means at Ypres and elsewhere,
and have tested the quality of British infantry, they will
get a new light upon the teaching of the South African War.
Two things we learned in Africa — the importance of
good shooting and the necessity for using cover. Our
excellence at both was a revelation to the Germans at
Mons, as has been admitted by many of their officers.
They were the two factors which saved us during that
perilous business, for, outnumbered as we were, and faced
by a far stronger artillery, we could not possibly have
saved the army had we not some make-weights upon our
side. Those were the all-important make-weights — that
we could inflict the maximum and receive the minimum
of punishment with the rifle. They saved us — and we
•owe them both directly to the South Aincan War. Before
How THE BOER WAR
PREPARED US FOR
THE GREAT WAR
By SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
Not only one of Britain's foremost novelists — perhaps the
most universally popular of alt our living writers, whose works
circulate In many tongues to the remotest corners of the world —
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is something more. He represents in
literature the splendid sanity and poise of British character, and
his historical writings on the South African War have long
ranked as standard works.
The Editor of " The War Illustrated " has been fortunate In
Inducing Sir Arthur to explain to his readers how the lessons
learned by the British Army in the South African campaign
were applied in the Great European War.
that lesson we were no better than the Germans I have
myself seen, in the manoeuvres of 1898, lines of British
infantry standing at two hundred yards distance to fire
volleys at each other, unrebuked by officers or umpires.
At least " nous avons change tout cela."
A Simple Prophecy
now being fulHllcd
The Boer War opened up the new era of artillery, and
there at least our opponents have learned part of the
lesson. The six guns exposed in neat array have disap-
peared. Now a gun lurks here behind a building, and
there amid the brushwood, while the observer, a quarter
of a mile away, is telephoning ranges, and the gunners
are training upon an unseen mark. All this is new but
is common to both sides. In the chapter to which I have
alluded I said : " The bullock guns of the Boers are the
forerunners of an artillery which, in a country of good
roads with steam traction available, may assume the
most monstrous proportions. The greatest cannon of
our battleships and fortresses may be converted into
field-pieces." The prophecy was a simple one, and seems
to be in a fair way of being fulfilled. It is only the road
bridges and culverts which put any restriction now upoi>
the size of the gun — save, of course, the difficulty of remov-
ing it in case of a retreat. One thing has very clearly
emerged in the present operations, and that is that taking
an average with light guns and heavy the British artillery,
in men and material, is probably unequalled and certainly
unsurpassed among the armies of Europe.
The New Versatility
ol our Cavalry
But it is in the cavalry that the Boer War left its mark
most deeply, though it will always be a fair ground for
argument whether it left it deeply enough. Certainly
our cavalry have been splendid. They have adapted
themselves to everything and been the general utilitv
men of the Army. I have notes of one regiment whic!»
executed a famous " arme blanche " charge in the morning,
iought as dismounted riflemen in the afternoon, and
formed themselves into a gun-team to pull off deserted
guns in the evening.
Since then they have spent a good deal of their time
making and holding trenches. Such men cannot be
improved upon, and if they, in their nimble suppleness,
present a contrast to the armour-plated, top-booted
13
Part ot the directing force of the armies of three nations discuss the military situation somewhere behind the flghting-line in France.
An exclusive photograph of members of the French, Belgian, and British Headquarters' Staffs at work in picturesque surroundings.
Contin;ntal types, it is once again to South Africa that
we owe it. The British horseman has been trained to be
both a cavalier who fights with cold steel, and also to
be a mounted rifleman who uses his horse merely to give
him mobility in reaching or changing the place of the
fight. In theory the two types are really incompatible,
since the one is always looking for good ground to charge
over, and the other for broken ground to skirmish over.
But practice often works out better than theory, and
if the British cavalry have shown themselves to be good
men off their horses, they have also never yet met their
equals on their horses. The question will still arise,
however, which system, ceteris paribus, gives the best
result.
One curious illustration may be quoted which bears
upon the subject. On the same morning two cavalry
skirmishes were fought, of which I have full details though
I may not yet record them. In the first a squadron of
British lancers met a squadron of German Guard dragoons
(n a iair cavalry charge at fifteen miles an hour. They
rode through each other, six or seven fell upon either side,
«md each wheeled to a flank as other forces were coming
into the fray. That was an example of the arme blanche.
Shortly afterwards a squadron of British hussars saw a
hostile squadron approaching and at once dismounted.
The Germans charged and were practically annihilated.
Thirty-two dead or wounded were picked up in Iront
of the hussar line, and a number of the others who rode
past were shot by the horse-holders. That was an example
of the mounted riflemen. It is the latter type that has
come to us through our South African experience.
One lesson we seem to have unlearned, and already we
have paid a heavy price for it. It is that the officer should
at fifty yards be indistinguishable from his men. His
life is the most valuable of all, and yet we deliberately
put him up as a mark. If, for the purpose of leading,
his dress must be conspicuous, then let the marks be on
the back of his collar. He should no longer be encumbered
with a useless sword — an implement which should never
have survived South Africa. Let him have a light rifle.
He need not use it when his men require his attention,
but in many situations they do not, and then he can be
of use in the firing-line. But it is a shame to make him
conspicuous, for it is a thing against which he is precluded
from complaining.
I have been told — but I trust that it is not true — that
in some Indian regiments the officers have a different
headgear from the soldiers. This would seem a really
monstrous thing if it be true. But it is the one con-
spicuous example of a lesson once learned and now entirely
neglected.
11
Historic Words of Europe's Leaders «t Great War
KING GEORGE V. (To ADMIRAL JELLICOE.)
" At this grave moment in our national history I send
to you, and through you to the officers and men of
the Fleets of which you have assumed command, the assur-
ance of my confidence that under your direction they
will revive and renew the old
•glories of the Royal Navy, and
prove once again the sure shield of
Britain and of her Empire in the
Ihour of trial." — August qth.
SIR EDWARD GREY.
" If in a crisis like this we run
Away from those obligations of
honour and interest as regards the
Belgian Treaty, I doubt whether,
•whatever material gain we might
Tiave at the end, it would be of very
much value in face of the respect
that we should have lost.
In the whole of this terrible situation
the one bright spot is Ireland." —
August yd.
MR. H. H. ASQUITH.
" If I am asked what we are
•fighting for, I can reply in two
sentences. In the first place, it is
to fulfil a solemn international
obligation. Secondly, we are
fighting to vindicate the principle, which
in these days, when material force some-
times seems to be the dominant
influence and factor in the develop-
ment of 'mankind, that small nation-
alities are not to be crushed,
in defiance of international
good faith." — August 6th.
Mr. JOHN REDMOND.
" The Government can with-
draw every one of their troops
from Ireland to-morrow with-
out the slightest risk of dis-
order. The Nationalist Volun-
teers are in comradeship with
their friends in the North to
defend the coasts of Ireland."
— August yd.
PRESIDENT POINCARE.
" In the war upon which
she is entering France will
have on her side that right
which no peoples, any more
than individuals, may despise
with impunity — the eternal
moral power. She will be
heroically defended by all her sons,
whose sacred union in face of
the enemy nothing can destroy, and
who to-day are fraternally bound
together by the same indignation
against the aggressor, and by the
same patriotic faith. She represents
once more to-day before the world,
Liberty, Justice, and Reason. Haut
les cceurs, et vive la France I " —
August $th.
KING ALBERT.
" Soldiers I Without the slightest
provocation from us a neighbour,
haughty in its strength, has violated
the territory of our fathers. Seeing
its independence threatened, the
nation trembled, and its children
sprang to the frontier. Valiant
soldiers of a sacred cause, I have
confidence in your tenacious
courage. Caesar said of your ancestors : ' Of all the peoples
of Gaul, the Belgians are the most brave.' Glory to you,
Army of the Belgian people ! Remember, men of
Flanders, the Battle of the Golden Spurs ! And you,
Walloons of Liege, who are at the place of honour at
present, remember the six hundred
men of Franchimont ! Soldiers 1
I am leaving for Brussels to place
myself at your head." — August $th.
GENERAL JOFFRE, FRENCH
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.
(To THE PEOPLE OF ALSACE.)
" Children of Alsace ! After forty-
four years of sad waiting French sol-
diers are treading once more the soil
of your noble country. They are
the first workers in the great work
of revenge. What emotion and what
pride for them 1 To complete this
work they are ready to sacrifice
their life. The French nation unani-
mously spurs them on, and on the
folds of their flag are inscribed the
magical names of Right and Liberty.
Long live France ! Long live
Alsace ! " — August Qth.
[Kecortt I'reu,
M. Poincare, President of France. (TO BELGIUM.)
" Having been called upon by the most
odious aggression to fight against the
same adversary, your admirable sol-
diers and those of France will bear
themselves in all circumstances as
true brothers under arms. Con-
fident of the triumph of their
just cause, they will march to-
gether to victory." — A ugust
nth.
[B. Walter Barnett.
Sir Edward drey, British Foreign Minister.
William II., German Emperor.
FRANCIS JOSEPH, AUSTRIAN
EMPEROR.
" In this solemn hour I am
fully conscious of the whole
significance of my resolve and
my responsibility before the
Almighty. I have examined and
weighed everything, and with a
serene conscience I set out on
the path to which my duty
points." — July 2gth.
THE GERMAN EMPEROR.
" The sword is being forced
into our hand. I hope that
if at last my efforts to bring
our adversaries to see things in
their proper light, and to maintain
peace, do not succeed, we shall,
with God's help, wield the sword in
such a way that we can sheath it
with honour." — August ist.
HERR VON BETHMANN - HOLL-
WEG, GERMAN CHANCELLOR.
"We were compelled to override
the just protests of the Luxemburg
and Belgian Governments. The
wrong — I speak openly — that we
are committing we will endeavour
to make good as soon as our military
goal has been reached. Anybody
who is threatened, as we are threat-
ened, and is fighting for his highest
p'ossessions, can have only one
thought — how he is to hack his way
through (wie er sich durchhaut) \ " —
August 4/A.
IS
The Moving Drama of the Great War
I. — The First Phase
Being the narrative of the great events that plunged Europe into
armed conflict and the progress of hostilities in the battlefields
of the East and West down to the great struggle for Calais
Europe lived in fear of war for five years before the
fateful summer of 1914. The Treaty of Berlin, on
which the peace of the Continent was founded, was
suddenly torn up by Austria-Hungary and Germany
in 1909 on the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
This was the opening move in a great scheme to absorb
the Balkans and establish a Teutonic Empire, stretching
from the North Sea to Constantinople, and across the
Bosphorus to the Persian Gulf. Ever since Austria in
the seventeenth century repulsed the Turks from Vienna
she has regarded herself as heiress to all the Turkish
dominions.
Preparations for War and Efforts for Peace
On the other hand, since the days of Peter the Great
the Russians have looked on Constantinople, the Holy
City of their religion, as the future capital of their
Empire. But the British Government prevented both
Teuton and Russian from succeeding to the power
of the Turks, and so dominating Britain's interests in
the Mediterranean and lines of communication with
India. This was one of the reasons for the extraordinary
efforts made by the Foreign Minister, Sir Edward Grey,
to prevent Russia and Austria joining in the war between
the Balkan States and Turkey. British vital self-
interests, as well as the passion for freedom, make
Britain the protector of the little independent nations
of Europe. The Teutons, however, considered them-
selves superior in military power to their opponents,
and when they learnt that France was improving her
Army by a three-year system of service, and that Russia
was turning her vast masses of troops into marksmen,
they resolved to strike suddenly while they had the
apparent advantage.
They were casting about for an excuse for hostilities
when, on June 28th, 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdi-
nand and his wife were assassinated by a Bosnian Serb,
maddened by the annexation of his country. The
Jewish Austrian Minister, Count Forgach — notorious
for forging documents against the Serbs in the Agram
trial — stated he had evidence that the assassination
of the Archduke was engineered by Serbian officials.
Austrian Attempt to Bully Serbia
On this untrustworthy charge the Austrian Govern-
ment tried to rob Serbia of her independence, and
thus obtain the road to Salonica, which would give her
the practical dominion of the whole of the Balkans.
Under the leadership of Britain, all the disinterested
Great Powers worked, quickly and strongly, to maintain
the peace of Europe. But, pushed on by Germany,
the Austrians declared war on Serbia on July 28th,
and bombarded Belgrade. Russia, the protector of
the small Slav State, then had to decide if she would
sink peacefully into the position of a beaten Power
and watch the Teuton Empire expand in overwhelming
might or put everything to the hazard of battle.
On July 3oth Russia began to mobilise against
Austria, and on the following day Germany started
her armies in motion by a declaration of a state of
war. Her object was to concentrate and sweep down
and conquer France, the ally of Russia, before any
Russian counter-stroke could be made in force. Up
to this point the British Empire did not seem to be
vitally concerned in the awful conflict into which
millions of men were being driven by the lust for dominion
of the governing caste of the Teutonic races. But
the universal ambition of the Prussians, and especially
of their leader, Kaiser Wilhelm II., had led them to
attempt, among other things, to challenge our sea-
power, and to refuse the repeated offers made by our
Government to stop the insane race for supremacy
in naval armaments.
For Britain a War of Honour
The British Government had entered into an under-
standing with France whereby that country and Britain
divided the work of meeting the naval menace of
Germany. France undertook to protect British and
French interests in the. Mediterranean, and Britain under-
too'k to mass her main fleet for the protection of British
and French interests in the English Channel and the
North Sea.
When, therefore, the Great War broke out, Great
Britain was bound in honour to protect the northern
coasts of France from invasion ; and ancient treaties
made her the protector of the neutrality of Belgium
and Holland. So when, on August 3rd, a hundred
thousand German troops crossed the Belgian frontier
and advanced upon Liege, the British Government
sent an ultimatum to Germany, and after a fine speech
in the House of Commons by Sir Edward Grey, all
parties united in a quiet, solemn resolution to enter
into the Great War, and help to free the world from
the savage, dishonourable, madly-ambitious power of
Prussian despotism. War between Great Britain and
Germany was declared on August 4th at u p.m.
Glowing Heroism of Belgium
The small, democratic Belgian nation showed at the
beginning of the war how the spirit of freedom can
suddenly lift up a people to the heights of heroism.
Forty thousand Belgian troops, consisting of the 3rd
Division and the I5th Mixed Brigade, met in the passages
between the forts of Liege 150,000 German troops,
consisting of the yth, gth, and loth Army Corps, under
General von Emmich. The Belgians were commanded
by General Leman, who had been working for some
years on the fortifications of Liege. These the Germans
thought they would conquer in an hour and then sweep
past them into France before the French mobilisation
was complete. They began their attack on the morning
of August 4th, and the battle went on with unabated
fury for several days, till the slain Germans formed a
ghastly rampart in front of the Belgian position.
Having achieved his object of stopping the German
army, General Leman provisioned and garrisoned the
forts, and then despatched the rest of his men to the
main body of the Belgian Army that had now collected
in the west, awaiting the arrival of its allies. In the
meantime the forts of Lidge remained intact, stopping
the march of a million and a quarter German troops.
By way of diversion General Joffre, the French
Commander-in-Chief, sent a division of his soldiers into
Alsace on August gth. Finding an equal number of
German troops entrenched outside the town of Altkirch,
the French fixed their bayonets and took the position
with the " white arm " with the extraordinarily small
loss of about a hundred men. Then they advanced
on the unfortified town of Mulhouse, which they took
and held until large reinforcements came to the
help of the Germans.
The Extended Battle-Front
Over a million and a quarter German troops of the
first line were massed against an inferior number of
French and Belgian troops on a battle-line stretching
1C
THE DRAMA OF THE WAR
from Diest in Belgium to Belfort in France. Large
bodies of cavalry were scouting and fighting in the
open space between the entrenched positions, with the
object of finding a weak spot through which the main
advance could be made. At Haelen, near Diest, a
battle had taken place between the Belgians and the
Germans as the latter were "trying to turn the northern
flank of the allied armies. The Belgians were as
victorious in the open field as they had been in the
trenches of Liege. There was another engagement
at Eghezee, above Namur.
The Great Silent Naval Victory
In the meantime the British Fleet, under Admiral
Jellicoe, had won the most surprising victory in the
history of sea-power. Without a blow, save the repelling
of an attack by a submarine flotilla in which H.M.S.
Birmingham sank the German submarine U 15, the British
Fleet, in less than a week, had effectually strangled
the sea-borne commerce of Germany, thus inflicting
on that Power many of the consequences of a naval
defeat. The German Navy had not ventured on an
engagement of any magnitude, • and Britain's only
damage was the wreck of H. M.S. Amphion by a floating
mine on August 6th, against which was placed the
destruction of a German mine-layer, the Konigin
Luise, by British gunners on August 5th.
On the evening of August i4th the British Fleet,
under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, had won without
striking a blow another victory of high importance
over the German Navy — the second most formidable
instrument of sea-power in the world. For in spite
of the menace of a large hostile fleet in being, with its
scouting aeroplanes and secret submarines, Field-Marshal
Sir John French disembarked at Boulogne, following the
largest, finest British army ever landed on the Continent.
On the day when the last detachments of the British
expedition landed at Boulogne the French mobilisation
was completed. The forts at Liege were holding out,
and the stubborn Belgian forces were still withstanding
the German advance round Diest, a little town thirty-
eight miles from Antwerp. Far in the south, on the
crests of the Vosges Mountains, the French were turning
the left flank of the Teutons, and acting against the
Germans as the Germans were acting in the north
against the Belgians.
Early Events in the Eastern Area
The Russians in the meantime were mobilising
a full month ahead of the plans of the German War
Staff. On August l6th a general advance of the
Russian forces was made, and their pressure was felt
along the Austro-Hungarian and German borders.
To add to the difficulty of the German western armies,
few reinforcements came from Austria, which was
wasting 400,000 men on the side issue in Serbia, where
on August 1 8th they were routed by the Serbs with
great loss.
Distractions of this kind in Austrian operations
were what Bismarck and Moltke had always feared
would occur if they entered on a European war with
Austria as their ally. Risings among the Bohemians
or Czechs also appeared to be weakening the offensive
power of the Austrians in a very serious manner, and
they were troubled with many mutinous Slav subjects.
In these circumstances the German War Staff devoted
its entire efforts for eighteen days to forcing a way
towards Brussels, preparatory to a descent upon France.
While part of their van tried to sweep, by Liege,
northward through Diest, other and larger bodies
attempted to pass from the Ardennes across the Meuse
between Liege and Namur, and between Namur and
Dinant. This led to the first memorable conflict
between the French and the Germans in Belgium on
Saturday, August I5th.
First Battle between French and Germans
The battle opened at six o'clock in the morning,
with the Germans occupying the left side of the Meuse
and the French the right bank. After a long skirmish
the French artillery obtained command of the situation,
and under their effective fire a French infantry regiment
flung itself on the German troops and chased them out
of Dinant. Continually the deadly French batteries
of thirty-six guns moved forward, and the Germans
retired to the southern hills, where they were pursued
for several miles by the Chasseurs. Considerable
numbers of the enemy were drowned in the river while
trying to escape.
Giving over the road from Dinant, the Germans
took an easier but slower route to their goal, and set
about building boat bridges across the Meuse between
Liege and Namur. Then, seeing the vast masses of
troops they had crowded together in the Ardennes,
it was only a question of time when they would arrive
in sufficient force against the Belgian line to compel
the Belgians to retreat. Of course, the French could
have sent reinforcements to Jodoigne and Wavre,
both near Louvain, against which the Germans began
to press on August i6th and iyth. But General Joffre
and the General Staffs of the allied armies had already
resolved to let the Germans advance on Brussels as soon
as they could overpower the small, brave Belgian
army. The work of the Belgians throughout the first
part of the campaign was to delay as long as possible
the forward movement of the enemy.
The Fighting Retiral of the Belgians
The Belgians fought their last delaying battle at
Aerschot, near Diest, on Wednesday, August igth.
After being repulsed on the previous day, the Germans
resumed the attack with an outnumbering mass of
infantry, supported by machine-guns. Outflanked on
both sides, the Belgians kept their ground for two hours,
fighting with desperate courage. Two regiments that
had already covered themselves with glory at Liege
held the forefront. But at last they were cempelled
to retreat on Louvain, leaving the road to Brussels
open to the invader. So surrounded were the Belgians,
that, in order to retire, they had to fling out a covering
force of two hundred and eighty-eight men under Major
Gilson. Only the wounded major and seven of his men
returned. The Belgian army withdrew into the triple
fortifications of Antwerp, and on Thursday, August joth,
the Germans entered Brussels.
While the Germans were thus pushing on in search
of food, and the cheap glory of winning an undefended
capital, the French in Alsace and Lorraine were
effecting an important advance against the southern
wing of the Teutonic host. Advancing in a series
of sharp, severe engagements amid the rocky, wooded
spurs and flooded valleys of the Vosges, they drove a
wedge between the two great fortress towns of Metz
and Strassburg in Lorraine. Then they strengthened
their position in Alsace by retaking Mulhouse.
On Saturday, August 22nd, the Germans reached the
Belgian iron-mining town of Charleroi on the Sambre,
right against the battle-front of the Franco-British
forces. These stretched from the hill town of Mons,
east of Charleroi, to the frontier of the Duchy of Luxem-
burg. On Sunday, August 23rd, General Joffre
attempted to smash up the entire German forces by a
series of concerted attacks at five points along their
far-extended line.
Contact with the British Force
To the British troops under Sir John French was
assigned the vital, arduous task of preventing a much
superior German force from driving in the left French
flank. If the British soldiers failed to hold the enemy
the French line would be crumpled up. They did not
fail.
The British troops fought on high ground, and the
Germans gathered for attack in a wood to the north-west
of Mons, where their preparatory movements were
concealed by the trees. The distance between the
armies was about three miles, and there was a canal
between them. The British gunners reserved their
fire till the enemy, thinking the defence was weakening,
swarmed out of the woods and advanced to the canal.
GUARDING BRITAIN'S FOOD SUPPLIES.
The Thames estuary, the gate of the port of London and the most important waterway on the east coast of Great Britain, was one of the main
areas wheie precautionary measures were taken, and the river was swept constantly with searchlights from British destroyers to discover any
enemy craft daring enough to enter.
To /ace jtaijr 1C,
17
THE FIRST PHASE
Then the British artillery opened fire, and the soldiers
in the trenches, aiming coolly and quickly, brought the
Germans down in thousands. The Germans had many
more guns than the British, but the deadly infantry fire
of the latter helped to make a balance, as the German
riflemen were not good shots.
The struggle lasted for thirty-six hours. Several
times the German masses reached the canal, and then
threw pontoons over the water. These, however, were
destroyed by the British artillery. Six attacks on the
British position were made by six fresh bodies of German
troops, and close and desperate fighting took place in a
village to the west of the town. Whole columns of
German infantry fell, and their piled-up bodies blocked
the streets.
General Joffre's Retreat
The invaders were continually reinforced. The
British troops fought on against the fresh forces hurled
against them, and would have held the field victorious,
if events elsewhere had not weakened the allied front.
But the French army on the right had not been able
to make good its offensive movements against the
German lines. So on Monday, August 24th, the British
had to retire from Belgium into France in order to keep
in touch with their withdrawing comrades-in-arms.
General Joffre had divided his host into five armies.
One army, on the right flank in Lorraine, acted around
Nancy on the defensive. The other four French armies
advanced at various points in a series of attacks upon the
German front. None of these attacks was successful
in piercing the German lines.
The principal French action took place in and around
Charleroi, not far eastward from the British position.
Five times the city was taken and lost by the French,
and at last the Germans fired the houses to make the
place difficult to hold.
The Arab regiments from Northern Africa, known as
Turcos, and the black troops from Senegal formed the
larger part of the French army at Charleroi. The
vehemence and fury of the Turcos' charges were astonish-
ing. The Prussian Imperial Guard — the flower of
Teutonic valour — had to be brought up to meet them.
But the French Commander-in-Chief • was finally
obliged to give over this magnificent offensive movement.
The fall of Namur — held by insufficient Belgian
troops, whom the French had been unable fully to
reinforce — and the failure of the attack in the south
through the Ardennes against the German lines of
communication, made the French attack unavailing at
the supreme point and critical hour.
Thus on the afternoon of Saturday, August 22nd, after
three days of continuous fighting, the French withdrew
from Charleroi, and the British troops at Mons moved
in line with them, to prevent being isolated and enveloped
by the enemy.
Then, according to General Joffre, the British army,
" by throwing the whole strength against forces which
had a great numerical superiority, contributed in the
most effective manner to securing the left flank of the
French army. It exhibited," continued the French
Commander-in-Chief, " a devotion, energy, and per-
severance to which I must pay my tribute. The French
Army will never forget the service rendered to it."
How the British Saved the Day
It appears that during the retirement from Mons to
Lille and Maubeuge, and farther south between Cambrai
and Le Cateau, the small, wearied, overworked British
Expeditionary Force practically saved the vast French
host from a grave disaster. By rapid marches its
men reached the position of danger and the flank of
the allied battle-line at Cambrai, after a continual
battling retreat from Mons, in which the Guards Brigade
at Landecries had fought with magnificent courage.
On Wednesday, August 26th, five German army corps,
with a vast mass of cavalry — outnumbering the opposing
British force by nearly three to one — were hurled against
its flank position at Cambrai. The front was slightly
turned, the defenders being pushed by sheer weight of
numbers a short distance to the rear. But the gallant
Second British Army Corps, under Sir Horace Smith-
Dorrien, .saved the flanking of the French army, and
inflicted great loss on the enemy.
The new front, at dawn on Friday, August 28th, still
stretched for two hundred and fifty miles across France,
barring the roads to Paris, and holding an attacking
position by the Vosges Mountains.
In spite, therefore, of the failure of the first French
offensive movement, the intact main lines of the allied
armies in France still offered battle to the advancing
German host. And in Germany the position of the
enemy was rapidly growing worse. For the Russians
were driving on the enemy far in the east, with
unexpected speed and strength.
Russian Raid into East Prussia
The first Russian army, under General Rennenkampf,
invaded Eastern Prussia, and on August 22nd, after
a two days' engagement, defeated 160,000 Germans at
the town of Gumbinnen, and captured a large number
of guns. The beaten German troops retired by forced
marches to the fortress town of Konigsberg, on the
Baltic Sea. They abandoned, without firing a shot,
their fortified position on the River Angerapp, and all
the roads beyond the river were strewn with cartridges,
shells, and knapsacks thrown away by the panic-
stricken foe.
By forced marches the Russians, on August 2yth,
had driven a wedge between the German forces which
were still being kept on the run towards Berlin. The
advance-guard of the garrison of Konigsberg was driven
in, and the great fortress was being invested.
At the same time another vast Russian host — four
hundred miles away from East Prussia — was proceeding
with equal success against Austria, and invading Galicia
— a region of oil-fields, constituting the only source of
oil supply still open to the Teutonic peoples.
The Retreat from Mons
But in the western field of war the German armies of
invasion continued to sweep onward. From Friday,
August 28th, up to Thursday, September 3rd, the left
wing of the allied armies in Northern France fought a
fierce, stubborn rearguard action against the advancing
wing of the German host. By continual heavy sacrifice
of men and weight of numbers the Germans again won
ground against the British force and two co-operating
French armies under the veteran General Pau and
General d'Amade.
On Sunday, August 3oth, the Allies retired from the
valley of the Somme, and a battle raged for two days at
the town of St. Quentin, where the enemy flung vast
numbers into the field in order to force a wedge through
the Franco-British position and secure a main route to
Paris.
The Highland regiments, especially the Argyll and
Sutherlands, who came fresh into the fight, fought
magnificently alongside the French. The Germans,
however, concentrated their finest army corps against
us, and, despite some splendid delaying actions, the
Franco-British left wing had to bend still further south-
ward to avoid being outflanked by the Teutons.
On Tuesday, September ist, when some of the Germans
were at Compiegne, thirty miles from the outer forts of
Paris, the British cavalry pushed back the hostile horse-
men and captured ten guns. The next day was the
anniversary of Sedan, and the Berliners celebrated it
by parading all the guns captured from the allied armies.
There were no British guns on show.
The Withdrawal on Paris
In the meantime the French were fighting gallantly
and steadily along the centre and right wing of the
immense battle-front. ; and at the town of Guise, General
Pau won a splendid victory over the centre of the army
of invasion.
For more than a week vast masses of men rocked in
incessant conflict round the Meuse, near the old battle-
field of Sedan, in the French and Belgian Ardennes.
The army of the Crown Prince of Germany was checked
18
THE DRAMA OF THE WAR
amid the woods, rocks, and streams of the upland
country, where the French fought as in a siege operation,
with a dogged courage unparalleled in their history. The
main effort of both nations was made round the Upper
Meuse valley.
Early in the week a fresh German army swept down
from Belgium to take the wedge-like French centre on
the side of the wedge opposite to that where the fighting
was going on ; but the French also brought up an army
at Rocroi to counter this stroke. So long as the French
held the centre, the far-stretched German wing, battling
against Sir John French and General Pau, could not
continue to advance against Paris without the risk of
being cut off from its main army. But at the end of
the week the French centre, though still unbroken,
fell back also towards Paris.
Fluctuating Success on the Russian Front
By way of relieving some of the pressure on the Franco-
British battle-line in Western Europe, the Russian army
in Prussia threatened a northward sweep movement
towards Berlin. The Russian advance was more like a
Cossack charge than the slow movement of a host of
foot soldiers. Indeed, the region of East Prusaia was
conquered largely by the flower of Russian horsemen,
who, at need, dismounted and fought as infantry. The
speed and dash of this gallant, adventurous relieving
army were, however, obtained by a sacrifice of artillery
power and of heavy infantry fighting force.
Well aware of this, the German Military Staff called
out the garrisons of the fortress towns on the Vistula,
and brought up reinforcements by rail. This fresh
army, with an overpowering quantity of heavy artillery,
surprised two Russian army corps near Osterode about
September ist, killing the Russian commander, General
Samsonoff, and inflicting grave losses on his troops.
The Russians, however, were not downcast by this
temporary reverse. Hurrying up reinforcements, they
maintained contact with the enemy, and continued their
advance on the north.
For news at once came from Petrograd — as St.
Petersburg was now called — which inspired even the
defeated Russian soldiers with joyful, mortal courage.
Far to the south, in Russian Poland, the main military
power of Austria-Hungary was broken by a sweeping,
smashing Russian victory that seemed to open another
and shorter road to Berlin.
After a seven days' fight some miles to the east of
Lemberg, the capital of the petroleum country of Galicia,
the Russians on September ist routed five Austrian army
corps — about 250,000 men. The broken, flying troops
abandoned 200 guns, lost 70,000 prisoners, and retreated
in the wildest disorder. This great victory secured the
southern line of communications of the main Russian
host of a million or more men, waiting to advance
towards Silesia, a centre of German industry. It also
deprived all the Teutonic armies and navies of their
only source of oil-fuel — the wells of Galicia.
The Battle off Heligoland
During all these land battles in Europe, the Allies
were cheered by news of an important success by the
British Grand Fleet off Heligoland on August 28th.
After British submarines had found the enemy's
torpedo craft and cruisers off Heligoland, British
destroyers raced out at dawn to battle. The German
craft fell back to lure the hostile boats within the fire of
the Heligoland forts. But the British commander was
playing a more subtle game. His destroyers partly
evaded the fortress, but offered themselves as victims to a
distant squadron of German cruisers.
" It's the bleating of the kid excites the tiger." The
German cruisers steamed out against H.M.S. Arethusa
and her destroyer flotilla. In the misty morning it
looked an easy task for the ships to sink every small
British craft visible.
Suddenly, out of the mist, and across the front of the
battered destroyers, rushed the British First Cruiser
Squadron. Concentrating their fire, they reduced the
first big German ship, the Mainz, to a wreck of spouting
flame. It was done in a minute. In three more
minutes a second German cruiser, the Koln, was a mass
of black fumes, from which spurts of fire flared out ; and
a third cruiser limped away, sinking. Two smaller
German ships were also sunk.
Then the British Battle Cruiser Squadron arrived for
the main naval action — which the enemy declined.
Arrest of the German Advance
On the evening of Sunday, September 6th, the great
wave of the German campaign against France came
to the turn. During a month the German advance had
been carried on, growing in force and swiftness at a
cost, it is reported, of 400,000 men. Great was the
sacrifice, but at times it seemed worth it. On one
occasion the whole Franco-British force had been in
serious danger. But after the situation was saved at
Cambrai, the retirement of the allied armies was purely
strategical.
General Joffre could have fought a general battle at
good advantage a few days after Cambrai, when General
Pau repulsed the Germans at Guise. But the French
Commander-in-Chief selected a different ground for his
grand attack on the invader. This ground he reached
south of Chalons, where the first Attila with his hordes
had been defeated in the year 451.
General Joffre's plan was to win half the battle before
he struck a blow, by drawing a vast mass of the Germans
into a trap. So, despite the chafing of his troops, he
retired and retired again. Paris was the bit of cheese
he left in the path of the German mouse. If the northern
German army under General Kluck tried to approach
Paris, it would be cut off from its centre and destroyed.
Though General Kluck saw the danger in time, and
drew back, under a far-spread screen of cavalry, the
general position of the whole German force still remained
very insecure. A new French army was acting on the
flank of Kluck's forces in a turning movement. Joffre
at last had clean outplayed Moltke the Second, and
the allied armies entered on the general battle with
superior positions.
The German commander tried to win back by force
what he had lost through lack of skill. He flung his
main troops on Sunday, September 6th, against the
French centre, in a desperate attempt to wedge through
the French armies, and then destroy them separately.
But by the evening of that day the German attack had
been repulsed. With this failure, the invaders' move-
ment of advance came to a stop.
Counter-advance of the Allies
The French counter-advance began. For the first
time since Napoleon was at the height of his power
the Prussian was compelled to give way in a vast,
decisive battle, to the Frenchman. Having driven back
the enemy between Fere Champenoise and Vitry, the
French centre on September yth and the following days
began a steady, slow, progressive movement against
the German centre, pushing it back in a north-easterly
direction.
But neither of the opposing centres was the decisive
place of action in the first part of the great battle.
General Joffre was only holding the enemy's centre in
a vigorous manner, and compelling him to put every
available man into the fighting-line to prevent the
German retreat becoming a German rout. On the
eastern wing the same pressure was exerted for the same
purpose.
General Kluck was getting into difficulties on the
western flank of the German host, and the grand attack
all along the line was fiercely, continuously kept up, so
as to make it unsafe for the German centre to spare any
men to reinforce Kluck on the western flank.
British Teeth in the German Flank
Here the British forces, supported by two French
armies, were preparing to deliver the mortal stroke in the
battle. When Kluck had withdrawn towards his centre,
to avoid being cut off and shattered, the British followed
him and opened their attack on September 6th, driving
2 4
THE WAR MAP
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WESTERN EUROPE
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The above map shows the entire zone of military operations frontier — that facing Belgium — was much more pregnable,
in the Western campaign. The Franco-German frontier from It will be noticed that the map also shows the distance between
Basel (or Basic) up to Luxemburg was the legitimate line on many British ports and many points on the Continent, which
which Germany might have attacked France, but this frontier will enable the reader to appreciate the distance war vessels or air-
is strongly fortified on the French side, whereas France's northern craft had to journey in order to attack or invade Great Britain.
20
THE DRAMA OF THE WAR
him ten miles across the country. Their sideways
flanking attack threatened not only to defeat and rout
Kluck's army, but to drive across the back of the
German centre and break up the entire Teutonic host,
by cutting its lines of communication. At any cost the
British attack had to be repulsed ; but the German had
to give way, with the British bayonet pricking the skin
over his heart. By September loth British troops had
crossed the Marne, capturing guns and Maxims and
taking prisoners. The enemy was driven back all along
the battle-front, exhausted and suffering severely.
Austrian Rout in Galicia
At the same time, things were going disastrously for
the Teutons in the eastern theatre of the Great War.
\Vhile gathering for their lightning-like fall, the Russians
allowed the main Austrian army to penetrate far into
Russian Poland. Only such opposition was made as
was necessary to shepherd the Austrian troops to the
position at Lublin it was desired they should occupy.
Then, on August iyth, two Russian armies quietly
united far to the south of the Austrian position, while
the main force of the Tsar collected four hundred miles
away from the southern Russian armies. It was a
daring bit of strategy, for it allowed the Austrians to
concentrate against either of the two parts of the divided
Russian force. But the thing was done with such
secrecy that the Austrian commander did not learn of
it till too late.
He placed a second army of 200.000 men round
Lemberg, in his rear, to protect his main force at Lublin
from being encircled by the northern and southern
Russian hosts. But on September 3rd, after an eight-
day battle, the second Austrian army was routed, and
many of its men, all its stores, and most of its guns
captured by General Russky, commanding the southern
Russian forces. After sending out Cossacks to take
and hold the main passes of the Carpathian Mountains,
leading to Budapest, General Russky turned north-
ward to carry out his original task of enveloping the
main Austrian forces in the rear, while the northern
Russian army ringed them round in the front.
Germany then intervened to save Austria-Hungary
from rapid, complete destruction. She threw reinforce-
ments into the Austrian force near Lublin, getting her
troops through the lessening gap between the northern
and southern Russian hosts. The Russians continued
their vast enveloping movement, and at the same time
menaced Central Germany with invasion.
Beating Back the Germans in France
Meanwhile, in the western field of war, the whole of
the German line was beaten. It appears that when
General Kluck swerved to attempt to envelop the
French centre to the south-east of Paris, his scouts
failed to inform him of the presence of the British army
on his flank. It was this extraordinary oversight oh
Saturday and Sunday, September 5th and 6th, that mainly
led to the disaster that overtook all the German forces.
Kluck had left a strong rearguard to keep off the
Fifth French Army on his flank, but when, on Sunday,
September 6th, the British army also joined in the
flanking attack, the position of the daring Kluck
became extremely perilous. He was compelled to give
the order for a retreat just when his troops thought they
were about to enter Paris.
The German general handled his disappointed men in
a swift, skilful manner. One of his rearguards with
machine-guns kept a British army corps at bay in the
south by sweeping the river with a heavy fire. But in
spite of the strong opposition, the British soldiers showed
themselves as stubborn in attack as they had been in
defence. Their heavy artillery fire seems to have dealt
the decisive stroke. The big guns opened the path
for the advance of the French flanking force to the north
of Paris, and blew clean away the German defences
in the more southern part of the position.
Then the British and the French infantrymen crossed
stream after stream in fierce, irresistible bayonet
charges that swept Kluck's army rapidly backwards.
Many German regiments broke into fragments, and hid in
the woods below the vineyard country of Champagne.
The rearguards were slain or captured with their guns
and Maxims, and in the north the Sixth French Army
began an enveloping movement.
General Joffre's Famous Order
Meanwhile, the French centre east of Paris had, with
terrible energy, engaged the armies opposed to them.
When the battle opened General Joffre issued the finest
order ever given to soldiers. The sons of France were
told that they must, for the sake of their country,
either advance or perish in hundreds of thousands where
they stood. In no part of the immense battle-front
must there be a retreat.
The ancient, slumbering passion of the fight awoke in
every Frenchman — " the French fury " never seen
on a battlefield for a hundred years. No German could
withstand it. As with the British, so with the French.
In spite of all the principles of modern strategy, in spite of
all the new, terrible, far-reaching, swift-working instru-
ments of death, on the action of which those principles
were based, the bayonet triumphed over gun, Maxim,
rifle, bomb, and sabre.
German rearguards had to be thrown out as " bayonet
fodder " to save the German armament, while a million
grey-blue troops, their backs to their foes, turned
away as fast as they could tramp or motor-lorries could
carry them. The army of the Crown Prince tried to
break a path of retreat to Metz by destroying Fort
Troyon, one of the French defences between Verdun
and Toul. But the fort was relieved before the Krupp
howitzers could complete their work. The Crown
Prince's army, therefore, had to join the general line
of the German retreat, and help to choke the roads of
communication and exhaust what stores of food and
ammunition were available.
The German Stand on the Aisne
About Saturday, September lath, the German armies
decided to make a stand. They prepared a line of
defence from Compiegne to Rheims. But their posi-
tions could not be held against the sweeping movement
of the allied forces. So, changing the battle to another
delaying rearguard action, the main German forces set
about entrenching themselves a little to the rear, on a
steep range of hills running north of the Aisne River.
When the allied armies approached to attack, and
began to set their guns in position to clear the way
for the infantry advance, Kluck acted with his old
daring. Launching furious attacks on our unprepared
lines, he tried to transform at the very last moment his
retreat into a victory. Greatly adventurous, he singled
out the British troops for this audacious attempt. But
as his own men had not improved in marksmanship or
bayonet work since Cambrai and the Battle of the Marne,
they again fell in thousands. And the British army
not only repulsed the attacks, but gained ground, winning
some of the heights above the Aisne. Then vast German
reinforcements, under Field-Marshal von Heeringen,
arrived. At the same time the Germans also reinforced
the Austrians in the eastern theatre of war.
Great Events in Galicia
The German reinforcement of 100,000 men arrived
too' late in Galicia to assist the million of Austrian
troops in their battle against the Russians. On Saturday,
September I2th, both the Germans and the Austrians
were broken and routed, with the amazing loss of a
quarter of a million men killed and wounded, and a
hundred thousand captured, with an immense armament.
The Austrians and Germans made their stand between
the Vistula and Bug Rivers. They were assailed on three
sides by the Russian armies, and fled.
Then a Teutonic stand was made on a line extending
from Gorodok to the Dniester, from which an attack
was vainly made against the Russian left. On Sept-
ember 1 2th the Russian left took the offensive, and
swept clean away the remaining Austro-German force,
which retreated to the fortress town of Przemysl. Here
21
THE FIRST PHASE
it was locked up, and far to the south the Serbs crossed
the Save and took Semlin, and marched into Austria
to join forces with the Russians.
In a desperate attempt to save Austria-Hungary
from complete destruction the Kaiser massed 800,000
men in East Prussia, and threatened Warsaw. A huge
Russian army gathered in Poland for the clash that would
decide the immediate fate of Silesia and Berlin.
G-eat Contests of Rival Artillery
After the Battle of the Aisne opened on September
1 2th we came to understand the conditions of modern
warfare as the Russians and Japanese understood them
in the Manchurian campaign. The power and range of
heavy modern artillery and the destructive effect of
modern machine-guns had enabled the Germans quickly
to turn a region of trenched, hilly country into a
fortress.
The battle changed into a siege. The rifleman and
cavalryman suddenly lost their importance, and the
gunner became the master of the situation, with scouts
to assist him in finding the enemy's hidden batteries and
take the range. For two weeks the vast siege operations
were conducted in the most trying circumstances. Rain
filled the trenches and tested the staying power of the
soaked, chilled foot soldiers to the limits of human
endurance.
Yet slowly and stubbornly the Allies gained ground.
For a week from Friday, September i8th, their splendid
troops made gradual unceasing progress in various
directions. The movement was heralded by a bom-
bardment by their heavy artillery, which had a terrifying
effect on the enemy.
At least one quarter of the striking force of the
German invading armies had fallen, and the reserve and
militia who took their place were badly shaken by big
guns. On the night of September i8th some of the
patched-up infantry regiments were launched against
the allied line, while artillery played on the Allies'
trenches. But there was no vigour in this counter-
attack. At two o'clock in the morning the hew German
infantrymen had their lesson and retired.
Repeated German Failure!
On Saturday, September igth, the German siege-guns
again tried to blow a path for their men through the
opposing front. But as soon as their troops came within
range of the hostile rifle fire they turned back. During
a burst of sunshine on the afternoon of the following
Sunday their officers led them out again. This time
they were permitted to get so close that many of them
did not return.
They came on with bands playing, to be hailed
with delight by their enemies. The sight of a distant
row of spiked helmets was a deep joy to the British
soldier alter long, trying hours of inaction in the trenches
under shell fire. The British soldiers were not dismayed
by the immense shells from the German siege-guns, that
exploded in columns of black, greasy smoke. Their
marksmanship when the spiked helmets approached
was as deadly as at Mons and Le Cateau, and the unfor-
tunate German reserve and militiamen who lived through
it were pretty nearly demoralised.
Only the heavy artillery that the Germans had
collected for the siege of Paris enabled them to prevent
the gradual retreat from becoming a rout. The battle
consisted mainly in a duel between great guns over
three or more miles of country. The allied armies were
inferior in numbers of troops, and inferior in heavy-gun
power. So progress was slow but deadly. In some
places the road of advance was paved with dead enemies.
By September 23rd Peronne was won, and an impor-
tant railway communication cut, thus diminishing
the Germans' supplies of food and ammunition.
Russian Progress in Galicia
It is one hundred and fifty miles from Lemberg, the
scene of the first smashing Russian victory, to Cracow, the
key to the new position. By September i gth the southern
armies of the Tsar had covered half the distance with their
heavy siege-guns and were bombarding the fortress city
of Jaroslav. Jaroslav was stronger than Liege, which
stayed the march of a million Germans for some weeks ;
but so fierce and pressing was the Russians' attack that
they stormed the forts on September 2ist. There then
remained only Przemysl in their path. This town,
however, was the principal fortress of Austria, and it
could only be reduced by a regular investment and
siege. By the time Jaroslav was taken the investment
of the Austrian Gibraltar was begun.
In the meantime other portions of the victorious forces
were pursuing the beaten Austro-German armies, keep-
ing the Teutons continually on the move, and herding
them into the space west of Przemysl. The storming
of Jaroslav gave the victors free passage across the River
San and enabled them to enter the country in which
the defeated Austrians and Germans had taken refuge.
This entrance was accomplished by Tuesday, September
22nd.
Nothing like this vast movement of pursuit had been
seen since Napoleon beat the Prussians at Jena and then
flung his victorious armies over the length and breadth
of Prussia, where, in twenty-four days, they completed
the work begun on the battlefields. No engines of
destruction can annihilate a million men in a day or in a
single battle. What a decisive victory leads to is a long,
close pursuit, during which the conquerors wear down
the fighting power of the fleeing host.
The Debacle of Austria
The immense length of a modern* battle-front makes
an operation like Sedan almost impossible. The enemy
has to be turned or broken, and then harried into a
demoralised mob. By Friday, September 25th, the
state of the main Austrian forces was such that disci-
pline had almost disappeared. The soldiers were out of
hand and disobeying their officers, and the officers had
lost faith in their generals and Military Staff. Between
the beaten mob west of Przemysl and the other defeated
Austrian and German armies near Cracow there was an
interval of thirty-four miles, and the Russians were
pressing the stricken masses with unabated fury.
By way, apparently, of drawing off the southern
Russian force from its terrible pursuit, the German
General Hindenburg advanced with something like
eight hundred thousand men from East Prussia, driving
General Rennenkampf before him. Hindenburg in-
vaded the western provinces of Russia, but effected
nothing beyond the destruction of a few villages. The
threat to Rennenkampf's force was more than balanced
by the movement of the southern Russian armies
against the German province of Silesia.
Three British Cruisers Torpedoed
On sea the Germans had a temporary success against
British scouting naval forces. The misty weather on
Tuesday, September 22nd, was similar to that in which
Admiral Beatty conducted his skirmish off Heligoland.
On this occasion, however, it was the Germans who got
home. Three old British cruisers — the Aboukir, Hogue,
and Cressy — were making rendezvous with some light
cruisers and destroyers twenty miles off the Hook of
Holland. A German submarine got close enough in
the mist to torpedo the Aboukir.
The Cressy and Hogue stood by and lowered their
boats to save the drowning crew. The submarine had
now an easy mark in the two stationary ships ; she
chose the Hogue and quickly sank her. Then for an
hour and a half the Cressy dodged and sought for a sign
of the submarine, with guns loaded ready to fire at the
emerging conning-tower of the enemy. The Cressy,
however, was torpedoed just as she saw her attacker.
The Fortress Warfare above the Aisns
The genius of General Joffre was finely displayed
in the battles along the Aisne. Finding the enemy
in a terribly strong fortified position, the commander
of 'the Allies wasted no men in great frontal attacks
against siege artillery and machine-guns. He turned
the tables on the German commander, and compelled
23
THE FIRST PHASE
the enemy to quit their natural fortress and come out
and be shot.
Day and night in the last week of September the
outmanoeuvred Germans sallied forth in dim, grey
masses towards the British and French entrenchments.
There they were shelled and shrapnelled and shot in
tens of thousands, till their dead and wounded strewed
the autumnal landscape.
The French gunners were the masters in all the daylight
battles. They spied the progress of their infantry
by means of the red-striped trousers, and kept up a
deadly fire on the advancing or retreating enemy. In
the meantime the German artillery, losing sight of their
invisibly-clad infantrymen, ceased firing for fear of
hitting their own distant troops. So the little French
3 in. gun ruled the battlefield. All that the French
infantryman lost by his trousers was recovered twenty-
fold by' his artillery supports.
A Great Encircling Movement
The reason why the Germans along their centre had
to waste their strength and then lose the advantage
of their position by a continued series of wild, fierce
sorties against the Franco-British trenches is found in
a distant part of the battlefield. By September 25th
a great encircling movement on the left French wing
was in progress. At the town of St. Quentin there
was a violent struggle between the northernmost French
armies and a large German force that had hurriedly
been brought by train from Lorraine and the Vosges.
General Joffre was proceeding against the German
wing as Kluck had tried to proceed against the British
Expeditionary Force in the same region after the
retreat from Mons. A ring of steel was being riveted
round the Germans. Each side flung trainloads of
fresh troops on the opposing flank, in order to lengthen
and strengthen the line and enable it to make the fatal
hook round the enemy, and then advance and roll
up his entire battle-frtmt.
In the meantime both commanders-in-chief wanted
to test the hostile centre, to see if it had been weakened
in the extending wing, and if so to break it. But
Joffre's grip was so strong on the wing that he remained
passive in the centre. That was why the Germans
had vainly to sacrifice themselves in tens of thousands
on the Aisne in an attempt to break the Franco-British
front. Menaced on the western flank, repulsed in the
centre, they tried to force a path through the line of
French forts on the east. But they were not in sufficient
strength, and were hurled far back from their original
position. By October ist everything seemed to show
that the Allies were winning ground at the critical
point.
At that time the influence of the fresh reinforcements
at the danger point around St. Quentin was admitted
by the famous commander, and Berlin was warned that
a retirement might be necessary. The line of the German
left wing, that had been facing westward for some
time, was at last bent back by incessant, violent attacks
of the allied armies.
Battles of Heavy Artillery
Field-Marshal von Heeringen, who had displaced
Kluck as commander of the German right wing, flung
his troops in masses against the enveloping line of the
advancing Allies ; but his heavy siege-artillery, throwing
its terrible shells from inaccessible platforms far in the
rear of the struggle, was no longer the dominating factor
on the battlefield. As in the South African War,
when ordinary batteries were outranged by the Boer
" Long Toms," the Navy came to the assistance of the
Army. By the close of September extremely powerful
naval guns had been hauled across France and placed
behind the allied firing-line, and thus the balance in
heavy armament was turned against the invaders.
By way of obtaining some compensation for their
unexpected reverses in France and Russia, the Germans
in the last week of September brought a large number
of their heavy siege-guns through Belgium, preparatory
to an attempt to conquer and annex the entire Belgian
territory. Some achievement had to be accomplished
to hearten the Berlin mob and intimidate the British
nation. The capture of the entire coast-line and ports
of heroic Belgium seemed the easiest work of this kind.
So it was begun by an attack on Antwerp, where the
Belgian army was in force.
After a terrible bombardment the unfortified cathedral
town of Malines was occupied by the Germans under
cover of night on Sunday, September ayth. The next
day three of the outer ring of the Antwerp forts
— Waelhelm, Wavre, and St. Catherine — were shelled by
the enemy's siege-guns. The fine Belgian army of
120,000 men occupied the entrenchments between
the forts, and beat back a series of fierce attacks along
the Scheldt. By October ist Antwerp was invested,
and the forts were subjected to an incessant bombard-
ment from dawn to sunset.
Late September on the Russian Front
In Russia matters were as menacing for the Germans as
in France. On Monday, September 28th, eight hundred
thousand Germans, under General Hindenburg, gathered
over the border of East Prussia, round the town of
Suwalki. Forests, swamps, and lakes protected them to
the south, and to the north a thickly-wooded plain was
held by their outposts. The aim of Hindenburg was
to force the river passages of the Kiemen in front of
him, and thus cut some of the Russian communications.
On the coast of Courland a fleet of German cruisers
and transports were waiting to land another army of
invasion on Russian soil. But this could not be safely
done until the passage of the Niemen, far to the south-
west, was forced. On the river the Russian position
was strengthened by the resistance of the temporary
fortress at Osowiec, and on September 2gth the Russians,
instead of acting on the defensive, attacked amid the
marshes and lakes south of Suwalki. After stubborn
fighting two positions on the German front of one
hundred miles were captured by our allies, who drove
the enemy's troops a day's march back to Prussia.
Half a German corps was killed or wounded.
Meanwhile Galicia was swept clean of Austrians,
the last remnant of their troops having sought refuge
amid the fastnesses of the snow-crowned Carpathians.
The main military force of Austria-Hungary, together
with three German army corps that had shared their
defeat and rout, were being pursued to Cracow. At
the same time two columns of the immense, victorious
Russian army of the south swept over the Carpathians
and broke a Hungarian force on the River Ung, capturing
its guns and stores.
They descended on September 3oth into the plains
of Hungary on the road to Budapest and Vienna.
By the beginning of October it looRed as though Austria
and Hungary would fall apart. The German Military
Staff had to make a supreme effort to save their allies
and their own eastern flank from the Russian attack.
One Connected Battle on East and West
On October ist, two months after the first movement
of German troops towards Luxemburg, one immense
connected battle raged in and around the lands of the
Teutonic Empires. The allied front stretched from
Holland to Courland and the march of Eastern Prussia.
In the middle it was broken by the neutral territories
of Switzerland and Italy. But to the west of Italy
the Serbian advance formed another part of the front,
with a lessening gap between it and the Russian columns
that had invaded the Hungarian plain.
Then, from the Carpathian heights, the main Russian
Army stretched through Poland, by Warsaw, to Cour-
land. The total number of Germans, Austrians, Hun-
garians, and races under Teutonic rule possibly amounted
to six and a half millions of active fighting men. Opposed
to them were Russian, French, Serbian, British, Indian,
Belgian, and Montenegrin forces of something like seven
million troops, all entrenched or marching to battle
or violently fighting.
The general position on the vast European battle
24
THE DRAMA OF THE WAR
front on Saturday, October 3rd, was that the Teutons
were beginning seriously to feel the pressure of the
superior numbers massed around them. The Kaiser
was perplexed by the situation he had created. He
rushed from Nancy in France to Graivo in Russia ;
then returned from Graivo to Cologne, having seen
half of one of his army corps slain at Nancy and two
broken in the marshes beyond Graivo.
By this time neither General Joffre in the west nor
the Grand Duke Nicholas in the east was fighting in
a national way. Each of these supreme commanders-
in-chief was basing his strategical movements on the
general European situation. What they had chiefly
in mind was the German system of railways, that con-
nected with both their fronts, and enabled the German
Military Staff to shift their offensive power rapidly
from either side.
Pressure in the East to Help the West
Thus General Joff re's immediate task of lengthening his
northern line so as to outflank the forces of Heeringen's
was of secondary importance. The conditions of a
great Franco- British victory had first to be assured in
Russian Poland by a mighty movement on the western
bank of the Vistula, which would engage the millions
of Germans and Austrian troops assembled there, and
so make it impossible to send any of them to reinforce
Heeringen in Northern France.
For this reason General Rennenkampf's victory over
the Prussian armies on the Niemen helped to ease the
position of affairs on the Franco-Belgian frontier, a
thousand miles away. By October 6th the broken
German host, flying from the swamps and woods round
the Niemen, had been reinforced by the garrison of
Konigsberg, and had re-formed along the Prussian
frontier. Their reinforcements could not restore to
them their offensive power.
Around Warsaw, and between \Varsaw and the
German frontier, the Grand Russian Army had been
collecting for two months. It was its southern wing,
under General Russky, that had captured Lemberg.
But no advance could be made towards the main road
to Silesia until the German army in East Prussia, which
threatened a flank attack, had been beaten back and
retained. This is what General Rennenkampf accom-
plished by the beginning of October. With part of the
northern wing of the Grand Army he assured the safety
of its centre.
So the Russian centre — the mightiest instrument of
war ever known to man — began on October 4th to
move onward. With gigantic feelers of Cossack cavalry
and light horse artillery it felt along the Vistula for its
enemy, testing every hostile position by innumerable
fierce, determined skirmishes. Here and there, where
the Germans were in force, they were able to telegraph
lo Berlin news of a victory — such a victory as the
Austrians won by the score till they were defeated.
The Hail of Shell on Antwero
The pressure of Russia on Germany told on the Belgians
in Antwerp. There were probably 125,000 German and
Austrian troops round Antwerp on Tuesday, October 6th.
For some days they had been investing the Belgian river
port and reducing its southernmost forts near Malines
by shell fire. Their first intention seems to have been
to blow a path by the Austrian 12 in. howitzers through
the triple circle of fortifications and slowly advance
by trench work along this opening into the city. But
by October yth they found that this cautious, regular
method of approach was too slow. For good reasons
the city had to be captured at once. So they gave
notice of a general bombardment, which opened the
lollowing day. Instead of fighting against the Belgian
army and the forts, the Germans began to rain death
upon the non-combatants.
For in the south of Belgian the ablest of German
generals — Heeringen — was getting into serious difficulties.
The French Commander-in-Chief had compelled him to
stretch his lines for another hundred miles from the
.Aisne River to the Belgian frontier. This could not
be done without additional large forces of infantry,
horsemen, and guns. For some weeks every man that
could be spared in the Teutonic territories had been
hurried to the help of Heeringen, and thrown into the
battle-line to force back the encircling French move-
ment.
But by Saturday, October 3rd, there were no fresh
troops available to meet the Indian soldiers and their
French comrades-in-arrris round the Belgian frontier.
Heeringen could only shift some of his million
men from point to point, and diminish his strength
in the south in order to prevent his northern line from
giving way While bringing up troops from Lorraine
and around Verdun he was running great risks. What
he wanted as a reinforcement was the German army
round Antwerp. It was to free this army for service
against the Franco-British front that the attack on
Antwerp was suddenly quickened and made more
savagely brutal. Rennenkampf's success in the Niemen
had stopped all Heeringen's sources of fresh troops.
Sway of Battle in North France
In the meantime General Joffre was proceeding
calmly and in silence on his double task of keeping
in concert with the great Russian movement in the
east and maintaining and strengthening his own
position in the west. All along the fortified entrench-
ments of the Aisne the stress of battle was mitigated.
The Germans awoke to the fact that by making violent
counter-attacks against prepared positions they were
playing into the hands of the Allies. They had wasted
thousands of men who were now sadly needed farther
along the still extending line. So they remained passive
along the Aisne, and two Highland regiments captured
some of their trenches.
During the first week in October the northern section
of the battle- front, from the heights north of Compiegne
to the plain east of Lille, was the scene of the most
violent fighting in the campaign. For a hundred miles
German troops and Austrian gunners, French and
Indian horsemen, infantry and artillerymen swayed to
and fro amid the continual roar of cannon and scream
of shell.
In Picardy on Monday, October 5th, when Britain's
Indian reinforcements entered on their first historic
fight on a European battlefield, things were going badly
in places with the Allies. But the lost ground was
recovered by a tremendous effort of heroism, and the
cavalry charges reached into Belgian territory. Far
in the south, where the German line had been weakened,
the French were making deadly progress.
Bombardment Warfare on the Aisne
On October I5th, a full month after the retreating
Germans made their stand by the River Aisne, the
position of affairs on this part of the battle-front was
almost unchanged. In four weeks the allied armies
had only advanced one mile or two, taking the first
earthworks of the invader. Far, however, from the
Battle of the Aisne being over, the new positions of the
Germans at the middle of October seemed to be stronger
than their first lines. They showed no signs of yielding
ground in their new open-air fortress.
All along the front the bombardment continued day
and night, the opposing guns throwing shells at each
other across the river valley, and changing shell for
shrapnel when a movement of the hostile infantry was
noticed. The troops, for the most part, sprawled or
crouched in muddy holes in the earth, getting an
occasional shot at a very cautious enemy. Neither guns
nor rifles did much harm. An attack of muscular
rheumatism was the chief danger in the allied trenches,
while enteric fever ravaged the foul German earthworks.
Meanwhile the German army, that had been brought
up to the strength of two millions and a half of men, was
endeavouring to make new use of its enormous train of
siege-artillery. The strong line of French fortresses on
the eastern frontier, from Verdun to Toul and Belfort,
was assailed on the Meuse by an army from Metz and
by the army of the Crown Prince in the Forest of
THE FIRST PHASE
Argonne in the north. But the French had been taught
a lesson by the unexpected fall of their fortress at
Maubeuge. Their great eastern fortresses were practi-
cally abandoned ; the garrisons constructed new earth-
works, like those on the Aisne, far in advance of their
forts, moving many of their guns out into hidden shelters
under the open air.
The Right Wing of the Allied Line
A chain of eastern fortifications, with movable
artillery behind them in concealed positions, stretched
from Switzerland to the province of Picardy in Northern
France. All this was an immense advantage to General
Joffre. He was able to fight as Wellington did from
the lines of Torres Vedras, in the Peninsular War. He
had, moreover, something like two million men along the
front, with another million or more Territorial reserves.
At Verdun and other critical points scattered masses
of his troops operated in advance of their lines and
defeated all the German attempts to envelop the forts.
In the Forest of Argonne and along the heights of the
Meuse, between Verdun and Toul, the French mountain
troops fought continually amid the trees and rocks, in
a fierce, wild, irregular kind of warfare, in which the
dash, skill, and initiative of the French soldier told
heavily against the docile, over-disciplined German
trooper. By the middle of October thousands of
Germans had been ambushed or outflanked round
Verdun and between Verdun and Toul. The invaders
were farther away from the frontier barrier than they
had been in August.
The strongest point in the German front was the
angle near Compiegne, where the Aisne flows into the
Oise. Within this angle Heeringen could shift his forces
rapidly from one side to the other, while the allied
commanders had to bring their troops slowly over a
larger distance round the outside of the angle. This,
therefore, was the region in which the German general
made his fiercest, swiftest attempts to pierce the allied
line.
The towns and villages north of Compiegne became
places of constant call for both Germans and French.
Usually the Germans paid the first visit. Their cavalry
and airmen came to see if the way were clear. If not,
the gunners cleared the way and the infantry advanced.
Then, from a neighbouring hill, the 3 in. French quick-
firers played on the infantry, while the heavier guns,
somewhere on the horizon, shelled the German batteries.
When the German guns were beaten the German army
retired into its holes. By the middle of October the
swaying movement of attack and counter-attack at the
strongest point in the German front appeared to have
been firmly settled by a French victory all round the
perilous angle. Only a large reinforcement of good
quality could have enabled General Heeringen to resume
the offensive.
Extension of the Ba', tie-line to the Sea
The offensive, however, was retained by General
Joffre. He moved many of his best troops from south
of Lille into Belgium on a great turning movement that
threatened at first the German right wing. Early in
October the Germans countered the blow. The British
army was then moved from the Aisne into Belgium.
There, linked with the Indian troops and the French,
it drove back the Germans, and reached the lovely old
Flemish city of Ypres on October I4th.
Had the first attempt to envelop the German right
been as vigorously pressed as was the later advance
on Ypres, the Belgian army in Antwerp might have
stood their ground, for the services of the German
forces besieging the Flemish river port would have been
urgently needed round Lille. As it was, the Germans
were able to support their great siege-howitzers, firing
from Malines on the Antwerp forts, by four army corps,
while another 50,000 men moved eastward from Brussels
to block the retreat of the Belgian army between Ghent
and Antwerp.
It was this blocking movement, effected on Thursday,
October Sth, that brought about the downfall of Antwerp.
The defending army, reinforced by three brigades of
British Marines and sailors with naval guns, could still
have held back the assailers for some time longer. But
as General Joffre could not guarantee an immediate
advance towards Ghent, King Albert decided to ensure
the safety of his army at the expense of Antwerp.
On the night of Thursday, October Sth, the main body
of Belgian and British forces crossed the Scheldt under
the protection of the forts still firing on that side of
the town. Then began in the darkness, lighted by the
flaming suburbs of the falling stronghold, the great
march to the sea. Up to Sunday, October nth, rear-
guard fighting occurred to the east of Ghent. Some
20,000 Belgian soldiers, including 2,000 British troops,
were misled by a spy, and escaped surrender only by
crossing into Holland and laying down their arms.
But the main allied forces arrived weary but intact at
Ostend with their guns.
The main army of Germans in Belgium lost much
valuable time by parading in triumph through the empty
streets of Antwerp. Though they afterwards moved on
Ghent, collecting 100,000 men there for a sweep eastward
towards Calais, the plan was carried out too slowly. By
October I2th the Allies had turned and opened battle
round Ghent, and Franco-British forces were occupying
Ypres.
Check of German Advance on Warsaw
In the eastern theatre of the Great War the German
advance on Warsaw was suddenly checked on Tuesday,
October I3th. The Germans were only ten miles from
the old Polish capital when the Russians attacked on
the left bank of the Vistula and drove their enemies
back for thirty miles. Five million men were reported
to be under the Russian colours. Their front stretched
across Poland, following the course of the Vistula, then
bent down towards the Austrian frontier, and extending
along the Carpathian Mountains into Hungary. Behind
this front were vast bodies of reserves. The Germans
had in Russian Poland four great armies that began to
advance on September 2yth by different routes, con-
verging to the point at which a decisive blow was to be
struck. This point was Warsaw. At the same time a
large German-Austrian force operating from Cracow
endeavoured to reconquer Galicia. Under such circum-
stances the hugest of human conflicts began.
The Russian commander handled the Germans as he
handled the Austrians. He had arranged it, at the end
of August, so that Austria-Hungary was drained of her
military power on Russian soil, where there was no grid-
iron of railway communications to support the defeated
invaders. In the same manner he began in the middle
of October to sap the strength of Germany, after
drawing his prey far out into the roadless mud of
Russian Poland.
Russian Uss of German Spies
German spies in Warsaw were protected by the
Russian commander. He allowed them to see every-
thing, and report to their masters that Warsaw was
very weakly defended. This happened on October I5th,
when a German host of 300,000 men were close to the
Polish capital. On the Russian Military Staff there was
a brilliant student of the workings of the Teutonic mind.
At a stroke he transformed the German system of
espionage into a Russian instrument of strategy.
When the spies had done their work of misinforma-
tion, purposely disseminated by the Russians, they were
shot. Enormous reinforcements of Russian troops,
ready for battle, and concealed to the north of Warsaw,
were then lined along the Vistula. The Germans ad-
vanced, confident of having found the weak point in
the Russian front. A panic broke out in Warsaw,
perhaps with the encouragement of the military author-
ities, and gave the invaders increased confidence. But
when they tried to cross the Vistula to enter Warsaw
on October iyth they were suddenly flung back for
twenty miles on one wing and thirty miles on the other.
Next day they violently counter-attacked, only to be
more violently repulsed.
C
2fi
THE DRAMA OF THE WAR
Crossing the Vistula in turn, the Russians swung
forward on a line stretching from Warsaw to Ivangorod.
Fed by the continual reinforcements, this line rapidly
grew in length and strength, and curled round the forti-
fied entrenchments to which the Germans had with-
drawn. On the night of Tuesday, October 2oth, the
300,000 invaders abandoned their position and fled
towards their own distant frontier. The Grand Duke
Nicholas then ordered a general attack. As the Germans
retreated on their eastern front before the victorious
Russians, they vainly tried to advance on their western
front against the Belgians.
Belgian Defence of the Yser
The heroic Belgian army, after arriving intact at'
Ostend, did not wait long for its revenge upon the
ravagers of its country. After a brief period in which
the troops from Antwerp rested and refitted, while
French Marines guarded the dune-lands by the sea, the
Belgians entrenched on the little canalised River Yser,
about eleven miles south of Ostend. Here, in a wild
region of blown sand, rising into innumerable hillocks and
falling into countless hollows, a German army of 40,000
men from Ghent advanced, confident of an easy victory.
The Kaiser's plan — openly announced in the
German Press — was to sweep down by the sea-shore on
to Dunkirk and Calais, and then turn inland in a great
hooking, enveloping movement against the Franco-
British left wing that stretched northward to Vpres.
With this view the Germans seized Ostend, and then
began their wide-fronted march along the coast. The
battle opened on Sunday, October i8th, with an action
at Midclelkerke, a few miles south of Ostend, between
the Belgian advance guard and the German army.
It was the most extraordinary fight in the history of
the human race. It was fought on land and on water,
in the clouds and under the waves. Three new minia-
ture British battleships — the monitors Severn, Humber,
and Mersey — steamed into the shallow shore water and
shelled the German batteries and shrapnelled the German
troops, while British flying machines swept over the
enemy's trenches and fought with German flying men.
The monitors were built in Britain for the Brazilian
Government, for service as river warships. They draw
less water than a destroyer, and yet possess a mightier
armament than a light cruiser. They were a new type
of fighting-machine, and the British Government had
taken them over at the outbreak of the war for just
such a purpose as they were now fulfilling. They had
large, powerful guns and deadly howitzers. Our aerial
scouts directed the fire of these surprising monitors.
The German land batteries were practically powerless
against their new adversaries. The British sailor-men,
sheltered in armoured turrets on moving ships had only
two casualties, a man and a boy wounded, in the Middel-
kerke action. The Germans fell in hundreds. To
defend them, German submarines appeared on the coast
and launched torpedoes at our monitors. But a monitor
only skims the water, and the torpedoes went under the
keel. Moreover, there was a strong flotilla of British
destroyers protecting our latest weapons of sea-power.
Battle for the Road to Calais
On Tuesday, October 2oth, the main battle for the
coast began at Nieuport, where the Belgians were
entrenched for twenty miles along the canalised banks
of the Yser to Dixmude, and beyond towards Ypres.
The Germans brought up mobile heavy artillery and
were certain of blowing their way through the Belgian
trenches, as they had done outside Antwerp. Here it
was that the three British monitors proved of priceless*
value in the defence. They were forts of huge strength
that could dodge the fire of the German batteries with
the speed of a cyclist. The German batteries, on the
other hand, had to be horsed and slowly shifted, under
the eyes of British aerial scouts. The British naval
gunner was absolute master of the situation. He
smashed the German artillery, blew German regiments
to bits, and left his ally — the Belgian soldier — in a
position of tremendous advantage.
At Dixmude, where the fire of the monitors hardly
told, the Belgian army gallantly held its position.
In the meantime, like a knife, swinging in a circular
movement on the pivot of Dixmude, the Belgians by the
shore, reinforced with British machine-gun sections from
the battle-squadron, swept up the coast towards Ostend.
British monitors, destroyers, and flying men formed the
right advance guard that shelled a path for them, with the
German submarines still vainly showing their periscopes
to aim their torpedoes. By Wednesday, October 2ist,
the last desperate enveloping movement made by
the German Commander-in-Chief to save his lines of
communication seemed to have failed.
Operations near Lille
For the Allies still held the wedge firmly driven into
Belgium to the north-west of Lille. The River Lys,
flowing northward from France to join the Scheldt at
Ghent, was the path by which the British, Indian, and
French armies were advancing. On October 22nd they
occupied the level country between the Yser at Dixmude
and the Lys at Menin, and a violent battle was going on
some ten miles north of the entrenched front. There
the great cavalry charges, in which French, British, and
Indian horsemen bore down the entire mounted forces
of Germany's western armies, had been displaced by
artillery duels and slow infantry movements.
The battle around Lille was long and terribly violent.
In places the Allies fought their way forward, house by
house. Their riflemen then lost the houses they won
through the enemy bringing his quick-firing guns to bear,
but afterwards recovered the shelled ruins by the
advance of their own artillery. Slowly but continually
the Germans were beaten back. General Joff re, with grim,
patience, was gradually bleeding Germany white — as Bis-
marck once threatened to bleed France. The Grand Duke
Nicholas of Russia, on the other side, did the hammering.
The Great Battles of Poland
A little less than three months after the orders for
mobilisation in Russia and German)' these two Empires,
possessing the most formidable armies ever seen on
earth, clashed in the supreme struggle on land. Great
as had been their preliminary battles in Prussia and
Poland, when measured by the standard of former
wars, they were only outpost affairs in comparison with
the main struggle that opened in the second week in
October and culminated towards the close of the month.
A German host of more than a million men, with half
a million Austrian supports, moved swiftly towards
three points on the Vistula. The left wing attacked
near Warsaw in heavy numbers. The centre tried to
force a passage over the wide river at Ivangorod, an old
romantic Polish city on the Upper Vistula, formerly
known as Demblin. The right wing, mainly composed
of Austrian troops, attacked on the south along the San
River, joining the Vistula near Sandomir. At the same
time another powerful German army advanced with
great vehemence far in the north, all along the frontier
of East Prussia. Altogether, there may have been two
million Teutons taking part in the vast movement.
The Russian Commander-in-Chief could not divine at
what point the main attack would be made. But, as
we have seen, he skilfully anticipated the blow by
attracting a huge force di Germans towards W'arsaw,
where he was fully prepared, and there his men drove
in_and outflanked the enemy and harried them in a long
pursuit to Lodz. This, however, was not the main
attack. The German commander, General von
Hindenburg, exerted his greatest force farther up the
Vistula, between Ivangorod and Josefov, a week's hard
marching from Warsaw.
Even when the German left wing was driven back,
the German centre fiercely continued its forward move-
ment. There was a week before it could be taken in
the rear by part of the victorious Russian troops from
Warsaw. If by the time they arrived the passage of
the Vistula had been won and the country beyond
occupied, the first phase of the campaign would have
still been a great German success.
27
THE EASTERN AREA OF THE GREAT WAR
Principal fortresses
Other „
Railways
Roads
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The first phase of the Great War upon Germany's eastern
frontier included the Russian occupation of Galicia and the
successful victories over the armies of Austria — Rennenkampf's
brilliant raid into East Prussia up to the walls of Konigsberg,
a move that succeeded in its object of alarming Germany and
causing the Kaiser to rush troops from the battlefields of France
to the succour of his beloved Prussia — the German success
amid the marshes of the Masurian Lakes, when the Russian
General Samsonoff was killed and his army defeated — the steady
German advance upon Warsaw under the strategic retreat of
the Russians, who led the Germans to extend their lines and
then fell on them at the proper moment. The beginning of
November saw the Eastern campaign approaching the stage of
field siege warfare that had already been reached in the West.
THE DRAMA OF THE WAR
The deadly Russian counter-stroke came at last from
Ivangorod. There was an advance guard entrenched
in the forests across the stream. Vowing to die to the
last man, they drove back the reconnoitring Uhlans,
and compelled the German centre to deploy for a grand
attack. While this attack was being made, the Russian
army on the other side of the river moved its guns
against the left flank of the Germans, and the fortress
of Ivangorod thundered against the German front.
After this terrible fire had gone on for seven hours, the
main Russian infantry advanced across the bridge,
deployed, and charged the Germans in front and on
both flanks, driving them from their position on October
26th and 2yth.
The Cossack horsemen then swept round to harass
the retiring enemy. But, meanwhile, a strong Russian
column, that had set out from the north six days before,
arrived, after a march of one hundred and thirty miles,
full on the rear of the German centre. The invaders'
retreat on this part of the immense battlefield was changed
into a precipitate flight. It was then a race for the Warta
River entrenchments, near the German Polish frontier,
between the victorious Russian troops and the broken
German centre. The German left wing was also retiring
past Lodz to the Warta, and the Austrian right wing on
the San, cut off likewise from its centre, was in danger.
Under such conditions it looked as though the vast
German defeat on the left bank of the Vistula in October
would prove as decisive and deadly as was the Austrian
defeat on the right bank of the Vistula in September.
In both cases Russia dealt three swift, terrific strokes,
and completely broke down all opposition.
Balance of Force* throughout October
Nothing so decisive as the two great Russian victories, ,
first over Austria, then Germany, had been obtained
by the Allies on the western battle-front. General
J off re, having nothing like the illimitable forces of the
Crand Duke Nicholas, followed a slower and more
•economical plan of battle. He manoeuvred nearly
always for the great advantages of a good defensive
position, so as to let the enemy waste himself in ad-
vancing against the dreadful machinery of modern war.
•Only when his own line weakened at any place did
he bring forth reserves for a strong counter-attack.
So all through October the long battle-front gently
swayed in a remarkable balance of forces on either side.
The northern British army oscillated between Ypres
and Roulers, and the Belgian troops moved a mile or
two in front and behind the Yser Canal. Seven times
the Germans crossed the canal, only to meet the French
supports of the Belgians and fall in awful slaughter.
There was just enough weakness in the allied line
from the sea to the colliery towns south of Lille to tempt
the Germans continually to storm it in huge numbers.
The Germans in one place swept over a rise and broke
through a British trench. Just when they were shout-
ing in the joy of victory, the reserves — Indian troops — -
gave them the " mad minute " of rapid rifle fire, and
then charged with the steel point through the enemy's
front till they reached and captured some of the guns
in the rear.
The Continued Struggle- for the Dunes and Dykes
" I am nibbling at them," General J off re remarked
•when he was asked how the war was going on. But the
bites he made in Flanders and Artois towards the close
of October were lion-like rather than mouse-like. On
the Yser Canal it was reported that the Germans lost
in killed, wounded, and prisoners about 100,000 men —
far more, probably, than the Russians put out of action
in the Battle of Warsaw, or even in the Battle of Ivan-
gorod. The terrible gun fire of British monitors and
other British and French warships off the Flemish
coast, no doubt, added greatly to the losses of the
Germans. But all along the critical line, from Nieuport
to the colliery towns of Northern France, the sapping of
the strength of the Germans went on night and day.
The Germans continually tried to do what the Russians
had done to them and to the Austrians — storm the
position by direct frontal attacks. First came a long,
shattering bombardment of the fire of hundreds of guns,
concentrated mainly on one point by field-telephone
control. When the Allies were thought to have been
blown from their watery trenches, the German infantry
came on in the old close formation, line after line of
them, to bear down all opposition by sheer pressure of
numbers. But it never succeeded. The German
bayonet was not handled with the same skill and power
as the Russian bayonet. Moreover, the Allies were
mostly marksmen. They often held their fire till each
of their bullets went through more than one body. Then,
as the Germans reeled back and hesitated, while their
officers screamed at them and threatened them with
revolvers, the Allies rose up for their turn with the
bayonet. By October 2gth the Germans seemed to
have exhausted themselves, and to be waiting for more
" food for powder."
The Flooding of the Coast Plains
On Friday, October 3oth, the Belgian army, defending
the coast road to Calais, flooded the country round the
Yser and trapped a German brigade in the inundation.
This brought to an end the furious German attempt to
advance by Nieuport. On Monday, November 2nd, the
German Military Staff admitted defeat in its wireless
news, hastily withdrew its troops, and concentrated
westward those who were still unshaken by their dread-
ful experience.
The British regiments had been moved from the Aisne
valley to the new, critical point on the battle-front.
Once again they were allowed the perilous honour and
exhilarating glory of forming the spear-head of the allied
forces. They were arranged in three army corps on a
front of about forty miles. The Indian troops were
spread out behind them as reserves, together with
various Territorial battalions. The centre of the
British lines was at Armentieres, a colliery town within
cannon shot of Lille, the Manchester of France.
Pivoted on Armentieres, the British operated north
and south, fighting at the same time two of the greatest
battles in the history of the world — battles compared
with which Blenheim and Waterloo were skirmishes.
The first battle raged for weeks round Ypres. On
October 3oth the enemy made a violent attack with
large reinforcements on the lines south of Ypres. For,
having lost the day against the Belgians, they tried
to redress the balance by a victory over the British,
who, outnumbered by four to one, were compelled to
retire for some miles, but at the same time their
comrades to the north of Ypres advanced. What was
lost with the right hand was regained with the left.
Desperate Struggles around Ypres
It was then that the Indian supports came into action.
They recovered some of the lost ground, and though the
Germans still poured in reinforcements and developed
enormous strength, General French's troops — both
British and Indian — pushed them back with prodigious
slaughter. Night and day the fierce tussle went on.
Villages were taken and lost and retaken by bayonet
charges, cannonades, and armoured motor-car attacks.
The beetroot fields around were stripped of their leaves
by shell and shrapnel. Steadily the left wing of the
British force advanced over the battlefield till it won,
at the beginning of November, a forest above the villages
it had first lost. By Thursday, November 5th, the
British force round Ypres formed a great spear-head
that was driven for miles into the German front.
In the meantime the British troops in the centre and
on the right wing were rocking in an equally violent
struggle to the north and south of Lille. In the north
they were sorely pressed by a Bavarian army — the same
that the Kaiser had hoped would meet the English
" just once.'' They met the Territorials of the
London Scottish Regiment, who broke them in a
splendid bayonet charge on Saturday, October 31 St.
Fresh German reinforcements, however, succeeded in
29
7HE STEADY PROGRESS OF THE ALLIES' ADVANCE
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APPROXIMATE
BATTLE. FRONT SEPT. 12
Copyright " tleoyraphta" ltd., S5. Fleet Street, l.nndon, E.C.]
This map shows in graphic form how the Germans were pressed
back from their point of furthest advance, which reached its
flood and the beginning of its ebb on September 5th, 1914.
At that time the opposing lines were not extended to the west
as they were later on. The prolongation of the battle-front
was occasioned by General French's attempt to outflank the
attacking force, and step by step the line extended to Amiens,
Lille, and finally to the sea near Ostend, when the attempt
to outflank could no longer be extended for lack of terrain
on which to operate. It must be understood that the map is
not claimed to be accurate in every detail, because the positions
of the armies were not revealed, but it is generally accurate, and is
exceedingly instructive. The movement to the central line was a
precipitate retreat; that to the third line wa^ a stern fight.
30
THE DRAMA OF THE WAR
winning the village of Messines, that the gallant Scots
had taken, and {or several days afterwards the village
remained the hurricane centre of the battlefield. A
new Bannockburn was fought by one Scottish force.
In front of their trenches the soldiers made pits, some
of them twenty feet deep, covered with branches and
loose turf. So numerous were the Germans that in their
attack they filled the pits, and came on over the bodies.
Never has there been such slaughter of well-armed,
disciplined troops as the Germans underwent. Many of
them were lads and old men, hastily trained, and cruelly
flung forth in close formation in bayonet charges. It was
less war than murder to launch them against veteran
troops. They suffered pitiably, horribly, and at the end
of a week's fighting the Allies still held the line from
Messines to La Bassee. It had bent in places, onlj' to
bulge out again.
A German Policy of Despair
At every point along the north-west lines the German
forces were held or driven back. The tremendous
mass of them — more than ever has been concentrated on
so short a front — produced only transient curves in the
allied line, and awful w:as the loss of men, by which the
Kaiser won little advances that were lost the next day
or so. The troops of the Allies, at times, tired of killing,
but the French army, connecting with the British force
near La Bassee, slew till the men dropped from fatigue.
They had before their eyes their ruined country to nerve
them for unceasing slaughter. On November ist the
Germans tried to break through the French line and
capture the city of Arras. But the attempt failed.
All the violent, disastrous rushes made by German
armies against the Belgian, British, and French trenches
in the latter part of October and the first week in
November were really paroxysms ot despair. They were
the last desperate attempts to obtain a decisive victory
on the western battle-front, after the tremendous
defeat of German arms in the eastern theatre of war.
The triumphant Russians on November and had
reached almost to the line of German defences on the
River Warta, and the headquarters of the Crown Prince
had been moved over the German frontier. The Austrian
supports of the retreating Teuton host were surrendering
position after position, and in the north the Rxissians had
again invaded Prussia, preparatory to the great frontier
battle in the south that would open the gateway to Berlin.
.East and west, Germany was severely handled.
The Battle of the Pacific
At sea the great; blockade went on, and the vigour
of it was intensified by mining all passages to the North
Sea. The incidents in the naval war of attrition pro-
fited the enemy nothing. On Sunday, November ist,
a squadron composed of two German battle-cruisers, the
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, and three light cruisers —
the Dresden, Leipzig, and Niirnberg — collected near
Valparaiso on the Chilian coast, and surprised a small
squadron of British warships under Admiral Cradock.
The light cruiser Monmouth and the armoured cruiser
Good Hope were both sunk. But this loss was offset
to some extent through the sinking of the German
armoured cruiser Yorck by a mine near Wilhelmshaven,
on Wednesday, November 4th, and the German admiral
met disaster a few weeks later, as will be recorded
in the continuation of this history of the great drama
of the war in the second volume of this work.
Position of Things in November, 1914
At the beginning of November the contending forces
in the west were in the position of two wrestlers who,
after some preliminary work of grip and catch, spring and
retire, hold each other fast in a tight lock where each,
having measured the strength of the other, is standing
with every muscle tense, ready to meet the next move that
the antagonist may attempt. And in the eastern area
a similar condition of things was approaching, but
had not yet arrived.
On the sea the position of things was less equal. The
overwhelming strength of the British Fleet gave the
Allies a silent victory on the day war was declared,
and the German " High Canal Fleet," as it was named
by a brilliant journalist, preferred the harbour to the
high sea. It was besieged as truly as ever land fort
was besieged. Like the garrison 'of a land fortress,-
units made occasional sorties, and did occasional hurt
to opposing units ; but the grand effect was a siege on
water and a blockade of German North Sea ports that
effectively kept out many import products of which
Germany stood in sore need to carry on the campaign.
Sympathy of Neutral Countries
Germany had tried hard to win sympathy and approval
in neutral countries, and admiration must be expressed
for the persistence of her efforts and the thoroughness
of her organisation to achieve this object, although not
for the system of mendacity that she chose as her means.
Especially was it desired to gain the friendly attitude
of the United States. But in spite of every effort American
public opinion remained in the mass anti-German. It
was intensely pro-Belgian, and the plight of stricken
Belgium won for her unfortunate sons and daughters
practical help in the form of food and clothing from
every city and state in the union.
Italy had been experiencing a swelling tide of sympathy
for the antagonists of Germany. The death of King
Charles of Rumania removed a barrier that would have
prevented action had the sentiment of the country
called for intervention on the side of Russia. Portugal
was anti-German to a man, and had empowered its
Government to act on the side of the Allies at the time
it should deem proper. Spain, with its British queen,
its pro-British king, and its French sympathies, was
undeniably anti-German. Holland, with the horrors of
w^r in ghastly evidence across her frontier, guarded her
neutrality, but her people did not hesitate to express
their pro-Belgian sympathies. Denmark sat in fear of
her southern neighbour, remained neutral, and hoped
for Germany's vanquishment. The Scandinavian peoples
remained neutral in fact and divided in sentiment.
Switzerland was also divided in sentiment, but neutral
in official attitude, jealous of her neutrality as Holland
was of hers. Greece was pro- British to a man, and
Bulgaria was in the impossible position of being anti-
Serbian and pro-Russian. Only Turkey had come under
the heel of German intrigue, and she had been rushed
into war on the Teuton side by adventurous leaders
who did not represent the feeling of the nation.
Thus, throughout the world, German diplomacy had
suffered crushing defeat, and German statesmen looked
out upon half a dozen countries neutral in official
attitude, but sympathetic towards her enemies, and
many of them waiting the approved time to throw the
weight of their arms into the scale against her.
Bilanc: of Advantage afler Three Months' War
But the net results of the progress of arms during
three months of war may be best estimated by putting
two hypothetical questions — and answering them. If,
by some feat of prescience before war was declared,
the German commanders had seen what would be their
actual position after about one hundred days of fighting,
would they have declared war ? And the second question
is : Would a similar feat of prescience have caused the
allies to hesitate in taking up the gage of battle ? To
the first question there can be only one answer — that
foreknowledge would have prevented the most hot-
headed of Germany's military leaders from recommend-
ing that the Germanic legions be sent out to kill and to be
killed. And the answer to the second question would be
that realised fact brought no regrets for a course of
action adopted with all solemnity and with the fullest
measure of determination. Even the heart-wrung hero
of Belgium, Albert the Brave, surveying the heaps of
stones that once were fair villages, and the blood-
drenched fields where once his now-massacred subjects
ploughed in peace and reaped in plenty, would turn
his dauntless eyes to the enemy who had " shut the gates
of mercy on mankind." And, in reply to the taunt of
coward force that he had lost everything by his policy
of resistance, he would speak the words placed in his
mouth by the eloquent cartoonist, " But not my soul ! "
31
What of the faith and fire within us,
. Men who march away
Ere the barn-cocks say
Night is growing grey,
To hazards whence no tears can win us ?
What of the faith and fire within us,
Men who march away ?
In our heart of hearts believing
Victory crowns the just,
And that braggarts must
Surely bite the dust ;
March we to the field ungrieving,
In our heart of hearts believing
Victory crowns the just.
— THOMAS HARDY.
The British
Army Goes to
France
Scotland and France were anoient allies, and the coming of the Scots to Boulogne with the British Expeditionary
thrilling moment for the French onlookers.
Force was a
32
The British Army on its way to War
King George's Message to the Expeditionary Army
" You are leaving home to fight for the safety and honour of my Empire.
" Belgium, which country we are pledged to defend, has been attacked, and France
is about to be invaded by the same powerful foe.
" I have implicit confidence in you, my soldiers. Duty is your watchword, and I
know your duty will be nobly done.
"I shall follow your every movement with deepest interest, and mark with eager
satisfaction your daily progress. Indeed, your welfare will never be absent from
my thoughts.
" I pray God to bless you and guard you and bring you back victorious."
British Expeditionary Force disembarking at Boulogne.
British Artillery, with guns and horses, passing through Boulogne.
33
Expeditionary Force lands in France
Lord Kitchener's Counsel to the British Soldier
"Remember that the honour of the British Army depends on your individual conduct.
"It will be your duty not only to set an example of discipline and perfect steadiness
under fire, but also to maintain the most friendly relations with those whom you are
helping in this trouble.
"The operations in which you are engaged will, for the most part, take place in a
friendly country, and you can do your own country no better service than in showing
yourself in France and Belgium in the true character of a British soldier.
" Be invariably courteous, considerate, and kind. Never do anything likely to injure
or destroy property, and always look upon looting as a disgraceful act.
" Your duty cannot be done unless your health is sound. So keep constantly on
your guard against any excesses."
Pontoon Section of British Engineers disembarked on the quay at Boulogne.
The " Entente Cordiale " in being — British and French soldiers together at Boulogne.
34
Britain Prepares Against the Teutonic Tyrant
Trooos from Ireland. Detachment of the Royal Horse Artillery marching through Dublin.
Since the mobilisation order similar scenes have been witnessed in almost every town
in the United Kingdom.
_^^^____^^^^— ^^^^^^—
The contagious enthusiasm of our fighting men. Troops giving a rousing cheer before they left Derby
Industrial England becomes an Armed Camp
Artillerymen of the Expeditionary Force at Aldershot, loading their
limbers with live shells.
A troop of soldiers, in marching order threading the traffic of the
Thames Embankment, as they prepared to take part in the
flighting for home and honour.
Territorials holding up a motor-car, as they guard an important
position on a country road.
The Guards marching past Buckingham Palace before setting out on active service.
3C
Grenadier and Scots Guards off to the Front
The Scots Guards marching to Waterloo Station on their way
to the battlefields of France.
'"THE departing troops, as they marched to their entraining
points, carried the domestic atmosphere right up to
the railway platform. The boy who carries his father's
hat is as proud of the privilege as is the father who is
carrying his three-year-old daughter on his shoulder.
The happy father is Private Wilkinson.of the Scots Guards.
The first battalion of the Grenadier Guards marching from Wellington Barracks to Waterloo Station on its way to prove to the
Kaiser that they can still show the old fighting qualities that the regiment displayed under Marlborough in the Low Countries,
Wellington at Waterloo, and Roberts in South Africa.
37
An Historic Moment — General French Lands at Boulogne
Horses as well as men look very fit after their sea-passage. Inset: The British Field-Marshal acknowledges the welcome on the quay.
British gunners ashore at Boulogne, ready for the land iourney.
Scots and French soldiers comoare notes.
38
French Hero-worship of the British Soldier
" If it had not have been for our brave British troops, who knows
what would have become of France ? " The italics are ours, for
the remark was made by a French soldier. Kindly, big-souled
France has taken the British soldier to her great heart, and looks
upon him as one of her own sons. He is called Tommee, with the
accent on the last syllable, and, since he courageously stopped the
German rush to Paris, is in danger of being overwhelmed by
kindness. The photographs show a group of Tommies in the
market square of a French town, and one of our cyclists holding
an audience with some of his French comrades.
39
Some Camera Pictures of British Soldiers on French Soil
Getting forward with the guns.
French soldiers of the Line watching the arrival of their British allies.
A halt bv the wayside.
40
Building up Britain's Army on the Continent
How our cavalrymen rode down to the boat-train for the Continent.
Troops entraining for a southern seaport
Qett.ng chargers to enter the railway vans.
Marching away, with kitbags slung over their shoulders, for the great new adventure on the fields of old Franc
FIELD-MARSHAL SIR JOHN FRENCH
Sana * .
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCE IN THE FIELD.
TV, fure i-tigf *0\
41
All in a day's work— To the Front and back again
British infantry lined up for kit inspection at Havre
immediately before departing to the front.
A group of wounded British soldiers playing cards oh their
voyage home from Havre.
One of the Middlesex and a Yorkshire Light Infantryman at a
military hospital.
Football enthusiasts who enlist may still have opportunities to play their favourite game. This picture shows a party of British
T-V ff *• soldiers indulging in the pastime at Havre whilst a French sentry watches them with interest.
U co I p
France Again Familiar with the " Garb of Old Gaul"
Several centuries have passed since, in the days of the Franco-Scottish Alliance, the kilt was no uncommon sight across the Channel.
Affectionately known as the " Garb of the Gaul," it again evokes interest among our Allies when the London Scottish march past.
Mutual pleasure : Representatives of two great fighting nations, the hardy Scot and the
French veteran, salute each other at a railway-station.
A London Scottish Territorial shares
a light with a wounded Frenchman.
43
With the Union Jack on the Continent
Two commissariat waggons taking equipment
and comforts to British troops in the firing-line
in Belgium. Horse transport has by no means
been entirely superseded by mechanically-pro-
pelled vehicles in warfare, and for cross-country
work, away from hard roads, the horse will
always be necessary.
A high-power motor-car, with its armed guard, employed in conveying Staff
Officers to different positions in the firing-line. It is also used for despatch-carrying.
Two British motor-cycle scouts explain the
position of the enemy to a French officer.
A British Maxim-gun company on the march in France. In the front of the column are two signallers, while the deadly guns are carried
by mules. These machine-guns, which can fire over two hundred shots per minute, have inflicted severe loss upon the enemy.
British Reinforcements for the Allied Armies
General Smlth-Dorrien (in centre) with his Staff officers embarking at Folkestone for the front.
'THE despatch of the first British Expeditionary Force was
only the beginning of a great, steady, and increasing
effort by Great Britain to do her share of the war operations
on land. The Government resolved that in numbers as
well as in quality the land forces would be commensurate
with the population, extent, and importance of the great
British Empire. And the people of the British Isles, as
of the far-flung territories overseas, put its finest manhood
on the altar of duty and honour.
At the beginning of the war the trained army that Great
Britain was able to throw into the scales of war was light
numerically — but it was heavy in quality. That the
Germans recognised this became evident as they saw their
rush on Paris arrested, and the venom of their hatred
against Britain became intense in its fierceness.
Numerically the strength of the British forces became
greater week by week. The first task was to replace the
sad wastage of' war so that the original strength should
be maintained. The policy adopted by Lord Kitchener
and followed during the early part was to make up this
wastage twice over. Meantime the new army was being
made and the sons of Britain oversea were rushing to the flag.
The sturdy sons of the Scottish Highlands setting out for the new battlefields of France.
For all we have and are.
For all our children's fate,
Stand up and meet the war,
The Hun is at the gate !
Our world has passed away
In wantonness o'erthrown.
There is nothing left to-day
But steel and fire and stone !
Though all we know depart.
The old commandments stand :
" In courage keep your heart,
In strength lift up your hand."
Britain's New Army of Freedom
London
recruits for the new army raised by Lord Kitchener, starting their first drill in Hyde Park.
Since Oliver Cromwell, by
an appeal to the religious
spirit of the Puritans, created
in his model army the finest
engine of war in the modern
world, our nation has never
responded so quickly and
sternly to an appeal from
a commander as it has done
to the call made by Lord
Kitchener for the immediate
creation of a new Army of
Freedom. Our forefathers
had to use the press-gangs,
and recruit from every prison
in the kingdom, in order to
win Trafalgar and Waterloo.
When the appeal went forth
that the danger to the country
Eager to serve their King and country.
Recruits at Whitehall taking the oath.
demanded the raising of large
levies of new troops, the towns
and cities of England, Scot-
land, and Ireland witnessed
scenes of which the photo-
graph below is typical. Men
waited for hours in order to
offer enthusiastic service to
their country's cause, and
fought with friendly rivalry to
get before the recruiting officer
to record their names. Silk
hat and cloth cap, straw and
bowler, indicated that the
would-be soldiers were drawn
from all ranks of society, a di-
versity that had a strong unity
in its determination to help in
the overthrow of Kaiserism.
>w London at once responded to Lord Kitchener's appeal. Scene at Scotland Yard, where a multitude of gallant young
surged into the recruiting office from early morning to past midnight.
47
Turning Young Patriots into Trained Fighting-men
A batch of recruits in the new army acquiring the important art ol
handling a rifle correctly. They were most enthusiastic pupils.
Recruits of Lord Kitchener's new army taking cover behind the boards of a polo-ground where they are training. The British
Army in the field is skilled in the ability to take advantage of every bit of cover when attacking an enemy across open ground, and they
bought their skill at a high cost in the Boer War. Inset : Embryo pipers.
Bayonet practice is always popular. The practising weapons have no sharp edge and
no point. The men wear heavily-padded clothes and visors to protect their faces.
Lying in the trenches will be no novelty to these
reoruits. They are practising it now.
48
Building Up the Grand Old Army
The King inspecting the foreign service battalion of the old-established Honourable Artillery
Company, of which his Majesty is Captain-General, before they leave headquarters in London.
Recruiting for the Old Public Schools and University Men's Force was such a success that the full
strength of five thousand men was obtained within ten days. This picture shows the force drilling
in Hyde Park, London.
[Ernest flrooki.
H.R.H. The Prince of Wales
In full marching-order dress.
Friends within our gates are preparing to take part in the war. A Foreign Legion has been formed in Bono, and some of the
. a e , n o e
recruits are shown here. A battalion of 30O men, representing fourteen different nations, with our Allies preponderating, is
also encamped at Wembley, one o« the sentries on guard— a Frenchman in khaki— being shown above
49
The New Million Army in the Making
A company of recruits who were formerly employees in the service of the Post Office at signal practice in Regent's Park
Some of
Lord Kitchener's first half-million at bayonet practice at Aldershot. They drill incessantly and earnestly.
Recruits at Aldershot beginning their training, and before they A squad of the new army being initiated into the technicalities
have been served with uniforms. They are " splendid stuff." of sighting, so as nut to waste ammunition by misses.
Learning the use of the sword. Nothing could be more promising than the energy and enthusiasm that the new recruits put into
their drilling, their one object being to become fit so that they may be sent to the battle-line at the earliest possible moment.
50
Some Homely Scenes in War-time England
A char
ng wayside picture at Harrow, where the 4th Division have their camp.
Queen Mary bidding good-bye to 18th Hussars.
gCARCELY was the ink dry on the newspapers telling a
tense people that the country was at war, when the
muster of arms took place all over the country. Camps
sprang up in a night almost. Concentration too'k place at
convenient centres, and hundreds of thousands of men,
soldiers by choice of profession, Territorials whose hobby
of arms was to be so invaluable in the hour of need, anil
civilians in whom the call to arms woke a responsive echo,
became parts of a vast military machine.
The billeting of soldiers became an institution in fact,
and not in theory only. The discomforts of war time were
faced by every individual with a fortitude that was a
victory in itself, and the channels of charity were opened
wide for a stream of gold for the succour of those whom
war made to suffer.
Handy Highlanders at work in their new quarters.
An amusing billeting incident at Bedford.
51
United Ireland— A New Source of Strength to the Empire
Blessing the Colours ol the South Belfast Regiment of Ulster Volunteers before the mobilisation.
THE Kaiser has done one fine, great thing, seemingly
beyond the power of any other man to accomplish.
He has cemented Ireland to the rest of the Empire, in a
bond as firm as that by which Scotland and England are
joined. Whatever arrangement Sir Edward Carson and
Mr. John Redmond may come to, one thing is certain —
what Queen Elizabeth, Cromwell, and Pitt could not do,
the German Emperor, without meaning it, has done. It
is " a day to live for," said Mr. Redmond, when presenting
colours to the Maryborough Corps of the Irish Nationalist
Volunteers. " You, the sons and grandsons of the men
who were shot down for daring to arm themselves, ought
to be proud of the fact that you have1 lived to see the day
when, with the goodwill of the democracy of England, you
are arming yourselves in the light of Heaven, and when in
all your actions you can feel that you have at your back
and on your side the sympathy of every nation in the world,
and the goodwill at long last, thanks be to God, of the
people of Great Britain."
"Namur" on the Banners of Ihe Royal Irish
Earlier in the month, Mr. Redmond, by a brief, inspired,
loyal speech at the critical moment in Parliament, showed
the intriguing, over-confident Prussian that it was an ill
thing for strangers to interfere amid a quarrel of kinsmen.
His action made the United Kingdom truly united for the
first time in history.
Irishmen of both parties will fight for France and
Belgium as passionately as they would for Ireland. The
Royal Irish Regiment had " Namur " inscribed on its
colours in the seventeenth century ; and now the Gaels of
Erin and Caledonia are again fighting side by side for the
freedom and peace of Europe near the old glorious
battlefields.
IV!
r. John Reomona presenting Colours to the Maryborough Corps of the Nationalist Volunteers.
52
The Swelling Tide of Britain's New Army
THE enthusiastic response to Lord Kitchener's appeal for men was
the pride of the British nation and the dread of Britain's enemies.
The taste of British fighting quality that the soldiers of the Kaiser had
during the early days of the war was a revelation to him. He paid
the " contemptible little army " the compliment of throwing against
it in overwhelming numbers the crack battalions of his own forces,
fired to a point of reckless daring by an impassioned appeal from his
own lips. But the flower of Prussian arms was broken by the on-
slaught, and fell back a mere remnant. Then the Kaiser was oppressed
by the thought of what would happen to his hosts when the million
army of Lord Kitchener was an army, not in prospect only, but in
actual being. He threw prudence to the winds, and became a War
Lord who ran amok with fifty army corps.
The new million army of Lord Kitchener had its effect upon the
campaign before its first regiment set foot on the Continent, and as the
weeks passed German apprehension became ever greater.
Report says that the Kaiser had fixed Saturday, September 18th, for a review of German troops in Hyde Park. But Hyde Park wa
being used for drilling the new recruits of Lord Kitchener's army, and the German review was postponed indefinitely.
Vincent Square, Westminster, is one of. London's many" lungs" where
the martial spirit breathed. Here we see General Bethune, Director-
Qeneral of the Territorials, inspecting the Legion of Frontiersmen.
The palatial offices of the Hamburg-Amerika Line in
Cockspur Street, London, transformed into a recruiting
station, and the windows covered by enlistment appeals.
Ulster Volunteers enlisted one regiment at a time. The North Belfast Regiment was taken first, and after being inspected
one thousand of them marched to the recruiting station, headed by Sir Edward Carson.
53
Some Unusual Glimpses in the London Area
Strange sight in St. James's Park— Cavalry horses resting by a camp.
The Mayoress of Wandsworth sitting all day long in the No cigarette fiends in the fighting-line. Distributing pipes
street knitting for soldiers and collecting for the War Fund. to soldiers before the march.
Men who checkmate the lurking Teuton in our midst. Territorials awaiting their turn for duty at Woolwich Arsenal.
64
Sportsmen of Peace for the Grim Game of War
After an inspection in Hyde Park, London, by their colonel, Lord Maitland, the Sports-
man's Battalion marches out to entrain for their camp. Many noted sportsmen and
athletes have joined its ranks.
A RESPONSIBLE German paper made the complaint that the British carried
** the spirit of sport everywhere, and looked at everything from a sporting point
of view. She has found that our fighting men are sportsmen, and she will find
that our sportsmen are warriors — equal to, and better, than the disciples of culture.
The Sportsman's Battalion of Lord Kitchener's army owed its inception to the
efforts of Mrs. Cunliffe-Owen, and there was a rush of recruiting that speedily filled
its ranks. Its camp is at Hornchurch, in Essex, where it received the necessary
initiation in drill, discipline, and the practice of arms.
The battalion is attached to the Royal Fusiliers, and it consists of picked men
and trained athretes, many of them of championship rank. Two of the companies
consist solely of giants over six feet tall. They have aptly been nicknamed the
" Hard-as-Nails," and their physical fitness justified the sobriquet.
Officers of the Sportsman's Battalion: On the left,
Viscount Maitland ; in the centre, Captain H. J. H.
Inglis. adjutant ; and on the right, Lieutenant
Enderby, quartermaster.
With the men of the Sportsman's Battalion in camp at Hornchurch. A pro-
fessional cricketer, a professional singer, an angler, and a City merchant
assist in gathering firewood. In the upper picture on the right a Cambridge
University Blue carries a loa in performing the same necessary task.
O England ! in thine hour of need.
When Faith's reward and Valour's meed
Is death or glory,
When Fate indites, with biting brand.
Clasped in each warrior's stiff'ning hand,
A nation's story—-
They whom thy love has guarded long,
They whom thy care hath rendered strong,
In love and faith,
Their heart-strings round thy heart entwine.
They are, they ever will be thine
In life — in death.
— NIZAMUT JUNG.
The King-Emperor.
5U
The smart, dashing soldiers of New Zealand.
THIS is no time to say " 1 told you so " to those who
were incredulous as to the coming of Armaged-
don which we now face in Europe, or to those
who declared that it Armageddon did come, the
Overseas Dominions would break away, selfishly fearing
their fate, and establish independent nationalities.
Armageddon has come! The heart of Europe is
'aid bare, and we can see its fierce pulsations and know
.vhereof it is made ; but also the hearts of the Overseas
Dominions have been laid bare, and we know, without
peradventure, that they throb in unison and in purpose
with Great Britain and also Ireland, thank God !
ONE great bund of peoples with the same
destiny.
The doubter, the agnostic, the timid man, the peace
lover who would run any risk of war for the sake of peace,
and who hated what he called Jingoism, has received
the answer to all doubt, speculation, and challenge in
the cry " We are coming ! " from Canada, Australia, and
New Zealand, and " We are with you ! " from South
Africa. There is no Jingoism in that cry
There is now no sentimentalism in the oft-repeated
phrase, " Hands across the sea." There is no sense
of adventure or of a martial holiday in the sober, grim
acts of government which send from the Antipodes and
from across the Atlantic near fifty thousand men ; not
for the Old Land only, not alone for the Flag that has
braved a thousand years the battle and the breeze, nor
for the great tradition and the splendour of Britain's
history ; but for themselves, and for us all, as part of one
great bund of peoples with the same destiny, though
not part of one constitutional whole.
A WAR for the preservation of the small
nations.
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa,
India, Newfoundland — they all recognise that we are
inextricably linked in interest, in faith, in our ideals.
How quickly they saw the meaning of this war ; the
greed, the aggression, the ambition of a military auto-
cracy with a reckless War Lord, determined to make his
new Empire supreme over all the world, at its head
With the clearer vision of the overseas people who,
because of their distance and their isolation have far
sight, they saw that this was a war (or the preservation
of small nations, for the rights of nationalities, however
THE RALLY OF
How the Overseas Dominions are
standing by the Motherland :
(Written in August, 1914)
insignificant ; for the security of the one small man
against the dominant many. They did not wait to
reason ; they saw, they knew.
From the material side, the interdependence of the
interests of the British Empire was brought home to
them before war was declared between Germany and
England by the chaos on their small stock exchanges.
Canada's financial interests are interlinked with those
of many nations, and if she had needed the lesson, it
was there for her when her grain exchanges as well as
her stock exchanges suddenly congested at the threat,
and not the operation of war.
THE first precedent for Imperial co-
operation.
Who could have had fear of what the Overseas
Dominions would do that had lived in them, and had
also lived at the centre here in London ? We, who
had honestly studied the problem for many years, had
no doubt that the bold spirit which set the first pre-
cedent for Imperial co-operation, when the New South
Wales Government sent an Australian contingent to
reinforce the British troops in the Soudan to suppress
Arabi Pasha, would be a hundredfold more alive to-day
when Australia has become a great exporting country,
and is erecting a great fabric of western civilisation near
to undeveloped Asiatic communities.
The Australian ex-Premier, George Reid, now the
High Commissioner for Australia, ever since his landing
on these shores has, with a mingled common-sense, vision
and statesmanship peculiarly his
own, preached the doctrine ot
British preparedness by Army
and Navy, and confidently de-
clared that the co-operation ol
the Overseas Dominions, and
certainly his own Common-
wealth, would not fail in the jJ,
hour of storm and stress. So it «S
has been with Australia.
As for New Zealand, that littlef
community, socialist in the main"
in its government, was not merely
sentimental when it gave its
Dreadnought to our Navy. Deep
in its bosom was an understand-
ing loyalty, a sense of brother-
hood which could not fail, as it
has never failed, when England,
needing help but not asking for
it, turned her eyes to the great
Pacific continents.
Memory, history, tradition, the
spirit ot the pioneer, worked in
them They were either New
Zealanders or British-born or
were the sons or grandsons ol
the British - born England to
them was the great home-
land, the cradle of their nation-
ality
**-»*.
Private ot Transvaal
Scottish Volunteers.
67
THE EMPIRE
A Stirring Chapter in the
History of the Great War
By Sir GILBERT PARKER, M.P.,
Author of "Round the Compass in Australia,"
" The History of Old Quebec, " and many world'
famous novels of Canadian Life.
Anyone who has been great distances from home
knows what that longing is which men feel who are far
from the soil from which they or their fathers sprang.
That is why throughout the British Empire there is
never a public meeting or social gathering or entertain-
ment which does not conclude with " God Save the King."
Loss to the Motherland meant loss to themselves.
As for Canada, her instant action was not the action
of a government, but of a people ; a people composed
of two races — English and French ; the latter not having
naturally the same affiliations with these islands or the
British Constitution which possess their British fellow-
countrymen.
THREE years' political feud ends in hearty
co-operation.
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the late Prime Minister, was ever
a peace-lover. A hater of war, he viewed with intense
dislike the diversion of energy from industrial and
commercial channels to what he termed militarism and
the rivalries of national aggrandisement. Yet it was
he who carried his French fellow-countrymen with him
in the policy of a Navy for Canada to work with the
British Navy in time of war ; and now, hand in hand
with Sir Richard Borden, the Prime Minister, with
whom he has been at bitter odds for the last three years,
he leads his fellow-countrymen without prejudice from
any quarter into the field of common effort for the
Empire.
That is not alone because
England is helping France ; it is
because he knows that Canada's
destiny is Britain's destiny, that
for better or for worse they must
be one in the sight of men. At
the battle of Chateauguay his
great compatriot De Salaberry
saved Canada to the British
1-mpire. The precedent is a good
<->"<• ; it was bound to be repeated.
It was repeated in South Africa
when, at Paardeberg, Canadian
troops had the honour of leading
the last attack against Cronje.
Of what value are these
oversea soldiers ? The majority
of them will be men who would
make capable officers ; they will
be drawn from a highly intelli-
gent, adaptable people, with
initiative, and an ingrained habit
of finding a new way out of new
difficulties. Vast numbers ot
them will be men to whom the
rifle is as familiar as an umbrella
to a Britisher. They will under-
stand this fight as a fight for
freedom from the control of war-
making peoples, from those who
Souther* Mounted Rifles , °.i • • i
South Africa. desire their own material pro-
D £« r
Light Horsj, Dragoons, and Rangers of Canada.
gress at the expense of sister nations ; from those who
make war to make money, by securing territory and
cash indemnity and dominance.
No Englishman will feel more strongly what is at
stake than these Canadians, New Zealanders and
Australians, and South Africans also.
SOLVING the problem of a constitutional
union with the Dominions.
One of the remarkable things of this war — an accident,
howevef — is the fact that in supporting Belgium we win
the sympathy of the South Africans ; in supporting
France we win the sympathy of all Canadians. The
Overseas Dominions will, if need be, send us 150,000 men
before this war is over, and when it is over we shall
never be again as we were before, but we shall be nearer
and dearer. We shall have solved, or we shall be
solving, when this war is over, the problem of a material
and constitutional union with our Overseas Dominions.
In September, 1913, writing upon the welding of the
Empire in the " Fortnightly Review," I used these
words : " It is more than likely that these apprehension?
will all be swept away in some day of crisis in the
Empire, and even as after the South African War the
minds ot men all over the Empire saw that there must
be Imperial co-operation and constitutional machinery
which would make co-operation workable and effective
as an instrument of Empire, so some great trouble —
which Heaven forbid that we should invite ! — will sweep
away prejudices and will turn to larger uses the jealous
apprehension with which so many people view any
modification of the complete authority of the House of
Commons as it now exists." That crisis, that trouble
has come, and we shall be an Empire in very fact and
truth if fortune attends our arms
THHERE is only one race throughout the
1 British Empire.
No one in all the Empire desired this war ; few in all
this Empire will flinch now that war has come ; but as
it has come we have found at the very start unity ot
interest, brotherhood and understanding ; and if we
win, the fabric of this Empire, from the Thames to the
Murrumbidgee, will be " based upon the people's will,
and all the people's will."
In the readjustments ol national boundaries m
Europe, and the new disposition of races, it will be
found that there is only one race throughout the present
British Empire. E
58
The Fervent Loyalty of the Indian Princes
Sir Perbab Singh, though 70 years old,
" refuses to be denied his right to fight for
the King-Emperor."
MOTHING has been more gratify-
^ ing than the spontaneous
enthusiasm of the people and rulers
of India to lend their money and their
men to the cause of Imperial defence.
India burns for the opportunity to
fight against the German aggressor
iide by side with us.
And the fighting, quality of Indian
help will be not less than its willing-
ness. Lord Curzon said he would
like to see the Bengal Cavalry charge
the German Uhlan. He expected
the little Gurkha, with his sturdy
figure and his dangerous cutting
knife, to show what he could do, and
we might be certain that the Rajput
soldiers of India would exhibit that
valour and heroism for which they
had been famous for thousands of
years. " When these men reach the
battlefield," Lord Curzon continued,
" keep your eyes on the turban and
on the dark skin, and I think you will
find that they will not dishonour
you."
The outburst of loyalty by the
native Press of India was immediate.
War was declared on August 4th.
On the following day, the " Bengalee,"
the chief native paper in India, vented
its Imperial patriotism in a remark-
able article which said : " In the hour
of danger we stand by the side of
Britain in defence of the interests,
the honour, and the glory of the
Empire. Ours is a loyalty which has
its roots deep in our hearts ; but it is
a reasoned loyalty, which recognises
that with the stability and the great-
ness of the Empire is associated the
fruition of our ideal of self-govern-
ment."
In equally fervent words the people
and Press of India gave expression to
the same sentiments.
On the frontier States beyond India
the sympathies are with us. The
Dalai Lama of Tibet and the Maharajah
of Nepal have both offered help.
The Maharajah of Bikaner, one of the
Indian princes who hastened to offer his
services and gave a camel corps.
:rn30, Lancers, on. o, our finest native regents, who were eager to try their strength against the vaunted Uh.
Indian Contingent Reaches the Seat of War
Lithe, keen, and fit, these Indian troops, who are here seen in the transport that carried them to Marseilles, disembarked eager
for the smell of powder and were not long before they were bearing their part in the hard fighting in Northern France.
The alertness and soldierly bearing of the Indian contingent excited the intense admiration of the French populace as they marched
through the city of Marseilles after their long voyage to the colder land where their arms are helping the cause of the Allies.
The arrival of our Indian Regiments was as full of interest for them as it was for the spectators of their disembarkation who
thronged to see the flower of our eastern army come to their help. The first contingent arrived in Marseilles on September 25.
(JO
The Flower of Our Indian Army in France
On the left two Indian soldiers are drawing from the regimental water barrel
and on the right one of the army mules is shown indulging in a dust-bath.
The morning toilet of the native Indian soldiers made in the open excited curiosity
in those to whom such a sight was new. They shave each other but use no soap
General Leiritra. ot General Johre's army, inspecting the Indian troeps in the company
of a British officer after their arrival in France.
Indian soldier carrying the tools
which are used for digging trenches.
til
Helping the Allies of the Great British Raj
A general view of the Indian camp, the white tents gleaming in the French sun-
shine. Here the arrivals mustered while their equipment and artillery were being
gathered for transport to the fighting-line.
Part of the Indian contingent preparing to pitch their tents near Marseilles after
disembarkation. On the right three soldiers getting a horse ready for the front.
A sample of the physique that is
typical to our Indian force.
Indian soldiers loading belts for bullets for which they mean to find German billets.
Their postures would be almost impossible for European troops who were not tailors.
62
The Terror by Night: The Gurkhas at Work
The fighting qualities of the Gurkhas, the little hlllmen from
Northern India who form one of the most efficient sections of our
Indian Army, are well known. In addition to a rifle, the Gurkha
carries a keen knife with a broad fish-shaped blade. This knife
he can throw for some distance with deadly accuracy, or he can use
it at close quarters with terrible effect. With a cat-like noiseless-
ness the Gurkha, knife in hand or in teeth, can glide through the
grass until he is close to the isolated outpost, as seen in the
picture, and then comes the fatal throw or the fatal spring and
slash that invariably adds one to the enemy's mortality list.
63
Peaceful Moments Amid the Glare of War
8om. of th. officer, commanding th. Indian native troops
British
A man of peace presents one of our men of war
standing guard with a very welcome cigarette.
How the soldier, at the front get their letters. Correspondence being sorted by
two native Indian soldiers inside an hotel which is being used a. a post-office.
til
Canada's Manhood at Britain's Service
This picture, taken in Ottawa, shows some of the Legion of
Frontiersmen who hope to help in the demolition of Kaiserism.
T'HE enthusiastic offers of help by the Oversea Dominions
have touched all British hearts. These pictures show the
glorious manhood that Canada is sending to strengthen Britain's
arm. The two small pictures at the side show some of the Canadian
Guards entraining at Valcartier before leaving for the front.
Sir Henry Poll alt, commanding
Major of the Queen's Jubilee
Coronation of King Edward.
officer of the Queen's Own Rifles, Toronto, at the head of his regiment. Sir Henry was
Contingent in 1897 and received the command of the Canadian Contingent at the
.mmuimmmjmfjic* MarriVfea •.: •" . ,. .- ^ .»;:• ^ .^L ^VJIt-^-. .^y*fi*E*NF". T.N» ^mm^KS^Smm
These are the men of the Ontario Royal Grenadiers leaving their camp at Valcartier, in the province of Quebec, whence they were
drafted to Europe for active service. All are of excellent physique and keen to take their places at the front.
05
Loyal Canada does Better than She Promised
/"•ANADA did more than she promised. Her intention was
to send a contingent of 20,000 for the war front, but
the response for volunteers was so generous that a force of
32,000 gathered at Valcartier camp, and left Quebec for
Berlin via France. Hundreds of the men went to camp on
their own responsibilty and at their own expense, and in some
cases whole regiments went to Valcartier without orders.
There were 1,800 officers at the mustering camp, and it
was proposed that 800 of them should accompany the
Expeditionary Force and that the remaining thousand
should stay, but the dissatisfaction at this was so great
that it was decided to send the entire number.
The large picture above shows an Army transport service
arriving at the wharf at Quebec priorto embarkation. The group
on the right comprises the Duke of Connaught (in the centre),
Colonel Panel and Colonel Benson alter the inspection of the depart-
ing force. The small photograph on the left shows the volunteers
leaving Victoria, Vancouver Island, on the Princess Sophia.
CO
The Arrival of the First Canadian Contingent
The Canadian contingent parading on the Hoe, Plymouth, beside the Armada Memorial, seen on the left. The portrait inset is of
Major-Qeneral E. A. H. Alderson, who commands the Canadian contingent, (Photo by Elliott A Fry.)
The enthusiasm with which the arrival of the Canadians at Plymouth was hailed by the
" Dogs of Devon " was a splendid echo of their own fine spirit in rushing to the defence of
the Empire as soon as the news of war was flashed across the ocean. This photograph shows
some of the men from Montreal with a parrot as a regimental mascot.
The kind of muscle and sinew
that a Scottish ancestry and
Canadian breeding can produce
to help to hold the Empire;
67
Overseas Warriors Getting Fit for the Front
Signallers of the 1st Mounted Canadian Highlanders at their camp in England after their Journey from Plymouth, where they disembarked
from their transports. The men are of the best physique the Empire can provide, solid specimens of hard muscle and Iron
Canadian Grenadiers in their English camp distributing the
morning's delivery of British bread. Note the knitted latigue-
caps the men are wearing.
Canadian " Scotties " in their camp " bathroom " remember thu
cleanliness is next to godliness, and in a fighting man may even
hold the first place.
• Princess Pat's," as Princess Patricia s Canadian Light Infantry
are nicknamed, carry colours that were presented by the Royal
Princess herself before the regiment embarked.
Nursing sisters of the Canadian Red Cross Medical Corps
to attend the wounded at St. Thomas's Hospital In
London, where they arrived in October, 1914.
cs
Gallant Canadians to fight for King and Empire
The King and Queen paid a special visit to Salisbury Plain on November 4th, and reviewed the Canadian troops who were training
there. This photograph shows the sturdy warriors marching past. There is nothing of the "Wild West" about them.
The Canadian contingent possessed several armoured motor-cars, a photograph of which appears here. The King display
interest in them and entered one with Lord Kitchener. They helped to swell the large number already assisting the Allied
The King displayed great
The King passing down the lines, followed by the Queen and Lord Kitchener. Their Majesties frequently stopped to chat with old
campaigners, and the Queen called one youthful soldier a " naughty boy," because he declared himself to be " officially nineteen."
Canadian Highlanders cheer their Majesties as they depart after the inspection. For two whole miles these gallant sons of Empire
were drawn up on either side of the road, with caps balanced upon their bayonet points, and their cheers echoed across the Plain.
German Bribery and Boer Loyalty in South Africa
A/JARTIAL law was proclaimed in the Union of
South Africa on October I2th, 1914, owing
to a Boer General. Lieutenant-Colonel Maritz,
turning rebel and taking command of the German
troops in South-West Africa. Less than five
hundred men accompanied him, and many of
these ultimately returned to the Union forces.
Maritz fought against the British in the Boer
NYar, rising from the rank of corporal. His
traitorous action was probably influenced by
liberal supplies of German money. Dutch
loyalty is proved by the splendid response
to Commandant Piet de la Key's call for
volunteers to form a Dutch mounted commando.
From one district alone six hundred men answered
the call ; and, at a meeting of influential Dutch
citizens held in Cape Town, many former political
opponents of General Botha unanimously pledged
themselves to support him and the Union.
A body of German Colonial Horse in German South-West Africa.
Some of the loyal Dutch burghers whom Qeneral Botha commanded in his operations against German South-West Africa.
This family group shows Qeneral Louis Botha, Premier of the
Union of South Africa and Commander of the S. A. Defence
Force, with his sons. Qeneral Botha earned our respect as a foe,
our admiration as an administrator, our love as a patriot. The son
in uniform is Captain Louis Botha. The other son standing is
John, who, although under age, volunteered for service. The
little boy in front, is Philip, the youngest son. The larger picture
on the right shows a body of the Cape Mounted Police.
70
Australia's Army for the Defence of Empire
'THE Australasian contingents were landed in Egypt for One of the war-ships convoying the transports went off
two reasons — to give them further training before the to tackle the raider Emden, on receipt of a wireless message
actual game of war, and to assist, if need be, in repelling from Cocos Islands, and rejoined her companion ships
the projected Turkish attack on Egypt. later, after having achieved her object brilliantly.
New Zealand
Volunteer (Sergeant).
Australian Cadets inspected by Lord Kitchener at Bisley.
New Zealand
Volunteer (Private).
The Australian Light Horse.
Qroup of Australian officers.
The Victoria Light Horse at Kilmors, north of Melbourne.
71
New Zealanders Ready to Meet the Turk in Egypt
New Zealand troops have brought immense quantities of stores, the magnitude of which
may be Judged from the above photograph, which is only a corner of them.
(~)NE cannot regard the photographs
on this page without a feeling of
envy for the lucky Colonials who
help to protect Britain's new Pro-
tectorate. To winter in Egypt as a
pleasure is a rare treat, but to winter
there as a duty to the Empire is some-
thing ideal. The New Zealand troops
encamped about five miles out of
Cairo. In the neighbourhood is the
ancient city of On, noted for its Biblical
history associations. The only visible
remaining relic of the city is the
obelisk, which is identical with that
on the Thames Embankment in
London. Egypt owed so much to
British order and enterprise that the
population was unanimous in support
of British preparations to repel any
attempted Turkish aggression. The
act of making Egypt a British Protec-
torate under a native Sultan was a
measure of far-sighted statesmanship.
On the left — The immemorial Sphinx contemplates twentieth-century warriors
from " down under." On the right — Some happy Australians near the Great
Pyramids seem at home on the sunny Egyptian sands.
Scene at the " buflet " of the New Zealand Contingent, which, having only just arrived, had no time to instal field kitchens. Soldiers,
however, drawn from the " bush " are generally adept as well as adaptable chefs, and could be relied upon to supply a tasty menu.
72
Waging War on the Outposts of
"JTIE German colony of Kamerun, orCameroon, is right rr;—
at the head of the great angle in the West Coast of HH
Africa, and it was attacked by a British force from
Sierra Leone, one of our West African colonies, whose
capital and coaling station, Freetown, where these
photographs were taken, is the greatest seaport in West
Africa. The British gunboat Dwarf was attacked by
a German vessel on the Cameroon River on Sept.
The German colony has a population of about 2,000
white and almost 3,000,000 natives, and its military
force consists of 200 Germans and 1,550 natives.
sh Expeditionary Force leaving Freetown in lighters to embark on transports
for operation against Kamerun. Inset : native soldiers with nuns.
Sierra Leone native troops under British officers at Freetown, before proceeding on the expedition to attack the port of Duala, on
the Bight of Biafra, and the point of entry to the German West African colony of Kamerun.
THE HERO KING OF BELGIUM IN THE TRENCHES WITH HIS SOLDIERS.
King Albert proved more than a king and a hero — he became the solicitous officer: "My life is of no more value than yours" A
comrade of his brave soldiers. Under the trial of a common talented war artist depicts the incident in the above picture, where
calamity he showed up as a most conspicuous epitome of the adage, the hero King is seen with his soldiers in the trenches. It was
" Noblesse oblige." When remonstrated with for his indifference characteristic of the man and his courage that when Antwerp had to
to danger within range of the guns of the enemy, he replied to his be evacuated he insisted that he should personally fire the last shot.
To Jiux page 7*
73
Betwixt the Foe and France was 'she —
France the immortal, France the free.
The Foe, like one vast living sea,
Drew nigh.
He dreamed that none his tide would stay ;
But when he bade her to make way,
She, through her cannon, answered "Nay,
Not I ! "
— WILLIAM WATSON.
Belgium's
Heroic
Stand
ING ALBERT stands unique among modern
sovereigns in his courageous leadership of his army.
Constantly in the fighting-line with his troops, he heartened
them by saying that if he were not a general he
would be proud to be a private fighting for Belgian
independence. And il is authentically recorded that
in the trenches near Antwerp he picked up the gun of a
soldier shot dead, and himself discharged the remaining
illets in the magazine against the attacking Germans.
74
Albert the Brave, Defender of Civilisation
THERE never was an heir-apparent so modest and
retiring as Prince Albert Leopold Clement of
Belgium, son of a Hohenzollern princess and the Count of
Flanders. In the lifetime of his
uncle, King Leopold, he was
regarded as a weakling, even by
Belgian politicians. Only the
young Belgians about his own
age — he was born in 1875 —
took a kindly interest in his
marriage with a Bavarian princess
in 1900, and in his voyage to the
Congo in the spring of 1909.
It was generally thought, when
King Albert came to the throne
in the winter of 1909, that
Belgium had got just an amiable
figurehead that could be easily
steered along the path marked
out by her great financiers and
captains of commerce.
So King Albert's first act was
something like a revolution in
Belgium.
Everybody who had been in
King Leopold's service was dis-
missed, with, of course, proper
rewards. Then representative
men were drawn from each class
and party and attached to the
Royal household, to keep the
new ruler informed of the currents
of public opinion and the needs
and desires of the people.
Then, having found the demo-
cratic base in government he
wanted. King Albert raised the
fame of Belgium throughout the
world by the way he tackled
the abuses which had occurred in the management of
the great, rich Belgian territories in Central Africa.
Yet he was still reckoned more of a scholar than a
leader of men. The Kaiser took it for granted so mild a
king of so small a nation could be bribed to allow an
Photo]
The heroic King of the Belgians.
invasion of France through Belgium. Then it was that
King Albert revealed what high, stern strength of
character lay below his quiet manner. In one of the most
sublime resolutions in history he
placed himself at the head of his
people, and flung a little advance
army of 40,000 men in the path
of the gigantic German host.
In so doing he saved the
main fabric of Christian civilisa-
tion— the faith and the force
of the solemn treaties, on which
all international relations depend.
He fought for something greater
than even his own dear country.
Indeed, he practically placed him-
self and his people as a sacrifice
on the altar of civilisation.
For twice since the historic
battle of Liege he could have with-
drawn his nation from the devas-
tating conflict by accepting the
new and larger offers made by the
baffled, surprised, and now admir-
ing German Kaiser.
Again, when Brussels was about
to fall, he could fairly have called
upon his Allies to protect his
beautiful, defenceless capital in
return for the invaluable services
he had rendered to France. But
rather than impede the working
out of the far-reaching strategical
plans of General Joffre, he let the
enemy enter Brussels.
King Albert, a tall, fair,
scholarly figure, wearing pince-
nez and clad in a dusty, plain
blue uniform, moves among his
men as a comrade, not as a commander. Matters of
strategy he leaves to the military staffs of the allied armies,
but he is the great leader — it was he who inspired the free
nations with the noble spirit with which they fight. Never
since Marathon was fought has Europe known such a man.
[Downey.
Belgian Hussars - the cavalry of the greatest of little nations returning victorious to camp, before the withdrawal to Antwerp
75
General Leman, the Hero of Liege
Lieutenant-General Leman,
the genius and hero of Liege,
who has completely upset the
battle plans of the German
War Lord, is the son of the
director of the Brussels Mili-
tary School. He has inherited
his father's talent for mathe-
matics, and early in his career
he was marked out as one of
Belgium's most promising
officers. His opportunity
came after the German at-
tempt to bully France out of
Morocco, when all the other
nations of Europe began to
look to their defences, fearing
that the general struggle
would suddenly break out.
Promoted to a lieutenant-
generalship. Leman was en-
trusted with the difficult task
of completing the forts at
Liege, a place which would
have to withstand the first
attack of the German host.
As planned by General
Brialmont, the defences of Liege had many weak spots, as
the place was first designed merely to delay the advance
of a hostile army for a day or two. The younger general set
to work to strengthen Liege, and made it — as even the
Germans now know — one of the most remarkable " places
of arrest " in Europe. By throwing into Liege a mobile
army at the outbreak of war, General Leman converted
his " place of arrest " into a temporary fortress town, on
which the finest German troops, outnumbering the Belgian
defenders by three to one, vainly dashed themselves.
The manner in which General Leman handled his compara-
Qenerc
tively small body of mobile
troops, shifting them from
one open space between the
steel-capped forts to another,
proved that he was as mas-
terly a commander on the
battlefield as he was in the
mathematical calculation of
defensive works.
During the terrible conflict
between the forts and the
mobile defence and the Ger-
man army. General Leman
was discussing matters with
his staff, when a deafening
noise broke out in the street.
" This row is unbearable,"
said one of the staff officers,
" we cannot go on working
here." He went to the door,
but as he opened it two
German officers and six pri-
vates sprang forward, revol-
vers in hand, and fired at the
general and his staff. Colonel
Marchand fell dead, and
the German assassins — it is
rumoured some of them had been working in disguise at
Liege as taxi-drivers — tried to push through the officers to
kill the commander. " Quick 1 Give me a revolver ! " said
the general. But one of his men, a fellow of gigantic size,
said : " You must not risk your life, general." " I will 1
I must pass out 1 " said the general. The big Belgian
soldier saw there was no more time for words. He picked
up his little general, hoisted him over the foundry wall,
and then ran out himself. The Germans were firing from
the windows at the Belgian commander, but the big soldier
pushed his chief into a foundry workshop and saved his life.
King Albert the Brave, the young leader of Belgium's heroic army.
[Xeicxpaper Illustrations.
The Steel-Capped Forts of Liege in Action—
.*•
jj^BBP^X '
The interest of the war's early days centred round Liege,
whose six large forts and six small forts are ranged in a ring
on the heights, six miles from the centre of the city. Each
is a triangular mass of strong concrete, with revolving and
disappearing steel turrets. The Germans thought they would
easily capture them and sweep past into France before the
French mobilisation was complete. They began their
on the morning of August 4th, advancing in closely-
ranks against the forts and through the open spa
Under the fire of the Belgian guns and rifles, the Ger
fell in heaps like haystacks, the living rushing over the i
and swelling the pile. In the afternoon the battle
—Upsetting the Plan of the German Invaders
lercer all along the line. In the trenches between the
Iprts the Belgians kept the enemy at fifty yards' distance by
line fire, and then leaped upon him in a series of bayonet
Iharges and drove him from the field. The battle continued
Curing the night, and went on with unabated fury through
be whole of the next day. Vastly inferior in numbers to
the Germans, the Belgians charged, shot, struggled at hand
grips, shifting at times from one open space to another, under
the direction of their heroic commander, to meet the main
attack at different points. As night fell the Germans' fire
slackened, and finally stopped ; their troops, weary and
starving, lay behind their dead. Liege was not yet taken.
78
The Last Stand of the Defenders of Liege
••••••••HMMJg?***™*'** ;&m*mamm
e entrenched troops between the Liege forts, during a briel
• 1 rf--^T? _
0F
Belgian cavalrymen holding a blown-up bridge against the returning
Teutons.
all authentic records of the actualities of
modern war the photographs on this page are
among the most remarkable. They were taken
at great risk in the historic trenches round the forts
of Liege, in the brief lulls between the thundering
charges of German cavalry and the fierce rushes of
infantrymen in close formation.
There is nothing more heroic in the annals of
mankind than the last stand made by the garrison
of the Liege forts against the terrible i6£ in.
Krupp siege-guns, which shattered into shapeless
ruin the steel cupolas and masses of concrete.
The commandant of Fort Chaudfontaine at Liege,
Major Nameche, died the death of a hero. His
fort dominated the railway from Aix-la-Chapelle to
Liege, which passes through a tunnel at Chaud-
fontaine. The German artillery fire reduced the
fort to a heap of ruins.
Major Nameche made it his last task tQ block the
tunnel by sending several engines to collide in it. Then,
in order that the German flag should not fly even over
the ruins of his fort, he set fire to his ammunition
magazine and blew up the shattered works.
In a Liege trench. Waiting for the next wild vain charge of the finest soldiers of Germany.
79
The Belgians' Gallant Defence of Liege
Belgian artillerymen sweeping German troops off open ground between the forts of Liege. An officer on a ladder directs
the fire of the guns. Liege is only a " place of arrest " — designed to impede the march of a hostile force. To transform it into
a fortress, the Belgians had to th+ow 40,000 men into the passages between their domed forts.
An aviator flying over the Mouse, above the surprising city of Liege. A German prisoner states that he saw, round Liege, several
of the aeroplanes of his own army destroyed by shrapnel shells from the Belgian guns.
Joyful scene in Brussels after the magnificent, unexpected victory of the David of nations against the Goliath of military
powers. Belgians who dashed in a motoi — car from Liege to Brussels to display in the capital the trophies taken from the enemy
In the first great battle of the European war.
80
The Terror let loose on the Fair Land of Belgium
IN July, 1914, Belgium was a land of lovely, dreamlike
towns, smiling fields of harvest, and busy, industrial
centres. Before August ended, many of her sons lay in
huddled heaps amid the ungathered corn, amid the burnt
ruins of villages, with their faithful horses stretched in
death beside them. And this horrible thing has happened
because the Belgians put their national honour above
bribery, because they stood out against the mendacious,
ferocious savages of Prussia, for the sanctity of treaties on
which civilisation depends.
If anything more were needed to nerve the young men
of the Empire to fight to the death against Germanic
barbarism and tyranny, the sight of these dead heroes
should alone have sufficed.
The fallen, heroic sons of Belgium and their dead chargers on the battlefield.
The railway from Landen to St. Croud, destroyed by the Belgians to hinder the German advance. •
81
How Brussels Prepared to Succour the Wounded
Ball-room in the King's Palace being prepared for hospital work
King's Palace, with the Red Cross flying
("" AY, bright, picturesque Brussels bravely,
generously prepared for the greater
Waterloo. The Government had been shifted
to Antwerp, and the unfortified capital was
opened to the enemy without a struggle.
It had become a city of hospitals. King
Albert gave his splendid palace for
hospital work, and big hotel-keepers and
large shop-owners turned their buildings into
Red Cross institutions. On the shuttered
windows of the Bon Marche the Red Cross
was marked to protect the rooms from shot
and shell should a battle rage in the streets.
It was to avoid this that the militia was
withdrawn.
The Bon Marche shops as Red Cross hospital— windows marked.
I
A bed-room in the Royal Palace Hotel, ready for the wounded.
82
Grim and Gay— With the Fighters of Belgium
m
. "
'"''•. ^ULr-l^"'^,
elgium, which abound* in beautiful age-old churches, had to turn her sacred buildings into temporary shelters for her soldiers.
The nave in this village church was 'filled with straw for the soldiers to rest on.
Officers of the crack Belgian regiment, the Guards, joking at two of their comrades as they scribble brief letters to their
anxious wives left behind in Antwerp.
Belgian Rear-guard Covering Retirement
A GAIN the field force that beat the Germans out of the
passages between the Liege forts have shown with what
heroism they fight. They had begged to be sent back to
Liege. This could not be done ; but at Aerschot and
Louvain, on August igth, they met the main front of the
huge Teutonic battle power, and held it at bay, while the
Belgian Army was retiring on Antwerp.
The magnificent rear-guard action opened with a terrific
rain of shrapnel from the massed German artillery. Then
the Germans, outnumbering the Belgians by ten to one,
swept down on the trenches. To cover the Belgian retreat
on the right flank, 288 men faced the mighty German
hosts. They saved the position, but only seven of them
returned.
Stubborn Belgian fighters holding up the German advance while the main body of the Belgians was retiring on Antwerp.
Watching on the outskirts off Louvain for the advance guard of the great German Army
Another view of the Belgian rear-guard in action at the point illustrated in the top picture.
84
Red War Among the Golden Cornfields
Fighting amid the harvest. The Belgians bind their black helmets with wheat-stalks to escape notice till they fire.
Sowing death amid the gathered corn.
Smudging signpost to confuse Germans.
The victorious Belgian infantry resting by the battlefield after their amazing success at Haelen.
85
Germany's Empty Triumph in Brussels
"THF-SE vivid, historic photographs of incidents in the
march of the Teutonic hosts through the defenceless
capital of Belgium have the added interest of being taken
at great personal peril. Had our war photographer been
observed at his work by any of the German soldiers or
spies he would probably have been hauled before the
nearest officer, and then shot.
Thanks to the presence in Brussels of the representatives
of the United States and other neutral Powers, the capital
has escaped from the pillage and slaughter that marked the
German advances through the villages and towns of Eastern
Belgium. But it is clear that the Germans have only been
restrained through the fear of exciting public opinion in
America.
For they have gone back to the barbarous, medieval
practice of holding to ransom the city they did not sack.
A levy of £8,000,000 has been made on the people of
Brussels, and another huge sum has been exacted from
Liege. The Germans do not even wait till they have won
the great war before demanding indemnities.
Teutonic conquerors swaggering in a cart down the Boulevard Botanique in the Belgian capital
airman infantry crossing the Place Charles Rogier, watched by the silent Belgian crowd, and photographed at considerable risk.
86
Undaunted Malines Fighting for its Life
Belgian soldiers firing from behind a carefully constructed barricade of stone and sand-bags in a factory yard at Malines.
Inset: Two of the redoubtable Uhlans captured, and being marched, handcuffed together, through the town.
Belgian soldiers destroying all bridges whose existence would facilitate the passage of Qerman troops. This photograph shows a
bridge blown up by dynamite to prevent the invaders crossing the WMIebroeck Canal, near Malines.
87
The Belgian " Won't-be-Conquered " Spirit
THE German reptile Press continued to talk about the
" blind stupidity " and the " madness " of the
Belgians, because, in Prussian eyes, a little nation should
have no soul of its own. Britain knows that the Belgian
" won't-be-conquered " spirit is neither stupid nor mad.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr. Asquith recalled
the struggles for liberty which small States — Athens and
Sparta, the Swiss cantons, and the Netherlands — had made
in the past. Never, he asserted, had duty been more
heroically discharged than during the last few weeks by
the Belgian King and his people. The Belgians had won
immortal glory, he continued, and they might count to
the end on Britain's whole-hearted and unfailing support.
Photographs of Belgians who have been wounded fighting
for their country are shown below. It is an honour to be
allied to a nation that breeds such heroism.
"It might have been worse," say thete Belgian officers, who
carried their own luggage as they came off the hospital ship.
After a fight at Aerschot, only seven of a company of Belgian
Grenadiers were left standing. This hero was one of them.
The Belgians have no big guns such as the Germans have,
out the men who fire them have more pluck. This Belgian
artilleryman goes into action despite a wounded head.
A Belgian despatch-rider who rode twenty mile* through the
German lines near Malines. He was shot soon after starting,
but he completed the journey before attending to his wound.
88
Belgium's Dauntless Stand for Freedom.
B.,g,.n. in the bend o, a main ^r'h^ ^Yw^
expected when the photograph was taken
A swne In Alost after Its second bombardment by the Germans,
who are resting, In the hope of hearing from the scouts th
These are the Guides, the crack regiment of the Belgian
at there may be business for them in the neighbourhood.
Belgian Army,
Belgium's Ceaseless Resistance to Enormous Odds
The small nation of Belgium rendered brilliant service to
humanity and freedom by her gallant and Indomitable resis-
tance to the barbarous and unprovoked onslaught of Germany.
Termonde was bombarded by Germans three times, but still the
Belgians would not be driven away. Belgian Infantry are
here sniping the enemy after having blown up a railway bridge.
Germany has for years had a wide spy system operating in many
countries, preparing for the day of attack. Her spies still do their
dirty work and many have been caught. The search for German
D »3 T
spies is often done with the bayonet, as at Aerschot, where this
photograph was taken. The fate of a discovered spy is swift
blindfolded, back to a wall, firing party at ten paces ! Q
90
Swift Justice to Spies • Fate of " Franc-tireurs "
n early morning scene in Termonde, when a German spy, detected at his treacherous work, met a merited death amid the scenes of
avoc that his military masters had wrought in one of Belgium's industrious towns. The extent of the German spy system was a
An
havoc that his military i _ ... __„.-_ — _. „ ...
levelation to the Allies and the world when its ramifications came to be known. A typical trick is for a Qerman spy to take an
apaitment in the top storey of a high building and signal to his employers with lights.
" Franc-tireurs " are irregular combatants who carry arms but do not wear uniforms. The Germans refuse to recognise them as
soldiers, and treat them as non-combatants caught with arms, leading them out to be shot — as shown above — without the form of trial
even by court-martial. During the present war hundreds— perhaps thousands— of "franc-tireurs" have been placed with their backs
against a wall and have met death in front of German rifle-barrels
A thousand, thousand men thrice told,
Wave upon wave, that onward rolled,
'Mid flame and thunder beat
Upon that proud retreat.
Till French's little army stood
And stayed the devastating flood.
French and his British few
Are famous, thanks to you.
And, thanks to you, they now advance
Leagued with the chivalry of France
For just and equal ends :
Sire, you have made amends.
— H. M
The famous stirrup charge of the Gordons and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, who, holding by the stirrup-leathers of the
Soots Greys at St. Quentin, rushed a German masked battery.
THE GREAT EPISODES OF THE WAR
The Three Days' Battle of Mons
" / cannot close the brief account of this glorious stand of the
British troops without putting on record my deep appreciation o] the
valuable services rendered by General Sir Horace Stnith-Dorrien.
" I say without hesitation that the saving of the left wing of the
army under my command on the morning of August 26th could
never have been accomplished unless a commander of rare and
unusual coolness, intrepidity, and determination had been present
to personally conduct the operation.
ON Saturday, August 22nd, amid the wooded slopes
and watered valleys of the little Belgian mining city
of Mons, the British army began its campaign for
the defence of the peaceful, progressive civilisation of
Europe. Three miles south of the long line of British
entrenchments was the battlefield of Malplaquet, where,
two hundred and five years since, the Duke of Marlborough
won his last great victory in the struggle against Louis XIV.
for the balance of power on the Continent, at a cost of
20,000 men. Sir John French was to win a more important
battle against a far more powerful foe at a tenth of that cost.
Our men began to arrive early on Saturday morning, and
the Belgian colliery folk living by the mines round Mons
were filled with the wildest, maddest joy. At last the
mysterious British army, about whose landing on the
Continent rumours had been spreading for a week, had
come to the help of the brave, overwhelmed Belgian nation.
Scarcely anything was needed by our troops from their
own stores of food. The people pressed all they had upon
them, and gladly dug the trenches running south to the
French frontier, on the western flank where the main
German attack was expected. Many women helped in
the work, and it was not done too quickly, for, about four
o'clock on Saturday afternoon, eight German aeroplanes
came scouting over the British position. Our flying men
soared, and tried to engage them in a skirmish in the sky,
while the townspeople of Mons and the miners and mechanics
of the outlying villages were, for safety, hurried away with
their families to the French town of Valenciennes.
r
After a
Thirty-Mile March
In the evening the guns spoke. The British artillery was
well set on the hills surrounding Mons, commanding the
canal of the town, over which the Germans had to pass.
The German artillery opened fire at a considerable distance,
but came nearer as night fell and veiled the operations.
In the meantime, additional bodies of British troops
marched into the town after a long tramp. Some of them were
tired after doing thirty miles in the day, with a heavy load
on their backs ; but they gallantly flung themselves into
the fighting-line, and began to dig entrenchments, lying on
their stomachs. Up to Monday morning, British brigades
arrived at Mons, rushing at once to battle, and digging
themselves in with cool, steady speed.
For when Sunday morning dawned, it was clear that
Sir John French would need every available man within
marching distance. An enormous force of Germans was
collecting in the shelter of woods on the north and west of
the town for a sledge-hammer stroke on the left flank of the
allied armies. The Kaiser had publicly vowed he would
at once annihilate or capture any British army acting
against him on the Continent, if it cost him a million men
to do so. He was now preparing to carry out his threat.
Facing
Frightful Odds
The destruction of the British force would not only gratify
his fierce desire for vengeance on our country, but turn the
entire French battle-line, and ensure the swift, irretrievable
overthrow of the military power of France.
Our comparatively small army, intended only to support
a driving French attack against the Germans which failed,
suddenly became the living shield of the whole of France.
From the beginning of the fight our men were outnumbered
" It is impossible for me to speak too highly of the skill evinced
by the two general officers commanding army corps ; the self-
sacrificing and devoted exertions of their staffs ; the direction of
the troops by divisional, brigade, and regimental leaders ; the
command of the smaller units by their officers ; and the magnificent
fighting spirit displayed by non-commissioned officers and men."
— Extract from Sir John French's Despatch of September jth
1914, to Lord Kitchener.
by three to one, our guns were far less numerous than the
enemy's, and so were our Maxims. In all material things
the odds were heavily against us, and they grew still heavier
as the battle went on, and the Germans brought up more
troops to encompass and annihilate our force.
When the main attack opened on Sunday morning, the
scene was like a Sabbath landscape in the Cotswolds. One
British gunner, who had come from that part of England,
said that the quiet, sunny beauty of the hilly country
made him think of his father and sister going at that hour
down the green, peaceful lanes to church. Suddenly a
German aeroplane swept over the British entrenchments.
A Human
Tidal Wave
The flying foe took the range with his instrument and
apparently sent a message to his batteries. Anyhow,
some German gunners got the range of our infantry posi-
tions with surprising quickness. The Sabbath calm was
shattered by the thunder of guns and the shriek and
explosion of shell and shrapnel. Massed in overwhelming
power, in Napoleonic fashion, the German artillery fire
swept our trenches.
Then, when the German commander reckoned that our
men had been put out of action, bluish-grey masses came out
of a distant wood and tore — a human tidal wave — towards
the canal that moated the British position. The pick of Ger-
man infantry, regiments famed for victories over Dane,
Austrian, and Frenchman, were hastening alert, gay, and
confident, to their first historic fight with British soldiers.
Every man of them knew by heart the words written by
their great Moltke : " Now that all Continental troops are
armed with long-range rifles, the traditional supremacy of
the British infantryman is over. They will have no oppor-
tunity to display their ability in hand-to-hand fighting."
"The Day"
Had Arrived
So the Prussians came on, exultant and furious, to annul
completely the ancient traditions of the last great nation in
Western Europe with a military fame equal, at least, to
theirs. " The Day " had arrived ! They would redress
on land the power we won at sea. One man, watching
them from the trenches, remarked that they seemed to
think that taking our position would be a picnic.
There was no finesse or subtle skill about the German
attack. It was just a plain, straight blow, delivered with
terrific force, and the utmost swiftness. The blue-grey
troops came in a moving wall towards our trenches in close
formation, as soon as their guns cleared a path for them.
Our men thought them mad, but there was method in their
madness.
A creeping, Boer-like attack in open order, with the
scattered troops slowly advancing from cover to cover, is
disdained by the Germans. It is too slow, and it requires
too much initiative from the individual infantryman. The
German relies on his military machine, on his 110,000 non-
commissioned officers, who keep the private soldiers in such
firm control that a column will fall rather than break.
In tens of thousands were they sacrificed when our
men opened fire. With a sureness and steadiness of aim
unknown in Continental warfare, the British soldier taught
the German the tragic lesson he had learned from the Boer.
Our artillery, admirably handled, raked the advancing
enemy, but he was in such numbers that our shells and
93
shrapnel could not stop him. The gaps in the distant
columns closed as soon, almost, as they were made.
The columns swept onward — a river of dim grey, almost
invisible on the green, sunny landscape, and spreading in
flood against the British trenches. By sheer numbers they
defeated our artillery fire. They could not be killed
quickly enough to hinder the advance. It was like the
onset of the locked, disciplined, unshaken horde of a Zulu
impi, that used to win by devoting more of its men to death
than the defending army had time to slay before the position
was stormed.
But, as the Boers long since proved, the brute force of
a Zulu impi attack can be repulsed simply by the quality of
the rifle fire of the defenders. This is what happened round
the canal of Mons. When the German columns came
within the range of our infantry, they met so steady, well-
directed a storm of bullets that, for the first time in a
hundred years, the wonderful Prussian war machine was
broken up. The stricken troops halted, looked about in a
dazed way, and ran like hares.
Our men were as cool and easy as if they were shooting
at Bisley, though their rifles at times grew extremely hot
trenches, lighting the mark for the whistling shells. German
shrapnel, it appears, did not do much damage — though it
was more harmful than German rifle fire. The shrapnel
with the rain of bullets, exploded in an ineffectual way.
But the shrieking German shells — fired six at a time, so
that one burst over the trench, if five wasted their missiles
of death on' empty ground — were sometimes calculated
to disturb the British soldier.
But he was not disturbed. For thirty-six hours he held
his ground. Six times the German commander hurried
up vast masses of fresh troops, concentrated the over-
powering fire of his artillery to cover their advance, and
then hurled them on the British position. The invincible
Iron Regiment was brought up — the irresistible Prussian
Guard. One and all staggered back, shattered, stunned.
The price our army paid by the waters of the Tugela and
the Modder was recovered a hundredfold by the canal of Mons.
Often our cavalry would finish what our infantry began
— the foot soldiers sending a volley into the hesitating
enemy, and opening for the hussars. With a curdling yell
the broken Germans fled. And none of the German
horsemen stood against our cavalry.
Sunday, August 23rd, 191
Dawn in the trenches.
with incessant firing. " Pick your man ! " cried our
officers. They picked him — in hundreds — in thousands.
" We never expected anything like your rifle fire," said a
wounded German captain afterwards. " It was staggering."
A French officer also marvelled at the extraordinary
effect of the fire from our trenches, under which the grey
masses beyond melted and scattered, leaving large, faint
stains on the grass. In an interval between the onslaughts,
he came down to look at our men. In the trench in which
he settled himself to study the psychology of British soldiers
in their deadliest hour in history, a furious discussion was
going on. It was all about the merits or demerits of
Gunboat Smith, the American prize-fighter who withdrew
from his match with the young Englishman, Ahearn !
When the German advance was resumed, the quarrel
about the departure of the Yankee heavy-weight dropped.
The men turned coolly to the business on hand, and shot
the Germans down like rabbits. At times they felt sorry
for their enemies. It seemed to them they were not giving
the foe fair play. For his rifle fire, aimed from the hip,
was ridiculously bad. " Kaiser Bill's men," was the general
saying, " couldn't hit a haystack at fifty yards."
The only thing from which our men as a whole seem
seriously to have suffered was the shell fire from the Krupp
guns. At night the enemy's searchlights flashed on our
Our gunners fought just as well as our infantry and
cavalrymen. One by one the batteries stopped defending
the' position. The German leader, feeling sure at last of
his ground, ordered an immense advance of fresh troops
against the British trenches.
Out of the woods the Germans swung to victory. When
they were well within range, the silent British guns
encouraged them to come farther. More troops, therefore,
were launched to make good the probable losses from the
terrible British infantry fire. When the trap was full, the
British guns spoke amid the crackle of the rifles and the
racket of the hot, steaming Maxims. So again the moving
grey mass disappeared.
Apparently there were not many bayonet charges at
Mons. The Germans were usually unable to get near
enough to our trenches. But the South Lancashires are
said to have got home with terrible effect with the " white
arm," against which no German — though brave to the
point of death in some ways — cares to stand. In the end
our troops not only held their ground, but took one of the
German positions. Mons was a greater Waterloo, but our
new allies on this occasion were unable to carry out the
great task of holding their line, so that our men had to
begin to retire on Monday from the field of their
victory.
91
New- formed Friendships that will not Fade
Two Belgian soldiers, one a native of the Congo, chat with a
Jack Tar on the quay at Ostend.
TTHE photographs on this page
show one of the more plea-
sant sides of war. The soldiers
of different nationalities fight-
ing in the same cause fraternise
and become acquainted with the
excellencies of each other.
Colour is no bar to genuine
comradeship. The British soldier
soon loses the insular attitude
of " He's a blooming foreigner !
Heave a brick at him, Bill ! "
Instead, he links arms and
gives evidence of sincere friend-
ship— the kinship of brothers
in battle, sharers of the same
hardships, sufferers in the same
cause, helpers to one victory.
And difference in language
is equally futile in preventing
the mutual admiration that
comes when brave men recog-
nise bravery in others.
Highlanders in France being regaled with coffee— and something
equally welcome (note the bottles)— by a French lady.
The fields of
a vast _open-air
where
working
language
acquired
always
Parisian,
learned
war \\cre
academy
Tommy " gained a
knowledge of the
of his allies. The
accent may not
have been pure
and the phrases
may have contained
Sharing the new
Belgian and British
newspaper together.
defenders read
more of " argo " than of
elegance, but they served the
turn and made it possible
to express to his foreign friends
the thoughts of his mind.
He gave as much as he got,
and many a French and
Belgian soldier acquired a
smattering of English, per-
haps flavoured strongly with
the accent of the Humber
or the Dee, that will be-
tray the birth shire of his
professors.
A London "taxi," commandeered for service in France, finds itself
in a strange land and makes itself at home.
A Belgian soldier discusses the war with a British
soldier at Folkestone.
95
British Machine-Guns Mow Down German Column
The Official Press Bureau did not waste any words in its descrip-
tion of the sparkling British success at Landrecies. Its plain,
unvarnished account ran as follows : " A German infantry brigade
advanced in the closest order into the narrow street, which they
completely filled. Our machine-guns were brought to bear on
this target from the end of the town. The head of the column
was swept away, a frightful panic ensued, and it Is estimated
that no fewer than 800 to 900 dead and wounded Germans were
lying in this street alone." Contrast this unassuming account
with the screaming reports of mythical German victories I
96
Fighting the Invaders "Yard by Yard"
The German War Lords hurled such an irresistible mass of men against the Allies that the latter were obliged to abandon their
position on the French frontier and fight retiring actions. As they recede they throw up trenches.
Defenders in a trench naturally have a great advantage over any attacking force. The Allies laugh at Germany's rifle-fire, but
her artillery, assisted by aeroplanes which fly over our lines and signal where to drop shells, has proved very effective.
yfKggjjm^gjjjjjg^gfjijmmi!j^mgmmm^~ «•> ~f,, WIK-
A fearful toll was extracted from Germany for its invasion. Even if the enemy had been fortunate enough to reduce Paris, he
would have found that its capture entailed an appallingly greater expenditure of life than it did In 1870.
Tu face I'tvjv 97
97
Bedfordshires in a Hot Corner in France
Furious Charge of British Cavalry at Mons
At Mons, a Belgian mining town some twenty-eight
miles south-west of Waterloo, the first great British battle
for the salvation of France took place on Sunday,
August 23rd, and the following day. For thirty-six hours
the cavalry, artillery, and infantry out-fought" a German
force of much superior strength. Some British soldiers had
not taken their boots off since they landed in France ; yet,
after marching rapidly to Mons, they threw up trenches,
and fought night and day without a rest. But tired
though they were when they started, they shot so well
that their dead foes were piled up in heaps before them. A
wounded German officer, taken prisoner, remarked that the
99
— The Uhlans get the Surprise of their Lives
rifle fire was "staggering" ; nothing like it had been
imagined. And the British cavalry ! Men who afterwards
arrived from the front said that the cavalrymen rode like
madmen against the German horsemen. They had heard
much about the Uhlans — the men who had made their
name ring horribly through the whole world by atrocious
tortures and murders of the non-combatant peasantry of
Belgium. When the opportunity came to meet them, the
eagerness of the cavalrymen astonished their own officers.
The Uhlans had the surprise of their lives. Riding with
tremendous dash, the British cavalry cut down the
torturers of little children, and swept them from the field.
100
THE GREAT EPISODES OF THE WAR
The Wonderful Retreat from Mons
E British Army has been in some perilous positions,
J^ but never has a large British force found itself in
such terrible difficulties as faced Sir John French
and his troops at Mons, in Belgium, on Monday,
August 24th.
They were on the left edge of the Franco-British front,
stretching down from Belgium. The northern part of this
line was retiring to avoid being shattered by the victorious
German host which had stormed Namur, repulsed the
French at Charleroi, and made a successful counter attack.
So, although the British force was triumphantly holding
Mons, its position was completely overthrown by the
withdrawing movement of its Allies, which began on Sunday,
August 23rd. The Germans took swift advantage of this
condition of things. They pursued the French, but massed
far more strongly against the British. Their tremendous
efforts against our men were, as is reported, partly inspired
by an extraordinary order issued from Aix-la-Chapelle by
the Kaiser to his northern forces, commanding them to
" exterminate French's
contemptible little
army."
General Kluck, with
200,000 men, began to
encircle our troops on
their left. Then on
our right General Bulow
advanced southward
with another superior
army, ready to swerve
and hold our small force
while Kluck smashed it.
What odds our men
would have fought
against had they got
closed between Kluck'
the hammer and Bulow
the anvil is hard to
calculate. Perhaps six
to one — perhaps more.
But Sir John French
saw to it that things
did not fall out in this
way. He had learnt
round Ladysmith to
conduct rearguard
actions against better
fighters than the Ger-
mans. Now he gave
the world the supreme
example in military
history of the handling
of troops in the most
perilous of positions.
What Sir John Moore
did in the retreat to
Corunna against Soult
and Napoleon, when the odds were two to one against him,
was excelled by Sir John French against the odds of three
to one, and sometimes more.
Leaving a considerable body of troops near Mons to
engage the attention of Bulow, he outspread a fan of cavalry
westward to test the strength of Kluck's encircling move-
ment. The main British force struck downwards towards
the French fortress town of Maubeuge, and on Monday night,
August 24th, it stretched from Maubeuge eastward to
Kluck's army.
But Sir John French felt from the pressure Kluck was
exerting on him that Maubeuge was a dangerous place to
stay in, especially as the French armies were still retreating.
The country was covered with standing crops, which would
have limited the field of fire of our troops had they
entrenched there.
So at dawn on Tuesday, August 25th, the British com-
mander ordered a further retirement southward. By the
Picture-plan of the country around Mons and Maubeuge
evening most of our men were exhausted by marching
and fighting. But the skill and audacity of their leader
saved the situation.
French worked wonders with his men. He had an army
of young athletes, trained by himself, and he called on
them to fight as never men had fought before. For days
they marched in battle manoeuvres, dug themselves in, shot,
rose for a succession of bayonet charges. For nights they
continued their southward retreat, tramping in the darkness,
and fighting still, if necessary.
The Germans allowed our men no rest. Using their
superiority in numbers to full advantage, they kept up a
continuous fight in enormous masses. Here and there our
men gained a respite by some trick. Knowing, for instance,
that the Germans were becoming fearful of our deadly
infantry fire, our troops would dig a trench in their rear,
and leave their caps on it. When the German cavalry or
foot soldiers saw the trench they kept at a distance.
They had learned by tragic experience what it would cost
them to take a British
position by a sudden
charge. They waited
till their guns came up
and swept the ditch
with shell and shrapnel
in a thorough manner.
In the meantime our
army got away, and
fed, and made another
trench. Resolute not
to be tricked again, the
Uhlans rode up to the
apparently empty ditch.
But a row of capless
heads appeared, and if
all the horsemen were
not shot the rest were
bayoneted. The horses
came in useful for our
cavalrymen who were
wearing out their
mounts.
Oh, our marvellous
cavalry ! Cavalry fight-
ing is a hand-to-hand
affair, sabre against
sabre, lance against
bayonet, sword against
machine-gun and can-
non. On the individual
skill, pluck, and dash
of each cavalryman the
issues of a continual
series of hundreds of
fights depended. By
sheer strength of arm
and horsemanship our
outnumbered horsemen continually won the field.
They attacked against impossible odds — a hundred
German troops to every single Briton. The huge mass of
blue-grey men advanced to destroy its insignificant prey.
The British cavalry suddenly became aware of the destruc-
tion that threatened it. It retired, with the Germans in
headlong pursuit. Then there was a crash of artillery from
an unexpected position, and the blue-grey mass was blown
apart by shell, shrapnel, or even case-shot. The British
cavalry squadron had been dangled as a bait to lead the
German troops up for slaughter by our gunners !
Our gunners risked themselves, their horses, and their
guns with the same daring adroitness. At need, one man
did the work of a whole gun's crew, and did it steadily and
well— with all his comrades dead or disabled around him —
until he, too, fell. Then the nearest body of cavalry had
to save the guns, as Captain Grenfell of the gth Lancers
did, just after he had been wounded in both legs and lost
101
two fingers. But there were times when our guns were
put out of action by the death of all the gunners and the
horses, and no cavalry was near enough to ride out and
recover the guns from the hostile horsemen sweeping down
on them.
It was on one of these occasions that our infantryman
showed what he will do for the guns that protect and
support him. Two companies of Munsters recovered one
of our batteries by a bayonet attack on German cavalry
and against a terrific fire from the German artillery. The
Irishmen were ordered to abandon the guns they had saved,
for there were no horses available to move the battery.
But the Munsters shot more German riders, took their
horses, and harnessed them to the guns. Then, as there
were still insufficient horses to do the work, the men made
themselves beasts of
burden, and dragged the
battery about till night-
fall. It must be re- I
membered that this was
done by men already
weary with long marches,
t r e n c h-d i g g i n g, and
fighting.
It is, however, almost
unfair to distinguish any
regiment of tha British
force by mentioning the
deeds it did in the retreat
from Mons to Cambrai
and Le Cateau from Mon-
day, August 24th, to
Wednesday, August 26th.
What Captain Grenfell
performed every man in
the army did in his
measure. Many of our
wounded mastered their
bodily weakness and pain,
and battled on to the
death. All fpught against *£
heavy odds, and what is
much more important
and inspiring, they strug-
gled against utter weari-
ness of body and the
numbing effect of fatigue
on the brain.
At the critical moment
many of our men were
too tired to move. This
happened on Wednesday,
August 26th, when Kluck
was encircling our troops
near Cambrai. There was
a strong French cavalry
corps under General Sorbet
eastward of our position.
Sir John French asked
the French horsemen for
help. But their horses
were too tired to carry
them to the assistance
of our outworn, out-
numbered, hard - pressed
troops.
Westward, at Arras,
there was a much fresher
French force under General d'Amade ; but Kluck
seems to have driven a strong wedge between these
French reserves and his immediate prey — our wearied
army.
Then, with the immense force under his command, Kluck,
at dawn on August 26th, hooked part of our army round
at Le Cateau, near the town of Cambrai. So certain was
Kluck of the annihilation or surrender of our men, that he
reported his victory to the Kaiser, and the wireless station
at Berlin announced it to the world.
But then was seen with what force and majesty the
British fight. Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien was in command
of the Second Corps and Fourth Division at Le Cateau,
$
General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien.
" 1 must put on record my deep appreciation of the valuable service* rendered by
General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien. 1 say ivithout hesitation that the saving of
the left wing of the army on the morning of the 26th August could never have
been accomplished unless a commander of rare and unusual coolness, intrepidity,
and determination had been present."— GENERAL FHEXCH'S DESPATCH, ?TH SEPTEMBER.
against which the Germans began their movement. It
was impossible to send him any reinforcements, as our
First Corps was utterly fatigued, after hacking its
way to Landrecies and beating off an attack by
40,000 Germans, who swept on them at night from a
forest.
Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien and his small, battered force
had therefore to face alone the full force of Kluck's attack.
The odds were more than four to one in guns and men.
There was no time for our tired soldiers to entrench them-
selves properly, and they had to lie exposed to the
dreadful fire of the overpowering German artillery of
650 guns.
There were battles in the sky as well as in the fields.
The men of our Royal Flying Corps wheeled above the
armies, shot at by friend
and foe, and, drawing
their revolvers, they
chased the German avi-
ators, who were directing
the fire of the Krupp
guns below. By superior
airmanship and marks-
manship our airmen
brought down five of the
enemy's machines.
Meanwhile, the decisive
attack opened. In ava-
lanche after avalanche the
German troops swept
against our men, lying in
open order with shell and
shrapnel bursting over
them i n extraordinary
quantities. When the
German artilleryman
ceased their deadly work,
for fear of blowing away
their own advancing
JK. troops, the moment ar-
,.£ rived on which the fate
£5 of our Expeditionary
Force and the French
armies depended.
The Germans had to be
stopped. If their advance
continued, they would
capture the rest of our
troops and swoop on the
retiring French lines to
the east. The French
were fighting bravely in a
series of rearguard actions
against other German
armies. The arrival of
Kluck on their left flank
would probably convert
their retreat into a
rout. France would be
lost.
Such was the awful
position of affairs that
Sir Horace Smith-
Dorrien and his men rose
with high, steady courage
to meet. The masses of
German infantrymen
came on — five deep and shoulder to shoulder — to deliver
the mortal blow. But our troops gave them " the
mad minute." This is fifteen rounds of well-aimed fire
from each magazine rifle, with less than four seconds
between each shot.
The Germans wavered, broke, and fled. Our cavalrymen
and intrepid gunners then covered the retirement of their
infantry. But Kluck's two hundred thousand had suffered
too much to undertake a vigorous pursuit. The German
general withdrew to reorganise his four battered army
corps. The flanking movement was stopped, and, the
situation saved. A few days later the positions were
reversed and our great advance began.
102
Hammer Mightier than the Sword at Compiegne
HE berserker rage of battle inspires modern men just
as it did their forebears of several centuries ago,
when men frequently worked themselves up to a pitch of
aggressive fury and rushed into the fight, running amok
among the ranks of the enemy. Human nature remains
the same at all times and in all climes. At the French town
of Compiegne on September ist, during the great retreat
when the overwhelming odds of the Kaiser's hosts forced
the little Bntish army back and back and back fighting
one of the most brilliant rearguard battles in the history
of war, the 6th Dragoons charged the Germans. The
regimental shoeing-smith was, of course, not a combatant
but he was a man of undaunted courage and brilliant
daring, as well as being possessed of a forearm with the
strength of an engine piston. He was unarmed with any
conventional weapon of war. But that did not prevent
him joining the charge. He took the first weapon that
came to hand — the hammer with which he shod the horses
of the regiment, and which he knew so well how to wield.
And he put it to a use for which it was never intended.
It was essentially a weapon of attack, not of defence, and
was by its very nature unsuited to afford its bearer pro-
tection against the bayonets and swords of the enemy
attacked. Nevertheless, in the hands of the intrepid
blacksmith, who wielded it as if inspired by ten thousand
devils, it cracked many German skulls, and no man in the
charge had a greater toll of German loss to his credit than
the farrier turned warrior for the nonce. He came through
his adventure unhurt and with the head of his hammer
moist and red with the evidence of his prowess. Then he
returned to his anvil, prepared to repeat the performance
should need arise.
103
Ye sons of France, awake to glory !
Hark, hark ! What myriads 'gainst you rise !
Your children, wives, and grandsires hoary ;
Behold their tears and hear their cries !
Behold their tears and hear their cries !
Shall hateful tyrants, hate displaying.
With hireling hosts, a robber band.
Affright and desolate the land
While peace and liberty lie bleeding .>
To arms, to arms, ye brave !
Th' avenging sword imsheath !
March on, march on ! All hearts resolved
on liberty or death.
— THE MARSEILLAISE.
With the Fighting
Forces of France j
" Allons, enfants de la patrie, le jour do gloire est arrive!'
104
The Soldier-Leaders France Relied Upon
General Joffre (second from the right) talking to General de Castelnau.
General Pau, the dashing French Leader.
DOTH General Joffre and Lord Kitchener should know
something about German methods of war, for in
their youth both of them fought for France in the war of
1870. When Joffre was elected head of the French Army
in 1911 by a unanimous decision of the Cabinet, all
his countrymen were glad. Practically his only rival
for the position was the dashing veteran, General Pau,
whom, at the first opportunity he had, he called to his
aid to lead one of the armies of the Franco- British battle-
front.
Joffre made his name by nine years of hard service in the
French Soudan and in the campaign that resulted in the
capture of Timbuctoo. But it was not until 1905, at the
age of fifty-three, that he won the epaulettes of a brigadier-
general. He next distinguished himself as a military
engineer by his work on the eastern defences of France,
and took part in the last reorganisation of the French Army.
Sparing in words, bluff in manner, and heavy of build,
Joffre had for three years worked steadily at strengthening
his country by combating all political influences in military
affairs. A Republican himself, he never spares his generals
because of their Republican sympathies. A few months
before the war began he startled the French public by retiring
five commanders belonging to his own party who had not
handled their troops properly in the manoeuvres. Then,
during the war, he at once dismissed some high officers
in Alsace because they lost a battle they might have won.
General Joffre appeared to rely on General Pau, the
one-armed Monarchist soldier, and General de Castelnau,
the Clericalist, who was his assistant on the General Staff.
One excellent result of this negligence of all politics is that
every Frenchman became united in the defence of France.
Joffre has won the respect of his men by his thorough-
going efficiency. But he is far from being a typical French-
man. He has, for instance, an almost disconcerting
capacity for silence, and the democracy of Paris, after the
battle at Charleroi, began to clamour for more information
about the first phase of the terrific contest.
Battery of French artillery advancing over flat open country to a difficult line of wooded rising ground.
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105
How the French Soldiers Set Out for the Front
With laughing faces and merry jests, the pretty milliners'
assistants of Paris, the famous " midinettes," have said " au
revoir " to their friends, the keen young soldiers of the capital.
On some closed shops notices state that the owners have mobi-
le 3a r
lised, and will re-open " after the Victory." In the railway-
stations, such as the Qare de l-yon, the infantry waited, cool
and tranquil, for trains to hurry them to the terrific struggle
on the frontiers.
100
Along the Fighting Front of the Great War
High, wooded frontier lands of Alsace, seen from
the French side.
On the Ardennes — a lovely, quiet land of romance, with
its rounded, wooded, flowery hills, its grey, fantastic rocks,
flashing streams, and old-world towns and hamlets — all
the grim, terrible forces of modern war burst. The thing
at first seemed a nightmare. In the idyllic forest, fragrant
with memories of "As You Like It " and " Love's Labour's
Lost," where, as Byron, in his historic poem on Waterloo,
says, " Ardenne waves above her green leaves, dewy
with Nature's teardrops as .they pass," two million troops
COBLMZ —:H.
The Vosges country, wild, broken, and full of
cover, between the armies.
were massed for conflict towards the close of August. They
were armed with picric shells, bomb-dropping aeroplanes,
and far-ranging guns mighty in destruction.
The battle front stretched for 250 miles, from a spot
close to the field of Waterloo, in Belgium, to the lowest
point of Alsace, where Belfort, the Gibraltar of eastern
France, guards the French flank. Never, in the authentic
records of history, has there been so stupendous a scene
of conflict.
The main forces of the German
invading host were reported to be
massed to the east of the River
Meuse, between Liege and Luxem-
burg, ready to attempt either to
" hack their way through " Belgium,
or to break down the French
defences farther south. Some Ger-
man army corps were entrenching
from Liege to the Dutch border, in
order to prevent a turning move-
ment on their right flank.
The allied armies were awaiting
the terrific onslaught of the invaders
along a line from Liege to Namur.
At both these places a system of
steel-capped forts supported the de-
fenders in their efforts of resistance.
Namur, equal to Liege as a delaying
fortress, and superior in defensive
position, was abundantly garri-
soned, and supported by the allied
field troops.
It was expected that the massed
German troops, ready to be hurried
forward under the cover of tre-
mendous siege guns, would fling
themselves through the gap, nearly
eighty miles wide, between Namur
in Belgium and Verdun in France.
This has always been the easiest
path of invasion into France, and
the French have covered it only by
small and weak defences at Mont-
medy and Mezieres. Again, there is
another gap of about thirty-five
miles farther to the south, between
Toul and Epinal. It is covered
only by the Moselle.
Both these gaps, however, were
specially left by General Sere de
Rivieres, who drew up the scheme
of defence that it has taken the
French forty years to work out.
They are designed as traps, with a
view to imposing certain routes on
the invader instead of allowing him
to choose his own paths. Germany
First positions of the two million trooos of the warring nations.
107
Peaceful Scenes Before the Tide of Battle Rose
3elfort, the Gibraltar of eastern France, that dominates
southern Alsace.
was so afraid of what would
happen if she walked into either
of the traps, that she dared the
hostility of Britain in an attempt
to obtain a third path of advance
through Belgium to Lille. But at
the end of one week it seemed
as though the brilliant, surprising
skill and fighting power of the
small army of Belgium had com-
pelled Germany to take the path
fixed forty years before by
French strategists, for only the
two gaps below Namur and be-
low Verdun remained open.
Meanwhile, the French airmen
watched the German preparations,
and the French commander accu-
mulated army corps to parry the
expected blow. At each of the
gaps a French host was waiting
in prepared positions, while a fan
of scouting cavalrymen tested at
almost every point the spirit and
dash of the advanced bodies of
hostile horsemen. Then it was
expected that by a counter-
Namur, in Belgium, stronger than Liege, on the main army
route into France.
Mulhouse, the Alsatian town, where Germans, Austrians, and French have fought.
stroke across the Alsace-Lorraine frontier, from Thionville to
Mulhouse, where the Germans appeared to be in relatively
weak force, large masses of French troops would relieve
the pressure on the allied armies fighting the main battle
between Namur and Verdun. This counterstroke would
endanger the German line of communications.
But the chief tactical feature of the situation seemed
to be the disadvantage at which the Germans were placed
by the magnificent work of the Liege forts, when advancing
through the rough, hilly, wooded country of the Ardennes.
The scanty population, the scarceness of railways, and
the damage done by the Belgians to all the lines of com-
municatioi , appeared to make the task of feeding the vast
German masses of men a matter of extraordinary difficulty.
Bitsch, a strong German fortress town on the Alsatian frontier.
103
Leaves from a War Correspondent's Note-Book
Expressly written for
The War Illustrated
By A. G. HALES
How the French were trapped on the Plateau near Metz
During the South African War, Mr. A. G. Hales made a high repulalinn
as a war correspondent. His glowing descriptions, the vivid tensity
of the language in which he pictures the human side of war, the aptness
of his metaphors, and his fearless comments, combine to thrill us as we
read his tear letters. He has been to the front in France, and from Paris
has sent tu several noteworthy contributions, one o\ which appears
below.
PARIS.
A BITTER battle had been raging for hours between
Mitael and Metz. T.he troops on both the French
and German sides were of the finest. The Germans
were fighting with a savage ferocity that proved their
descent from the white barbarians who of old overran
Europe and gave the people to the sword, their homesteads
to the flames.
The French battled with all their old-time brilliancy,
for never since the sons of France first learned to fight
have the men of this gallant breed displayed finer qualities
of dash and class than in this campaign. So fiery was
their valour, so headstrong their pluck, that again and
again the infantry got out of hand, and, without waiting
for orders, returned headlong to the onset, trying to carry
all before them at the point of the bayonet. Their officers
tried to hold them back, but in vain.
The Germans
Beaten Back
The German artillery gaped their charging ranks, and
cut long swathes through the living lines. The German
rifle fire mowed them down, and German cavalry thundered
on their flanks. They fell in long, uneven lines ; their
red caps dotting the landscape like poppies thickly strewn
in an English meadow, but the rest charged on. Neither
blistering lead nor flying iron could stay the torrent of
their fiery courage. Over the broken sward, or through
brake and bush they rushed to the onset, and when steel
crossed steel, and man met man in the death grapple,
the big, heavy sons of the Fatherland found they were
no match for the little lean, dark-faced, blazing-eyed sons
of bonnie France.
They bore the Germans back foot by foot — yard by
yard. Home went the bayonet ; down crushed the clubbed
rifles.
On went the Frenchmen right into the heart of the
masses of Germans — on until their strength and speed were
spent, as waves that surge landward play out their force.
Then into the German ranks thundered the French
cavalry, to-day as of old, the fiercest arm in their service, —
they came as the storm comes, torrential-like. In their
splendid abandon, crouching low in their saddles, gripping
like grim death with thighs and knees to keep them-
selves firm in the impact ; then, as the thrill passed, up
high in their stirrups "they stood, and, as they retreated
at the bugle call to cover the retreat of their infantry,
the big guns of the Germans spoke and regiments melted
like hail that falls on a midsummer day.
Superb Rushe ;
of the French
But the Germans fell back. They shrank at the sight
of cold steel, and they could see other regiments of France
crouching, tiger-like, for the spring. Those fierce rushes
of the French were superb. As a French spectator said
of the Light Brigade at Balaklava : " It is magnificent,
but it is not war." It was courage at a high pitch of
daring. But war — successful war — demands restraint,
discipline, and prudence. These will come to the French
as the campaign lengthens out ; they will learn how to
hold their valour in check until their guns have shattered
the massed formation. Then the}' will go in and take
their toll in dead. It was so at first with the Japanese
infantry in Manchuria, but they learnt in time to hold
themselves in volcanic strength until the time for eruption.
Then nothing could withstand them. So will it be with
France, and in that hour Heaven help the Kaiser's legions.
They beat the Germans that day between Mitael and
Metz, and in the night the Kaiser's army fell back towards
the great fortress, the dread history of which tells of so
much disaster to France.
The next day the French general went in pursuit of the
enemy. He neglected proper precautions, and I may say,
parenthetically, that good scouting has not been under-
stood in any Continental army. The airship has been
trusted too much for this work. A corps like the Legion
of Frontiersmen, so long established in London, ought to
do immense service, for there is much difficult country
where the movements of troops in great bodies can be
masked.
An Airship
Gives the Range
The French general came to a great open plateau, and
it is now known that he did not appreciate his proximity
to Metz. He led his troops on to the plateau and halted
to re-form them and give them a rest. A German airship
came into view high up, beyond range, and hovered like
some huge bird of evil omen.
She was in touch by wireless with the terrible fortress
that lay some ten miles away, and was giving the German
staff full and complete instructions as to the number and
disposition of the French army, locating every force,
every corps. She gave the German garrison gunners
the range to a yard, for every inch of that ground was
mapped out and measured. The Germans of the fort
could shoot almost as accurately from that ten-mile point
_ of attack as if the French were marching on their guns in
full view.
That airship and its crew belong to Metz.
The crew know every hillock and hollow as a hawk
knows the ground near its nest. This is a lesson that you
in England should take to heart. Let every fort have
its own aircraft, and make a study of every inch of ground.
Such knowledge may make all the difference between
victory and defeat some day.
The French tried to bring that airship down, but failed.
Suddenly came a rushing sound, a mighty swishing and
hissing of iron. The dull roar of the distant guns had not
time to travel through space and reach the soldiers of
France before the iron storm was upon them, and the
plateau was swept from end to end as by a mighty besom in
some fiendish hand. Five thousand men fell in throe
minutes. It was as if the earth gaped suddenly and
swallowed them.
AT Iron
Storm of Death
There was no chance for valour here — no room for bravery.
The army had been trapped, led by the retreating force
right within the sweep of those devastating guns. The
victory of the preceding day was swept into nothingness
by this catastrophe. All that matchless valour had done
was undone by German craft and cunning. Small wonder
that the rest of the army corps fell back in shattered dis-
array ; flesh and blood could not stand it.
It was confidence that brought about that holocaust.
A handful of men like our own Gurkhas would have saved
that army corps ; but they have no men equal to the
Gurkhas in any Continental army. For a few hours the
army corps was badly shaken. So suddenly and so utterly
without warning was that terrible stroke from an unseen
source that the men felt it ten thousand times more than
they would have felt the shock of pitched battle against
even hopeless odds. But there is nothing on earth stouter
and truer than the heart of the French soldier.
They soon got hold of themselves, and they rallied and
went forward again. But they gave the plateau fronting
Metz a wide berth.
109
With the French Army near the Battle Front
A regiment of foot, with full equipment, swinging through one of the towns ol
Northern France on the way to Charleroi. Inset: A gun section in action.
The use of the machine-gun, the most murderous of the smaller weapons of modern war. Raking a wood with mitrailleuse fire
to clear the way for an infantry advance.
110
Paris Preparing for Another Siege
This barricade in the Paris outskirts was calculated to afford a
shield for musketry flre against the Germans.
pARIS put forth great activity to make the city able to
resist the expected attack of the German hordes.
Girdled by her chain of forts from St. Cyr on the south-
west to Vau jours on the east — from Palaiseau and
Villeneuve on the south to Domont and Montmorency on
the north — she felt confident that she could offer a much
more effective resistance than she did forty-four years ago.
And in the event of an investment, the city would be
assisted by the fighting legions of France and Britain
opposing the Germans outside its walls. Paris exerted
every effort that ingenuity in obstruction can devise.
Defences being erected by workmen at the Porte de Clignancourt
one of the fifty-odd gates of Paris.
The stone-coped wall on the right of the above picture is
part of the old fortifications, and for years there has been
talk of demolishing these as ineffective defences against
assault by modern siege-guns. They could, of course, still
serve for purposes of defence against cavalry charges, and
would be points of vantage for musketry defence.
Close up to these old fortifications on the outside, a deep
dry moat runs round, and its chief purpose for many years
has been as a receptacle for rubbish. Photographs of "these
fortifications are seldom seen, because it has long been
expressly forbidden to take them.
Protection against Zeppelin and aeroplane attack is assisted by this searchlight mounted on the roof of the French Admiralty in the
Place de la Concorde. The photograph is taken from the lower end of the Champs Elysees.
Ill
With the French Behind the Fighting- Line
A French soldier and two Zouaves, who were in the trenches at
Soissons four days and four nights, and who are here seen
drawing their rations after they had been relieved.
French Marines at Arras enjoying a well-earned meal
taking part in the fighting in the neighbourhood of that town,
where the battle was at its fiercest.
In a house at Rheims, wrecked by a German shell, the kitchen
was spared, and here three French musketeers are preparing a
meal for themselves and comrades.
A French soldier takes the longed-for opportunity to be rid of
a beard that has grown during two months of active service.
The Qermans were compelled to leave behind them during
a forward movement of the French on the Aisne much
of their equipment, including this field kitchen, which
French soldiers are putting to a welcome use, using their
meat ration to make a nourishing soup.
112
c
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* ' •
E
cd
113
114
Touching Scenes from the Battlefields of France
A thoughtful Frenchman pays tribute to the brave men who
fell at Tournai on August 24th. Rifles, bayonets, and a buglt
decorate the cross which denotes their last resting-place
A typical instance of French bravery in the trenches. A sharp-
shooter exacts from the enemy vengeance for the wound his
omrade has received. Note the thick straw in the trench
A country road in Northern
guns and com
115
French Troops March to the Battle of the Rivers
The German hordes were as ruthless in France as they were in
Belgium, as will be seen by this photograph of the French village
of Soisey-aux-Bois, through which this company of French
Infantry is marching. The little village was swept by Qerman
hells, and many picturesque cottages, fine subjects for an artist 6
amera, are now roofless, with hideous cracks across their walls.
The French cavalry have shown all the dash with which history
credits them in earlier wars, and they have proved themselves,
man for man to be more than a match for the much-vaunted Uhlans
of the Qerman Kaiser. Like their comrades in arms, the British
cavalry, they sweep through the Prussian horsemen as through
brown paper every time they meet them under equal conditions.
116
Sons of France in Her Fight for Freedom
A squad of French infantry leaving Amiens to attack the retreating Germans. Owing to the conscript nature of the French Army,
men in all stations in life are found marching together, a wealthy merchant going into battle side by side with a mill-hand.
Cavalry officers returning to the flring-'ine in motor- cars is not an uncommon
Bight in France now. Horses await them at the front.
A French outpost,
wooden palings, on
behind stout'
\ tiny village.
Amiens
» Q
is was abandoned by the left wing of the allied army, and occupied by the invaders on August 31st. Thirteen days later
•mans hurriedly evacuated the historic city, and this photograph shows French infantry once again in its pisturasque streets
117
French Night Attack on German Heavy Guns
The capture of seven German heavy guns during the Battle
ol the Rivers was a fine piece of work. A ten days' bombardment
by French artillery failed to dislodge them, and a surprise attack
was therefore decided upon. French infantry reached the base
of the hill in the afternoon and concealed themselves until
nightfall. Then they charged headlong up the hill. The men at
the deadly howitzers were taken completely unawares, and those
who did not flee were bayoneted. Seven guns were captured,
and a few minutes later a piece of French artillery was shelling
the Germans from the very position they had just vacated.
118
Boys amid Bullets where their Fathers Fought
"THE adaptability of human nature to extraordinary con-
ditions is remarkable. War brings it into evidence as
no other circumstance does. In times of peace a railway
collision or an inadvertent explosion will spread alarm
through a kingdom, and the mass of the people will read
the details of the catastrophe appalled by the horror of it.
But in war scenes of havoc become normal, and the
abnormal is peace and rest. The mind becomes attuned
to death and destruction ; habit is second nature, and the
frequent recurrence of a thing, however awful, breeds
familiarity with it, if not contempt of it.
The countryside through which war stalks with blood-
soiled heel becomes used to the sight, and the horror of war
ceases to horrify. Numerous proofs of this phase of human
nature obtrude as one journeys through a war-struck
country. The peasantry will pursue the avocations of
peace while within sound of the guns and when men are
killing and being killed within a few thousand yards.
The picture below was drawn by a war artist, and
illustrates the word picture of a well-known war corre-
spondent, who describes how a number of French village
lads had succeeded in getting to the firing-line, some of
them having gone simply because their fathers were there,
" determined to serve in the camp, and be with daddy
to the end." Once with the soldiers it was difficult to send
them back, and the coolness they displayed standing by
while the gunners were at work, or helping in some simple
way, was the marvel of many a seasoned campaigner.
Clearly France's breed of warrior sons is in no danger of
extinction.
French boys who went where "Daddy" and danger were.
119
French Dragoons Uhlan-hunting in Belgium
" Have you seen any Germans pass this way '
photograph was taken early in November, 1914,
in the little corner of Belgium that was not overrun
by the hosts of the Kaiser. It illustrates an ordinary
incident of war. Some scouting Uhlans have been reported
in the neighbourhood, and some French dragoons have
got on their trail, eager to run them to earth, and keen
to have an opportunity of proving their fighting value,
man to man and spear to spear. The Belgian women whom
they are questioning are sympathetic and anxious to give
any assistance and information in their power.
It is in the clash of cavalry work that the French excel.
Their excitable nature leaps to an incandescent flame when
they have in front of them a hot piece of work, where high
courage and brilliant daring are the qualities that will
carry the task to success. Yet their trench work throughout
the campaign, where cavalry work had to retire into the
background as the war developed into a great battle of
burrows, was as good as that of their more phlegmatic
allies — the British.
It surprised the world that the Frenchman upon whom
the greatest responsibility rested — General J off re himself —
although from the South of France, where the people have
the volatile temperament to a high degree, possessed a
nature the predominant qualities of which were tenacity
and " dourness." His example, as much as his orders,
made his countrymen borrow the qualities of sustained
resistance, stubborn defence, and restraint in forward
movement that were necessary for ultimate success.
120
The Shameful Ruins of Rheims Cathedral
"THE German artillery fired upon Rheims Cathedral in
wanton deliberation. It was not an accident. Other
tall buildings in the vicinity bear no trace of shell fire.
On Saturday morning, September igth, a German battery
on the hill of Nogent L'Abbesse, four miles east of Rheims,
opened the attack on the great Gothic pile. Shell after
shell smashed its wav into the old masonry. Avalanche
after avalanche of stonework that had survived the storms
of centuries thundered down into the street. Soon tongues
of flame leapt up the towers, and blazing pieces of carved
woodwork dropped on to the floor, which was covered with
great piles of straw for the use of German wounded. Then,
from the yawning roof, a red glare poured into the sky, and
the \Ycstrhinster Abbev of France became a blackened shell.
If- ->
>- v
A portion of the exquisite west facade of Rheims Cathedral, showing the irreparable damage done to many of the five hundred
figures of Biblical and French history by the German shells. The inset picture shows plainly the top of the arch depicted n
photograph. Germany's infamous shells have blown oft the arms of Christ on the Cross and battered other figures out of recognition
121
Death's Ghastly Harvest on the Battlefields
This photograph was taken after one of the bloody battles in Northern France. Here an artillery action took place, and though the
guns were saved, these dead horses and men remained as grim testimony to the struggle that had taken place.
These French peasants are interring the corpses of German soldiers who fell during the retreat from Meaux. In the trenches,
extending for miles, which the enemy had vacated, many such grim offerings to the god of war were left behind.
A corner of a field near Fere Champenoise where, at the Battle of the Marne, the Allies made a strong attack and compelled the
Germans to retire. The dead are French infantrymen who fell when advancing in the successful bayonet charge.
D 3' r I
122
With the Gallant Turcos Fighting for France
A Turco bathing his wound by a wayside
farm in France.
Turcos are French
Algerian troops, and must
not be confounded with the
Zouaves. The former are
native Algerians, while the
latter are Frenchmen of an
adventurous spirit, who serve-
in Algeria and have a semi-
Moorish uniform. In former
years France's Algerian troops
of both French and Algerian
birth composed the Zouaves ;
but about the middle of last
century it was decided to con-
stitute them as separate regi-
ments, and the natives were
formed into the Turcos, while the
Zouaves became European en-
tirely. The Turcos are terrible
fighters, and come of a fighting
stock. They are proud of the
honour of ' taking the field
alongside white soldiers.
This wounded Turco is riding back to the
base to get fit for another fight.
A company of Turcos, each with his SOIb. odd weight of equipment,
retreating Germane when they had left their advance line on
marching after the
the Marne.
A party of Turco sharpshooters using a baggage-waggon for cover as they take aim
at an advancing group of Uhlan scouts.
This shows the peculiar head dress and
uniform of our Turco allies.
123
Africa Helps to Save Europe's Civilisation
Three wounded Turcos, sent back from the firing-line, exchange experiences in a
hospital garden. Left picture: Turco, put out of the fighting by an injured
arm, walks through the streets of Paris.
Wounded French soldiers, including some of the celebrated Algerians, are
waited upon by Red Cross nurses. Inaet: A Turco enjoys the luxury of a
taxi-cab ride.
i ne rrencn-Aigenan troops, commonly caiiea I urcos, are battle is a passport to Paradise. Heedless of artillery or machine-
credited with intense ferocity when charging the enemy. Most of gun fire, they have made some splendid bayonet charges against
them are pure— blooded Arabs, Mohammedans to whom death in the Qermana. Their knapsacks weigh between 80 and 100 Ib.
The French-Algerian troops, commonly called Tur
credited with intense ferocity when charging the enemy.
121
King and President at the Front with Gen. Jof fre
"THE German Army elected in this war to play the role of assassins of
A the air as well" as of murderers of the sea, where they scattered
the treacherous mine in the path of the merchant ships of neutral countries.
The dastard attempt to kill King Albert and President Poincare by aeroplane
bomb, at the review seen in the bottom photograph, is in keeping with
the many other methods by which the great Pharisees of culture make
war. Their inhuman policy has lost them the respect of neutrals as well as
of their enemies, since they cast behind them the least pretence of chivalry.
General Joffre and King Albert reviewing
French troops as they march past on their way
to the battle-front.
•BMKH jBHBBl^^^^^^HMHiHBBIII^^^^HBH^Hi^^HHB>l
President Poinoaire, who made several tours of the firing-lines, and Belgium's
hero King inspecting Belgian troops, who continued to do such gallant work in
the little corner of their country not overrun by Germans.
125
French Land-Mining Wrecks a German Gun
It was reported that at a place where the French were much
annoyed by a German machine-gun placed in an inaccessible
position, some soldiers recruited from the coal-mining districts
in the North off Franca volunteered to drive a mine fifty yards
through the earth to a spot right under the gun. This was
successfully done, the mine was prepared, and when all was
ready, fired. The result was appalling. The earth under the
gun rose up and carried gunners and gun, rocks, and earth into
the air in one great explosion that put the gun out of commission
and the men out of this war and out of the world for ever.
126
127
Broken pledges, treaties torn,
Your first page of war adorn.
We on fouler things must look
Who read further in that book.
Where you made — the deed was fine ! —
Women screen your firing-line ;
Villages burned down to dust ;
Torture, murder, bestial lust,
Filth too foul for printer's ink,
Crimes from which the apes would shrink.
Strange the offerings that you press
On the God of Righteousness !
— BARRY PAIN.
In
the Trail
of the
Hun
HI
There were many proved instances of Germans using women and children as battle-screens.
128
The Crown of Infamy on the Brow of "Kultur"
Civilisation's Terrible Account rendered against the Nation
of organised Barbarians who have drenched Europe in blood
The German War Method
" Above all, you must inflict on the inhabitants of invaded
towns the maximum suffering, so that they become sick of
the struggle, and may bring pressure to bear on their Govern-
ment to discontinue it. You must leave the people through
whom you march only their eyes to weep with." — Bismarck,
on German war " strategy."
Necessity knows no law .... That is why we have
been obliged to ignore the just protests of Luxemburg
and Belgium. The injustice we thus commit we will
repair as soon as our military object has been achieved.
— The German Chancellor in the Reichstag, August -Ilk, 1914.
Civilised War Method
"However sorely pressed she may be, Belgium will never
unfairly and never stoop to infringe the laws and customs
of legitimate warfare. She is putting up a brave fight against
overwhelming odds, she may be beaten, she may be crushed,
but, to quote our noble King's words, ' she will never be
enslaved.' " — Belgian Official Statement, August 25th, 1914.
r\URING The Hague Conference, when the question of
sowing the sea with mines was under discussion
by the representatives of the various Powers, Baron
Marschall von Bieberstein, the delegate of the German
Government said : " The officers of the German Navy — I
say it with a high voice — will always fulfil in the strictest
manner the duties which flow from the unwritten law
of humanity and civilisation." Later on in the proceedings
h? said : " As to the sentiments of humanity and civilisation,
I cannot admit that any government or country is in these
superior to that which I have the honour to represent."
In view of the German methods of warfare in Belgium,
Baron Bieberstein's claims for his countrymen exhibited
a blind and mistaken faith in a German humanity that
existed only in his trusting and sanguine imagination, or else
they gave evidence of a sinister purpose to mislead the
Conference and inspire confidence where ruthlessness had
already been decided upon in the intended war. The
probable alternative is the latter — that the German wolf
assumed sheep's clothing at the Conference as a studied
policy ; but sharpened his teeth and claws for the better
destruction of the land and people of poor Belgium when
the killing time came.
Modern history presents no parallel to German methods
of warfare. It is not unknown that, when the lust of
killing is let loose in an arm}, the passions for loot and
rapine should be indulged by individual members of the
more brutal ranks, but that a set policy of murder, arson,
and pillage should be part of the organised warfare of a
great nation pretending to lead the world in culture, is
a glaring evidence of foul shame at which the world, with
nineteen centuries of Christianity behind it, may well hang
its head and despair of human nature. That the policy of
brutality is not only followed but gloried in by the
higher command of the German Army is shown conclusively
in the official excerpts illustrated in these four pages.
// is forbidden to lay automatic contact
mines off the coasts or ports of the enemy with
the sole object of intercepting commercial
navigation. — ARTICLE 24, HAGUE PEACE
CONVENTION.
The indiscriminate use of mines, not in connection with military harbours or strategic positions —
the indiscriminate scattering of contact mines about the seas which may destroy not merely enemy
vessels or warships, but peaceful merchantmen passing under neutral flags, and possibly carrying
supplies to neutral countries — this use of mines is new in warfare. — Mr. Winston Churchill in the
House of Commune. A uplift W/i, 1914.
I
How a British mine-sweeper clears the sea of German
mines strewn in the path of neutral commerce.
The State may utilise the labour of prisoners
of war according to their rank and capacity.
Their tasks shall not be excessive, and shall
have nothing to do with the operation of war.
— ARTICLE 6, HAGUE PEACE CONVENTION.
There are many cases of the inhabitants
being forced to act as guides, and to dig
trenches and entrenchments for the Germans. —
Belgian Official Report, September loth, 1914.
Citizens who know of a store of arms,
powder, and dynamite must inform the
Burgomaster under pain of hard labour for
life. — Proclamation of Commander von Buelow,
in Namur, on August 2^lh, 1914.
Both in the western war and in the war on her eastern
frontier Germany has compelled prisoners of war to
engage in war work. The photograph on the left
shows captured Russian soldiers being compelled to
dig trenches under German guards.
129
II.— War of Terrorism on Old Men, Women, and Children
Red Cross railway waggon used by Germans for ammunition and a Red Cross ambulance mounted wfth a German machine-gun.
It is expressly forbidden . . . to make improper use of the flag
of truce, the national flag, or military ensigns, and the enemy uniform, as
well as the distinctive badges of the Geneva Convention. — ARTICLE 23,
HAGUE PEACE CONVENTION.
In different places, notably at Hollogue-sur-Geer, Barchon, Pontisse,
Haelen, and Zelck, German troops have fired on doctors, ambulance
bearers, ambulances, and ambulance waggons carrying the Red Cross.
On Thursday, August 6th, before a fort at Liege, German soldiers
continued to fire on a party of Belgian soldiers (who were unarmed and
had been surrounded while digging a trench) after these had hoisted
the white flag. On the same day, at Vottem, near the fort of Loncin,
a group of German infantry hoisted the white flag. When Belgian
soldiers approached to take them prisoners the Germans suddenly opened
fire on them at close range. — Official Belgian Report, August rtth, IQI+.
The boy who met death with a smile,
story is told on the right.
His
Six in
becau
nocent citize
se a poacher
ns of Senlis were shot
shot a Qerman soldier.
War on Women and Children
Any compulsion on the populations of
occupied territory to furnish information
about the army of the other belligerent or
about his means of defence is forbidden. —
ARTICLE 44, HAGUE PEACE CONVENTION.
A traitor lias just been shot, a little
French lad (Ein Franzosling) belonging to
one of those gymnastic societies which
wear tricolour ribbons (i.e., the Eclaireurs
or Boy Scouts), a poor young fellow, who,
in his infatuation, wanted to be a hero.
The German column was passing along
a wooded defile, and he was caught and
asked whether the French were about. He
refused to give information. Fifty yards
farther on there was fire from the cover
of a wood. The prisoner was asked in
French if he had known that the enemy
was in the forest, and did not deny it.
I le went with firm step to a telegraph
post, and stood up against it, with the
green vineyard at his back, and received
the volley of the firing-party with a proud
smile on his face. Infatuated wretch !
I 1 was a pity to see such wasted courage. —
Extract from a German soldier's letter
printed in a little volume called " Kriegs
Chronik," and excerpted by the British Official
Press Bureau.
All the evidence and circumstances
seem to point to the fact that those women
had been deliberately pushed forward
by the Germans to act as a shield for their
advance guard, and in the hope that the
Belgians would cease firing for fear of
killing the women and children. — Evidence
of Belgian Official Inquiry on German
conduct in Aerschot.
The Innocent with the Guilty
No general penalty, pecuniary or other-
wise, can be inflicted on the populations
on account of the acts of individuals for
which it cannot be regarded, as individually
responsible. — ARTICLE 47, HAGUE PEACE
CONVENTION.
The countryside was full of our troops,
nevertheless the stupid peasants must
needs shoot at our men, as they marched
by, from lurking places. The day before
yesterday morning Prussian troops sur-
rounded the village at 4 a.m., put women,
rhldren, and old people aside, and shot all
the men ; the village was then burnt to the
ground. — Extract from a German soldier's
Liter, published by British Press Bureau on
October ist, 1914.
Official proof that Germans used women at
battle shields appears below on the left.
Miners forced to lead a regiment of Qerman
invaders which was advancing on Charleroi.
130
III— The Campaign of Pillage under Hohenzollern Tutelage
1 •- •••RKMMMHHMHUBMB 1 i -_ -
"'^nS^^XpS » tSfr ft7i»^.^H°.^^
^^^^5^^^^
re is fortnallv fnrhifMm A*t ,»,-,„,, „/ ~~~,.i — *.- ,
In the towns or villages where they stop they begin by requisitioning
food and drink, which they consume till intoxicated
Sometimes from the interior of deserted houses they let off their
riHes at random, and declare that it was the inhabitants who fired
1 hen the scenes of fire, murder, and especially pillage, begin accom-
panied by acts of deliberate cruelty, without respect to sex or age —
Report of Belgian Official Inquiry, September loth, 1914.
The translation of the official document accompanying this
bullet is :
. Headquarters, Ghent, September 22nrf, 1914.
1 hirty dum-dum cartridges for Mauser pistols have been found
in the pockets of Lieutenant von Hadeln (a Hanoverian) made
prisoner on the 25th inst. at Jftnove. These cartri.lces have been
sent to the Belgian Minister of War. The weapon was thrown awav
teen recovered moment before his capture, and has not
The document is signed by the captain - commandant
attached to the Belgian military governor, and is in possession
of the Belgian Government.
Pillage is formally forbidden. An army of occupation can only
take possession of cash funds and realisable securities which are
strictly the property of the State.— ARTICLES 47 & 53, HAGUE PEACE
CONVENTION.
The German procedure is everywhere the same. They advance
along a road, shooting inoffensive passers-by— particularly bicvdists—
as well as peasants working in the fields.
// is especially forbidden to emplov arms,
projectiles, or material of a nature to cause
superfluous injury. — ARTICLE 22, HAGUE
PEACE CONVENTION.
Finally, we have in our possession ex-
panding bullets, which had been abandoned
by the enemy at Werchter, and we possess
doctors' certificates showing that wounds
must have been inflicted by bullets of this
kind. — Report of Belgian 'Official Inquiry.
September lot It, 1914.
tou'btht.n
rlflh«.r. a number ., ,ranc-ti ...... a
ng.d up, ,nto
131
IV.— The Shell-Shattered Glories of Mediaeval Architecture
A sample of the havoc wrought In the famous Cathedral of
Rheims, one of the ecclesiastical treasures of the world.
The attack or bombardment by any means whatever of towns, villages,
habitations, or buildings which are not defended is forbidden. — ARTICLE 25,
HAGUE PEACE CONVENTION.
The awful ruin of Termonde, which, although unfortified and
undefended, was laid in ashes by German shells and arson.
Lieut. -General von Nieber wrote a letter to the Burgomaster 01
Wavre, on August 27th, 1914, demanding payment of the sum of
£120,000, adding the threat : "The town of Wavre will be set on fire
and destroyed if the payment is not made when due ; without distinc-
tion of persons, the innocent will suffer with the guilty."
The hospital established by Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines, was
shelled by the hypocritical apostles of Teutonic " culture."
The School of Medicine, in Rheims, destroyed when the
cathedral suffered from the havoc of German shells.
In sieges and bombardments all necessary steps shall be taken to spare,
as far as possible, buildings devoted to religion, art, science, and charity,
historic monuments, hospitals, and places where the sick and wounded
are collected, provided they are not used at the same time for military
purposes. — ARTICLE 27, HAGUE PEACE CONVENTION.
The report of the Belgian Commission of Inquiry on the Violation of
the Rules of the Rights of Nations, and of the Laws and Customs of
War summarised the results of their investigation in the following words :
If all monuments, all the treasures of architecture which
are placed between car cannon and those of our enemies went
to the devil, we should be perfectly indifferent. They call us bar-
barians. What does it matter ? We laugh over it. — General Disfurth
in " Der Tag."
The odious actions committed in all parts of
the territory show such a degree of regularity that
the responsibility may rest on the whole German
Army. They are only the application of a pre-
conceived system, the putting into practice of the
instructions, which have made of the enemy troops
operating in Belgium "a horde of barbarians and
a band of incendiaries "
132
What German " Civilisation " is Worth
A street in the Belgian frontier town of Vise after the Germans came. Every house is burnt out, not an inhabitant is visible, and
the Teutonic savages are still guarding the ruined ccene of their atrocities.
German troops searching the fired town of Vise for loot, and persuaded by our war photographer (a neutral) to come and stand
before the camera by a gift of cigarettes.
13S
War's Grim Realities as seen in Belgium
•*.!*».
This graphic photo of actual war shows German cavalrymen near Vise, on their way to attack that town. In the wayside house
on the right they killed a woman and two men who were said to have fired at them.
Early in August the hospitals of Brussels received many
wounded from the front, although happily Belgian losses were
slight in comparison with the German.
French artillery hurrying up their heavy guns through Belgiur
to resist the Germans in their attack between
Liege and Namur.
No less brave than their soldier husbands, the women of Belgium are bearing their part In the tremendous stand their country
is making against the German aggression. This photograph, taken in the middle of August, shows a crowd of soldiers' wives
outside one of the offices where relief funds are being distributed in the Belgian capital.
134
Belgians' Pitiable Flight before the Invaders
All roads round Brussels were crowded, like this, with fleeing people.
A sad scene of refugees on the road from Malines. (Inset: Fleeing families from outlying villages.)
tjht from the barbarous Teuton.
Tired, hungry children resting in the hedge during the
135
The Wake of Ruin Behind the German Advance
CENT into Belgium in the confidence of an
instant, easy victory, and provided with
no food in case of an unsuccessful attack,
the first German army of 100,000 men, under
General Von Emmich, has left a terrible trail
of ruin behind it. Happy villages have been
turned into smoking, roofless ruins, farm-
houses are now burnt and blackened wrecks,
with only the bare walls, and everything has
gone — horses, forage, cattle, and crops.
Every raiding troop of Uhlans seems to
have been bent on avenging on the peaceful
non-combatant peasantry the continual
series of unexpected checks they received
at the hands of the soldiers. From Vise
to Diest, along the Meuse and in the woods
of the Ardennes, the German has left behind
him strange, plain testimony of his boasted
culture and his regard for the international
rights of non-combatants.
A burnt, despoiled farmhouse near Liege after the famished Germans had
passed by.
The rear of the German Army leaving Mouland burnt and sacked.
A house at Haelen after the German raiders had been beaten back.
136
Modern Huns Make War on Non-Combatants
Germans returning to camp after looting a Belgian farm
Snapshot of German troops clearing the cafe at Mouland of everything removable. Inset : Haelen church, showing shell holes.
137
German Bombs on Peaceful Homes
ACCORDING to the new Attila,
Count Zeppelin ranks in
genius above every other man in
Germany. He promised to win
for the Teutons the command of
the air. But his big gas-bags
have neither damaged our war-
ships nor wrought red ruin in the
allied armies.
The fact is that, as an in-
strument of offensive war, the
Zeppelin bomb-dropper is less
useful than an armoured motor-
car with a 4 in. gun. The
bombs lack the driving force of
shells. Then, in scouting, the
slow, dirigible balloon cannot
compete with the flying machine
that goes at a speed of a hundred
miles an hour.
The Zeppelin has been reduced
to the murderous bugbear of
innocent non-combatants in cities
like Antwerp. The attempt made
on August 25th to slay the Queen
of Belgium and her children, by
letting a bomb fall on the King's
Palace, was an appalling crime
against civilisation.
In international law, notice of
the bombardment of a city should
be given, to enable non-combatants
to find some shelter. But
Teutonic barbarism knows no
law, being made up of brute
force, low cunning, and a frenzied
courage born of the torturing
fear of ultimate punishment. So
the bomb-dropping has gone on
in Antwerp and Paris.
Was the airman presented with the Order of the Iron Cross for this outrage? House
wrecked by a bomb in Antwerp.
The wall of a house about ten yards from where the bomb exploded.
ji,,,r Fragments passed through the wall.
A piece of stout sheet-iron riddled by missiles from
the Zeppelin bomb.
138
How Soulless Germany Robbed Civilisation
IF Berlin were burnt to the ground to-morrow architects
and builders could easily replace it. The world
would not be poorer. But no human effort can give us
back the history-shrouded ornaments of the Louvain
that was.
The German commander asserted that the inhabitants
of Louvain had fired upon his troops — really the Germans
had fired upon each other by a clumsy mistake — and
he ordered the town's destruction.
Soldiers with bombs and torches carried out his fell
command, a crime that Civilisation can never forgive
nor History forget.
German shells battered the clock tower of Malines, a building incomparably
more beautiful than any of Berlin's braggart structures.
The Hotel de Ville, Louvain, dates back to
1448. It escaped irreparable injury.
The Church of St. Pierre, Louvain, was a stately monument of world-interest before the war. Germans allege that Belgians
fired upon them from its windows, and to-day it is a heap of fire-blackened bricks and masonry.
139
Victims of the War Driven from their Homes
Belnian refugees with bundles of their personal effects, all they could take from their homes, changing trains in France as they
fled from the devastating advance of the Kaiser's legions. Notise the two British soldiers walking by the train.
The quayside at Dieppe, showing refugees from Paris waiting
for the boat that is to take them to England. It is said that
more than 20,000 refugees found a haven in London alone.
A railway platform in Paris. There and in many other towns
of the Continent piles of luggage lay desarted by refugees,
unable to take their belongings with them.
A large party of Belgian refugees arriving at the Qare du Nord in Paris. They were given food and shelter by
Parisians but most of them fled again when the German attack on Paris seemed imminent.
the hospubtils
140
The Inexpiable German Crime — Louvain
This is the city of Louvain, the pride of cultured Belgium, the
heir of great traditions, the seat of learning, and the home of
art — before the German crime made it the wreck it now is.
T^HE huge joke of Louvain is being enjoyed by these
German officers. But the joke will be repented in
German blood and German tears. Many German widows
will weep for the joke of their husbands, and many German
orphans will suffer for the pleasantry of their sires. Nothing
has stirred the blood of Germany's enemies more than this
wanton act of vandalism, which has been as good as a new
army corps to the Allies by the spirit of stern resolve for
vengeance that it has infused into their ranks. Louvain
is still the record crime of the Kaiser's hordes.
The famous Town Hall of Louvain, which dates from 1448, and is one of the finest Gothic buildings in Europe, has not suffered
first was feared, but the ruin all round is made evident by this picture of Teutonic destruction.
141
The Sacking of Flanders' Fairest City
All that remains of the world-famous library at Louvain, the intellectual metropolis of the Low Countries. The wreckage represents
the triumph of German "culture" over the scholarly culture for which Louvain has been so Justly renowned for centuries.
A view of part of the students' quarter in Louvain. The building on the extreme right of the picture is the Students' Club. The
University Buildings, the splendid Church of St. Pierre, and the scientific establishments are also formless heaps of ruins.
142
Belgian Miners Form Living Shield for Germans
"Woe to the conquered!" was the Kaiser'a grim message,
and apparently his Army has supplemented it with "Woe to the
innocent!" Humble peasants — men and women — are forced by
bayonet point, or fear of pillaged home, to assist the invaders.
Near Charleroi the Germans captured ten miners returning from
their grimy labour, and made them march at the head of the
column, which was endeavouring to enter the town. Had Belgian
soldiers fired upon the column they would then have shot their
own friends. This may be Teutonic cunning, but who can
imagine the Allies adopting such barbarous methods?
143
Ruined Malines and its Faithful Archbishop
German artillery has no respect for the Red Cross. At the bom-
bardment of Malines guns were turned upon the archbishop's state-
room used as a hospital ward, and our photograph shows the wreckage.
Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines, refused to deny the
stories of German atrocities, and was therefore refused a safe
conduct back to Belgium, after leaving the Conclave at Rome.
A NCIENT and beautiful Malines has not been spared
by the Germans. One hundred shrapnel shells ex-
ploded in the town in a couple of hours on September 2nd,
and did great damage. The cathedral was one of the
centres of fire, and its irreplacable painted windows, its
magnificent gateway, and the famous chimes of its tower,
were totally destroyed.
Malines Cathedral was begun at the end of the i$th
century, and restored in the I4th and isth centuries. Its
unfinished tower, begun in 1452, was intended to be the
highest tower in Christendom.
Some of the Malines treasures, notably the Rubens
paintings in the church of St. Jean, were conveyed in a
motor-car to Antwerp to save them from German spoliation.
A hole in the celebrated Notre Dame Cathedral of Malines, caused
by a German shell. Note the broken telegraph wires.
144
Part of Belgium's Heavy Price of Liberty
The village of Melle, a few miles south-west from Ghent, was
one of the Belgian villages to suffer from German atrocity.
Some peasants have recovered the remains of a body from this
ruined farmhouse and are trying to identify them.
Dr. Van Wynkel, of Termonde, seen on the right, was one of the
hostages held by the Germans from Termonde. All the others
were murdered, but the doctor strangled his drunken guard
and escaped by swimming a river.
Termonde ivas a town of 10,000 inhabitants, between Malines
and Ghent, a little south from Antwerp. It is — what the picture
shows. Language fails to supply words to describe the destruc-
tion that has been wrought by the barbaric soldiery of that
blood-mad Kaiser who claims the support of God in his devil's
work. The Belgians retired from Termonde to the fortress
of Antwerp when the full weight of German invasion attacked
them, but when the invaders depleted their forces to assist
their armies in Prussia and France, the soldiers of King
Albert were quick to seize their opportunity, and they regained
several places round Antwerp, including the desolate and
destroyed Termonde.
146
German and French Treatment of Churches
A church in Termon
onde, which the. priest, who returned after its reoccupation by the Belgians, found to be the shattered ruin
seen in the photograph— the devilish work of German fire and bomb. Termonde was bombarded on September 4th, and entered
and plundered during the evening. The next day It was destroyed so completely that the houses must be entirely rebuilt.
A church in the Meaux district, used by the French as a hospital, where German and French wounded were treated with equal care.
The two pictures show the great contrast between the wanton destruction of church property practised by the invading Prussian, ana
the purposes of mercy and kindness for which churches are used by the gallant French
146
The Trail of the "Blonde Beast " in Belgium
The trail of the beast is upon nearly every Belgian village through which German forces have marched. This photograph shows a row
of fire-blackened cottages at Welle, near Ghent, and the ruined inhabitants removing on a barrow the few belongings they were able to save.
Another example of Germany's campaign to terrorise the innocent. A Belgian woman, robbed of husband and home by German
" frightfulness," is forced to beq in the streets. Tragedies similar to this are to be found by the score in every Belgian town.
147
The Hateful Hun and His Handiwork
The devastation caused by German sheila in the French town
of Longwy, that suffered the fate of Louvain and Termonde.
Even the tombs of the dead are not immune from German artillery
attack as will be seen from this photograph of the Eastern Cemetery
at Rheims after having been shelled by the Germans.
The man In the circle is responsible head of it all, the perjured braggart who styles himself the vicegerent of God— Kaiser Wilhelm II.
of Germany. The lower picture shows a street in Albert, a town where the fighting was severe, as may be guessed from the awful
ruin to which it has been reduced. The photograph was taken while it was still burning.
148
Homeless ! French and Belgian Victims of War
With a few prized belongings hastily wrapped in a tablecloth or basket, thousands of families in Belgium and Northern France have
fled from their homes, wearily tramping any road that takes them beyond the clutches of the bestial, drunken German soldiery. This
photograph shows a party of refugees resting on the roadside near Amiens.
A family who lost everything in the burning of Louvain. They
were temporarily housed in the Alexandra Palace, London.
A Belgian victim standing in the doorway of what was once her
house at Melle, near Ghent. It is now a burnt-out ruin.
At Termonde the Germans deliberately destroyed one thousand
houses. Acting upon instructions from their officers, the
soldiers made a street to street visitation, pouring oil into the
houses and setting fire to them. This picture shows a party of
refugees collecting the few articles that escaped the holocaust.
xx
Oh, it's heavy work is fighting, but our soldiers
do it well I
Lo ! the booming of the batteries, the clatter of the
shell !
And it's weary work retiring, but they kept a
dauntless front.
All our company of heroes who have borne the
dreadful brunt.
They can meet the foe and beat him,
They can scatter and defeat him,
For they learnt a steady lesson (and they taught a
lesson, too),
Having set their teeth in earnest, and sat tight and
seen it through.
R. C. L.
(in " Punch ")
No Surrender ! — a British artillery officer who sold his life dearly when his battery was attacked by 3,000 Uhlans at Tournai.
150
THE GREAT EPISODES OF THE WAR
The First Historic Battle of the Rivers
ON Sedan Day, September 2nd, the triumphant invaders
of France prepared the great stroke which should
smash a million French soldiers and leave Paris
at the mercy of the Krupp and Austrian howitzers. General
Kluck had reached Senlis, about one day's march from the
French capital, but, contrary to general expectation, he
then swerved to the south-west, and passed a few miles
from the great fortress city, striking below it at the centre
of the retiring French army.
It was a wonderfully daring movement, more like a
stroke by Napoleon than a forceful obvious manoeuvre
in the Moltke manner. As a matter of fact, Kluck does
not seem to have been acting freely in the matter. His
hand was forced. General Joffre, the French commander-
in-chief, had arranged a surprise for him if he came straight
to Paris from Senlis. There was a secret reserve French
army of 200,000 men concealed within the fortifications, and
waiting to sally out in a concerted movement with the other
French and British forces. Had Kluck's men kept straight
on they would probably have been cut off.
Kluck discovered this just in time, fnstead of retreating
Feeling the way. A French outpost watching for Germans during an
The day after this photograph was taken, the soldier depicted in
French lines mortally wounded.
— on Sedan Day, of all days — he made a virtue of dire
necessity, and swerved in a large half-circle to the south-
east of Paris, with the largest and best of the Teutonic
armies. The intention of the German Military Staff was
then to throw an absolutely, overpowering force against
the middle of the French battle-front, stretching eastward
below Paris, cut the French armies into two parts, annihilate
them in turn, and then blow up part of the Paris forts.
Kluck was sent south to envelop the western French
flank at Provins, below Paris.
By September 5th everything was ready. The Kaiser
proceeded to Nancy to see, on the eastern flank of the
immense battle-front of two and a half million men, the
beginning of the victory his generals promised him. The
War Lord watched the battle from a hill. His troops
advanced in files toward the Nancy plateau, with filers
playing them on ; but the little French 3 in. guns shelled
the columns, and in spite of their bravery, the Germans
broke and turned back. Four times the advance was
made at a loss of half an army corps But no victory could
be gained, even in the inspiring presence of the New Attila.
who at last went away without uttering a word.
The Robbsr
Prince
The position of the Crown Prince about the same time
was more awkward still. He appears to have left his
army in the Argonne woods, near the frontier fortress of
Verdun, and motored to an old French chateau behind
Sezanne, just at the point where the Prussian Guard was
assembling for the main attempt to pierce the French
centre. The firebrand of Germany reached the chateau
on September 6th, and gave a feast in the evening to some
of the General Staff, who had come to arrange the details
of his triumphal entry into Paris. At night, the table
in the beautiful seventeenth-century banqueting hall was
cleared, and the Crown Prince and his military advisers were
settling things over some bottles of stolen wine and a box of
stolen cigars, when a very loud noise was heard. It was a
French shell bursting in the room next to the hall ! More
shells followed, and then came a regiment of lean, brown-
faced Arabs, their bayonets glistening in the moonlight as
they charged across the garden
- .:' of the chateau.
The republican troops of
France had, with an utter dis-
regard for German royalty,
opened the great battle at their
own time and in their own way.
Instead of waiting to be at-
tacked, they compelled the
pride of Prussia to run for his
life.
As a matter of fact, the
sudden nocturnal bayonet
charge of the Turcos was only
a feint. The entire French
front from Paris to Verdun
had leaped against the enemy
in a menacing movement, which
was merely designed to hold
all the German armies in the
positions they occupied, and
prevent them from reinforcing
any part of their line. Only
Kluck's men were then being
seriously and unremittingly
attacked.
For Kluck had made a great
mistake, and General Joffre
had caught him in a trap.
When the German commander
swerved past Paris to join
General Buelow and General
Hausen in attacking the withdrawn French front, he
remembered the reserve French army at Paris, and left
a large body of troops entrenched on the River Ourcq,
east of the capital, to protect his advancing flank. This
was excellent generalship. But connecting with the Paris
army was the British Expeditionary Force, under Field-
Marshal French.
advance of the French army,
it was brought back to the
Kluck Ignores the
British Army
The British army extended from a point near the meeting
of the Ourcq and the Marne to a point at the south-east of
Paris, along another tributary of the Seine known as
the Grand Morin This river and a large wood — the forest
of Crecy — separated our men from the lower flank ol
Kluck's host that was still sweeping southward. Kluck,
however, took absolutely no notice of the British army,
which had been rapidly moved through Paris to meet him
once more.
Did he think the men who had withstood him at Mons
151
and Cambrai and captured his guns at Compiegne were
demoralised ? Did he mistake our retirement from the
north to the south-east of Paris — executed in answer to his
sudden swerve — as a withdrawal from battle ? Or was it
that his cavalry and aerial scouts were so overmastered by
our reconnoitring horsemen and flying men that they were
unable to carry out a proper reconnaissance ? The thing
is an amazing mystery with an important consequence.
For on Sunday, September 6th, Kluck was in a trap.
On his eastern flank, the army of Paris, under General
Maunoury, held him. On his south-eastern flank the
hidden British army allowed him to pass by. On his
southern front, directly on the line of his march, the Fifth
French Army, under General d'Esperay, was advancing.
Kluck camped for the
night, and the Fifth French
Army came on silently with
fixed bayonets. Down went
the sentries, and three
villages were captured by
cold steel before the sleeping
German host could use its
searchlights to direct the fire
of its artillery. It was a
moonlight night, the French
knew the ground blindfold,
and there was that within
them no mortal man could
stand against. Grim as an
Englishman with his back to
the wall, mad with an Irish-
man's lust for battle, and
as deadly tenacious as a
Scotsman, the son of France,
tempered by a long retreat,
put his bayonet through the
German war machine and
broke it up.
The masterly French
gunner cleared the path for
him, and when day broke
on Monday, September yth,
Kluck faced round to fight
h's way out. For the first
time in a hundred and ten
years the French soldier saw
the back of a beaten Prussian
— of some hundreds ot
thousands of beaten Prus-
sians. Kluck was afraid to
drive at the French centre,
with his old vehement dar-
ing, for the hidden British
army was sweeping up
against his- flank.
Our guns had opened
action over the river, valley,
and the forest the day
before, and the Coldstream
Corporal Qrusalt, a French infantry soldier, was discovered
trying to sell to the enemy documents relating to the wireless
telegraphic installation on the Eiffel Tower. He was sentenced
to degradation before his regiment and imprisonment for life.
and Irish Guards and other foot regiments had been thrown
forward to entrench in platoons, with the shrapnel
bursting like little clouds in the sky above them. None
of the enemy could be seen. It was an artillery duel,
with our airmen flying over the German lines and marking
the positions and ranges for our gunners.
On Monday, September yth, he began to retire towards
the north-east, and our troops then had their revenge for
all he had tried to do to them the fortnight before between
Mons and Le Cateau. Our light artillery pushed forward
over the river and caught the retreating columns of the
enemy. The Germans were compelled to bring some of
their guns to the rear to protect their in'antry. But our
gunners massed their fire on the enemy's batteries, and our
cavalry,- especially, it is said, the Scots Greys, rode at the
silenced guns and Maxims and captured them. In some
instances, the German machine-guns were undamaged, with
large quantities of ammunition beside them. They were
quickly used against their makers.
Had the Paris army along the Ourr.q been able quickly
to drive in the German troops left there, Kluck's lines of
communication would have been cut. But the German
position on the Ourcq was very strongly defended by an
unusual number of heavy guns and a large number of con-
cealed Maxims. Bayonet charges by the French were swept
away, and though their quick-firers were admirably
handled, they could not reach as far as the long-range heavy
German batteries. It is said that the Ourcq was not
carried until some of our gunners came up with our
heaviest field artillery and helped the French army.
In the meantime, Kluck had saved his men from over-
whelming disaster. Fighting a very skilful rearguard action,
and leaving his dead and wounded in thousands behind
him, with lost guns and stricken stragglers, the old German
general crossed river after river — the Petit Morin, the Marne,
the Vesle — with the vic-
torious British troops behind
him. He gained a respite
at the town of La Ferte-
sous-Jouarre, on the River
Marne, by holding up with
machine-guns an entire
British army corps. The
engineers had a terrible time
getting a pontoon bridge
across the water. But when
this was at last done, our
men chased the Germans
through the woods north
of the Marne, taking trans-
port waggons, guns, and
prisoners.
While we were pushing
Kluck back, the western
flank of the neighbouring
German army, under General
Buelow, was exposed. Tha
Fifth French Army, under
D'Esperay, having helped
us against Kluck, now swept
sideways on Buelow's men.
At the same time, the Fourth
French Army, under General
Foch, moved to help them ;
then, when Buelow began
to retreat, this Fourth
French Army struck at the
exposed flank of the Saxon
army, under General
Hausen. It was on Septem-
ber 8th that that Saxon
army, with which the Prus-
sian Guard was acting, was
compelled to retreat. It
suffered very badly. The
Prussian Guard was caught
in the great marsh of Saint
Gond, where it lost its guns
and half its men. For this
disaster, General Hausen
was relieved of his command.
After the rout of the Saxons, the way was opened for a
flank attack by the Third French Army, under General
de Langle, on the army of the Duke of Wurtemberg at
Vitry-le-Francois. Then, on September isth, the victory
ended in the retreat of the Crown Prince and his troops
from Revigny, below Verdun. All along the line General
Joffre employed the same simple and tremendously effective
tactics. As each separate victory compelled a single
German army to retreat, two French armies operated
against the next German force. One attacked in front,
the other menaced its flank.
As Nelson said, " only numbers can annihilate." Though
General Joffre had no more troops in the field than the
German commander-in-chief, he continually brought
superior forces to bear at every critical position. Each
German army was caught in nutcrackers, with one French
force on its front and another on its Hank. Joffre attacked
a million Germans with a million French and British troops,
but he endowed his million troops with the offensive power
of two millions of soldiers.
152
When the German Tide of Invasion Began to Ebb
IN the little French town of La Ferte, through which
the River Marne flows, 'a sanguinary duel between
British and Germans took place on September loth. The
Germans retreated, unable to endure the deadly accuracy
of our artillery. Houses in the town suffered badly.
Shells crashed through roofs, rifle bullets shattered the
window-panes. A stately chateau in which the enemy
installed their machine-guns was shelled by our artillery,
and left a heap of smouldering ruins. Desperate fighting
at close quarters took place in the town, and the grey cobble
stone swere stained red. Just outside La Ferte a rough
wooden cross denotes the last resting-place of a Highlander,
Highlander's grave on the battlefield
On the cross is written " He was a good pal.'
A British outpost guarding a bridge while
the Battle of the Marne was raging.
British infantry advancing to capture German stragglers,
srman hussar, and picked up Dy a hrencn cavalryman. many of whom surrendered in the hope of getting a meal.
Centre circle : A British officer's grave at La Ferte. The cross is constructed from a cigarette packing-case.
British soldiers inspect a death's-head busby left on the battle-
field by a German hussar, and picked up by a French cavalryman.
FLASHING THE SIGNAL TO CHARGE BY SEARCHLIGHT.
A remarkable picture of a remarkable incident during the fighting in searchlights having found the position of the enemy, gave the signal to
my at an earlv staee of the war showed a constant the British troops to advance by flashing the sign of the cross in the
:acks. _On many occasions they sky, whereupon soldiers who had been anxiously waiting for the order,
leaping from the trenches, successfully charged and discomfited the foe!
desire to surprise the British by-night .u i .»:i^. \jn uuuiy occasions uiey
found the British more than equal to them in this form of warfare. Our
To faxe ixtye lot
153
Scenes From the Fighting Along the Marne
iiiisis!*^
One of the bridges across the Marne at La Ferte blown up by
engineers.
Interested spectators of a German transport waggon smashed by
British shells during the fight at La Ferte.
Prisoners of war that are worth taking. British soldiers convoying
captured German artillery and transport horses through a village.
D 67
A band of German prisoners captured by the British at La Ferte.
Some of them have received medical treatment, and they do not
seem at all displeased at having been saved from taking further
part in the war. They are now sure of good food, and plenty
of it.
156
Turning of the Tide — The German Retreat
THE British retirement from Mons to Compiegne, from
August 25th to September ist, was carried out in
perfect order, despite insistent pressure from immensely
superior numbers of the enemy. Not so the German
retreat. Driven back across the River Marne. the Kaiser's
soldiers were nearly demoralised. Considerable bodies of
infantry surrendered to the British force at sight,
complaining of starvation. Villages were rifled by the re-
treating enemy, and evidence of drunkenness amongst them
was apparent. The exact number of prisoners captured is
not, of course, known, but by September nth the British
forces held 1,500, besides many Maxims and other guns.
The French soldiers are at their best when fighting on the offensive. Like their British comrades, they fought the retiring actions
from the Belgian frontier none too joyfully. Our photograph shows them in their element — advancing to take up a new position.
Wounded Turcos being assisted to the rear by their comrades No section of the Allies better enjoys keeping the Germans on the
during the fierce Battle of the Marne. run than the famous Zouave. They are all expert shots.
The aftermath of the great German retreat. French soldiers decorate themselves with helmets captured from the enemy,
guard a heap of German arms and equipment. One French cavalryman proudly blows a German bugle.
Railways
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Map to illustrate the region of the greatest battle In history, fought along the Rivers Aisne, Oise, and Somme.
A PEN-PICTURE FROM THE LONG-DRAWN BATTLE OF THE AISNE
Expressly written lor
The War Illustrated
modern battle is something totally different from
any in the old days-— even from a generation ago. It
has developed into a series of entrenched engagements
and approximates to siege operations, where each side
holds its defences stubbornly, ready to attack as the
opportunity offers. And this description of a battle
might well be written about two-score different scenes
of the great Battle of the Rivers, that weeks'-long struggle
of Titans that beat all world war records, and counted
the losses by hundreds of thousands.
All night long the big guns had been smashing away
from both armies without ceasing, and in the morning
the devil's tattoo was increased from the enemy's lines ;
but no sign was made that this day was not to be as the
days that had preceded it. As the sun came up and
lifted the mists that had shrouded the hills -like a vast
grey curtain, the warm light flashed on a sea of bayonets.
The Kaiser's legions were in motion. They came as they
always came, like fields of growing grain pushed forward,
coat brushing coat, knee rasping against knee, shoulder to
shoulder, like a Zulu impi debouching for a charge. In
between the gaps that separated the packed brigades of
infantry, the cavalry deployed. Their big guns dotted
their front ; their quick-firers were scattered everywhere
along their living line. Standards hung limply in the
scarce-moving air. No bugle spoke, no throbbing drums
quickened the pulse. Staff officers rode in little detached
groups, company and regimental officers with their men.
Now and again an orderly officer, sitting bolt upright as
if he had breakfasted on steel filings, spurred his way along
the lines
There was nothing storm-like about the early stages
of this attack. The foe advanced like the swell of the
Zuyder Zee when it licks the topmost edges of the Dutch-
men's dykes and rolls over meadow, mill, and farm — a
silent, devastating force.
The Fiery French
As the sun lifted, and the bared bayonets of the advanc-
ing foe came into view, the " red caps " leapt to life. The
guns were flung forward into the open, the big batteries
behind the trenches depressed their muzzles and left the
entrenchments of the enemy on the hills to take care of
themselves. Shells that were like miniature torpedoes
sped towards the heaped-up foemen, bursting just above or
among them. The red-capped infantry swung out, the
irrepressible Zouaves going forward at the trot, grinning
and joking as they ran, their lean fingers upon their enor-
mously long bayonets.
They are Irishmen dyed brown and made small, these
Zouaves, and to them a bayonet charge is a hundred
beanfeasts and a breakfast rolled into one.
158
Other regiments of the line swung out in fine soldierly
style at the quick step. that devours space. The cavalry,
carefully screened until wanted, lay snug in the gaps of
hills, each man standing by his charger, ready to leap to
the leather at the first resonant sound of the bugle.
The German Onset
They laugh and toss jests and unbarbed jibes at one
another in all the freedom of long-established camaraderie,
but the muscles of their lean faces send their teeth
together with a clip like the edges of a rat-trap meeting,
and their black eyes sparkle like diamonds dipped in
dew. Out from the on-moving multitude of Germanic
power bursts their field artillery. They are good and game.
They are riding a race with death, and they ride well.
The sluggish moving infantry breaks into a kind of heavy
run. They know what they are up against, poor devils !
And there is no " ginger " in the swing of their onset.
They will do better by-and-by when the battle madness
is on them.
Worthy of a Better Cause and a Better Kaiser
The cavalry surges forward to break the ground for the
infantry, and give them time to come up before the shell
fire shatters them.
They have far to travel, and death, many winged, goes
to meet them. The Zouaves stand still, close up and volley.
Bold riders in the front ranks of the oncoming cavalry
pitch over their horses' heads or grip at floating manes,
and miss and slide down, and to them, poor wretches,
who will never feel the gladsome spring of horseflesh again,
the brown earth seems to leap up. Again and again the
Zouaves volley. The cavalry is upon them. They stand
like stone, the first rank almost on the knee, long, deadly
bayonets pointing upwards and outwards, the second
rank crouching with bayonets ready to take the front
rank's place should lance points reach home, the rear ranks
volleying, eternally volleying, not wildly but rhythmically,
as if the men were machine made.
The impact is awful. The front line of German horse,
hurled on by the weight of numbers pressing behind, crashes
into the bayonets. The smitten chargers rear and squeal
in their death agony, striking out with fore hoofs as they
wheel and plunge ; the men who are left sit glued to their
saddles and thrust ; the lance points go home.
The first line of Zouaves is down ; the second steps over
their dead bodies, bracing their feet to the earth, fearing
neither man nor devil, bent only on keeping the living line
intact. They meet the steel of that ever-pressing mass,
and fall where their comrades fell. The third line is the
front line now ; the men behind them volley, they hold
the bayonet still and steady.
The Red-Cap Riders
Like unleashed hounds the French cavalry come to the
rescue of the dauntless Zouaves. They ride as if racing ;
every spur is red, every charger is straining on the bit.
They catch the halted German cavalry on the flank, and
go through them like hounds through a hedge. They break
them, scatter them, cut them down, and wheel out of the
line of fire.
The French infantry fall back, their work is done, and
grandly done ; they leave their wounded to the stretcher-
bearers, their dead to the God of Battles.
The Trenches Speak
The German infantry has reached the zone of rifle fire.
They break into a run, trusting to the weight of their
numbers to carry them over the trenches if they ever reach
them. The spot they touch has been measured ; there
is scarce a sign of life in the trenches, the infantry are lying
still, sighting their rifles ; they have the distance to a
yard, and this living wall surging toward them is doomed.
The dumb trenches speak, seventy-five thousand rifles
roar as one ; the German lines stop like an earthquake
bridled. Again that rain of leaden eloquence snarling
death ! The Germans totter, reel, give way, and go rush-
ing back whence they came — some of them.
A grim photograph Irom the scene of the world's biggest battle. Three Germans who were shot dead at the foot of a bridge over
the Aisne while making an attack, and lie, stark and cold, on the saturated pavement.
159
British Soldiers Waist Deep in Flooded Trenches
*uau»t the fighting in Belgium and France was hot
160
London Scottish give a Glorious Lead to Territori
That fine Territorial corps the London Scottish has won its
spurs in the Belgian fighting. Taken almost to the firing-line at
Messines in motor-'buses, the battalion prepared to give battle at
a spot where our lines were especially hard pressed. It was
necessary to occupy a village where the enemy had installed
machine-guns at the windows of the semi-wrecked houses,
in the day British troops had been driven out from the villl
a terrific onslaught of Bavarians, and now the position had!
recovered. All the afternoon our artillery blazed away I
village, but it was six o'clock in the evening before the C|
161
tolouting the Vaunted Bavarians in a Bayonet Charge
|uns were partly dislodged. Forming up under cover of a wood
alf a mile away, the Scottish crept cautiously forward. Then,
xing bayonets, they ran towards the village as one man. Men
I here and there in the mad rush forward, but it was all too
uick for the Bavarians. It was no time for quarter. On the
Scottish came, bayoneting the Germans, driving tham up to and
through the town and out again on the other side. There WHS only
one uniform in it—the kilt. The village won and Maxims placed in
position, the battalion re-formed, and set out prisoner Hunting. Few
regiments have been vouchsafed so inspiring a virgin day in action.
1C2
With the London Scottish on Active Service
The London Scottish, one of the best known and most popular of our Territorial regiments, at a full muster held early in
August, volunteered en masse for Foreign Service. This photograph shows them passing Buckingham Palace prior to leaving for France.
'"THE London Scottish, I4th
(County of London) Bat-
talion, have tasted warfare before,
many members of the famous
regiment having served in the
South African campaign with the
Gordon Highlanders and the
C.I.V.'s. After the outbreak of
war a second battalion was
formed, the rush to join proving
so great that eleven hundred men
were recruited in three days, and
there was still a substantial sur-
plus. The new battalion was com-
manded by Colonel Greig, C.B.,
M.P. for West Renfrewshire, who
formerly commanded the First
Battalion. The regiment was
founded by the Earl of Wemyss
in 1859, and is very popular.
London Scottish help our native Indian troops in France to unload transport waggons.
The services of the kilted Territorials in France are most valu-
able in many directions, which cannot be divulged owing to the
secrecy that surrounds the movements of all our troops. Some
of the London Scottish are here shown ready to assist the Royal
Engineers in telegraph repair work in a French town.
163
Hunting the Lurking Foe in a French Village
The capture of a village evacuated by the enemy demanded a
careful house-to-house hunt for Qerman soldiers who might be
hidden, ready to shoot unexpectedly. This photograph shows the
proceeding. The soldier is entering a house by a side door, and
two officers with revolvers are ready to shoot if necessary. Such
work is fraught with much danger, but it must be done, other-
wise individual enemies left behind may by a pre-arranged
system oF signalling give information that would enable the
enemy to deliver a counter-stroke upon the weakest point, and
that will give the hostile artillery the range for attack.
Nil
The Wild Stampede of a Terror-stricken Team
A WOUNDED corporal of the Northampton Regiment describes
the scene to which one of pur war artists has given graphic
expression. The horses of a British battery went mad with fright
at the bursting German shells as they were pulling the guns into action.
The drivers held to the animals like grim death; but, in spite of all
their efforts, the terrified steeds, with wild cries of equine madness,
rushed towards the German lines, pulling drivers and guns behind them.
A party of new men with horses was brought up and gave chase.
Meantime, the German shells continued to burst all round the team,
whose madness increased as the distance between the plunging cavalcade
and the enemy's lines became less. The new horses were made to
overtake the frightened team, and a vain attempt was made to stop
the runaways as they came within the range of more German guns.
There was nothing for it but to shoot the stampeded horses, and
the new horses were substituted under a hail of death from the opposing
artillery. Half of the men were hit, and, as they were getting the
guns away, German infantry advanced, but British reinforcements
arrived and the immediate danger of losing the guns was over.
» Rival Artillery-A Battle in a Thunderstorm
1^_mn«um^^BmBmaHn>BjBrau^»^BBl^m^nMMaB^^Bgn^^^^^^K:>:r ,,fflamm
While our soldiers were repulsing the Germans In the naked in the downpour. Then, refreshed, they hurriedly donned
valley of the Marne, on September 7th, a fierce thunder- their clothes and proceeded to drive the Germans further
storm raged. Nature's artillery vied with man's. Torrential back. Getting them on the run, they captured a number of
rain fell, and our soldiers revelled in it. Stripping off tunics prisoners, horse and foot, who, tired and famished for want of
and shirts, they had a glorious shower-bath, many standing food, admitted they had not the stomach to face the British charges.
K,C
THE GREAT EPISODES OF THE WAR
How the Little British Army Crossed the Aisne
ABOVE the old French cathedral town of Soissons,
some fifty miles north of Paris, rises a vast, flat-
topped mass of rock, covered with woods and brush-
wood, broken by quarries and seamed by wild green ravines.
From the ravines, hill torrents flash and tumble into the
broad, slow, deep waters of the Aisne River.
This great plateau of Soissons is reckoned to be the
strongest natural fortress in Northern Europe. The
Germans seized it years ago, and designed it for their
chief attacking point against Paris. Their agents bought
many of the quarries, and, while carrying on their ordinary
trade, built secret gun and howitzer emplacements at
the chief strategical positions on the tableland.
To this French Gibraltar, thus cunningly won and
prepared, in times of peace, for an open-air siege battle,
General Kluck retired with surprising swiftness after
his defeat at the Battle of the Marne.
A Land Fort of Gibraltar
Strength
So immensely strong was his position, to which the
siege artillery destined for use at Paris was brought, that
the German commander confidently looked forward to
breaking his opponents and rapidly resuming the advance
on the French capital. He had probably three hundred
thousand men 'at the beginning on the Soissons plateau,
and the Allies, still pursuing his rearguards in the plains
of Champagne, came up against him with about an equal
number of men.
On the eastern wing was the Sixth French Army, under
General Castelnau, in the centre was a British force of
three army corps, on the western wing, in touch with
our men, were the Turcos of the Fifth French Army.
General Castelnau swept partly round the east of the
tableland, with a view to attacking Kluck on the flank.
The Turcos advanced towards the eastern end of the
plateau, where the rocky mass fell down in a gentle slope
to Berry-au-Bac and the country round Rheims.
Our troops in the centre were faced with the most
tremendous and perilous task that men have ever been
called on to carry out. They had to storm the enemy's
high fortified position by a direct frontal attack. They
had no heavy siege artillery, such as the Germans had
set in the commanding positions ; they were also out-
• numbered in. machine-guns. Then, in order to get within
rifle range of the dim, grey masses of. foes entrenched on
every steep scarp and ravine cliff, they had to cross ;w
river valley, widening from half a mile to two miles, and
next bridge the river, a hundred and seventy feet in breadth,
with pontoons, under the most terrific shell-fire mortal
man has ever endured. When all this was done they
had to climb up the ridge with guns, Maxims, and innumer-
able rifles blazing at them.
Giant Gun* versa*
Fiesh and Blood
It was not a battle of man against man, but a one-sided
contest between a gigantic, systematised, and long-prepared
collection of Krupp's war machinery and something like
a hundred and twenty thousand young British athletes.
It would have been no disparagement of the courage
of our men had they failed to force the passage of the
Aisne against such instruments of death. Just on the
right of our troops, the Turcos, who are among the most
fearless souls with mortal breath, were driven back from
the ford of Berry-au-Bac. And still further westward,
in the level country round Rheims, the German guns
blew the French from a hill near Rheims and prevented
them from retaking it.
Yet, in spite of the terrible disadvantages under which
they attacked, Sir John French and his men crossed the
valley of death and seized one of the principal, com-
manding positions on the plateau. The British advance
began on Saturday, September I2th, with a glorious piece
of work by the Queen's Bays and other cavalrymen under
General Allenby. Fighting, now on horseback, now on
foot, sometimes with sword and lance, sometimes with
carbine fire like infantry, Allenby and his men won all the
country up to the Aisne valley. They conquered, in one of
those " hussar strokes " the Germans' talk about but never
achieve, the southern highlands of the Aisne, trenched
by the tributary stream of the Vesle. Here Kluck had
thrown out a strong advance guard to keep his splendid
outer defences. In a swift, deadly fight, often waged
hand-to-hand, the Germans were broken, and those that
escaped blew up the Aisne bridges as they fled.
The Road Cleared for
the British Advance
After this clearance, the way was open for the general
British advance. Sir John French divided his forces
into three equal parts, each of them an army corps in
strength. On the left wing was the Third Army Corps,
in the centre was the Second Army Corps under Sir Horace
Smith- Dorrien, on the right wing was the First Army
Corps under Sir Douglas Haig. The three columns, when
deployed in fighting line, stretched twenty miles along
the southern wooded ridge of the Aisne valley.
On this ridge our artillery was placed, and so concealed
among the trees that the German gunners — one, two,
three, and four miles away, on and behind the oppositn
forested ridge — could not mark its position. The " Doves "
quickly came, of course, soaring over the valley on their
far from peaceful mission — grey-blue German aeroplanes
with dove-shaped wings, sweeping behind our troops to
search for our guns and find the range for the Krupp
howitzer batteries. Our flying men, however, did not
merely chase the " doves " away, but swooped like hawks
at them, killing pilots and wrecking the machines.
Then our scouts of the sky darted across the valley,
and, while dodging the puff-balls of the Krupp aerial guns,
tried to discover the positions of the larger masses of
German troops and get a glimpse of a gun muzzle peeping
here and there through the foliage. Nothing of much
importance, however, was discovered by the morning of
Sunday, September I3th.
A Great Battle in a
Morning Haze
There was the empty river valley, with its broken bridges
and the autumn sunlight playing over it. The roar of
guns came from Soissons on one side and Rheims on the
other, as our men silently went down into the death-
trap so carefully prepared for them. In order to discover
at what points the main German forces were massed,
a general advance in open order was ordered at dawn, all
along the river for twenty miles. The morning haze hid
our troops for a while, but by nine o'clock they were
under an incessant shell-fire.
All the tongues of high, wooded rock, sloping from the
tableland to the river, were crowded with German riflemen,
with machine-guns and quick-firers. They had left one
bridge intact, at the little town of Conde, in the centre
of their position. Over this bridge they intended to pour
in pursuit, when they had completely crippled our advance.
They had some of their heavy guns directed at the Conde
bridge-head, and the fire there was so overwhelming that
our Second Army Corps, under Smith-Dorrien, could not
cross the river at that point. So it bravely, desperately-
entrenched itself right in front of the German army, just
where the Vesle poured its waters into the Aisne, and
held the enemy, preventing them from using the bridge.
Our batteries were brought to bear on and around Conde.
to blow away any German counter-attack.
Thus, in the centre, the position of stalemate was quickly
arrived at. Either side could have smashed the Conde
bridge with a few shells ; but each, hoping for an
opportunity to use it, left it intact, and set their sappers
to work to deepen and push forward the trenches towards
the river. Our men were at first in a very dangerous
107
position. They had to entrench hastily under a terrific
shell-fire. But by mighty " navvy " work they dug
themselves at last into safety and began to make shell-
proof covers on their earthworks. They were the men
who had saved both the British and French forces from
Kluck's enveloping movement at Cambrai, and the hardest
job had again fallen to them.
A Fierce Fight Stopped
by Darkness
Some of them got across the river to the left of Conde,
though swept by a heavy fire, and entrenched on the
opposite bank. On their right the Third Army Corps
rafted some of their men across the Aisne near the broken
bridge of Venizel. The bridge was repaired by our engineers
but shattered again by German shells, and our artillery
had to be man-handled across it. As evening came on,
sufficient troops had reached the opposite bank to force
their way, by unceasing violent fighting, half up the steep
plateau towards the village of Vregny. Vregny, however,
was the main German position, where the German armament
was chiefly massed. So terrible was the hurricane of lead
from the guns and Maxims that by five-thirty o'clock in
the evening our troops were held. But as they withdrew in
the darkness, so did . — ,
the Germans. The
Germans retired two
miles from the river
and entrenched on the
ridge. Our engineers
were busy during the
night throwing pon-
toons over the Aisne,
across which men and
guns went to reinforce
the advance guard
clinging to the wooded
slopes round Bucy-le-
long.
Altogether we had
not made much pro-
gress at the Venizel
crossing. To have
escaped annihilation
and won some of the
lower slopes consti-
tuted a magnificent
triumph of human
energy and courage
over the German
machinery of death.
But as the Germans
.»» I nn»«l»>»'M*
•••'*;'••- ,..«(> It.***,
An odious comparison. This picture-postcard, widely circulated in Germany,
shows how the kinsmen of the Huns are gloating over their dastardly destruction
of Rheims Cathedral. It compares the destruction of Heidelberg Castle by the
French in the time of Louis XIV. — an ordinary act of war — with an act of
sacrilegious Infamy.
held the great towering ridge above our men, and held it with
heavier artillery than we possessed, our foothold on their vast
open-air fortress was still somewhat chancy and perilous.
It was the First Army Corps, under the splendid leader-
ship of Sir Douglas Haig, that turned the whole heroic
adventure into one of the greatest successes of British arms.
Sir Douglas commanded the extreme right wing of the
British advance. He split his army corps into its two
divisions, that each spread out fan-wise.
The Feat of the
Girder Crossing
The Second Division, at a point some six miles east of
Conde, found a broken bridge with one girder still showing
partly above water. Single-file, and under a murderous
tempest of Krupp shells, one of the infantry brigades
crossed by the girder, and, headed by the Guards, fought
a terrible battle at the foot of the river heights at Chavonne
and held the bank.
In the meantime the First Division had found the one
weak point in the German defences. Working about two
miles further up the river, away from the British centre
and close to the Turcos, they discovered that the canal
bridge at the. little village of Bourg was only weakly
defended. Some tremendous mistake must have been
made by General Kluck or one of his subordinate generals.
Both our cavalry and guns, as well as our infantry, crossed
the Aisne at Bourg with slight opposition. Sir Douglas
Haig at once grasped the fine opportunity of the position
he had so happily gained. By a series of quick, skilful,
bold, decisive movements, he sent patrols in, the evening
up to the heights occupied by the enemy. Then, after
allowing his main troops a few hours' sleep at night,
dispatched them also up the tableland before dawn
to support his advance guards at Vendresse, some three
and a half miles north of the Aisne.
About three a.m. on Monday, September I4th, the
decisive struggle at the critical point began. The Germans
held a faclory at Troyon, a village nearly on the ridge.
This factory played in the battle for the Aisne the same
part as the farm of Hougoumont played in the Battle of
Waterloo. It was attacked in the misty dawn by the
King's Royal Rifles, the Royal Sussex Regiment, the
Northants, the Loval North Lanes, and the Coldstreams.
A Battle Round a Factory
The Lancashire men won the factory, and all the wet,
misty morning the fight went on, with the rest of the
infantry brigade spread out on either side of the factory
facing the German entrenchments on the wooded ridge. Our
gunners could do little to help their foot soldiers. In the haze
nothing could be seen to fire at. Meanwhile, another British
brigade was working in a half-circle round from the east at
Vendresse. It was in-
tended to reinforce
the firing-line round
the factory. But
before so doing it
came upon a strong
hostile column sent to
break through our
position.
This column was
hurled back — with
blank-point rifle fire
in the haze, followed
by a fierce bayonet
charge. Two thousand
of our men, fighting
with cool fury, stopped
the entire counter-
stroke.
While this decisive
conflict was proceed-
ing the other division
of the First Army
Corps had also man-
aged to climb the
plateau towards Ostel
Ridge, some four miles '
west of the factory,
their direct attack, and
The Germans then gave over
massed westward, past Ostel Ridge, and tried to wedge
down to the river, dividing our army and threatening
Haig's communications. But Sir Douglas obtained a
cavalry division from Sir John French, turned the
horsemen into infantry, and so secured his flank.
This was done with some very heavy fighting, but the
Germans gradually weakened through the great losses
they suffered. So, when the weakness of the enemy was
clearly felt by our men, at four o'clock in the afternoon,
a general advance was made by all the troops under Haig.
The Final Closing
Charge
This was the grand, closing charge that decided the
day. Upward and onward our men went, against a
hurricane of shrapnel and rifle fire. But when night fell
they had won the road along the ridge — the Chemin-des-
Dames, or Ladies' Walk.
The crossing of the Aisne was accomplished. All the
heavy artillery and many of the machine-guns, planted
on the heights for use against our men, were captured.
By reason of the winning of this commanding position
on the plateau, our army was able to hold the Aisne for
many weeks, against all counter-attacks, while General
Joffre lengthened out his left wing till it reached the
North Sea. Once again the little British Army had proved,
to friend and foe, its marvellous qualities.
168
The Frightful Havoc of a British Bomb
'* The skill, energy, and perseverance of our Royal Flying Corps,
under Sir David Henderson, have been beyond all praise," said
Sir John French in his despatch of September 7th, and four days
later he again referred to their courage, illustrating how their
services had been of value. Primarily, their object Is to collect
information, and therefore bomb-dropping has not been greatly
indulged in, but from a diary found on a dead German cavalry
soldier it was discovered that a high-explosive bomb thrown at
a cavalry column from one of our aeroplanes struck an ammuni-
tion waggon, and the resulting explosion killed fifteen of the enemy.
1C9
Through blood and tears, from noble cities razed.
Shines Belgium's name unvanquished, brave and clear.
Resplendent writ in Honour's runes of gold.
Who stood for faith and freedom unamazed,
Defending Right, without reproach or fear,
As kindred with the hero-race of old. ,
— WALTER CRANE.
Siege and
Fall of
Antwerp
\\
A NTWERP'S day of anguish.
^^ This photograph, exclusively
published here, shows the enor-
mous crowd o{ despairing refugees
on the North German Lloyd quay
struggling to reach the floating-
pier (in the foreground) leading
from the battered and burning
town to the temporary pontoon
bridge. The escape of the soldiers
was a matter of vital importance,
and some are seen crossing the
pontoon bridge (immediately
under this paragraph). One of
I he German liners disabled by the
British before they left is shown.
170
Antwerp-Belgium's Last and Mightiest Stronghold
(~)N the defences of Antwerp — the
old picturesque Flemish port
by the River Scheldt — the great
Belgian fortress-builder, General
Brialmont, exerted all his genius.
Liege and Namur were designed by
him only as delaying points, in-
tended to impede the march of the
Germans for a few days.
Antwerp he made a stronghold,
built to last for a year against the
most powerful siege guns of the
time. The forts were so placed
that their guns can sweep an
attacking army on all sides with
an unceasing tempest of bursting
shrapnel.
There was plenty of room ior all
the soldiers of Belgium within
the defences ; and the Belgians
long ago resolved to make their
last heroic stand against an invader
in this great, important seaport.
The famous Gothic cathedral of Antwerp.
But after tne Allies reinforced
them and the new strategical
positions were taken up, Antwerp
became the fortressed edge of
the left wing of the enormous
battle front extending to
Switzerland.
Then, having for fifteen days
covered the movements of the
French armies, the Belgian troops
withdrew to their formidable en-
trenched camp of Antwerp, this
serving as a base of operations from
which they could threaten the flank
of the German host, and co-operate
in the movements of the allied
armies.
Antwerp itself is one of the most
beautiful ports in Europe — full of
tall, quaint, old, glorious gabled
houses, and churches with altar
pictures by Rubens, Van Dyck,
and Jordaens.
The immense fortress town, with a triple belt of forts, where the Belgians prepared for their last heroic stand.
Busy quays of the great Belgian seaport.
Where Antwerp steamers land their passengers.
171
Preparing for the Great German Attack
A DETERMINED shelling of the Antwerp fortifications
was commenced by the Germans, assisted by Austrians,
on September 2Qth. Seven days later General De Guise,
the Military Governor of Antwerp, notified the inhabitants
that a bombardment of the city was imminent, and those
who wished to escape the dangers of such an attack were
invited to leave with all possible speed.
No fortress in the world is impregnable if guns big
enough be played upon it, and if the attacking force be
sufficiently prodigal of human life. Every one of Antwerp's
first-rank forts was dominated by several forts in the second
line. Then there was a very extensive area where water
could be admitted to a depth of from two to six feet. An
inner circle of forts, a deep fosse round the walls of the
city, and the fortified walls themselves had all to be over-
come before the invaders were masters of the city itself,
and only sheer weight of metal from guns such as have never
formerly been used in warfare could accomplish this.
Food supplies at the docks. The food problem has been strongly handled in
into surrender.
Antwerp and there was little chance of the garrison being starved
The proclamation posted on the walls enjoining the inhabitants to keep
cairn during the approaching siege attracted crowds of intensely
interested spectators.
Even while the defending garrison kept the invaders beyond
the walla, the cathedral was loo good an artillery mark
for the big German long-distance guns.
172
Fire and Flood Meet the Germans at Antwerp
S
Th
As a strong German force advanced upon Antwerp, early in
September, the Belgians opened the dykes and flooded the country.
r he Germans were thrown into instant confusion. Men and
T ne tier mans were thrown into instant contusion. men and
horses struggled across the inundated fields, and their endeavour
to beat a hatty retreat was unsuccessful. Many of their heavy
guns could not be moved, and had to be abandoned. German
soldiers climbed into trees and were made prisoners later. The
Belgian artillery opened fire, and nearly turned the German
retreat into a rout. An official statement at Antwerp estimates
the German losses in this encounter at fully one thousand men.
The fortress prepared to flood further large areas rather than
allow itself to be captured. Defence by inundation is nothing new,
for in 1667 the adjacent district of Termonde was saved from a
siege by opening the sluices, and laying the locality under water.
173
Wrecks of War on Belgium's Railways
When the Germans were attacking Antwerp, the Belgians sent five locomotives, with waggons loaded with sand, under full steam full
tilt in the. direction of the German lines at Malines. Then occurred, perhaps, the most remarkable railway wreck in the world's
history. The Belgian engineers pulled the levers, then Jumped off as the engines got under way, and let them gather speed as they
rushed without control over the track to swift and sure destruction.
The havoc made by the locomotive charge mentioned above was so great that the Germans found It more expeditious to build a new/
track parallel with the old one instead of attempting to remove the wrecks and repair the old line. This picture shows the new
line under construction, with the wheeled chargers in a heap of ruins on the far side.
This is another view of the wrecked locomotives that charged the German position at Malines. The Germans, who saw the fiery
chariots coming, had just time to throw up some obstructions that sent the engines off the rails in a great heap of scrap-iron. Notice
the twisted rails and the sand waggon below the second locomotive.
174
Holding back the Enemy on the Road to Antwerp
Belgian infantry waiting for the appearance on the other side of the river
of the Germans who have fired the buildings seen burning in the picture.
Belgians seen defending one of the roads leading to Fort Waelhem, one of the forts of the outer ring round Antwerp, as the Germans
advanced to bombard the city. Inset: Peasant girl bringing walnuts to Belgian troops in the trenches near Lierre.
175
Flames of War Lighting German Approach to Antwerp
Contich is a village seven miles from the Central Station of Antwerp
on the Turnhout Railway. When the great Krupp guns had fired the
buildings seen above the few remaining inhabitants fled in panic
towards the city, where, alas! no relief could be offered them.
The small square picture shows a bridge in Antwerp which was blown up by British Marines aa the Germans advancad. Tneir
artillery had started a conflagration in the adjacent buildings. In the large picture Germans on their way into Antwerp are seen
oassinq a church that has been made a charred shell by their fire.
176
Austria's "Never- Victorious" Warriors in Belgium
The German War Lords evidently considered that the fighting
value of the Austrian troops would increase by being put along-
side their own men instead of being left as a national army, and
so they have been called upon to assist in operations before
Antwerp. These Austrians are seen constructing a bridge across
a river on their way to the great attack upon the Belgian fortress.
Vustrians in Brussels beside one of their motor-guns with which Ihey were to help in the siege of Antwerp. In the background
of the picture there may be clearly seen one these guns with its pair of recoil cylinders that are features of the mechanism.
177
The Bombardment of Belgium's Liverpool
Antwerp from the Scheldt, showing the lofty spire of the cathedral in the centre.
The last of the refugees to leave Antwerp as the Germans entered the city are seen crossing the River Scheldt — some of them by the river
ferry-boat and some by the pontoon bridge, temporarily erected and afterwards destroyed to prevent the Germans following the
retreating soldiers and fleeing citizens. The river was flowing with oil, run to waste so as not to be of service to the invaders.
of the plucky defenders before the evacuation of the city. This photograph shows a party of British Marines v>
transport waggon and two of the armoured motor-cars that proved of great service in the defence of Antwerp.
Some
178
FW I CM soldiers hastening to the frontier
when Antwerp fell in order to cope with
the great rush of Belgian civil and military
refugees into f.'iendiy Holland.
THE GREAT EPISODES OF THE WAR
The Heroic Adventure at Antwerp
THE Belgian army's defence of Antwerp was a desperate
gesture of heroism by a little nation dying in im-
mortal fame with the hope of a glorious resurrection.
The double line of armoured forts, designed thirty years
ago by General Brialmont, had become worse than useless.
With the surprising development in power of the new siege
artillery, Antwerp had ceased to exist as a fortress. A line
of earthworks in an open field would have been a safer
defensive position.
When the modern French forts at Maubeuge fell, the
doom of the old works at Antwerp, with their feebler guns,
was plainly seen to be inevitable. The Belgian soldiers
knew it. Some of them had fought at Liege until the
German howitzers arrived. Others had retired at the last
moment for escape from the swift, shattering downfall
of Namur. They knew their defence was hopeless.
But their courage was of that flaming, passionate sort
that puts things again and yet again to mortal hazard.
Antwerp, their beloved Antwerp, with its atmosphere of
romance, its treasures of native art, its multitude of free,
independent townspeople, with its far-stretched lines of
forts, built in the old days to shelter the whole army, could
not be tamely surrendered as a matter of sound strategy.
The Belgian would not play for safety. Cost what it
might — even the destruction of the entire military forces
of the nation — Antwerp should be held as long as possible,
for honour's sake.
Magnificently did the Belgian troops act on this high
resolution. Standing by the grave of their power as an
independent people, they jumped in, rifle in hand, and
used the grave as a fighting trench. After withdrawing
into Antwerp on August lyth, they continually sallied out
against the enemy's forces, and threatened the lines of
communication between France and Germany. Four
German army corps had to move about Belgium, on the
defensive, at times when their help in France might have
turned the tide of battle. By holding back these German
reinforcements and keeping them in fierce conflict for over
seven weeks, the Belgian army in Antwerp helped to win
the victories to the south — on the Marn^. on the Aisne,
and at Arras. At last, alarmed, disconcerted by the spirit
and daring of the Belgian force, the German Military Staff
resolved to bring their siege artillery from Maubeuge to
Antwerp. In the second week in September there was
heavy fighting south of the Belgian river port, where
German and Austrian engineers were preparing the con-
crete emplacements for their two hundred big howitzers.
By September 28th the concrete had settled and hard-
ened, and the artillery was brought up from Brussels. The
following day the bombardment opened. The two
southernmost forts, Waelhem and Wavrc Sainte Catherine,
were attacked by the concentrated fire of the enormous
howitzers, some of which threw picric shells weighing each
a ton. The Belgian gunners were utterly powerless.
Their old 4 in. and 6 in. Krupp guns were useless.
The hostile howitzers could not be seen. They fired
high into the air, and the shells shattered down from the
sky. It was impossible to calculate in which positions
the artillery was concealed that fired them. This is the
supreme advantage which mobile, attacking siege ordnance
has gained through the invention of smokeless powder.
It remains invisible, and movable if discovered by aerial
reconnaissance, while the fort it is attacking is a plain,
fixed, easy mark. With the new range-finding instru-
ments, and the concentration of the fire of a hundred
howitzers against the small numbers of guns in each fort,
the destruction of any old-fashioned armoured and con-
crete fortress is very rapid.
It was somewhat too rapid in the first bombardment of
Antwerp. One of the forts of the outer line quickly
exploded and burst into high flame. A brigade of German
infantry, entrenched just beyond the r2,nge of the Belgian
guns, rose and ran forward to capture the ruined fort, and
hold the gap in the fortressed line against the defending
troops. But when they reached the fort, guns, Maxims,
rifles, live electric-wire entanglements, caught them in a
trap. The supposed explosion had been produced by
pouring petrol on some lighted straw brought into the
fort for the purpose. One-third of the German brigade
fell round the slopes, the rest fled, with the shrapnel and
Maxim fire sweeping them in their retreat.
This, however, was the only success that the Belgian
179
gunners m tiie forts obtained They could not reach the
hostile artillery, and though they lighted more straw, and
pretended to be lying all dead amid the wreck of their
guns, the German troops would not advance again. In
the meantime Fort Waelhem was really destroyed. This
happened on Wednesday, September 3oth, and on the
following day two neighbouring forts were silenced.
The terrible howitzer shells bent and smashed the steel
cupolas, tore away the armoured concrete in masses as
large as ordinary houses, exploded the magazines and
knocked over the armament. The gunners who lived
through the first inconceivable explosion had to fly at once
from death in many forms — poisonous fumes, concussion,
flying tragments of steel, falling masses of concrete, over-
turning guns. Like a solitary battleship foundering under
the gunfire of a great fleet, the single forts fell one by one
against the immense siege artillery designed for use by a
million men against the fortifications of Paris.
But what the Germans won by their overpowering
machinery of war they lost again in flesh and blood For
on October ist their infantry tried to rush the trenches the
Belgians hastily made between their silenced forts, and
were hurled back with heavy losses. Then the lighter
Villagers of Wetteren giving bread to Belgian troops as they
march through the village.
German howitzers moved forward and searched the Belgian
trenches with continual shrapnel, night and day, till the
Antwerp army was compelled to withdraw across the
Nethe, closer to their doomed city.
The new position was admirable. The well-made earth-
works, stretching along the flooded river, were stronger
defences than the old armoured forts, under the new
conditions of artillery warfare with smokeless powder and
aerial fire control. But two hundred great movable guns
were needed to maintain the artillery duel. Of these great
guns the defenders of Antwerp did not possess one. They
had only light field artillery and the small Krupp guns
fixed in the remaining forts.
By Saturday, October 3rd, Antwerp was a city of dour
despair, of hopeless courage. The machinery of attack
had proved overwhelming. There was not much difference
in numbers between the defending and assailing armies ;
but the difference in heavy gun-power was enormous. It
was like four hundred riflemen on a big lumber raft trying
to beat off four hundred men on a modern cruiser.
Great was the joy on Saturday evening when the first
part of the British Naval Brigade arrived in the falling city.
It was wildly hoped that the few big guns our men were
bringing with them would alter the position of affairs.
But so desperate was the situation in the trenches by the
river, that the British reinforcements of 8,000 Marines and
sailors seem, in some cases, to have had no time to get their
naval guns into action.
They had hurriedly to relieve some of the Belgian troops
in the shrapnel-swept earthworks. Our men went into the
trenches and occupied them until Tuesday morning,
October 6th, seeing never an enemy to attack, and having
nothing to do but passively endure the terrific artillery
fire from the great German guns far in the distance. And
on Tuesday the German gunners pushed against the position
to the right of the British trenches, and held the Belgians
with shrapnel, while the German infantry pierced the line
A Bridge of Dead Bodies
Even in these terrible circumstances the Belgians lost
none of their courage. Before the German troops could
cross the river, their pontoons were destroyed by the
defenders, and rebuilt and again destroyed. Then 3,000
Germans tried to swim the Nethe. In the end, they walked
from bank to bank, over the most horrible bridge man ever
used — over the dead bodies of their comrades, piled above
the sunken pontoons until they rose from the water.
On the ground thus terribly won, between the Nethe and
the inner line of Antwerp forts, the Germans planted some
of their lighter howitzers, and gave notice to bombard the
city. For their guns could now reach over the inner forts to
the suburbs and centre of the great old Belgian river port.
What followed in Antwerp itself was not warfare, but the
terrorisation of half a million non-combatant townspeople.
At midnight on Wednesday, October yth, the first scream-
ing shell fell around the houses and exploded.
Some of the suburbs burst into flame, as incendiary
bombs rocketed across the smoky darkness. By the
river an immense store of petrol was set alight to prevent
the conquerer from using it. The fumes of the oil, the
flames of the bombarded houses, the flash and thunder of
the exploding shells turned beautiful, romantic Antwerp
into a scene of infernal splendour. In vague, vast, dim
crowds, the stricken, hopeless, helpless people fled at night
by river and road into Holland — a sudden, tragic exodus of
half a million men, women, and children, many of them
refugees from the burnt and ruined villages and towns of
Belgium who had come to Antwerp for safety.
Such was the wild, confused, heartbreaking civilian
aspect of the downfall of Belgium's last and greatest
stronghold. But from the purely military point of view,
the fall of the famous city was in a way a triumph for
Belgian arms rather than a disaster. For, with the ex-
ception of 18,000 Belgian soldiers, chiefly volunteers, and
some 2,000 British troops who crossed into Holland —
many of them intentionally directed, or rather misdirected,
thither by a German spy, who will never again render a
traitor service to his masters — and were interned by the
Dutch, the Belgian army and British brigades fought their
way to the coast, losing neither guns nor armoured trains.
On Thursday night, October 8th, when the Germans
were trying to cut the line of retreat, the defenders of
Antwerp marched out towards Ostend, leaving some of
their forts on the eastern side still firing bravely.
The Belgians' defence of Antwerp was a glorious close
to the campaign for civilisation which they opened two
months before at Liege. At Antwerp the Belgians rose to
their greatest height of heroism.
Saved France From a
Stab in the Back
Even as they had helped France mightily at Liege,
so did they help her at Antwerp. They diverted against
themselves, by their audacity of menace, the great siege
train which the Germans would have liked to have shifted
from Maubeuge to the Verdun-Toul fortressed line in
Eastern France. In the middle of this fortressed line, at
Saint Mihiel, the Germans had made a gap. With two
hundred heavy howitzers, sent through Metz, they might
have so widened the gap as to have poured an army against
the rear of the allied front on the Aisne. The Belgians at
Antwerp prevented this stab in the back of their friends.
Never can Britain and France repay Belgium. Eternal
glory is hers, and the passionate admiration of every soul
that prizes the highest things in civilisation
ISO
With the Gallant Defenders of
Antwerp
A Belgian armoured motor-car that has made sorties from Antwerp and put marauding Germans to flight. The driver is well
protected, and at the back of the car is a revolving turret which permits a machine-gun to fire in any direction.
The fortifications of Antwerp are sixty miles in circumference, and it was estimated that the city required 100,000 men to defend it
and twice that amount to invest it. A Belgian regiment is here shown in a trench at the extreme edge of the fortifications.
1 his is the type of gun that helped to batter Liege, Namur, and Maubeuge into submission. It is here shown in the t
Austrians, who have come to try its effect against the howitzers of Antwerp. Our soldiers have nicknamed its shells " Jac
sons," because of their black smoke.
is here shown in the hands of
" ' ;k John-
181
Camera Glimpses behind the Fortifications
Some of the Antwerp garrison,
determined stand at Vieux Dieu.
the road at Vieux Dieu. E
T * Vl '^^P^p1 Hj .JMMBteb^^^"'
i, forced back from the outer fortifications by heavy artillery flre that they could not return, made a
i. They are here shown in company with British sailors erecting barbed-wire entanglements to block
Barbed wire, to impede attacks by infantry or cavalry, has been greatly in evidence during the war.
' **" I I BBBL. SB ••Bl
Marines, having scooped out a trench by the roadside, hold a commanding position
with their Maxim. The Marine with the flag is a signaller. Owing to the distant range
from which the Germans fired, our machine-guns could not do much effective work.
One of our Marines, wounded while
helping to man the trenches, is escorted
back to the town by a comrade.
A British armoured motor-car in the town. To the very last the sight of a British sailor or Marine was an occasion for cheers, even
though those who cheered knew that our men were too few in numbers, and too short of big guns, to be materially helpful.
182
British Naval Men Strengthen the Trenches—
Men of the British Naval Brigade carrying ammunition into the
formed part of Antwerp's inner line of defence, and were prepa
before their arrival to assist the gallant Belgians. Inset: Protec
of sandbags and other hastily-made defences the Navy men wait
to appear.
trench
red f
fo
Royal Marines in the trenches outside Lierre. On the left is the
shelter to which they rushed when shells burst too close.
LS3 KM* °T'h: SLRTi, ^.^arXra-sT ^-tr^^ach^^n^Z^tne^ritr wh2 occupy"^
1S3
Their Work amid Shell and Fire in Antwerp
When the men of the British naval force arrived at Antwerp early
in October they found that rough trenches |had been prepared
for them. These they improved and strengthened with timber
and sandbags. While they were digging, a German aeroplane
hovered overhead and dropped smoke-bombs, which gave the
exact point of marksmanship for the enemy's artillery. The
defence of Antwerp was a courageous undertaking, and its
surrender in face of the weight of the enemy's artillery was strategic
policy as well as military necessity. Britain's share in the defence
is a story that reflects no discredit on our nation or our arms.
184
French Marines also tried to Succour the Bombarded Town
The French Marines wear long overcoats, buttoned back at the
knees, like the French infantry, and the peculiar French sailor's
hat. Some are here shown marching to the trenches at Antwerp.
The French Marines are also handy with the bayonet. During a violent engagement near Ghent, their long, deadly weapons frightened
four hundred Germans into surrender, and compelled others to retire. This photograph shows some French Marines advancing
exprctedly through a field not far from Antwerp. The square photo above depicts the Marines with trophies captured from the enemy.
BOMBARDMENT OF ANTWERP
To fare pitffc iSA
provisions of the Fourth Hague Convention, which Germany signed.
from sketches supplied &•/
185
Armoured Motor-car and Train in Action at Antwerp
An armoured motor-car scouring the roads round Antwerp
Just ahead a shell from one of the attacking army's big guns
has burst, throwing off a terrific cloud of thick black smoke.
A Belgian officer looks to see what damage has been done.
So that it might be able to fire at the big German siege-guns, an
armoured train, manned by Belgians and British, sallied out
from Antwerp. The recoil vibration of firing a broadside
made the whole train rock on the railway line.
D3ir
186
The Weary Pilgrimage from the Bombarded City to Safety
A common scene in the Dutch villages near the Belgian frontier
after the Germans had taken Antwerp. Dutch villages often
found accommodation for many times their own population.
Belgian families fleeing from
Antwerp. If the little children
taken from their homes to
seek safety in other countries
realised what it all meant they
would not have regarded the
migration as the picnic many
of them thought it to be. The
novelty of the proceeding
appealed to them, and their
innocence was both pathetic
and gratifying.
Only very fortunate refugees were able to find conveyances to
carry themselves and their possessions out of the war zone.
One ot the saddest things in the whole refugee situation is that families are broken up and scattered, individual members being entirely
Ignorant if the other members are even alive. This photograph shows a wall in a village where passing refugees have written messages
to their friends on the faint chance that they will be read by the eyes for which they are intended.
THE AGONY OF A NATION
Described by A. G. HALES
I AM sending this account of Flemish terrors from a
little village called Eckeren, close up to Antwerp,
hoping to get it through Holland to London. On all
sides terror reigns. The cry goes from lip to lip : "Antwerp
has fallen ! " and the despairing echo is " The Uhlans are
coming ! God help us ! "
An official told me that all the best pictures in the city
had been collected, by order of the King of the Belgians, to
be transferred to London at once to save them from the
rapacity of the Kaiser's hordes. The city is on fire in
many places, and the conflagration lifts up the kindly
curtain that darkness has lowered upon the writhing of a
people.
The scenes in all the townships and villages between
Antwerp and Holland simply beggar description. Eckeren
is sickening in its intense misery. Women of all ages are
rushing about frantic with fear and misery ; mothers
doing all they can to help the famished, footsore wretches
thrown helpless and homeless upon the mercy of the world,
but it is a great strain upon their resources.
At Rossendale and Bergen-op-Zoom, the two first railway
stations over the Netherlands frontier, there remains
a horde of stranded waifs of all ages, sexes, and social
standing. Every train that goes out is packed to its very
utmost capacity with refugees, making anywhere and
anyhow to some haven of refuge. No charge is made, no
tickets asked for. Food is given by Government and the
general public, but there is no bedding for hundreds ; they
just throw themselves down and sleep on bare floors, on
tables, or out in the open, thankful to have escaped the
lances of the men the Kaiser is so proud of describing as
the finest cavalry in Europe. At Bergen - op - Zoom I
beheld a sight that all England should have se'en, and then
I think volunteers would flock to the colours, not in hundreds
••MMHHMRIIHnHHHRHBHIIMHHHKMHEKSSnBnBiMMMPrf .»
Fugitives watting patiently to cross the pontoon bridge and get away from Antwerp in the wake of the retreating army.
hunting for lost children gone astray in the panic ; husbands
searching for wives and little ones ; old women totter along
the roads, moaning and wringing their hands ; aged men,
clinging to the arms of younger folk, stagger northwards,
alternately praying to God and cursing the Kaiser. It
is the most pitiful sights the sun ever looked down upon.
At Cappellen, the next township northwards, the sights
were even worse. I saw an army of women practically
demented by fear. They .were as bad as the Macedonian
women who fled in 1903 in front of the Turkish Bashi-
Bazouks. Sick women and men were being carried on
mattresses, preferring death from exposure to the tender
mercies of the Kaiser's cavalry, who were expected in that
direction as soon as the city fell.
At Heide and Cappelle-au-Bois the sights were heart-
rending. People worn with fear and running lay about
sleeping — the sleep of semi-paralysis — little children who
had been sundered from their parents and had been swept
Hollandwards in the maelstrom of human anguish,
crouched anywhere and anyhow, hungry, weary, and livid-
lipped.
A few months ago all these places were peaceful and
prosperous ; now they are beyond portrayal. The terror
of German deeds in Belgium is so great that the very fear
of their coming has driven a homely, thrifty, kindly people
to the verge of madness. The Dutch people seem to be
per day, but in thousands, determined to crush the heathe:i
tyrant who had made such misery possible.
The waiting-rooms and platforms were crammed \\ilh
people, woe-worn and weary. On the side of the rai'way
line there was packed a perfect mass of odds and ends that
fugitives had snatched up in the moment of flight from
home — and on or near this medley of household idols sat,
stood, or lay the owners in scanty attire in the pitiless night.
Many of the women were sobbing with dry-eyed mournful-
ness that was a million times worse than tears. Now and
again some poor wretch would rise and cry aloud the name
of a lost child, and when no answer came the crier would
crumple up and go down in a shapeless heap, her dishevelled
hair falling over her haggard face like a kindly veil.
They were good to the children, these poor, worn women.
I saw one take off her jacket, and there was nothing under-
neath but a thin calico garment that left her neck and
bosom bare to the raw night air. She had seen a little
child nearly nude asleep by the railway line. The youngster
was not hers, but they are universal mothers, these women.
Thrusting the little one's legs through the arms of the
jacket, she buttoned the garment round the body of the
waif, and laid it very tenderly down to sleep in something
like warmth, whilst she lay awake and shivered. This
may not be the bravery of the battlefield, but it is the
bravery that makes the other sort possible.
183
The Tragedy of War Shorn of its Glory
"THE sad plight of the people of Belgium has opened the
channels of charity in nearly every country in the world
except Germany and her ally. Money has been sent from
far Australia and from America to relieve the distress of an
entire country, but the greatest aid has been rendered by
Holland, France, and Great Britain, where few doors are
shut against the poor people whose dire need is the pass-
port to every sympathetic heart, and few ears have been
deaf to the urgent claims of destitute humanity. It is an
honour and privilege to be able to help a nation that, from
its gallant King to its humblest peasant, preferred death
to the yoke of German dominion. The reward of Belgium
will come in the fulness of time, and every tear of every
Belgian widow will be reckoned in the price that Germany
must pay for the treachery and presumption that sent
feeble women and helpless children into the world homeless.
An old man of Antwerp is being helped along the
road that leads to Holland by his two sons who have
shouldered arms in the defence of their country.
A scene in the retreat from Antwerp. It was a sore ordeal for Belgium to yield
up her most strongly fortified city, but it was a choice of the lesser of two evils,
the alternative being the prospect of having her army surrounded and captured.
Holland was the near goal of the hapless populace of Antwerp
when driven from their homes by the German advance. A Dutch
soldier is here shown helping an Antwerp family across the frontier.
During this forced " flitting " of a Belgian refugee family,
a British warrior made friends with the children and helped
them on their way to the shelter of neutral Holland.
189
the Pitiable Plight of the Belgian People
The Dutch have preserved their neutrality, but their hearts go out to the
victims of Germany, and they have lent their aid practically and ungrudg-
ingly. Here we see some Dutch soldiers looking after Belgian children.
An old Belgian peasant and his wife who found
asylum in London. Notice the label on his coat,
telling his destination, as he could not speak English.
A group of well-to—do Belgian refugees who had to feed on
turnips taken from the fields as they left Ghent for Ostend before
crossing to England.
Bound for England and British hospitality. The Red Cross
•hip is taking Antwerp refugees from Ostend, and the passengers
on a cross-channel steamer are cheering her as they pass.
These Dutch soldiers In Putten, one of the vilTages of Holland
lust over the Belgian frontier, are assisting the old women and
children refugees who have crossed from Antwerp.
100
The Sad Wandering of a Fugitive Nation
The flag of Germany hoisted on the remains of Dutch soldiers registering the names of Belgian children who have lost their
Fort Stabrouch, one of Antwerp's defences. parents, with a view to finding the latter and re-uniting the families.
Belgian refugees passing through North Belgium after leaving Antwerp, their
lew belongings being carried in a dog-cart. Inset: Two wounded Belgians
France assisting each other in search for safety.
Deserted Antwerp in the hands of the invading Huns. The German occupiers nave ueen t
the people to come back, but the memory of Termonde, Louvain, and Dinant is too fresl
to enter the parlour of the German spider.
man occupiers have been exercising all their arts of persuasion to induce
in, and Dinant is too fresh and too vivid for the Belgian fly, who refuses
our of the German solder.
101
You have wronged for The Day, you have longed for The Day
That lit the awful flame.
'Tis nothing to you that hill and plain
Yield sheaves of dead men among the grain ;
That widows mourn for their loved ones slain,
And mothers curse thy name.
But after The Day there's a price to pay
For the sleepers under the sod,
And He you have mocked for many a day —
Listen, and hear what He has to say :
" Vengeance is Mine, I will repay."
U'liat can you say to God ?
— HENRY CHAPPELL.
The German
Army in
Belgium
and France
A German invention— The , Red Cross machine-gun!
192
Germany's Evil Genius and Some £ Kaiser's Men
Qerman Telegraph Corps at work.
ACCORDING to wounded
German soldiers, it was the
Crown Prince who brought the
European situation to war point.
Young Fried rich Wilhelm has never
been on friendly terms with our
country. In the most public manner
in the Reichstag he has displayed
a fierce hostility to the very nation
his subtler father was trying to
soothe and deceive.
Banished to a country garrison
town for his unpolitic frankness,
"Fritz" went on a penitential
tour to India and hunted with our
officers. Then, having acquired
Hungry Germans round the soup pot.
something of the Hohenzollern art
of poisonous friendship, he wrote a
book on his sporting adventures in
India, in which he tried to make us
forget his outbursts against us.
Being as eager to push his father
aside as Wilhelm was to edge his
father off the throne, the Crown
Prince has set out to make himself
the war hero of the people. But
bullets do not turn aside to flatter, as
chiefs of the War Staff do, and the
rumour that the firebrand of Germany
was wounded may prove prophetic
before the last battle is fought.
After hours of torturina thirst on th« battlefield the invaders of Belgium get a drink of water. (Inset: The Crown Prince.)
193
The Faces of Some of Civilisation's Foes
Prince Friedrich of Saxe-Meiningen,
killed by a shell at Narnur.
THE soul of the Ger-
man people has first
been hardened by a
Prussian and then poi-
soned by a Prussianised
Pole, that is why the
race that produced
Luther, Handel, Goethe,
and Beethoven has fallen
into frenzied barbarism.
First came Bismarck
with his gospel of blood
and iron, followed by
Nietzsche, the insane
anti-Christ, who cried
from a madhouse to the
" blond beasts " of
Northern Germany to
prey upon the decadent,
over-civilised nations of
the rest of Europe.
Nietzsche's influence is
visible in the speeches of
the Kaiser, and in works
of his advisers, like
General von Bernhardi.
What did the German
Empress Victoria think of
the Belgian atrocities ?
Were rumours of them
allowed to reach her
august ears while she
Count Zeppelin, aged 70, volunteered
to command one of his own airships.
The German Empress presenting roses to Guards officers
previous to their departure for the front.
Admiral von Tirpltz, German Secretary
for Navy, which ho entered In 1865.
gave roses to the German
officers who suffered such
deeds to be done ?
Count Zeppelin, the
white-haired inventor, be-
lieved in dropping bombs
on the non-combatants
of hostile cities. For he
has volunteered to carry
out this fiendish work
from ons of his air-
ships.
Admiral Tirpitz must
have felt somewhat down-
cast. At the age of
sixty-five he saw the
spirit of the great Navy
he built destroyed by the
cowardice of the captain
of the Goeben, his son a
prisoner in Britain, his
fleet bottled up.
Dr. Hammann, a Ham-
burg journalist promoted
to the headship of the
German reptile press, has
also suffered defeat. He
tried hard, by doctored
news, to win American
sympathies, but the truth
about Louvain prevailed
against him.
General von Ernmich, conducted attack On
Liege and was reported to have died.
General von Bulow, wounded at the Battle
ol Haelen, died of his Injuries.
Dr. Hammann, the Kaiser's professional
liar, head of the " reptile press."
Germany's "War Lord" Dreams of Power
The War Lord of Germany watching his artillerymen shelling a position. An officer with glasses is studying the effect of the
shot. The Germans are showing themselves good gunners, but in the first great conflict the Belgian fire was deadlier than theirs.
Seizing a river-boat, a party of German cavalry cross a wide stream, holding up by their bridles the horses that swim
beside them. On the right are seen German troops detrained and marching to the vast battlefield. To prevent the scouts
of the allied armies from seeing from afar the gleam of the brass ornaments on the German helmets, these are hidden in
khaki covering. The new heavy boots of the German infantry are crippling them.
Light German cavalry conducting a reconnaissance. These mounted troops scatter in bands in front of an advancing
host of Teutons, and when threatened by the scouts of the allied forces they dismount and form a firing-line in front of
their horses. Hundreds of them surrendered without a fight around Liege, because they were weakened by want of food.
195
Glimpses of the German Army in the Field
A quiet scene after the tornado of battle before the forts and entrenchments of Liege. Some Qerman cavalrymen are tending
their wounded comrades, rescued from the first unexpected disaster at the hands of the gallant Belg.an forces under
General Leman.
Qerman troops firing from trenches under the direction of an officer. The Germans, it is thought, have not learnt the lessons of the
South African and Russo-Japanese wars. Their men are not encouraged to use their individuality in either attack or defence.
196
With the German Army in Belgium
^M:^
fc*rfiii&J»IM»V »S3v. ••
The Germans make their prisoners of war work for their food, and it is to be regretted that we do not follow the same policy
Here Belgian soldiers captured in war are shown digging entrenchments near Brussels under a German guard.
General von Boehn, in command of the German Ninth Field
Army, poses for his photograph with other German officers.
The German soldiers are keeping green the memory of the first
man to carry the German colour* into the fort of Liege.
It Is credibly stated that for so
their lands, made platforms of
shows Germans clearing up the w
* . .ifY™ ar°un.d L'°9e hav» b«n Purchased by German farmers, who, at suitable points on
ncrete that served for the attacking siege-guns when the time of war came. This photograph
wreck of Fort Lonc.n at Liege, preparatory to making it intact for defence In the event of a German
retreat through North France and Belciium.
retreat through North France and Belgium.
197
The Kaiser's Hordes Lording It in Brussels
ERE we see the invading German cavalry making
themselves comfortable in one of the main streets
of Brussels. The second picture shows German infantry
Passing the famous St. Gudule Cathedral.
After a long march German troops have reached Brussels and they are seeking rest on the stones of the roadway.
108
Germany's " Higher Civilisation " and its Fruits
A French Red Cross hospital at Senlis that was fired upon by the Germans. The wall facing the camera exhibits irrefutable
evidence of the attempt to wreck the building. The Red Cross seems to be a target for German artillery.
The sottish legions of the Kaiser left a trail of empty bottles
that testified to their debauchery on stolen wine.
A British soldier with a British bayonet in his right hand and
one of the German .saw-tooth bayonets in his left.
Germans in Dinant whose presumption made them think they had come to stay. The right-hand figure on the rear seat of the
car is the German commandant, and on his left is a German professor charged with the reorganisation of the Dinant schools !
199
German Appreciation of French Art Treasures
In Sir John French's official despatch of September 15th, he
confirmed the reports of wanton pillage and destruction by
German troops. Beautiful French chateaux have been the scenes
of drunken debauchery. Amid priceless gems of fine canvases,
tapestries, and objects d'art the drunken Prussians let their
brute natures find full scope. The hogs revelled in the treasures
they could not appreciate, and took a fiendish delight in making
ruins of historic and treasured heirlooms. The German Crown
Prince himself pillaged a chateau near Champaubert, taking
jewels and medals, and destroying pictures of the Tsarand Tsarina.
200
With the German Invaders of Belgium
A company of the German imperial Guards, the pride of Prussia, with the army of
occupation in Brussels. They Buffered terribly from our " contemptible little army.
The German commander of Brussels riding
through the Belgian capital. He failed to brow-
beat the gallant burgomaster, M. Max.
Two officers of the crack German regiment, the Zeithen Hussars, driving through
the town of Laon in a commandeered trap. One of them is seen sporting on his
breast the Iron Cross which has been so freely distributed by the Kaiser.
The Imperial Lord High Looter, Crown Prince Wilhelm. He
stole many art treasures from a fine old French chateau.
The old French chateau, near Verdun, which the German
Crown Prince made his headquarters, and from which he carried
away so many of the art treasures collected by the owner.
Field-Marshal von der Goltz, who was -appointed German Governor-
General of Belgium, in the streets of Brussels with his Staff a bad
substitute for the gallant and well-beloved King Albert.
id v*
HOH 8
201
Coward Work of Germany's Military Murderers
In his dispatch of September 18th, Sir John French reported:
"At Senlis, a poacher shot one German soldier and wounded
another. The German commander then assembled the mayor of
the town and five other leading citizens and forced them to kneel
before graves which had already been dug. Requisition was made
for various supplies, and the six citizens were then taken to a
D 66 T
neighbouring field and shot. According to the corroborative
evidence of several independent persons, some twenty-four people,
including women and children, were a so shot. The town waj
then pillaged, and was fired in several places before it wai
evacuated. It is believed that the cathedral was not damage J.
but many houses were destroyed. '
202
Germans Surrender to Inferior British Force
Hungry Germans prefer captivity with plenty of food to war on empty stomachs.
DEFORE the Battle of Agincourt Henry V. made a
speech in which he instructed his officers that such of
his soldiers as " hath no stomach for the fight " should be
sent away, with crowns in their purses to carry them beyond
the zone of war. Soldiers who have no stomach for the fight
are an encumbrance to the army they are too craven to help.
At the same time, stomach for the fight is often a matter
of stomach per se. Napoleon said that an army marches
on its stomach, and the statement might be extended.
An army also fights on its stomach. A coward, even with
his belly filled, does not necessarily become a brave man.
But many a man who is brave under satisfactory conditions
of food becomes less brave and perhaps craven when
starving for want of food.
When the allied French and British armies were pressing
back the invaders, there was a period of ten days during
which the Germans retired precipitately and their com-
missariat was thrown into utter disorder. The pangs of
hunger were so many inward voices that cried out to the
German soldiers, urging them to give themselves up as
prisoners. In companies and squads they surrendered, in
many cases to numerically inferior bodies of British troops.
A typical case was the surrender of five starving Germans
to two unarmed motor- 'bus drivers. In the words of
an official report, " Our men continually come across small
parties of the enemy, more particularly in the woods
where they have hidden. They appear pleased enough to
surrender."
203
With the German Army in the Field
On the Franco-German frontier the feeding arrangements of the Kaiser's forces are entirely satisfactory, this picture showing a
well-equipped German field bakery near a railway-siding in the little French village of Conflans, about twenty miles from Metz.
The trenches of the opposing armies along the Aisne were sometimes so near that men
could shout across to their enemies. A good view of a German trench Is given here.
Protected from shell fire, some of the soldiers smoke and read while their comrades watch.
A Gorman soldier draws a caricature
of General Joffre on a German train
that is labelled " Express to Paris."
The German soldiery favours the style of hairdressing that is enforced in our prisons — " a close crop " ! Left picture shows German
Army barbers, possibly recalled from a barber's shop in Britain, at work upon their comrades. Right picture : German soldiers,
having broken Into a country school-room, take the scholars' desks outside and turn them into luncheon tables.
204
Silent Witnesses of German Orgy and Pillage
have had valuable allies in the great stores of
French champagne which the Germans pillaged as
they marched through the wine country around Rheims
and Epernay. The hand that trembles with drunken
debauchery is not the hand that can grasp a bayonet
to advantage, and the eye that is dulled by drink is
not in a condition to aim a rifle. Many hundreds of
German soldiers have been made prisoners when " blind
to the world," as the expressive saying goes, so that,
however much we may despise the bestial practices of
the enemy, we may regard them as working to our
advantage in making their victims unfit to fight. The
men merely followed the example of their officers in
their drunkenness and pillage.
A scene in a beautiful chateau at Lempest, near Malines, where A dressing-table in a room in the same chateau showing drawers
a Belgian shell came through the wall and put to flight a company emptied by German thieves, who stole what they could take with
of German pillagers, who left behind them this riot of wanton ruin.
them and destroyed most of what they could not carry.
The hall of a Belgian mansion where drunken Germans rioted Germany, and many hundreds of them have been taken prisoners
before being driven away by Belgian artillery. The finest wine- when drunk. Scenes like the above have been, to the discredit
cellars of France have been pillaged by the sottish soldiery of of the German nation, very common during the war.
205
Germany Repeats in France its Outlawry in Belgium
'THE destruction of Rhcims Cathedral is Germany's
crowning crime against civilisation. A magnificent
Gothic edifice, this cathedral was founded in 1211 and took
140, some accounts say 218, years to build. The wonderful
west facads, with its three deeply recessed portals, con-
taining more than 500 statues of Scriptural personages and
the Kings of France, was unrivalled in its beauty-
The news of the shelling of the Cathedral reached
Cardinal Lucon, Archbishop of Rheims, as he was on his
way home from the Conclave, and he announced his
intention to return at once to Rheims and " on the ruins of
our city call upon the justice of an avenging G<xl."
n this view of Rheims, the stately Cathedral stands out like a sentinel of civilisation
Germany has dared to say that its destruction was justifiable. Inset, Cardinal Lucon
A tobacconist at Senlis hit a German bully with his fist. Promptly he and his wife were shot dead. The inhabitants sought revenge.
The Germans shot the mayor, turned artillery upon the town and left it a ruin. These pictures show some of the damage.
20G
Brave Nurse who Protected British Wounded
In a letter to a Swansea friend, Nurse Agassiz tells how she
witnessed the first contact between British and German troops.
Street fighting raged in the little mining village. With the help
o* two brave village women. Nurse Agassiz tended the wounded.
Tiie British eubseauently retired and the Germans arrived. "A
German soldier came in," says the nurse, "holding a revolver,
which he pointed at my heart. I met him in the corridor and
assured him that only wounded and tired-out men were in the
place. He went away, but thirty Germans came later with officers
and made my patients prisoners, taking away all who could walk."
207
German Rejoicings at British Naval Losses
QHRMANY went wild with delight
over the sinking of the three British
cruisers Aboukir, Hogue, and Cressy in
September. The officer in command of
Submarine Ug, which did the damage,
was Lieut-Capt. Otto Weddingeri. He
was married only a short time previous
to setting forth on his daring exploit.
In recounting his adventure, he praised
the courage of the men on the British
ships. "All the while," he said, "the
men stayed at their guns looking for
their invisible foe. They were brave;
true to their country's sea traditions."
H.M.S. Hawke, an old cruiser of 7,350 tons and 1S'3 knots, was sunk
by a German submarine in the northern waters of the North Sea
on October 15th. This was the ship which came into collision with
the gigantic liner Olympic in 1911. Some of the crew rescued from
the water are shown in the photograph above, and the cruiser is
pictured on the left.
How the German submarine U9 was greeted when she returned to Wilhelmshaven, the great German naval base, in the early
morning of September 23rd, after sinking three British cruisers. The officers and men of the submarine lined up on their vessel
and received a wild ovation from the crews of German warships. The picture is by a well-known German artist.
208
Horrors the Kaiser's Dreams have Wrought
After one of the battles in Northern France, three
hundred Germans were buried in one great trench
and a similar number of French in another. These
men are performing the gruesome task, and what
look like logs at the end of the trench are corpses.
A company of French infantry was surprised and decimated in the Misme Wood, near Peronne, and, when the war photographer
went afterwards with his camera, this was the scene that confronted him. Oval picture shows a dead German in a field at Peronne.
209
German Guns that Won't Trouble the Allies Again
"THE war witnessed a class of import into Great Britain
1 that will find no place in the statistical returns of the
Board of Trade — captured German guns. While the
western theatre of war did not see the huge captures
of guns that were achieved by our Russian allies, still,
the numbsr taken has been considerable, nnd made the
men hungry for more. It was announced officially on Sept-
ember 1 2th that the Third French Army at the Battle of
the Marne had captured the entire gun equipment of a
German army corps, about 160 guns. On September nth
Sir John French reported that the British, in one forward
movement, had taken ten guns and fifty transport waggons.
Limber-waggons of German guns, with piles of ammunition lying round, abandoned by | the retreating soldiers of the
s fighting along the Marne. The guns were captured by "French's contemptible little
during the fighting
parks of Britain.
.
army," and will adorn the public
'-MS
210
The German * Sweep' Into France — and After
LJISTORY will remember the German advance from
• Belgium through Northern France as one of the most
daring military movements in the annals of war. It followed
the German general policy of striking hard in the " decisive
direction." It carried them almost to the gates of Paris,
and its impetuosity might have broken the French armies
but for the brilliant generalship of Sir John French. But
the German advance was too forced to be sound, and the
aggressive resistance of the allied forces on the line
between Paris and Verdun threw them back in defeat and
disorder. Paris saw the danger of investment recede, and
the whole civilised world breathed more freelv.
German troops, on September 1st, marching Into Amiens, the famous French city of about 100,000 inhabitants, which lies midway
between Lille and Paris, and is the principal railway station between Calais and the capital.
German soldiers at Tongres. The railway bridge was destroyed by the retreating General von Kluck, the German commander, who
Belgians, but was re-erected by the Germans on wood piles. claimed to have the British " in a circle of steel."
This photograph was taken on the outskirts, ot the great Battle of the Marne, fought during the week ending September 12th. It
shows a group of German prisoners at the temporary hospital in charge of some French Red Cross attendants.
211
Britain's New Line of Imports from Germany
A heap of tired, dispirited German pri.on.rs, too latigu.d to attempt to .soap, from th. five British .o.dl.r. who guard t.
German prisoners marching between our soldiers with loaded rifles
and fixed bayonets on a French quay, ready to be shipped to
the elysium of a concentration camp in England.
How the first German soldiers " invaded " Britain. Captives
crossing on the steamer West Meath. They slept on deck and
were heartily glad to be out of the fighting.
Capt.ves marching to the compound at Frith Hill, Camberley. Officers, to their disgust, receive the same treatment as rank and file.
212
Was Britain too Kind to German Prisoners?
German prisoners in Britain had a life of ease, occupying their time by playing cards and leap— frog. But British captives
Germany were made to work for their food, and are here shown digging trenches under the surveillance of armed guards.
IS the kindness Great Britain extends
to prisoners of war misguided ?
British prisoners of war in the Kaiser's
dominion did not have an easy
time. They were made to dig trenches
and do other hard manual labour ;
the deficiencies in their clothing were
made up in very rough-and-ready
fashion ; the German public, par-
ticularly the feminine portion of it,
were warned not to show them any
sympathy. Contrast this with the
treatment meted out to German
prisoners in British concentration
camps.
Their life was one of ease and
enjoyment. Cards and leap-frog kept
them from being dull. They could
organise concerts, the music bein?
provided by their own band, and
in
This little English girl, kind!
to the men whose comrades-
sguided, whichever you prefer, presented chocolate
perhaps these very men — have been criminally
assaulting and cutting off the hands of little girls like herself in Belgium and France.
during the time when young British
patriots, who had thrown up good
positions and comfortable homes to-
join Lord Kitchener's army, were
suffering from an insufficiency of
blankets, the prisoners had enough
and to spare. Their chuckles over
such soft treatment must surely be:
mixed with sneers.
Local residents at Frimley presented
them with chocolates and cigarettes
and filled their water-bottles with beer.
What would our brave lads in the
firing-line, what would some of our
wounded in the hospitals, what would
the maimed and permanently disabled
Belgian non-combatants say to such
flabby sentimentality ?
German Military Prisoners at Work in England
ALTHOUGH the German prisoners
of war in Britain retained most of
their early privileges, they came to be
treated more rigorously. They were,
for instance, made to collect their
own firewood, instead of having it
brought to them ! Germans and Aus-
trians who were interned at Newbury
racecourse had a supremely happy
time. They made a point of showing
off their accomplishments to visitors —
singing, dancing, and performing acro-
batic teats.
The athletes could be seen building up
a pyramid, the topmost man chanting
" Deutschland uber alles," the German
national cry. A man with a mouth-
organ would play waltzes whilst his
companions danced. Attempts were
made to win the visitors' sympathies by
singing " Tipperary," but the accent was
too pronounced.
A prehistoric animal, something like
a camel, paraded the compound, fol-
lowed by a female figure described as
Mrs. Pankhurst, the conductor shouting
" Votes for Vimmen."
A day out for the German prisoners. Returning to the compound at Frimley, near
Aldershot, in a motor-van loaded with timber for their camp fires.
So that detention shall not prey upon their minds, light occupation has been found for some of the German prisoners encamped at
Camberley, near Aldershot. They have been educated up to collecting their own firewood, and are here shown walking back to camp.
Collecting the logs. One of the prisoners is possessed of enormous strength ; although a small man, he can shoulder a huge log and
smile about it. The timber is used for cooking and heating purposes in the detention camp.
215
Word of the Tsar ! and the drowse
malign is broken,
The stone is rolled from the tomb,
and Poland free.
This is the strong evangel. The
guns have spoken ;
And the scribble of flame of the
guns is — Liberty.
— T. M. KETTLE.
Russia
and her
Balkan
Allies
Berlin's dread — the coming of the Cossack.
210
^/AB//P/JO r x^ ,/i S
7 \ °^***JX
^m^>^^/^ ~7 >^
*" lloAlA^C oS^^/A/S /
S^^^i./ «»•>.„ <t V ( /
Map to illustrate the advance of the Russian Army of Invasion in the East of Germany, the thick shaded line indicating the
positions occupied by the hosts of the Tsar on August 25th.
THE RUSSIAN "STEAM-ROLLER"
The Mighty Military
Engine of the Tsar
A Brilliant Description of the 3,000,000 Army that Russia
threw against the Eastern frontiers of Germany and Austria
By F. A. McKENZIE
War Correspondent of "The Daily Mail" in the Russo-Japanese War
THE armies of Russia and the combined lorces of Great
and Greater Britain may well be the deciding factor
— possibly a year or more hence — in the land campaigns
•of the great war.
For over a quarter of a century Europe regarded the
fighting strength of Russia with awe. The millions of
her soldiers, the reserve strength of her vast Empire of
one hundred and sixty millions, her successes in the field,
and her resolute discipline, magnetised Europe. Here
was the land that had shattered Napoleon in his prime,
and that even then was absorbing nation after nation
throughout Asia. Prophets depicted Russia expanding
her dominions east and west till she strode as Colossus
from India to the North Sea, -and from the coasts of Korea
to the Mediterranean.
Then came the Japanese War, the war of astounding
surprises, of defeats, and of humiliation. Russia retired
from that war with prestige diminished
The Lesson almost to vanishing point, and with
Russia learned hopes of Pacific empire shattered. Since
from Japan then Europe has as much underestimated
Russian military strength as she pre-
viously exaggerated it. Yet Russia was never more for-
midable, never more splendidly prepared, never better
fitted, both for offence and defence, than to-day.
The Japanese War revealed the weaknesses of the
Russian military organisation. Russia at the start de-
spised her enemy. To think that Japan could defeat her
was so absurd that most refused to contemplate it. The
war was a bitter and wholesome lesson. The world has
barely yet lealised that in the end Russia contrived, despite
her defeats, to hold up the entire Japanese forces. The
•war made not only Russia's faults stand out, but also the
1st SEPT., 1914.
splendid virtues of discipline, endurance, ability to take
punishment, and steady fighting power that the Tsar's
soldiery possess.
In defeat and disaster Russia found her real salvation.
For three or four years after the close of the war internal
disturbances and political quarrels absorbed the nation.
The Army was bitter and resentful, and was still further
angered by revelations of corruption, nepotism, and of
inefficiency. But in 1910 the work of creating a new Army
was deliberately begun. A secret sitting of the Duma
voted unanimously eleven millions for reorganisation and
extension. Administrative control was vested in one man
— the Minister for War. The independent status of grand
ducal inspectors, which had led to so many abuses in the
Japanese War, was abolished. The territorial system was
introduced. Vast sums were spent on technical equipment,
on air craft, field telephones, wireless apparatus, and
machine-guns of every kind.
From 1910 this work of reorganisation has been carried
on unceasingly. It is impossible to give
in exact figures the actual strength of The Unceasing
the Russian forces, because exact figures Work of
are not available. But I should not be Re-organisation
far out in estimating that in the summer
of 1913 the peace strength of the combined Russian,
European, Asiatic and Caucasian armies was i, .4 00,000
men, while the total war strength was not less than
3,500,000. To-day it is much greater.
The Russian Army ranks to-day among the most perfectly
equipped fighting forces of the world, both so far as the
equipment of the individual soldier, and artillery, and
field train of the Army as a whole is concerned. While
money has been spent freely, a rigorous campaign has
217
been maintained against corruption — the great bane of all
Russian Government departments. Some army contractors
caught at fault have been given swingeing sentences. The
lesson of 1904 has been learned.
One result of the alliance between Russia and France
wa.s to quicken Russian preparations on the German
frontier. Russia has never loved Germany. In St. Peters-
burg the popular name for a German, when I was last
there, was " black beetle." Underlying all Russian moves
there has been for many years the dominating idea of war
with Germany and Austria. " The Army must remember
that every day it is preparing for a war that shall smash
the two German Empires, " was the note of a thousand
unofficial messages.
Last year the danger became still more vital. Germany
launched out a new scheme of military expansion, voting
an increased expenditure of fifty million pounds, and an
addition of three Army corps to her
How Russia forces. Russia did not hurry with her
Answered the response, and it was only five months ago
German Menace that she gave her answer to the German
menace — an increase of the Russian Army
by 460,000 men. This increase and the accompanying
reorganisation were being proceeded with when war was
declared.
war. Those of us who watched the Russian operations
in 1904 from opposite and hostile ranks could not, many a
time, refrain our admiration from the dogged perseverance
and obstinate endurance of the men in the ranks. The
great weakness of the Russian military system is one that
it shares with the German. The private soldier is not
encouraged to show initiative. It is his business to obey,
and only to obey. He is not asked to think, only to carry
out the orders given to him. This system has been de-
liberately adopted and maintained. Russian officers claim
that it is the only possible way. In this I am convinced
they are greatly mistaken.
Finesse, trickery, subterfuge — all legitimate weapons o^
war — are not among the Russian soldier's strong points.
He prefers to go straight on. If there are obstacles, he will
move right against them and overcome them by sheer pluck
and by numbers.
He can fight.
One only needs to
see a Cossack regi-
ment rushing with
a cheer to death, or
note a company of
infantry's coolness in
the hottest corner
Koniggberg, the Pruesian fortress town to which the beaten German host retreated. Top
inset: General Sukhomlinov, the new organiser of the Russian armies. Lower inset:
General Rennenkampf, who broke 120,000 Germans at Qumbinnen.
Russia should now
be able to advance
into Germany and
Austria, or to keep
on her western
borders as a threat to her two foes, at least 3,000,000
fully-trained soldiers, amply provided with artillery, trans-
port, commissariat and ammunition.
Like most great machines, the Russian military machine
is somewhat slow to move. It takes time to mobilise, and
it takes time to bring up forces. But once started the
Russian Army moves on with the relentlessness of a steam-
roller. A new set of officers, backed up by a few of the
most successful commanders in the Japanese War, now
rule. Four years ago almost every general officer who
had not shown himself a leader of special efficiency during
the last war had been removed from the ranks. Out of
one hundred and thirty-five only fifty-two remained. Still
fewer are left to-day. The new men, keen, scientific
soldiers, have been trained in the same school that has
made German militarism so formidable.
No one denies the courage or the strength of the Russian
fighting man. This has been proved in campaign after
campaign, and was never proved more than in the last
D cs T
of a great battle, to know that. I marked it at the Yalu,
at Motienling, at Liao Yang, and in a score of other battles.
In estimating Russian fighting capacity during this war,
one important thing must not be overlooked. During the
Japanese War. Russia was hampered at every turn by
revolutionary agitation. The Poles seized the opportunity
to attempt to wrest their independence ; the Finns were
in a state of seething unrest ; the Social
Russia Democrats throughout the Empire were
United in working for red revolution. The very work-
a Holy War men of St. Petersburg were seeking an
opportunity to overthrow the Tsar.
Now all is changed. At the outbreak of the present war
workmen's organisations that had planned a great general
strike voluntarily abandoned it and went back to work,
so as not to hamper their own government. The Finns,
despite their many good reasons for hating Russia, have wiped
out hatred in co-operation. The entire Russian people, who
looked on their last war as a distant campaign to enrich
grand dukes, regard the present as a Holy War for the
protection of their race against the Teutonic peoples. Their
armies are going to battle with determined enthusiasm.
They go not alone because they are ordered, but because
Holy Russia is fighting, as they know, for j ustice and for right.
218
The Tsar's Leviathan Legions Move on Germany
COLOSSAL Russia had proved more nimble in offensive
action than was reckoned by the German War Staff.
A few years ago the Russians still kept to their old,
muddle-headed method of declaring war and then pre-
paring for it. Now, under the direction of an organiser of
victories of the Kitchener stamp, General Sukomlinov, the
Slav soldier has shown, by a series of rapid triumphs
in Prussia, that he has changed for the better since
Mukden.
A new system of marksmanship training made him a
finer shot than the German, and he knows what he is fighting
for now — for the liberation of his fellow-Slavs. He is
marching out with the steadiness of the veteran, and,
having learnt a hard lesson in Manchuria, he is bent on
teaching it to the Teuton. The braggart vapourings of the
Pan-German party have stirred in the Slav races the same
instinct of self-preservation as the menace of the big,
growing German fleet had excited in Britain.
In the life and death struggle that began in August,
1914, Russia's ultimate success over Germany and Austria
was not doubtful, because she could call upon almost twenty
millions of her manhood.
Russia could from her vast population raise the unparalleled force of twenty million troops lika these if needed.
The stubborn, well-mounted cavalrymen forming the spear-point of the Russian advance through Prussia.
A great surprise awaited the Qermans at Qumbinnen — the new. deadly marksmanship of the Russian infantry
219
Russia's Millions Rolling Westward
One small cog of the
'steam-roller" about to begin its work. A Russian infantry regiment entraining at a wayside
station for its journey to the enemy's frontier.
The Tsar's countless army is hurling itself into Germany and Austria and flattening out all opposition. Roads from East
Prussia to Berlin are blocked with refugees when it is known that Russian cavalry draw nigh.
L'-JO
The Cossack— The Grey Nightmare of Germany
Squadron of the terrible Cossacks who invaded
LTVEN at the height of his vainglory,
the Prussian has never been able
to think without a qualm of the
"' grey peril " — the grey - coated,
mounted Cossack, bred for war for
four hundred years, and living in
millions on all the danger points of
the Russian frontier from the Don
to the Amur and the Usuri.
The fear of the Cossack has alwavs
been strong upon the mind of the
Berliners. For the Russian frontiers-
men are all that the Prussians would
like to be — the supreme military race
of the modern world.
The Long Service of
Russia's Fightin ; Men
The Cossack lives for battle, and
to him is due the Russian conquest
of the whole of Northern Asia. To
the number of 2,750,000, he dwells
in little commonwealths on vast tracts
of land allotted to him by the Tsar.
. Each Cossack has about eighty-one
acres of property, and in return for this
grant he serves as a soldier for twenty
years, from the age of eighteen to
thirty-eight, providing all his own
uniforms, equipment, and horses. For
three years he trains ; for twelve
years he goes on active service ; for
five years he is on the reserve.
He is sweeping, a host of 300,000
horsemen, on Germany and Austria,
having crossed into Galicia on the
south and ridden far into Prussia on
the north, on his way to Berlin.
Fierce in Battle but
Amiable in Peace
Far from being terrible in character,
the Cossack is the gayest and most
lighthearted of .Russians, living in
practical independence as a cattle-
raiser and horse-breeder.
But in war, the vehemence with
which he fights, and the skill with
which he manages his horse, make
him a superb cavalryman. It was
only in comparison with the mounted
The man the Prussian fears.
Germany and Austria weeks before they were expected.
Cossack that the Japanese were at a
disadvantage in the Manchurian War.
The strong- wristed Cossack soon
showed that in the fight against the
Prussian, who had been menacing his
country for forty years, he would fight
with deadly passion. One Cossack
named Kriutchoff began the attack on
the German frontier by rushing, single-
handed, upon a troop of Germans.
He received sixteen wounds, and
his horse was terribly cut about, but,
without any help, he slew eleven men
of the enemy. He eventually re-
covered from his wounds.
Destroying th.2 Wheat
Supplies of Prussia
" Until the lance of the Cossack
strikes against Brandenberg Gate,"
said a prominent Russian statesmen,
" we shall not close our account with
Germany." It is not far from Posen
to the Brandenberg Gate of Berlin,
and while the Cossack was covering
the miles between and fighting the
Prussian cavalryman, he occupied his
leisure in a piece of destructive work
that may have more bearing on the
final result of the war than appears at
first sight.
The Germans regard the Cossack as a
monster of ravage, and having regard to
the work their Uhlans have done in
Belgium, the Germans should be good
judges of destructive ability. The Cos-
sack, however, is merely laying waste the
ripening wheatfields of Eastern Prussia.
The Berliner Knew the
Cosr. -cks we*e Coming
Having won the decisive Battle of
Gumbinnen and outflanked the German
army of defence, he arrived in the
nick of time to prevent the richest store
of food supplies in Germany being
gathered and sent to Berlin, Dantzic, and
Konigsberg. This chance of an attack on
the Prussian harvest was probably one of
the reasons why the Russians bent all
their energies on the task of mobilising
sooner than the German expected.
221
Tsar's Master-stroke—Poland a Nation Again !
" VT/ITH oper, heart, with outstretched,
brotherly hand," Great Russia
has approached the Poles within and
without her own frontiers, and has
offered them the realisation of the dream
of their fathers and forefathers : a new
birth, with freedom in faith, speech,
and self-government. In return Russia
expects but her recognition as suzerain.
The effect of the proclamation has
been electrical. Polish representatives
in Warsaw have declared that " the
blood of the sons of Poland which will
be shed with that of the sons of Russia
in battle against the common foe will
be the best pledge
of the new life of the
two Slav peoples in
the spirit of peace."
To describe
Poland's liberation
as a " mas-
ter-stroke "
by the Tsar
himself is
not to go
beyond fact,
for accord-
i n g to M .
Gabriel
H anotaux,
the E m -
peror eigh-
teen years
ago confided
to him the
i n tention
now so hap-
p i 1 y e x -
pressed, an
i n tention
MMaMtmWNBNWW" _. « * » «
III IIHJUI 1 I I II I *
i i t i I
H^UJ.1JA1« i.i ij i'.Li
Palace of the Kings of Poland at Warsaw.
borne witness to by various pacifying
measures, which would have borne riper
fruit had they not been opposed by re-
actionary Court influences.
Lacerated in the past as she has been
by Rvssia, Prussia, and Austria, Poland,
which as a nation once covered a terri-
tory some 40,000 square miles larger than
Austria-Hungary is now, has reason to
hate Prussia most of all, and the 23, 000,000
of her people, still a nation though geo-
graphically divided, will doubtless fight
with all the resources they can command
in a war which is essentially one for tl e
freedom of the Little Nations it is the
aim of Prussian terrorism to crush under
its iron heel.
At the diet of Warsaw, in 1773, called to sanction the dismemberment of Poland, Thaddeus Reyten, the Polish Cato, unmindful of
lavish bribes, opposed the election of a Russian Marshal for Poland, and when the weak King Stanislaus would have yielded, the
intrepid Reyten, with four companions, kept possession of the sanctuary until he saw that further opposition was useless.
222
THE GREAT EPISODES OF THE WAR
The Great Russian Raid into East Prussia
ABOUT the second week in August, General Rennen-
kampf, a brilliant Russian cavalry leader, was given
the command of a large mounted force, and ordered
to drive as fast and as far as he could into Prussia.
It was not an invasion ; it was a raid, but a raid on a
scale hitherto unknown in modern warfare. The Russian
general took with him the larger part of the Cossack
lancers and the finest regiments of Russian cavalry.
All the chivalry of the Tsar rode out to an "unequal
encounter with 160,000 German troops, who possessed
every advantage in equipment and balance — heavy guns,
a superabundance of light artillery and Maxims, and that
superiority in musketry that belongs to the infantryman.
The thing seemed a vast and terrible mistake — a Charge
of the Light Brigade magnified some thousands of times.
It looked as though Russia were opening her campaign
against her strongest foe by something that was magnificent
but was not war.
East Prussia, a region of gloomy forests and stagnant
waters, is an extremely difficult country to invade. Nature
has protected it from an easterly attack by a frontier of
low-lying marshes and bogs, with a string of great lakes
running to the south. Safe paths are wide apart, and
each was fortified at the critical point. There in the
marshes were entanglements, rifle-pits, and block-houses
with machine-guns, so built that one might have held
back an army along the road that bridged the swamps and
lakes.
A Frontier of Bog
and Morass
The German Military Staff had good grounds for supposing
that this frontier could only be gradually won by siege
operations from the Russian side. This was why they
felt themselves free to swing all their best armies westwards
in a swift, smashing movement on France.
In the meantime, they kept Russia occupied in two
directions. A million Austrian
troops advanced and menaced
Warsaw from the south, while
a German army moved in a
northerly direction towards the
same city. It was a concerted
movement by the two Teutonic
Powers to conquer Russian
Poland, and then raise and arm
the Poles.
Such was the awkward posi-
tion of the Russians. They had
enough to do, it seemed, to hold
Poland ; the Cossacks were
urgently needed to form cavalry
screens in front of their armies
of defence. Yet this was the
moment the Grand Duke
Nicholas chose for the wildest
raid in the annals of war !
General Rennenkampf had at
least the advantage of surprise.
The movement he was under-
taking was so extraordinary that
the German Staff was not pre
pared for it. They thought the
three army corps they left by
the marshes could delay "a
hostile force of any size. But
by an unexpected mobility of
movement, the mounted Cos-
sacks brought on an action at
the frontier town of Gumbinnen
on Saturday, August 22nd, and
won at a blow the who'e of the
swamp lines of defence.
The battle was fierce, stub-
born, terrible. Except for the
The Tsar with the Grand Duke Nicholas, whose brilliant
generalship has crushed the Austrian field forces and
dealt a succession of staggering blows on the allied
enemies.
light horse artillery that accompanies a cavalry 'division,
the raiders were lacking in gun power. They could not
reply to the enemy's batteries. They had either to ride
down the guns, across open country, with case-shot playing
on them all the way, or dismount and creep in open forma-
tion to the point at which a rush might carry the position.
The Fighting Value of
the Dreaded Cossack
The trenches were filled with more than a hundred
thousand German riflemen, and the fire of innumerable
Maxims had to be met. Only the incomparable versatility
of the Cossack, who shoots as well as he rides, hitting a
distant mark with his horse at full gallop, enabled General
Rennenkampf to break the German centre. On the
Russian Guard, officered by the pick of the nobility, fell
the heaviest fighting.
The enemy held a village of scattered farmhouses, set in
low, level land. Each farmhouse was full of riflemen ;
behind was ranged the German lines, from which several
batteries poured shrapnel into the advancing Russians.
Clearing villages is infantry work, but there were no
Russian foot soldiers available. Some Russian Guards
were near the spot. They dismounted, and fixed bayonets
— every Russian cavalryman carries a bayonet outside his
sabre-sheath — and skirmished round the outlying houses.
Slowly they worked their way to the village, clearing the
farms of sharpshooters as they went.
Meanwhile, a couple of German guns were firing on them
at short range, and an overwhelming number of entrenched
infantrymen were raining bullets on them. When the
Guards cleared the village and advanced on the German
lines, there was barely a third of them left standing. Yet
they pressed oa within a hundred yards of the German
position. Their leader, who already had a bullet through
his thigh, now fell with a shattered shoulder. But the
Guards went on, their bayonets ready to strike.
They could see the eyes of
their foes, and along the Ger-
man front there were signs of
wavering. So a mounted squad-
ron of the Russian Guards was
sent full-tilt on the Prussians, and
crashing on the flickering line
of the enemy, captured the
guns, and then harried the
soldiers.
A wedge was driven clean
through the German army.
Three army corps fled north-
westerly towards Kocnigsbcrg ;
the fourth corps ran south-west
towards Osterode. All four
flung away their arms and am-
munition, and even their food,
in their haste to save them-
selves. The intricate system of
defences in the swamp country
was unused. Even a fortified
position on the River Angerapp
was abandoned without a fight,
and the paths by which the
beaten men ran were easily
followed by their pursuers. For
it was like a paper-chase, with
cartridges, knapsacks, hand-
grenades marking the way the
hares had taken.
This panic evacuation of a
great tract of fortressed country
was somewhat of a surprise
even to the Cossacks. There
seemed nothing in their victory
that should have led to so far-
reaching and astounding a
223
It is a noteworthy fact that many of the Tsar's best soldiers
and most valuable officers bear Scottish names. They are
descendants of the mercenary soldiers of Scottish birth wno used
to put their swords at the service of any European nation that
disaster to Prussia. But General Rennenkampf under-
stood what had happened.
His raid was only one part of an enveloping movement.
While his gallant men held the German army at the frontier,
and then broke it, another Russian force from Poland,
under General Samsonoff, was striking up to the west of
the marsh country, taking the beaten German troops in the
rear. That was why most of them turned again, and fled
towards the coast of the Baltic Sea and the fortress town
of Kocnigsberg. Caught between two powerful Russian
forces, their entrenchments and blockhouses round the
Masuran Lakes had become traps, and not defences. An
almost impregnable system of frontier defence, developed
by a century of labour and expense, was thus overthrown
in a day by cavalry raiders supported by a distant second
army.
Victorious Russian Advance
on Koenigsberg.
By Wednesday, August 26th, all the difficulties that
Nature, assisted by military engineers, had placed in the
way of the Cossack advance in East Prussia, were behind
the battle front of the Russian armies. General Samsonoff,
in the south, moved towards the railway centre at Osterodc ;
in the north, General Rennenkampf rode in pursuit of the
main body of 120,000 German troops.
So swift were the Cossacks that they almost arrived at
Koenigsberg with their fleeing foes. Advance guards of the
garrison had to take the field and fight a rearguard action
to save their comrades.
When, however, Koenigsberg was sighted the great raid
practically came to an end. For this city is reckoned the
strongest fortress in the German Empire. It is the corona-
tion capital of the Prussian race, their sacred city from
which they rose to a dominion over the Teutonic peoples
that enables them to shadow Europe with their menace
and rock Christendom to its foundations.
Being without heavy guns, siege engineers, and infantry
force, Rennenkampf could not endanger Koenigsberg.
Yet he would not leave it. He drew his army across its
eastern lines of communication, and made what prepara-
tions he could for a masking operation. In the meantime
swarms of his Cossacks went about the serious business of
this extraordinary campaign. From the fields of Eastern
Prussia the people of Berlin obtained the larger part of
their food supplies. The region was one of the four great
granaries of Germany, and the crops were ripening for the
harvest on which Berlin expected to live for another twelve
months, in spite of the blockade of the British fleet.
offered employment and the joy of battle. In this group of
Russian officers, the figure on the extreme right is Colonel
Qillivray, next to him is Colonel Robertson, while the rider on
the horse furthest to the left is Major-Qeneral Ross.
The Far-reaching Effect
of the Great Raid.
But the Cossacks destroyed the crops, captured Tilsit
with its immense stores and emptied it. Then the admir-
ably-calculated effect of Rennenkampf's raid began to
tell. It told on France, and helped to save Paris. It
told on Vienna, and helped to ruin Austria-Hungary ;
but especially it told on Berlin. There hungry Prussian
peasants began to arrive, trainload after traihload, in the
city that was looking to them for food. In thousands they
came, and then in tens of thousands. The populace of
Berlin became alarmed. The spectre of famine appeared
in the capital which had for weeks been celebrating the
daily victories of the invincible hosts of the Kaiser.
What the German Military Staff thought of the matter
we do not yet know. If they were true to the Moltke
traditions they might have shrugged their shoulders and
pursued, without a moment's hesitation, the task on which
their entire energies were bent. For their armies of a
million and a quarter men were sweeping through France
in the swiftest, mightiest movement of attack known in
modern warfare.
But as the Russian commander-in-chief had foreseen,
with incomparable insight, the Kaiser could not take
this impassible view of the effect jof Rennenkampf's raid.
Being a man of excitable, impressionable temperament,
with a theatrical view of his dignity, the menace to the
coronation city of his family, and to the food supplies
of his capital, upset his balance.
German Forces in Other
Fields Depleted.
To content him, some two hundred thousand of his
best troops in France had to be rapidly conveyed across
Germany and flung against the audacious raiders. More
militiamen were ordered out, the fortresses on the Vistula
were deprived of many of their guns, and the garrisons
sent to the battle front "in the sacred soil of Eastern Prussia.
Rennenkampf retired, fighting stubbornly and resisting
every attempt to envelop him. The Germans forced him
at last over the frontier and invaded Russia. Rennen-
kampf continued to retire. The work, for the present,
was done. He had saved France and overthrown Austria.
For the German reinforcements, needed at Lemberg and
then on the Dneiper, had been sent against the raider ;
those afterwards sent to help Austria came too late.
The Cossack raid on Prussia is the most astonishing
bluff known to man.
224
Germans Mowed Down on the River Niemen
225
Capturing Austrian Guns at Battle of Lemberg
As a result of their great victory at Lemberg, Russia captured
200 guns and such a huge number of prisoners that they could
only be estimated in tens of thousands. In one district alone
Austria lost 20,000 killed and wounded. Lemberg is the capital
of Qalicia, and an important railway junction. The Russiana
entered it on September 3rd, and renamed it LvofT.
£26
THE GREAT EPISODES OF THE WAR
Russky's Smashing Victory at Lemberg
IN the early part of the war Russia seemed to be a
sleepy giant, who would be stabbed before he was
fully awake. By August I5th Austria had concen-
trated by the frontier a force of a million men, with 2,500
guns. The Russians were in a weak position, and could
not oppose their enemy. They needed nearly three more
weeks to collect and array for battle all their mighty armies.
The great distances from which men and supplies had to
be brought by scanty means of communication prevented
the Russians from defending their territory from invasion.
The Austrians flung their main army of 600,000 troops
far into Russian Poland, threatening an advance towards
Warsaw. To stop any turning movement, there was an
Austro-German force of 200,000 men on the right flank
at Radom, while a southern Austrian army of 200,000 men
lormed the left flank at Lemberg. The idea was to conquer
Poland, enlist and arm the Poles, and launch them triumph-
antly against their Slav kinsmen.
At first everything went according to programme.
While Kluck, in France, was smashing a path to Paris
by swift, terrible sledge-hammer blows, Generals Dankl
and Auffenberg, with the assistance of various Austrian
Grand Dukes, were sweeping through Russian territory and
outdoing Kluck in the rapidity and number of their victories.
But the defect of a war according to programme is that
the movements are obvious, and can easily be foreseen
by an opponent.
Taken at a
Disadvantage
So, though the Russian commander-in-chief was taken
at a disadvantage in respect to the inferior force of troops
immediately at his disposal, he was able to use these troops
with a complete knowledge of the enemy's intentions.
According to the laws of strategy, the powerful Austrian
centre advancing between the two towns of Lublin and
Kholm should have attracted the Russian counter-attack.
The Russian commander, however, disregarded the
scientific laws of strategy. Careless of the Moltke tradition,
he looked on war as an art rather than a science — as an
art in which daring, originality, unexpectedness, and the
personal ability of soldiers counted more than numbers.
After General Rennenkampf had been sent on his famous
raid into East Prussia, there were only two comparatively
small armies available for the first counter-stroke against
Austria.
General Russky was marching towards Galicia from
Kiev, and General Brussilov was moving to the north of
Roumania with the men of Bessarabia and Podolia. It
was arranged for the two generals to proceed by separate
routes and combine in Galicia, under Russky, for a surprise
attack on the southern Austrian host near Lemberg.
Each of the two small forces could easily have been met
and defeated separately by their overwhelmingly strong
enemy. But by one of the most remarkable oversights
in the history of warfare, Russky and Brussilov were
allowed by the Austrians to steal into Galicia by different
paths and conquer a large part of the territory before
battle was offered.
Austria's
Host of Spies
The secrecy with which the combined Russian operation
was conducted was extraordinary. It was done in the
daylight, over a period of nearly two weeks — from August
iyth to August 3oth. The Austrians had a host of spies
working with Teutonic thoroughness ; they had a great
screen of well-horsed, dashing cavalrymen engaged in
reconnaissance work along the lines of the Russian advance ;
they had scouts in flying machines darting over the country.
Yet the Russian operations in Austrian territory were
not discovered till close on the end of August, when it was
too late. Such was the incomparable skill with which
General Russky and General Brussilov carried out their
daring, dangerous work.
The principal credit, however, probably belongs to
General Suklimov,. the Russian Chief of Staff — a man
great as an organiser, and greater still as a wielder of
armies. With astonishing foresight, he had discerned
how the situation he proposed to create in Galicia would
strike the Austrian mind. The Battle of Lemberg was
war in advance by thought-reading — by a practical forecast
of the workings of the Teutonic intellect in its hour of
triumphant self-conceit.
The Austrians were blind to everything except the
" scientific " scheme of operations which they were carrying
out in Russian territory. They had a strong front to the
south of Warsaw, and against that front they intended to
force the Russians to move. It was so simple. They had
merely to advance conqueringly, in order to compel their
opponent to attempt to stop them. Nothing else mattered.
Cossack activity southward in Galicia was merely a feint
and a vain distraction.
No Heavy
Artillery Used
Meanwhile, the Cossack made the most of his oppor-
tunities. Before he crossed by the north of Roumania,
and entered Galicia, he came into contact with the Austrian
cavalry. The Russian rider had to screen his armies from
observation, and push back the enemy as quietly and
quickly as possible. No support from heavy artillery ot
infantry could be used, for this would disclose the secret
that an important attack was being made in full force.
It was wild, stirring, versatile work, that suited the
Cossack better than it would have suited any other large
body of horsemen. Far in advance of the foot soldiers and
big guns, he kept up a continual skirmish with every
kind of Austrian arm — cavalry scout, infantryman, and
gunner, in fortified places, by river passages, and other
points of importance. Helped only by his own light horse
artillery, the Cossack fought in every manner practised by
modern armies. He dismounted and carried positions with
the bayonet ; he charged with his lance ; he entrenched
and displayed his marksmanship. Except that he did not
use siege-guns, he proved himself a master of all trades
in war.
The Cossack's
Box of Tricks
His famous box of tricks was emptied on the heads of
the Austrians. He fell dead in heaps, his dead horse
beside him ; suddenly came to life, and shot the enemy
who wanted to search his corpse. Another time, a herd
of little Cossack horses would stampede, and the riderless
animals would sweep towards some guarded hostile position.
Even little Cossack horses are useful to Austrian soldiers ;
they can be sold for good money to Galician farmers. But
just before the animals were caught, grey figures swung
from beneath them, carbine .in hand, and fired. It was
like a circus performance, but deadly effective. And when
it came to a straightforward charge with sabre against sabre,
the Austrian cavalry had to give way.
Some of the Austrian officers, however, were peculiarly
tricky. An instance occurred in the Russian advance at
Tarnopol, a town near the Galician border. Overcoming
the first line of defence, the Russians swept on to meet the
main body of their enemies. They passed an Austrian
officer who was sitting on the earth bandaging his leg. Of
course they did not hurt this wounded man. But their
attack failed ; it failed repeatedly. No matter in what
manner they tried to approach the enemy, he was prepared,
and mowed them down with a well-directed fire.
Returning over the ground after one of these reverses,
a Russian officer noticed a wire running along the earth.
He found it led to a field telephone, by which the pretended
wounded Austrian was still sitting, giving notice of all the
Russian movements. When the bandage round the man's
leg was removed, it was seen that his limb was quite sound.
In spite of the continual skirmishing, drawing nearer and
RUSSIAN PRIESTS BLESS THE ARMIES ABOUT TO MARCH TO THE FRONT.
Russians are much more given to the expression of religious accord with national sentiment is essentially a people's war. The
feeling than the more reserved nations of the West, and a war
sanctified by the approval of the Church in addition to being in
nearer, no alarm was felt by the Austrians until General
Brussilov's army, after capturing and crossing river after
river in Eastern Galicia, approached the muddy Lipa, by
the fortress town of Halicz, sixty miles south of Lemberg.
By this time the two Russian forces had met and combined.
On August 3oth, the left wing, under Brussilov, rested
near the river valley at Halicz, while the right wing, under
Russky, extended to the Galician border. The Austrians
then used the thirty forts at Halicz as a pivot for a smash-
ing flank attack on Brussilov.
A Terrible
Battle
But Brussilov did not wait to be attacked. Two weeks
of continual successful skirmishing had enabled him to judge
the warlike qualities of his men. He flung them on the
enemy's line ; they broke it, killed and wounded 20,000
Austrians, then stormed the forts, and captured Halcz
in a terrible battle that lasted till September ist. The
Austrians fought well and bravely. Unlike the Germans,
they faced the bayonet with determination, and used the
steel themselves in some gallant charges. ' What told was
the superior physique of the Russian trooper. He wore down
the Austrian, and in bayonet fights and rifle fire showed
such ascendency that the great rout of a whole Empire
began almost as soon as the first battle was fully joined.
blessing of the Church lends the Russian soldier the zeal of a fanatic.
History shows that such gives formidable strength to an army.
In the meantime, General Russky, who was directing
the whole operations, swept from the north on another mass
of Austrians at Zlocgow, killed three of their generals and
thousands of their men, and pursued the rest to the outer
forts of Lemberg. On September 2nd, Russky drew up his
troops within cannon shot of the fortressed capital of
Galicia. And such was the demoralisation of the Austrian
army of 200,000, that I.emberg was captured the next day,
together with the entire artillery of the Austrian force.
Back to the
Russian Fold
The heavy Russian artillery smashed the forts and
opened the road to the Russian infantrymen, and after a
little fierce street fighting, the victorious troops marched in,
and as they passed the townspeople threw flowers upon
them from the upper windows of the houses. For the
Lemberger, like most of the people of Eastern Galicia, is a
Russian. That is why Brussilov was able to work his way
through the country so swiftly and secretly, with priests
coming in processions with banners to meet him at every
village. Eastern Galicia is an ancient Russian Duchy, torn
from the ancestors of the Tsar by his enemies. It is the
Alsace-Lorraine of Russia, peopled by a Slav race, with the
same language, religion, and customs as the Russian Empire,
to which it has been so swiftly and unexpectedly united.
TYPE OF RUSSIAN HOWITZER AT PRACTICE FIRING.
Russian experience in the great war with Japan taught the Tsar's military advisers some lessons which, though bitter, were profitable,
and one direct result was a great improvement in the Russian artillery arm, both in the guns themselves and in the gun practice.
228
Scenes from the Eastern Area of Hostilities:
A scene with the Russian army invading Galicia, where Cossacks have brought into
camp a troop of commandeered horses for inspection by an army committee.
A USTRIA was incomparably the
weaker member of the Teutonic
alliance, and Austria's " never-
victorious " army became a by-
word both with enemy nations and
with her northern ally. East Prussia
offered a much more difficult road to
•Berlin than the more round-about
route via Galicia and Silesia. Lem-
berg fell to the Russian advance ;
then Jaroslav ; the fortress of
Pzremysl was invested and its con-
tained troops rendered of no account
in the main campaign ; and then
Cracow became the objective of the
Russian military purpose.
The capture of Cracow was de-
sired because it was the last for-
tress obstacle in the approach to
Budapest, and it also simplified the
problem of entering Germany and
attacking Breslau, which lies athwart
the road to Berlin.
Although the national sympathy of the Polish population was with Russia,
yet Germany had many Poles In her Army, and this photograph shows a
group of Polish officers whose extreme youthfulness will be remarked.
A Cossack scout giving particulars gleaned by him
in a reconnaissance to his commander, who is follow-
ing his descriptions by the help of a map.
A bridge in Poland which was destroyed
by the Germans during their retreat to
their own frontier after their advance
almost to the gates of Warsaw.
The city of Cracow, the ancient capital and still the intellectual centre of Poland, was
the objective of the troops of the Tsar. The photograph shows the principal street
and the Cloth Hall. No other Polish town has so many old historic buildings, or so
many national relics.
229
Soldiers of the Tsar and the Foes they Faced
A scene In the eastern theatre of war, where a Japanese war
correspondent appears in company with some Russian officers.
Russian infantry behind earthworks, carefully prepared for
attack. Each soldier carries a spade for trench-digging.
Austrian "sucklings," or recruits, after swearing in, acclaim the Emperor
Francis Joseph with a loud " Hoch " as they lift their swords high in the air.
Russian troops entering the burning village of Mikolaiev, in Eastern Qalicia
during their advance through the territory of the Kaiser Francis Joseph.
German soldiers sampling vodka, the Russian
whisky, as they pass through a Polish village.
230
German Fiendishness on the Russian Frontier
German brutality is not confined to thei
231
Russian Cavalry Put Austrians to Flight
To say that the Russian cavalry has proved too good for Austria
is to put it mildly. The Austrian forces have been remorselessly
crushed by the Tsar's splendid fighters. After battling near
Lemberg during the whole of the last week in August against the
Russians, the Austrians began to retreat. The Cossacks pressed
upon them and drove them from the field a disorderly rabble
232
THE GREAT EPISODES OF THE WAR
The First Historic Battle of the Polish Rivers
IN these wild days it is given us to witness as mighty
and terrible things as are recorded in history. Since
Alexander the Great defeated a million Persians at
Nineveh, there has not been so sudden a destruction of the
tremendous military power of an ancient Empire as that
which befel Austria-Hungary in the middle of September,
1914. The Russian victory between the Vistula and San
Rivers was the grand event of the first part of the war.
After it, Austria practically disappeared, the remnants of
her main forces being merged in the eastern armies of
Germany. The Hapsburg dynasty, that for six hundred
years had controlled the destinies of Central Europe, came
to an end. The upstart Hohenzollern was, for the rest of
the war, the real master of both Teutonic Empires.
Such were the consequences of the greatest victory of
modern times. By three rapid blows the Grand Duke
Nicholas of Russia reduced a million of the best soldiers of
Austria-Hungary and Germany into a fleeing mob without
fighting power. Nobody expected the Russians to fight
in this manner, not even their Allies. It was a strange
new Russia that emerged on the battlefield, with all the
was pivoted on the great fortress of Przemysl, in Galicia.
Altogether, the Austrians were as strongly posted in
Russian Poland in the first week of September as the
Germans were in France in the middle of the following
month. The Turobin heights were, indeed, more difficult
to storm than the plateau of the Aisne, and siege-guns were
mounted on them.
From the point of view of the Teutonic strategists, they
had recovered from the reverse at Lemberg by bringing
their opponents suddenly to the position of stalemate. A
frontal attack, against such terrific power of heavy and
light artillery and such masses of riflemen as they had
placed and entrenched, was impossible. There remained
only a slow, open-air siege battle.
But since the first modern siege battles had been fought
in the Manchurian campaign a new school of strategists
had arisen in Russia. In flat contradiction to German
ideas, the Russian military experts held that a frontal
attack, if properly managed, was bound to succeed at a
heavy, but justifiable, sacrifice of troops.
And it did succeed. Terrible as were the odds against
OFFICERS IN THE RUSSIAN ARMY AT RELIGIOUS SERVICE IN A PUBLIC SQUARE BEFORE QOINQ TO WAR
The soul of Russia was stirred to its depths by the attempts to bring the southern Slavs under the heel of the Germanic Empires, and
every man in the Russian armies entered the campaign fired by religious zeal, taking up his weapons as a holy duty. The ceremony
photographed here was most impressive, with all the dignity and solemnity of a sacrament.
old slackness, slowness, muddle-headed, passive strength of
Russian warfare transformed into the speed of a Napoleonic
campaign, on a vaster scale than Napoleon ever fought.
Except that the Austrian commander, General von
Auffenberg, allowed himself to be lured far away from his
railways into Russian Poland, the enemy combated at
good advantage. He chose an excellent position in the
rolling, wooded country between the Vistula and the Bug
Rivers, with the broad stream of the San as his southern
line of defence. A German force of some 150,000 men, with
heavy artillery, entrenched on hills a thousand feet high,
with a river running at the foot and moating their earth-
works. They formed the central point in the battle-front
at Turobin, and some 900,000 Austrians, Hungarians,
Italians from the Trentino, and subject Slav soldiers ex-
tended the line for 200 miles. They had 2,500 pieces of
artillery, and machine-guns in extraordinary abundance.
So formidable were the positions and the armament of
the Austrians that our ally had to withdraw large numbers
of its men from Eastern Prussia to help in the attack.
No outflanking movement was possible. The wide, deep,
strong, unbridged waters of the Vistula protected the first
Austrian army near Krasnic. Besides, Austrian war-
boats, with quick-firing guns, joined in the battle from the
Vistula — as our monitors afterwards did off Nieuport, on
the North Sea. The second army held the central hill
•country from Turobin to Tomashov. The third army
him, the Russian infantryman proved that the bayoneted
rifle was the master even of the modern gun. On
September loth the front of the first Austrian army,
resting on the Vistula, under the command of General
Dankl, was pierced and shattered. None but the Russians
could have done such a thing. They alone of the Allies
had the tremendous numbers necessary for prevailing
against modern artillery.
Tne battle opened at the beginning of September with
the usual artillery duel. Slowly, stubbornly, the quiet,
patient Russian peasant advanced under the cover of his
big guns. Then, when he seemed to have reached the
edge of safety, he charged. He fell. His immediate
supports came on at a run. They fell. But a great army
was behind them, ranged company after company, regi-
ment after regiment. Every yard the dead and wounded
won in front was held by their advancing, inexhaustible
supports. In the night, when the defending gunners
could not distinguish friend from foe, the bayonet came
over the Austrian trenches, stabbing, thrusting as it passed.
Behind, the Russian guns were pushed along the path of
the victorious infantrymen, and great masses of Cossack
cavalry rode in advance of the guns.
At dawn the breach that had been made was held and
widened ; the Cossacks poured through, and the pursuit
began. Rearguard after rearguard of the retreating first
Austrian army was outflanked or beaten down by a direct
233
attack. On both sides the carnage was dreadful. The
Russian commander had sent his men forth to die in
tens of thousands — in many tens of thousands. With
something between twenty and thirty millions of armed
men at his call, he could do what General Joffre on
the Aisne could not safely do. He could chance the
lives of half a million men for the sake of a great, over-
whelming victory.
At Mukden, some years before, the Russians had been
too cautious. They had allowed the Japanese to play
the German game of persistent outflanking movements.
But now the Grand Duke Nicholas was in his own
country, with millions of reserves hastening towards his
lines. So he used his unparalleled resources of flesh
and blood to obtain a swift and complete decision.
From the Vistula to Turobin heights the enemy's
machine-guns were rushed and their cannon choked. Then
the deaths of the multitudes of fallen, heroic pioneers
of victory were avenged on the broken, fleeing foes.
It was a terrible way of winning a battle, but the
result was of incomparable importance. There was no
retreat possible for the vanquished army ; it was torn
in two and routed.
The great siege-howitzers and heavy guns of the German
army could not be moved quickly enough. When the front
the San on the south. The Cossacks shelled and charged
them in their rear, the Russian gunners and infantrymen
slew them in the front and on the flank. Something like
a hundred thousand of the Austrian force surrendered,
bit by bit, in brigades, regiments, and leaderless squads.
None of the others would have escaped had it not been
for the fine, unwarlike humanity of the Russian foot
soldier. During the first day of the rout, while he remem-
bered his own dead, he was terrible. He slew till he was
foregone with fatigue. Then he slept where he stood, and
fed, and looked to his bayonet, and went onward to continue.
But he could not bring himself to do it. All anger died
out of him when he came upon his starving, driven foes.
Used to sharing his food with every beggar that wandered
into his village, he felt only a great pity for the beaten men
bunched about the marshes. The gunners and the Cossacks
acted as executioners ; the peasant rifleman took what
prisoners he could, but he was very slow to kill. This is
the reason he had afterwards to fight, in the great battles
round and below Warsaw, some hundreds of thousands of
the Austrian forces he had previously had at his mercy.
While the first and second Austrian armies, with their
German reinforcements, were withdrawing in increasing
disorder towards Cracow, the third Austrian force main-
tained a stubborn fight near the Galician frontier. But
WHERE THREE EMPIRES MEET— AN HISTORIC CORNER OF EUROPE
This is the meeting point of three great Empires — the Russian, the German, and the Austrian — and is known as " Three Emperors'
Corner." The hither side of the River Przemsza is in Silesia, in Germany; on the far side is Qalicia, in Austria; and Russia is in
the background, beyond the tributary stream. The spot is north-east of Cracow.
suddenly broke the Cossacks swept through the opening,
with light horse artillery supports, and captured the
German armament. Then the Russian horsemen divided.
One division helped their infantry to drive in the rearguards
of the flying first army. The other division rode through
the gap between the retiring force and the second central
Austrian army at Tomashov.
By September nth the Austrian centre, under General
von Auffenberg, was assailed in front by a force under
General Russky, and attacked on the flank by another
Russian force.
The Russian cavalry, moreover, was working on the
Austrian line of communication, and capturing most of its
supply trains. Having guns with them, these horsemen
were terribly powerful. The starving, outmanoeuvred
Austrians were summoned to surrender. Their case was
utterly hopeless, but their commanders refused to yield.
The Russians, therefore, had no alternative but to destroy
this great mass of men.
It was the most dreadful slaughter in modern history.
The vast hordes of beaten, hungry troops were driven out
ot the hills down to the great marshlands and swamps
extending from the banks of the Vistula on the west and
the arrival of fugitives from their second army, bringing
the news that the Russians were getting between them and
their beaten centre, soon began to tell on their spirits. They
made a desperate attack on the Russian left wing on
September nth, but the next day the Russian commander
in this section of the battlefield — -General Brussilov — took
the offensive and swept away the last stand of Austria's
last forces. The beaten third army retired on the fortress
of Przemysl, while the other two armies were shepherded
along a difficult, boggy line of retreat that afforded no
rallying place till Cracow was reached.
This rout of a million men was full of wild horrors.
Streams were dammed with bodies, trodden down in
headlong flight till the current was banked up and flowed
over the surrounding fields. Piles of slain awaited burial
or burning. Wounded, riderless horses galloped wildly
over the abandoned country, that was strewn with dead
men, and weapons, and equipment. More than a third of
the forces of Austria-Hungary were put out of action ;
the rest were left with no fighting ability, until they passed
under the control of the German General Staff, who stiffened
them with their own men and removed most of their
commanders. Even then, they lought with no spirit.
234
235
Russia Crushes Austria while the Allies hold the Germans
Russians on the march to the Austrian frontier and
the great victory of Lemberg.
QUR eyes were so intently fixed upon the fields
of France, where our own soldiers were
operating, that we were apt to regard lightly the
stupendous victories won for us by our Russian
Allies. But the importance of these victories
can scarcely be over-estimated. They had a
far-reaching effect upon the whole campaign.
The capture of Lemberg by the Russians is of
immense importance, not merely because our
Allies captured 150 guns, with large quantities
of artillery and food supplies, but because it was
the crowning achievement of a vast offensive
movement that cost Austria some 80,000 men
in killed, wounded, and prisoners.
Lemberg is a great fortified centre, controlling
the junction of eight railways and eight high-
ways. Its possession removes a great obstacle
to a great aggressive advance to destroy what
remains of the Austrian Army and to strike at
Germany from the south.
General Rusgky, who defeated the
Austrian forces decisively at Lemberg
Lemberg, showing the Theatre Square with the Municipal Theatre.
Some of the Russian artillery whose offensive helped to inflict disastrous defeat upon Austria.
236
The finest Mounted Fighting Men the world knows
Squadron of Russian Cossacks, eacb man of which provides his own horse.
Celebrating the Russian victories in Otalicia before the Winter Palace, Petrograd.
Russian cavalry on the march — the power of endurance of both men and horses is proverbial.
237
Austria's Cowardly Bombardment of Belgrade
The British Embassy at Belgrade after the Austrian bombardment. Routed by the Serbs on the battlefield, the cowardly Austriana
have retired to a safe position across the Danube, from which they shelled the defenceless Serb capital.
This is how the beautiful white city of Belgrade used to look. It was made a desolate stretch of shell-shattered ruins, and what
Inhabitants remained crouched night and day in the cellars, while the shells were bursting above them.
238
Victorious Serbians Who Invaded Austria
R upon Servia was intended by Austria, no matter
what might be the reply to the ultimatum delivered
to her on July 23rd, 1914. The declaration of war by
Austria followed on July 28th, and the bombardment of
Belgrade began forthwith. Montenegro allied herself with
Servia on August ist.
After the hot days of ultimatums and declarations of war
up to August 4th, Austria had to turn and defend herself
against the advancing Russians, and the pressure on Servia
lessened. The little Balkan state became aggressive,
and on August 2ist the battle on the Drina resulted in her
favour, and the Austrians were driven from Servian soil.
Meanwhile the Russian avalanche was smiting Austria, and
the Servians, under General Putnik, advanced into the
territory of the Dual Monarchy. They invaded Bosnia on
September 8th, and prepared to strike into Austria proper.
Servian artillery officers passing through Nisch, which was made the seat of government when
the Austrians attacked Belgrade. They are carrying flowers given them by their sweethearts
before they left for the firing-line.
Servian artillery on the promenade of the public gardens at Belgrade, overlooking the Danube and the Austrian frontier at Semlin,
captured by Servia Inset is the portrait of General Putnik, the commander-in-chief of the victorious Servian army.
239
Serbia Must Be Crushed" Says Berlin — Serbia Smiles
Servia, spurred to great effort and gallantry by the knowledge of
a just cause, soon captured a multitude of Austrian prisoners.
The roll-call oT one batch is here shown being held at Nisch.
A Red Cross nurse bathing the foot of a Servian soldier in a
palace that formerly belonged to the Turkish Sultan at Uskub.
Servian soldiers, wounded in Bosnia, arriving at Nisch. The
Servians have proved individually superior to their opponents.
Two wounded Servians take exercise in ths hospital grounds
at Nisch, attended by nurses. The Servians are born fighters.
240
Victorious Serbs Prepare for Greater Serbia
What the modern shell can do. A house In Belgrade struck by
Austrian artillery fire.
A Serb boy of twelve who dug a trench in a garden by the
Danube and "sniped "the Austrians across the river.
Sturdy Servian peasants wnitmg In Belgrade for rifles and
ammunition to fight for the greater Servia.
Serb troops on their way to the great victory over the Austrians
wearing flowers given them by their wives.
241
We've shut the gates by Dover Straits,
And north where the tide runs free,
Cheek by jowl, our watchdogs prowl,
Grey hulks in a greyer sea,
And the prayer that England prays to-night —
0 Lord of our destiny ! —
As the foam of our plunging prows is white :
We have stood for peace, and we war for right,
God give us victory !
— JAMES BERNARD FAGAN.
The War on
the Waters
(From the painting by .\ortnan Wilkituon.)
The British Dreadnought King George V.
242
British Navy's Victory in a Mine -strewn Sea
H.M.8. Amethyst, flotilla cruiser, which was engaged in the victorious attack on the German destroyers.
AT dawn on Friday, August
28th, the German warships
behind the fortress of Heligo-
land had at last just the kind
of weather they wanted for a'
raid on the outpost vessels of
our grand Fleet. The sea was
steaming with haze, veiling all
operations.
But our Fleet was also
The destroyer Laertes, the only other British vessel injured.
waiting for the first fog on the North Sea, in order to teach
the Germans how the descendants of Nelson could still fight,
under new conditions, in the old daring way.
Two of our Battle Cruiser Squadrons steamed into the
fortified area of the German North Sea bases, between
Heligoland and the Kiel Canal. In advance moved a force
of destroyers, scouting for the Germans, and some sub-
marines followed. By seamanship of a supreme quality
our large warships escaped from floating mines and sub-
marines, and intercepted the German cruisers and destroyers
guarding the approaches to the German coast.
Five of the enemy's vessels were sunk — two destroyers and
three cruisers — and many others were damaged. The white
feather of the Goeben is still the symbol of the German battle-
ships. They would not come out to help their smaller craft!
The Mainz — one of the five German warships sunk. Inset: Sir David Beatty, commanding our First Battle Squadron.
•M3
Some Units of the Kaiser s High Canal Fleet
!
The German cruiser Moltke, the sister ship of the coward Goeben, was completed in October, 1911. A vessel of 23,000 tons
displacement, she was fitted to carry ten 11 in. guns, twelve 6 in. guns, twelve 24-pounders, and four 20 in. torpedo tubes.
Her speed of 28'4 knots made her, at the time, the fastest cruiser in the world.
The German 4,350-ton cruiser Koln, which, with its sister
ship the Mainz, was sunk in Heligoland Bight on
August 28th, 1914.
The pre- Dreadnought Deutschland, considered unsatisfactory
through being overgunned, the secondary guns firing
projectiles too heavy for man-handling.
The Dreadnought Thuringen, one of the Helgoland type, a class completed in 1911 and 1912, having a displacement of 21 ,000
tons, a speed of 22 knots, and carrying twelve 12-in., fourteen 6 in. guns, fourteen 24-pounders, and six 20 in. torpedo tubes.
The German destroyer G194. one of eight 654-tons boats,
which have a speed of 31 knots and carry two 24-pounder
guns and four 18 in. torpedo tubes.
The submarine U9, with which the Germans torpedoed and
sunk the three British cruisers Aboukir, Hogue, and Creasy
on September 22nd, 1914.
214
Mine -Laying in the North Sea Causes First Losses
H.M.S. Lance, which by remarkably quick, accurate fire,
sank the German mine-laying steamer.
Of all weapons of death used in modern naval warfare,
the " live " floating contact mine is the most dangerous.
For it imperils the peaceful merchant marine of every
nation plying over the seas in which it is used. A live
mine may drift with the tides hundreds of miles from the
scene of battle, and unless it is so constructed as to become
unexplosive, it may wreck merchant ships after the
war has come to an end. The German
Government admits that their converted
liner, the Koenigin Luise, was intended
to lay her mines in the mouth of the
Thames and " sow the chief English
commercial waterways with death."
Two kinds of mines are now used in
naval war — one for defensive purposes,
another for offensive operations. The
defensive mine is employed by a country
in its own waters, and it is usually con-
nected to the shore by an electric wire.
By means of this wire, it is fired when
the mine operator, sitting in a kind of
camera pbscura, sees a hostile warship
sailing right over the spot where the ex-
plosion of the hidden mine will put it
out of action.
The offensive contact mine, by means
of which H.M.S. Amphion was sunk, is
a hollow metal case filled with a powerful
explosive, and left to float about the sea
like a sealed tin can. To prevent it being
visible, a rope is attached, and a weight
hung at the end of the rope. By adjust-
ing the length of the rope, the mine can
be sunk to any required depth. In order
to make quite sure of the destruction of
hostile vessels in a mine field, it is usual
A German contact mine.
The Koenigin Luise, a converted liner, caught laying mines
and sent to the bottom of the North Sea.
to sink two of these floating contact mines, and then connect
them by means of a cable. Then, if the bows of any ship-
strike against the cable, the cable will move forward under
the blow, and bring the two mines against either side of the
hull, and there they will explode below the water- line against
the most vulnerable part of the vessel. The firing device
consists of a series of projecting rods round the top of the
-q mine, which are variously known as
a] strikers, horns, or whiskers. When one of
tta^_ f) I ' these is driven in by contact with the bows
1 or side of a ship the detonating charge goes
j off, and the terrific explosion takes place.
There are different arrangements by which
the duration of the explosive action of
a contact mine can be regulated. It can
be made to fill with water, and sink at a
given hour, or it can be made to rise to-
the surface after a given period, so that
it can be recovered and used again.
A mine-searching flotilla now clears
the way for a fleet in action. The most
expensive way of clearing the waters
is to discharge counter-mines, and blow
up both hostile contact mines and hostile-
mines under electric control. The usual
method, however, is to make a broad,
free path for an attacking fleet, by means
of a mine-sweeping flotilla. A pair of
destroyers steam slowly ahead, towing
a long heavy net in a sort of fishing opera-
tion. The net generally catches the
mines under the bottom, and lifts them
up without exploding them, thus provid-
ing the advancing fleet with deadly-
machines that can be used against the
enemy that first laid them.
The effect of a line of mines, laid by the enemy, being exploded by our fleet by counter-mining.
245
The Submerged Arm in Naval Warfare
The world war was the first in which the submarine
played such a prominent part. True, in the Russo-
Japanese War it played a part, but not a great part. In
the greatest of all wars, however, the submarine became
the weapon with which the blockaded German Fleet sought
to reduce the strength of the opposing British Navy, which
Admiral Tirpitz and all his officers knew could not be met
in fair fight without disastrous results for Germany.
The injury inflicted upon British war craft was deplorable,
but not serious from the military point of view. New units
were added to the British Fleet faster than the losses, and
after months of war the British Navy was both actually
and relatively stronger than it was when war opened.
Daring as were the German submarine commanders,
the British submarine captains were quite as daring ; but
because the German warships kept within the safety of the
Kiel Canal, the British captains had no targets at which to
aim. During the time that the British Expeditionary Force
was being transported to France in August, 1914, British
submarines lay like watchdogs right in the mouth of the
River Elbe, ready to sink the German warships if they
dared to venture forth ; but they did not dare, and the
little British army landed without the loss of a single man.
The men who brave the dangers of submarine warfare
take terrible risks. If a serious accident occurs when the
vessels are submerged, preventing them from rising to the
surface, a slow death awaits them, without hope of rescue.
The submarine speeds forth its torpedo at the rate of an
express train. But a torpedo cannot be aimed like a
gun. The ship must be manoeuvred until the torpedo-tube
is in the direction of the desired line of fire, and then the
torpedo is discharged. It is almost impossible to torpedo
a swiftly-moving vessel. The object aimed at must be
stationary, or nearly so.
246
First Encounter of Warship and Submarine
The British Cruiser, H.M.S. Birmingham, that
destroyed the deadly submarine.
Until the outbreak of this war it was widely
believed, and even by one famous British
admiral, that the terrible submarine would
vanquish the super-Dreadnought. The " dead-
liest thing that keeps the seas " was the pic-
turesque phrase for the latest sea craft.
The mechanism of the powerful new sub-
marine, with a range of action of 4.000 miles,
is one of the most jealously guarded of Govern-
ment secrets. The vessel is built in the form of
a great fish of metal. Upon its back is a small
platform, the deck, and rising from the deck is
a hump. This is the conning-tower of armoured
steel, lighted by special windows through which
the navigating officer can see his course when
the vessel is running half-submerged.
When the vessel is about to dive, the conning-
tower is closed, water is admitted into the
ballast tanks to lessen buoyancy, the oil engine
is switched off, and the propeller is driven by
an electric motor of 600 horse-power in the later
models. Compressed air supplies the breath of
life to the sunken crew, and provides the power
for discharging torpedoes.
Such is the wonderful mechanical fish, with
fighting men inside it, that was expected to alter
entirely the conditions of modern naval warfare.
On Sunday, August gih, 1914, the matter was
decided in the first historic skirmish between the
British and German Navies. Our sailors saw
some curious twinklings moving on the calm
surface of the North Sea. The twinklings were
caused by the periscopes of hostile submarines.
The British cruiser squadron, pretending not
to be aware of the danger, steamed almost into
the range of the submarines' torpedoes, and
manoeuvred to cope with the strange, sudden peril. Then
H.M.S. Birmingham, while going at full speed, saw the peri-
scope of a German submarine within the danger zone. Our
gunners, instead of trying to hit the hidden vessel, shot at its
periscope and, with extraordinary accuracy of aim, smashed
the slender tube. The submarine was struck blind, and the
rest of the enemy's flotilla fled for fear it might collide with
them. The Birmingham, with all guns ready, waited till
the sightless undersea boat came to the surface in order
to see. The conning-tower at last rose from the water, and
some of our sailors just had time to observe the distinguishing
number and letter of the submarine, when a shot from one
of the British guns struck the base of the tower, and the
broken submarine dropped through the waves like a stone.
Sectional view of a submarine, showing its chief features.
U 15, the German submarine, blinded and sunk by a British gunner.
247
The Coward Cruise of the Mighty " Goeben "
The German Dreadnought Qoeben, that came out to flght, with band playing, and slunk away under the Turkish flag.
Heavily armoured, with
ten u in. guns, twelve quick-
firers, and a speed of over 28
knots, the Goeben was, at the
opening of the war, the best
man-of-war in the German
Navy. She was sent to the
Mediterranean with the
smaller ship, the Breslau,
which was the swiftest of
light cruisers under the Ger-
man flag. These two superb
examples of Teutonic naval
construction were intended
to destroy the Anglo-French
commerce in the Mediter-
ranean, and interrupt our
traffic with the Orient through
the Suez Canal.
They began their great
work by wasting ammunition
on the bombardment of Bona
and other towns on the
Algerian coast. A small
squadron of our vessels gave
chase, and the pride of the
German Navy and her consort
fled to Messina, on the strait
between the curve of Sicily
and the toe of Southern Italy.
Here a fine spectacular drama
was enacted that engaged the admiration of the entire
world. The captain of the Goeben was determined that
the first battle of the mighty modern German Navy should
be a lesson in high heroism to the hundred thousand
Types of German Sailors.
troops at Liege who were
faring so badly at the hands
of forty thousand Belgian
soldiers. The officers of the
two ships, it is said, made
their wills, and solemnly en-
trusted the documents to a
friendly consul. Then, with
their bands playing, the Ger-
man crews steamed out to
meet the British ships in a
death-or-victory struggle. An
expectant world waited for
news of the splendid dramatic
battle ; but somehow the
German sailors put off the
day of conflict, and turned
full-steam up the Adriatic
with the intention of joining
the Austrian Navy. Austria,
however, at that time was
not at war with Britain, and
to save her own fleet from
attack, she refused to help
the wanderers. Again the
Goeben and Breslau set out
on their wild, zigzag voyage,
with British warships in pur-
suit, and, seeking refuge in
the neutral waters of the Dar-
danelles, they were sold to
the Turkish Government for the sum of ^3,800,000, and
remained in charge of their German crews. It was part of
the successful German policy that forced Turkey into war
and suicide.
The German cruiser Breslau, that began the game of bombarding defenceless coast towns, but fled from British warships.
248
THE GREAT EPISODES OF THE WAR
The Battle of Heligoland Bight
OVER the great Bight, formed by the estuaries of
the Elbe, the Ems, and the Jahde, the fortress
island of Heligoland stands as sentinel. It is the
German Gibraltar, on fortifying which many millions
of pounds have been spent since it was obtained from Great
Britain in exchange for Zanzibar.
The guns command the deep water passages to the
German naval ports in the North Sea, and allow the
German fleet to move securely behind the island until
" The Day " arrives. In the meantime, the fortress is
regarded as the base for a series of mosquito attacks by
swift German destroyers that will wear down the strength
of the British fleet.
On the evening of August ayth everything seemed
favourable for a German destroyer raid of this kind. For
the first time since war opened, a mist was gathering
thickly on the North Sea. Through the fog twenty-four
German destroyers crept to the shelter of the guns of
Heligoland, in preparation for the great adventure. At
some distance behind them were three cruisers — the Mainz,
Koeln, and Ariadne — with a flotilla of submarines.
The Wonderful Eye
of the Submarine
From the island searchlights played over the darkening,
half-veiled sea, and officers with telescopes looked for the
special signs of British watchfulness — for the swift, small,
scouting destroyers that form the eyes of every modern
fleet. But no British destroyer was in sight. None, indeed,
had been seen off Heligoland since the outbreak of hostilities.
But, all unseen, below the waters on that spot strange
things had been happening for three weeks. Little bright
mirrors had popped up and turned to all points of the
compass, furrowing the waves, and leaving pennants of
foam streaming behind them. The periscopes of the
daring British submarines escaped the German vision.
The enemy looked on these slow, unhandy, hidden vessels
as useful but untested agents of destructive attack. He
never suspected we should use them for close observation
in his own waters, instead of relying on the orthodox
scouting operations of visible destroyers. This was one
of the great secrets of British naval tactics, and it was
not to be cheaply revealed by a submarine torpedo attack
on any German ship.
Larger results than that were expected to flow from our
unique, unguessed-at method of studying all the enemy's
movements. The operations conceived in view of the
proposed German destroyer raid were entrusted to the
youngest and most dashing of our admirals, Admiral Sir
David Beatty. He made a bold and subtle scheme of
attack. The idea was to tempt the German commander
to launch out on something more important and fruitful
than a torpedo skirmish.
A Challenge that
was Declined
One of our destroyer flotillas, with its flotilla cruiser, the
Arethusa, was sent under Commodore Tyrwhitt to Heligo-
land. The other two parts of the British naval force were
kept at some distance away, and curtained by the fog.
So far as the Germans were allowed to view the affair, the
opening of the conflict was the result of an unhappy accident
on the part of the too adventurous Commodore Tyrwhitt.
Prowling about on the foggy sea at dawn on August 28th,
the leader of the British destroyer flotilla blundered by the
merest chance on twenty-four German torpedo craft ready
for a raid !
As the dark-grey form of the British cruiser loomed
through the mist, with the dim, low shapes of her attendant
destroyers just visible on each side of her, the German
vessels fled. But it was only a pretended flight. Their
commander was trying to lure the British within the range
of the guns of Heligoland. The kind invitation to come
in and be sunk was declined, and the Arethusa's six-inch
forward gun i;helled the fleeing German destroyers.
To protect their small craft, on which the British des-
troyers were also firing, the fine, new German cruisers.
the Mainz and the Koeln, came out of the mist, and the
older, slower Ariadne steamed into action. Matters
suddenly became too hot for the British boats. For after
landing one shell on the enemy, the Arethusa got a very
bad blow, a shell — probably from the Mainz — bursting
in her engire-room. She was drawing off, sadly injured,
when a destroyer belonging to our submarines got chased.
The Arethusa, forgetting her own internal troubles, limped
along, like a wounded mother hen fighting for a strayed,
endangered chick, and bravely drove off the attackers.
In the meantime, our destroyer flotilla went into action.
As it was forming up on the Arethilsa the mist around was
stabbed with flame, the spears of fire appearing scarcely
two hundred yards away. The British destroyers at once
strung out, in order to offer less target than they were
doing while in a bunch. Then they charged the big, four-
funnelled German cruiser that was trying to annihilate
them at short range. Their charge drew the enemy's fire
off their injured flotilla leader.
A Daring Attack
by Destroyers
It was like a troop of hussars riding at a line of big
siege-guns, one shell from which was complete destruction.
But, unlike siege-guns, those of the hostile warship could
be rapidly trained in any direction, and they blazed away
at the charging destroyer flotilla.
The destroyers fired in return, but their four-inch guns
seem to have done little or no damage. This was in the
nature of things. A British destroyer is more than a match
for a German destroyer, and can, at a pinch, tackle two of
them, as her ordnance is heavier. But against a cruiser
a destroyer's fire is almost useless. Her vibrating, pulsing
deck, continually changing direction as she dodges, is a bad
gun platform, and there is not room in the narrow space
for range-finding instruments, while a fire-control is
impossible.
The cruiser has a fire control on her tall masts, and
proper range-finding mechanism. Her fire is steady and
directed with deadly science. The speed at which the
destroyers are advancing is quickly measured, and the
guns are trained mechanically at each shot, to allow for
each new advance of the hostile craft. The marvel is that
none of our destroyers was sunk in this wildly unequal
combat.
They were saved by a trick. As they charged at full
speed, the enemy's shells at first went over them. Then,
when the enemy got the right range — in five seconds — our
destroyers altered their course. Instead of rushing on in
the straight line which the hostile fire-control had by that
time measured, they swerved, dodged, and, charging
forward from a new direction, launched their torpedoes
and returned to the Arethusa.
Mosquitoes of the Sea
Attack the Mainz
They found their mother ship still afloat, but the Fearless
was engaging a three-funneller, the Mainz. The mosquitoes
of the fleet joined in the attack on the Mainz, or flung
themselves on any German destroyer that was wishful to
finish the poor, brave, suffering Arethusa.
It was a very one-sided fight, and it had been so arranged
by Admiral Beatty. He wanted to give the German
cruiser squadron an easy prey to bring them into action.
Our destroyers intentionally accepted very severe punish-
ment.
It was like a fight in the darkness, for the mist was so
thick that our ships could not see how each other fared, and
it was only possible to make out the opposing grey
shadow, and fire at it amid the acrid, stifling fumes of
picric acid from the shells bursting around.
Beating away the destroyers, the three German cruisers
closed about the wounded Arethusa to complete her
destruction. She devoted all her remaining energies on
the Mainz, endeavouring to sink her before she sank her-
self. But the position of affairs suddenly altered. The
Arethusa and her destroyers had fulfilled their part of the
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249
The Amazing Story of Submarine E4
One incident in the naval action oft Heligoland on August 28th
reads more like a Jules Verne romance than cold fact The
Defender, having sunk an enemy, lowered a whaler to pick up her
swimming survivors. An enemy's cruiser came up and chased away
the Defender, who was torced to abandon her whaler. Imagine
V 67 I
the sailors feelings, alone in an open Doat, twenty-five miles from
the nearest land, and that land an enemy's fortress, with nothing
but fog and foes around them 1 Suddenly, a swirl alongside, and up
popped submarine E4, which opened its conning-tower, took them
all aboard, dived, and carried them 250 miles home to Britain)
S
250
plan. They had smashed up the German destroyer
divisions and drawn the German cruisers into action.
Our Light Cruiser Squadron, under Commodore
Goodenough, steamed through the thinning morning
mist to the place where firing was going on, and engaged
the three hostile cruisers. They in turn had now become
the bait to a larger battle. If they were punished badly,
the German battleships must come to their aid. So " The
Day " would immediately arrive.
The British cruisers fought in the Jellicoe manner.
Singling out one enemy — the Mainz — they concentrated
their guns on her. In one minute the splendid vessel was
on flame amidships, and many of her distraught men
deserted their guns in the uninjured parts of the ship.
This was probably why the officers fired on the seamen
who jumped into the sea when our boats came to rescue
them. The officers were mad with anger that their gunners
had not fought their guns till the last possible moment.
The Vision Behind
the Curtain of Mist
As the Mainz burst into flame, the mist lifted, showing
our Battle Cruiser Squadron, with Admiral Beatty leading
on the Lion, and chasing the other two German cruisers.
The British ships were much faster, and soon overtook the
hostile vessels. Yet it seems they were in no haste to
begin the work of destruction, the idea probably being to
allow the doomed German ships to send wireless messages
for help to their battleships. But though the battleships
must have heard for hours the sound of firing, none of them
came to Heligoland to protect their cruisers.
The Lion let the Koeln fire at her for ten minutes with-
out replying. It was like a terrier snarling at a mastiff
waiting for something of his own size to fight. But as no
worthy opponent appeared, the Lion fired a broadside —
each shell more than half a ton of hard steel and picric
acid explosive.
The stricken cruiser was hidden in a cloud of flame and
smoke. When the air cleared, a huge hole was visible in
The 4,350-ton cruiser Mainz was one of the three German vessels
sunk in the daring naval escapade on August 28th, when Rear-
Admiral Beatty attacked the German navy right under the
guard of the Heligoland forts. A few shots from the attacking
ships smashed two of her funnels, carried away her mainmast,
and set heron fire. She is seen in the photograph settling down
by the bows. The small inset picture shows the Mainz intact.
her side. She half hauled down her ensign, then re-hoisted
it and opened fire. Five shots from the thirteen-and-a-half-
inch guns of the Lion again struck her ; she burst and
sank, and though the Southampton at once steamed over
the spot, there was not a man to be rescued. In the
meantime the Ariadne had been shelled, and lurched
away in a sinking condition.
Seeing that nothing could tempt the German battleships
to come from behind Heligoland and engage, Admiral
Beatty withdrew with all his ships, having sunk five of the
enemy's vessels, without losing anything except a boat.
Even the boat's crew was saved. They had put out from
the Defender in a whaler to rescue some German sailors
who had flung themselves into the sea from a sinking
destroyer. Before the whaler could row back, a German
cruiser chased the Defender away. The gallant life-savers
found themselves in an open boat, with nothing but fog and
foes round them, the nearest land twenty-five miles distant,
and that land the enemy's fortress. Suddenly the water
was disturbed close by, and amid the swirl the conning-
tower of the British submarine £4 emerged. The tower
opened, everybody in the boat was taken in, the submarine
dived, and took the brave, abandoned sailors two hundred
and fifty miles across the sea to their own land.
A Victory of Great
Moral Value
Such was the romantic ending of the first fight since
Trafalgar for the general command of the sea. The Battle
of the Bight was not decisive, owing to the remarkable
reluctance of the German admiral to bring his battleships
into action, even when they seemed to have only the task
of saving three German cruisers from our Light Cruiser
Squadron. \Ve shall probably find later that this brilliant,
finely planned affair of outposts was a victory with moral
consequences larger than its material gains. Following
the Goeben's flight from the little Gloucester, it is scarcely
likely to have enhanced the fighting spirit of the very
retiring German Navy.
251
Short Shrift for Cruisers "Made in Germany "
H.M.S. New Zealand (a gift from New Zealand) took part In the Heligoland battle. Inset: Captain Lionel Halsey, its commander
•"THE cruiser and destroyer
skirmish in the Bight of
Heligoland has an importance
far beyond its immediate
results. Small though it was
in scale, it will very likely
rank as one of the great
decisive naval conflicts. For
it overthrew completely the
conception of modern sea
warfare on which the second
most powerful navy in the
world has been based and
built.
It has clearly shown that
this hostile Navy — financed at
very considerable sacrifice to
Germany's land war power —
is useless for the purpose it
was designed, at heavy ex-
pense, to fulfil.
Lieut. Westmacott, who was
killed In battle on the plucky
Arethusa.
Commander Barttelot who
died a hero's death on the
Liberty.
Germany has no sailors.
Such is the message thundered
by our guns off Heligoland.
Her men are only soldiers in
ships — and conscript soldiers
for the most part. They
lack .entirely the initiative,
the keen originality of the
born seaman, trained in the
new machinery of naval war-
fare.
They fight like an army
on the defensive, and relying
on the support of fortresses.
This method may pay at
times in land warfare, but
it is absolutely fatal in a
struggle for sea power. The
way in which the German
sailors deserted their guns,
shows what men they are.
Two hulking cruisers like this (Koln class) are battered wrecks under the rolling water of the North Sea. They
Germany," and when our battle cruisers opened fire upon them they were hopelessly outclassed.
They were "made in
252
The "Lion" Roared and German Cruisers Sank
This is our First Battle Cruiser Squadron, headed by the flagship Lion, which gave Germany a sharp lesson in naval warfare
in Heligoland Bight. Inset: Bear-Admiral Sir David Beatty, who commands the squadron.
i Heligc
Kaiser's Navy has long tried to
impress the world with its mighty
power. Yet, at the very commencement
of hostilities, it scuttled into harbour fast-
nesses and skulked in fear. After nearly
a month of anxious watching, our admirals
decided to force an encounter. Their
idea was to scoop the German light craft
into the open sea by means of a strong force
of destroyers headed by the Arethusa. A
glorious success attended the plan. The
gallant Arethusa and its supports did their
share well. The Arethusa hammered at
every enemy in sight, and, in a maimed
condition, was in danger of being sent to
the bottom by two powerful German
cruisers, when our Battle Cruiser Squadron
took their part in the affray. Our de-
vastating 13-5 in. guns were turned upon
the enemy, and their cruisers suffered the
fate they had intended for the Arethusa.
Captain W. R. Hall, of the Queen
Mary, whose guns hdlped to send
the Germans to "Davy Jones's
locker."
Altogether the Kaiser's Fleet was
diminished by three cruiser, two des-
troyers and 1,200 officers and men, whilst
our loss was slight, sixty-nine men
killed and wounded, and no vessels
permanently put out of action.
It is officially stated that German officers
actually fired at their own seamen struggling
in the water, and our destroyer Defender
was picking up wounded enemies when a
German cruiser drove her off. A sub-
marine came to the surface and rescued
the boat's crew of British sailors.
The whole affray took place within
range of Heligoland forts, which were
rendered useless by the thick mist that
shrouded operations.
Our success was due in the first instance,
however, to our submarines, who have
shown extraordinary daring and enterprise
in penetrating the enemy's waters.
Our submarines made the victory possible, and E4 rescued the British heroes who were attacked when saving wounded enemies.
253
The British Navy in Sunshine and Shade
pIGHTIXG at sea was distinctly brisk during the middle
of September. One of our auxiliary cruisers, the
Carmania, under the command of Captain Grant, sunk
a large German converted liner, the Cap Trafalgar,
near the rock of Trinidad, off the coast of South America
on September I4th. On the day we lost by accident
the Australian submarine AEi and repulsed German
attempts to sink the H.M. gunboat Dwarf in the Cameroon
River. At Zanzibar the hostile cruiser Konigsberg attacked
H.M.S. Pegasus whilst she was repairing machinery and
disabled her. But our Navy's worst blow was the torpedoing
by submarines of three I2,ooo-ton cruisers on Sept. 22nd.
Several German submarines have gone to the
bottom of the sea for good during the war and,
unfortunately, one of our own has shared the
same fate. It is the Australian submarine, AE1.
The armed British liner Carmania, which sank an armed H.M.S. Aboukir, which, with its sister ships, the Hogue and
German liner in an hour and three-quarters on September 14th. Cressy, were torpedoed by a hostile submarine, on September 22nd.
Inset : Captain Noel Grant, Carmania.
,.._, . . -- .
«/k^Sb 'ifi^t <fefiffc ^Hil*
X >
\r W
~&>
Submarine AE1 was last seen on September 14th, and its loss
is probably due to an accident, for no enemy was in the neighbour-
hood. Officers and crew numbered thirty-five, most of whom are
shown in this photograph, which was taken at Portsmouth.
234
Losses and Additions to the British Navy
H.M.S. Pathfinder, sunk by a submarine twenty miles from our
East Coast. Over 200 officers and men were lost.
QERMANY does not take kindly
to naval warfare in the open.
Instead of sweeping Britain off
the seas, as it boastfully threatened
before the war, its vessels have
slunk into fortified naval stations,
and sent out disguised ships to
strew neutral waters with deadly
floating mines. It is a cowardly,
hit-or-miss way to wage war.
Britain's harbours are, of course,
guarded by electrically-controlled
mines, but we had not distributed
any floating ones.
Germany was annoyed by our
appropriation of the two Dread-
noughts that British shipyards
were building for Turkey. They
were almost complete, and Turkish
crews were believed to be in
this country ready to take them
to the Dardanelles. We com-
mandeered them for our Navy,
and Turkey retaliated by pur-
chasing the Goeben and Breslau
from Germany.
Lord Charles Beresford, who
commanded the Royal Marine
Brigade in the new Naval Division
Admiral Lord Charles Beresford Honorary
Colonel of the recently-formed Marine Brigade.
Another victim of Germany's unfair tactics. H.M.S. Speedy, an
old torpedo-gunboat, sunk by a mine in the North Sea.
when it was formed, is certainly
one of our most popular sailors.
His speeches in the House of
Commons are always listened to
with interest ; he knows the
middle classes ; he is a friend of
the working man. At a Black-
heath recruiting meeting the other
day, a huge crowd greeted him
with cries of " Well done. Condor ! "
a reference to his celebrated feat
at Alexandria, when he rose to
speak. " You have not got a
better man in the whole country
than Sir John Jellicoe," he de-
clared. " The Fleet will never
fail you ! "
The new Naval Division added
to our war forces 15,000 men,
completely equipped with hospital,
ammunition column, transport,
cyclists, and machine-guns. An
aeroplane squadron from the
naval wing is also available if
required.
This new force is trained under
the Admiralty, but is always ready
for service in the field if not required
at sea.
Just previous to the declaration of war. British shipyar
ds had almost completed two Dreadnoughts for Turkey. Our o
ere. Their new names are H.M.S. Agincourt and H.M.S. Erin.
Our own Government
255
"Sunk the Lot"— Captain Fox pays off His Score
pAPTAIN C. H. FOX took an early opportunity
of "wiping something off the slate." He was •
commander of the Amphion, which was sunk by a
German mine on August 6th, and was afterwards given
command of the Undaunted. On Saturday, October
iyth, the Undaunted, accompanied by her destroyer
flotilla — the Lance, Legion, Lennox, and Loyal —
sighted four German destroyers off the coast of
Holland and promptly rounded them up.
Then the battle began. The marksmanship of the
British gunners was wonderful. Every shot went
home, and pieces of the enemy ships were blown high
into the air. The four German destroyers were all
sent to the bottom within an hour and a half.
The Undaunted, with her destroyers, came back with
thirty-one German prisoners rescued from the sea, one
The Undaunted is one of the new 3, 520-ton light cruisers of the Arethusa class, and carries two 6 in. and six 4 in. guns.
The portrait is the gallant Captain Fox, who earned glory for himself and fame for his ship by his brilliant exploit.
of whom, a sub-lieutenant, died of his wounds a few minutes
after landing. Two other German sailors were rescued
by the Lowestoft trawler United.
Commander Fox is reported to have sent two wireless
messages to the main Fleet — the first reading : " Am
pursuing four German destroyers," and the second, a little
later : " Sunk the
lot." The German loss
of life was about two
hundred, while the
British lost no officers
ar men and had onl\
five wounded.
Two views of the L class of British destroyers, four of which — the Lance, Legion, Lennox, and Loyal— took part in the skirmish off
the Dutch coast when the four Qerman destroyers were sunk. The portrait is Commander W. de M. Egerton, of the Lance.
256
THE FIRST SEA-FIGHT OF ITS KIND
Thrilling Tale of the Battle between
the Carmania and the Cap Trafalgar
BY ONE WHO TOOK PART IN IT
ON the morning of September I4th the auxiliary cruiser
Carmania steamed south on a reconnoitring ex-
pedition towards Trinidad Island — not the West
Indian island of that name, but the tiny island rock about
four miles by two that lies in the South Atlantic, about
700 miles east from Brazil. Early in the forenoon the
lofty rock loomed large ahead, and a group of masts and
funnels that were made out to the westward of it
resolved, later on, into three steamers. Like hornets
they buzzed around, undecidedly at first, and then took
to their heels, but when it was ascertained that the
intruder had no company, the largest of them, a magnificent
liner with two red funnels and grey hull, evidently changed
her mind, turned round, and made for the piratical-looking
surprise-packet, for the Carmania was black from rail to
heel, what with the generous laying on of the tar-brush
in Liverpool and the smoks and grime of a long sea voyage.
The sun stood directly overhead. The scene was one of
undimmed tropical splendour when the Carmania mast-
headed the white ensign and fired a shot across the other
steamer's bow. The stranger, who had disregarded all
previous signals, there and then hoisted his colours, and
returned the challenge by a broadside from his starboard
guns. It was a German ship right enough, no other than
the Cap Trafalgar, as subsequently proved, the pride of
the Hamburg-South-American Line, built in 1913 for
the express purpose of ousting the Royal Mail and kindred
British companies in that part of the world.
Opening of the Duel between
Two Armed Liners
These preliminary shots gave both sides an accurate
range. No sooner were sights adjusted, than every gun
that would bear opened fire, and the two combatants set
them to a deadly duel, in which one or both must sink. It
was a fight to the finish between two ships that only a
few weeks previously had been carrying passengers, mails,
and cargo from New York to Liverpool, from Hamburg to
South America. Both ships had been built to withstand
stress of weather, not stress of warfare. Armour they had
none, nor very great speed, and their triple tier of decks,
littered with every conceivable sort of cast-iron menace,
lent security to the crew only in their vastness.
A gross tonnage of 19,524 in the case of the Carmania,
and 18,710 in the case of the Cap Trafalgar, constitute
targets so colossal as to be beyond the possibility of failure
with any gunlayer, and beyond the scope of credulity to
one at all initiated in modern gunnery. The duel was
therefore unique, because the combatants were not men-of-
war in the proper sense of the word, and the first of its kind
on record, as it has never been known before that a floating
hotel fitted with miniature artillery should meet and engage
on the high seas a similar adversary similarly armed.
Effect of Gun Fire upon
the Floating Hotels
In weapons, as well as in size and speed, the two ships
were evenly matched. The Carmania mounted eight
4 "j guns, the Cap Trafalgar eight 4'! guns, up-to-date, the
difference in calibre equalising the difference in age at
normal range. But the modern weapon with its low
trajectory is far more effective at long distances, and
it is surprising that the German did not take advantage
of the fact, and be the first to commence operations. The
action took place at a distance of a little over 8,000 to a
little under 4,000 yards from start to finish.
The object of each ship being to let water into the other
as quickly as possible, the guns were laid on the water-line,
and an identical portion of it kept as the point of aim every
time they were fired. Of the first few shells that hit the
Carmania on the port side three made holes, big and small,
at and above the water-line ; one tore through the stewards'
quarters and embedded itself in the protective sandbags
outside the engine-room ; another made havoc in the galley
on the lower deck and carried away the fire main leading to
the fore part of the ship and bridge, with well-nigh disastrous
results, as will be seen later. One more ripped through a
lifeboat and burst in the corner of the engine-room casing,
missing the wireless operating-room by a few feet.
A Thrilling Diary
of the Battle
The following account of the action itself is taken from a
diary which was written up about two hours after the event :
"One never saw such a scatter as when we sat down to
lunch and ' Action ! ' was sounded ! Feeling ran high that
this time we were in earnest ; everyone was at his post
in the twinkling of an eye. Ten minutes afterwards the
conflict started, at a range of about six miles, both ships
closing rapidly. The din that followed was unnatural and
terrifying, and men's hearts leaped to their mouths, for
here was death amongst us. But the heat of work changed
white faces to red. Blood once seen revives savagery in the
human breast, and all our thoughts, after those first few
moments, were concentrated in the grim work at hand,
which was to sink as speedily as possible the monster that
was vomiting red and steaming arrogantly towards us.
" By a clever manoeuvre our captain turned the ship
round just as the enemy was bringing his pom-poms into
play as well as the big guns, and brought our starboard
battery, fresh and eager, to bear. Then we turned into
demons, in a scene that had turned diabolical. Screaming
shrapnel, returned by salvos of common shell, splinters
everywhere, lumps of iron, patches of paint, a hurricane of
things flying, hoarse shouting, and unintelligible sounds from
dry throats, men discarding garments, and laughing with
delirium — over all a white pall hiding the ghastly work.
German Shots on
the Carmania
" What matter that a shot cannoned down the af'.er-
companion and laid low three of the whip party ? Volunteers
were not wanting to close in the breach and keep up a brisk
supply of ammunition to the hungry guns. Or that a
shot glanced off the shield of No. i gun, past the officer in
charge, and blew away the neck of a corporal of Marines
passing projectiles along the deck, leaving him leaning over
the magazine hatchway, head dangling down, and dripping
blood on to the madmen working below ? Or that a shell
burst by the feet of a man carrying another one in his
hands ?
" Word went round that we were on fire forward — the
bridge, in fact, was blazing. A shell had torn through the
cabins below, setting them alight, and the flames by this
time reached and enveloped the bridge, since water could
not be turned on in the first instance, as the main on the
Icwer deck had been shot away. But the ill news was
more than compensated for by the frenzied announcement
that the enemy was also on fire -and listing, moreover, on
his side. So our main control was gone. The captain,
first lieutenant, and navigating party had to leave the
bridge to the flames — not before gaining us victory, how-
ever, by the splendid way they handled the ship in heading
off the enemy, preventing him from turning round and
bringing his idle guns on the port side to bear, and by
keeping him on our starboard quarter so we were able to
use five of our guns to his four.
The Enemy Ship
in Trouble
" The enemy listed a little more, and our work was
done ; his shooting became higher and more erratic, then
stspped altogether. We ceased firing, and turned our
attention to fighting the flames roaring up on high in the
fore part of the ship. Luckily, we were able to stop the
2.57
engines and keep the ship before the wind. The bridge and
all its precious fittings and contents were doomed, as also
the cabins below it ; the officers who occupied them lost
all their effects. A fireproof door in the staircase leading
to the lower cabins effectually kept the fire from spreading
in this direction, otherwise there might not have been
very much left of the Carmania. The action raged hotly
for an hour ; after that, desultory firing was continued
until the end.
" Of the two colliers that accompanied the enemy, one
steamed away at the commencement of the action and
was never seen again. The other, and smaller of the
two, followed suit until he noticed the plight of his escort,
and returned to pick up the survivors. Anon, an order went
round the decks : ' All firemen down below.' The firemen
had been doing yeoman service, running hoses and buckets
of water to the scene of the fire, just as the stewards had
The top picture shows the Car-
mania ; the middle one the wreck
of her bridge from one of the Cap
Trafalgar's shells ; and the bottom
picture a hole made in the engine-
room casing by a shell that first
ripped through a lifeboat and
missed the wireless room on
the left by only a few feet.
distinguished themselves
taking round water and lime-
juice to the guns' crews
under shell fire, and also
helping with carrying away
the wounded. The reason
for this order was ominous.
The yeoman of signals had
sighted smoke on the horizon
to the north, and made out
a bunch of funnels. It could
nol^ but be the Dresden, or
whatever German cruiser the
armed merchantman w e
fought was in company with,
returning to the assistance
of her consort, who had
been signalling to her during
the action. A great pity,
indeed, one of our cruisers
was not in touch with us at
the time. What a fine haul
it would have been !
" Just as we got the fire well in hand, and were starting
to run to the American coast, we beheld the most awe-
inspiring sight of our lives — the last moments of an ocean
leviathan. The wounded ship, distant from us about
five miles, suddenly lurched over on the starboard beam-
ends, looking for all the world as if she were about to
turn turtle. Lower and lower she went, until her huge
funnels were level with the water, pointing in our direction
like two tunnels side by side, and dense clouds of smoke
and steam escaped from all parts of her as from a volcano
in a high state of activity. As quickly again, the mammoth
righted herself ; down, down went her bows ; up and up
her stern, till quite one-third of the hull stood upright to
the sky ; then, with a majestic plunge, she slid beneath the
waves, game to the end, for the last to disappear was the
German flag.
The End of One of Germany's
Ocean Palaces
" A ring of foam and half a dozen boats crowded with
dark forms were all that was left at 2 p.m. of the brave
Cap Trafalgar and her ornate saloons and winter gardens,
the ship that conveyed Prince Henry of Prussia on his
triumphant tour to the South .American Republics."
The action thus hung in the balance for nearly an hour.
The Carmania gradually gained the upper hand by superior
rapidity and concentration of fire, and by the skilful"
manner in which she was handled. Shrapnel, too, which the
Cap Trafalgar used, does not seem so effective as common
shell, which at short range is almost armour piercing.
The crew of the British ship formed a rare combination
highly suitable to that type of war vessel — a navigator
captain and a gunnery first lieutenant from the Navy,
Reserve officers and men, volunteer engineers and firemen.
The Price Paid
in British Lives
The casualties of the Carmania amounted to nine men
killed and twenty-six wounded out of four hundred and
twenty-one hands all told, a low percentage owing to the
wide distribution of the various parties. The survivors of
the Cap Trafalgar landed at Buenos Aires consisted of
eighteen officers and two hundred and ninety-two men,
which would give her casualties at about eight officers
and one hundred men if she carried the same number of
men as the Carmania.
Seventy-nine direct hits were counted on the Carmania,
and innumerable small holes from splinters ; her boats
were riddled, as also masts and ventilators ; her rigging
and wireless aerial were shot away.
Rumour has it that the unknown German cruiser chased
the Carmania for two days in the direction of Monte Video,
which was the first course
the latter set forth upon
from the scene of the action,
until, under cover of dark-
ness, she doubled on her
track, making for Abrolhos
Rocks instead.
It is a moot point whether
the Cap Trafalgar did not
fit out entirely as an
auxiliary cruiser at Trinidad,
disguising herself at the
same time as a Union Castle
liner, which necessitated
the removal of the third funnel, a dummy put up for
appearances only, like the fourth one of the Olympic. She
certainly did look as fresh and trim before the action as
if she had only just stepped out of the proverbial band-box.
The Raiding Projects
of the Cap Trafalgar
At all events the German peaceful-commerce destroyer
was to all intents and purposes filling up with coal when the
Carmania bore down on her so unexpectedly, preparatory,
perhaps, to stealing across the Atlantic for the purpose of
preying on the West African trade routes, where her mas-
querade would best serve its purpose, in lieu of the Kaiser
Wilhelm der Grosse, recently sunk by H.M.S. Highflyer.
Finally, the use of Trinidad Island as a coaling base by
the scattered units of the German South Atlantic Fleet
constitutes daring effrontery and, one reluctantly adds,
splendid powers of organisation on their part, considering
its nearness to the trading routes of the South Atlantic,
which carry a constant stream of British mercantile ships
both on the east and on the west.
258
" Interned" in Hospitable Holland, but
YY/HEN Antwerp was evacuated by ito defenders the
greater part of the British ist Naval Brigade was
cut off by the German attack north of Lokeren, and about
2,000 officers and men entered Dutch territory in the
neighbourhood of Hulst, laying down their arms in
accordance with the laws of neutrality. It is believed that
this unfortunate occurrence was due to the treachery of a
guide, who purposely led the ist Naval Brigade into
dangerous ground. Some of the interned men belong to
the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, young fellows who,
despite the short time they had been under arms, gave a
very good account of themselves in the trenches.
Men of the Rcyal Naval Volunteer Reserve and Marines interned in Holland after taking part in the defence of Antwerp. They arc
being presented with pieces of chocolate by an English lady, and eat the sweetmeat with huge relish.
Although in enforced Idleness, they do not intend to let their muscles get flabby,
and this picture shows some of them exercising in the barrack-yard at
Leewarden, where they are interned.
A Dutch woman, in the picturesque garb of
her country, lights the pipe of a British
handyman at her cottage door.
Football has been the outstanding recreation of our fighting men during the war. Even the interned naval men do not neglect it.
photograph shows the team which took part in a match against an array of football talent from Qroningen.
This
—Still Smiling after their Antwerp Adventure
This photograph was taken at Leewarden, when a
Marine had his head under the pump, with
friendly Dutchman at the handle.
The interned Marines in Holland are being well treated by the kind y Dutch.
This photograph was also taken at Leewarden, and shows two Marines who
have struck up a bond of comradeship with their sabot-wearing Dutch cooks.
ross the Dutch frontier in their march from the
card of war has placed them in a position where
SCO
" Handy Men " Among Friends and Allies
A group of survivors from the ill-fated cruisers Aboukir, Cressy, and Hog tie. The sailors were landed at Ymuiden, Holland, by the Dutch
steamship Flora, and are here shown attired in borrowed uniforms, with interested spectators and Red Crossnurses in the background.
A BOUT three hundred survivors of the
torpedoed cruisers Aboukir, Hogue,
and Cressy were rescued by Dutch vessels
and taken to Ymuiden, Holland. Some had
been in the water for an hour or more, and
were naked when rescued. They were
treated with great generosity by the Dutch
people, who lodged them in hotels and gave
them the clothes of Dutch sailors to wear.
It was at first thought that the men might
be interned, and thus be unable to take
further part in the war, but the Hague
Peace Conference of 1907 laid down a special
rule on this point. Only if the conflict had
taken place inside Dutch territorial waters
would the Dutch have been authorised to
intern the survivors. The light-heartedness
of the British sailors quite fascinated the
phlegmatic Dutchmen. Our seamen, far
from being disturbed by the disaster
that had befallen them, were all eager to
take vengeance on the German fleet.
" We'll stick together through thick and thin !" British Marine Light Infantry
shaking hands with French soldiers and a sailor at a French seaside town.
A British bluejacket trying on one of
the cloth caps provided by the Dutch
authorities at Ymuiden.
__'"-" ' ^•''--^^^^^^••••^^^•••m 1 TBIMI .^^MMBBBl
Our soldiers in France are accustomed to this kind of treatment now. The grown-
ups take the metal ornaments from their uniforms as souvenirs, and tne
youngsters naturally follow their example.
201
Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of
magic sails,
Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down
with costly bales ;
Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there
rained a ghastly dew,
From the nations' airy navies grappling in the
central blue ;
Far along the world-wide whisper of the south
wind rushing warm,
With the standards of the peoples plunging thro'
the thunderstorm. '
• — TENNYSON.
The War a
in the Air
&a
British monoplane versus Taube — a duel in the clouds.
26'.'
The Death Harvest of the Dastard Zeppelin
By A. G. HALES
PARIS.
FROM boyhood to manhood I have loved peace, yet
some perverse fate has always dragged me where
storms and tempests are loosened. I had a heaven —
once — within the circle of a woman's arms. The grey
rider came and left me desolate.
And yet I love to look on the happiness of others. The
sweetest picture in the world to me is the living picture
of a man with his household idols around him ; his wife
with her foot upon the rocker of a cradle ; his children
clustering round him in the firelight's glow ; his day's
work done ; his sweat and toil repaid by the all-compelling
glances of his mate — his woman, his partner in joy and
sorrow, victory and defeat.
God bless the women ! They are the salt of the earth,
as man is the sweat of the brown earth that cradled us all.
It is the women I feel for now — not only the British
women, but the women of the world. This is their hour
of despair ; they are drinking the broth brewed from tears,
and eating the unleavened cakes baked on the breasts of
sorrow. Heaven pity them, for they walk on thorns and
every step is marked with blood.
We do not value them sufficiently in peace time, but if
we be men, we can die for them in time of war. This is
our privilege.
The Anguish of
Old Women
Come here, where war's hellish footprints are pressed
into the soil ; come here, where the earth is red with good,
brave blood, and you will know what womanhood stands
for. Here we are on the crater of Hades, and it is the
women who are making the men great. Yet how the women
are suffering! The old grey wife clutches the children
at her heart and holds them. They are bone of her bone,
though she never bore them ; but she bore the father who
begat them or the mother who brought them forth, and
their blood is her blood.
She listens in the watches of the night when even the
mothers and the fathers sleep, for age is long-suffering and
anguish tears at the withered hearts. She watches — she
waits — she listens — as you in England would watch and
wait and listen if the German devil got possession of the
Channel coast, and were free to let his airships loose upon
your cities.
The night passes, the children rise from their sleeping
and run about their play in chubby beauty and all the
recklessness of young life that knows not sorrow or pain
or dread. The mother takes up the granddame's burden ;
every sound makes her start and grip her breasts, as if
a knife had stabbed her.
She is full of the pain of unknown things. The joy of
her man, the blissful dreams of the long months that
heralded the coming of each babe has to be paid for now —
paid for in pain and unnameable fear. You may know
all about this in England, unless you move and
meet the storm while it is yet afar from your gates, for
that which has happened here will happen to you, not
in your children's time, but now in your time, for the Goths
are out on the war-path, and the maddest devil since
Nero has donned his war-paint.
The Glory of
Killing Children
William the accursed is hacking his way to power, and
his airships are dropping bombs that are blowing women
and children to fragments. What does he care how many
babes he kills — is he not William the anointed of God ?
What does he care how many women's hearts he breaks — •
he, the mad devil, the spawn of Satan, thinks only of his
glory ?
Think of it — the glory that comes to a man from the
mangled bodies of little children. Ye Gods in heaven ! it
is awful. I have seen the semi-savages in South American
States at war — part Indian, part Negro, part Spanish —
and I thought 1 knew how low a country could sink ; but
it takes a Kaiser, a Hohenzollern — the exalted personality
in whom German " culture " is focussed — to show to
what depths of baseness, love of power and criminal
vanity can bring a man and a nation.
The Red Hand
of the Kaiser
I used to love the Germans. I thought them a grand
people, full of high ideals. I know them now. They slay
little children and — women. I had not thought to live to
see this day — a splendid people led into infamy by a mad
dog who has grown blind looking upon himself until he
counts himself a god — and such a god ! His hand is
red with murder, not with war.
The night has passed — the day wears on — the city hums
with life. The sky is blue, the meadows near the city
blush with beauty. Nature murmurs joyously and the
world is glad. It does not seem that even a Kaiser can
blast all joy out of existence. Devil that he is, his lust
of power has limitations. The chime bells peal out joyously
to God — only the mothers are white-lipped and heavy-
eyed as they watch their broods at play. They do not
reason, they do not think. They only know.
How do they know, these women ? Why do their
breasts ache where the sweet lips clung ? What instinct
is it that makes them weary with anguish they cannot
explain ? The fathers are brave and strong and steadfast ;
they do not want to fight but they will fight, and the
women know it.
The women stand at their doors chatting. They begin
to laugh ; the terrors of the time have passed them by.
They joke with one another, and sly words pass between
old friends conveying things that women tell only to
women — a sentence half spoken is checked by a nod,
a glance, a touch of a finger on arm or shoulder, a shy look,
a downward drooping of the eyes, a little laugh, a matronly
blush, a whispered word of hope and cheer heralding the
coming of good times when peace shall reign in the land,
and then — a blinding flash of intense light, a noise as if
hell were growling ; doors cave in, ceilings come down,
chimneys topple over on roofs, windows crash and smash
and clatter, roadways and pavements are torn up ; smoke,
flame, and fire burst up, the stink of blood and burning
flesh, the sudden awful shriek of mangled human beings
fill the air and herald the greatness, the grandeur, the
manly magnificence of the Kaiser.
When the Smoke
has Cleared Away
The Zeppelin floats away. It sails high above the
town ; so high it seems only a speck in the blue where
God is supposed to be watching and smiling at this
holocaust of those who dared to frown on him whom God
had made Kaiser of the Germans and ruler of millions —
according to the cult of the great parricide.
The smoke clears away, the Zeppelin has gone far out
of reach, the splendid warriors who dropped the bombs
have scurried off to tell to William's delighted ears the
news of the work so bravely done, and in the roadway lie
the fruits of German chivalry, the aftermath of Teuton
bravery — a woman who gave suck to a babe at the breast,
and some little children mangled, ripped and torn and
twisted, dying from hurt.
And this is kingcraft ; this the ripe fruit of all that high
philosophy, which savants have acclaimed for a generation
past ; this is Germany at her best and highest — a war on
pregnant women and toddling babes, on old grey men and
peaceful burghers — why ? To fill the accursed boast that
never has a Hohenzollern livel and reigned who did not
add some miles of stolen territory to Germanic powers.
263
Some Heroes of the British Royal Flying Corps
The central portrait is Commander Samson ; on the extreme left is Klizht-C'oinmander 11. L. G. Alarix, who raided Dusseldorf ; next is Mr. Walter Wood, who escaped
after capture by Germans ; on the extreme right Captain Robert Grey, who received the Legion of Honour ; and on his right Squadron-Commander Gerrard.
Lieutenant S. V. Slppe, reported on Oct. 9th, Sir David Henderson, commanding the Royal Flying Corps, Squadron-Commander Spenser D. A. Gray,
1914, to have taken part in an air raid that was warmly commended in thedispatch of October 8th, 1914. R.N., carried out the air raid on the Dussel-
damaged the Zeppelin sheds at Dusseldorf. dorf Zeppelin hangar on October 9th, 1914.
Flight-Lteutenant C. H. Collet made the first attack
on the German sheds at Dusseldorf, as announced
officially on September 23rd, 1914.
Mr. Gordon Bell was shot, and had his machine
smashed by Germans at Mons, but managed to
plane to earth and rejoin the British lines.
Lieutenant A.Christie, attached to the Royal Field
Artillery, mentioned in Sir John French's dispatch
of October, 1914.
A group ol members of the Royal Flying Corps, including Lieutenant Playfair, Lieutenant Mills, Lieutenant Soanies, Captain Board, Major Riley,
Major Higgins, Lieutenant Jones, Lieutenant Gould, Lieutenant Small, and Lieutenant Anderson.
264
Victories of the Great French Air Fleet
JSJONE of the sensational expecta-
tions of the destructive action of
aircraft has yet been fulfilled. Half
a dozen huge German Zeppelin airships
are reported to have come to grief —
some destroyed by the high-angle fire
of the allied armies, others wrecked by
defects of construction or handling.
The bombs dropped by German
airmen have ruined a few peaceful
buildings in Belgium, but when
launched at troops in action they
have done less harm than a shell
from a quick-firer.
On the other hand, the French
fleet of the most skilful and daring
airmen in the world has already
rendered services to the Allies of the
highest importance. It surpasses all
that General J off re and his staff hoped
for. The French airmen have become
the lightning messengers and mar-
vellous eyes of .the allied armies.
They fly at a height where they are
completely out of range of the new
Krupp aerial guns. At the altitude
at which experience has taught them
to fly their vision is perfect.
The Marvellous Eye» of the Army
Nothing — absolutely nothing —
escapes the trained eyes of the observ-
ing officers. They are even able to
count the exact number of trains in a
German railway-station, the number
of carriages on the trains in motion,
and distinguish the units —
infantry, cavalry, artillery —
of the hostile armies march-
ing on the frontier.
Not the slightest tactical
movement of the enemy escapes their
notice. For instance, early in August
one of the French airmen made an
aerial raid of 250 miles. He saw
and reported the whole immense
movement of German troops from
Metz and Treves to Aix-la-Chapelle.
The General Staff of the allied armies
know every daylight movement among
the masses and skirmishing lines of
a million and a half Germans and
Austrians.
How airmen drop their bombs
upon the enemy's ships and forts.
In the meantime, the Teutonic air-
men were trying to carry out the same
work of inspecting the arrangements
of the allied forces. But their
Zeppelins are practically failures, and
their aeroplanes are not properly built
for observation work. The disposition
of the engine, especially, on German
flying-machines prevents the observing
officers from seeing exactly what is
directly beneath them — from having
a direct, perpendicular vision of the
allied armies. The Germans have
to peer ahead and look over the side
of their machines. Owing to the
obliquity of their field of observation
they can see at a height of 3,600 feet
only what an allied airman could see
by direct vision at a height of 7,200
feet. The mist troubles them, and
veils the details of the Allies' move-
ments. This is one of the reasons why
the French were so successful in
surprise attacks in Alsace and Lorraine.
Triumphs of the French Aviators
This, however, does not mean that
the German scouts of the skies are
quite negligible in comparison with
the craft of the Allies. Their machines
are clumsy and difficult to handle,
and their airmen are somewhat too
careful of their own safety ; neverthe-
less, they are rendering certain services
to the German War Staff, though
much inferior to those rendered to the
Allies by pilots full of dash and
resource, who are every day performing
astonishing exploits.
The first fortnight of the war
was extremely precious to the French
airmen. In a few days, in a fever of
creative work, the French did more
to improve their military aviation than
they had done in two years. The
brilliant French genius for improvisa-
tion was soon as the best. And soon
every morning the allied airmen
utilised all they had learnt the
evening before, and the armies of
freedom fight under the direction of
squadrons of flying men, armed and
furnished and organised with the
efficiency of the British Armada in the
North Sea. The airmen carry orders
from the General Staff to all the
different units, inform the com-
manders how their orders are being
carried out, and watch over all the
movements of the enemy.
German destroyers, with a naval Zeppelin airship, leaving Kiel Harbour on a scouting movement.
2C5
British Sky Warriors— Guarding and Guarded
Not much was heard of British warships in the aerial blue— they were doing their duty in silence. This picture shows one of the
British airships passing over Ostend, reassuring visitors and inhabitants that Britain is on the watch.
One arm of our Royal Flying Corps ready for duty on foreign soil. Aeroplanes are chiefly employed in reconnoitring the enemy's
D 73 r position, flying over opposing forces and Informing the artillery where their shells will do most damage.
200
Britain Gaining Mastery of the Air
Gordon Bell was shot In the foot and hie machine was smashed at Mons, yet he
managed to plane to earth and tramp to the British lines.
' O^E °* tne features °f tne campaign,"
^ says Sir John French's despatch
of September I ith, " has been the success
attained by the Royal Flying Corps.
In regard to the collection of informa-
tion it is impossible either to award too
much praise to our aviators for the way
they have carried out their duties or to
overestimate the value of the intelli-
gence collected."
General Joffre values our aviators,
too, and has written complimenting
them.
During a period of twenty days up to
September loth, a daily average" of more
than nine reconnaissance flights of over
100 miles each had been maintained.
The object of our aviators has been to
effect the accurate location of the
enemy's forces, but when hostile air-
craft are seen they are attacked
Mr. Walter Wood was brought down
by Germans, but escaped.
Lord Carbery early offered his services to the
Admiralty and was accepted.
instantly with one or more British
machines. A good many German pilots
or observers have been shot in the air
and their machines brought to the
ground. The British Flying Corps has
thus established an individual ascend-
ancy which is as serviceable to us as it
is damaging to the enemy, who have
become much less enterprising in their
nights.
Bomb-dropping has not been indulged
in to any great extent. On one occasion
a petrol bomb was successfully exploded
in a German bivouac at night, while,
from a diary found on a dead German
cavalry spldier, it has been discovered
that a high-explosive bomb thrown at
a cavalry column from one of our
aeroplanes struck an ammunition
waggon. The resulting explosion killed
fifteen of the enemv.
A group of officers in the British Flying Corps. Included In the group, from left to right, are : Lieut. Playfair, Lieut. Mills,
Lieut. Soames, Capt. Board, Major Riley, Major Higgins, Lieut. Jones, Lieut. Gould, Lieut. Small, and Lieut. Anderson.
2C7
German Aeroplane Goes to its Doom
A German aeroplane, attempting to reach Paris with bombs on
September 2nd, was seen by two French aviators, who gave
chase. After some dramatic manoeuvring, the Frenchmen
succeeded ;n climbing to a higher altitude than their enemy
Then they were able to get unobstructed aim at the occupants
of the German machine, and their shots went home. With
wings partially severed from body, it dropped to earth a bent and
twisted wreck, and its two occupants were killed.
208
Daring Raid on Dusseldorf by British Airmen
Flight-Lieutenant C. H. Collet, whose intrepid daring enabled him to guide his aeroplane
right through Belgium to the German city of Dusseldorf where he dropped three bombs
on the Zeppelin sheds, afterwards returning to his base in safety.
DEFORE the war
arm - chair critics
of the British War
Office condemned in
unmeasured terms the
supposed laxity in
making proper pro-
vision for an effective
military aeroplane ser-
vice. Yet a few
weeks after the war
opened we read with
pride and admiration
Sir John French's
despatch of September
nth, where he said :
" The British Flying
Corps has succeeded
in establishing an
individual ascendency
which is as service-
able to us as it is
damaging to the
enemv."
BRUSSELS
o
^-~\ BELGIUM
OiROOBAlX O .,
LIEGE '^
°NAMUR "j
LILLE
».
FRANCE
\
°CHARLEROI
0 DINANT
"CIVET
Map showing the country traversed in the British airraid of September 22nd.
Captain Robin Gray of the Royal Flying
Corps who received the Legion of Honour
for distinguished service.
The raid on the Dus-
seldorf Zeppelin sheds,
announced by the
British Press Bureau
on September 23rd,
was the first great
feat of aerial daring
of which we had
information The
weather was misty,
but in spite of diffi-
culties of pilotage,
Flight-Lieutenant C.
H. Collet approached
within 400 feet of the
Zeppelin sheds and
threw three bombs.
His machine was
struck, but he was un-
hurt, and he flew back
over 100 miles to his base
without having had to
touch earth during the
double journey.
r
The Zeppelin sheds at Dusseldorf upon which three bombs were dropped by Flight-Lieutenant Collet in the course of the daring
air raid made by officers of the Royal Flying Corps, who gave proof of their superiority over the German aviators
2C9
Rescuing an Aviator's Mechanic from Uhlans
Captain Gerard is one of the most daring of French military
aviators. After scouting near Compeigne he brought his Caudron
biplane down rather near the German advance posts, and the
Uhlans made an effort to surround him. He had to rise in the
air, leaving his mechanic behind. A military car is at the service
of every aviator, and carries spare parts. In this case Captain
Gerard's car came up, and its crew went to the rescue of the
abandoned mechanic. There was a pretty skirmish between the
Uhlans and the aviator and motor crew. All the French party
escaped unwounded, but two dead Uhlans were left behind.
270
The Motor Heroes who Fight by Land, Sea or Air
On September i6th Commander Samson, with a small
armoured motor-car, killed four Uhlans and captured
another. Commander Samson is the best-known British
naval aviator. He took his pilot's
certificate in April, 1911, and
made the first successful flight
from a British man-of-war.
There was a fleet of British
anroured cars at the front, and
their services were invaluable for
obliterating small parties of German cavalry. The horse-
men stand no chance against these swiftly-moving and
well-protected engines of war, unless they vault hedges
and ditches and take to the
woods, where, naturally, the
motor-cars cannot follow. In
the matter of putting an end to
the sneaking services of German
X. spies they were also useful.
Ready for that new and intensely exhilarating sport — Uhlan
chasing. A British armoured motoi — car that has worked havoc
amongst hostile horsemen in Northern France. It is attached
to the Royal Naval Flying Corps.
Lieut. Manx, of the R.N.F.C., passing through Termonde Commander Samson, the short man in the centre, is a hereof
er an affray with Germans at Labbeke. Mounted on bicycles, earth, air, and water. Uhlans display great courage when
e who weren t killed I their machines and hid in the facing unarmed peasants, but they bolt like rabbits when his
woods.
armoured car approaches.
271
Land Exploit by Britain's Daring Airmen
The British party suffered no injury. Commander Samson waa
Commander Samson, the best known of Britain's naval airmen
272
How Russians Brought a Zeppelin to Earth
To face pope US
273
And those ivho win their slow way back to health
l-'nim fevered nights or wounds upon the field,
Shall count your kindly labour more than wealth.
That clothed them till the body's hurt was lieiiL;/.
Your kin;; and country cull you to the tasti,
Nor will you grudge the labour that they ask.
— C. K. B.
Missions
of Mercy
in
Wartime
Two Highlanders, injured in the first great battle, returning home in a Channel steamer.
274
Woman's Healing Work Among the Wounded
Camp of Red Cross nurses at Newport, in the Isle of Wight.
Since Florence Nightingale,
with her knowledge, tender-
ness, and high courage, went
to the battlefields of the
Crimea to tend our wounded
soldiers, the part that women
play in war has continued
to increase in importance.
The marvellous progress of
the civil ambulance organisa-
tions in the large towns
throughout the Empire has
enabled thousands of women,
outside the hospitals in which
professional nurses are
trained, to become useful
in the first-aid treatment that
is of the highest value on
the field of war. Members
of the Red Cross societies
are now trained in camps
for active service. In most
Lady Tredegar's yacht converted into a hospital ship.
cases, if a soldier's wounds
are properly stanched and
dressed on the battlefield,
he will quickly recover, and
need practically nothing more
except a good bed and plenty
of good food. This rapid
and comparatively easy work
is well within the ability
of every woman who is
trained in first-aid treatment ;
but for the more difficult
work in the field hospitals
the experience and skill of
the professional nurse are
required. But both on the
field and in the general hos-
pital, every woman used to
deal with street accidents
will be as serviceable to her
country as the soldier in the
firing-line.
Nursing staff from the London Hospital entraining for
Portsmouth Harbour.
Nurses leaving War Office for
active service.
275
Invalided Home-But Aching to Fight Again
Slightly-wounded " soldiers boarding the hospital ship at Havre
They are all anxious to have another " pop " at the Prussians.
A group of the Manchester Regiment. Our wounded usually evaded the German bullets, but they suffered badly from the sheila.
The picture insetted in the circle shows a British soldier exhibiting his wound to a French comrade.
277
Angels of Mercy Prepare to Play Their Part
A MODERN Army nurse
works as hard as a
mother bringing up a family
of ten children on ten shillings
a week. She is a woman of
many parts — a charwoman,
a cook, and a washerwoman —
and in all these capacities,
and especially as a cook, she
must work quieter and better
than an ordinary woman.
Very often her medical
duties and her skilled nursing
of wounded soldiers are the
lightest part of her labours.
The clean wound made by the
modern bullet and the
marvellous advances of
surgical science have lightened
the healing task of the
nurse.
On the other hand, the
vital necessity for absolute
cleanliness and freedom
from microbe infections
have transformed her into an
The matron and sisters of Queen Alexandra's Imperial Nursing Service leaving Dublin for
the seat of war.
Red Cross nurses teaching volunteer nurses the art of preparing
food for soldiers unable to eat ordinary rations.
British
nurses passing through a French town on their way to the front.
They reached the scene of hostilities just in time.
Nurses at tha front do a big proportion of their cooking at field
ovens. One is shown herewith.
incessant scrubber and washer. Everything around
the wounded soldier must be spotless and, if possible,
disinfected. The danger of disease supervening
after an operation, which may embrace the amputa-
tion of a limb, is ever present unless the surround-
ings of a wounded man are perfectly clean.
Strong, intelligent girls who have gone through
a good cooking class could soon be shaped into very
helpful nurses on the battlefield. Our injured,
out-worn troops often require delicate feeding more
than the services of a trained hospital nurse.
Their fagged-out bodies cannot, for the time, digest
the ordinary rations. Yet if their strength is to be
quickly recovered, they must be at once fed on
fresh, well-cooked food. The modern nurse, there-
fore, must know how to erect and use a field oven,
and get a meal out of it fit to tempt the appetite
of her invalids.
Some ladies, with a knowledge of first-aid treat-
ment, who volunteered for service as Red Cross
nurses, were surprised by the number of ordinary
household duties they had to study. They found
they were mainly required to be domestic servants
to the Army. Such an experience will make
them better ab'.e to look after their own homes.
278
279
Red Cross Heroines who Rode to the Battle Front
A party ol British Red Cross -nurses about to depart lor service at the front. Those on the left will be mounted on horses,
enabling them better to minister to the needs of those who have fallen on the battlefields.
Equipped for the field of battle.
VY^HEN there is a lull in the screaming of
w the shells, and the last embers of a
battle are being extinguished, it is then that
the Red Cross heroes and heroines come
out to assist those who had suffered in the
fight. Brave men and women they are,
taking their lives in their hands, and risking
the stray bullets that fly around, in order
to cheer the last moments of dying men, or
bear the living to the shelter of a hospital.
The State, of course, provides aid for our
sick and wounded warriors, but the British
Red Cross Society supplements it, organising
and supplying extra hospital accommodation,
nursing and medical service, and all the little
luxuries and comforts which mean so much to
the invalid on his bed of pain.
The Duke of Devonshire most generously
loaned that substantial-looking building in
Piccadilly, London — Devonshire House — to
the British Red Cross Society as a temporary
headquarters for the organising staff, many of
whom are voluntary workers. Queen Alex-
andra and Lord Rothschild made a strong
appeal for funds to carrv on the noble work,
and patriots by the thousand have sub-
scribed.
In addition to the gifts of money and
personal service, many people throughout
the country have offered to accommodate
wounded soldiers in their homes. Motor-
cars have also been temporarily presented
to the Society by their owners.
Mrs. St. Clair Stobart, whose portrait
appears opposite, desired to organise a Red
Cross Hospital in Brussels, but she was arrested
by Germans, and nearly shot as a spy. After
many hardships she reached Holland and safety.
Mr*. St. Clair Stobart.
280
From Red Field of Battle to Red Cross
British soldiers who will repay their wounds with interest.
The Duchess of Westminster photographed in her uniform
as a Red Cross nurse and with her wolfhound Grace, who
accompanied her to the Held of war.
""THE first casualty list from our Expeditionary Force
was surprising. In the fiercest battle and rearguard
action in our annals, practically three of our divisions —
say 35,000 men — had only 163 men killed. The small
number of wounded — 686— -was even more remarkable,
even if some of the men reported as missing were after-
wards included in it.
On the same spot — Mons — the Duke of Marlborough
lost 20,000 men in 1709, and obtained a far less decisive
result than Sir John French did when he saved the French
flank. Modern science seems to have really made war
less dreadful in reality and more terrifying in appearance.
The thunder of the great guns, the rending shriek of
the shrapnel, the whistle and burst of the shell, are certainly
frightful to hear. But the old battle with bayonets and
a few feeble guns was far more murderous.
In another direction, modern science has helped the
fighting man. The use of ether and chloroform in opera-
tions, in field and base hospitals, together with the glorious
discovery of Lord Lister — antiseptic surgery — helps
hundreds of thousands of injured soldiers to recover under
conditions in which warriors of old died.
This hospital ship brought to Southampton nearly two hundred wounded British, most of whom had been disabled by shells.
281
The Unrequited Kindness of the British
YJf/HEN the tide turned in
favour of the Allies it
became apparent that many
of the German rank and file
were heartily tired of the war,
and eager to avoid any further
participation in it. They gave
themselves up in small parties,
tired, hungry, and wounded,
knowing well that the kind-
hearted French and the British
they have so despicably
maligned would give them
food to eat, and treatment
for their injuries.
A significant comparison
between the contesting forces
was that, whilst the Germans
have been known to maltreat
wounded opponents who have
fallen into their hands, the
Al.ies gave as much attention
to German wounded as they
do to their own disabled men.
In fact, the Germans have been
base enough to put this kind-
liness to advantage, and
have purposely left their
wounded behind, hoping thus
to hamper the allied advance.
The outrages committed
upon some of our wounded
men have been so hideous,
that they would be unbeliev-
able were they not thoroughly
authenticated. Poor dis-
abled heroes lying in pain in
the trenches have had their
hands ruthlessly slashed off,
A big-hearted British soldier gives a wounded Qerr
a cigarette and a light from his pipe.
and their eyes dug out ! Bar-
barities that the Zulus or the
Dervishes would never descend
to have been practised upon
fallen enemies by the men
who announced their intention
of " civilising " Europe.
It is probable that this
ghastly treatment of the
wounded has been directly-
inspired by the German officers.
German soldiers who have
been captured confess as
much.
" We've been fighting
under the lash, as you call
it," said one who had fallen
into British hands. " Rest, food,
and all creature comforts have
been entirely denied us.
Treat men as beasts long
enough and they become
beasts."
It is certain, too, that the
officers have been inflaming
their men with fictitious
stories of British and French
cruelty, for some of the soldiery
when captured by the Allies
have fully expected to be
tortured. Instead of severe
punishment they have re-
ceived liberal supplies of
food — better than their own
Army provided — the Red
Cross has been ever ready
to attend to their injuries,
and new warm clothing has
been provided.
Picked up on the battlefield, these Germans expected
torture. Instead their wounds were dressed in a Red
D 73 r Cross hospital.
Coals of fire ! A French peasant woman provides coffee and milk
tor a badly-wounded German in the care of our Royal Army
Medical Corps.
282
The Red Cross of Help and Sympathy—
The Hospital Corps which the Nova Scotians sent to the front entraining at Halifax for the camp at Valcartier, Quebec
One of the four-footed friends of the French soldiers approaching
a wounded man with a bandage in its mouth. Like the famous
dogs of St. Bernard, these Red Cross animals have proved of
infinite benefit to wounded and suffering humanity.
A Red Cross worker, recruited from a neighbouring village,
bending over a wounded Belgian soldier after a conflict at
Audogom. He discovered that the man's pockets had been turned
inside out, and the contents stolen by German soldiers.
A Roman Catholic nun nursing a wounded
German soldier in the Red Cross Hospital at
Maastricht, to which Dutch town many injured
Germans and Belgians were taken.
A scene in the hospital at Alost, where Belgian women who have been grossly
maltreated by Germans are receiving attention from the sympathetic nuns.
A doctor's certificate, verifying the injuries received by the poor women, one of
whom is quite old, was sent to London.
283
—Mending the Warriors Broken in the War
Wounded warriors arriving at a British seaport town. The
two leaders belong to the Dorset Regiment. One has his left
arm injured and the other his right. Bugler Clark (on the right),
although wounded, would not part with his beloved bugle, and
brought it home, accompanied by a German helmet. Inset :
French Red Cross assisting a wounded Frenchman.
"~pHE history of most great wars includes one black chapter
— the terrible proportion of fighting men put out of
action by disease, by epidemics like erysipelas, cholera,
typhoid, and dysentery. It is fairly certain that in the Great
War the wounded received more attention than has been
devoted to them in any previous great struggle.
A British nurse binds up the injured
head of one of our sailors.
A British soldier, whose injuries are so severe that he cannot walk, lying on a stretcher pre-
paratory to being hoisted on to a Red Cross ship in a French port for conveyance to Britain.
284
Searchlights Assist Work of Rescuing Wounded
i
F modern war has reduced the making of death into a
science, it has also produced or called into active practice
a new science of mercy. In former wars death by disease
was often more appalling than death by fire and sword.
Sanitary science, medical and surgical science, and
hygiene, have changed all that, so that now the health of
the fighting soldier and of his wounded comrade is a matter
not only of prime concern, but also of highly successful
care by' the organisation that guides the fighting machine.
These two pictures show how a powerful searchlight is
used by the French Army to rescue its wounded just as
searchlights are also used to disclose enemy positions.
This photograph shows one of the powerful searchlights used by the French Army to enable them to discover where the wounded in
the day's battle are lying when darkness falls, so that they may be rescued and cared for.
French soldiers bringing in their wounded after dark, guided by the strong searchlight seen in the upper photograph. The search-
liahl shows them where the wounded lie, and it also guides them in their return to their own lines with their pathetic burdens.
285
King-Emperor and Queen among the Wounded
The King talking in hospital to a wounded
soldier who is as handy with the knitting
needles as he is with the rifle.
UOR reasons of State, King George is not
permitted by his constitutional advisers
to engage in war by personal military action ;
but the Prince of Wales assumed the burden
of arms, and proceeded to the area of war to
perlorm what military duties might be
entrusted to him. B.it King George and
h s gracious Queen were assiduous in what
duties their responsibilities allowed them to
assume.
Foremost in every good work for the com-
fort of our fighting men and ior the welfare
of those dependent on thfm, their Majesties
exhibited their sympathetic interest in
seeing that the wounded men who risked life
in their cause were well cared for. These
photographs were taken during the Royal
visit to the hcspital and camp in the New
Forest, where the wounded Indian soldiers
were the special objects of their solicitude.
King Qeorge and Queen Mary visiting the wounded
Indians at their camp in the New Forest.
One of the wounded Indians, in whose case Queen Mary is exhibiting an
interest during her visit to the hospital in the New Forest.
King Qeorge, followed by Queen Mary, passing down between two lines of wounded Indian warriors who have reached
convalescence again, and are far on the way to physical fitness for a renewal of their active duties at the front.
Temporary Homes for Stricken Belgians
The famous diamond-cutting works of the firm of Asscher,
in Amsterdam, were fitted up for the reception of Belgian
refugees, and the photograph above shows one of the spacious
rooms arranged as a dormitory for women and children.
The small picture on the right was taken in Alexandra Palace,
the immense concert-house of North London, which was fitted
up to take some of the Belgian refugees who came to London.
This is one of the great halls filled with beds.
The Bijou Theatre at the Alexandra Palace, used as a great night nursery for the children of Belgian refugees. Many thousand
Belgian refugees were accommodated in the Palace, and were drafted off in batches to many parts of the country where hospitality
was offered to them. Britain has received to her heart the unfortunate people whose country took the first shock of the German attack.
287
When you're going off to church on Sunday morning,
Where you're listening to the pastor from your pew.
When the sunlight spans the rows and there's hassocks
for your toes,
Think of us who've held a hymn-book same as you 1
Oh, think of us, you folks on padded benches — we
fellows in the trenches,
Where the dead lie stacked around, and the wounded,
wounds unbound,
Hush their groans !
— CONSTANCE J. SMITH.
The Fight
for the
Coast
The hero king who, Lord Kitchener announced in the House of Lords, " has not yet left Belgian territory and does not
intend to do so."
288
THE GREAT EPISODES OF THE WAR
The Terrible Battle of Nieuport
OF all the wild, fierce battles on this blood-stained
planet, the Battle of Nieuport was the strangest
and fiercest. It was a land battle fought by de-
stroyers against submarines, by battleships against mine-
layers, by waterplanes against siege-howitzet s. Vast hosts of
men clashed on the land and in the skies, on the sea and
under the waves. They dug themselves in the earth like
moles ; they soared like eagles ; they fought in the sea
depths like sharks. And victory remained apparently,
though not really, doubtful until a Belgian engineer brought
a new ally to the help of his heroic, outnumbered comrades,
and, letting in the tempestuous North Sea, flooded the
fields of Western Flanders and drowned the enemy.
A Futil? Attempt to
Intimidate Britain
The most extraordinary thing about this extraordinary
battle is that it was unnecessary. Merely to attempt it
was a catastrophe of the gravest kind. For the attempt
signified that the German Military Staff had lost its balance
and was striking blindly. In all probability the mistake
was due to the interference of the German Emperor, who
desired to advance along the coast and take Calais quickly
at any sacrifice of life, not for a military purpose, but
for a political object — to intimidate the British people
by the vain menace of invasion. The correct but slower
way for a German advance towards Calais was from Lille,
by the road from La Bassee. This was undc-taken the
same time as the roundabout attack at Nieuport. But
the two divergent aims entailed a disastrous division of
all the available forces, and neither, therefore, was achieved,
though the Germans were in overwhelming numbers.
Never has General Joffre showed such subtlety and
deadly skill as in this affa;r. Right from the beginning
the situation at Nieuport and along the Yser Canal, running
from the coast to Dixmude, was entirely under his control.
He had only to order the sluices to be raised and the
water in the low-lying fields round the canal would form
an impassable barrier. But he did not give the order,
as it would have thrown a vast German army, supported
by a terrible power of siege artillery, back in their right
path of advance at Ypres and Lille.
The French commander-in-chief kept the enemy divided
in their aims. He seems even to have encouraged them
at times to persist between Nieuport and Dixmude, by
allowing his line there to grow weak. By this means he
warded the full strength of the enemy "from the really
critical points round "Lille. He began, on Friday, October
1 6th, by throwing a small force of French Marines to
Dixmude. Then the gallant Belgian army of thirty-five
thousand men moved forward to the last unconquered
strip ol their territory, and entrenched from Dixmude
to Nieuport, along the Yser Canal, in a flat, bare land
of dykes, wet pastures, and sand-dunes.
German Strength
in Men and Guns
As the Belgians had scarcely rested since their retreat
from Antwerp, the German Military Staff reckoned they
were a worn-out, half-demoralised mob that could not
make any serious resistance. So — as General Joffre had
calculated — the Germans jumped at the easy, resounding
victory which was offered to them. It meant the com-
plete conquest of every scrap of Belgian territory, the
entire destruction of all the Belgian lorce, and the road
to Calais I A popular achievement of this rounded-off,
finished kind could not be allowed to fall to a plebeian
like General von Kluck. His Majesty King Wilhelm
ot Wurtemberg was given command of the extreme
German right wing, so that he might win all the glory
and increase the Teutonic laith in royal leadership
The German commander brought within range ol the
Yser Canal all the more mobile siege artillery that had
been used at Antwerp, together with the howitzers an J guns
of three army corps and about 1 50,000 man. Not only
were the Belgians and French Marines outnumbered by
three to one, but the artillery power against them was
immeasurably superior. Certainly, in arranging a royal
victory the German Military Staff took no chances whatever,
and so sure were they of the result that on Sunday, October
i8th, the wireless news agency at Berlin informed the world
that the Teuton' c forces had won through and reached
Dunkirk on the French coast.
This, however, was as premature an announcement
as the former notorious statement, made in similar circum-
stances, that the British force below Mons had been
encircled. Things did not fall out in accordance with
the German time-table. The heroic Belgians held their
front all through that dreadful Sunday, with shrapnel
burstirg over them day and night from hundreds of
guns they were unable to engage with their light and
scanty field artillery. But when it was thought they
were slain, broken, and fugitive, and grey masses of German
infantry advanced to occupy the canal, the Belgians rose
and, shattering the German advance with their fire, routed
it with a bayonet counter-attack.
Ships of War
Called to Help in the Land Battle
Then they flung themselves full length on the ground
and the shrapnel storm burst over them again. Almost
every injured Belgian was wounded in the back. In the old
days this would have been a sign of cowardice. In the awful
conditions of the Nieuport battle it was a sign of terrible
courage. It meant that the German infantry — though
three to one — counted for nothing. The wounds came
from shrapnel fire, while the Belgians were sprawled on
the fields waiting to repel the German foot soldier. Before
the battle closed one-third of the entire Belgian army
was disabled or killed by hostile gun-fire.
All of them would certainly have perished in this way
in the opening days of the struggle if the ovei whelming
German artillery had met with no opposition. It was
not a human fight, but general slaughter by death machines.
Happily, all this had been foreseen by the commander
of the Allies, and in the darkness help was arriving, strangely
and suddenly, to the sorely-pressed heroes ot Belgium
and to the French Marines who were fighting by their side.
No spies could signal across the dunes to the King of
Wurtemberg, warning him of what was coming. The
Germans were taken unawares. For at daybreak, on
Monday, October igth, the guns of the British Navy thun-
dered over dune and polder. Three monitors — the Severn,
Humber, and Mersey — warships of a new design that could
float in a few feet of water, had steamed from Dover
with a flotilla of destroyers, to take part in the great land
battle. They carried 6 in. guns and howitzers, all directed
by the new system of fire-control, of which flying machines,
scouting over the enemy's batteries and trenches, formed
an important feature.
A Mighty Duel of
Big Guns
The German artillerymen, coolly flinging death at the
distant Belgian troops along the canal, had the greatest
surprise in the history of warfare. Against the attack
of their strange, new adversaries, they were as completely
helpless as the Belgians were against their fire. Their
gun positions were fixed, and were changeable only by slow
means. The guns of the British monitors, on the other
hand, moved from place to place with the speed of
cavalry. It was practically impossible to get their range.
And all the while British fire-control officers, in flying
machines and other positions of vantage, directed the
deadly true, concentrated shell fire of the naval guns
on to battery after battery.
At last the great, decisive contest of British genius
against German genius had fully opened. For the first time
in the history of the war our mechanical appliances for
battle were fairly matched against the machinery of war
289
forged by Krupp of Essen and Skoda of Pilscn. In
numbers the German cannon were overpowering ; there
were six hundred guns and more, ranged in batteries, from
Middclkerke, below Ostend. But in science of handling,
the weapons made by Vickers of Barrow were supreme.
And when the battleship Venerable, with 12 in. guns,
and smaller warships of Britain and France joined in the
great artillery duel, the German guns were thoroughly beaten.
The German trenches ran with blood ; the water in the
dykes took a red tinge ; regiments of dead and wounded
cumbered the coast road, and formed banks along the
canal All that the Germans had, cold-bloodedly, arranged
to do to the Belgians was done to them. They perished
in tens of thousands.
Where our warships' ordnance could not reach the daring
Gurkha went. A few years ago, at the manoeuvres in India,
one of our home county regiments was resting for the night
in the midst of a sham battle. Suddenly the men awoke
in the darkness to find a dark, smiling figure standing by each
of them. The Gurkhas of the opposing army had crept
into every tent. The British soldiers frankly admitted
that they could all have been knifed in their sleep.
on the coast, and endangered the submarines whenever they
rose at night to race on the surface. Day and night,
while the battle lasted, the thunder of the returning mines,
striking and exploding on the sea front, could be heard at
Ostend and Blankenberghe.
In light and darkness the clash of British sea power and
German land power went on. When the sun set, the
dazzling beams of searchlights played from the sea on to
the German trenches and gun positions. And, like
monstrous birds of prey, the British airmen wheeled in
battle against German aviators in Taube machines and
air-ships, smashed them, and held the dominion of the
skies.
A Fiercely-disputed
Canal Position.
The King of Wurtemberg saw his promised victory
changing into a defeat. He surrendered at last the country
round Nieuport to the allied fleet, and massed his troops
near Dixmude, where the Belgians were holding a loop-
shaped curve of the canal. Here by pressure of numbers
the German infantry, advancing on both sides of the loop,
pressed back the Belgians at night. But at dawn the
German infantry halting on the road near Dixmude during the great Battle on the Coast and the road to Calais.
This deadly trick was now played in earnest on the
Germans. A boatload of Gurkhas was landed silently
in the darkness among the dunes. Leaving their
rifles, bayonets, boots, and most of their clothing
on the sand, the Gurkhas put their big knives between
their teeth, and crept on all fours into the German lines.
Each sentry was knifed noiselessly, and guiding each other
by frogs' croaks, the terrible warrior-knights of Nepal
reached the ammunition store, killing everybody they met.
They put a bomb with a long-time fuse among the enemy's
ammunition, and crawled back to the shore, and steamed
away. Meanwhile, something like an earthquake, mixed
up with a violent thunderstorm, occurred in the German
camp, and next day there was no ammunition for the
guns.
Vain Efforts of
German Submarines.
What was left of the German batteries when our fleet had
found their positions was shifted farther inland, and the
coast to the north of Ostend was rapidly fortified with
heavy howitzers. Urgent telegrams were sent to Emden
Harbour for submarine help, and a flotilla of these sharks
of the deep sea was sent against our monitors. But as our
monitors floated on the waves in raftlike fashion, drawing
less water than a destroyer, the torpedoes of the submarines
passed under them without striking and exploding.
Hundreds of mines were then launched against our floating,
mobile sea forts. But the flood tide flung the mines back
Belgians returned and recovered the canal. Seven
times this happened It was all night fighting and dawn
fighting, in the darkness or in the grey, misty twilight
when the gunners on either side could give little support to
the infantrymen
Blank-point rifle fire, with a brief burst of machine-gi n
fire, heralded attack and counter-attack, but the bayonet
did most of the work The carnage was inhuman, for the
three German army corps were reserves, formed of partly-
trained boys and old men, remarkably courageous, but
badly handled by their officers. Shouting their battle
cries : " Louvain ! Termonde ! " the Belgians stabbed
till their arms grew wearied, then retired, and the French
infantry and Marines took their place. Yard by \ard the
150,000 Germans won their way across the red dykes.
Passing the canal was now easy for them and for their foes, for
though the water was six feet deep, they bridged it in several
places with their bodies till they had only 100,000 men left.
When at length the Belgian army took the victory
that had always been within their reach, and broke the
dyke and flooded the road to Calais, they trapped a German
brigade in the water. On Monday, November 2nd, the
entire German force retreated hastily from the inundated
land, leaving their wounded to be picked up by the Allies.
The Battle of the Yser was over — the most sanguinary and
the strangest that was ever fought. It lasted from October
1 6th to November 2nd, 1914, and more than half the
Germans who took part in it were slain or disabled,
Possibly one-third only being in a condition to march back.
290
The " Conquering " of Defenceless Bruges
German soldiers in the Grand Place, Bruges,
which they entered on October 15th.
WITH Antwerp under their heel, the
Germans proceeded towards the coast
of Belgium, and an advance guard of two
hundred reached the historic old town of
Bruges at one o'clock on the afternoon of
October I5th. The previous day there had
been heavy fighting between Ghent and
Bruges, but when it was realised that the
occupation of Bruges was inevitable the
town's Civic Guard was disbanded, so that
the invaders could have no pretext for
violating the town. Next day the Germans
reached Ostend.
Another view of Bruges in German occupation. Many German soldiers were billeted upon the town, and caused surprise by com-
mitting no excesses. Inset: A London motor-'bus captured by the enemy, and used for transport. Photographed in Bruges.
291
Ancient Ghent Falls to the Modern Huns
After the fall of Antwerp part of the German army approached
Ghent, which, having been declared an open town, offered no
opposition. This photograph shows Belgian forces leaving the
town an hour before the first patrol of Germans arrived.
In the early hours of October 12th a party of German cyclists, infantry, and Uhlans entered Ghent. The commanding officer
proceeded to the town-hall and conferred with the burgomaster and town councilors. The German flag «?? af'6r.w^rnd!|ah|o'8Ud
over the town hall, as shown in the circular photograph. The lower picture shows the German soldiers outside the town-hall.
202
British Marines to the Rescue of Ostend
A FTER the raid made by the Uhlans on Ostend, en ling
in a fight between the German cavalrymen and the
Belgian gendarmes five miles south-east of the seaport,
the people of Ostend became very anxious about their
position.
Englishmen also, remembering the short distance between
Ostend and our coast and the range of the Zeppelins,
did not like the situation.
But, to everybody's relief, Mr. Winston Churchill
announced on Thursday, August 27th : " For reasons which
seem sufficient to the Government and to the military
authorities, a strong force of British Marines has been
sent to Ostend, and has occupied the town and the surround-
ing country without delay."
The people of the famous Belgian seaport greeted the arrival
of the vigorous sailor-soldiers of Britain with enthusiasm.
Ostend joyfully welcomes the marching column of Britain's
sailor-soldiers.
Belgium'* new defenders crossing the bridge at Ostend. Inset: The heavy load our Marines have to shoulder.
203
The Shroud of War on the Gay Resort
Bank clerks on the quay removing securities from the banks at Ostend to the Channel boat for conveyance to England lest the
Germans seized the town. Germans have stolen too much of little Belgium's money.
Belgian soldiers leaving a Channel steamer at a Belgian port. Cut off from their regiments, they were forced to journey across
France and then by sea ta Belgium to rejoin. AN were looking forward to another contest with tha hated Prussians.
294
British Handymen Busy at Ostend
Belgium's popular watering-place was almost panic-stricken
until our marines arrived. They are here seen drawing a waggon.
VV/HEN our marines landed in Ostend the townspeople re-
** covered confidence in themselves and their country. Our
marines have guns and Maxims, and as gunlayers some of
them excel our sailors — though you must not mention this to-
the seamen. They had heard of the deeds done by Germans
to Belgian children and women, and were burning with that
cold rage for battle which consumed our soldiers in the
Indian Mutiny when they saw what our women had suffered.
Cooking food in Ostend Railway Station. Inset: Marching through the town with the Union Jack flying.
295
Reinforcements to " Take Calais or Die ! "
'Take Calais or die ! " was the spirit in which Germany sent legion after legion of reinforcements to make good the awful slaughter
in her depleted attacking lines. Antwerp, like the rest of Central and North Belgium, was almost denuded of troops in this great
attempt, and here we see German soldiers about to leave Antwerp for the Battle of the Dunes.
A photograph taken in the town of Blankenberghe, north-east of pstend towards Zeebrugge, when one of the great waves of
German reinforcements was passing through on its way to throw itself upon the rook of Belgian resistance in the south.
200
Scenes from the Great Battle of the Coast
A panoramic view of Ostend, the famous Belgian seaside resort. It was occupied by Germans on October 16th, and the British
warships fired upon the town to drive them out. The Hotel Majestic, marked on this photograph, was severely damaged.
MEVER in the history of the world has such another
conflict as the Battle of the Coast been fought. It
extended from Ostend to Arras, and raged on land, sea, and
air. The British warships bombarded Ostend, where
Germans were in force, and the Germans rained their
heavy shells upon Dixmude, turning the town into a
veritable inferno. The German losses were appalling, and
in their frantic efforts to reach Calais they withdrew even,'
available soldier and Marine from the west of Belgium,
and threw them against the Allies. A French official
statement, published on October i6th, said : " On our
left wing the action now extends from Ypres to the sea.."
This day may therefore be considered the opening of the
unparalleled battle which was still raging months later.
MIHtDi SY ,fB,fl/TtSH
/*'' ^' *
Ostend's magnificent stretch of sand, where merry bathing-girls were sporting in July, was in October in possession of Qerman
infantry. The map shows the area of our Navy's coastal fighting. Dotted area is shallow water ; striped area, range of naval guns.
A remarkablj photograph showing the actual advance of one part of the Qerman army to the attack on the Yser. Germany
hurried reinforcements to the Belgian coast with all possible speed, some of them being boys fresh from school.
THE FLOWER OF THE GERMAN ARMY IN THE BRUSSELS PARADE
The Kaiser's crack troops were sent to impress the people of Brussels. In this splendid photograph (from a private source in Brussels) a
group of Hussar officers is seen in the Chaussee de Louvain studying Belgian papers and enjoying a brief rest before their rush through
Belgium to attempt that crushing blow at France which was the keynote of German strategical theory for the first phase of the war.
To face jtagit Sot;
297
The Unparalleled Struggle for Calais
IN its frantic effort to reach Calais, and thus get " at the
throat of England," the German army sacrificed life
wholesale. Their loss during the Battle on the Coast
was estimated at not less than fourteen thousand daily.
The battle raged on land, sea, and air. Aeroplanes and
a stationary balloon directed the fire of our monitors, which
poured a devastating fire into the German flank, while the
allied land forces in front allowed the enemy no respite.
Until the great Battle on the Coast, moat people were entirely Ignorant ol the three monitors— warehips capable ol manoeuvring in
shallow water— that Great Britain possessed. This photograph shows the monitor Number, one of the vessels that shelled the Germans.
Who would have believed that in these days of aeroplanes a balloon
would be of use ? Yet a stationary balloon helped the monitors'
guns to get the range of the German trenches.
Photograph of a monitor taking ammunition aboard in a French
port, preparatory to another attack off the Belgian coast.
On board a monitor after its operations on the Belgian coast.
Its gallant crew have had a "go" at the Germans, and are
happy. On the left are two French military doctors who came
aboard to congratulate them upon their exploit.
298
Help from the Sea for the Battle Ashore
One of the obsolete British gunboats which, armed with powerful new guns,
handled with daring and skill, gave effective help in the land battle.
"THE effort of each of the two contending
army fronts to outflank the other reached
its climax and its end when the German right
and the allied left rested on the seashore. But in
the British Fleet the Allies had an instrument
of attack that Germany did not have available
with her warships locked up at the entrance to
the Kiel Canal.
The battleship Venerable, a fifteen-year-
old boat of the London class, brought her four
12 in. guns into play, and by the accuracy and
rapidity of her fire, she made the German
positions untenable and inflicted awful slaughter.
She was assisted by boats of the Monitor type,
shallow draft vessels drawing only about four
feet, that can approach close inshore and steam
up shallow rivers, but yet carry heavy artillery.
Some of the vessels assisting in the work
were old gunboats, no longer on the active
seaworthy list, but kept for coast and harbour
patrol work, pulled from the Admiralty backyard
for service on a unique occasion, a service they
performed brilliantly and almost without hurt.
Two of the four 12 in. guns of the Venerable, the old 15,000-ton battleship that shelled the German positions, and helped to prevent the
march to Calais. She carries in addition twelve 6 in. guns, eighteen 12— pounders, six 3— pounders, two Maxims, and four torpedo— tubes.
which took chief part in the naval attack, is a sister ship of the London and the Bulwark, having been laid down
etitted ten years later. The small inset picture shows the damage to a ventilator on H.M.S. Brilliant by a German shore gun.
299
The Titanic Struggle in all the Elements
•"THE fancy of Jules Verne, the scientific insight of H. G. Wells, the
1 vivid imagination of Rider Haggard never pictured anything
more stupendous, more thrilling, and more awe-inspiring than
the great battle on the coast of Flanders, where combatants fought
their death feud in four planes of activity.
Try to picture the. scene. Scouts of the air and great airships
up above spying for earth foes below as well as battling in their own
element — heavy artillery, machine-guns, rifles, bayonets, and the
strong arms of the best fighting men of four great nations struggling
for land mastery and the road to Calais on the surface of the land —
ships of war off the sea coast booming defiance and destruction uoon
the batteries of hostile artillery — and under the waves the mosquitoes ot
the sea — the deadly submarines — trying, and trying vainly, to impede
the activity of the deadly sea guns.
It wanted only one thing more to complete the picture of the almost
superhuman conflict, and that thing came. The dykes were broken
by the Allies and the North Sea rushed into the trenches, swirling
along wounded men and ghastly corpses through the low-lying beet-
fields, enveloping big guns in the murky flood and making men flee
for their lives.
This page and the five that follow help us to visualise that greatest
of all scenes of human slaughter since Cain killed his brother.
British big gun* going to the front before their deadly work in the greatest battle of the ages, when the conflict of air, land, sea, and
under— sea raged for days in the stern struggle for the road to Calais.
11!
"?''.&' Wf' ^
Til
. *.
The bravery of Belgium shone bright in the Battle of the Dunes, when they held positions for days against overwhelming odds, waiting
for reinforcements that arrived long after they were due. Here Belgian artillery is taking up a position among the sand-dunes.
300
The Amazing Vitality of King Albert's Valiant Army —
Belgium never laid claim to a highly-trained Army, and Germany
expected to crush it with the greatest ease. But it won't give in.
This photograph shows a Belgian regiment re-forming itself in
a French town. One of the men wears a British soldier's cap.
("* ERMANY fondly hoped to walk through Belgium with
hardly any opposition. The Belgian Army was so
small and inexperienced that it was never credited with
being able to impede the advance of the mighty German
hosts. Yet the tremendous vitality and resisting-power
of Belgium has been the greatest surprise of the war.
Overwhelmed at Liege, the Belgian Army retired to
Antwerp and recuperated. It constantly sallied forth
and hampered the invader, and when, hopelessly out-
numbered and outranged in artillery, it was forced to
retire from its last stronghold, it did so in good order.
Then, undaunted, it re-formed itself and took a glorious
part in the Battle of the Coast. What France and
Britain, what the whole civilised world, owes to plucky
little Belgium can never be estimated. The story of the
brave deeds of King Albert and his band of soldier-heroes
will echo down the centuries yet to come.
Five stalwart Belgians guard a road between Dunkirk and Calais.
They stand in front of an inn used as a guard-room.
In their various retiring actions before disproportionate numbers, the Belgians accomplished many creditable marches. This
photograph shows a party of them, with military cyclists, marching from Ostend, after their position in that town became untenable.
301
—History has no Finer Chapter than Belgium's Heroism
Prepared to sell their lives dearly, a small Belgian force impedes
the advance of a German patrol near Ypres. Picture below:
Weary, but not defeated. Belgians resting at a wayside town
in the course of their long tramp from Ostend into France.
An interval for food. Four Belgians enjoy a pannikin of soup
in the shelter of a French timber-yard.
Driven from Brussels to Antwerp, and then to Ostend, the Belgian Government was finally compelled to take refuge in the French sea-
port of Havre. This picture shows a cartload of Belgian official papers and books on their way to the new quarters in the latter place.
302
The Wonderful Belgians still facing the Foe
The sway of battle forced the Belgians back for a
little while, and here they are seen, foot-weary
and mud-stained, retiring before fresh German
troops, but soon they halted in a selected position,
held the enemy, swept his columns with their fire,
and made him run under a bayonet charge.
THE Belgian, army formed the left wing
of the allied front in confronting the
German onslaught, and right bravely it played
its part. The opposing odds were terrible,
but the indomitable determination was
stronger than all the massed columns of German
soldiery sent to pierce their lines, and they held.
The annals of war have no more stirring chapter
than that which tells of the brave stand of the
war-worn remnant of King Albert's gallant
army when it kept back the German flood
between Dixmude and Nieuport in October.
A Belgian field-gun waiting for a German advance among the sand and
scrub a few miles from the sea during the great battle.
Ypres was the centre of the hottest part of the battle, and it was about here that the Belgian front ended and the British front
began. In this photograph Belgians and British are fighting together under cover of a hedge that hides them from the Germans.
303
French Colonial Troops in the Coast Battle
Men of the crack French Colonial regiment, Chasseurs d' Afrique, advancing over the sand-dunes in the vicinity of Nieuport. This
regiment has not been much mentioned during the war, but it has, nevertheless, been doing sterling work.
The area in which the coastal fighting took place is comparable to our own East Anglian fen country — flat, somewhat marshy, and
intersected by ditches and other waterways. These two photographs show some Zouaves stealing towards the German lines,
concealed from the enemy's observation by a ditch, which they afterwards employ as a trench.
Zouaves take a brief respite from the firing-line, watering
officers' horses at one of the few Belgian farms that have
escaped destruction.
Attacking a German position from the shelter of the farmhouse.
Many hand-to-hand conflicts have taken place in buildings
similar to this.
301
After a Hard Day in the Coastal Fighting
Belgian peasants driven from their cottages and farms when
the line of battle lengthened and extended to the coast. Hand-
to—hand fighting took place in many of the coastal villages.
Dead and dying Germans lay in their thousands along the
roadsides and in the fields during the great German effort to
reach Calais. One is here shown about to be buried by Belgians.
Every available Belgian was pressed into tho service of the
Belgian Army. Here the latest recruits, mostly immature
youths, are seen going to dig entrenchments.
The British casualties were admittedly severe, but they were incomparable to the enormous German roll of dead and wounded.
This Picture shows some British soldiers who have been slightly wounded, but who are still able to walk to the hospital in the rear
er .the battle. They shouted Are we downhearted ? " to the photographer as he photographed them, and gave the usual answer.
305
The Men Who Turned the Tide on the Yser
DURING the great Battle on the Coast, in late October,
a brave little Belgian force was beaten back after
a forty-eight hours' resistance by an overwhelming number
of the enemy. As the Germans . pressed forward they
encountered, not retiring Belgians, but oncoming swarthy
figures— the British Indians— whose deadly bayonet;
them back in disorder. They were simply dug out of th3
trenches in which they had taken shelter, and the well-
aimed bullets drove them back still farther. Ten thousand
dead Germans are declared to have been left behind
that retreat. Their hopes of breaking the line had been
ruthlessly shattered by the East's finest fighters.
,n section of our valiant Indian warriors marching to battle. The Maxim, are carried o,
The machine-guns are unstrapped from the mules and carried by hand to the spot whence they will pour forth their lead.
Indian troops advance to take a position. In twos and threes, they put.every scrap of cover, every grassy hillock to advantage.
300
Sikhs and Gurkhas Cut Up the Germans at Lille
wild scrimmage. The Sikhs and the Gurkhas s
307
Shout, you shires, with a chorus sent
Ringing from Caithness right to Kent,
From jar Northumberland down past Devon.
Shout for your heroes. Briton's sons,
Who quenched in silence the thundering guns
That darkened like doom the golden heaven.
The courage that lifted their hearts shall leaven
All who in England's name go forth
From east to west and south and north
Under the great godspeed of Heaven.
— WILLIAM WATSON.
Golden
Deeds of
Heroism
'""TWO wounded Irish dragoons were
left at a farmhouse during the
retreat from Mons. A dozen Germans
came. Behind a barricads of furniture the
Irishmen kept them at bay. The Germans
made off to get a machine-gun. Rather
than bring trouble upon the people
who had sheltered them, the dragoons
hobbled out with some mad idea of
takinz the Bun. They died like heroes.
Two wounded Irishmen who would not surrender.
Mentioned in Sir John French's Despatches
QN Sunday night, October iSth,
1914, there was issued in the
form of a special edition of the
" London Gazette " two long
despatches from Field - Marshal
Sir John French, Commanding-in-
Chief British Forces in the Field,
to Lord Kitchener. They were
dated^September iyth and October
bth, and detailed the perfor-
mances of the British troops in
the Battles of the Marne and
Aisne. A special tribute was paid
to the skilful and decisive conduct
of Sir Douglas Haig, and every
branch of the Service was warmly
complimented. " The Battle of
the Aisne," wrote Sir John French,
" has once more demonstrated the
splendid spirit, gallantry, and
devotion which animates the
officers and men of his Majesty's
forces." They were subjected to
great strain day and night.
Lt.-Qer.. W. P. PULTENEV,
C.B., D.S.O.
" Took over the command of the
Third Corps just before the com-
mencement of the Battle of the
Marne, and showed himself to be a
most capable commander in the
field."
Lt.-Oen. SIR DOUGLAS HAIQ, K.C.B., K.C.I.E.,
K.C.V.O.
" I cannot speak too highly of the valuable services
rendered by Sir Douglas Haig and the army corps
under his command. Day after day and night after
night the enemy's infantry has been hurled against
him in violent counter-attack, which has never on
any one occasion succeeded."
Lt.-Qen. SIR ARCHIBALD MURRAY,
K.C.B., C.V.O., D.S.O-
" Has continued to render me in-
valuable help as Chief of the Staff."
Sir Archibald Murray has been In-
spector of Infantry since 1912. He
served in Zululand, and was wounded
in the South African campaign.
Brig.-Qen. J. A. L. HALDANE,
C.B., D.S.O.,
General Headquarters Staff.
Lt.-Col. Q. P. T. FIELDING,
D.S.O.,
3rd Coldstream Guards.
A' E' W' COUNT
' K.C.V.O., C.B.,
C.M.Q.,D.S.O.,Headqtr8. Staff.
Lt.-Col. STANLEY BARRY,
Aide-de-Camp to Field-Marshal
Sir John French.
Lt.-Col. LORD BROOKE,
Aide-de-Camp to Field-
Marshal SirJohn French
IViaJ.-Qn. SIR CHARLES FEROUSSOIM, Major H.R.H. PRINCE ARTHUR OF
Bart., C.B., M.V.O., D.S.O., CONNAUQHT, K.Q.
General Headquarters Staff. "Employed on confidential missions."
1'lu.iM by Lajayeiu, W. & u. Vvu'ney, Eassano, Speaight, U. Walter Burnett.)
Qen. H. de B. de LISLE,
2nd Cavalry Brigade.
"Acted with great vigour.''
309
A Scot Captures a German Gun Single-handed
Lieutenant Sir Archibald Gibson Craig lost his life while leading
his men to attack a machine— gun which was hidden in a wood.
Sword in hand and shouting "Charge, men! At them !" he
reached to within ten yards of the gun and then fell. But his men
silenced the gun. On the same day a man of his regiment.
Private Wilson, of Edinburgh, captured a gun single-handed. Six
Germans were in charge of the weapon. Being a good marks-
man, he picked off five with his rifle, bayoneted the sixth, and
endeavoured to turn the gun on the enemy. Unfortunately the
piece jammed, and an officer coming up helped him to disable it.
310
Cossack Prisoner who ran off with a Uhlan
A COSSACK, captured with his horse near Lodz, was
taken to Petrokof, and exhibited before the German
populace as a kind of freak show. A Uhlan officer tried to
put the horse through its paces, but it declined to move.
"Let me get on with you," suggested the Cossack. There
were too many German soldiers about for escape to be
dreamt of, so the officer innocently complied. Directly
the Cossack was in the saddle he uttered a couple of
words, and the horse dashed off through the astonished
Germans at full gallop. None of the surrounding soldiers
dared to shoot because of the risk of killing or
wounding their officer, and the daring Cossack succeeded
in getting beyond the zone of danger unhurt. That night,
amid a scene of great jubilation, and after many exciting
adventures, the Cossack rejoined his company with the
Uhlan captain a prisoner.
A daring feat of Cossack horsemanship.
311
^-/" V-~-^>
One Brave Woman and Five Brave Men ( <"
Mrs. Winterbottom, the American wife of a British officer, raced her car
through two miles of shell-swept road in order to transport some wounded
Belgian soldiers, from one of the Antnerp forts into the city. She
succeeded in her daring errand and went through unscathed.
Georges Andre, one ol France's best
athletes and a Rugby International,
captured a German standard In Lorraine,
and was decorated for his exploit.
Private J. "Warwick, of the 2nd Durham
Light Infantry, recommended for the
Victoria Cross for saving four lives under
terrific fire at the Battle of the Aisne.
The breeds of men that fought on both sides of the fUing-line at Waterloo
and at Balaclava have not deteriorated. This war has more than its share
of instances of individual heroism, and only a very small number of them
will ever be recorded. One wounded soldier from the battles of France
has stated that it would be a shame to select men for Victoria Crosses when
every man deserves a Victoria Cross.
These three photographs are of three heroes. On the left is Captain
Nesteroff, the lirst Russian aviator to loop the loop, who charged a German
aviator hovering over the Russian lines, kilting the enemy, and meeting his
own death. The centre photograph is General Manpury, of the French
Army, decorated for having saved the lives of two private soldiers during
the Battle of the Marne, and the man on the left is Lieutenant Dawes, of
the Royal Flying Corps, who has been decorated with the Legion of Honour
for distinguished bravery. He was reported missing for three days, during
which time he was hiding with some comrades in a wood surrounded by
Germans, afterwards swimming the river and reaching the British lines again.
312
Guards ' Brilliant Capture of Machine -Guns
During the crossing of the Aisne, on September 13th, a stretch
of open country lay immediately ahead of the British troops,
then a wood. It was raining heavily. As our gallant men
approached cover a murderous machine— gun fire raked them. The
Irish Guards, 3rd Coldstreams, and 2nd Grenadiers, drenched
to the skin, fixed bayonets and charged. They swept down on the
Kaiser's crack regiment, the Prussian Guards, like an avalanche.
It was all over in ten minutes, and our spoil amounted to six
machine-guns, 38,000 rounds of ammunition — which was later
turned against the Germans — and 150 dejected prisoners.
313
Manchester Men at the Battle of the Marne
314
How French Infantry Crossed the River Aisne
On Sunday, September 13th, the British army succeeded in
crossing the River Aisne, despite heavy opposition from German
howitzers and machine-guns. At Soissons, on the British lelt,
the persistency and accuracy of the hostile artillery prevented
the French force building a pontoon bridgeacross the river. A large
number of French infantry, however, made a perilous crossing, in
single file, on the top of one girder of the railway bridge that
was left standing. Shells burst above them, bullets whistled past,
and those who were unhappily struck, toppled into the flowing water
beneath with small hope of rescue. But the majority crossed.
315
"From Scenes Like These Old Scotia's Grandeur Springs"
A bridge near Soissons was held up by 15O Highlanders who
were attacked by an overwhelming German force. After a hot
quarter of an hour the British Maxim was silent — every man off
the section had been killed. Suddenly a Highlander rushed forward
in face of the German fire, seized the Maxim on its tripod and
rushed back across the bridge with it. Then, in full view of the
enemy, he turned round, placed tho gun in position, and from the
still-charged belt of the Maxim opened a hail of bullets on the
advancing column of the enemy, which broke and then fled to the
woods as the Highlander fell dead with thirty bullets in his body.
316
French Woman's Fearlessness in Face of Fire
When this war is a metier for history-books, a prominent place neighbouring fortress-town of Verdun every fifteen minutes to
in the gallery of brave women will be indubitably found for report how the attack progressed. At last a message came,
the telephone operator of Etain. Although this little French " A shell has just fallen in the office," and communication between
town was being bombarded by the Germans, the plucky girl Etain and Verdun abruptly ceased. No Prussian militarism
remained at her post, calling up the postmaster at the can subdue a country that breeds such high courage as this.
317
" It is Nothing, Messieurs ; it is for France "
Individual bravery shines bright In every war, and, to the credit
of twentieth-century manhood, it shines in undiminished bril-
liancy In the great world war. One of our artists here depicts
the heroic conduct of a wealthy Paris merchant who continued
during a long day under a perfect hail of German fire to carry
French wounded into safety. He was awarded a medal for
personal bravery in the field. When congratulated on his bravery
he answered modestly, " It Is nothing, messieurs ; it is for France."
318
The One Solitary Instance of German Chivalry
Shining out from the appalling welter of loathsome German
brutality is this one instance of chivalry, which Sir John French
reported in his despatch of September 11th. On the previous day
a small party of French, under a non-commissioned officer was cut
off and surrounded. After a desperate resistance it was decided
to go on fighting to the end.
Finally a non-commissioned officer
and one man only were left, both being wounded. The Germans
came up and shouted to them to lay down their arms. The German
commander, however, signed to them to keep their arms, and
then asked for permission to shake hands with the wounded non-
commissioned officer, who was carried off on a stretcher wit*1
his rifle by his side.
319
Victoria Cross Heroes of Mons and Le Gateau
'THE great retreat from Mons, in face of overwhelming
odds, during the latter part of August, 1914, was suc-
cessful only because of the glorious bravery and unequalled
heroism of thousands of British soldiers, who performed
feats of arms that shone bright amid the awful carnage and
suffering of the retiring action. Alas, that from so many
of them the supreme sacrifice of death was exacted. One-
tenth part of what they did will never be told, because the
brave men who performed the deeds of heroism are no more
and the brave men who witnessed their performances did
not survive to tell the story.
For services rendered at Mons and during the retreat to Le
Cateau eleven V.C.'s were awarded. We are unable to give
photographs of Private Sidney Frank Godley, 4th Batt. the
Royal Fusiliers, who fought his machine-gun with great gal-
lantry at Mons on August 23rd, or of Driver Frederick Luke,
mentioned below. Several of the recipients distinguished
themselves further in the fighting subsequent to Le Cateau.
Capt. FRANCIS OCTAVUS QRENFELL,
9th Lancers, displayed gallantry in action
against unbroken infantry at Andregnies,
on August 24th, 1914, and assisted to
save guns of the 119th Battery, R.F.A.
Maj. CHARLES A. LAVINQTON YATE,
2nd Batt. the King's Own (Yorkshire
Light Infantry), at Le Cateau, on August
26th, led nineteen survivors against the
enemy. He died as a prisoner of war.
Capt. THEODORE WRIGHT,
Royal Engineers, at Mons, on August
23rd, attempted to connect up the lead to
demolish a bridge under heavy fire, and
renewed the attempt when wounded.
Capt. DOUGLAS REYNOLDS,
37th Battery R.F.A., at Le Cateau, on
August 26th, limbered up two guns
under heavy artillery and infantry fire,
and got one gun away safely.
Lieut. MAURICE JAMES DEASE,
4th Batt. the Royal Fusiliers, though
badly wounded, continued to control the
fire of his machine— guns at Mons, on
August 23rd. He died of his wounds.
Corpl. CHARLES ERNEST QARFORTH,
15th Hussars, at Harmignies, on August
23rd, volunteered to cut wire under fire,
thus enabling his squadron to escape.
L.-Cpl. FREDK. WILLIAM HOLMES,
2nd Batt. the King's Own (Yorkshire
Light Infantry), at Le Cateau on August
26th, carried a wounded man out of the
trenches under heavy fire.
L.-Cpl. CHARLES ALFRED JARVIS,
57th Field Company, Royal Engineers,
displayed great gallantry at Jemappes,
on August 23rd, firing charges for the
demolition of a bridge.
Driver JOB HENRY CHARLES DRAIN,
with Driver Frederick Luke, 37th Battery,
R.F.A., at Le Cateau, on August 26th,
volunteered to help to save guns under
fire from hostile infantry.
Oh, who is he, the simple fool.
Who says that wars are over ?
What bloody portent flashes there
Across the Straits of Dover?
Nine hundred thousand slaves in arms.
They seek to bring us under ;
But England lives, and still will live,
For we'll crush the despot yonder!
- — TENNYSON.
World -wide
Echoes of
N September 7th retreating Germans attempted to
cross the Petit Morin River, but our artillery had the
exact range of the bridge. In despair, the Germans began
to build a pontoon bridge. Our men waited until it was
nearly completed and then opened fire. An officer in
charge of infantry waiting to attack called out, "That's done
it, the pontoons are smashed." Every time the bridge was
built it was destroyed, until darkness descended.
Smashing a German pontoon bridge across the Petit Morin River.
Tears and Laughter Mingle at Farewell
If there has been sadness in the farewells between our
soldiers and sailors and their families, mingled with it
have been manifest signs of the happy and courageous
spirit of men (and women) who mean to win through.
Tears and laughter have signalised the partings everywhere
— on railway-station platforms, at the docks, in the barrack
squares, and along the highways and byways of towns and
villages throughout the kingdom. But for the fact that
London has been full of soldiers, the scenes in the suburbs
would have excited great public curiosity. But the going
and coming of Reservists and Territorials since the mobilisa-
tion have been so common in every street as to cause no
more excitement than the passing of the local policeman
on his beat.
A mother's parting words to her sailor son.
Baby's good-bye walk with father on the eve of war.
Jolly Jack Tars— a souvenir photograph taken just before entraining for the port of embarkation.
323
Some Notable Personalities in the War
Brigadier-General C. M. Dobell, D.S.O.,
commanding Anglo— French forces in the
German West African Colony of Cameroon.
The Hon. Louis Botha, Premier of South
Africa, in supreme command of the oper-
ations against German South-West Africa.
Colonel Sam Hughes resigned his post
of Minister of Canadian Militia to go to
the front with the Canadian contingent.
The Kaiser in conversation with Prince Halm-Horstmar outside the new Palace at Potsdam. On the left le : the Crown Princess
with her eldest son, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia. This photograph was taken after the declaration of war, and has been circulated
in Germany as a " war postcard."
HH Prince Maurice of Battenberg, Lord Stanley, the nineteen-year-old heir of
serving with the King's Royal Rifles, Lord Derby, who, with a handful of cavalry,
died of wounds received in battle. captured 109 Qerman officers and men.
Pluto's by Lafayette, Baseano, Speaight, Topical, Central Setcs, Sport & General.)
H.H. Prince Leopold of Battenberg, left a
bed of sickness to proceed to the front with
h'8 regiment for active service.
324
Where the First Flame of War Was Lighted
~~ ' J
\l:r
tSr IT! IMP*
u
An early incident at the outbreak of the General War. An excited crowd of Austrians gathering outside the War Office in
Vienna, as the waggons arrive with flour for the mobilising troops. The Austrians did not then see that their ambitions would
lead them into war with France and Britain. Inset are seen a Hungarian reservist and his young wife at the hour of parting.
Austrian troops leaving the arsenal in Vienna for the invasion of Servia. Beaten back, these soldiers promptly went to the
Russian frontier to keep back the " steam-roller " of the Eastern world, which, however, pressed forward more quickly than the
Austrians and Germans expected.
325
Britain's Allies of the Far East Intervene
'"THE Berlin mob must feel
sorry they sang and danced
outside the Japanese Embassy
on the outbreak of war, thinking
Japan would fight on their side.
For, without waiting for the
result of the first great battle,
the loyal Japanese have carried
out their part of the Anglo-
Japanese Alliance by calling
on Germany to withdraw her
warships and armed vessels from
the Northern Pacific, and hand
over the territory of Kiao-Chau,
with a view to its restoration
to China. Then war was declared
by Japan, and Kiao-Chau was
captured after a strenuous siege.
The Japanese " Revanche "
against Germany.
On her splendid naval base
and colony in the Yellow Sea
Germany has spent untold
wealth and labour. The Japanese,
it is clear, are bent on totally des-
troying the huge commercial
position which Germany has
built up in the Far East and the
Pacific. More bitterly opposed
to Germany than they were to
Russia, the Japanese are in the
same position as the French.
They have a " revanche " to
carry out.
When they emerged victorious
from their "war with China, in
1895, it was Germany that
wove the scheme by which
Japan was robbed of Liao-
tung and forced to prepare for
war with Russia.
How (he Teutons seized
Kiao-Chau.
In the meantime, two Ger-
man missionaries were killed
by brigands in Shantung in
1897. As blood-money, Ger-
many demanded Kiao-Chau,
with 200 square miles of
Chinese territory, and sent her
Pacific Squadron to take it.
The harbour is one of the
finest in the world, and Ger-
many has fortified it and
made it a commercial strong-
hold as well as a military
fortress. In the year 1912 the
imports came to 115 and the
exports to 80} million marks.
There was no occasion for the
Ready for a tussle with the Teuton.
Japanese gunners .fighting a siege gun.
people of the United States
to doubt the good faith of Japan
when she promised to restore
Kiao-Chau to China. There is
something she wants to wipe off
a slate, and it will help to improve
her relations with the Chinese,
besides gratifying her own
Samurai instincts.
Vital Interests of Australia
and New Zealand.
Our Australian and New Zea-
land brothers must also profit
by the mortal madness of the
Prussians.
In Polynesia there are more
than 75,500 square miles of
territory, inhabited by nearly
900,000 people. Most of the
islands belong to the traders
and settlers of the British
Empire by right of discovery,
settlement, and commercial in-
terest. Long before the German
flag was seen in the South Seas
British and Australian explorers,
sailors, traders, and missionaries
swept most of the islands into
the sphere of our Imperial in-
fluence. Australia and New
Zealand had vital interests in
the larger islands near their
shores. But owing to the in-
trigues of a great Hamburg firm,
backed by the diplomacy of
Bismarck, some of the most im-
portant outposts of our Southern
Colonies were surrendered by
the Home Government.
Other German Colonies that
will not ba given back.
Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, in
New Guinea, was very soon
captured by the Australians,
together with the Bismarck
archipelago, both among the
most fertile lands in the world.
Then, in part of Samoa, in the
Marshall Islands, in part of
the Solomon Islands, and in
the Caroline, Pelew, and
Ladrone Isles, the men of
our race can retain what
belonged to Germany. In
Africa the Cape to Cairo
Railway can be built, and
there are nearly 900,000
square miles of territory for
division between Britain,
France, and Belgium.
Kiao-Chau bought at the price of two dead missionaries — Germany's vanished seat of power in the Far East.
326
The Colonies of Portugal Attacked by Germany
A FTKR the outbreak of war there was much speculation
as to whether Portugal would throw in her lot with
the Allies. Possessing valuable colonies, she would have
been at the mercy of a victorious Germany. She preserved
her neutrality, however, until, on October 24th, it was
announced in Lisbon that German troops had invaded
the Portuguese colony of Angola, in Portuguese West
Africa. She then despatched warships and troops to the
affected part. Previous to this, Portugal showed a distinct
inclination to take sides with the Allies, and her evicted
King Manoel offered to fight for them. Angola has an
area of 484,000 square miles and a population of 7,000,000.
The Portuguese Army is raised by conscrip-
tion, all adult males between the ages of 17
and 45 being liable for service. In practice,
service only begins at the age of 20. This
\ photograph shows Portuguese cavalry. Inset:
\ President Arriaga of the Portuguese Republic.
R
m.
ho
"•••^^^^^^^"^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^•••^••••^•^^^^^••^^^••ill^^^^B
^bilisation""-^^1^.8.8' ArmV un^e.r9°flfteB" to thirty weeks' preliminary training and a fortnight's training during the annual
,.?•: iT years are passed in the active Army, ten in the reserve, and five in the territorial. The quality of Portuguese
orses and the horsemanship of their riders may be estimated by this photograph of some of their cavalryman at the annual manoeuvres.
Portugal is capable of mobilising 105,000 first-line troops and
145,000 second-line. The infantry, shown here, is armed with
the Mauser-Verqueiro magazine rifle. The artillery has as
one of its principal weapons Schneider-Canet quick-firers.
327
Temporary Home of the Belgian Government
""pHE German advance through Belgium
made it advisable for the Belgian
Government to remove the State
archives and the personnel of the
Government from Brussels, which is an
unfortified city. The first removal was
to Antwerp, which was made on August
iyth, thirteen days after the declaration
of war by Germany.
Then, when it became clear that
Antwerp was certain to be invested — if
not taken — the Government removed to
Ostend on October yth. On October
gth Antwerp fell under attack by the
heavy German artillery, and the whole
territory of Belgium became unsafe for
the Government. So, on October I3th,
it removed to safety at Havre, where
it was given accommodation by the
hospitable French Government.
The offices of the Belgian Ministers of State at St. Adresse, near Havre, placed at
their service by the French Government, who, while deploring the reason for doing
so, welcomed the chance of showing their friendliness for their brave allies.
Belgian ministers in Havre. Reading from
the left they are : M. H. Carton de Wiart
(Justice); M. M. J. Davignon (Foreign);
M. P. Poullet (Science and Art) ; M. A. Van de
Vyere (Finance). In the circle is the Villa
Hollandaise, at St. Andresse, near Havre,
the temporary official home of the Foreign
Minister.
The Guard of the Belgian Government marching through Havre, which was made the seat of Belgian affairs of State on Oct. 13th, 1914.
"The Sick Man of Europe" resolves on Suicide
"TURKEY resolved on suicide on Thursday morning,
October igth, when two of her warships shelled a
couple of unfortified Russian towns on the Black Sea.
Although war had not been declared, Turkey's intention
to side with her Prussian mentors had for two months been
suspected. Turkey offered an apology to Russia, but as
she did not remove the multitude of German sailors from
her vessels, it was not accepted, and the Turkish Embassy
left Petrograd on November 2nd. The following day a
combined British and French squadron bombarded the
Dardanelles forts at long range, and a big explosion, accom-
panied by dense masses of smoke, was noticed. Earlier,
the British cruiser Minerva found the town of Akabah, on
the Red Sea, in German occupation, and shelled it.
A body of T
reputation
tha
Curkrsh infantry, with Constantinople in the background. Turkey once had the
of producing fine fighters, but they did not shine in the recent Balkan War — •
nks, perhaps, to German training having knocked the spirit out of them.
Turkish cavalry. Five hundred years ago they were the scourge of Eastern Europe, but
in recent years the Balkan States have played ninepins with them.
The Turkish warship Hamidieh,
which shelled the unfortified port of
Novorossisk, in the Black Sea.
MtUK^fW..1.
Enver Bey, Turkey's Get —
manised War Minister.
A Bedouin Arab on his steed. A great massing of Turkey's nomad
horsemen took place in Asia Minor, preparatory to a raid upon Egypt.
General Liman von Sanders,
Turkey's German Chief.
329
Deceitful Germany promises to restore Egypt to Turkey
Sir F. Wingate, Sirdar of Egypt, in
command of the Egyptian Army.
A British Camel Corps in the Soudan. Long journeys across the waterless deserts of
Egypt would be impossible but for the services of camels.
)
King George, centre figure in white, and Lord Kitchener Inspecting a battalion of
Egyptian infantry. These well-disciplined soldiers have no love for the Turks.
ITGYPT, land of pyramids and sand, was the splendid bnbe that Germany
held forth to Turkey to induce that tottering country to take up arms
against the Allies. But Lord Kitchener knew more about the defence of
Egypt than any man living, and he could be trusted to guard its safety. British
brains and money have made Egypt a land of plenty, instead of a scorching
waste, and die natives, excepting a few agitators have no desire to change their
rulers. On November 2nd about three hundred Bedouin chiefs from different
parts of Egypt visited the British Agency at Cairo and expressed their loyalty.
A state of war was officially declared to exist between Great Britain and Turkey
on November 5th, when the British Government annexed Cyprus.
A section of pur Egyptian Army on parade. They would fight to the last rather than exchange British freedom of thought for the
\) ,,, iron-bound rules of the Prussian drill-book. Inset: A representative unit of the Egyptian Camel Corps.
330
Baking Bread Behind the Fighting -Line
The British soldier on active service is allowed one pound and a half of bread per day. Unless the conditions under which he is
fighting render it impossible, he duly receives the allotted amount. This photograph shows a field bakery in course of construction.
""THE British Army's arrangements for
feeding its fighting-men were, by
common consent, unequalled in any other
army. In peace time annual competitions
were held between the cooks of the
various battalions, and this promoted a
healthy sense of rivalry which in turn
produced better work in the kitchens.
At the front there are many difficulties
to contend with — lack of proper utensils,
for instance, and makeshift ovens— yet
an officer writing home to his family said,
" About six o'clock every evening our
army for the most part is sitting down
before a good hot meal." There is no
question that our army is just as well fed
as the opposing army is badly fed. The
rations allowed our soldiers on active
service are: ij Ib. of meat daily, ijlb. of
bread, 4 ozs. of bacon, 3 ozs. of cheese,
2 ozs. of peas or dried potatoes, J oz. of
Army cooks are here shown with the loaves they have moulded and are about to tea' 3 OZS' °f suSar- and i lb' of Jam-
place in the rapidly-erected ovens. Photographed behind the fighting-line.
A good view of the ovens that bake the bread for our soldiers. Our commissariat department has been superlatively efficient.
The excellent feeding of our men has undoubtedly contributed to their high spirits in face of bad weather and trying conditions.
331
Friend and Foe at Feeding-Time
"An army travels on its stomach," said Napoleon, and the
organisers of our Expeditionary Force have not neglected to
supply plenty of food. Our force in Francois easily the best-fed
Army, that ever left Britain. The commissariatdepartment allows
them ample rations, and the peasantry heap gifts of food upon
them. Soldier-cooks are here shown preparing dinner at the front.
Captured German marauders complain of being insufficiently
fed. Perhaps German soldiers in the field may not receive
full rations, but those in Brussels could not grumble.
They had plenty of soup doled out to them in the town, as shown.
Breaking Bridges and Making Bridges in War-time
"THE destruction of bridges has been elevated to a science.
A few shillingsvvorth of high explosive, properly placed,
will destroy a massive steel or stone bridge costing tens or
hundreds of thousands of pounds. And the erection of
temporary bridges is also a scientific job that falls within
the province of the military engineers. The usual form of
temporary bridge for wide streams or rivers is the pontoon
bridge — a gangway laid across boats or barges, as seen in
the lower picture. Such bridges are made often under
heavy artillery and rifle fire, and are frequently destroyed
as soon as made. At the Battle of the Marne a bridge was
made over the river fifteen times, and fifteen times destroyed
by German guns ; but the sixteenth attempt was successful,
and the French passed over to the attack and to victory.
A scene near Lizy, in France, where, during the Battle of Meaux, a bridge over the River Ourcq was blown up, thereby wrecking a train
filled with wounded, forty of whom were drowned in the river. The photograph shows the wreck of the bridge and of theengineand tender.
The destruction of bridges by the contending armies creates a need for other bridges, and as speed in their construction is the
essential consideration, they are made of boats or rafts upon which a passage-way is thrown, as shown in this picture.
•J33
Skill of Military Engineers— British and German
A massive railway bridge of stone and brickwork between Amiens and Rouen was destroyed by Germans during their retreat
through France, but British engineers made a strong and serviceable repair with balks of timber, as seen in the picture, thereby re-
establishing the lines of communication and giving them the use of the railway for the transport of their men, guns, and stores.
The Belgians did not consider the cost of the bridges they
destroyed so long as they could arrest or impede the progress
of the invaders of their country. This photograph shows
something more than a bridge — it is a tunnel on one of the Belgian
railways, blown up by the Belgians themselves. The mass
above fell in, and made the railway useless until the German
engineers, with commendable skill, made the repair seen in the
photograph, thereby making the railway of service for their
armies. These German soldiers are guarding the tunnel so as to
be prepared for another attempt to blow it up by the Belgians.
334
London Scottish Off Duty in France
London Scottish
smarten up
at the wash-tub in France. They are exceedingly glad of an opportunity to
some of their belongings. Some have had their hair cut distinctly short.
DLENTY of varied work came the
way of the London Scottish in
France before they were brought
to the firing-line to perform their
brilliant charge. A lance-corporal
of this famous Territorial regiment
put on record some of his duties.
"At present," he said, "I am
working a telephone switchboard,
and as most of my subscribers
are majors and colonels, I have
to be civil. Before this I was a
general navvy — -shifting cases of
shells weighing 120 Ib. to 145 Ib.
each. The trains came up mixed,
and we had to sort the ammunition
into its proper class. Before that
I escorted a prisoner from one
side of France to the other — -a four-
days' job — living in cattle-trucks
and so on. Previously I had been
attending the wounded from a
battle that lasted eight days. The
entire medical staff here mustered
only about a dozen, so all the
doctors and medical students among
our men were called out as dressers,
and the rest of us took round the
tea to the injured men and acted
as bearers. Some of them were
wounded on a Monday and could
not be removed from the trenches
until Friday, owing to the firing."
Bread and jam, and afterwards a smoke, for a party of London Scottish on a French railway-station. All the wiles of the pretty French
girls failed to lure from them the regimental letters on their shoulder-straps or the buttons on their uniforms.
335
Camera Glimpses of Friends and Foes
A brave British corporal named
Crouch, whose hand was amputat-
ed while under fire. Queen Mary
sent him a bunch of white
heather for luck, a simple present
that be values highly.
Miss Jessica Bothwick, owner of the Bed Cross schooner Grace Darling, who
was the last person to leave Ostend when the Germans entered. From the pier
shown in the background four Germans fired twenty shots at her as she
hurried away in a pinnace to join the schooner. This photograph was taken
a few minutes later as she steered for Britain.
General Radko Dimitrieff, a
Bulgarian commander, who
volunteered for service with
Russia when war broke out, and
successfully attacked the
Austrians, winning official praise.
Count von Moltke, Chief of the German
Staff. Nephew of the man who won
the Franco-Prussian War for Germany,
and a favourite of the Kaiser. Is by
no means so clever as his late uncle.
Field-Marshal von der Goltz, Military
Governor installed by Germany in
Brussels. Came oft second best in his
encounters with plucky Burgomaster
Max, and sent him to a fortress.
General von Auffenburg, Com-
mander-in-Chief of the deplor-
able Austrian army in Galicia,
which Russia defeated thoroughly
and with the greatest ease.
Rev. J. Chanderlon, of Antwerp, a Belgian priest, who accompanies the horse
regiments of our gallant little ally. He has been under lire with them on
many occasions, fortunately coming out of each engagement unwounded. His
muscular Christianity does not prevent him smoking cigarettes or offering them
to the gallant men whom he cheers and comforts.
Captain Cyril T. M. Fuller, Com-
mander of H.M.8. Cumberland,
which captured a large number of
German liners in the Cameroons.
From a Royal Academy painting.
336
World-wide Echoes of the Clash of Arms
Mother Stavne, of Dormovo, In Germany, was born in 1794
and remembers Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. As his
•oldiers came near, she fled to the forest with her mother
Belgian peasant removing his pets before his cottage at
Waelen was destroyed, along with many other buildings, to
clear the ground for the unsuccessful defence of Antwerp.
•Good-bye, dearest, and good luck I" A Dutch consc
caled up before his time, bidding farewell to his sweetheart'
Dutch soldiers line the Dutch frontier to preserve strTct
neutrality.
They fought together round the German naval fort of Tsingtao
British sailor with a fighting man of the Japanese Navy.
Germany never imagined that Japan would begin operations
against them.
337
With the Camera in the War-stricken Countries
This Belgian lancer has captured an
earthenware flask in which the Germans
carry petroleum for use in firing buildings
they wish to burn.
The petrol can on the ground is carried by Germans, and
its contents are poured out in houses marked for burning.
The peculiar headpiece is worn by the soldier employed
in the task to prevent him from being burned.
Printed sheets sold in Berlin at the equiva-
lent of one penny, and showing in actual
size the shell thrown by the great 16-4 in.
German siege gun.
A SOLDIER'S PRAYER.
Almighty and most Merciful Father,
Forgive me my sins:
Grant me Thy peace:
Give me Thy power:
Bless me in life and death,
for Je*u8 Christ'* sake.
Amen.
Ffom the Chaplain-Qenerai
Aue. 1914,
The unhappy Duchess of Luxemburg, who
was taken prisoner by the Germans after
the neutrality of her territory had been
" i German soldi —
Every British soldier was given a card like this, with the Lord's
Prayer on the back, and asked to slip it inside his cap. Ihis
particular card was carried through the Battle of the Marne,
after which its owner was brought to London wounded.
General Hindenburg, a German idol who was
commander-in-chief in East Prussia, and
who attributed his supposed brilliance to
his refusal to read romances and poetry.
A eroup of prominent British jockeys who joined the 19th (Queen
llexandrV") Koyal Hussars in order to do their part in the great war
tiamst GeimanWession. 'Jhey were naturally light-weights, but then
skill iu horsemanship made them daring cavalrymen.
338
People, Places, Things that are Making History
When the Russian cavalry Invaded East Prussia they occupied an estate belonging to the
Emperor at Kommten. They made themselves at home in his enormous garden, slept comfo
his residence, and dispatched to Moscow his entire stock of cattle and horses
German The Dowager Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-
rtably in Schwerin, mother-in-law of the German Crown
Prince, has renounced her German nationality
and resumed her Russian title.
THE Duchess of West-
minster, whose husband
has shown conspicuous
gallantry at the front,
went to France, work-
ing under the auspices
of the British Red Cross
Society. The photo-
graph on the left shows
her sitting next to Sir
Thomas Lipton on his
steam-yacht Erin whilst
making the journey to
Havre. On the other
side of the duchess is
Miss Phillips, who was in
charge of the nurses.
Many members of the
aristocracy were work-
ing under the Red Cross
at the front, Lady
Dorothie Feilding having
witnessed the bombard-
ment of Alost.
AV10HS ALLEMAN1IS
gan pres venurng forth in the exercise
of his religious functions to give spiritual con-
solation to the wounded at Alost. His horse
formerly belonged to a Belgian lancer
German aeroplanes — fire on these
machines." This chart has been issued
to French soldiers so that they can distin-
guish hostile from friendly aeroplanes.
M. Tretiakoff, a well-known opera-singer,
became an officer in the Kussian army on the
Prussian frontier. He sang operatic selections
to cheer the soldiers in the trenches.
339
Men and Women in War's Searchlight
The Agha Khan , spiritual head
ol millions of Mohammedans,
wished to serve as a private.
Princess Carl of Sweden, sister— in— law of King Qustaf and,
before her marriage. Princess Ingeborg of Denmark, at work
for the Red Cross. She is third from the left.
General Moritz von Auffenberg,
relieved of command of Aus-
tria's forces in Qalicia.
" F. E.," otherwise Mr. F. E. Smith,
M.P., who resigned his position at the
Official Press Bureau to go to the front.
M. Turpin, who invented melinite, lyddite and
the newest explosive, "turpinite," which
gives off life-destroying gases.
Mr. Albert Dougherty, chief gunner of
H.M.S. Cressy, who claims to have de-
stroyed a German submarine.
Qeneral Wontners, the near figure on the right in this photograph, is the brilliant commander of King Albert's field army, who
was responsible for the tactical movements that enabled the brave Belgian soldiers to harass the German invaders so successfully
after they crossed the frontier at Liege on August 3rd, 1914. The central figure is his aide-de-camp.
340
Brave Britons Captive Among Coward Germans
British soldiers, prisoners o
DR1TISH soldiers cap-
tured by the enemy
have usually received
humane treatment, even
if several German news-
papers of prominence
embarked on a shameful
campaign to incite the
mob against them. " It
would be absolutely justi-
fiable," says one article,
" if these English were
made to feel the whole
weight of a really rough
and hard — aye, cruel —
imprisonment. We treat
them better than they
deserve." A war corre-
spondent accused the
British of " incredible
and inhuman cruelties
against the brave German
troops and wounded."
The prisoners were lec-
tured by a German major,
»-• ^^^••^^•••••••••^"•••••i^^- , ^ '3«nMBBHHnMHBHBH
if war, breakfasting in their encampment at Doberitz, near Potsdam. They were reported to be
depressed at having been captured, though they were well treated.
A near view of British soldiers who have been captured
They are included in the huge number described a
the official casualty lists. Do you recognise any
by the Germ
i " missing '
of them ?
ans.
in
who, speaking in English,
said that " at the least
sign of insurrection
machine - guns will be
brought up at fifty yards,
and not one of you will
remain alive."
Possibly the real ex-
planation for the German
campaign against the
prisoners is their popu-
larity amongst German
women. One of the
newspaper articles was
expressly written to
'• show the German
women and girls what
beasts in human form
these Englishmen are." In
no age of the world has a
sane people sunk to such
depths of loathsome lying
as the Germans to-day.
They are undoubtedly a
nation gone mad.
Another view of British prisoners in the Doberitz
(o show the German public what " huge success " haT
and shoes their own
" "
ostentatiously paraded through German thoroughfares
10 War Lord's operations. Many wear borrowed trousers
Bd during the fighting
341
Dogs and Birds that Help the Allied Armies
M
ANY "animals played an important and useful part in
the war. Many of the sturdy dogs, which in the days of
peace dragged milk and other light carts through the quaint
Flemish streets, were commandeered and harnessed to the
quick-firing guns of the Belgian Army. Such a post of
honour has its dangers, and the loss among these docile
animals has been unfortunately severe, though not so drastic
as that inflicted on the German spy-dogs. The Germans
have trained dogs to trot up to opposing trenches and give
a warning bark if they are occupied. Our soldiers first
imagined this to be friendliness on the part of the animals
and petted them. They soon realised its true intention,
and any dogs seen prowling on the battlefield were shot.
'% •
elgian dog-drawn machine-gun waiting tor its regiment. The mortality among these brave dogs has been unfortunately high.
The French war-dog Prusco, employed in carrying messages
from a motor-cycle scout to headquarters. This dog and his
companions have penetrated the enemy's lines on many occasions.
French trooper releasing pigeon with message for headquarters.
Germans in Britain are not allowed to own pigeons, owing to
the well-known information-carrying abilities of these birds.
342
The Pitiable Martyrdom of Man's Faithful Friend
pERHAPS the most pitiable aspect of the war was the
destruction in tens of thousands of man's faithful
friend — the horse. Innocent, trustful, nervous, it is forced
to assist its master in fighting his battles. A troop horse
is believed to enjoy the wild delirium of a charge almost
as highly as the rider upon its back, but the pained, accusing
look that enters its eyes when it is wounded is heart-
searching to see. Horses maimed by shell fire are put
out of their pain as speedily as possible, the Army Veterinary
Corps and its helpers carrying an instrument for the painless
despatch of all horses that are injured beyond hope of
recovery.
A great sympathy exists between cavalrymen and their
chargers, and there have been many instances of horsemen,
with tears in their eyes, giving their wounded animals a
fond caress, and then putting them out of their agony.
A pathetic spectacle after a battle.
These photographs show poor dumb heroes lying dead in the streets of Soissons.
^-^^^"•^^^^^^•^^•••^^^^^•^^^^^^^^^^^^^^BB! "SMI
Man's noble friend if slightly injured is nursed back to health, but if wounded beyond hope is humanely killed.
343
Sad Friends and Sullen Foes within the Gates
Austrian prisoners of war leaving Truro workhouse for Dorchester, guarded
by the London Royal Fusiliers. Inset: Belgian refugees with their
reet, Str
belongings in Arundel St
Like these homeless Belgians in London, multitudes of distressed women, children, and fathers of families were escaping from
their ruined towns and villages, and fleeing for protection to our country. Many of them have lost everything, and were only
able to save their lives with difficulty.
344
The Soldiers' Humour in the Field of Danger
One of our men has dubbed this field Kitchen at theVont the " Hotel Cecil," and he has put up a notice to that effect. It
has advantages that its London prototype cannot boast. When fresh air is wanted the windows need not be opened, because
there are none ; the dining-room is not so confined as the dining-room in the Strand, because it comprises all out-of-doors.
The notice-board reads " Kenilworth Lodge— tradesmen's en-
trance at rear — beware of the dog." The landlord, Sergeant
Kenilworth, is at home to all Uhlans who care to call.
With us the term " dog-cart" designates a trap with a box
arrangement behind, but in Belgium the real dog-cart is in
common use, though a British soldier driving one is a novelty.
_ ™ •••••
Cooking for the party in the trenches— a fleld kitchen in France where close-cropped British soldiers show that they"
culinary art as well as in the art of war. Sometimes the real test of bravery comes in eating the food they
that they are adepts in the
*~~~J *•-—•• cook-
345
Mother, with unbowed head.
Hear thou across the sea
The farewell of the dead,
The dead who died /or thee.
Greet them again with tender words and grave.
For, saving thee, themselves they could not save.
Far off they served, but now their deed is done.
For evermore their life and thine are one
— SIR HENRY NEWBOLT.
Britain's
Roll of
Honoured
Dead
"We shall not mourn them too much. 'One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name.'"
— MR. AsQUITHi
AA
346
BRITAIN'S ROLL OF HONOURED DEAD
Colonel R. C. BOND,
King's Own Yorkshire L.I.
Major C. S. HOLLAND,
Royal Field Artillery.
Major C. A. L. YATE,
King's Own Yorkshire L.I.
Major P. B. STRAFFORD,
Duke of Wellington's Regt.
Captain A. R. KEPPEL,
King's Own Yorkshire L.I.
Captain C. H. BROWNING. Captain A. C. Q. LUTHER,
Royal Field Artillery. King's Own Yorkshire L.I.
Captain a. M. SHIPWAY,
Gloucester Regiment.
Lieut, a. C. WYNNE,
King's Own Yorkshire L.I.
Captain W. E. QATACRE,
King's Own Yorkshire L.I.
Captain R. A. JONES,
Royal Field Artillery.
Lieut. S. H. DENISON,
King's Own Yorkshire L.I.
Lieut. VISCOUNT HAWARDEN, 2nd Lieut. A. F. RITCHIE, Lieut, and Adjt. J. A. BOWLES, 2nd Lieut. W. H. COQHLAN,
Coldstream Guards. King's Own Yorkshire L.I. Royal Field Artillery. Royal Field Artillery.
Photos by Gale <i Pulden, llcmll & fox, Lafayette, Speaiyht, Ueath, Sport <fc General.
347
BRITAIN'S ROLL OF HONOURED DEAD
Major the Hon. H. J. FRASER, Maj. Lord BERNARD C. GORDON- Capt. E. R. HAYES SADLER, Capt. A. A. L. STEPHEN, D S.O
Scots Guards LENNOX, Grenadier Guards. 8th Gurkhas. Scots Guards.
Capt. GEORGE M. JAMES,
The Buffs.
Capt. the Hon. A. E. B. O'NEILL,
M.P.. 2nd Lite Guards
Capt. M. CRAWSHAY,
5th Dragoon Guards.
Capt. 0. C. S. GILLIAT,
Rifle Brigade.
Lieut. E. C. L. HOSKYNS.
Royal Welsh Fusiliers
Major the Hon. H. J. Fraser, M.V.O., was brother of Lord Lovat, and distinguished
himself in the South African War. For four years he was adjutant to Lovat s Scouts,
and from 1910 to 1913 he was A.D.C. to the Viceroy of India. Lord Bernard Gordon-
Lennox was the third son of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon. Educated at
Eton and Sandhurst, he joined the Grenadier Guards in 1898, and served in South
Africa and in China.
Capt. the Hon. Arthur E. B. O'Neill, Unionist M.P. for Mid-Antrim, was the eldest
son and heir of the second Baron O'Neill, and was the first Member of Parliament
to fall in the war. He won distinction in South Africa. Mr. A. H. R. Burn, of the
1st Royal Dragoons, was one of the giant officers of the British Army, being, six feet
five inches tall.
Captain James, of the Buffs, was a grandson of the late Lord Justice James, and
of Sir John Millais. He was formerly in the Northumberland Fusiliers, and
fought in the South African War. In 1911 he was appointed brigade-maior in
South Africa, and on hia return to England in September. 1914, he was appointed
Brigade-Major of the 22nd Infantry Brigade. Capt. Mervyn Crawshay, of the 5th
Dragoon Guards, was one of the best horsemen in the British Army, and was a
well-known polo player. He was Tournament Champion, and was in England s
trio for King Edward''s Cup at the Horse Show, won by the Russian Army.
Lieut. G. H. COX,
King's Own Scottish Borderers.
Sec.-Lieut. A. H. R. BURN.
1st Royal Dragoons.
Lieut. A. R. A. LEGGETT,
North Staffs Regt.
Capt. A. W. M. ONSLOW,
16th Lancers
Lieut. F. W. J. M MILLER
Grenadier Guards
Sec.-Lieut. R. C. M. GIBBS.
Scots Guards
Sec.-Lieut. C. W. TUFNELL,
Grenadier Guards
Sec.-Lieut A. K. NICHOLSON
18th Hussars.
Lieut. E. R. WARING,
King's Royal Rifle Corps.
Lieut. I. VANCE,
Essex Regt.
Sec.-Lieut. E. R. C. STONE,
Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
1'hotoa by Swaine, Lambert Weston, Elliott Jc Fry, Lajayelle, Hills i- Saunderi. Bdssano, Sport & General, Barnett, Chancellor, Russell, Speaiyht, Vandyk^
348
BRITAIN'S ROLL OF HONOURED DEAD
Lt.-Col. E. H. MONTRESSOR,
Royal Sussex Regiment.
Col. F. R. F. BOILEAU,
Royal Engineers.
Lt.-Col. G. C. KNIGHT, Col. Sir E. R. BRADFORD,
Loyal North Lanes. Regt. Bt.. Seaiorth Highlanders.
Col. G. K. ANSELL,
5th Dragoons.
Major J. H. W. JOHNSTONE,
Royal Field Artillery.
Major M. E. COOKSON,
Royal Sussex Regiment.
Major H. F. F. FOLJAMBE,
King's Royal Rifles.
Capt. Lord Arthur HAY,
Irish Guards.
Capt. A. E. CATHCART,
King's Royal Rifles.
Capt. A. R. M. EOE,
Dorsetshire Regiment.
Capt. D. K. LUCAS-
TOOTH, 9th Lancers.
Capt. 0. W. BLATHWAYT,
Royal Field Artillery.
Capt. A. B. PRIESTLY,
Dorsetshire Regiment.
Capt. Lord GUERNSEY,
Irish Guards.
Capt. Mark HAGGARD,
2nd Welsh Regiment.
Lieut. C S. STEELE-PER-
KINS Royal Lancaster Regt.
Lieut. G. W. POLSON,
Black Watch.
Lieut. B. F. SIMSON
Royal Field Artillery.
Capt. G. P. 0. SPRING
FIELD, Queen's Bays.
Lieut. D. C. BINGHAM
Coldstream Guards
ISec.-Lient. J. H. SWORD. Lieut PICKERSGILL-CUN- Lieut. W. M RICHARDSON
LIFFE, Grenadier Guards Duke o! Cornwall's L.I.
by Lafayette, Bassano, Gale <t foUen, Elliott <k Fry, Speaight, Sport and General, Heath.
Lieut. A J. DENROCHE-
SMITH, 18th Hussars
349
BRITAIN S ROLL OF HONOURED DEAD
Lt.-Col. A. GRANT-DUFF, Capt. R. H. OLIVIEK, Dake Capt. D. S. GILKINSON, Lieut, the Hon. H. L. PEL- Capt. C. A. de 0. DAL-
C.B., Black Watch. of Cornwall's L.I. Scottish Rifles. HAM, Royal Sussex Regt. GLISH, Black Watch.
Lieut. H. J. C. GILMOUR,
Worcester Regiment.
Lieut. J. L. HUGGAN, Lieut. R. G. B. PERKINS, Second - Lieut. R. C. If. Lieut. G. R. FENTON, Cou-
R.A.M.C. Royal Berkshire Regiment. POWELL, Highland L.I. naught Rangers.
Sec.-Lieut. P. C. GIRARDOT,
Oxford and Bucks L.I.
ec. -Lieut. B. McGUIRE
Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
ec.-Lt. J. A. H. FERGU- Sec.-Lieut. G. S. AMOS, Sec -Lieut A G B. CHIT-
SON, Highland L.I. K.O. Scottish Borderers. TENDEN, Manchester Regt.
M. Lt.-Commander H. E. de P. Lt.-Commander W. B. W. Lt.-Com. E. T. FAVELL, Capt. Clifford FIELD, R.M.,
HARVEY, E.M.S. Cressy. RENNICK, H.M.S. Hogue. GRUBB, H.M.S. Cressy. H.M.S. Pathfinder. H.M.S. Aboukir.
Lt.-Com. E. P. GABBETT,
H.M.S. Ciessy.
Lieutenant P. A. G. KELL,
H.M.S. Cressy.
Lieut. T. E. HARRISON,
H.M.S. Aboukir
Lieut. J. G. WATSON,
H.M.S. Abonkir.
Lt. the Ron L. F. SCAR-
LETT, Submarine AE1.
Photos by Gale & Polden, Heath, Sport •& General, Lafayette, llvssell Jc Sons.
350
BRITAIN'S ROLL OF HONOURED DEAD
Lieut.-Col. B. E. BENSON,
East Yorkshire Regiment.
Captain A. 0. CAMERON
Cameron Highlander?.
Captain C. H. KER,
Bedfordshire Regiment
Eng. Lt.-Com. T. A. VEN
NING, H.M.S. Pathfinder
Capt' °V
4th Dragoons.
Capt..A. C. AUBIN,
East Lanes. Regiment
Capt. D. N. C. C. MIERS,
Cameron Highlanders.
Capt. Lord John HAMIL-
TON, Irish Guards.
Capt. W. R. TREND
Sherwood Foresters.
Lieut. 3. C. COKER,
South Wales Borderers
Lieut. A. de L. TEELING
Norfolk Regiment.
Lt. H. MOCKLER-FERRY
MAN, Ox. and Bucks L.I.
Lieut. 0. A. KNAPTON,
Royal Warwickshire Regt
Lieut. H. C. DAVIES,
Welsh Regiment.
Lt. G. V. NAYLOR-LEYLAND, Lieut. R. B. BENISON
Royal Horse Guards. Connaught Rangers.
Lieut. F. de V. B. ALL-
FREY, 9th Lancers.
Sec.-Lieut.W.de WINTON.
Coldstream Guards.
Sec.-Lt. C. L. MACKENZIE
Highland Light Infantry.
— __., mmt «» w*vivfii, ijcu.-jjieui. air u, u s
>herwood Foresters. BAILLIE, Bt., Scots Greys. Oxford and Bucks L.I.
Ph.to, (,„ Lafayette, Gale a.- PoW«,, Sport * General, Sewipaper nitrations. G. Jerrard. Heath, Lartiert Weston, Speaigkt, Barnett.
351
BRITAIN'S ROLL OF HONOURED DEAD
Major R. T. ROPER,
Dorset Regiment.
Major F. SWETENHAM.
2nd Dragoons
Capt. M. V. FOY,
Royal West Surrey Regt.
Capt. H. L. HELME.
Loyal North Lanes Regt
Capt. R. C. EVELEOH,
Ox. and Backs L.I
Capt. H. S. TOPPIN,
Northumberland Fusiliers.
Maj.-Gen. H. I. W. HAMIL-
TON, C.V.O, C.B., D.S.O.
Capt A. BORNE,
Cameron Highlanders.
Capt. A. K. KVRKE-SMITH,
Liverpool Rent.
Major Swetenham was aged thirty-eight, and saw service In South Africa, receiving
medal and three clasps. Capt. Evelegh, aged twenty-nine, was killed in the Battle
of the Aisne.
Capt. Toppin took a valiant part In the South African War. Major-Gen. Hamilton
was hit in the temple and killed by a bullet from a shell which exploded one hundred
yards away. He had commanded the North Midland Division since 1911. His
active service included the Burmese Expedition, and the Egyptian Campaign, in-
cluding the Battles of Atbara and Khartoum. He was mentioned in despatches three
times in the Egyptian Campaign, and received the D.S.O. In South Africa he was
Military Secretary to Lord Kitchener, a post he had previously occupied in India.
Capt. Home served in the Nile Expedition and in South Africa.
Capt. Kyrke-Smith received his captaincy in 1910. Capt. Fisher was appointed
captain in 1910. Capt. Grant-Dalton was at the Relief of Ladysmith, and at Colenso
and Laing's Nek. Capt. Ranken was gazetted captain in 1912. Lieut. Bailer was
killed in British East Africa.- Lieut. Forsyth was made lieutenant in 1905. Capt.
Pepys received his captaincy in 1913. Lieut. Wilkinson received his commission In
1911. Lieut. Mitchell died of wounds received on September 26, 1914. .Lieut, bills
was killed on September 26, 1914.
Capt. E. F. GRANT-
DALTON, West forks. Regt.
Lieut. J. FRASER,
Connaught Rangers.
Capt. M. FISHER,
West Yorkshire Regt.
Capt. H. S. RANKEN,
R.A.M.C.
Lieut. F. E. BULLER,
Royal Engineers.
Lieut J. C. FORSYTH,
Royal Field Artillery.
Capt. R. W. PEPYS.
Worcestershire Regt.
Lieut. W. E. HILL,
North Staffs Regt.
Lieut. J. R. M. WILKINSON, Lieut. J. A. S. MITCHELL,
Middlesex Regt. Shropshire L.I.
fhotoi by Lafayette, Heath.,<iale <t Polden, Baisano, Cribb, etc.
Sec.-Lieut. C. C. SILLS,
South Wales Borderers
Lieut. M. DBASE,
Royal Fusiliers.
352
BRITAIN'S ROLL OF HONOURED DEAD
Capt. 0. M. I. HERFORD,
R.M.L.I.. H.M.S. Monmouth
LI. -Com. Hon. P. K. H. D. WIL-
LOUGHBY, H.M.S. Monmouth.
Lieut. D. C. TUDOR.
H.M.S. Good Hope.
Lieut. -Com. H. D. COLLINS,
H.M.S. Moouiouth.
Rear-Admiral CRADOCK.
H.M.S. Good Hope.
Lieut. D. F. O'C. BRODIE.
Submarine D5.
Com. WALTER SCOTT,
H.M.S. Good Hope
The first British naval reverse of the war took place on November 1st. when the Good
Hope and the Monmouth, fighting against fearful odds, were sunk off the coast of Chili
by the German Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Leipzig, Dresden, and Nuernberg. The entire
complement of officers and men went down with their ships after putting up a gallant
flght, the issue of which went against them, by reason of the much superior gun-power
of the German ships.
Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher G. F. M. Cradock, K.C.V.O., C.B., went down in the
Good Hope. He was an officer whose abilities and gallantry had carried him to high
honour in the Service, and he was also the author of several books Born in 186'' he
served in the Soudan, in the Royal Yacht, on the Transport Service at the opening of 'the
Boer War, in China (where he was promoted captain for gallantry at Taku) became
A.D.C. to the King, and finally, in 1910, Rear-Admiral. He was decorated for gallantry
In saving life at sea in connection with the wreck of the Delhi.
Lieut. D. F. O'C. Brodie was the only officer lost in the sinking of the Submarine D5
by a German mine as she pursued on the surface the German ships that ventured to drop
a few shells on Yarmouth beach on November 3rd, and Assist. -Paymaster M W Hart
was one of the three killed and twenty missing that constituted the casualty list of the
old cruiser Hermes that was used as a seaplane-carrying ship, and that was sunk by a
German submarine as she was returning from Dunkirk on October 30th.
Lient. L. A. MONTGOMERY,
H.M.S. Good Hope.
Lieut. M. J. H. BAGOT,
H.M.S. Monmouth.
Lieut.-Com. G. E. CUMMING
H M.S Good Hope.
Com S. D. FORBES,
H.M.S. Monmouth.
Secretary G. B. OWENS, Ast.-Paymaster M. W. HART
H.M.S. Good Hope H.M.S. Hermes
Photos by Boimno, Russell ic Sow, Lafayette. Heath, Swaitu, Elliott A Fry.
Capt. F. BRANDT,
H.M S. Monmouth.
Cadet C. MDSGRATE,
H.M.S. Monmouth.
Com. A T. DARLEY
H.M.S. Good Hope.
353
BRITAIN'S ROLL OF HONOURED DEAD
Major G. E. BOLSTER, Major Lord CHAS. MERCER Major C. R. McCLURE,
Royal Field Artillery. NAIRNE. 1st Dragoons. 19th Hussars.
Major N. L. S. LYSONS.
King's Own Royal Lanes. Ret.
Cart. A. H. ROMILLY,
Duke o! Cornwall's L.I.
Capt. H. T. MAFFETT,
Leinster Regt.
Capt. the Master of KINN AIRD,
Scots Guards.
Capt. F. H. MAHONY,
Cheshire Regt.
Capt. C. G. JEFFERY,
Yorkshire Regt.
Capt. L. GORDON-DUFF,
Gordon Highlanders.
Lord Nairne was an Equerry to the King, and son of Lord Lansdowne, who, among
many other titles Is 26th Baron of Kerry and Lixnaw, created 1181. Major McClure
received his commission in 1900, was promoted lieutenant in 1901, captain in 1907, and
major in March, 1914. Major Lysons, aged 39, entered the Army in 1897, and saw
service at Spion Kop and Pieters Hill. He was also present at the Relief of Ladysmith.
Capt. Romilly, born 1877, went through the South African War with the mounted
infantry, and was twice mentioned in despatches. His father died in action in the
Soudan in 1885.
Capt. Maffett saw active service in Northern Nigeria in 1901. The Master of
Kinnaird was born in 1879, and educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge
He was the eldest son of the llth Baron Kinnaird, who owns about 11,900 acres, and
was formerly Lord High Commissioner to the Church of Scotland. Captain
Jeffery entered the Army in 1001, and was almost immediately engaged in the South
African War, taking part in the Vet River, Diamond Hill, and other actions. Lieut.
Walmesley was in his 24th year.
Lieut. Lumley was the eldest son of Colonel the Hon. A. F. G. Lumley, brother and
heir of the Earl of Scarborough. Lieut. Somerset was the only son of the Hon. Arthur
C. E. Somerset, and a nephew of Lord Raglan. Lieut. Shields, aged 27, graduated
with honours from Jesus College, Cambridge, In 1914. He was stroke in the
Cambridge boat in the University Boatrace of 1910.
Capt. M. J. LOCHRIN,
R.A.M.C.
Lieut. G. C. WYNNE,
King's Own Yorks L.L
Lieut. R. WALMESLEY,
Yorkshire Regt.
Lieut. F. L. HOLMES,
South Stafford Regt.
Lieut. F. C. LEDGARD,
Yorkshire Regt.
Lieut. G. L. E. SHERLOCK,
3rd Hussars.
Sec. -Lieut. R. J. LUMLEY, Sec.-Lt. N. A. H. SOMERSET, Lieut. H. J. SHIELDS. Lieut. M. W. BROADWOOD, See.-Lieut E D MURRAY
llth Hussars. Grenadier Guards R.A.M.C. Royal West Kent Regt. 19th Hussars.
ihi by Sport & General, Lafayette, Gale de Polden, Ilughei, Hills Jc Samiders, Lambert Weiton, Bassano, Heath, Central Press.
354
Lt.-Col. C. A. KING
2nd Yorks Regt.
BRITAIN'S ROLL OF HONOURED DEAD
Lt.-Col. GORDON WILSON, Major L. R. V. COLBY, Maj. H. ST LEGERSTUCLEY
Royal Horse Guards. 1st Grenadier Guards. 1st Grenadier Guards.
Major W. E. CAMPION.
East Yorkshire Regt.
Maj. the Hon. L. HAMILTON,
M.V.O., Coldstream Guards.
Capt. R. H. NOLAN.
R.A.M.C.
Capt. McNAB,
London Scottish.
Major G. PALEY,
Rifle Brigade.
Capt. the Hon. A. E. MUL-
HOLLAND, Irish Guards.
Colonel Wilson, born 1865, was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford and
entered the Army m 1887 He ,v ras on B aden-Powell's Staff during the defence of
South .Africa with the mounted infantry, taking part in actions near Johannesburg
Pretoria, Diamond Hill, etc., and being slightly wounded and twice mentioned in deS-
patches. Major the Hon. L. d'H. Hamilton fell in action on October 29th in his fortv-
ftrst year He was brother to the present Baron Hamilton of Dalzeil. and heir-presump-
tive to the title. He fought at Belmont, Enslin, Modder River, and Magersfontein in
South Africa. Married in 1905, he leaves a son, John, born in 1911. Captain Mulholland
was killed on November 1st near Ypres. He was the eldest son of Lord Uunleath
Major Paley was aged forty-two, and first saw service on the North- West frontier of
A^Jw T 5 n"SVpr!is™tiiat,ma1y >raP°rtant engagements during the South
African War. Lord Richard Wellesley, born 1879, was the second son of the fourth
Duke of Wellington. He served in South Africa. Sir Richard Levinge of Knock rin
Castle, Westmeath, was born in 1878, and succeeded his father as tenth baronet in 1900
He fought in South Africa, and rejoined the Service in August, 1914. Captain
McNab was bayoneted while attending some London Scottish wounded
Lieut. V. D. B. BRANSBURY,
Lincolnshire Regt.
Lieut. C. R. RIPLEY,
Yorks and Lanes. Regt.
Capt. 'Lord RICHARD WEL.
LESLEY, Grenadier Guards.
Lien4thFHussarSsVITA' «•»«'«' «"HAED LEVINGE, Lient. A. W.G. CAMPBELL.
Lite Guards. Coldstream Guards
Sec.-Lieut. C. COTTRELL-
DORMER, Scots Guards.
Phc.tosra.ph, lv Lafavette, Lanbert Wetton, Baiiano, EllMt «fc Fry, R
Sec.-Lt. W. M. MACNEILL,
16th Lancers
on,, Swain*.
355
BRITAIN'S ROLL OF HONOURED DEAD
Capt. E. 0. SKAIFE,
Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
Major P. M. CONNELLAN
Hampshire Regt.
Maj.LordJ. S. CAVENDISH,
1st Life Guards.
Capt. M. B. C. CARBERY,
Royal Irish Fusiliers.
Capt. W. C. CURGENVEN.
South Wales Borderers.
Capt. D. G. METHVEN,
SeaSorth Highlanders.
Capt. H. C. S. ASHTON,
2nd Life Guards.
Capt. T. R. BULKELEY,
C.H.G., M.V.O., Scots Grds.
Capt. A. C. CHARRINGTON,
Royal Dragoons.
Capt. T. H. HUGHES,
Worcester Regt.
Major Connellan, born 1881, took part in the operations.around Aden and in the interior
of Arabia in 1903-4. Lord Cavendish, born 1875, was brother to the Duke of Devonshire.
He was present at the Battles of Spion Kop and Colenso, took part in the Relief of Lady-
smith and the march from Bloemfontein to Pretoria. Captain Carbery, born 1877,
saw service during the South African War, and was dangerously wounded at the Battle
of Talana. Capt. Skaile had just entered his thirty-first year, his birthday occurring
on October 18th, the day before he was killed. Capt. Curgenven, aged thirty-eight, saw
service in the South African War.
Capt. Methven died most gallantly In the vicinity of Lille. Sword in hand, he leu his
men to the enemy's trenches, and was shot at almost point-blank range.
Capt. Bulkeley, born 1876, was Equerry to the Duke of Connaught and Comptroller
to H.R.H.'s Household in Canada since 1911, a post he had previously held In India
under Lords Curzon and Minto. He was wounded in the South African War, and three
times mentioned in despatches. Capt. Charrington, aged thirty-three, was appointed
A.D.C. to the Commander-ln-Chief, East Indies, in 1911.
Lieut. Ainsworth, aged twenty-five, was mentioned in Sir John French s despatch.
Lieut Pitt was the youngest son of Colonel William Pitt, late R.E. Prince Maurice of
Battenberg, born 1891, was cousin to King George and brother to the Queen of Spain.
He fought with the King's Royal Rifles. His father died from sickness during the
Ashanti Expedition. Lieut. Snead-Cox was second son of the editor of the 1 ablet.
Capt. F. P. C. PEMBERTON,
Lieut. J. D. PHILLIPS,
East Kent Regt.
It. BLACKALL SIMONDS,
South Wales Borderers.
Lieut. J. A. F. PARKINSON,
Dorset Regt
Lieut. J. S. AINSWORTH,
llth Hussars.
Lieut. J. M. PITT
Dorset Regt.
Sec.-Lt. A. WATERHOUSE, H H. PRINCE MAURICE OF Sec.-Lieut. N. J. L. BOYD, iSec.-Lieut. G.P. J. SNEAD
Royal Lanes. Regt. BATTENBERG, K.C.V.O Black Watcb. COX, Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
Photographs by Sport & General, Lafayette, Gale J: Polden, Hughes, Hills & Saunders, Lambert Westun, Dasnano, lleath, Central Press.
Sec.-Lieut. K R. PALMER,
2nd Lite Guards.
350
DIARY OF THE FIRST PHASE OF THE GREAT WAR
From the Eve of Hostilities to the Prolonged
Struggle for the Road to Calais
1914
Jl'N'E 28. — Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and
his wife at Sarajevo.
JULY 23. — Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia,
demanding a reply within forty-eight hours.
JULY 24. — The Russian Cabinet considers Austrian action a
challenge to Russia.
JULY 27. — Sir E. Grey proposes conference, to which France
and Italy agree.
JULY 28. — Austria-Hungary declares war against Serbia.
JULY 29. — Austrians bombard Belgrade. Tsar appeals to
Kaiser to restrain Austria.
JULY 30. — Russia mobilises sixteen Army Corps.
JULY 31. — State of war declared in Germany. General
mobilisation ordered in Russia. London Stock Exchange
closed.
.Murder of M. Jaures, the Socialist deputy in Paris.
AUG. i. — Germany sends twelve hours' ultimatum to Russia
to stop mobilising, declares war, and invades Luxemburg.
King George telegraphs to Tsar.
Mobilisation in Austria, France, Belgium, and
Holland.
Italy and Denmark declare neutrality.
Sir John French appointed Inspector-General of the
Forces.
British Naval Reserves called up.
Bank rate 10 per cent.
M. Delcasse trench War Minister.
Montenegro identifies herself with Serbia.
AUG. 2. — German ultimatum to Belgium. German cruisers
bombard Bona (Algeria). British ships seized at Kiel.
Outpost fighting on Russian and French frontiers of
Germany.
Rumania declares neutrality.
AUG. 3. — Germany declares war against France.
Belgium refuses to allow passage of German troops
through her territory, and King Albert sends " supreme
appeal " to King George.
British Government demands from Germany the
assurance that the latter country will respect the
neutrality of Belgium.
German troops envelop Vise, and their advance guard
approaches Liege.
Sir E. Grey's speech in the Commons.
British naval mobilisation completed.
Moratorium Bill passed, and Bank Holiday extended
to Aug. 7.
AUG. 4. — Germany declares war on Belgium, and her troops,
under General von Emmich, attack Liege. Belgian
defence conducted by General Leman.
German Reichstag authorises an extraordinary
expenditure of £265,000,000.
Great Britain declares war on Germany.
British Army mobilisation begins, and Reserves and
Territorials are called up.
Mr. Asquith's speech in the Commons.
Australia offers to send 20,000 men.
Admiral Sir John Jellicoe appointed to supreme
command of the Home Fleets.
The British Government takes control of the
railways.
1914
AUG. 5. — Fierce fighting at Liege.
Lord Kitchener appointed War Minister.
Konigen Luise, German mine-layer, sunk off
Harwich by H.M.S. Lance.
British White Paper issued.
AUG. 6. — H.M.S. Amphion sunk in North Sea by floating
mine ; 131 lives lost.
Lord Kitchener asks for 500,000 recruits, 100,000 to
be raised forthwith.
Vote of credit for £100,000,000 agreed to by the British
House of Commons without dissent.
AUG. 7. — Germans refused armistice at Liege.
Prince of Wales's National Relief Fund opened.
New £i and los. banknotes issued, and postal-orders
made legal tender.
AUG. 8. — French troops occupy Altkirch and Mulhouse.
Port of Lome (German Togoland) taken.
British bank rate 5 per cent.
French and Belgian troops co-operating in Belgian
territory.
AUG. 9. — German troops in Liege town.
Austria sends troops to help Germans.
German submarine Ui5 sunk by H.M.S. Birmingham.
AUG. 10. — Diplomatic relations between France and Austria
broken off, and war declared.
French fall back from Mulhouse, but take up passes
in the Vosges.
Enrolment of first batch of 30,000 special constables
for London area.
Canada offers 20,000 men and 98,000,000 Ib. of flour.
Official Press Bureau opened in London.
AUG. n. — German concentration on Metz-Liege line.
Two thousand German spies reported to have been
arrested in Belgium.
Germans enter the town of Liege.
AUG. 12. — Great Britain and Austria at war.
German cruisers Goeben and Breslau enter Dar-
danelles, and are purchased by Turkey.
AUG. 13. — Battle of Haelen, between Liege and Brussels,
ends, according to the Belgian War Office, " all to the
advantage of the Belgian forces."
Swedish Rigsdag decides on an expenditure of
£2,800,000 for defence.
Austrian-Llovd steamer sunk by mine in Adriatic.
German " official " news first sent out by wireless.
German steamer captured on Lake Nyasa.
AUG. 14. — French war credit of £40,000,000 authorised.
AUG. 15. — The Prince of Wales's National Relief Fund
reaches £1,000,000.
British Press Bureau issues warning against alarmist
rumours.
Taveta (British East Africa) occupied by Germans.
AUG. 16. — French drive Germans back at Dinant.
Tsar promises Home Rule to a re-united Poland.
AUG. 17. — It is reported officially that the British Expedi-
tionary Force has landed safely in France.
Belgian Government removes from Brussels to
Antwerp.
357
DIARY OF THE GREAT WAR
1914
AUG. 17. — Japan asks Germany to remove her warships from
Japanese and Chinese waters, and to evacuate Kiao-
chau ; reply to be received by August 23.
French Fleet sinks small Austrian cruiser in the
Adriatic.
Tsar and Tsaritsa attend solemn service in Moscow.
AUG. 1 8. — Serbian victory over the Austrians at Shabatz.
Desultory fighting' in North Sea.
French advance in Alsace-Lorraine.
AUG. 19. — Germans occupy Louvain.
Russian forces defeat ist German Army Corps near
Eydtkuhnen.
AUG. 20. — Abandoned by the Belgians for strategical
reasons, Brussels is formally entered by the Germans.
The French retake Mulhnuse.
AUG. 21. — British concentration in France practically
complete.
German war levies of j£8, 000,000 on Brussels (£11 per
head of the inhabitants), and .£2,400,000 on province of
Liege.
Battle of Charleroi begins.
Franco-British loan of ^20,000,000 to Belgium
announced.
Partial investment of Namur.
Russians rout three German army corps in East
Prussia, after two days' battle.
German troops invade British South Africa.
AUG. 22. — British troops extended from Conde through Mons
and Binche.
Battle of Charleroi ends ; French compelled to
withdraw.
AUG. 23. — Japan declares war on Germany.-
British Army engaged at Mons against greatly
superior forces ; battle lasted four days.
Three of Namur forts fall ; town evacuated by the
Allies.
Two Danish ships sunk by mines.
After a six days' struggle the French withdraw from
Lorraine.
AUG. 24. — Fall of Namur.
Allies abandon line of the Sambre.
Germans try to drive British into Maubeuge ; but the
latter hold their own.
Major. Namech, commandant, blows up Fort Chaud-
fontame, Liege, to prevent it falling into the hands of
the enemy.
AUG. 25. — Louvain destroyed by Germans.
Allies retire, righting rearguard actions, towards the
Cambrai-Le Cateau line.
Lord Kitchener, in the House of Lords, pays big
tribute to gallantry of British troops.
Mr. Asquith, in the Commons, 'Says " We want all the
troops we can get."
Zeppelin drops bombs on Antwerp.
AUG. 26. — British forces engaged at Tournai and Guignies ;
and hold line Cambrai-Le Cateau-Landrecies.
Surrender of Togoland by the Germans to a British
force.
Austria declares war on Japan.
German troops in East Prussia reported to have fled
to Konigsberg.
AUG. 27. — Allies retire towards line of the Somme.
British Marines occupy Ostend.
German cruiser Magdeburg blown up off the Russian
coast.
German armed liner Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse sunk
by H.M.S. Highflyer.
AUG. 28. — Malines bombarded by the Germans.
Three German cruisers and two German destroyers
sunk off Heligoland, with loss of over 800 men. British
casualities, Si.
Enlistment of second 100,000 New British Army
begins.
Lord Crewe announces that, in response to native
wishes, Indian troops are to take part in the war in
Europe.
AUG. 2Q. — French Army drives back the enemy near Guise.
German aeroplane drops bombs over Paris.
Russians invest Konigsberg, in Eastern Prussia.
1914
AUG. 30. — Surrender of Apia (German Samoa) to New
Zealand force.
AUG. 31. — Allies have retired to line between Amiens and
Verdun, the British covering and delaying troops being
frequently engaged.
Announcement of British casualties, Aug. 23-26 :
Killed, 163 ; wounded, 686 ; missing, 4,278.
Von Hindenburg, the German commander in East
Prussia, assumes a strong offensive against the Russians.
SEPT. i. — ist British Cavalry Brigade and 4th Guards
Brigade sharply engaged with enemy near Compiegne.
gth Lancers capture ten German guns.
Russians, after seven days' fighting, rout five Austrian
Army Corps (over 250,000 men), at Lemberg, in Galicia,
take 70,000 prisoners, and capture 200 guns.
More bombs dropped on Paris.
SEPT. 2.— Allies hold line of the Seine, the Marne, and the
Meuse above Verdun.
Name of Russian capital altered from St. Petersburg
to Petrograd.
National Relief Fund, .£2,000,000.
SEPT. 3. — Germans at Guippes, Ville-sur-Tourbe, and
Chateau Thierry, and preparing to cross the Marne at
La Ferte-sous-Jouarre.
French Go.vcrnment withdraw from Paris to Bor
deaux ; General Gallieni appointed military governor
of Paris.
__ Further list of British casualties in France issued :
Killed, 70 ; wounded, 390 ; missing, 4,758.
Fighting near Chantilly.
H.M.S. Speedy, gunboat, mined.
Trade Union Congress issues a manifesto calling on
trade unionists to join the British Army.
SEPT. 4.— Mr. Asquith, in speech at Guildhall, says that since
the opening of the war between 250,000 and 300,000 men
have answered Lord Kitchener's appeal.
Mr. Asquith, Mr. Churchill, Mr. Balfour, and Mr.
Bonar Law speak at Guildhall.
Two German airmen captured in damaged aeroplane
in North Sea.
Seven German destroyers and torpedo-boats reported
to have reached Kiel in damaged condition.
SEPT. 5. — Belgians attacked at Termonde and flood the
country by opening the dykes.
British Admiralty announces formation of Naval
Brigades (15,000 men) for service on sea or land.
The Germans at Osterode and Tannenberg, in East
Prussia, inflict a great defeat upon the Russians after
three days' violent fighting. The Russian generals
Samsonoff, Pertitsch, and Martos were killed.
SEPT. 6.— General action begins along a line between Senlis
and Verdun.
Sack of Dinant-sur-Meuse reported.
Desperate struggle in progress for possession of
Maubeuge.
British scout Pathfinder and Wilson liner Runo sunk
in North Sea.
German warships destroy fifteen British trawlers in
the North Sea and take their crews prisoners.
British, French, and Russian Governments mutually
engage not to conclude peace separately.
SKPT. 7. — Fighting at Nanteuil le Handouin, Beaux,
Sezanne, Vitry le Frangois, and Verdun.
The Germans, who had reached the extreme point of
their advance southward, obliged to fall back.
German war levies on Brussels, Liege Province, Liege
City, Louvain, Brabant Province, Lille, Armentieres,
Amiens, Lens, Roubaix, and Turcoing total ^28,812,000.
SEPT. 8. —Fighting along the line Montmirail-Le Pepit
Sompuis ; enemy driven back ten miles. One German
battalion, a machine-gun company, and several ammuni-
tion waggons captured by Allies.
Chancellor of the Exchequer's speech on " silver
bullets."
Serbians invade Bosnia, and achieve a victory near
Racha.
Termonde sacked by Germans.
358
DIARY OF THE GREAT WAR
1914
SEPT. 9. — White Star liner Oceanic wrecked off west coast
of Scotland ; no lives lost.
Prime Minister announces a vote for a further 500,000
men for the British Army, bringing up its strength to
1,186,400, exclusive of Territorials.
General French reports the enemy has been driven
back all along the line ; our troops have crossed the
Marne and captured twelve Maxim guns, a battery, and
350 prisoners.
The King's message to Overseas Dominions and to the
Princes and peoples of India issued. Home Secretary
takes over responsibility for the Press Bureau.
Offers of service from Indian rulers read in the
Commons.
Announcement that 70,000 Indian troops are to be
employed in Europe ; six maharajahs with cadets of other
noble families to go on active service.
Capture of German mines on disguised trawlers in
North Sea.
SEPT. 10. — General French's first despatch, Aug. 23 — Sept. 7,
published in " London Gazette."
Belgian Army again take offensive outside Antwerp.
British naval airships to make short cruises over
London.
Japan identifies herself with Russia, France, and Great
Britain in deciding not to make peace independently.
Governor of Nyasaland announces repulse of the
Germans.
SEPT. 10-14. — German cruiser Emden captures six British
ships in Bay of Bengal.
SEPT. ii. — Allies reported to have advanced 37^ miles in
four days.
Serbians reported to have captured Semlin.
The Australian Expeditionary Force captures the
German headquarters in New Guinea.
SEPT. 12. — Allies, in France, capture 6,000 prisoners and 160
guns. French retake Luneville.
Enemy found to be occupying very formidable position
on north of the Aisne, and holding both sides of the
river at Soissons.
Hamburg-Amerika liner Spreewald captured by
H.M.S. Berwick.
The Russians defeat the Austrians under General von
Auffenberg in Galicia.
SEPT. 13. — German cruiser Hela sunk by British submarine
£9.
SEPT. 14. — British auxiliary cruiser Carmania sinks the Cap
Trafalgar at Trinidad, an island rock 700 miles east
from Brazil.
H.M. gunboat Dwarf attacked by German steamer on
Cameroon River ; steamer captured.
Resignation of General Beyers, Commandant-General
of South African Defence Force.
SEPT. 15. — China allows Japanese to land near Kiao-chau.
SEPT. 16. — General Delarey shot by accident whilst motoring
near Johannesburg.
Bombs from Japanese aeroplanes dropped on German
ships in Kiao-chau Bay.
H.M. gunboat Dwarf rammed by German merchant
ship Nichtingull, which was wrecked.
Commander Samson, with force attached to Naval
Flying Corps, scatter a Uhlan patrol near Doullens.
SEPT. 17. — Lord Kitchener announces that rather more than
six regular divisions (each 18,600 strong) and two cavalry
divisions (each 10,000 strong) of British troops are in the
fighting-line ; and expresses the hope that the new army
of 500,000 men will be ready to take the field in the
spring of 191 5.
Germans again bombard Termonde, and are repulsed
by Belgians.
Grand Duke Nicholas, in a Proclamation to the
peoples of Austria-Hungary, declares Russia seeks
nothing except establishment of truth and justice.
In Tavarovo district Russians capture transport
colums of two army corps, 30 guns, 5,000 prisoners, and
enormous quantities of war material.
It is reported that German ships in the Baltic have fired
on each other — this in explanation of the reported arrival
at Kiel of destroyers and torpedo-boats in a damaged
condition.
German force attacks Nakob CSouth Africa).
1914
SEPT. 1 8. — Parliament prorogued. National Anthem sung
in the House of Commons.
Russians occupy Sandomir.
SEPT. 19. — Rheims Cathedral shelled by German artillery.
German vessels reported sunk in Victoria Nyanza.
SEPT. 20. — Loss of Submarine AEi reported from Melbourne.
H.M.S. Pegasus attacked and disabled by the German
cruiser Konigsberg whilst refitting in Zanzibar Harbour.
SEPT. 21. — Serbs and Montenegrins reported to be attacking
Sarajevo.
Recall of Rear-Admiral Troubridge from the Mediter-
ranean naval command.
Russians carry Jaroslav by assault.
SEPT. 22. — British cruisers Aboukir, Hogue, and Cressy tor-
pedoed by submarines in North Sea.
German cruiser Emden shells oil tanks at Madras.
General Botha takes the field as Commander-in-Chief
of the British forces in South Africa.
SEPT. 23. — British naval airmen fly over Cologne and Dtissel-
dorf. Bombs dropped on Zeppelin shed at Diisseldorf
British force landed near Laoshan Bay.
SEPT. 24. — In the great Battle of the Aisne, which had been
proceeding since Sept. 12, Germans reported to be giving
way. Allies occupy Peronne.
SEPT. 25.-— Australian forces announce their occupation of
seat of government of Kaiser Wilhelm's Land (German
New Guinea).
Battle of Augustovo begins.
SEPT. 26. — Russians establish their position on the railway
to Cracow.
German raid on Walfish Bay.
Indian troops at Marseilles.
SEPT. 27. — Initial success of South African force under
General Botha.
German aeroplane drops bombs on Paris.
Germans occupy Malines.
SEPT. 28. — British Admiralty statement of losses in shipping
since outbreak of war: German 1,140,000 tons (387
ships) ; British, 229,000 tons (86 ships).
SEPT. 29. — Germans bombard Antwerp's first line of defence.
Serbians recapture Semlin, first taken by them on
Sept. ii.
Emden reported to have sunk four more British steam-
ships and captured a collier in the Indian Ocean.
SEPT. 30. — French reported to have advanced to the east of
St. Mihiel, between Verdun and Toul.
Antwerp waterworks destroyed.
OCT. i. — Bombardment of Antwerp forts resumed ; Waelhem,
Wavre, St. Catherine, Puers, and Lierre being hotly
engaged.
Admiralty reports that H.M.S. Cumberland captured
nine German merchant vessels (total tonnage, 30,91 5) and
the gunboat Soden off the Cameroon River (West Africa).
Thirty-five Prussian casualty lists published to date
show a' total of 90,000 killed, wounded, and missing
(including about 1,000 officers killed and 2.000 wounded).
Kaiser's message about General French's " contemp-
tible little army " published.
OCT. 2. — Mr. Asquith discloses how Germany tried in 1912
to get " a free hand to dominate Europe."
British Admiralty announces counter measures to the
German policy of mine-laying in the North Sea.
German sortie from Tsing-tau repulsed.
OCT. 3. — Battle of Augustovo ends in defeat of Germans by
Russians.
British troops arrive in Antwerp, and legations of
neutral Powers leave.
OCT. 4. — The Battle of the Aisne, having reached its twenty-
third day, establishes a record as the longest battle in
history.
OCT. 5 and 6. — President Poincare visits the headquarters of
the allied armies.
OCT. 5. — It is reported that General von Moltkc has been
replaced by General Voigts-Rhetz as Chief of the
German General Staff.
Four German armies said to be advancing from near
Kalisch to Cracow.
Eight thousand British naval and Marine forces in
Antwerp.
Publication of Belgian Grey Book.
The Prince of Wales's Fund reaches £3,000,000.
300
DIARY OF THE GREAT WAR
1914
OCT. 6. — Police notice published regarding the more effective
masking of the lights of London.
Canadian Government announce decision to raise a
second overseas contingent of 22,000 men.
OCT. 7. — Publication of Cape Town message describing how
British and Boers were trapped by Germans in
Namaqualand.
Japanese occupy the island of Jahuit. in the Marshall
Islands, and seize Shantung Railway as far as Tsi-nan-fu.
OCT. 7. — Submarine Eg returns safely after sinking German
torpedo-boat destroyer off the Ems River.
Belgian Government leave Antwerp for Ostend.
OCT. 8. — Commonwealth of Australia announce a gift of
£100,000 to Belgium.
Squadron-Commander Spenser D. A. Grey, R.N., and
Lieuts. R. L. G. Marix and S. V. Sippe destroy a
Zeppelin at Diisseldorf.
Mutiny of Lieut.-Col. S. G. Maritz in South Africa.
Home Office issued statement on espionage.
OCT. 9. — Fall and occupation of Antwerp ; Belgian Army
and British troops retire ; about 2,000 of the British cross
the Dutch border and are interned. German levy of
£20,000,000 on Antwerp.
Heavy fighting at Arras ; German forces driven back
with heavy losses.
French and British cavalry capture German convoy
with 850 men and mitrailleuses in Roye region.
Naval and military activity reported from Turkey.
OCT. 10. — British Red Cross nurses expelled from Brussels.
Russian cruiser Pallada torpedoed by German sub-
marines in the Baltic ; two of the submarines sunk.
Death of the King of Rumania.
OCT. n. — Germans occupy Ghent.
Twenty bombs from German aircraft dropped on
Paris ; Notre Dame damaged, four people killed and
fourteen wounded.
OCT. 12. — More bombs on Paris; Gare du Nord struck.
Bombs on Ostend.
Goeben and Breslau reported in Black Sea.
Germans said to have about 1,500,000 troops in the
west, and 1,800,000 massed against the Russian advance.
OCT. 13. — Germans occupy Lille.
Belgian Government remove from Ostend to Havre.
Allies advance between Arras and Albert and towards
Craonne.
OCT. 14. — Germans occupy Bruges. Anglo-French forces
occupy Ypres.
British Red Cross nurses expelled from Antwerp.
Fighting along the Vistula and the San to Przemysl,
and south to the Dniester.
Monfalcone dockyard, near Trieste, destroyed by fire.
Mr. Noel Buxton and his brother shot at and wounded
at Bucharest by a Young Turk.
OCT. 15. — Germans at Blankenberghe.
Admiralty announces sinking of Hamburg- Amerika
liner Markomannia and capture of Greek steamer
Pontoporos (the Emden's colliers), near Sumatra, by
H.M.S. Yarmouth.
Canadian Expeditionary Force arrives at Plymouth.
H.M.S. Hawke sunk by submarines in North Sea ;
fifty-two of the crew landed at Aberdeen from a trawler.
OCT. 1 6. — Death of the Marquis di San Giuliano, Italian
Minister for Foreign Affairs. He is succeeded by Signor
Salandra, who announced a continuation of the policy of
the late marquis.
H.M. cruiser Undaunted, accompanied by the
destroyers Lance, Lennox, Legion, and Loyal, sinks four
"German destroyers (8115, 8117, SuS, and Si 19) off the
Dutch coast.
OCT. 17.- — First Lord of the Admiralty issues message to the
Royal Naval Division on its return from Antwerp.
French cruiser Waldeck Rousseau sinks Austrian
submarine.
Distinguished Service Medal for Navy instituted.
Germans mine the Scheldt.
Anglo-Japanese bombardment of Tsing-tau.
Japanese cruiser Takachico sunk in Kiao-chau Bay.
1914
OCT. 17 and 1 8. — Anti-German riots at Deptford.
OCT. 1 8. — Armed liner Caronia brings oil-tank steamer
Brendilla into Halifax, N.S.
OCT. 19. — Two long despatches from Sir John French pub-
lished describing the fighting on the Marne and Aisne
between Aug. 28 and Sept 28. British casualties,
Sept. 12-28: Officers, 561 ; men, 12,980.
The monitors Severn, Humber, and Mersey take part
in operations on Belgian coast, and are reported to have
brought down a Zeppelin and a Taube aeroplane. Other
British vessels are said to have shelled the German
trenches.
Machinery of American Red Cross ship Hamburg
reported to have been damaged by this vessel's former
German crew.
Heavy fighting between Nieuport and Dixmude ;
Belgian Army successfully repulses German attacks.
Sultan proclaims Prince Yussuf Izzedin Generalissimo
of Turkish Army and Navy.
Outer forts of Sarajevo reported in the hands of
Serbo-Montenegrin allies.
Officially announced that the Germans have been
driven back thirty miles in the western area of hostilities.
Sale of absinthe prohibited by Paris police.
Cholera reported to be serious in Galicia.
OCT. 20. — German submarine sinks British steamer Glitra off
Karmoe.
Three officers and 70 men of rebel Lieut.-Col.
Maritz's commando captured ; 40 others surrender.
Germans reported to have been beaten back in attempt
to cross the Vistula.
Forty German spies reported to have been detected
among Belgian refugees at Dover.
Admiralty announces provision of " swimming collars "
for men of the Fleet.
Tsar prohibits Government sale of vodka in Russia.
Attempted Royalist rising in Portugal.
OCT. 21. — It is announced that the expenditure on the war,
which in the first ten weeks averaged about 5j millions
per week, has risen to about 8J millions.
Japanese report the sinking of one German auxiliary
cruiser and capture of another.
OCT. 22. — Admiralty telegram to Japanese Minister of Marine
expressing appreciation of help rendered by Japanese
Navy.
Emden reported to have sunk the British steamers
Chilkana, Troilus, Ben Mohr, and Clan Grant, and cap-
tured the collier Exford and the St. Egbert 150 miles
S.W. of Cochin. (Up to date the Emden's victims total
19 vessels.)
Wholesale arrests of unnaturalised aliens in the United
Kingdom.
Publication of official despatches relative to Heligo-
land Bight engagement of Aug. 28.
Submarine £3 oveidue. German reports state that she
was sunk on Oct. 18.
" The Times " fund for the British Red Cross Society
and St. John Ambulance Association reaches £500,000.
Egyptian Government announces that enemy ships are
to be removed from Suez Canal ports.
OCT. 23. — Belgians co-operating with Franco-British troops
against the Germans between Ostend and Nieuport ;
British and French warships co-operating. Dykes cut
along the line of the Yser. German troops reported to-
be leaving Ostend.
British torpedo-gunboat Dryad reported ashore off
North Coast of Scotland, but to have got off undamaged.
OCT. 22-24. — Russians capture 17 officers and 4,150 men, n
machine-guns, 22 guns, 23 caissons, and other war
material, following Prussian evacuation of Garbatka.
OCT. 24.— German submarine rammed off Dutch coast by
H.M. destroyer Badger.
Fierce fighting in Galicia, from Sandomir to Przemysl.
Two thousand Austrians taken prisoners.
Lord Kitchener appeals to public to refrain from
treating soldiers to drink.
360
DIARY OF THE GREAT WAR
1914
OCT. 25. — Allies occupy Melzicourt.
Death of Sir Charles Douglas, Chief of Imperial
General Staff.
Portugal naval reserves called up.
OCT. 26. — Russian cavalry occupy Lodz, 70 miles from
Warsaw. Russian forces officially reported to have
broken the resistance of 2Oth German Army Corps, and
the corps of the Reserve of the German Guard between
Pilitza and Glovacher.
Admiralty announces that 70 ships of the Allies are in
pursuit of the eight or nine enemy raiders in the Atlantic,
Pacific, and Indian Oceans, including the Karlsruhe, a
German cruiser in the Atlantic, which has sunk thirteen
ships, valued at ^1,011,000, sending the crews into
Teneriffe.
Announced that M. Poincare and Lord Kitchener have
been elected to the Lord Rectorships of Glasgow and
Edinburgh Universities respectively.
French steamer Amiral Gautcaume, with Belgian
refugees on board, damaged by explosion between
Boulogne and Folkestone ; 30 lives lost in panic.
British merchantman Manchester Commerce sunk by
mine off northern coast of Ireland, captain and 13 men
perishing ; 30 saved.
German troops cross the Yser between Nieuport and
Dixmude.
German troops reported to have invaded Angola,
Portuguese West Africa.
Lieut. Prince Maurice of Battenberg, K.R.R., reported
killed in action.
OCT. 27. — French report the destruction of several German
batteries by their artillery fire between Soissons and
Berry-au-Bac, on the Aisne.
Germans thrust back between Ypres and Rojalers, and
driven out of French Lorraine.
Colonel Maritz and his forces routed by Col. Brits ;
Maritz wounded, having fled to German S.W. Africa.
Lord Buxton reports revolt of Generals Beyers and
Christian De Wet.
General Botha routs General Beyers' commando.
Heilbrun reported to have been seized by the South
African rebels.
OCT. 28. — First list of Indian casualties.
Belgian troops reported to have defeated Germans at
Ki Senie, on Lake Tanganyika.
Lord Kitchener announces that a further 100,000 men
are urgently needed to complete the requirements of the
Army.
Breslau and Hamidieh bombard Theodosia and
Novorossisk, in the Black Sea.
OCT. 29. — Resignation of Prince Louis of Battenberg, First
Sea Lord. Lord Fisher appointed to succeed him.
Russians reported to have occupied Radorn and
retaken Strykoff, Reschoff, and Novomiasto.
OCT. 30. — Publication by the " Morning Post " of the Kaiser's
letter to Lord Tweedmouth in 1908, in which it was
emphatically denied that the German Navy Bill was
aimed at Great Britain.
Admiral H.S.H. Prince Louis of Battenberg resigns
his position as First Sea Lord, and is succeeded by Lord
Fisher.
Government hospital ship Rohilla runs on rocks off
Whitby ; over 70 lives lost.
Germans forced to recross the Yser, Belgians having
flooded area gained by them.
M. de Giers, Russian Ambassador, leaves Con-
stantinople.
Bedouin tribes cross Egyptian frontier.
H.M.S. Hermes sunk in Dover Straits by German
submarine ; 3 killed and 20 missing.
1914
OCT. 31. — London Scottish Territorial Regiment takes part
in the fighting on the Continent, distinguish themselves
near Ypres, where the Kaiser is said to be with the
German forces.
German cruiser Emden, disguised, sinks Russian
cruiser Zhemchug and French destroyer Mousquct at
Penang.
General bombardment'of Tsing-tau begins.
Italy occupies Saseno. Resignation of Signor Rubini,
Minister of the Treasury, leads to fall of the Italian
Cabinet.
Turks bombard Odessa.
NOV. i. — Foreign Office statement on Anglo-Turkish rela-
tions issued.
From this date the "Peking Gazette" is announced
under German control.
Battle in the Pacific off the coast of Chili. H.M.
cruiser Monmouth and H.M. cruiser Good Hope sunk,
while the cruiser Glasgow and armed auxiliary cruiser
Otranto made their escape from the German cruisers
Scharnhorst, Gniesenau, Niirnberg, Leipzig, and
Dresden, under Admiral von Spec.
NOV. 2. — Egypt declared under martial law.
Reported that passengers and crews of British steamers
Vandyck, Hurstdale, and Glanton had been landed at
Para. Brazil, the vessels having been sunk by the German
cruiser Karlsruhe.
Nov. 3. — British cruiser Minerva shells fortress and barracks
at Akabah, in the Red Sea ; and a combined British and
French force bombards the Dardanelles forts.
Enemy squadron fires on coastguard patrol Halcyon
off Yarmouth (one man wounded) ; submarine D; sunk
by mine during pursuit of the German vessels ; 2 officers
and 2 men on the bridge saved.
Germans reported to have evacuated the line of the
Yser between Dixmude and the sea.
Kaiser said to have narrowly escaped from bombs
dropped by an airman in Thielt.
Imperial Viceroy of Caucasus announces he has been
ordered by the Tsar to cross the frontier and attack the
Turks.
Admiral Sir Percy Scott appointed to the President,
additional, for special service.
Nov. 4 — King and Queen visit Canadian troops on Salisbury
Plain.
German cruiser Yorck sunk (by mine, or submarine) at
entrance to Jahde Bay.
NOV. 5. — Official statements issued of Sir John French's
warm congratulations to the Indian troops and London
Scottish.
Russian General Staff announces a general forward
movement by the armies of the Tsar.
Allies reported to have taken Lombartzyde, near
Nieuport.
" London Gazette " announces that, owing to hostile
acts committed by Turkish forces under German officers,
a state of war exists from to-day between Great Britain
and Turkey, and that Cyprus has been annexed. Turkish
Ambassador and his Staff leave London.
German officer in Alexandria Police Force sentenced
to penal servitude for fomenting rebellion in Egypt.
Baron Sidney Sonnino becomes Foreign Minister in
the new Italian cabinet.
" Eye-Witness " describes attacks on British lines near
Ypres between Oct. 26 and 30 as '• the most bitterly-
contested battle which has been fought in the western
theatre of war."
From this date the whole of the North Sea declared
" a military area.''
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The war illustrated album
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Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11