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diff --git a/35355-0.txt b/35355-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..045c827 --- /dev/null +++ b/35355-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10505 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Childrens' Story of the War, Volume 3 +(of 10), by James Edward Parrott + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Childrens' Story of the War, Volume 3 (of 10) + From the First Battle of Ypres to the End of the Year 1914 + +Author: James Edward Parrott + +Release Date: February 22, 2011 [EBook #35355] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHILDRENS' STORY OF THE WAR, VOL 3 *** + + + + +Produced by Marcia Brooks, Ross Cooling and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Canada Team at +http://www.pgdpcanada.net (This file was produced from +images generously made available by The Internet +Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: cover--THE CHILDREN'S STORY OF THE WAR + +By Sir Edward Parrott, M.A., LL.D.] + + + + +[Illustration: British Aeroplanes attacking the Zeppelin Factory at +Friedrichshafen. + +On November 21, 1914, three British aeroplanes flew from France across +the mountains into Germany, a distance of 250 miles, and dropped bombs +on the Zeppelin factory at Friedrichshafen, on the shores of Lake +Constance. Serious damage was done, and all the pilots but one returned +safely. Another daring air raid was made on Christmas Day 1914 by seven +aeroplanes on German warships lying off Cuxhaven.] + + + + + THE + CHILDREN'S STORY + OF THE WAR + + BY + SIR EDWARD PARROTT, M.A., LL.D. + AUTHOR OF "BRITAIN OVERSEAS," "THE PAGEANT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE," ETC. + + + From the First Battle of Ypres to the End of the Year 1914 + + + THOMAS NELSON AND SONS, Ltd. + LONDON, EDINBURGH, PARIS, AND NEW YORK + 1916 + + + + + "_O hearts ever youthful, like schoolboys at play, + So be it with you in the thick of the fray; + In the crash and the smoke and the roar of the fight, + Be it yours, if it need be, to die for the Right! + While deep in your heart a quick prayer shall arise + To Him who looks down on the earth from the skies, + For those whom you love in a faraway Home-- + O! shield them, our Father, whatever may come!_" + + I. Gregory Smith. + (_By permission of "The Times."_) + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + I. A Glance Backwards 1 + II. Some German Theories of War 17 + III. From Arras to Armentières 27 + IV. From Lille to Nieuport 33 + V. Maud'huy at Arras and the Retreat from + Antwerp 43 + VI. With Rawlinson in Belgium 49 + VII. The Long, Thin Line of Steel and Valour 54 + VIII. The Work of the Third British Corps 65 + IX. Stirring Stories of Anxious Days 70 + X. With the Second Corps 78 + XI. The Indians in the Trenches 81 + XII. Fire and Flood 87 + XIII. Eight Days of Struggle and Anxiety 97 + XIV. Tales of Heroes 113 + XV. The Crisis of the First Battle of Ypres 129 + XVI. The Price of Victory and the Passing of + a Hero 145 + XVII. Tales from the Trenches 154 + XVIII. More Tales from the Trenches 161 + XIX. Germany's Colonial Empire 171 + XX. Germany's Vanishing Colonies 177 + XXI. The Story of the "Emden" 187 + XXII. The Last of the "Emden," and the Sea + Fight off Coronel 193 + XXIII. The Fall of Kiao-chau 209 + XXIV. The First Attack on Warsaw 218 + XXV. Von Hindenburg foiled 225 + XXVI. Stories from the Battlefields 231 + XXVII. The Second Russian Advance on Cracow 241 + XXVIII. The Second Assault on Warsaw 252 + XXIX. Warsaw again saved 257 + XXX. At War with Turkey 264 + XXXI. Fighting in Chaldea 273 + XXXII. The Campaign in the Caucasus 278 + XXXIII. The Battle of the Serbian Ridges 284 + XXXIV. The Battle off the Falkland Islands 289 + XXXV. Naval Raids on the East Coast of England 297 + XXXVI. Winter in the Trenches 305 + + + + +[Illustration: +THE +CHILDREN'S +STORY OF +THE WAR + +VOLUME III.] + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + A GLANCE BACKWARDS. + + +When the last British soldier, with the mud of the Aisne trenches still +clinging to his tunic, detrained in Artois,[1] within fifty miles of the +white cliffs of Dover, seventy-seven days of anxious and fateful +struggle had come to an end. Before we follow the progress of the +terrible campaign which was soon to begin, let us glance backwards and +recall in brief outline the leading incidents of the crowded weeks which +had elapsed since Germany unsheathed the sword and flung her legions +into that "battle without a morrow" which she vainly hoped would win for +her the mastery of Europe and the supremacy of the world. + +In our first volume we learned how the disunited states of Germany, +under the leadership of Prussia, became welded together into a great +empire on the ringing anvil of war. The German Empire had been created +by the sword, and Germans had been taught to believe that only by the +sword could it be maintained and increased. During less than half a +century they had grown from poverty to riches and greatness, and this +sudden rise to wealth and power had so turned their heads that they now +deemed themselves entitled to world-empire. Mighty in industry and +commerce, and possessed of the vastest and most highly organized weapon +of war that the world has ever known, they nevertheless saw their +ambitions thwarted again and again. They desired greatly a dominion +beyond the seas, but colonies were hard to come by. With the failure of +their attempts to expand they grew more and more embittered, until they +believed that they were being robbed of their rightful due by the envy +and greed of neighbouring Powers. + +On their eastern border they saw the Russians daily recovering from the +effects of the war against Japan, and so rapidly advancing in military +strength as to be a real menace to that commanding position which they +coveted. Their leaders feared that if Russia were not speedily crippled +she would + + "Bestride the narrow world + Like a Colossus,[2] and we petty men + Walk under his huge legs, and peep about + To find ourselves dishonourable graves." + +While viewing the rise of Russia with mingled fear and contempt, they +saw the British people, whom they had been taught to despise as a +worn-out and wealth-corrupted race, holding dominion on every continent +and in every sea, and unfurling their flag over one in four of all +mankind. The spectacle was gall and wormwood to them, and they made no +secret of their intention to wrest this vast empire from its present +holders when the time was ripe. To this end they had built a great +fleet, and their sailors drank to "The Day" when the lordship of the +ocean should be theirs, and the overseas dominion of Britain the spoils +of their triumph. + +But the fruits of industrial strength and armed might were slow in +ripening, and in 1911, when, thanks to the support of Great Britain, +France became supreme in Morocco and the shadowy claims of Germany were +set aside, there was bitter chagrin in the Fatherland. It was then, as +we have good reason to believe, that the leaders of the German people +came to the conclusion that only by war could they realize their +ambitions. War must be made on France and on her ally, Russia. When +France was overthrown, Germany would be absolute master of Central and +Western Europe. When Russia was crippled, Germany would have a free hand +in the Balkans. Then, mightily increased in territory and resources, she +would proceed to the conquest of Britain. + +Preparations on a vast scale were at once begun. The war lords of +Germany bent all their thoughts and energies to the task. The effect of +heavy artillery and high explosive shells was studied, and the great +armament works were ordered to turn out huge howitzers and the necessary +ammunition for them. Innumerable machine guns and motor cars were built, +and nothing that made for military or naval efficiency was overlooked. +The Kiel Canal was enlarged so as to accommodate the heaviest +Dreadnoughts in the navy; the number of trained men in the army was +increased; huge stocks of all the necessaries of war were collected. The +bankers were instructed to sell their foreign stocks and shares, and to +collect gold with which to purchase abroad the cotton, copper, rubber, +and petrol, which are all-important in modern warfare. A deep-laid plot +was hatched to hamper British bankers so that they could not lend money +to France and Russia. Silently and secretly, and with wonderful +foresight and zeal, everything was prepared for the great adventure. + +Some idea of the wonderful completeness of the German preparations for +war may be gathered from the following description of a soldier's +equipment:-- + + "The German soldier was clothed in cloth of a colour which, on + the average of European days, gave a greater degree of + invisibility than khaki. This cloth was excellently woven to + withstand weather and strain. Each soldier had a pocket-knife + worth a week's pay of a British corporal, and carried in this + pocket-knife a little equipment for mending his clothes (as also + a first-aid bandage of adhesive plaster). His boots were of + wonderfully strong and supple leather, such boots as only rich + civilians in England can buy. His valise of cowhide, tanned with + the hair on, was most ingeniously furnished with straps and + removable bolts of white metal for ease of carrying and ease of + packing and unpacking. Its contents, disposed in various little + cupboards, gave the maximum of food-reserve and + clothing-comforts for the space and weight. The order-books, the + maps, the other equipment of officers and non-commissioned + officers, showed the same skilful devotion to detail. During + many years of preparation the German mind had evidently devoted + itself with passionate industry to providing for every possible + emergency of the soldier's life in the field." + + +A spy system of the most widespread and elaborate character had been +established in all European countries. The Kaiser was assured by his +spies that Great Britain would not actively join with Russia and France, +because her people were sharply divided on an important political +question, and because they had grown so spiritless that they would +prefer to make money by providing the combatants with materials of war. +France was well known to be ill-prepared for a campaign, and that great, +unwieldy giant Russia would be so sluggish in making ready that months +would elapse before he could become formidable. By the summer of 1914 +Germany had made all her military and naval preparations; she was armed +to the teeth, and she knew that the nations against whom she had +secretly prepared were quite unready to meet her. + +[Illustration: The Kaiser in the Field. + +_Photo: Central News._ + +This remarkable Photograph shows the German Emperor directing the +operations of his troops in Flanders.] + +Towards the end of June 1914, when the army was ready to the last gaiter +button, an event took place which gave the Kaiser an excellent excuse +for bringing about that war which was necessary for the fulfilment of +his aims. The Archduke Ferdinand was murdered in Bosnia, and Serbia was +charged with bringing about the crime. It was alleged that the heir to +the throne of the Kaiser's ally, Austria-Hungary, had been foully done +to death by miscreants in the pay of Russia's friend, Serbia. The Kaiser +at once determined that Austria-Hungary's quarrel should be his; he +would support Franz Josef in punishing Serbia--that is, in throwing down +the gauntlet to Russia. This would be certain to bring about the war +which his soul desired. A little more delay, however, was necessary. An +army, as Napoleon told us long ago, marches on its stomach, and great +supplies of food are required before it can take the field. For this +reason the Kaiser decided to play for time until the harvest of the year +had been gathered in. So for a whole month little was heard of the +Archduke's murder, and the Powers of Europe were encouraged to believe +that the crime would not lead to war. + +[Illustration: Montenegrin Artillery in Action. + +_Photo, Daily Mirror._ + +Montenegro is the smallest kingdom in Europe, and consists of lofty +highlands of gray, broken rock. The Montenegrins are said to be the +finest and strongest race in Europe. They are born warriors, and their +average height is six feet. They are of kindred race to the Serbians, +and in this great war they have thrown in their lot with them.] + +As soon, however, as the German garners were full the Austro-Hungarian +Government was urged to send to Serbia a series of demands such as had +never been presented to a civilized and independent power before. They +were meant to provoke Russia, and to drag her into the quarrel. What +were these demands? Mr. Lloyd-George has told us, in the following +burning words:-- + + "What were the Austrian demands? Serbia sympathized with her + fellow-countrymen in Bosnia. That was one of her crimes. She + must do so no more. Her newspapers were saying nasty things + about Austria. They must do so no longer.... Serbian newspapers + must not criticize Austria.... Serbia said: 'Very well; we will + give orders to the newspapers that they must not criticize + Austria in future, neither Austria, nor Hungary, nor anything + that is theirs.' Who can doubt the valour of Serbia when she + undertook to tackle her newspaper editors? She promised not to + sympathize with Bosnia, promised to write no critical articles + about Austria. She would have no public meetings at which + anything unkind was said about Austria. That was not enough. She + must dismiss from her army officers whom Austria should + subsequently name. But those officers had just emerged from a + war where they were adding lustre to the Serbian arms--gallant, + brave, efficient. I wonder whether it was their guilt or their + efficiency that prompted Austria's action. Serbia was to + undertake in advance to dismiss them from the army, the names to + be sent on subsequently. Can you name a country in the world + that would have stood that?" + +How did Serbia face the situation thus engineered? Listen again to Mr. +Lloyd-George:-- + + "It was a difficult situation for a small country. Here was a + demand made upon her by a great military Power who could put + five or six men in the field for everyone she could; and that + Power supported by the greatest military Power in the world. How + did Serbia behave? It is not what happens to you in life that + matters; it is the way in which you face it. And Serbia faced + the situation with dignity. She said to Austria: 'If any + officers of mine have been guilty and are proved to be guilty, I + will dismiss them.' Austria said: 'That is not good enough for + me.' It was not guilt she was after, but capacity. Then came + Russia's turn. Russia has a special regard for Serbia. She has a + special interest in Serbia. Russians have shed their blood for + Serbian independence many a time. Serbia is a member of her + family, and she cannot see Serbia maltreated. Austria knew that. + Germany knew that, and Germany turned round to Russia and said: + 'I insist that you shall stand by with your arms folded whilst + Austria is strangling your little brother to death.' What answer + did the Russian Slav give? He gave the only answer that becomes + a man. He turned to Austria and said: 'You lay hands on that + little fellow, and I will tear your ramshackle empire limb from + limb.'" + +The object of the Kaiser was achieved--the quarrel between Austria and +Russia was now likely to provoke a European war. Our Foreign Minister, +Sir Edward Grey, worked night and day to bring the estranged Powers to +peaceful agreement, and he so far succeeded that on the 30th July +Austria showed signs of drawing back. At once the Kaiser saw that all +his hopes were likely to be shattered. That same evening he took steps +which made war certain. He ordered Russia to cease all warlike +preparations within twelve hours, and France within eighteen hours. +Before France had returned an answer to this impudent demand, his Uhlans +were over her border. + +The Germans began the campaign absolutely certain of victory. While all +the talk of peace was going on, their General Staff was poring over maps +of the future battlefields. France was to be overwhelmed by a mighty +rush; she was to be beaten to the ground before her armies could be +marshalled in strength. Short, sharp, and sudden was to be the blow; and +when France lay at her conqueror's feet, the victorious legions would be +entrained for the eastern front in sufficient time to meet the +slow-moving Russians, who could be easily held up by the Austrians until +the main German armies were free to assail them. The Germans believed +that when Russia found herself alone in the struggle some arrangement +could be made with her so that thenceforth she would not stand in the +way of their ambitious schemes. + +Such was the plan of campaign, and it will readily be seen that any long +delay in invading and subduing France would enable the Russian millions +to be arrayed on the eastern frontier, and to carry war into Germany and +Austria. Consequently, no time was available in which to besiege the +barrier fortresses on the eastern frontier of France, and to push +through the difficult country behind them. The quickest and easiest +route to the heart of France had to be taken, and that lay through the +Belgian plain, which was so well supplied with railways that food and +munitions from the German bases could readily reach the invading armies +as they pushed forward. Belgium, it was true, had been guaranteed +freedom from invasion by a treaty to which Prussia was a party; but in +the opinion of the German Government military necessity overrode all +such engagements and reduced them to mere "scraps of paper." Belgium, it +was thought, would make little or no resistance. She had but few trained +soldiers, and these were ill-equipped. She had powerful fortresses on +her frontier, but there were not enough men to garrison them properly, +and there was a grave lack of ammunition for the guns. Even if the +fortresses did resist, the Germans were prepared with a plan to deal +with them. + +So Belgium was invaded, and this terrible breach of faith on the part of +the Germans shocked all neutral nations. Great Britain had been the +leading Power in neutralizing Belgium, and she could not in honour +desert the little country which was ready to fight to the death for its +independence. Nor dared she stand by with folded arms and see France +overcome. A victorious Germany in possession of Antwerp and the Channel +ports of France would be in a very favourable position to attack British +shores. Should Germany become master of the west of Europe, the +existence of the British Empire would be in dire peril. Britain, +therefore, was compelled by dictates of honour and self-preservation to +declare war on Germany. + +This declaration of war was a great blow to Germany; it upset all her +calculations. It brought into the struggle not only the greatest naval +Power in the world, but the unrivalled riches and resources of the +British Empire. The British army which could be sent overseas was so +small as to seem negligible to the Germans; but they could not shut +their eyes to the fact that the British Empire, with its 417 millions of +inhabitants, could, in the course of time, array colossal forces against +them. In the meantime the British could, by means of their navy, +paralyze German sea-power, and sweep German commerce from the seas, and +at the same time, out of the abundance of their riches, find plentiful +sinews of war for their Allies. Our declaration of war was bitterly +resented in Germany, and a flood of hate against all things British +began to sweep over the country. + +[Illustration: German Soldiers leaving Berlin for the Front. + +An amateur artist is drawing a caricature of General Joffre on the side +of the carriage.] + +On 2nd August Germany demanded a free passage through Belgium; it was +refused, and two days later the enemy was swarming across the frontier. +Within ten days the great barrier forts of Liége were crushed into +shapeless ruin by shells of such explosive power that neither steel nor +concrete could resist them. Within a fortnight the greater part of +Belgium was in German hands. Brussels was entered and occupied, and two +and a half million men were ready to fall like an avalanche on France. + +The French Commander-in-Chief was faced by an appalling problem. With +forces numbering one-half of those launched against him, he had to await +the German attack on a frontier 500 miles long. He was uncertain as to +where the main blow would fall. Accordingly he followed Napoleon's +advice: "Engage everywhere, and then see." He engaged in Alsace; but the +main forces of the enemy were not there. He engaged in Lorraine, and in +the third week of August suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the +Bavarians, though he was still able to keep the field in that province. +On 23rd August, when the Battle of Nancy was raging, the avalanche fell +on the line of the Sambre and Meuse, where French armies were arrayed to +meet the shock. Namur, the pivot of the defending armies, fell; its +forts were blown to atoms by the great howitzers which unwisely had been +permitted to come within range. An unexpected army of Saxons pierced the +Allied centre, and the French were forced to retreat rapidly or suffer +destruction. The northern gate to Paris was now forced, and the eastern +gate in Lorraine was threatened. For a moment it seemed that the Germans +had won the campaign in two battles. + +France had reserves, but they were far away in Alsace, in Burgundy,[3] +and behind Paris. They could not be brought to the front in time to +retrieve disaster, so the beaten armies had to hasten southwards towards +their reserves. + +The Germans pushed southwards with incredible speed. The British, on the +left of the French, had been left unsupported, and overwhelming numbers +of the enemy were striving might and main to envelop them. They were in +grave peril, and at any moment the right flank in Lorraine might be +turned, and the retreating French be caught between two fires. There was +nothing for it but swift and desperate retreat, until a line could be +reached on which a stand was possible. Here and there, during the rapid +retirement, the French gained local successes, which might have tempted +them to halt and put their fortune to the test once more. But the French +Commander-in-Chief was proof against the temptation. He held firmly to +his plan, and continued the long and depressing retreat. + +[Illustration: A Hand-to-hand Fight during the Battle of the Marne. + +_By permission of the Sphere._ + +The action here illustrated took place on the South bank of the Marne, +where the Germans found themselves attacked by French colonial troops. +The Germans were soon beaten back, after a fierce affray amidst burning +houses and broken barricades.] + +Upon the devoted British fell the full force of the German shock. +Hopelessly outnumbered, and with the enemy on three sides, they +nevertheless struggled out of van Kluck's grasp, and made a fighting +retreat that will go down to posterity as one of the finest feats known +to the history of warfare. Terrible were their losses, as were those of +the French armies on their right; but they were still unbroken, and were +still capable of striking hard when the Allied line should be knitted up +anew. In the early days of September this was accomplished; the whole +Allied line lay extended from the southern outskirts of Paris eastwards +to Verdun. It had been welded into strength by misfortune; it had taken +the measure of the foe, and was eager for revenge. + +To the Germans it appeared that Paris had been abandoned, and in Berlin +men confidently declared that the war was over, and that only the fruits +of victory remained to be reaped. Von Kluck, sweeping irresistibly +towards the capital, believed that he had only wearied and broken foes +before him. He had good reason for this belief, for he could not +conceive that any armies could have retreated so rapidly and suffered so +severely and yet remain fit to oppose him. He was full of confidence, +but it was the confidence of ignorance. He was totally unaware that a +new army, fresh and unwearied, was silently concentrating in the streets +of Paris. + +In Britain there were the worst of forebodings. The Allied armies had +been driven back helter-skelter with a terrible tale of losses, and von +Kluck was within gunshot of the outer forts of the French capital. The +5th of September was the darkest hour before the dawn. Everywhere the +Allied armies seemed to be on the verge of disaster. Von Kluck was +wheeling his right in order to envelop the 5th French Army; farther east +the Würtembergers were striking hard at the French centre; the Crown +Prince, to the south of Verdun, was waiting for the huge siege guns with +which he hoped to batter down the defences of that great fortress; +Maubeuge was at its last gasp; and at Nancy the Bavarians, under the eye +of the Kaiser himself, were preparing to break through the eastern +barrier. The man in the street at home could only stifle his feelings of +dismay, and hope that by some miracle victory might yet be snatched from +the jaws of defeat. + +[Illustration: Motor-cyclist Dispatch Rider breaking through a Patrol of +Uhlans. + +_By permission of The Sphere._ + +The motor-cyclist enables communications to be kept up, and messages to +be sent to and from headquarters all along the far-extended lines of the +Allies. Adventures similar to that illustrated above were common in the +early stages of the war.] + +So far the war had been one unbroken triumph for Germany. She had +succeeded even beyond the expectations of her people at home. Fortress +after fortress had fallen; victory after victory had been won; the +capital of France was at her mercy; prisoners had been captured in huge +numbers, and guns by the score. To crown all, just as Sedan Day was +approaching and the fall of Paris was hourly expected, the news arrived +that von Hindenburg had won an astounding victory at Tannenberg, in +Eastern Prussia. The whole German nation went mad with delight. Its +wildest ambitions were about to be realized. + +One short week later there was a sudden and dramatic change in the +aspect of affairs. The Allies had made a leap forward; von Kluck, beaten +and outflanked, was being harried northward through the woods of +Compiègne; von Buelow, with his famous Guards reduced to half their +strength, was hurrying towards the Aisne; the Duke of Würtemberg, foiled +in his attacks on the French centre, was in sullen retreat; Verdun was +still intact; and in Lorraine the Kaiser had seen the White Cuirassiers +of Bavaria hurled back in confusion from the French line. The avalanche +had fallen, but it had failed to overwhelm the Allied armies. The +Germans were now, for the first time, tasting the bitterness of forced +retreat. + +Back they were thrust, but not in rout, to the plateau beyond the Aisne, +where, in a position of great strength, they were forced to fight, +against all their traditions, on the defensive. For weeks they were +besieged, but day by day their entrenchments were strengthened until +they resembled fortresses. All the courage and skill and patience of the +attackers could not bolt them from these burrows by means of frontal +attacks. Then an attempt was made to outflank them by a northward +movement of the Allied left. As this movement proceeded, a similar +manoeuvre was begun by the foe. Each side attempted to outflank the +other, and a feverish race set in for the North Sea, where both flanking +movements must perforce end. Three French armies were strung out +northwards as far as the La Bassée canal; the British army was +transferred from the Aisne to fill the gap beyond; and a new army was +collected and hurried to the assistance of the Belgians, who extended +the line to the sea. The Allies just won the race, and the Germans found +themselves besieged once more, this time on a line of trenches some 450 +miles in length. For months to come they strove to break through the +Allied lines; with what success future pages of this history will tell. + +Such, in brief outline, is the story which has been told in our two +former volumes. It is the story of the most ruthless and determined +assault that has ever been made upon the liberties of mankind in the +whole history of the world. We see master minds plotting and planning +for long, secret years, watching and waiting for an occasion to swoop +down upon unsuspecting neighbours and rob them of life and freedom and +the fruits of their toil. We see them launching millions of men, armed +with every death-dealing device that fiendish ingenuity can frame, +against a little peaceful people that dares to stand in their way. The +earth shakes with the roar of gigantic guns and the thunderclaps of +bursting shells. Fortresses crumble to shapeless ruin; homesteads are +given to the flames; temples of God are profaned and despoiled; +monuments of art and piety are blotted out; cities are shattered; young +and old, man, woman, and child, are given to the sword, and wherever the +battle has raged there are ghastly heaps of dead and dying, "friend and +foe in one red burial blent." + +Onward sweep the conquering legions, with pillars of cloud by day and +pillars of fire by night, and it would seem that nothing human could +give them pause. Armies recoil before them; but strive as they may, they +cannot overwhelm them. Victory sits upon their banners, when suddenly +those whom they have hunted and harried across the fair fields of France +spring forward with undaunted fire and vigour, and the torrent is +stayed. Then it is swept back, and soon the invaders are hemmed in by a +ring of steel, against which they fling themselves in baffled rage like +a trapped tiger against the bars of his cage. + +Such is the story of seventy-seven days of bloodshed, horror, +destruction, and woe--days which can never be forgotten while the memory +of man endures. + +[Footnote 1:] _Ar-twa´_, former province of France, now forming the +greater part of the department Pas-de-Calais. Its name is derived from +Arras, its capital.] + +[Footnote 2: The Colossus of Rhodes was one of the seven wonders of the +ancient world. It was a huge figure of brass one hundred and twenty feet +high, and it strode across the harbour mouth.] + +[Footnote 3: This old province of France lies between the Aube on the +north, the Rhone on the south, the Meuse on the east, and the Loire on +the west.] + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + SOME GERMAN THEORIES OF WAR. + + +Before I proceed with my story, let me call your attention to certain +theories of war with which the German General Staff began the campaign. +By a theory of war I mean some plan or scheme which, in the judgment of +those making it, is _likely_ to prove of great advantage, but which can +only be _proved_ to be so by actual practice. Some of the German +theories turned out to be right, others wrong, as we shall see. + +If you were to witness a field day of British troops you would notice +that the infantry make their attacks in long, thin skirmishing lines. +The men are widely spread out, and as they advance they offer a small +target to the guns of the enemy. Their losses are thus reduced to a +minimum. The Germans, on the other hand, believe in making their attacks +with their men massed together in close formation. + +Troops attacking in close order have certain advantages over those +attacking in open order. First, they can begin their attack with the +least possible delay. Suppose a hundred men are marching forward in +fours, and are about to make an attack. If they are to spread out widely +time will be needed for them to deploy. (See Fig. 2, p. 19.) But if they +go forward packed close together as in Fig. 1, p. 18, they can attack +much more quickly. You can easily understand that the quicker a blow is +delivered, the more likely it is to be successful, for the defenders are +given little time in which to make preparations for resisting it. + +Then, again, an attack delivered in mass formation brings much more +weight to bear on the part of the enemy's line against which it is +directed than an attack in open order. If, for example, a hundred men +are hurled against a front of a hundred yards, the force with which they +can assail it is much greater than it would be if the same hundred yards +of front were attacked by fifty men. Where, as often happens, troops +have to advance on a narrow front, say against a bridge, a causeway, a +street, or a defile, they must attack in close order if they are to +succeed. + +Of course, when a massed attack is made, a very good target is offered +to the enemy, especially in these days of magazine rifles, machine guns, +and quick-firing field guns, and large numbers of the attackers are sure +to fall. In former wars it has been found that troops so punished break +or are brought to a standstill, and that their attack therefore fails. +The Germans, however, believe that men can be so disciplined that, +though large numbers of them are shot down, the rest will push on and +carry the position. They believe that this great waste of life is worth +while, because the campaign will be over all the sooner, and the total +losses will probably be no greater than they would be in a +long-drawn-out war carried on by attacks in open order. + +[Illustration: Fig. 1. Column advancing to the Attack in Close Order.] + +Now let us see how this theory bore the test of actual practice. You +will remember that at the Battle of Mons and on other occasions the +Germans made massed attacks on the Allied positions, and though their +men were shot down in droves, they came on again and again, almost +shoulder to shoulder. The theory that men can be so disciplined as to +continue to advance in massed formation, even though they know that +large numbers of them will certainly be killed or wounded, proved +correct. Where the theory broke down was in supposing that the men who +survived the slaughter would be able to carry the position. On some +occasions they succeeded, but in the majority of cases a swarm of +Germans advancing against inferior numbers were reduced by one-fourth, +or even by one-third, in the first few minutes of the rush, and the +remainder were too few to drive out the defenders. So, as far as actual +results were concerned, attacks in close formation proved to be a +failure. The Germans, however, persisted in them, and this led to an +immense wastage of life. They flung away life like water, but, as we +have seen, they did not win that speedy victory on which they had staked +so much. + +[Illustration: Fig. 2. Column deploying for Attack in Open Order.] + +Another theory of the German General Staff was that no existing fortress +could withstand for more than a few days the effect of high explosive +shells hurled from heavy howitzers. Up to about ten years ago it was +thought that fortresses mounting heavy guns, and fully supplied with +men, food, and ammunition, could hold out for months against a besieging +force. The fixed guns of fortresses had then a far greater range than +any movable guns that could be brought against them, and they were so +powerful that they could, as a rule, put out of action the artillery of +the besiegers. + +[Illustration: A German Howitzer for Siege Work. + +_Photo, Daily Mirror_. + +Notice the caterpillar wheels which enable it to traverse soft roads +without sinking in.] + +On page 200 of Volume I. you were told how a howitzer differs from an +ordinary field gun. Let me repeat what I then said. The great difference +between the action of an ordinary gun and that of a howitzer is the +difference between a boy throwing a stone at a mark which he can see, +and the same boy lobbing a stone over a wall so that it will fall on +something hidden from his view. The ordinary field gun has a long, flat +sweep of fire, and is therefore unable to shoot over hills, trees, or +houses, or to drop shells on men lying close behind a bank or in a deep, +narrow trench. + +[Illustration] + +Look at this little diagram. A howitzer, A, is firing at a fort, B, from +the other side of a hill. The howitzer is invisible from the fort, and +the men firing the howitzer cannot see the mark at which they are +aiming. But a man on or above the hill can see the fort easily, and can +so direct the fire of the howitzer that it can lob its shells over the +hill and drop them directly on the fort. The guns of the fort are +incapable of hitting the howitzer. The shells which they throw pass +right over the hill, and fall a long way behind it. + +Until recently the fortress gun was master of the howitzer, for several +reasons. The howitzers then in use were small, and their range was much +less than that of heavy guns mounted in forts. No matter how carefully +the howitzers were concealed or how frequently they were shifted about, +they were sure sooner or later to be "spotted" from the fortress, and +put out of action. The explosives which were then used in the howitzer +shells were not sufficiently powerful to destroy the steel and concrete +of the forts, and there was much difficulty in discovering, whether the +aim of these high-angle guns was true. + +The Austrian and the German General Staff had studied all this very +carefully, and they had come to the conclusion that howitzers could be +constructed of such a size that they would be more than a match for +fortress guns. Former howitzers were 6 inches across at the mouth; but +before the war the Austrians built howitzers of from 11 to 12-inch +calibre. This doubling of the calibre meant that the new weapon was +_eight times_ as powerful as the old one. Such howitzers could throw +their shells from an immense distance, and could take advantage of steep +cover so far off that the fortress guns could not reach them. Though the +new howitzers were so heavy, they were capable of being moved from place +to place as soon as they were "spotted". + +Not only was the howitzer made much bigger than formerly, but new and +very powerful explosives were discovered, and huge shells were filled +with them. Experiments led the German Staff to believe that these +explosives would utterly destroy the forts, no matter how solidly they +might be constructed. How to aim these howitzers correctly was the only +remaining difficulty. Aeroplanes and balloons solved the problem. +Observers could fly high enough to see the forts, note where the shots +fell, and signal to the gunners so that they could find the exact range. + +The Germans believed that no fortress along the line of their advance +could long resist their big howitzers and high explosive shells. The +French, on the other hand, thought that such ring fortresses as those at +Liége, Namur, and Verdun could hold out for a considerable time. During +the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, Port Arthur, though attacked by +howitzers, held out for eleven months. The French saw no reason why +their forts should not resist for several weeks at least. + +From what you have read in the former volumes you know that the German +theory was right, and that the French theory was wrong. Liége, Namur, +Maubeuge, and Antwerp all fell before the high explosive shells of the +huge howitzers in an astonishingly brief time. Verdun did not fall, it +is true, but this was because the French turned it into a new type of +fortress altogether. They made field works at a considerable distance +from the old forts, and moved out the heavy guns to advanced trenches. +Rails were laid down so that as soon as the guns were "spotted" they +could be moved to new positions at short notice. Thus, as I told you on +page 280 of Volume II., instead of fixed forts, each, say, mounted with +ten heavy guns, these same ten guns were "dotted here and there in +trenches rapidly established in one place and another, along perhaps +half a mile of wooded vale, and free to operate, when they moved, over +perhaps double that front." This is the German theory of fortification, +and Verdun was saved because the French adopted it. + +Another theory of the German Staff was that high explosive shells could +be used with great effect not only against fortresses but against troops +in the field. In former wars shrapnel[4] was largely used, but in the +present war the Germans believed that high explosive shells would be +more effective.[5] Modern armies, as you know, "dig themselves in" +whenever they can, and fight from trenches. Against troops in deep +trenches with good head-cover shrapnel is not very deadly. When trenches +have been occupied for some time they become little fortresses, with +strong parapets and entanglements of barbed wire in front of them. +Before sending infantry to attack such trenches, the Germans determined +to fire high explosive shells at them, so that the barbed wire would be +torn away, the parapets of the trenches would be blown in, and the +defensive works destroyed. In this respect, too, the German theory +proved correct, and when the trench warfare began in real earnest the +Allies had to follow the German example. Months passed, however, before +their supply of howitzers and high explosive shells was sufficient to +enable them to cope with the Germans on equal terms. + +[Illustration: The Effect of Shrapnel on Trenches. + +Some four hundred to five hundred balls and splinters spread forwards, +downwards, and fan-wise when the shell bursts. + +(_By permission of The Sphere._)] + +In Volume I., page 189, I gave you some account of the machine gun +which, as you will remember, discharges automatically and accurately +some four hundred or five hundred shots a minute. As a rifleman can only +fire about a dozen aimed shots in the same time, a machine gun is +equivalent to at least thirty riflemen. It discharges its bullets in a +cone-shaped stream, and is even more deadly than sustained rifle fire. +Prior to the war each battalion in the British army was provided with +two machine guns. The German General Staff, however, provided each unit +of its infantry with a large number of machine guns,[6] which were so +mounted that they could be carried rapidly over every kind of ground. +The result was that the Germans had a very marked advantage over the +Allies in machine firing power. Here, again, the German theory was +correct, and the Allies were forced to follow suit and increase greatly +their supply of machine guns. + +The Germans have no faith in the waiting game. They believe that +constant attack is the best form of defence. It is foreign to their +ideas to wait for the enemy to attack them; everywhere and always they +endeavour to strike at the foe. They believe with the American humorist: + + "Thrice blessed he who hath his quarrel just, + But four times he who gets his blow in fust." + +In order to enable troops to strike swiftly, and, therefore, to take the +enemy unawares, the Germans provided themselves with fleets of motor +cars in which they conveyed their soldiers to the points where they were +needed. The admirable Belgian and French roads enabled the motors to +travel very quickly, and this accounts in large measure for the rapid +pursuit of the Allies. The motor cars were meant to be specially useful +in making those flanking movements by which German generals strive to +envelop their enemies. These flanking attacks, however, were not +successful, perhaps because it was impossible to transport sufficient +artillery along with the men. + +[Illustration: The Effect of High Explosive Shells on Trenches. + +A breach is made in the wire entanglements and the chief force of the +explosion is downwards. + +(_By permission of The Sphere._)] + +Finally, let me deal for a few moments with a theory that proved to be +hopelessly wrong, so entirely mistaken that it robbed the Germans of +that speedy victory which they confidently expected, and led to a long +and uncertain trench war in the West. What was this theory? + +The German General Staff believed that Paris would prove to be a great +trap for the French. They believed that in no circumstances would the +French Government permit Paris to be abandoned by the French armies. +They thought that if Paris were threatened, one of two things would +happen--either the French armies would be massed round the capital for +its defence, or they would be divided, and some would try to hold the +frontier, while others tried to hold the city. Further they felt sure +that if the French Commander-in-Chief should wish to keep his armies +undivided so that he could fight on the most advantageous ground, +irrespective of whether Paris fell into German hands or not, the French +politicians would interfere and overrule him. Then quarrels and +confusion would arise; there would be no unity of purpose; divided +authority would prevail, and France would go to pieces. + +Whatever happened, the Germans felt confident of victory. They had more +men in the field than France could possibly bring against them. If they +fought pitched battles with the full strength of the French forces +outside Paris, they were bound to win, because they were superior in men +and guns. If the French forces were divided, their task would be still +easier; and if the French politicians interfered, France would do much +to destroy herself. Such was the theory; now let us see how it worked +out. + +From the very beginning of the struggle the French military authorities +determined that they would conduct the war in their own way, and that +they would not brook any interference from the politicians. They foresaw +all the difficulties on which the Germans counted, and they fully +realized that if they allowed their plans to be hampered by defending +Paris they would fall into a trap from which there would be no escape. +While, therefore, the enemy was making his great drive towards Paris, +and even when he seemed to be on the point of besieging it, they did not +attempt to go to its rescue, but still retreated, so that their line +could be built up anew, and an advance made when the time was ripe. It +is true that a new army had been mobilized in and around Paris, but it +was not meant for the defence of the capital; it was intended for quite +another purpose.[7] + +When von Kluck was near the outer fortifications of Paris he discovered +that the German theory was all wrong. He was forced to swerve in order +to follow up the French and British, and in the act of swerving he was +caught, and forced to retreat. Thus that rapid success in the West which +was the very keynote of the German plan of campaign was rendered +impossible. + +[Footnote 4: See Vol. I., p. 197.] + +[Footnote 5: See diagrams on the following pages.] + +[Footnote 6: It was said that the Germans had 56,000 machine guns at +the beginning of the war.] + +[Footnote 7: See Vol. II., p. 201.] + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + FROM ARRAS TO ARMENTIÈRES. + + +In Chapter XXXIII. of Volume II. you read something of the race for the +sea. When I broke off the story the position of the Allies was as +follows. Northwards from Compiègne to Lassigny extended the left wing of +Maunoury's army. Still farther north, as far as the Somme, lay de +Castelnau's army. Beyond it was the army of Maud'huy, which ultimately +extended to the canal between Béthune and Lille. The British army was in +process of being transferred from the Aisne to a position north of this +canal. It was destined to fill the gap from the canal to the north of +Ypres. The Belgians, assisted by the French, were to complete the line +along the Yser to the North Sea. + +Now the movements by which the various armies of the Allies swung into +these positions are very difficult to follow, and you must give me all +your attention if you are to have clear ideas about them. First of all, +we must know something about the character of country in which the war +was to be waged for many months to come. Within this region there are +several important towns which are mentioned in your geography books. +There are also numberless villages which are quite unimportant in +themselves, but have become world-renowned because they have been the +scene of great and stirring incidents. I shall mention these villages as +they occur in the course of the story, but the general character of the +country and the position and importance of the larger towns I must deal +with now. Do not begrudge the time given to this and the following +chapter. It will enable you to follow with intelligent interest the +story hereafter to be told; and to picture for yourselves the scenes +amidst which some of the most terrible struggles in all history have +taken place. + +Most of the region from the Somme to the mouth of the Yser is comprised +within the two French departments of Pas-de-Calais and Nord, and the +Belgian province of West Flanders. Pas-de-Calais is the French +equivalent for the Strait of Dover, and the department is so called +because its shores are mainly washed by that narrow neck of sea. The +department of Nord lies to the north and east of Pas-de-Calais, and +merges into the Belgian province of West Flanders. + +Nearly the whole of it is a plain, and much of it is as flat as the Fen +district of Lincolnshire. A line of low heights runs south-east from +Gris Nez,[8] and forms the watershed between the rivers running to the +North Sea and those which empty themselves into the English Channel. The +most important river of the region is the Lys, a tributary of the +Scheldt. It rises in the heights just mentioned, and winds across the +country north-eastwards to join the Scheldt at Ghent. Notice very +carefully the course of this river, for it crosses the country almost +midway between the two most important towns in the region from the +Scarpe to Nieuport--the French city of Lille, and the Flemish city of +Ypres. + +[Illustration: Bird's-eye View of the Country from Arras to the Sea.] + +From Arras to the sea near Ostend is a distance of over sixty miles. +Nearly the whole of this stretch of country is a dead level. There is a +crescent of low heights south of Ypres, but elsewhere, save at and near +Cassel, about eighteen miles west of Ypres, there is not a hill worth +mention. The hill of Cassel rises suddenly from the plain to a height of +515 feet, and from the summit there is a very extensive view. It is said +that thirty-two towns and a hundred villages can be seen from this +windmill-studded hill. What is called the Mont des Cats is about the +same height as the hill of Cassel. It stands almost on the frontier, to +the south-west of Ypres, and was of the greatest importance to the +Allies, for it was the key to their position north of the Lys. + +[Illustration: Brothers in Arms. + +_Photo, Alfieri._ + +A British and a French soldier chatting together in Flanders.] + +I have already told you something of the ancient and beautiful city of +Arras.[9] It is the capital of the department of Pas-de-Calais, and +stands on the Scarpe, a tributary of the Scheldt. The old province of +Artois, of which it was the capital, has changed hands very often during +the course of its long and warlike history. It has been successively +French, Burgundian, Flemish, Burgundian, German, and Spanish, and it +finally came into the possession of France in 1640. You will remember +that Arras, the capital, was formerly famous for the tapestry hangings +known by its name. The manufacture, however, has long been extinct, and +the city has now such varied industries as soap, oil, cast iron, salt, +sugar refining, lace making, and the manufacture of agricultural +implements. It is also one of the chief grain markets of France. + +Arras, as you will observe from the map on page 28, stands in a gap in +the line of hills which I have mentioned as forming the watershed. +Through this gap run the river Scarpe, many roads, and the main railway +from Liége by way of Namur, Mons, and Valenciennes to the Channel ports. +An enemy striving to push westwards to the English Channel would +naturally strive to gain possession of Arras because of its convenient +road and railway communications. + +Arras was formerly a beautiful little city, but it stands on the edge of +perhaps the ugliest stretch of country on earth. Ten miles north of it +is the town of Lens, south of which the Black Country of France begins. +I have already told you that the Sambre cuts through an important +coalfield. This coalfield is continued west into North France as far as +the right bank of the Lys. The area of the coal-bearing region in +Pas-de-Calais is about 240 square miles, and its yield is about twenty +million tons per annum, which is about one-half of the total yearly +output of France, but not a twelfth part of the annual production of +Great Britain. You may be sure that this coal-bearing area is a busy and +grimy region of pits and factories, much like the coal-mining parts of +Lancashire or the West Riding of Yorkshire. There are the same +straggling towns of mean houses merging into one another, the same +mounds of refuse topped by the head-gear of pits, the same dirty roads, +the same factory buildings, and the same criss-cross of railways and +canals. The Lys, like the Irwell and the Aire, is black and foul with +the grime of industry. + +Béthune, which may be said to mark the western limit of the coalfield, +has numerous pits in the neighbourhood, and a variety of industries such +as are usually found in towns similarly situated. It stands twenty miles +west-south-west of Lille, and is connected with it by an important canal +which runs almost directly east to La Bassée for about seven miles. +Beyond La Bassée the canal continues its eastward course for another +four miles, and then unites with a canal system running north-eastward +to Lille. Along both sides of the canal there are important railway +lines connecting Lille with Béthune and the Channel ports. + +La Bassée is a small manufacturing town of 4,800 inhabitants, with no +special features to distinguish it from dozens of others in this +industrial region, but owing to its military importance in the present +war it will henceforth enjoy a fame which many a city of old renown +might envy. You already know that the canal from Béthune to La Bassée +was chosen as the dividing line between Maud'huy's army and the British +forces. The point where two Allied armies join hands is always +considered to be the weakest part of any defensive position. You will +learn, as the story proceeds, that the Germans made the most determined +efforts to break through the sally-port of La Bassée, and that the +British strove with all their might to push through the German lines in +the same neighbourhood, so as to cut the railway by which the enemy was +able to move his troops rapidly from north to south, and _vice versâ_. + +Another industrial town in this region which must detain us for a moment +is Armentières,[10] which stands on the Lys about ten miles north of La +Bassée. Before the war it was a busy and prosperous place, with a +population of some 29,000. Its chief manufactures were cloth and table +linen. The Belgian frontier meets the Lys near Armentières, and +continues north-eastward along the left bank of the river. + +[Footnote 8: _Gree-nay_ (gray nose), headland of Pas-de-Calais, the +nearest point of the French shore to that of England (South Foreland).] + + +[Footnote 9: See Vol. II., p. 127] + +[Footnote 10: _Ar-mon-te-air´_ (_n_ nasal).] + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + FROM LILLE TO NIEUPORT. + + +By far the most important place between the Aisne and the coast of +Belgium is Lille, which is less than eight miles from Armentières. In +Lille we find ourselves in a city of more than 200,000 inhabitants, +which was formerly the capital of French Flanders. It stands in the +well-watered and very fertile plain of the Deule,[11] a navigable +tributary of the Lys, and is connected with all the rivers of the +district by a bewildering network of canals. Formerly it was considered +to be a fortress of the first class, and its citadel was said to be the +masterpiece of Vauban,[12] the great military engineer. He was a soldier +of the Spanish army, who was taken prisoner by the French, and was +induced by them to join the French service. His life was chiefly spent +in making and besieging fortresses. He conducted no less than forty +sieges, took part in more than three hundred combats, and built or +helped to build one hundred and sixty fortresses. + +For ages Lille has been a storm-centre of war. It has been so frequently +mishandled by besiegers that the Church of St. Maurice is the only +building of importance which has survived from the Middle Ages. Lille is +the greatest industrial centre of North France, and its linen, woollen, +and cotton factories, its oil and sugar refineries, its chemical works +and great engineering and motor shops are of the utmost importance. It +is a handsome place, with many fine public buildings, and its picture +gallery is famous all over Europe because it contains some of the best +work of the Flemish and Dutch schools. + +You can now understand why Lille is a great prize of war. We shall read +later that it was captured by the Germans. Its loss was a great blow to +the Allies, because it not only controls seven railway lines and a great +network of roads, but contains engineering and motor shops, which +enabled the enemy to carry out important repairs and to manufacture many +necessary implements of war within a mile or two of his front. Further, +when Lille was lost, the proceeds of its manufacturing activity went to +the Germans, and this rich, busy city thenceforth contributed nothing to +the war expenses of France. + +A little to the north-east of Lille are two other large manufacturing +towns in the midst of one of the busiest industrial districts of France. +Roubaix[13] is the first of these, and Tourcoing[14] is the second. In +Belgium, a few miles north-west of Tourcoing, is the much smaller +industrial town of Menin,[15] which stands on the Lys where the main +road from Bruges crosses the river on the way to Lille. + +North of the Lys we are in another world. We have left behind us the +ugly pit mounds, the grimy towns, and the smoke of factories. We are now +in West Flanders, in a countryside of market gardens, where every inch +of ground is closely tilled, and the fields are laid out like a +chessboard. There are many patches of woodland, some of them, such as +the Forest of Houthulst, six or seven miles north of Ypres, being fairly +large. West Flanders is not naturally fertile, but its dairy farmers and +market gardeners, by dint of the greatest industry, have turned it into +a rich and productive land. Six or seven hundred years ago its wealth +came from a different source. Its cities were then bustling hives, in +which most of the woollen cloth used in Europe was spun and woven. + +[Illustration: The Cloth Hall at Ypres before Bombardment.] + +The busiest and wealthiest of these cities was Ypres, which stands about +twelve miles north of Armentières. In the thirteenth and fourteenth +centuries there were some four hundred guilds of cloth manufacturers in +the place, and its people numbered more than 200,000. So famous was its +cloth that we find the English poet Chaucer[16] referring to it in his +_Canterbury Tales_. His Wife of Bath, who was one of the pilgrims, was a +cloth manufacturer, and Chaucer tells us that her wares "passed them of +Ypres and of Gaunt" (Ghent). Before the war broke out Ypres was a little +town of less than 18,000 people, and its industries were represented by +its butter market and its small manufactures of lace and linen. But +within it, as in the other ancient cities of Belgium, were some of the +most glorious old buildings in all the world--the houses of the rich old +burghers, the halls in which they met to transact their business, and +the churches in which they thanked God for their prosperity. They spent +their money lavishly on these buildings and filled them with treasures +of art. + +The glory of Ypres, prior to the war, was the Cloth Hall, the largest +and finest edifice of its kind in Belgium. It was begun in 1200, and was +more than a hundred years a-building. The front was 433 feet in length, +and the building consisted of three stories, with a high-pitched roof +broken by dormer windows. The niches of the top story were filled with +statues of Flemish counts and celebrated inhabitants of the city. On the +south side rose a massive belfry, with pinnacles at the angles. The east +side of the hall was formed by the so-called Nieuwerk, one of the most +beautiful buildings of its kind. I am obliged to describe the Cloth Hall +of Ypres in the past tense, for unhappily it is now in ruins. Ypres had +also a very fine cathedral, a meat hall, and a large number of old +houses with carved wooden fronts. They, too, have been destroyed, more +or less, by shot and shell. + +In the days of its greatness Ypres, like Manchester of to-day, needed a +waterway to the sea, so that it could rapidly and cheaply import wool +from abroad, and export its finished cloth to distant markets. Ypres +stands on a little river which is a tributary of the river Yser, a +stream almost unknown to Britons before the war began, but now inscribed +on the pages of history. The Yser rises to the west of Cassel, and flows +in a curving course to enter the sea near Nieuport. A canal was cut from +Ypres to the Yser, which was itself canalized, and thus the city +provided itself with a waterway to the sea. + +On the canal, twelve or thirteen miles north of Ypres, is the village of +Dixmude,[17] which is also one of the "dead cities" of Belgium. Its +fine Grand' Place, its noble Church of St. Nicholas, its Gothic town +hall, and its heavily shuttered stone houses, show us that it was +formerly a place of wealth and importance. Now, says a recent writer, +"its eleven hundred inhabitants might easily stand in a corner of the +Grand' Place. The passer-by--there is rarely more than one--disturbs the +silence, and one hears scarcely any sounds save the chimes in the tower +or the cooing of doves on the cornices." Alas! since the tide of war +rolled into this part of Belgium, those inhabitants who remain have +continuously been deafened by the roar of great guns, and the towers +from which the chimes rang out and the cornices on which the doves cooed +have been levelled with the ground. + +Nieuport, the outport of Ypres, is the last of the towns in this region +to which I shall call your attention. It stands about two miles from the +mouth of the Yser, and, like Ypres and Dixmude, is only a relic of what +it once was. About 4,000 people were dwelling in it before the war broke +out, but its long, silent streets, with their massive houses, showed +plainly that it was formerly a populous and busy place. In the +thirteenth and fourteenth centuries its quays were thronged with ships +discharging wool from England for the looms of Ypres, or filling their +holds with the fine cloth made in the old city. Before the war, Nieuport +still retained its cloth hall, town hall, and venerable Gothic church as +memorials of this busy and prosperous time. When the trade of Ypres +departed, Nieuport fell into decline. Prior to the war it was a small, +quiet place, visited by a few ships and by occasional tourists. +Everybody knows it now as the scene of battles which will change the +destiny of the world. Beyond Nieuport are the great sand dunes which +line the coast of Belgium, and extend as far west as Calais. From the +top of the dunes we look out on the restless and shallow waters of the +North Sea. + +We have now traversed the region over which warfare was to rage for many +months to come. + + * * * * * + +Before I close this chapter, let me remind you that the whole region +between Arras and the North Sea is filled with historical memories of +former warfare. This is by no means the first time that the British have +fought in West Flanders and Artois. Marlborough,[18] for example, fought +the greatest of his campaigns in this region, during the long struggle +between Louis XIV. of France and the allied forces of England, Holland, +and Austria. I am going to tell you about these campaigns in some +detail, because they have features greatly resembling those of the +present struggle. + +Marlborough's great aim, was to recapture the valleys of the Lys and the +Scheldt, which in the year 1708 were in the possession of the French. +These rivers were then all-important, because they were the great lines +of communication for armies fighting in Flanders and North France. It +was by means of the rivers that food and munitions were brought to the +soldiers and the heavy guns were moved from place to place. What +railways are to modern commanders, navigable rivers were to generals in +the long ages before steam. + +All the fortresses on the Scheldt were in the hands of the French, +except Oudenarde,[19] which you will find on the accompanying map, +thirty miles to the east of Ypres. At the time when our story opens, +Oudenarde was about to be attacked by the French. Marlborough made a +wonderful forced march, and fell upon them as they were advancing +towards the fortress. By nightfall on July 11, 1708, he had won a great +victory, and the remnants of the French army had fallen back in disorder +to Ghent. While Marlborough was waiting for reinforcements to come up, +some of his troops seized a French position near Ypres, and his main +army encamped near Menin. + +Marlborough now proposed to besiege Lille, the greatest fortress on the +road to Paris. He could not bring his siege train by way of the river, +so it had to lumber slowly along the roads, and while doing so was in +great danger of being captured by the enemy. Thanks, however, to his +skilful arrangements, his heavy guns arrived safely, and then the siege +began in real earnest. Lille was very strongly fortified, and was +garrisoned by 15,000 men. While the siege was in progress a French army +of more than 100,000 men marched to its succour; but so strongly was +Marlborough posted that it did not dare to attack him. Instead of doing +so it fell back behind the Scheldt, so as to cut off Marlborough's +forces from Brussels. As, however, he still held Ostend, he was able to +get supplies from England. + +The French now tried to seize Ostend, so that Marlborough might be cut +off from the sea and bottled up. He sent forces against them; but the +French fell back before him and opened the sluices of the canals, thus +flooding much of the country between him and the sea. A little later +they succeeded in capturing Nieuport, and Marlborough was cut off from +Ostend. + +On 9th December Lille surrendered after the garrison had lost 8,000 men, +and the besiegers not less than 14,000. Marlborough also captured Ghent, +and at the end of December 1708 the French left Flanders altogether, and +retired into their own territory. Thus the valleys of the Lys and +Scheldt were recovered. + +[Illustration: Map illustrating Marlborough's Campaigns in Artois and +West Flanders.] + +Before I proceed with the story of Marlborough's campaigns, let me point +out that during the race to the sea there was a similar struggle between +the Allies and the Germans for the possession of the same valleys. The +Allies were hastening north in order to push across the Lys and Scheldt +and cut the German communications. Unhappily the Germans moved +northwards so rapidly that this was impossible. Further, when Antwerp +fell, a German army was released which made a great effort to outflank +the Allies by way of the coast. Each side foiled the other, and the +result was the long trench war which will be described in future pages. + +Now let us return to our muttons. In the spring of 1709 Marlborough, who +was now in possession of Lille proposed to march on Paris. The French +knew that if he could seize Arras he would possess the gate to the +capital. They therefore prepared to block his way by strongly +entrenching themselves on a line extending from Douai,[20] which lies on +the Scarpe about fourteen miles north-east of Arras, to Béthune. These +trenches passed through La Bassée, where, as you know, the French and +the British joined hands during the race to the sea in October 1914. +Marlborough found these lines too strong to be carried by direct +assault, so he turned aside and besieged Tournai, the town in which +French Territorials, assisted by a British battery, made a very gallant +stand on August 24, 1914.[21] Tournai surrendered after a siege of about +thirty-seven days, and then Marlborough marched on Mons, the place where +von Kluck, on August 23, 1914, vainly endeavoured to overwhelm the +British.[22] + +[Illustration: The Battle of Malplaquet (September 11, 1709). + +(_From the picture by Jan van Huchtenburgh_).] + +While Marlborough was besieging Mons, the French, fearing that the +fortress would suffer the fate of Lille and Tournai, marched an army +against him. They entrenched themselves in a strong position on the edge +of the broken and wooded country which fills the angle between two small +rivers which unite at Mons, and were there attacked by Marlborough on +September 11, 1709. After what he calls "a very murderous battle" the +French were outflanked and their centre was broken through. The British +encamped the following night on the French position, but they had lost +so many men that they were unable to advance any further that year. You +will find this victory referred to in your history books as the Battle +of Malplaquet.[23] + +[Illustration: John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough. + +(_Photo by Walker and Cockerell, from the painting in the National +Portrait Gallery._)] + +In April 1710 the campaign was resumed. Douai was captured, but Arras +and the road to France were found to be protected by a line of trenches +which foiled even Marlborough. Béthune and other places fell into his +hands; but during the winter the French extended their trenches from +Namur on the east right to the coast, and the barrier seemed +impregnable. In 1711, however, Marlborough carried out a series of +movements which are said to be the most wonderful in the whole history +of tactics. Early in August he approached the French lines as if about +to attack Arras. The French massed their forces to meet him, and in +order to do so had to weaken their hold on the trenches farther east. +Suddenly, on the same night, Marlborough made a forced march of thirteen +leagues to the left. Many of his men dropped from fatigue, but with the +remainder he seized a portion of the trenches, and was behind the French +lines while the French army was still awaiting his attack on Arras. He +had completely outwitted the French general, though, for various +reasons, he was unable to take further advantage of his success. + +The French trenches of which you have just read ran, roughly, east and +west, and were meant to stop an advance on Paris from the north. During +the race to the sea the rival armies were moving from the south to the +north. Each was trying to outflank the other. The Allies wished to +strike eastwards, and the Germans westwards, and the result was that the +lines of trenches in which they opposed each other ran from north to +south. + +[Footnote 11: _Dool._] + +[Footnote 12: _Vō-bān´_, born 1633, died 1707.] + +[Footnote 13: _Roo-bay´._] + +[Footnote 14: _Toor-kwan´_ (_n_ nasal).] + +[Footnote 15: _Meh-nan´_ (_n_ nasal).] + +[Footnote 16: Chaucer, "the morning star of English song," born 1340, +died 1400.] + +[Footnote 17: _Diks-müd´._] + +[Footnote 18: The most brilliant, and perhaps the greatest, of all +English generals, specially famous for his genius in tactics; born 1650, +died 1722. (See _Highroads of History_, Book VI., Chaps. VII. and +VIII.). Mr. Winston Churchill (First Lord of the Admiralty from October +1911 to May 1915) is a direct descendant of the great general.] + +[Footnote 19: _Ow-den-ar´deh._] + +[Footnote 20: _Doo-ay´._] + +[Footnote 21: See Vol. II., p. 107.] + +[Footnote 22: See Vol. II., pp. 26 ff.] + +[Footnote 23: _Mal-Pla-kay´._] + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + MAUD'HUY AT ARRAS, AND THE RETREAT FROM ANTWERP. + + +Two hundred and three years after Marlborough vainly tried to capture +Arras, that little historic town became once more a prize for which +rival forces strove fiercely. Marlborough coveted it because it was, as +Louis XIV. styled it, the true gateway to Paris. The Germans, who were +now to make a great effort to seize it, desired its possession because +it would enable them to outflank Maud'huy's army and seize the Channel +ports. + +Arras had already been in German hands. During von Kluck's rush on Paris +his troops drove out the weak French forces holding the city,[24] and +occupied it up to the middle of September. When, however, the deadlock +occurred on the Aisne, they withdrew from the quaint old place without +doing it very much harm. + +It was on the last day of September 1914 that Maud'huy began to extend +his army beyond that of de Castelnau. Soon his left was at Lens, and his +cavalry was scouring the country still farther north towards the Lys and +the Yser. Several Territorial regiments attached to his army had already +been sent to occupy Lille and Douai. You can easily understand that +those weak forces would be in great danger if the Germans were to sweep +round to the west. The Allied generals, however, believed that they were +ahead in the race, and that they would be the first to overlap. They +were quite mistaken: the Germans were ahead, and were now preparing to +overlap by sending cavalry and infantry in motor buses towards the line +of Béthune and Cassel. + +On the afternoon of 1st October Douai had to be abandoned, and that very +day the German guns began to thunder on the hills surrounding Arras. Von +Buelow attacked Maud'huy in great force on the flats to the east of the +city, while the Bavarians attempted to outflank him on the north. Though +he received reinforcements he was obliged to retire behind the city and +take up a position on the encircling hills. Before doing so he warned +all the men of military age to leave the place. Then began a pitiful +exodus to the coast. + +For two days the Germans fiercely bombarded Arras: the beautiful +sixteenth-century town hall, with its superb clock tower, was ruined, +and the cathedral, as well as many of the historic houses, was badly +damaged. Shells were rained on the place; but the French maintained a +stubborn front, and refused to give way. The attack continued right +through the month. A most determined assault was made between the 20th +and the 26th, when the Prussian Guard came into action; but the enemy +could not cross the ramparts. On the 31st a large German force was +allowed to enter the suburbs, where a trap had been prepared. The result +was that a battalion of the Guard surrendered, and a military train with +one of the great siege howitzers was captured. + +Maud'huy held the gate at Arras against all comers, and too great praise +cannot be given to him and his brave troops. Had the Germans been able +to sweep through the Arras gate the whole subsequent history of the war +would have been changed. + +On the 3rd of October, when the Germans were closing in on Arras, their +patrols were reported on the outskirts of Lille, which they had also +entered during their southward march,[25] but had subsequently +abandoned. The mayor at once warned the inhabitants to keep cool, to +avoid gathering in crowds, and to give no offence to the enemy should he +enter the city. Next day the cracking of rifles was heard in the +suburbs, and several shells fell in the streets, one of them striking +the town hall. A new German force was advancing towards Lille from +Belgium. During the morning an armoured train containing 300 Uhlans +came dashing towards the station. A signalman promptly switched it on to +a siding, and the French attacked it. The surprised Uhlans tried to take +refuge in the neighbouring houses and workshops, but most of them were +captured next morning. + +[Illustration: A Battle amidst the Coal Trucks of Lens. + +(_From the picture by Paul Thiriat. By permission of The Sphere._)] + +Nor was this the only attack on Lille that day. Some 3,000 Germans tried +to force their way in from the direction of Tourcoing, while others +tried to cross from the Belgian to the French side of the Lys below +Armentières, but both attacks were repelled. On the 6th there was +fighting to the west of Lille and on the 10th a company of Uhlans dashed +into the streets. They arrested the mayor and several other citizens as +hostages; but in the nick of time a party of French Chasseurs arrived, +set free the prisoners, and chased the Uhlans out of the city. Almost +immediately the Germans began to bombard the place, and shells fell upon +it at intervals until the 12th, when an infantry attack began. The +Territorials did their best to resist, but they were altogether +outnumbered, and were forced to withdraw. On the 13th Lille surrendered, +and the Germans, with bands playing, marched in and took possession. +Thus the most valuable city of North France fell into their hands. + +You already know that it was of the utmost importance that Lille should +be retained by the Allies. Why, then, did not General Maud'huy send a +stronger force to hold it? The fact is, that he was so hard pressed at +Arras that he could not spare an additional man for the defence of +Lille. He had all his work cut out to save Arras and prevent the Germans +from swarming through the gap towards the Channel. But even the feeble +resistance of the Territorials at Lille was of advantage to the Allies. +The city was held for nine days, during which large German forces were +detained. By keeping these forces busy round the city the Territorials +helped to conceal the Allied movements which were going on farther to +the west, and also enabled the French and British troops to reach the +line of the Yser just, and only just, in time to stop the Germans from +bursting through. + + * * * * * + +Now we must hurry north to Antwerp and see what happened after the +tragic fall of that great fortress. In the last chapter of Volume II., +page 313, I told you that a British Naval Brigade, numbering about +8,000 men in all, was sent to the assistance of the beleaguered city. It +arrived too late to save the fortress, but its energies were not wasted. +The defence of the city was prolonged for a few priceless days while the +troops from the Aisne were being hurried up to the new theatre of war. + +The Belgian troops began to retreat from Antwerp on the evening of 6th +October. Covered by cavalry, armoured motor cars, and cyclist corps, +they moved out towards Ghent and Ostend, while a strong show of +resistance was kept up by other Belgian troops and the British +contingent in the trenches to the south of the city. Next day came the +terrible flight of the civil population, and late that night, amidst +scenes of indescribable confusion, the remainder of the Belgian troops +and most of the British left the forts and trenches, cut the pontoon +bridge over the Scheldt behind them, and hurried westwards, beating off +attacks on their rear. Unfortunately, as you will remember, three +battalions of the British Naval Brigade did not receive orders to retire +until the road westwards was blocked by the enemy. Some 2,500 of them +either passed into Holland, where they had to remain, or were captured +by the Germans. It is said that 18,000 Belgians suffered the same fate. + +The following extract from the diary of a petty officer who served with +the Naval Brigade gives you some idea of the experiences of the British +contingent:-- + + "_October 8._--What a night last night! Shells coming in like + one o'clock. Man on my side got a bit in his leg, but says he + can shoot just as well on one leg. Belgian artilleryman reports + that he and two others are all that are left of our covering + fort. We seem to have nothing to do but wait for the end. These + trenches would be all right against savages, but against their + huge artillery, like so much dust. These shells come with a whiz + like an express train, and then--crash! The spirits of our troop + are top hole. No one the slightest bit excited--just smoking or + yarning and dodging shells; but it's just rotten not coming + alongside them. Here she comes--dip, crash! Saved again. Another + 'non-stop' for Antwerp![26] When they shorten the range for + us--well, cheer oh! Officer just given us the bird for laughing. + 'Grin at each other, but don't speak, chapsies. In case I don't + see you again, all my best love.' + + "_Next day._--About six last night we had a German attack on our + left flank, and drove them off. As they had the range of our + entrenchment, we had orders to clear out. So we did so. As I + fell in outside, a shell exploded alongside. One man was left on + the deck. We had to march back to Antwerp. City in places in + flames. Everybody gone. Dead animals in the streets. Shells + screaming overhead. Right through the city, over a bridge of + boats, which were afterwards exploded, and marched until six + this morning. Only one hour's sleep on the pavement of a small + town. Thousands of men on the march back, thousands of refugees, + Belgians, horses, cattle, and artillery, just like pictures of + the retreat from Moscow and such like. We got a train at once, + and it's now one o'clock, and we are still in it, bound for the + coast. Part of our entrenchment was blown up as we were + retreating, so if we had not gone I don't suppose any of us + would have been alive. So, taking things all round, we had a + pretty brisk time, and seem to have done nothing. Don't know how + many miles we marched last night, but it is a picture which will + always live in my memory. The conduct of our boys is simply + marvellous--just as cool as seasoned veterans. + + "_Saturday, October 10._--Blankenberghe.[27] Arrived last night; + slept at a kind of town hall. Had a meal where the refugees are + staying; breakfast at hotel. Girls wearing R.N.V.R.[28] ribbons + across their heads. + + "_Sunday, October 11._--Came aboard collier yesterday afternoon, + and still aboard now. There are about 2,000 men here. + Accommodation for none, so I slept between the funnel and the + engine-room grating. Some even slept on the cylinders. Don't + know when we shall shove off." + +When Mr. Winston Churchill explained why the Naval Brigade had been sent +to Antwerp, he said that it was "part of a large operation for the +relief of the city which more powerful considerations prevented from +being carried out." On the day after the Naval Brigade reached Antwerp +(6th October), a part of the Fourth British Army Corps, under General +Sir Henry Rawlinson, landed at Ostend and Zeebrugge,[29] and at once +marched eastwards. The original object of this force, always supposing +that Antwerp held out, was to join hands with the troops defending the +city, and then advance across the Scheldt so as to cut the German lines +of communication. On the evening of his arrival in Belgium Sir Henry +Rawlinson visited Antwerp, and saw with his own eyes that the fortress +could not be saved. His business now was to cover the retreat of the +forces which had vainly tried to hold the city. + +[Footnote 24: See Vol. II., p. 127.] + +[Footnote 25: See Vol. II., p. 126.] + +[Footnote 26: These high explosive shells were nicknamed "Antwerp +expresses."] + +[Footnote 27: Seaside resort of Belgium, 11 miles north-east of Ostend.] + +[Footnote 28: Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.] + +[Footnote 29: That is, Sea Bruges. _Zā-brug´ge_, the port of Bruges, +with which it is connected by a ship canal seven miles long.] + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + WITH RAWLINSON IN BELGIUM. + + +When Rawlinson's troops reached Ghent, on 7th October 1914, they fell in +with the first body of retreating Belgians, and also with a brigade of +French Marine Fusiliers, 6,000 strong, which had been hastily organized +and rushed northwards that very morning. Most of them were Breton[30] +reservists and recruits who had never fought on land before. Their chief +was Admiral Ronarc'h,[31] a big, broad-shouldered, cool seaman, with +eyes of Celtic blue. The Germans called these Bretons lads and +graybeards "the girls with the red pompoms."[32] They were soon to +discover that the Bretons were not playing at war, but that they were +fighters of iron resolution and fiery courage. + +When the troops under Rawlinson were disembarking at Ostend and +Zeebrugge, fourteen transports, containing the 7th British Division, +which had been assembled on the borders of the New Forest, were on the +way to join him in Belgium. Just when the transports were off Ostend +they received a wireless message ordering them to recross the Channel to +Dover. A grain ship had just been blown up off Ostend, and it was +feared that the transports would be sent to the bottom too. They were +therefore ordered back to Dover to wait until the mines were swept up +along the Belgian coast. On the day when the retirement from Antwerp was +in full swing, the 7th Division disembarked at Zeebrugge, and marched to +the outskirts of Bruges. The agony of Antwerp was then over, and all +that could be done was to help to cover the retreat of the forces now +marching away from the city. + +[Illustration: Bavarian Troops leaving Antwerp for the Dash on Calais.] + +The Germans, as you know, strove hard to cut off the retreating +defenders, and in the villages to the east and south of Ghent the +British forces and the French Marine Brigade made a stand against an +army which numbered about 45,000. When they had checked the enemy, they +decided to retire westwards towards Bruges. That night, under a wintry +moon, a long march of twenty-six miles was accomplished, the 7th +Division and the French Marines acting as the rearguard. + +After a brief rest the retreating forces turned south-south-east, the +cavalry scouring the country in advance, and on the following evening +reached Thielt,[33] where it was discovered that the pursuit had so +greatly slackened that the weary men were enabled to get the first good +sleep which they had enjoyed for several days. It is said that they owed +this piece of good fortune to the mayor of one of the neighbouring +towns, who deliberately sent the Germans off on a false scent. When the +Germans discovered that they had been misdirected, the mayor was +promptly shot. + +On 13th October the Allies reached Thourout,[34] where they divided into +two parts. Admiral Ronarc'h and his Marines, along with the Belgian +forces which had been holding Ghent, moved west to the Yser, where they +joined the remnants of the Belgian army which had retreated through +Bruges. Here the undaunted King Albert, accompanied by his devoted wife, +Queen Elizabeth, rejoined the exhausted army, and helped to reorganize +it for the terrible struggles which lay before it. Meanwhile Sir Henry +Rawlinson's forces pressed on southwards, and arrived at Roulers,[35] +_en route_ for Ypres, on 13th October, the day on which Lille fell into +the hands of the Germans. By that time part of the German army which +had been besieging Antwerp, and had been released for other operations +when it fell, had swept through Bruges, and had occupied Ostend. German +soldiers were seen strolling on the sands which in the early days of +July had been crowded with laughing bathers and merry holiday-makers. +Many of the German soldiers had never seen the sea before, and they +gazed upon it with open-mouthed interest, straining their eyes in the +vain attempt to see the shores of that island kingdom which was so +steadfastly blocking their path to victory. + + * * * * * + +Mr. C. Underwood, an interpreter who was attached to the 7th Division, +which played such an important part in the fighting retreat from Ghent, +tells us[36] that it was the delay caused by sending back the transports +of his division to Dover that prevented Sir Henry Rawlinson from +marching to the relief of Antwerp. + + "We left Roulers for Ypres," he says, "at 9.30 a.m. (October + 14), and four Taubes flew over us on the road, but too high to + be shot at. We arrived at Ypres at 6.30, and that evening I saw + our first lot of allies, reserve dragoons dismounted in the + square to receive us. The Germans had been through and stayed + one night, the 7th, the day we landed at Zeebrugge. They had + taken up their quarters in the famous riding school, and the + first thing they had done was to break open the mess-room and + cellars, and take out all the wine, after which they broke up + everything and stole the mess-plate. When I saw it, a week + later, the school was strewn with broken bottles--champagne, + claret, port, etc., etc.--and every drawer and cupboard burst + open and ransacked. They had cut all communications at the + station, demanded an indemnity of 65,000 francs (£2,600), and + stolen all the money they could lay hands on from the Banque + National. Six thousand loaves were requisitioned in the evening + to be ready next morning, failing which there was a penalty of + £800 (20,000 francs). At 10.30 a.m. a Taube, with pilot and + observer, had been brought down; but they were not captured till + 4.30, as they concealed themselves in a wood. They were both + brought in, furious with rage, as each was seized by the collar, + and a revolver pointed at their heads by Belgian officers. They + were driven off in a car at the rate of sixty miles an hour at + least! + + "Next day the whole brigade marched out to Halte on the + Menin-Ypres road, dug trenches, and remained in them all night. + It was pitch dark in the morning when we were ordered to attack + a patrol of Germans towards Menin. About a quarter of a mile + beyond Gheluvelt[37] we engaged advance party of Uhlans at 8.30 + a.m. in a thick fog. A file of the Bedfords brought in a + suspect, whose papers, not being in order, I escorted into + Ypres. He was there detained at the town hall, and I heard no + more of him. Had quite an amusing skirmish with the daughter of + the proprietress of the hotel of the Three Kings. Feeling very + hungry, I asked for lunch. She said she had nothing; asked for + an egg, same reply; bread, the same; finally, in a fury at such + disobliging conduct, I asked her whether she did not think + herself most ungrateful, considering we were there to defend + them against the Germans. This had the desired effect, and she + asked me to come in, cooked me a splendid omelet, brought out a + bottle of wine, and plenty of bread and cheese, for which she + only charged me two francs." + +On Sunday, the 18th, Mr. Underwood's brigade had its baptism of fire at +a village a little to the north-east of Gheluvelt, where a British +battery silenced the guns of the enemy. All night they waited for an +attack, but the Germans left them alone until the morning. Then the +fighting was continued, and thus began that series of desperate +conflicts--"ten Waterloos a week"--known as the Battle of Ypres. I shall +give you a full account of this gigantic struggle in a later chapter. + +The enemy against whom the 7th Division was now fighting consisted of +four reserve corps which had left Germany on 11th October. Three of the +corps had assembled in Brussels, and without losing an hour had been +sent on an eighty-mile march westwards. They largely consisted of +Landwehr[38] and new volunteers, and ranged from boys of sixteen to +stout gentlemen in middle life. Though quite new to the work of war, +they soon showed themselves as desperate in attack as the most seasoned +veterans. Mr. Underwood says: "On questioning one of the prisoners, he +informed me that they were all Landwehr men, fathers of families, about +the age of thirty-nine and forty, who had been called up quite recently. +There was no doubt that the Germans were well equipped; all their +clothes were in excellent order and brand new. They seemed relieved, and +evidently overjoyed, when I told them that they would probably be sent +to England. They were afraid that the report which had been made to them +that we shot all prisoners was true." + +[Footnote 30: Inhabitants of Brittany, a former province of France, +forming the extreme north-west. The people are of Celtic stock, and +their language is allied to the Welsh. Brittany was partly settled from +England and Ireland in the fifth and sixth centuries, and thereafter was +called Britannia Minor. Brittany has always been famous for its sailors. +Jacques Cartier, the discoverer of the St. Lawrence, was a Breton.] + +[Footnote 31: _Ron´ark._] + +[Footnote 32: French sailors wear a red pompom on the top of their +caps.] + +[Footnote 33: _Teelt_, 15 miles south-east of Bruges.] + +[Footnote 34: _Too-roo´_, 11 miles south-south-west of Bruges]. + +[Footnote 35: _Roo-lare´_, 20 miles south by west of Bruges, a textile +manufacturing town of 25,000 inhabitants.] + +[Footnote 36: In _Blackwood's Magazine_, March 1915.] + +[Footnote 37: Village on the Ypres-Menin road, four miles east of +Ypres.] + +[Footnote 38: See Vol. I., p. 146.] + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + THE LONG, THIN LINE OF STEEL AND VALOUR. + + +Let us look again at the sixty-mile stretch of country from Arras to the +North Sea, the great danger zone during the month of October and for +many months afterwards. An enemy advancing from Belgium and North +France, desirous of capturing the coast of the Channel, and making +himself master of the Strait of Dover, must cross this stretch of +country in order to attain his object. You already know that a most +determined effort was made by the Germans to push through the gap at +Arras, from which the railways give access not only to the Channel ports +but to Paris. As you are aware, General Maud'huy was able to say to the +Germans, "No road this way." + +Seventeen miles north of Arras we find the second passage by which the +Channel ports may be reached by an army advancing westwards. You have +already heard more than once of the town of La Bassée, which stands on +the canal uniting Béthune with Lille. A great thrust through La Bassée +would serve almost as well as a thrust through the Arras gap, for +Béthune, which lies seven miles to the west, is the junction of two +diverging railways, both of which lead to Boulogne. The more northerly +of these lines has a branch which runs through the important railway +centre of Hazebrouck[39] to Ypres. At Hazebrouck the St. Omer[40]-Ypres +line meets the railway which comes westwards from Lille through +Armentières to the coast. A little west of Hazebrouck this line +subdivides: one route goes through St. Omer to Boulogne; the other runs +north to Dunkirk, from which Calais and Boulogne may be reached by a +line along the coast. + +Examine this little railway map carefully, and you will see that if the +Germans could make a thrust through the Allied lines at La Bassée they +would soon be in possession of the two railway junctions of Béthune and +Hazebrouck, which would give them no fewer than four lines of railway +for their advance on the sea-coast. Had the Germans broken through at +this point, the Allied forces to the north would have been overwhelmed. +We shall soon learn that the sally-port at La Bassée was the scene of +long and desperate struggles. + +[Illustration] + +The third passage by which the enemy might capture the coast of North +France and outflank the Allies at the same time is by way of the Yser +Canal and the Ypres Canal. You have already learnt how Rawlinson's army +tried to block the road to Ypres and how the Belgians withdrew to the +line of the Yser in order to contest its passage. Rawlinson's force was +far too small to resist the numbers which were hurled against it on and +after the 18th of October, and the much-battered Belgians were far too +exhausted to offer more than a feeble resistance to the forces of the +enemy following hard on their heels. They were strengthened by some +French Territorials, but even with this support they had to fall back +behind the line of the Yser on the 16th. + +[Illustration: Weary Belgian Soldiers resting on the Banks of the Yser +River after their Retreat from Antwerp. + +_Photo, Daily Mirror_.] + +Now, while the gates at Arras and the Yser were thus being guarded by +Allied forces too weak to do more than barely hold their own, what had +happened at the middle gate of La Bassée? On 11th October, two days +after the Germans made their triumphal march into Antwerp, General +Smith-Dorrien and the Second Corps detrained, marched to the line of the +La Bassée Canal, and took up a position along its southern bank. On +their right were the French cavalry, linking them with Maud'huy's army; +on the left were the brisk squadrons of Gough's cavalry, who were +clearing the Germans from the wooded country to the north of the Lys. +The Germans were holding the high ground south of La Bassée, where the +French trenches had baffled Marlborough more than two hundred years +before, and were in strong force on the road to Lille. That great +industrial city had not yet fallen, so Sir John French decided to make a +great effort to save it. + +On the morning of the 12th, in a thick fog, the Second Corps wheeled on +its right, and took up a new position facing east, its left resting on +the Lys and its right on the canal north of Béthune. It then advanced +eastward, finding its way much impeded by the difficult character of the +ground. Our soldiers from the coal-mining districts of Great Britain +found themselves in familiar country--amidst the large, straggling, +connected villages, the pit-heads, refuse mounds, and factories of their +own homeland. They had to advance across a flat country with a patchwork +of fields and hop-gardens, hemmed in by high bedraggled hedges, and cut +across by interminable ditches, with frequent canals by way of variety. +The roads, which were lined by scraggy poplars, were narrow, and deep in +mud owing to the heavy traffic. Through this flat, depressing country in +which good gun positions were few and far between, the British marched +to meet the Germans. By nightfall, however, they had made some progress +amidst the slippery maze of the muddy dykes, and had driven back several +counter-attacks, both by steady fire and by bayonet charges. + +Next day the Second Corps began to wheel. It pivoted on the village of +Givenchy,[41] which stands on the north bank of the canal, less than +two miles due west of La Bassée, and endeavoured to get astride of the +La Bassée-Lille road, so as to threaten the right flank and rear of the +enemy's position on the high ground south of La Bassée. The enemy was +found to be strongly entrenched, and supported by artillery in good +positions. Before long the fighting was of the most desperate character. +The British advanced across the marshy fields under a fierce and +devastating fire with the utmost courage, fighting pitched battles in +the villages, where every house had been loopholed and turned into a +miniature fortress. + +[Illustration: The Fighting about La Bassée. + +Sketch map showing front held by the Second Corps on October 19, on +night of October 22, and about mid-November 1914.] + +The 5th Division, on the right, bore the brunt of the deadly fray. At +Pont Fixe, on the La Bassée canal near Givenchy, the Dorsets, led by +their brave commander, Major Roper, fought hand-to-hand combats in the +lanes between the houses, and drove the enemy headlong before them. The +Germans then turned their guns on to the place, and tore it to +fragments. High explosives and shrapnel were hurled on the village, +until it seemed that no living thing could survive the deadly hail. +When, however, the infantry attack was launched, the Dorsets were still +there, but were sadly reduced in numbers. Though their leader was +killed, they held on to the smoking ruins all day, and when nightfall +came they were still in possession. One hundred and thirty killed and +two hundred and seventy wounded was the price paid for this village on +that blood-drenched day. The Bedfords, of the same brigade, fought their +way to Givenchy, but were driven out again by heavy shell fire. + +That night news arrived that Lille had fallen and was in possession of +the 14th German Corps. Though Lille was lost La Bassée might be won, and +the Second Corps now devoted its energies to the task. Next day the 3rd +Division suffered a heavy loss. Sir Hubert Hamilton, its commander, was +struck by a shrapnel bullet while riding along his lines, and fell from +his horse a dead man. He was one of the most skilful and beloved of the +younger generals, and his loss was greatly deplored. An eye-witness thus +describes his burial in the village graveyard:-- + + "Owing to the proximity of the enemy absolute silence was + observed, except for the low voice of the priest, advantage + being taken of a lull in the attack. Just at the moment when the + priest was saying the last prayer the guns began to roar again, + and projectiles whistled over the heads of the mourners. The + German attack was directed from a distance of a few hundred + yards. The moment was well chosen, for the volleys fired by the + troops of the Allies in honour of the dead, gloriously fallen + for the common cause, were at the same time volleys of + vengeance. Crackling reports of rifles continued round the + ruined church, but the voice of the priest, reciting the last + words of the requiem, lost nothing of its calm and clearness." + +Next day the 3rd Division brilliantly avenged the loss of its leader. +Sir John French tells us that they "fought splendidly," crossing with +planks the dykes with which this country is intersected, and driving the +enemy from one entrenched position to another in loopholed villages, +till at night they pushed the Germans off the road leading from +Estaires,[42] on the Lys, to La Bassée. On the 16th the division +advanced its left flank in front of the village of Aubers,[43] which +lies behind a ridge of high ground and a stream which joins the Lys at +Armentières. Aubers was captured by the 19th Brigade on the following +day, and late that evening the village of Herlies,[44] about a mile and +a half to the south-east, was carried at the point of the bayonet by the +1st Lincolns and the 4th Royal Fusiliers. + +The Second Corps was now within four miles of La Bassée. So far it had +been opposed by German cavalry; now it found itself up against the main +wall of German defence. "This position of La Bassée," records Sir John +French, "has throughout the battle defied all attempts at capture." +Powerful counter-attacks began the next day, and continued right up to +the end of the month. Against the masses of Germans now concentrated +against them the Second Corps could do nothing but stand on the defence. +Most resolutely they held their lines until the end of the month, and +again and again repulsed very heavy attacks, in which the Germans lost +heavily and left large numbers of dead and prisoners behind them. + +All this heavy work was now telling on the Second Corps, and their +losses had been so heavy that Smith-Dorrien on the evening of the 22nd +was obliged to withdraw his forces to lines of entrenchments which had +been prepared on a line running from the eastern side of Givenchy to a +village on the Béthune-Armentières road, some seven miles south-west of +the latter town. There they settled down into their new trenches; but +their lines were very thin, and had not every soldier in them done the +work of ten men, they could never have held the position against the +swarming masses of the enemy. One day, it is said, General French +visited these lines, and talked with a colonel who was hard pressed. "We +can't hold out much longer, sir," said the colonel; "it is impossible." +"I want only men who can do the impossible," said French. "Carry on." + +Before I conclude this account of the very gallant but unavailing attack +of the Second Corps on La Bassée, I must tell you one or two incidents +which occurred during the fighting in October. On the 19th Major Daniell +and his Royal Irish Regiment found the enemy in the village of Le +Pilly,[45] about a mile to the north of Herlies. Every house in the +place had been loopholed, and line after line of trenches had been dug, +so that the position was as strong as a fortress. With loud yells the +Royal Irish dashed upon the place, and, in spite of the shrapnel that +was rained on them, carried it by storm. They then entrenched +themselves, and prepared to defend the village. But next day the gallant +battalion was cut off by German supports from Lille, and was surrounded, +after suffering heavy losses. + +Very early on the morning of the 24th there was a fierce German attack +upon our new lines, but owing to the skilful work of the artillery it +came to naught. Towards evening there was another heavy attack, which +the Wiltshires and Royal West Kents repulsed. Later on the Germans drove +the Gordon Highlanders out of their trenches, but they were retaken by +the Middlesex Regiment, gallantly led by Lieutenant Colonel Hull. + +While our men were "hanging on by their eyelids, some one, I am told, +looked back from a trench and saw a solitary outpost, a turbaned, +cloaked figure of the desert, very startling in the green, peaceful +landscape, riding over a hill. Behind him nodded the turbans of Sikh +cavalry, and the British in the trenches, who seemed past emotion, waved +their rifles and cheered." It was the advance guard of the Lahore +Division of the Indian army coming in the nick of time to reinforce the +hard-pressed men who had fought almost continuously for nearly a +fortnight. The Indians had been resting and preparing for a winter +campaign near Marseilles, and had long been eager to play their part +side by side with their fellow Britons. A few days before, Sir James +Willcocks, their commander, had addressed them as follows:-- + + "You are the descendants of men who have been mighty rulers and + great warriors for many centuries. You will never forget this. + You will recall the glories of your race. Hindu and Mohammedan + will be fighting side by side with British soldiers and our + gallant French allies. You will be helping to make history. You + will be the first Indian soldiers of the King-Emperor who will + have the honour of showing in Europe that the sons of India have + lost none of their martial instincts and are worthy of the + confidence reposed in them. + + "In battle, you will remember that your religions enjoin on you + that to give your life doing your duty is your highest reward. . + . . You will fight for your King-Emperor and your faith, so that + history will record the doings of India's sons, and your + children will proudly tell of the deeds of their fathers." + +This timely reinforcement was at once sent off to the support of the +Second Corps. + + * * * * * + +We now know how a small army of much-tried Britons barred the way +through the La Bassée postern and stretched a thin line of valour and +steel northwards towards the Lys. I have still to tell you how the +twelve-mile gap between Armentières and Ypres was closed. While the +Second Corps was forming up near Béthune, the trains carrying the Third +Corps were running into St. Omer. As each unit arrived it set out for +Hazebrouck, and on the 13th the whole force moved eastwards towards the +line of the Armentières-Ypres road, with the object of reaching +Armentières, from which it could threaten Lille. Gough's cavalry lay to +the north, and French cavalry to the south. + +The French cavalry had already done much hard fighting. On 9th October +it was discovered that German horsemen were holding the south bank of +the Lys to the west of Estaires. They had covered the river crossings +with machine guns, and had set up searchlights, which at night swept +their broad beams along the northern bank. The French commander +assembled his men at a point on the river where the current was very +swift and the water deep. The Germans believed that the river could not +be forded at this spot, and had not troubled to hold it strongly. At +dusk a French trooper who was a good swimmer stripped, and, carrying +with him one end of a light rope, plunged into the water and swam across +the river. When he arrived on the south bank his comrades on the other +side fastened a heavy rope to the end of the line which he was holding, +and the dripping soldier hauled it across and tied it securely to the +trunk of a tree. The other end of the rope was made fast in a similar +way, and during the night, assisted by the rope, men and horses crossed +the stream. At daybreak, when the Germans found that the French were on +their bank of the river they retired rapidly towards Armentières. + +In this force of French cavalry there was a champion rider, named +Lieutenant Wallon. One day, during the cavalry fighting along the Lys +two squadrons of the dragoons to which he was attached advanced across +the fields in a thick mist to seize a river bridge at a village where +there was an important crossing. The village was held by the enemy, and +the French squadrons entrenched themselves in front of a small +farmhouse, and beat off an attack, during which thirty Germans were +shot. After an interval, eleven men in peasants' dress, with picks and +spades over their shoulders, were seen advancing towards the French +lines. Supposing that they were peaceful civilians, the French refrained +from firing. When, however, these "peasants" were within forty yards or +so of the trenches, they suddenly dropped their implements, and, drawing +concealed revolvers, opened fire. A sergeant who stood by Lieutenant +Wallon laughed as a bullet whistled by, and remarked that another Boche +had missed him. The lieutenant, however, had fallen. The sergeant wished +to carry him to a safe place in the rear; but the dying man said, "Leave +me. A wounded man is worthless. Get back to the trench; you are wanted +there." The trusty non-com. could not be persuaded to abandon his +leader, and dragged him to the rear, where he shortly afterwards +expired. The eleven disguised Germans were captured and shot; the bridge +was taken, and the village occupied. + +[Illustration] + +[Footnote 39: _Ăz-brook´_] + +[Footnote 40: _O´mare._] + +[Footnote 41: _Zhee-van´shee_ [_n_ nasal].] + +[Footnote 42: _Es-tayr´_. See map, p. 59.] + +[Footnote 43: _Ō-bayr´._] + +[Footnote 44: _Her´lee._] + +[Footnote 45: _Pee´ye._] + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + THE WORK OF THE THIRD BRITISH CORPS. + + +The Third British Corps, commanded by General Pulteney, first came in +contact with the German outposts at a village about a mile and a half +west of Bailleul.[46] It was a day of heavy rain; the thick, steamy fog +prevented the aircraft from scouting, and the water-logged fields were +too much enclosed for cavalry to operate. The 10th Brigade, under +General J. A. L. Haldane, were the first to attack, and they made a +bayonet charge in which the 2nd Seaforths distinguished themselves. By +nightfall the position was carried; the Germans were driven out, and the +troops were entrenched, ready to attack Bailleul next day (14th October +1914). In the morning it was discovered that the enemy had retired. +Bailleul was occupied, and the signs of German pillage were to be seen +everywhere. Fourteen villagers had been shot, and the inmates of the +lunatic asylum had been turned out of doors. These poor creatures +wandered about the countryside for days, and many of them were +afterwards found dead by the roadside or in the woods. No wonder a +native bitterly said, "The Germans are not soldiers so much as brigands +and assassins.'" + +Some very fine deeds of gallantry were done during the first day's +fighting. Sergeant E. Howard, of the 1st Royal Lancaster Regiment, +discovered that twelve men of his platoon who were occupying a trench +had ceased firing. Amidst a very heavy fire, he crawled up to them, and +found that they were all dead! Sergeant G. A. Hodges, of the 2nd Essex +Regiment, led his platoon into the firing line though shot through the +shoulder; while Private C. Rowley, of the 1st Royal Warwickshire +Regiment, crossed and recrossed from the firing line to the support +trench, a distance of 300 yards, under a perfect hail of bullets, with +ammunition for his hard-pressed comrades. + +On the 15th the Third Corps was ordered to carry the line of the Lys +from just below Estaires to Armentières. The enemy offered no serious +opposition, and by evening the work was done. Next day Armentières was +entered, and on the 17th the Third Corps held a line extending from +three miles north to three miles south of the town. It was now +discovered that the Germans were holding in strength the right bank of +the Lys from a short distance below Armentières to within a couple of +miles of Menin. + +[Illustration: British Cavalry entering Warneton. + +The enemy was posted behind a high loopholed barricade, which was blown +to pieces by British guns; whereupon our cavalry entered the town, but +could not maintain themselves within it.] + +Next day an effort was made to clear the Germans out of this position. +Midway between Armentières and Menin is the little town of Warneton,[47] +which was seized by Allenby's corps. "Eye-witness" thus describes an +incident which occurred at the capture of the place:-- + + "An important crossing over the Lys at Warneton was strongly + held by Germans, who at the entrance to the town had constructed + a high barricade, loopholed at the bottom so that men could fire + through it from a lying position. This formidable obstacle was + encountered by a squadron of our cavalry. Nothing daunted, they + obtained help from artillery, who man-hauled a gun into + position, and blew the barricade to pieces, scattering the + defenders. They then advanced some three-quarters of a mile into + the centre of the town, where they found themselves in a large + 'place.' They had hardly reached the farther end when one of the + buildings suddenly appeared to leap skywards in a sheet of + flame, a shower of star shells at the same time making the place + as light as day, and enabling the enemy--who were ensconced in + surrounding houses--to pour in a devastating fire from rifles + and machine guns. Our cavalry managed to extricate themselves + from this trap with the loss of only one officer, the squadron + leader wounded, and nine men killed or wounded. But determining + that none of their number should fall into the enemy's hands, a + party of volunteers went back, and, taking off their boots in + order to make no noise on the pavement, re-entered the inferno + they had just left, and succeeded in carrying off their wounded + comrades." + +By this time the Third Corps found itself approaching the main German +position, which was far too strong for it to attack with any prospect +of success. Just about the time that the Second Corps was retiring to +the line stretching from the eastern side of Givenchy northwards the +Third Corps came to a standstill. It then lay across the Lys with a +front of a dozen miles--an impossible length of line for one corps to +hold. Both the Second and the Third Corps had reached the limit of their +eastern advance. + +Though they could not push forward any farther, they had closed the +sally-ports at La Bassée and Armentières. One more link was necessary to +connect the Third Corps with Rawlinson's force holding the eastern gate +to Ypres. This was provided by the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions, under +General Allenby. The 1st Division (Gough's), as we have seen, had +cleared much of the country along the Lys, and had secured a footing on +the right bank below Armentières. On the 14th it moved north to join the +2nd Division, which had pushed back invading bands in the neighbourhood +of Cassel and Hazebrouck. + +Thus the line was established. Half formed, weak, and insecure, it +nevertheless extended from the La Bassée Canal to the sea, and though it +was opposed by overwhelming odds, it barred the western road to the +Germans. The weakest place in it was the bulge in front of Ypres, where +Rawlinson's harassed and overstretched division was fighting for its +life. Every day the enemy flung new forces against it. More and more +Germans were rushed along the Belgian railroads to overwhelm it. "They +seemed to rain down on us everywhere," said a spectator; "but most of +all they rained on that weak point to our left." + +In Chapter VI. I gave you an outline of the doings of Rawlinson's men in +Belgium. You there learned how they retreated from Ghent to Roulers, and +how the cavalry division reconnoitred all the country towards Ypres and +Menin, while the 7th Division battled with four reserve corps of +Germans, who on the 18th of October were on the line Roulers-Menin. +Rawlinson had a very difficult task to perform. He had to operate on a +very wide front, and to encounter very superior forces; yet Sir John +French could not spare a man to reinforce him. Sir John was very eager +to get possession of Menin, for he thought it a very important point of +passage which would greatly help the advance of the rest of the army. He +therefore ordered Rawlinson on the 18th to advance his 7th Division, and +try to seize the crossing of the Lys at Menin, so as to cut the German +communications between Ghent and Lille. + +Rawlinson replied that large bodies of the enemy were advancing upon him +from the east and north-east, and that his left flank was in danger. +With his weak troops he dared not attempt such a task. Sir John tells us +that Rawlinson was probably wise in not trying to capture Menin, but +that the loss of it greatly helped the enemy to bring up reinforcements, +and put an end to any further British advance. + +You have probably been wondering where the First Corps was at this time. +You last heard of it on the Aisne; so far it had not been seen in +Flanders. It did not arrive at Hazebrouck until October 19. While it was +detraining, Sir John had some very hard thinking to do. Should he use +the First Corps to reinforce the Second and Third Corps, and thus secure +the ground already won on the right, or should he send it to help +Rawlinson? Between the British left and the Franco-Belgian right there +was "a place where the weak spot in the bladder might bulge, and, +bulging too much, break." Sir John French, "with the air," some one has +said, "of a business man closing a deal," made his decision, and turned +in for a little sleep. He chose to let the Second and the Third Corps +continue to do the impossible. He sent the First Corps to the line about +the city which has given name to this whole series of actions--Ypres. It +incorporated what was left of Rawlinson's force, then prepared to dig in +and hold on. + +[Illustration: The Allied Line from La Bassée to the Sea about October +20.] + +[Footnote 46: _Bay-yule´_, a small village seven miles north-west of +Armentières.] + +[Footnote 47: _Varn-ton´_ (_n_ nasal).] + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + STIRRING STORIES OF ANXIOUS DAYS. + + +In this chapter I am going to give you a selection of stories which +illustrate the fighting from the fall of Antwerp down to the 20th of +October 1914. Our first story tells how a British lady in her own yacht +carried off many refugees from Ostend while the enemy was actually in +the town. + +[Illustration: Miss Jessica Borthwick steering the Grace Darling out of +Ostend Harbour. + +(_Photo, Sport and General._)] + +"At nine," says a newspaper correspondent, "we interviewed the official +in charge at the burgomaster's office. 'Fly,' he said tersely. 'The +Germans will be here, perhaps, in ten minutes.'... I had already +arranged a retreat. At ten o'clock we went on board the _Grace Darling_, +a schooner yacht which for the past weeks has been working the British +Field Hospital in Belgium. She was chartered and fitted out for the +purpose by Miss Jessica Borthwick at her own expense. As will appear, +the _Grace Darling_ was by three hours the last vessel out of Ostend.... + +"The Germans were now half a mile away, and we were lying well down in +the almost empty harbour. It became necessary to get our auxiliary +engine going, and make out at least as far as the harbour mouth. At a +quarter-past ten the first Germans appeared--a patrol of +Uhlans--trotting across the bridge that leads into the town from the +Blankenberghe road. + +"At this critical moment the fact emerged that the man who had shipped +as a first-class engineer to work our engine for us was not an engineer +at all, but an organ-grinder! The organ-grinder's efforts to start the +engine were deplorable, and we were so placed we could not get a breath +of wind for the sails. The decks of the little yacht were covered with +refugees--Belgian fathers, women, and children. They watched with a +stricken calm a second and a third Uhlan patrol cross the bridge. Two +escaped soldiers in plain clothes who had come on board dropped their +uniforms into the water . . . + +"Every moment we were expecting the appearance of the Germans on the +pier. Soon after midday we sailed at a majestic one mile per hour out of +the harbour with the British flag flying. Past the pierhead we found +some wind, actually got the engine started, and ploughed away at a +cheerful ten knots. A mile out we anchored, to await developments. +Through our glasses we saw four Uhlans standing like statues staring out +to sea. From over the horizon came racing a torpedo boat, got the news, +and promptly poked her nose into the harbour to see for herself. After +five minutes she backed out, and went away swiftly. Thereafter Miss +Borthwick and several correspondents, including myself, decided on a +scouting expedition of our own in the launch. We plunged ahead through +the green and lifting waves, raising a fine spray, till we were within a +few hundred yards of the _digue_.[48] There we saw four Germans running +across a little triangle of sandy beach and up on to the pier. We hung +on for a moment, anxious as to what would happen next. + +"The Germans ran along the pier, the end of which was only two hundred +yards from us. When we saw them taking cover among the little buildings +at the end of the pier we considered it time to bolt. Promptly the +Germans fired a wide shot, and signalled to us to come in, but we made +for the open sea. Then they opened fire seriously. We lay as flat as we +could--which was not very flat, for we were tightly packed in the tiny +boat--and scooted. Two of the Germans were kneeling down with their +rifles resting on the rail at the end of the pier, and two standing up. + +"It was an extremely uncomfortable four minutes before we were out of +range. They fired rapidly, but did not even hit the boat, though they +were very close above and beside us. We regained the _Grace Darling_, +raised anchor, and at once made for sea." + + * * * * * + +Here is a description of one of the French regiments which fought so +bravely under Maud'huy against the Bavarians round about Arras:-- + +"They have come a long way down the straight roads between the hills, +and there is dust in their eyes and throats, and they have arrived at +that moment in the march when the pack weighs heaviest, when the +shoulder-straps begin to rub, when the rifle seems to wear a hole in the +shoulder, and when the shoe begins to pinch. The best-hearted man in the +regiment knows that it is the time for a little joke. He begins to speak +about his captain, who is walking a yard away from him. 'Our captain +grows a little fat, I think, my little ones.' 'Yes,' says a comrade, +taking up the joke; 'it is possible that he has been eating too much.' +'And he has a great thirst, I am told,' says a third man. 'It is +marvellous what a thirst our captain has! Three bottles of red wine are +hardly enough to wet his throat.' 'He gets too old for war;' and so the +joke goes on, every word of which is heard by the captain, who finally +bursts into laughter, and says, 'You are impudent rascals, all of you.' +The bad moment has passed. The weight of the pack is forgotten, and +presently the baritone of the regiment sings the first line of a +marching song. The chorus goes lilting down the long white road between +the poplar sentinels." + + * * * * * + +Few stories have appeared with reference to the fighting round La +Bassée. A dispatch rider says: "There was one brigade there that had a +past. It had fought at Mons[49] and Le Cateau,[50] and then plugged away +cheerfully through the Retreat and the Advance. What was left of it had +fought stiffly on the Aisne. Some hard marching, a train journey, more +hard marching, and it was thrown into action at La Bassée. There it +fought itself to a standstill. It was attacked and attacked until, +shattered, it was driven back one wild night. It was rallied, and, +turning on the enemy, held them. More hard fighting, a couple of days' +rest, and it staggered into action at Ypres, and somehow--no one knows +how--it held its bit of line. A brigade called by the same name, +consisting of the same regiments, commanded by the same general, but +containing scarce a man of those who had come out in August, marched +very proudly away from Ypres, and went--not to rest, but to hold another +bit of the line. + +"And this brigade was not the Guards' Brigade. There were no picked men +in the brigade. It contained just four ordinary regiments of the +line--the Norfolks, the Bedfords, the Cheshires, and the Dorsets. What +the 15th Brigade did other brigades have done." + + * * * * * + +You have just heard of the splendid endurance of the Dorsets. Here is +another story concerning their doings. It is told by Private Cornelius +O'Leary. "We encountered the Germans when they were making one of their +fiercest attacks in their efforts to get through to Cálais. There were +eight companies of us (1st Dorset Regiment), numbering 120 officers and +men apiece, and the fight took place in a very large turnip field. The +German artillery was in front of us, and the Maxim fire was on the right +and left. It was impossible for us to make trenches, so we had to place +our packs in front of us, and do the best we could. We were often +outnumbered by ten to one, as the Germans were almost continually being +reinforced. But we defeated them with heavy loss." + + * * * * * + +Armoured motor cars, equipped with machine guns, played an important +part during the fighting of October. "In their employment", says +"Eye-witness," "our gallant allies the Belgians, who are now fighting +with us, and acquitting themselves nobly, have shown themselves to be +experts. They appear to regard Uhlan-hunting as a form of sport. The +crews display the utmost dash and skill in this form of warfare, often +going out several miles ahead of their own advanced troops, and seldom +failing to return loaded with spoils in the shape of Lancer caps, +busbies, helmets, lances, rifles, and other trophies, which they +distribute as souvenirs to crowds in the market places of frontier +towns." + + * * * * * + +No man fought an armoured motor car more gallantly and successfully than +Commander Sampson, the famous airman. "He is," says a correspondent, +"the will o' the wisp of the British army, and he peppers the Germans +according to his fancy, from aeroplane, armoured motor car, or armoured +train." On one occasion two machine guns continually annoyed our +advanced trenches. Eventually they were discovered; one was in a +windmill, the other in a neighbouring cottage. Commander Sampson took +out an armoured car with a three-pounder quick-firing gun, and one +morning the Germans were surprised to see a low slate-coloured car come +rushing out of the British lines, followed by heavy but rather wild +rifle fire. The Germans naturally thought that the car was one of their +own attempting to escape from the British, so they refrained from firing +on it. Just as the car appeared to be about to enter the German lines it +pulled up. In fifteen seconds the windmill, with its machine gun and +crew, was blown to pieces by the shells from the quick-firer, and before +the astonished Germans could collect themselves the gun had swung round, +and more shells had crashed into the cottage, which was soon destroyed. +Then the car shot back to the British lines, to be received not with +rifle fire, but with a loud burst of cheering. It is said that the +Kaiser was so exasperated at Commander Sampson's successful daring in +this and many other adventures, that he offered a reward of £1,000 to +any German soldier who could kill him. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: The Arrows of Death.] + +It was during the month of October that we first learnt of the new +weapon served out to our flying corps. It consists of an arrow-shaped +missile of steel like a pointed lead pencil. A mechanical device spreads +these missiles out as they fall from the aeroplane, so that they cover +an area of about 200 square yards when dropped from a height of 500 +yards. From this height the arrow of death will pass right through a +man's body. + + * * * * * + +"Eye-witness" tells us that "an easy capture was effected by an engineer +telegraph linesman. Returning in the dark after repairing some air lines +which had been cut by shell fire, he was passing through a wood, when +his horse shied at some figures crouching in a ditch. He called out, +'Come out of it!' whereupon to his surprise three German cavalrymen +emerged and surrendered. He marched them back to his headquarters." + + * * * * * + +An action fought near a village less than a mile to the north of +Armentières was brought about by a pig. The British and German trenches +were so near that the soldiers talked with each other, made jokes, and +even learnt the names of their opponents. One day a pig walked on to the +strip of land between the trenches. British and Germans alike shot at +him, and down he fell. Both sides wanted the pig, for roast pig is a +pleasant change from the dull and tasteless round of ordinary rations. +But how was he to be got in? To go out to fetch him meant instant death. +Five daring soldiers lost their lives over that pig, and still he lay +unreclaimed between the trenches. + +There was a big fellow in the German trench named Hans Müller. He crept +out of his trench in the night, tied a rope to the pig's leg, and +crawled back to his trench unhurt. The Germans waited till morning came, +so that the British might see their triumph, and then began hauling in +the pig. It was a bitter moment for the British, and the Germans did not +forget to rejoice loudly in their success. But the British had their +revenge: two nights later they took that German trench with the bayonet. +That is how they made things even. + + * * * * * + +The dispatch rider already quoted tells us that spies were very busy in +and behind our lines. "I heard a certain story, which I give as an +illustration and not as a fact. There was once an artillery brigade +billeted in a house two miles or so behind the lines. All the +inhabitants of the house had fled, for the village had been heavily +bombarded. Only a girl had had the courage to remain, and to act as +hostess to the British. She was fresh and charming, clever at cooking, +and modest in manner. Now, it was noticed that our guns could not be +moved without the Germans knowing their new position. No transports or +ammunition limbers were safe from their guns. The girl was told of the +trouble; she was angry and sympathetic, and swore that through her the +spy would be discovered. She spoke the truth." + +One night a man, who had his suspicions, saw the girl go into a cellar +as if to bring up coal. He followed her, and, groping about in the dark, +touched a wire. Quickly running his hand along it, he came to a +telephone. The truth was now out. The Germans were receiving their +information from the girl, who posed as the friend of the British. In a +few hours she suffered the usual fate of spies. + + * * * * * + +"Battle noises," says the dispatch rider, "are terrific. At the present +moment a howitzer is going strong behind us, and the noise is +tremendous. It is like dropping a traction engine on a huge tin tray. A +shell passing away from you over your head is like the loud crackling of +a newspaper close to your ear. It makes a sort of deep, echoing crackle +in the air, gradually lessening, until there is a dull boom, and a mile +or so away you see a thick little cloud of white smoke in the air, or a +pear-shaped cloud of gray-black smoke on the ground. Coming towards you, +a shell makes a cutting, swishing note, gradually getting higher and +higher, louder and louder. There is a longer note one instant, and then +it ceases. Shrapnel bursting close to you has the worst sound. + +"It is almost funny to be in a village that is being shelled. Things +simply disappear. You are standing in an archway a little back from the +road--a shriek of shrapnel. The windows are broken, and the tiles rush +clattering into the street, while little bullets and bits of shell jump +from side to side, until their force is spent. Or, a deeper bang, a +crash, and a whole house tumbles down." + +[Footnote 48: Harbour wall.] + +[Footnote 49: See Vol. II., pp. 26 ff.] + +[Footnote 50: See Vol. II., p. 91.] + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + WITH THE SECOND CORPS. + + +The last ten days of October 1914 were days of furious but indecisive +fighting all along the line from Arras to the sea. "The Germans rocked +their attack from side to side, searching for the weak spot. They gained +here; they lost there; but the line remained as it had been when Haig +moved up his First Corps. The British held on, and continued to dig in. +These were days of incessant battering and continual losses; the +hospital trains running back to the base carried as many as 4,000 +wounded in one day." + +The Germans, as you know, were bent on winning the Channel ports at all +costs. They thought that the capture of Calais and Boulogne would create +a panic in Great Britain, and make us keep our new armies at home for +the defence of our shores, instead of sending them abroad for the +reinforcement of our Allies. They also thought that if the Channel ports +could be captured the British Navy would have to be divided, one portion +keeping watch over the German naval bases on the North Sea, the other +part operating in the English Channel. In this case the Germans hoped +that they might fight and win a naval battle against one part of our +divided fleet. There was a good deal of talk in the German papers about +mounting huge guns at Calais which would command at least half of the +Strait of Dover, and make the dispatch of transports very difficult, if +not impossible. + +I have already described the three gates through which the Germans tried +to pierce the Allied line and make their descent on the shores of the +Channel. You know how they were held up at Arras and at La Bassée. +Though they did not cease their efforts to break through these gates +during the latter days of October, they began to direct a great attack +on the bulge in the Allied line to the east of Ypres. Further, they also +attempted to break through by way of the Yser. Military men still wonder +why they continued to fling themselves against four points in the Allied +line, instead of putting forward all their strength against one of them. +We can only be thankful that they wasted their energies in attacking all +these points, when they might have battered with all their force at one. + +We will now return to the Second British Corps, which, you will +remember, had been under fire for twelve days, and had become so +exhausted that on 22nd October it was found necessary to withdraw it to +a line running generally from the eastern side of Givenchy, east of +Neuve Chapelle,[51] to a point about four miles south-east of Estaires. +The Lahore Division of the Indian Corps had now arrived, and was about +to receive its baptism of fire. The village of Neuve Chapelle, which was +destined to figure largely in later history, is four miles north of La +Bassée. It was captured by the Germans on the 27th, and its recapture +was entrusted to the Indians. The 28th of October will be ever memorable +in the annals of the Indian army. On that day it first showed its mettle +on a European battlefield. + +At Neuve Chapelle our trenches presented a salient[52] which could be +swept by fire on both sides, and the Seaforths, who occupied some of +them, were much exposed, and suffered heavily. The 47th Sikhs, the 9th +Bhopal Infantry, and the 20th and 21st Companies of the 1st Sappers and +Miners were now ordered to advance. They dashed forward with great +spirit, and though they were under artillery fire for the first time, +showed great indifference to the bursting shells. It was noticed that +after the first few had exploded near them they hardly troubled to look +around. + +The fighting was of the most desperate and confused character, and the +Germans flung their dead from their trenches to make cover, under which +they advanced. No sooner had the British won a hundred yards of trench +than they were driven back by a counter-attack. The line swayed to and +fro, now in front of the ruins of what had been Neuve Chapelle, now +behind them. Trenches were dug in the streets, and sometimes were only a +few yards apart. Part of Neuve Chapelle was won, but the whole of it +could not be recovered. + +Next day there was a terrible fight at Festubert, a village less than +two miles to the north-west of La Bassée. Ever since the 18th of October +the German guns had been pounding the little place, which was held by +the thin line of the 2nd Manchesters. In the early dawn of the 29th the +Germans swarmed out of their trenches and swept down in dense masses on +the British infantry, who were driven back to their supporting trench. +Here they rallied, and thrust back the Germans who followed them. One of +the lost trenches was recaptured by two men--Lieutenant James Leach and +Sergeant Hogan, who were afterwards awarded the Victoria Cross, as you +will hear later. + +More Indians now arrived, and the defence of the La Bassée gate was +entrusted to them, to two and a half British brigades, and most of the +Second Corps artillery. Amongst the Indian infantry were the 8th Gurkha +Rifles. You will remember that the Gurkhas are little men. The trenches +which they took over had been dug for taller white men, and they found +that they could not see out of them. The German machine guns +enfiladed[53] the Gurkhas, and most of their white officers fell. Little +wonder that, so placed and so strange to this new kind of warfare, they +were forced back. Wandering in the dark, they managed by good luck to +stumble on the trenches of the 1st Seaforths, a regiment to whom they +are blood brothers. + +For the next two days there was a heavy bombardment all along our +position, and especially against the left wing behind Neuve Chapelle. On +2nd November the Germans again pierced the British line in one place, +but a desperate charge of the 2nd Gurkhas, the famous regiment which had +fought so bravely on the ridge at Delhi,[54] saved the situation. + +For the next three weeks the troops in this section were engaged in +beating off German attacks, which gradually grew less and less violent +as the Germans concentrated their forces farther north for a great +assault on Ypres. Our line was forced back till it ran from Givenchy, to +which we stubbornly clung, north by Festubert, and onwards towards +Estaires. After an unsuccessful attack on Givenchy (7th November) there +was a fortnight's lull, during which the contest was little more than an +artillery duel. + +[Footnote 51: _Noove Sha-pel´._] + +[Footnote 52: See Vol. II., p. 16.] + +[Footnote 53: Took them in flank and raked them from end to end.] + +[Footnote 54: During the Indian Mutiny. The story of the capture of +Delhi is told on p. 149 of this volume.] + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + THE INDIANS IN THE TRENCHES. + + +Every boy and girl has heard of the wonderful valour and daring of the +Sikhs and Gurkhas. Many people in this country fully believed that they +would prove invincible on European battlefields. Too much was, perhaps, +expected of them: they found themselves waging an entirely new kind of +warfare in a cold, clammy land, which numbed their limbs and broke down +their stamina. It was all so strange and new--the awful roar of the +great howitzer shells, the fighting from holes in the ground, the +endless stream of shrapnel, the bitter cold, and the absence of those +fierce, furious charges in which they delight. At first their nerve was +shaken, but they quickly recovered, and it must be remembered that when +they broke they dashed forward just as frequently as they retired. +Nevertheless, their splendid courage was not in doubt for a moment, and +before long the enemy went in terror of them, as the following letter, +published in a German newspaper, plainly shows:-- + + "To-day for the first time we had to fight against the Indians, + and Heaven knows those brown rascals are not to be underrated. + At first we spoke with contempt of the Indians. To-day we + learned to look at them in a different light.... When for three + days it had rained shells and the British thought we were beaten + to a jelly, they had then in store for us a visit from their + brown allies. Heaven only knows what the English had put into + those fellows. Anyhow, those who stormed our lines seemed either + drunk or possessed with an evil spirit. With fearful shouting, + in comparison with which our hurrahs are like the whining of a + baby, thousands of those brown forms rushed upon us as suddenly + as if they were shot out of a fog, so that at first we were + completely taken by surprise. At a hundred metres (109 yards) we + opened a destructive fire which mowed down hundreds, but in + spite of that the others advanced, springing forward like cats + and surmounting obstacles with unexampled agility. In no time + they were in our trenches, and truly these brown enemies were + not to be despised. With butt-ends, bayonets, swords, and + daggers we fought each other; and we had bitter hard work, + which, however, was lightened by reinforcements which arrived + quickly, before we drove the fellows out of the trenches." + +The Indians are famous for "ruses"--that is, for tricks of war. Here is +a striking instance of the resource and presence of mind of an Indian +soldier. He and a comrade were instructed to creep out of the trench +which they were defending, in order to spy out a German position some +two hundred yards distant. They crawled along in the dark, and when they +were half-way to the German trench a brilliant searchlight was suddenly +flashed on them. At once they were revealed. One of the men was +quick-witted enough to realize that only by a trick could he save his +life. He immediately rose to his feet and advanced, salaaming to the +Germans. They were so surprised that they ceased fire, and after some +dumb show let him enter the trench. Then began a conversation, which, as +you may imagine, was not very fruitful. The Germans were trying to find +out the Indian race to which he belonged. When the word Mussulman was +mentioned he nodded his head; but when the word British was uttered, he +made a gesture of disgust. The Germans naturally concluded that he hated +the British, so they gave him some rations and a blanket, and let him +spend the night with them. Next morning, by means of dumb show, he made +an officer believe that there were twenty-five other Mohammedans in his +trench who were eager to join the Germans. Completely deceived, the +officer gave him a final cup of coffee, and sent him off to bring in his +friends. Needless to say, he did not return. Unhappily, a few weeks +later this nimble-witted soldier was killed in action. + + * * * * * + +You must not suppose that the Indian army consists only of Gurkhas and +Sikhs. There are many other Indian races serving as soldiers, and +amongst them are the Pathans, fierce hillmen of the North-West Frontier +Province. Somewhere south of Ypres British troops who were holding a +line of trenches one misty night became aware of some hundreds of lithe +gray figures silently gathering in their rear, and gliding forward like +ghosts amidst the trees. Shortly afterwards a score of these gray +figures detached themselves from the larger body, and stealthily, like +Red Indians on the trail, moved up to and beyond the advanced line of +the British trenches. Under their breath our soldiers whispered, "The +Indians are going out," and as they craned their necks they saw the +ghostly figures disappear from view, crawling python-like towards the +first German trench. + +[Illustration: A Night Attack by Pathans. + +The People of Afghanistan and the adjoining borderland of India are +known as Pathans (_Pat-ans'_), and their language as Pushtu. They +include all the strongest and most warlike tribes of the North-West +Frontier Province, and make excellent soldiers. The Afridis (_Af-ree' +dees_), against whom 35,000 British and Indian troops made a campaign in +1897-98, are Pathans. The Khaibar Pass, that great gloomy defile in the +mountain barrier, through which every invader of India except the +European has had to fight his way, is jealously guarded by Afridis in +the pay of Britain.] + +What happened there no one quite knows. There was no shout or sudden +cry, but in a few minutes the British saw one of the score reappear and +glide back to his comrades in the rear. Then the hundreds who were +waiting behind in the shadow of the trees went forward in dead silence +to join the advanced party. For five minutes there was perfect quiet. +Then came a few shots, followed by a wild splutter of musketry, +intermingled with cries and groans. Three or four light-balls were +thrown in the air, and by their means the British saw, some 600 yards to +their front, a mass of wild and struggling men. They saw the gleam of +steel and the whirling rifle butt as the Pathans smote down the foe. + +For ten minutes they hacked and slew amongst the half-awake and wholly +bewildered Germans, who had been lying down awaiting the order to attack +the British trenches. The score of Pathans who had gone out in advance +had silently slain the German pickets, and their main body had thus been +enabled to get right amidst the sleeping foe unchallenged. The slaughter +was terrible, and only ended when the Germans, thoroughly aroused to +their peril, ran for their lives. The threatened attack had been turned +into a ghastly defeat. + + * * * * * + +In these pages I have given you countless instances of German cunning +and audacity. The Indians, being in a strange country, incapable of +speaking any language but their own, and not able to distinguish between +the French and the German soldiers, were thought to be easy prey. Here +is a story of a piece of German deception which utterly failed. A +figure, standing out clear in the moonlight, and wearing a complete +Gurkha uniform, suddenly appeared one night in front of a Gurkha trench, +and delivered this message: "The Gurkhas are to move farther up the +trench; another Gurkha contingent is advancing in support." Puzzled by +this order, the officer in charge replied, "Who are you? Where do you +come from?" To which the only answer was: "You are to move up to make +room for other Gurkhas." + +[Illustration: Two London Scots and a Wounded Gurkha. + +(_Photo, Sport and General._)] + +The English was good, but something (or many small things) excited the +officer's suspicion. "Answer, and answer quickly," he said: "if you are +a Gurkha, by what boat did you cross?" The question was, in the +circumstances, no easy one to answer, and the German (for such he was) +turned at once and fled. But he had not gone five yards before he fell +riddled by bullets. Had the officer been deceived, the trench would have +swarmed with Germans almost before the Gurkhas had made room for them. + +An officer in a Gurkha regiment relates the following amusing story: +"One night our men rushed a German trench, and one of them captured a +big fat German, who surrendered at the sight of cold steel. + +"There is a reward for any man who brings in a prisoner, so the Gurkha +started back across the open towards the British trenches with his +captive. Unfortunately the little man got hit in the leg, so he climbed +on the German's back, and made him carry him to our trenches, where he +triumphantly handed his prisoner over, and was then carried off to +hospital!" + + * * * * * + +German troops were holding a copse near a village north of the +British-French position, and, fearing an attack, were in the habit of +protecting themselves every night by a double line of sentinels. The +copse considerably hampered the advance of the Allies, and an Indian +regiment was brought up as a reinforcement. The officer in charge said +that the wood would soon be captured, and without too great a sacrifice +of life. A French officer who was present thought that the Indians were +too big to enter the wood unnoticed, and declared that they would soon +be perceived by the German sentinels. Thereupon the British officer +offered to bet the Frenchman a sovereign that all the German sentinels +would be removed. The bet was taken. + +At eleven o'clock that night, when every one, except the sentries, was +slumbering, the copse was suddenly filled with a fearful din, with +occasional shots, and a few shouts. Then all was silent again. + +Shortly afterwards the Indians returned. Two by two they came in and +placed before their officer a prisoner tied up like a sausage, and +carefully gagged. This went on until all the thirty German sentinels who +had been guarding the entrance to the wood had been brought in and +handed over to the officer. + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + FIRE AND FLOOD. + + +We will now leave that melancholy region in which Britons of the Second +Corps, like the ocean cliffs of their native land, have been thrusting +back the furious surges of hostile attack for long and weary weeks. +Melancholy indeed is the country over which the tide of war has swept. +Prosperous villages and comfortable homesteads are now crumbling walls +and smoking ruins, with the decaying carcasses of horses, cows, and pigs +lying around. To and fro wander those wretched inhabitants who have +escaped shot and shell, striving to save something from the wreckage of +their homes. "Here, blocking up a narrow side street, is a dead horse +still harnessed to a trap, and beside it is stretched the corpse of a +Jäger[55]; close by, in an enclosure where a shell has found them, lie +some thirty cavalry horses; a little farther on is laid out a row of +German dead, for whom graves are being dug by the peasants. + +"The work of burial falls to a great extent on the inhabitants, who, +with our soldiers, take no little care in marking the last +resting-places of their countrymen and their Allies, either by little +wooden crosses or else by flowers. Amidst the graves scattered all over +the countryside are the rifle pits, trenches, and gun emplacements, +which those now resting below the sod helped to defend or to attack. +From these the progress of the fighting can be traced." + +We now move northwards to the stretch of country which lies between +Ypres and the sea. It is a flat, marshy land, where the inhabitants are +doomed to an everlasting struggle against the thankless soil and the +invading flood. More than once the district has been the bed of an +ancient sea. Beet grows on the silt of old bays; seaports have become +agricultural villages, and channels along which large ships formerly +sailed are green polders.[56] Only a very complete system of drainage +saves the country from being water-logged. It is literally seamed with +canals and dykes, and crops are only raised by the unremitting labour of +men's hands. The towns and villages are small, and a few highroads, +consisting of narrow causeways of cobble stone with broad bands of mud +on either side, serve their needs. It is a dismal land of frequent rains +and white mists, though quaint and pleasing in sunshine, when its white +farmsteads, whirling windmills, lofty spires, and everlasting lines of +pollards and poplars seem very attractive to the foreign eye. + +From Ypres seawards runs a canal which meets the Yser six miles south of +the large village of Dixmude.[57] From Dixmude on to the sea, a distance +of eleven miles, we find the canalized Yser, the main waterway of the +district. Near the left bank of the canal, at a distance of about a mile +and a half, runs a single-line railway,[58] which passes the villages of +Pervyse[59] and Ramscappelle,[60] and has its terminus at the mouth of +the river. No railway crosses the Yser between Dixmude and Nieuport, but +the road from Bruges forks and sends one branch across the stream to +Nieuport, and the other to Pervyse. + +A number of small creeks of brackish water flow through the low, marshy +meadows, below the level of the sea, and bring their sluggish tribute to +the Yser. Along the edges of the canal are two or three "islands" of +higher ground; but nowhere, until we reach the dunes of the seashore, +are there any elevations or commanding positions for guns. It is a +blind, sodden country, as ill-fitted for the passage of troops and heavy +guns as the coast region of Essex. + +To the inhabitants of this amphibious district water is a foe in peace +and a friend in war. In times of great peril the sluices of the myriad +canals can be opened, and the whole flat district from the railway +embankment to the Yser and beyond can be flooded, and thus rendered +impassable for an army. You can easily understand that the Belgians +would not flood the country until every other means of defence had +failed; for the land so submerged would be ruined for agriculture, and +years of labour would be necessary to restore it to its former +condition. The sluices were opened in the days of Marlborough, and again +in 1793-94. You are soon to hear how the progress of the Germans was +similarly stayed in 1914. The idea of calling in the aid of water as a +defence has long been familiar to Belgian soldiers, and a scheme for +flooding the country had been prepared before the war broke out. + +I have already described how the Allies held the avenues to the Channel +ports at Arras and La Bassée. Two other efforts were made by the Germans +to break through the line of defence--the one at Ypres, the other +between Dixmude and the sea. All these four attacks were going on at the +same time, and all were closely connected; but for the sake of clearness +they must be described separately. We will now see how the Belgians and +the French barred the road to Calais by way of the Yser, and in a later +chapter I will describe the great struggle which took place round Ypres. + +When the retreating Belgians were driven out of the Forest of Houthulst +on 16th October, they retired to the eastern bank of the Yser. All that +was now left to them of their native land was but one-tenth of its +surface; they were battle-worn and weary; their surviving countrymen +were in bondage; their wrongs cried aloud to Heaven, but their spirit +was still unsubdued. No longer were they fighting alone. Britons and +Bretons, Indians and Canadians, stockmen from the Antipodes, and +tribesmen from the Atlas had come to their succour, and with a new heart +they prepared to defend the last few miles of territory which they could +call their own. + +On the morning of the 17th the Belgians were strung out along the east +bank of the Yser from Nieuport to Dixmude. In the ditches by the village +were 5,000 Belgians and 7,000 of Ronarc'h's Marines. The total force +numbered some 40,000, and against them von Beseler was now advancing +with 60,000 men, while the Würtembergers were rapidly moving from the +south. Early on the 17th two Belgian divisions in the centre were driven +across the river, but they managed to regain the right bank in the +course of the night. Early on the morning of the 18th von Beseler, with +his right resting on the sand dunes, began a fierce attack that was full +of danger. Everybody, from general to private, knew that the critical +hour had come. If von Beseler could push back the Belgians beyond the +railway embankment on the west side of the Yser, he would be in Dunkirk +in two days, and in Calais the day after; the last narrow strip of +Belgian soil would be lost, the Allied army at Ypres would be surrounded +or forced to retire, and all the bloodshed farther south would have been +in vain. The prospect was enough to make the stoutest heart quail. + +Fiercely the Belgians strove to hold their line in the unequal combat, +but they were forced back step by step, and disaster seemed to await +them, when suddenly succour came--from the sea! The guns of British +warships began to rake the German trenches, and in their roar was the +stern warning, "No road this way." + +History was repeating itself, as it has so often done during this war. +More than two and a half centuries ago, when the French and English beat +the Spaniards at the Battle of the Dunes,[61] which was fought on this +very coast, Cromwell's fleet shelled the enemy's wing, and greatly +helped to bring about the victory. + +As soon as the danger showed itself at Nieuport, King Albert begged our +Admiralty for naval assistance. It was, of course, impossible to send +ordinary warships to operate on this coast, because the sea is shallow, +and cumbered with many a sandbank--"a very dangerous flat, and fatal, +where the carcasses of many a tall ship lie buried." The Germans knew +this well; they had examined the charts, and they had no fear of +molestation from the sea. They believed that no warship could come +sufficiently near to the coast to get within range of their trenches. + +Now it happened that when the war broke out there lay at Barrow three +ships of light draught but very strong gun power which had been built +for the Brazilian Government. Such ships are known as monitors, after +the name of the first of the type, which was built in 1862, during the +American Civil War. Really, a monitor is little more than a low, moving +gun platform, carrying a little fort, in which one or two heavy weapons +are mounted. Each of the three monitors at Barrow displaced 1,200 tons, +and carried two 6-inch guns mounted forward in an armoured barbette, two +4.7-inch howitzers aft, and four 3-pounder guns amidships. They were +protected by stout armour, and as they drew only four feet seven inches +of water, they could move in the shallows where ordinary ships would run +aground. These ships were taken over by the British Government at the +beginning of the war, and were called the _Humber_, the _Mersey_, and +the _Severn_. + +[Illustration: British Monitors shelling German Trenches. + +Note the aeroplane and the balloon directing the fire of the monitors' +guns.] + +On the evening of 17th October the three monitors left Dover under the +command of Admiral Hood, and arrived off the Flemish coast just as the +German attack began. An old cruiser, a battleship, a gunboat, and +several destroyers, aided by French warships, also bombarded the coast +from outside the shoals. Von Beseler endeavoured to bring his big guns +to bear on them, but his artillery was completely outranged, and several +of his batteries were destroyed. Every attempt to beat off the monitors +failed. The German submarines were ineffective because they could not +manoeuvre in shallow water, and their torpedoes, being set to a greater +depth than the draught of the monitors, passed harmlessly beneath their +hulls. + +The guns of the monitors swept the coast for six miles inland, their +fire, which proved very accurate and deadly, being directed by naval +balloons, aeroplanes, and signals from the shore. The Germans could not +retaliate; nor could their troops easily protect themselves in trenches, +for if they faced the sea they could be enfiladed from the canal, and if +they faced the canal they could be enfiladed from the sea. For ten days +the big guns of the monitors blazed across the sandhills. One vessel +fired a thousand shells in a single day. Heavy batteries were +established by the Germans at Ostend on the 24th, but they were at once +bombarded, much to the discomfort of the German officers who had taken +up their quarters in the big hotels on the sea front. By the end of the +month the shore batteries ceased to fire, but before that time the +Germans had been forced to give up their attempt to reach Calais by a +march along the shore. + +During this land and sea warfare the Belgians and French struggled +desperately to hold the line of the river Yser. Over and over again they +beat back massed attacks of the enemy. There were frenzied hand-to-hand +combats and thousands of men wrestled and died on the bridges, or were +drowned in the waters beneath. On Friday, 23rd October, a body of +Germans succeeded in crossing the river close to Nieuport, and in +forcing their way to the railway line near Ramscappelle. The Belgians, +however, drove them back to their old position on the eastern bank, and +the carnage was terrible. Next day some five thousand Germans managed to +push across the river at the point where the road from Bruges to Pervyse +is carried over the stream. On Sunday, the 25th, more Germans crossed, +and the line of the Yser seemed to have been won. But as they tried to +deploy from their bridgeheads the French and Belgians, entrenched in the +miry fields, which are crossed and recrossed by water courses, met them +with such stubborn courage that they could make but little headway. +Every yard was fiercely contested, and the German loss was terribly +heavy. By the 28th the Allies had been beaten back almost to the railway +embankment. Then, under the eye of the Emperor himself, the +Würtembergers launched a terrific attack. + +[Illustration] + +From the higher ground near Nieuport the Germans advanced in dense +masses, singing patriotic songs. The defenders fell back, and at three +in the afternoon, when the Kaiser saw victory almost within his grasp, +they played their last card. Under cover of British naval guns, the +Belgians at high tide had been hard at work near Nieuport damming the +lower reaches of the canal. The brimming waters of the Yser, swollen by +the recent heavy rains, now almost overtopped its banks. At the critical +moment some of the sluices were opened, and the Belgian guns broke down +the banks at several places. Slowly the water spread over the flat +meadows on the left bank of the canal in great shallow lagoons. The +culverts and bridges beneath the railway embankment had been dammed up +so as to prevent the flood from extending westwards. + +Soon the Germans between the embankment and the canal found themselves a +foot deep in water; their guns sank in the mud, and whole battalions +were bogged. Only on a few patches of higher ground could they maintain +a dry foothold. Nevertheless they pushed on through the rising waters, +in the hope of capturing Ramscappelle and seizing the railway embankment +before the waters could stay them. The Emperor himself called for +volunteers, and two Würtemberg brigades, composed of some of the best +fighting men in the German Empire, were chosen to carry the village and +win undying glory. + +[Illustration: The Würtembergers' Attack on Ramscappelle. + +_By permission of The Sphere._] + +On the 30th the great attempt was made. The Würtembergers, carrying +roughly-hewn platforms, floundered through the water, and flung the +"table tops" across the wider channels, thus forming bridges. While so +doing, they were shot down by hundreds, but still they pressed on. +Numbers told; Ramscappelle was partly occupied, and the railway line was +seized. Next day French, Senegalese, and Belgians fell upon them +furiously. The dismounted Bengal Lancers, who had been sent to the help +of the Belgians, now exhausted by fourteen hours' continuous fighting, +charged with their lances and took house after house, smashing in doors +and windows to get at the German marines, who had been called up from +Hamburg to take part in the struggle. In vain did the German officers, +with threats and blows and pistol shots, try to prevent their men from +retreating and surrendering. It is said that some twelve guns and over a +thousand prisoners were taken in this furious counter-attack. Before +long the Allies were over the railway embankment, and the German host +was hurled back into the lagoons. The "seventy-fives" came up at a +gallop, rifles and machine guns cracked incessantly, and soon the waters +were dotted with fallen Germans. + +The flood through which the Würtembergers had waded was but the advance +guard of a mighty deluge that was now about to overwhelm the whole +district. Every sluice in this region of stream and canal was opened, +and the brown flood spread over the land like the "bore" in a narrow +estuary. Men and horses were swept from their feet and swallowed up in +the seething waters; others sank to rise no more in the deep mud; field +guns disappeared in the ooze, and all the while the pitiless guns of the +Allies poured shot and shell on the drowning invaders. Thousands fell, +but some escaped, while others struggled to dry ground, only to be taken +prisoners. The attack had hopelessly failed, and the Emperor, who had +been watching the struggle through his field glasses, shut them up and +turned away. Once more he had been foiled at the very moment when +victory seemed to be beckoning him. + +On 7th November a frenzied attack was begun on Dixmude, which, as you +know, was held by Ronarc'h's Bretons. From the 16th of October to the +10th of November they were fiercely but unsuccessfully assailed by three +corps of the Duke of Würtemberg's army. "You have to sacrifice +yourselves," said Ronarc'h to his men, "to save our left wing. Try to +hold out four days." They held out for a fortnight. + +On the night of the 23rd and in the early morning of the 24th no fewer +than fourteen separate attacks were made upon them, but every one +failed. For most of the time the marines fought in trenches up to their +waists in water, and, as General Joffre told them, they were in their +own element. One night the Germans, driving some captured marines before +them, crept silently towards the French lines. One of the prisoners +shouted a warning, but immediately paid for his loyalty with his life. +The wearied defenders, hearing the shout, sprang to arms and beat off +the attack. + +On 10th November the Germans succeeded in capturing the broken walls and +torn streets of what had once been the prosperous village of Dixmude. +This success, however, had come too late. Around Ypres, as we shall +learn in later pages, the flower of the German armies had everywhere +been driven back from the Allied lines. All the doors to the coast were +now locked, bolted, and barred. Nevertheless, fierce but futile +struggles continued on the Yser until early in December, when their fury +abated. + +[Footnote 55: German rifleman or sharpshooter.] + +[Footnote 56: Meadows reclaimed from the sea.] + +[Footnote 57: See p. 36.] + +[Footnote 58: See map on p. 93.] + +[Footnote 59: _Pair-veez´._] + +[Footnote 60: _Rams-ka-pel´._] + +[Footnote 61: Fought in 1658. Dunkirk was afterwards handed over to the +English, and remained in their possession until 1662, when Charles II. +sold it to France.] + +[Illustration: The Flooded Area in Flanders. + +_Photo, Daily Mirror._] + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + EIGHT DAYS OF STRUGGLE AND ANXIETY. + + +In Chapter IV. I gave you a brief account of the little city of Ypres, +now about to become the storm-centre of a cyclone of blood and death +such as the world has never seen before. I have told you of its +commercial greatness, and of the glorious old buildings with which the +rich burghers of former days adorned their city. Not only were they +clever manufacturers and keen traders, but gallant soldiers as well. One +of the proudest stories in their history tells how the red-coated +burghers of Ypres in July 1302 joined themselves to the men of Bruges +and Courtrai,[62] and marched against Count Robert of Artois, who was +then overrunning Flanders with 8,000 knights of gentle blood, 10,000 +archers, and 30,000 foot-soldiers. Courtrai was threatened, and the +burghers of Ypres, with their fellows from other Flemish towns, arrayed +themselves in front of the city and behind a tangle of dykes and canals. +The chivalry of France made a furious charge, and horses and riders +plunged into the trap which had been laid for them. The slaughter was +terrible. Seven hundred pairs of gilded spurs hung in the abbey church +of Courtrai as the spoils of battle, and the men of Ypres shared with +their comrades of West Flanders the renown of victory. + +Until a short time ago Ypres boasted a relic of warfare against the +British. It possessed a flag captured from us in battle. At +Ramillies[63] one of the regiments of the Irish Brigade[64] which fought +for France managed to seize a British standard, which was proudly +preserved in one of the city's convents at the outbreak of the war. + +You already know something of the situation and surroundings of Ypres. +It stands twenty-three miles from the dunes at Nieuport, on a canal +which joins the Yser to the south of the large village of Dixmude. To +the south and east of Ypres is a crescent of gentle heights, but for the +rest the country is a dead flat land, and the spires of Ypres are a +landmark for many a mile of Flemish meadow and marsh. Cobbled roads, +skirted by lines of poplars, radiate from the town in all directions. +Towards the east run two main highways--the more northerly leading to +Roulers, the more southerly to Menin, and thence to Lille. + +In Chapter VI. you read of the desperate stand made by the 7th Division +between these two highroads, and in Chapter VIII. learned that on 19th +October Sir John French had sent the First Corps to its aid. At this +time Sir John hoped that an advance might be made to the north-east, and +that Bruges and perhaps Ghent might be captured. He thought that Sir +Douglas Haig would probably not be opposed by much more than the 3rd +Reserve Corps, which he knew had suffered considerably in the earlier +fighting, and perhaps by one or two Landwehr divisions. By the 21st he +knew better. That day Sir Douglas Haig with the First Corps advanced +along the road to Bruges, but could not proceed because the French +Territorials on his left had been forced to retire behind the Yser +Canal. At the same time the 7th Division between the two highroads and +Allenby's cavalry beyond the Ypres-Comines canal were being heavily +attacked. Sir John's programme was therefore entirely out of the +question. The Allies found themselves outnumbered by three or four to +one, and Sir John himself, on the evening of the 21st, declared that the +utmost that could be done, owing to the unexpected reinforcements of the +enemy, was to hold the positions round Ypres until General Joffre could +send a relief of French troops, which could not arrive before 24th +October. + +[Illustration: Diagram of the Ypres Salient. + +The two shadings indicate two stages in the German advance.] + +Sir Douglas Haig had therefore to halt and hold a line from Bixschoote, +close to the Ypres Canal, to Zonnebeke,[65] on the Ypres-Roulers road. +The remainder of the line round to Hollebeke was also held by his +infantry, and south of Hollebeke Allenby's cavalry linked them up with +the Third Corps, which was lying along the line of the Lys towards +Armentières. Such was the position of our troops on 21st October. We +were holding, you will observe, a bulge round Ypres. Any troops so +placed are very insecure. They occupy a kind of wedge thrust into the +territory held by the enemy, and this wedge can be attacked on each of +its faces and at the jutting angle at one and the same time. If the line +is broken anywhere the bulge must give way, and the troops holding it +must retire and straighten out their line or suffer destruction. + +You may, perhaps, ask why the Germans chose to make a great attack on +Ypres. It is not a great railway centre such as Hazebrouck or Béthune; +only a single line of railway runs westwards from the city. Nor was it a +depôt filled with stores and valuable to the Allies as a base. The +reason why the Germans threw their strength against Ypres is that it +was the heart of the dangerous bulge or salient which I have just +described. If the salient could have been broken through--and the task +did not seem to be very difficult--the whole Allied line of defence +might have been pushed back beyond Ypres and Armentières, in which case +the Allies would not be able to turn the north flank of the Germans. + +A frightful series of struggles soon began to rage. Day after day the +gray-coated legions of the Kaiser in ever-increasing numbers swooped +down on all parts of the salient, and only by almost superhuman +endurance were the thin lines of the defence held against them. The line +was nearly broken at Zonnebeke; it was actually pierced for a time in +the centre at Becelaere, while on the extreme right a most determined +assault was made against the cavalry at Kleine Zillebeke. The few +reserves available were hurried to the danger points, and then began +days of the heaviest possible fighting and of the utmost anxiety. One +hundred thousand British, strung out along a line of twenty miles, had +to hold back half a million Germans! Nor was this all: the half-million +was growing in numbers every day. + +[Illustration: British Troops advancing for an Attack. + +_Photo, Sport and General._] + +On Thursday, the 22nd, the defence was just maintained; but late in the +evening the line was broken between Langemarck and Bixschoote, where +part of the Camerons was cut off and shut up in a wayside inn. There was +also a gap between Becelaere and Gheluvelt. The Germans thrust their way +in between the Scots Fusiliers and the Yorkshires, and the latter had to +fight furiously and continuously on two fronts for the better part of +three days in order to keep the enemy from enlarging the gap and getting +through. So bitter and ruthless was the fighting that it seemed +impossible that the defence could be maintained at this point. When the +Bedfords restored the position on the 23rd the Yorkshires were still +fighting; they had not budged. On the 30th they and the Scots Fusiliers, +who had now been merged into one battalion, again saved the line, and +earned the following praise from their general:-- + + "You have taken part in probably the fiercest combat that the + world has ever seen. I have often watched you in the trenches + with special interest, and on one occasion, at the crossroads at + Gheluvelt--a very precarious position--I asked who was holding + that particular line of trenches, which seemed a weak spot. When + I was told the 2nd Yorkshires, I knew it would be all right. I + knew it was a regiment I could hang my hat on at any time of + the day and night. There is not a single regiment in the whole + of the division for which I have more respect. I do not say it + to butter you up; I say it because I mean it." + +From Gheluvelt onwards towards Hollebeke there was a long line of +trenches which was held by dismounted cavalry. It was one of the weakest +parts of the line, and the Germans pressed it hard, but not hard enough. +Farther south the Third Corps was also having a bad time. At Le Gheir, +two miles south of Messines, some trenches had been lost; but they were +recovered by a gallant counter-attack, in which the Essex Regiment and +the Lancashire Fusiliers greatly distinguished themselves. + +On 23rd October, a day of great trial, an attempt was made to win back +the trenches which had been lost by the Camerons on the +Langemarck-Bixschoote road. The Queen's West Surrey Regiment, the +Northamptons, the 1st Loyal North Lancashires, and the King's Royal +Rifles were entrusted with the task. Under Major-General Bulfin they +advanced in short rushes, with great determination, against a range of +buildings strongly held by the Germans. After severe fighting and a +dashing bayonet attack the place was captured, the lost trenches were +recovered, and the imprisoned Camerons were released. Some 600 prisoners +were taken, and the old front was restored. The Loyal North Lancashires +and the "Cobblers"--that is, the Northamptons--showed to great advantage +in the final bayonet charge. + +A special order which was issued three days later reads as follows:-- + +"The Brigadier-General congratulates the 1st Loyal North Lancashire +Regiment, Northamptonshire Regiment, and the 2nd King's Royal Rifle +Corps; but desires especially to commend the fine soldierlike spirit of +the 1st Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, which, advancing steadily under +heavy shell and rifle fire, aided by its machine guns, was enabled to +form up within a short distance of the enemy's trenches. Fixing +bayonets, the battalion then charged, carried the trenches, and occupied +them, and to them must be allotted the majority of the prisoners +captured. The Brigadier-General congratulates himself on having in his +brigade a battalion which, after marching the whole of the previous +night without rest or food was able to maintain its splendid record in +the past by the determination and self-sacrifice displayed in this +action." + +On the same day the enemy pushed a corps of their new levies against the +British line near Langemarck. Most of these newcomers had scarcely been +under training for more than two months, yet they hurled themselves on +our trenches with extraordinary courage and doggedness. They were mown +down by our fire, but they came on again and again till the front was +strewn with dead. It is said that three-quarters of the whole corps +were put out of action on that day, and that some 1,500 German corpses +lay round Langemarck that evening. Shortly afterwards French +reinforcements arrived, and brought a welcome relief to the hard-pressed +troops holding the salient. + +[Illustration: Hands up! Capture of Germans near Langemarck by the +Cameron Highlanders. + +On October 23, 1914, about a hundred Germans had been compelled to take +cover behind a mill and a small house. The house was rushed by a small +force of the Camerons, who compelled the Germans to hold up their hands +until a sufficiently strong guard arrived to take them to the rear. + +_From the picture by F. Matania. By permission of The Sphere._] + +It was on the 23rd October that Drummer William Kenny won the Victoria +Cross for various deeds of gallantry, which will be related later on. + +On the 24th, when the Germans were across the Yser, and the Belgians +were preparing to open the sluices,[66] the enemy struck hard against +the Allied line all the way from Dixmude to La Bassée. At 6 a.m. part of +the 7th Infantry Division, which was holding a position near Gheluvelt, +was very violently attacked. Mr. C. Underwood, an interpreter with this +division, gives us a vivid picture of the terrible straits in which his +brigade found itself, and of the arrival of reinforcements in the very +nick of time. + + "We got a message from headquarters," he writes in _Blackwood's + Magazine_, "saying that we must hold out at all costs, as + reinforcements were coming up as quickly as possible to our + support. A corporal in charge of prisoners said that the + Wiltshire Regiment had suffered terribly, as also the Scots + Fusiliers, both having been badly peppered with 'Jack Johnsons,' + which had buried many of them alive in their trenches. + + "At 7 a.m. next morning (the 24th) Captain Drysdale came up to + me and asked me to hurry up two battalions which were expected + every minute from the First Army Corps. The position was most + critical, _as we had not one man left to support the firing + line_, which was being very hardly pressed, and might give way + at any moment. At last, then, the long-expected supports were + arriving. Our men had behaved like heroes all. This was the + seventh day since we engaged the Germans, one division extending + over an unheard-of front of eight miles, and holding up what I + understood from one of our prisoners yesterday to be a force of + three army corps--that is, 15,000 to 20,000 British against + 150,000 Germans! The ordeal of the last three days had been + terrible. These brave fellows actually had no sleep for seven + days, and had never left the trenches, fighting night and day, + sticking to them until they were literally blown out of them or + buried alive. They were now becoming pieces of wood, sleeping + standing up, and firing almost mechanically, with the slightest + support from our guns, which were now outclassed.... + + "Having got on to the road, I found the Northumberland + Hussars,[67] who had evidently been brought up with the idea of + their taking possession of the trenches if the supports were not + up in time. In ten minutes I sighted the head of a battalion + swinging up the road, and ran down as directed to hurry them up. + Found them to be the Highland Light Infantry and King's Own + Scottish Borderers. I told the commanding officer the position, + and he doubled them round the wood to the trenches which our + fellows were holding with their last gasp." + +On this day, 24th October, the point of the salient gave way. The +gallant Wiltshires were driven in, and the Germans pushed into a wood +west of Becelaere, where there was much desperate fighting for days to +come. The Warwicks were ordered to make a counter-attack, in the course +of which they lost 105 officers and men, including their colonel. He had +been wounded in the foot three days before, but he nevertheless led his +men in the charge with fiery courage. His horse was shot under him, but +he found another, which was also shot, and this time Colonel Loring rose +no more. In those dread days of struggle no regiment played a more +heroic part than the Warwicks; they emerged from the ordeal a mere ghost +of their former strength. + +It was noticeable at this time that the Germans, though they repeatedly +pierced our line, did not follow up the advantage which they had gained. +Perhaps this was due to the rawness of the troops; perhaps to the fact +that they were weary with much fighting; but more probably to bad +leadership, for even the famous Prussian Guard, in later assaults, more +than once came to a standstill after it had broken the British line. +Whatever the reason may have been, the Allies had cause to be thankful +that the enemy failed to "make good." + +On the evening of the 25th the 20th Brigade of the 7th Division, which +was then holding a position to the south of Gheluvelt, was forced to +retire. The Germans broke through our lines, and the 2nd Scots Guards, +after repelling the enemy, were pushed back with terrible losses. +Thanks, however, to a splendid charge by the 7th Cavalry Brigade, the +situation was saved. In these operations Lord Innes Ker, who led the +advance guard, won great distinction. Meanwhile the Third Corps, resting +on Armentières had been very hard pressed, and had been forced to fall +back to a position of less risk. + +A French line division and some Territorials were brought up on the +night of the 24th-25th, and were concentrated about Zillebeke. Meanwhile +the 2nd Division made good progress to the north-east, and captured +some guns and prisoners. On the 27th Sir John French went to the +headquarters of the 1st Division to inquire into the condition of the +7th Division, which had been marching and fighting for a whole month, +and was becoming very weak. He broke up Sir Henry Rawlinson's command, +and the much-tried 7th Division was absorbed into the First Corps. + +[Illustration: The Front at Ypres on October 27, 1914.] + +On the 28th there was a lull before the coming storm. The enemy was +preparing for a mighty onslaught upon our whole line. About 5.30 the +next morning a wireless message was intercepted, telling us what the +Germans proposed to do. The Emperor had given orders that the line in +front of Ypres must be broken at all costs, and three German corps were +being massed for the purpose. The critical moment was at hand. + +Early on the morning of Thursday, the 29th, a mass assault was delivered +against the crossroads one mile east of Gheluvelt. All morning the tide +of battle ebbed and flowed. The 1st Division was driven from its +trenches, and for a time the German thrust seemed to have succeeded. Mr. +Underwood thus relates an incident which took place when the outlook was +black indeed:-- + + "As I was watching the woods on our left front towards the + Gheluvelt-Menin road, I saw the Yorks retiring and the Gordons + advancing. I pointed this out to the general, who immediately + sent to find out by whose orders they were retiring. Presently, + to our consternation, the Gordons came back farther down the + road towards Gheluvelt; before we could do anything, the Yorks + came streaming over the open ploughed land. The general galloped + down the road to stop the Gordons, and I tried to stop the + Yorks, who persisted that the order had been given to them to + retire. We concluded that the order must have been given by a + German officer, and formed them up along the road under a + terrible shrapnel fire. They were being bowled over like + ninepins, as the Germans must have seen them crossing the open. + We tumbled them into the ditch alongside the road, and it was a + pitiable sight to see the poor fellows who were still in the + open and badly hit trying to crawl along towards our + headquarters to take shelter from the hail of shrapnel + bullets.... They were by now all lying out under the wall of the + farm, and the place looked like a shambles. It was a splendid + sight to see Lieutenant Jardine of the R.A.M.C. running out + under a hail of bullets and bringing in one wounded man after + another on his back.... Presently the shell fire died down a + bit, and the men in the ditches alongside the road, having had + time to recover, advanced once more to regain the ground which + they had lost.... One poor chap of the Warwicks whom I spoke to, + and had been very badly mauled, said, 'Well, sir, England can't + say we did not stick it to the last.'" + +In the counter-attack to which the Gordons were now advancing nearly the +whole of the First Corps was engaged. Some very gallant charges were +made, in one of which Lieutenant J.A.O. Brooke of the 2nd Gordons won +the Victoria Cross and lost his life as you will read later on. About 2 +p.m. the enemy began to give way, and by dark most of the line north of +the Menin road had been recovered. The same day the Third Corps was +heavily assailed at Le Gheir, in what our soldiers call "Plugstreet" +Woods,[68] and there was desperate fighting beneath its ragged larches. +Here, again, trenches were lost and won. The Middlesex were driven out; +but the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders nobly came to the rescue, and +against great odds recaptured the trenches and slew almost every German +in them. + +The attempt to break through to the south of Ypres was repeated with +even greater vigour on the 30th. In the gray dawn a heavy bombardment +was begun on the trenches held by our cavalry at Zandvoorde, a village +about a mile and a half south of Gheluvelt. So fierce was the fire that +no living thing could remain in the trenches. One troop was buried +alive, and soon the whole division was obliged to withdraw to a ridge +about a mile west of the village. This meant that the troops on the +right were uncovered, and were obliged to fall back to preserve the +line. While this movement was going on, the situation was about as +serious as it could well be. The enemy had been reinforced, and had now +gained possession of Zandvoorde. The Scots Greys and the Hussars were +hurried up, and the ridge was held until evening, when the 4th (Guards) +Brigade arrived and took over the line. They held it in trenches with +water above their knees for twenty-three days. + +The salient was sharper than ever now, and therefore even more dangerous +than before. The weakest place lay between Gheluvelt and the corner of +the canal near Hollebeke. Had the Germans reached the canal they would +have cut off the British holding the salient to the north, and nothing +could have saved Ypres. The Emperor was on the field and he had told his +men that if Ypres were captured the war would be over, and the victory +of Germany would be complete. So desperate was the situation that Sir +Douglas Haig determined to hold the line from Gheluvelt to the corner of +the canal at all costs. He moved up reserves to the rear of the line, +and made other preparations to resist the great assault of the morrow. + +Farther south there was great peril too. The cavalry had been driven out +of Hollebeke, and had fallen back on the Ypres-Armentières road, where +there was heavy fighting. The line of the Third Corps had been broken, +but the rent had been repaired by the gallantry of the Somerset Light +Infantry. Reserves were called up, and were stationed at Neuve Eglise, +about three miles south-west of Messines. With these reserves came the +first infantry Territorial regiment to take the field--the London +Scottish. + +North of Zandevoorde there was also great danger of disaster. A +battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers found the troops on their right +pushed back by sheer weight of numbers, and they themselves exposed to a +most galling fire from machine guns on their flank. Their losses were +terrible, but still they held on, and when the fight was over the +battalion had almost ceased to exist. The Royal Scots Fusiliers suffered +in like manner; but they and the remnant of the Yorkshires, bunched +together into one battalion, held their trenches until dark. The Allied +line was pushed back to the verge of Gheluvelt, and when night fell it +seemed as though the Kaiser had spoken the truth when he declared, +"Ypres will be mine by 1st November." + + * * * * * + +During the fighting around Ypres the Royal Flying Corps did splendid +service. A _Daily News_ correspondent tells of one young flying man who +seemed to make a perfect hobby of his work. The following account of his +doings will give you an excellent idea of how airmen direct the fire of +guns. "From dawn to sunset," says the correspondent, "this young officer +is up and about, doing the most wonderful things with the utmost +coolness. The other morning, up ahead of the lark, he volplaned[69] from +a great height right in the midst of the German lines, as though he +meant to make a brief morning call for breakfast. The Germans were too +astonished for the moment to do anything but gasp and gape at him, +though he was easily within range. He impudently stopped his engine, +dropped half a dozen 'puffs' (as our Tommies call the aeroplane bombs) +into a cavalry cluster, waved his hand, and off and above he went again. + +"Hundreds of rifle shots whirred around him as he fled; two of them +struck him; and three minutes later he was down in the British lines +once more, with blood trickling through the rents in his tunic. He was +patched up and bandaged, had a good, hearty lunch, and before teatime he +was up again in one of his mad frolics in the air. 'Surely you've had +enough for one day,' said General ----; 'have a rest at least until +to-morrow. We don't want to lose these matinée performances of yours; +they're too fine for anything.' But the young aviator jammed his +armoured helmet on his head, and said he couldn't resist making a +flight, because it was great fun, and kept him fit. So off he went +again. + +"That afternoon he excelled himself. There was a well-screened German +battery which was doing nasty work from behind a slight rise at the back +of the enemy's trenches. This was the airman's quarry. Up and up he went +in quick, climbing spirals, and when he was at a height of 2,000 feet he +poised for a spell to spot the lurking-place of the battery. When he had +discovered it he, flew above it, and signalled to our gunners to drop +their shells immediately below him. They fired; the shells fell some +distance to the right. He next signalled to the range-finders to swing +their guns more to the left. Again they fired, but the shells went too +far. A third time he signalled, and the first of our shells that fell in +the new direction wrecked the limber of the foremost German gun, +smashing up horses and men alike. Good! Instantly the airman indicated +that the range had been found, and then shell after shell burst over and +among the battery which had been flogging us so mercilessly earlier in +the day. In five minutes all that was left of it broke away from the +cunning screen which masked it, and fled across country. The general, +who had been watching the affair through his field glasses, cried, +'Splendid! Magnificent! The best show I've ever witnessed. That man must +have a heart of steel in a body of iron.' When the daring aviator +descended the general warmly congratulated him, and shook him by the +hand. 'You're almost too good to last,' he said. The airman only +laughed." + +[Illustration: An Admiral of the Air. + +_Photo, Cribb._ + +Wing-Commander C. R. Samson, R.N. See page 74.] + + * * * * * + +In the account of the fighting round Ypres nothing has been said of our +artillery. Sir John French thus writes concerning it: "I cannot speak +too highly of the valuable services rendered by the Royal Artillery +throughout the battle." He also tells us that, though the enemy brought +up guns of great range and power, our artillery overmastered them. +Splendid work was done by a number of young artillery officers, who in +the most gallant manner pressed forward in the vicinity of the firing +line in order to direct their guns at the right targets, and at the +right moment. Here is a story which illustrates the skill and courage of +these young officers. + +"In many instances," says a _Times_ correspondent, "artillery subalterns +have taken up dangerous positions well in advance of the front line of +infantry, and, telephone in hand, have given the range to the gunners +with perfect calmness. I was told of an incident which is typical of the +splendid devotion of these men. A young lieutenant had posted himself in +a tower a few hundred yards from the German trenches. He had telephoned +his orders regularly for half an hour. Then he said, without any trace +of excitement, to the operator on the other side, 'I hear the Germans +coming up the stairs. I have my revolver. Don't believe anything more +you hear.' With these words he dropped the receiver, and he has not been +heard of since." + +[Footnote 62: _Koor-tray'_, 27 miles by rail south-west of Ghent, on the +Lys; famous for its linen and lace manufactures. The "Battle of the +Spurs" (1302) was fought outside its walls.] + +[Footnote 63: _Rā-mē-yee´_, 29 miles south-east of Brussels; scene of +one of Marlborough's victories (1706).] + +[Footnote 64: Formed of Irishmen in the service of France. They fought +gallantly against Marlborough; at Malplaquet the 18th (Royal Irish) +Regiment and the Irish Brigade fought with each other, and the Royal +Irish were the victors.] + +[Footnote 65: You will find these and other villages mentioned in this +chapter on the map on p. 103.] + +[Footnote 66: See p. 95.] + +[Footnote 67: The Northumberland Hussar Yeomanry rejoice in the proud +distinction of being the first of all Territorial regiments to go to the +front in this war. They left England about September 15, 1914.] + +[Footnote 68: Ploegsteert, about three miles north of Armentières.] + +[Footnote 69: Shut off his engine and glided down in zigzags.] + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + TALES OF HEROES. + + +Before I proceed with the story of the critical day in the great +struggle for Ypres, let me give you a few soldiers' stories of the +fighting which took place during the month of October. Hundreds of +attacks and counter-attacks were made and repelled during that terrible +month, and a thousand deeds of the utmost gallantry were performed. Some +of them won the highest award of valour, as we shall learn at the close +of this chapter; but hundreds of others, equally splendid, went +unrecorded and unrecognized, probably because they were not witnessed by +superior officers. We must always remember, when we read accounts of +gallant deeds done in battle, that they are but few out of many which +deserve to be inscribed on the roll of fame. It has been well said that +during the month of October 1914 the Victoria Cross was won a dozen +times every day. + +Here is a story of a boy hero, a private in the D Company of the 2nd +Manchesters, of whose exploits you have already read. His name was +Preston; he was eighteen years of age, and was known as the "baby" of +his regiment. On 20th October the Manchesters were surrounded, and their +trenches were enfiladed by German fire. First the lieutenant was +wounded, then the sergeant, and the company was left without a single +officer in command. While the men were wondering what to do, Private +Preston threw up his cap and shouted, "Fix bayonets, lads!" The company +obeyed his order, and he led them in a wild and successful charge +against the enemy. Six days later this gallant and resourceful boy was +killed in action. + +[Illustration: The R.A.M.C. rendering First Aid in the Trenches. + +_By permission of The Sphere._] + + * * * * * + +A private of the South Wales Borderers tells how some Germans disguised +as gravediggers attempted to rush a British trench. "We knew that the +Germans had a recognized corps of gravediggers," he says, "but we found +that the supposed gravediggers now advancing were armed not only with +picks and shovels, but with rifles also. When they came within range +they fired. We did likewise, and soon saw their backs. Later we caught +three of them--an officer and two privates. The officer was a tall, +brawny fellow, six feet in his stockings. A little Cockney in our +regiment went up to the German officer, and, not supposing that he would +be understood, said fiercely, 'For two pins I'd knock your blooming head +off.' Imagine his surprise when the German giant, looking down upon him, +replied in perfect English, 'Don't! I can't help this war. Like +yourself, I must fight for my country.'" + + * * * * * + +You have already heard from Mr. C. Underwood of the fine work done by +Lieutenant Jardine of the R.A.M.C. on the Gheluvelt-Menin road during +29th October. An eye-witness says: "There was a man of small stature, +Lieutenant Jardine, of the 21st Field Ambulance, who made frequent +journeys from the shelter of a château at Gheluvelt to the trenches. He +continually faced a hurricane of fire, and to see the little man coming +back with a heavy burden on his shoulders was a sight not to be +forgotten. After he had visited the trenches a number of times he had +the appearance of a butcher straight from the slaughter-house. Many men +owe to him the fact that they are alive to-day." Nor must we forget the +Field Ambulance men, who "time after time came into the open to carry +the more seriously wounded from the trenches." + + * * * * * + +Don't forget that there is plenty of opportunity for the display of +courage, even behind the firing line. The following little story +illustrates the steadfastness and resource of a man in the Army Ordnance +Corps--that is, the branch of the service which conveys ammunition to +the places where it is needed. Five motor lorries conveying ammunition +had been cut off by the Germans. The men in charge of them blew up the +ammunition and made off across country. One, however, refused to leave, +and remained hidden in a wood near the side of the road. The Germans, +finding the ammunition destroyed, passed on, and the hidden soldier came +out of his hiding-place. Finding the wheels of the lorries intact, he +managed to start one of the motors. He then hitched the other four +lorries behind, and slowly brought the convoy safely into the British +camp. + + * * * * * + +Major Viscount Dalrymple, of the Scots Guards, the first member of +Parliament to be taken prisoner, gives the following account of his +adventures:-- + +"We came out in a great hurry in the dark and pouring rain on the night +of 25th October, having heard that a trench held by Major Willie Holbeck +and a platoon on the right flank had been overwhelmed. It was a beastly +trench, next to the one I was in on the previous day, and by nightfall +the Germans were entrenched only 100 yards in front of it. Willie was +shelled and shot at in it all day, and they rushed him in large numbers +in the dark of the evening. He and Corporal Maclean and a few others +bolted back a hundred yards or so, and then tried to retake it with the +bayonet, but failed. Major Hugh Fraser and I, with the remainder of the +right flank and the left flank under Captain Fox, hurried off to the +village, and when we got there we heard that a lot of Germans--more than +1,000--were marching along the street away from us. + +"We were not sure whether to try to clear the village first, or whether +to try to retake the lost trench. Eventually Major Fraser and Major +Holbeck started up the track straight to the lost trench. When Fraser +got fairly near the trench he found it full of Germans. He shouted, +'Have a go at them!' and charged practically by himself. He was shot at +once, as were, I think, most of his men. Major Willie Holbeck had his +right thigh bone broken by a bullet. I did not hear much firing, and had +no idea of what had happened until Holbeck crawled back. + +"Meanwhile I had discovered that a house near by us was full of Germans, +so I sent Captain Fox along the road nearly opposite, and advanced on it +myself with a platoon and a few more men. When we got within twenty +yards or so they started firing at us. I shouted to the men to charge, +and rushed over the hedge at the enemy. I was just going to bayonet an +officer, when my men shot him, and he pulled me over by the leg as he +fell. Then the Germans came out of the house, swarms of them. Some gave +themselves up, while others fired at us out of a wood alongside, only +about five yards away; until I got hold of a prisoner, and, pushing him +round in front of me, told him to tell the others to surrender. He did +so, and they surrendered to the number of 188 men and seven officers. +Two of their officers had been killed, and a good many of their men; but +I had two of my best sergeants and I don't know how many men killed and +wounded. It took the whole left flank company to take the prisoners +away, and I was not left with enough to attack the lost trench. + +"About 7 a.m. on the 26th the shelling began, and there was a lot of +sniping from the village at my right rear. Presently I saw about sixty +Germans, who had been hiding, bolting across our rear, and I think, +between our fire and the German shelling, they must have been wiped out. +Then the shelling got terrific, absolutely all over us. At one time for +two consecutive minutes I counted over sixty shells a minute bursting +within fifty yards or so of my trench. I was twice hit by pieces, which, +however, did no harm, and none of my little section were touched. Our +trench got pretty uninhabitable--fired at from front and rear and on one +flank, the shells coming thick all the time. + +"Then word came from the trench on my left, held by a mixture of +Staffords and Grenadiers and my men, that the Grenadiers on the left had +retired. I shouted back that it was nonsense, and to stick to the +trenches and fire whenever opportunity offered. I did not think there +could be any genuine attack until they stopped shelling us. + +"About 3.30 I suddenly heard a bugle sounding 'Cease fire,' or something +or other, on our right, and saw the next trench on the right full of +Germans, and our people surrendering. . . . The Germans were all round +except on the left, and I think our people had gone from there; so I +told our men to lie low in the trenches, in case the Germans did not +come so far, which they unfortunately did." Viscount Dalrymple and his +little force were surrounded and forced to surrender. "I was marched off +with about sixty men, mostly Staffordshires and King's Company +Grenadiers, only about eight of my own, and one Staffordshire subaltern. +At a village some way off I found the rest of our people. + +"Eight of us were in a second-class compartment for forty-eight +hours--that is, every seat full--and were not allowed to lie down, stand +up, or look out of the windows. If we opened a window it was generally +shut again. After we had been in this compartment for about thirty hours +we were given a plateful of potato soup with a little meat in it. We had +not had anything to eat or drink for twenty-four hours previous to being +captured, and had been under heavy fire the whole of the time." + + * * * * * + +Private G. Owen of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, who was mentioned in +dispatches for conspicuous bravery on the field, thus describes the +incident which won him the proud distinction:--"You will be surprised to +hear about me getting mentioned in dispatches for helping a wounded +comrade who had been shot in the leg and had had his thigh broken. I +will tell you shortly how it happened. We had been warned to draw +rations from a farmhouse just on the other side of our trenches, which +was being shelled, and had a Maxim playing on it. Well, we had drawn tea +for our comrades, and we had to go back for some eatables. We made a run +for it. I was first, and got through the gate into the field, when I +heard a shout of 'O Jerry, I'm hit!' + +"I ran back, and saw my mate lying in the road with his thigh broken by +a bullet from the sniper with the Maxim. I caught hold of him the best +way I could, and got him to safety with the help of the officer in +charge, while the bullets and shells were screaming round for more +victims." + + * * * * * + +A newspaper correspondent tells us of a little Welshman who made a great +reputation as a sniper[70] during the fighting in front of Ypres. "If +there is one thing," he says, "that the German soldier is beginning to +be an adept in it is sniping. He has learnt many tricks, and the British +soldier in the trenches pays him the utmost respect. He climbs trees, he +worms along the ground, sometimes as stealthily as a Gurkha; in a field +of roots he sticks a turnip on the spike of his helmet, and, thus +disguised, sends quick death among an incautious enemy. He shoots +straight, and is not afraid. But this little Welshman is claimed by his +comrades to be king of them all. He spends each night at it, and his +regiment's trenches are now rarely disturbed by even the most +venturesome German sharpshooters. He steals forward as lightly as a cat, +fires, and, slipping aside, awaits the enemy's reply. The flashes of +their rifles give him a mark. He shoots at the nearest, and repeats the +performance as often as the enemy will oblige him by disclosing their +positions. + +"A London scoutmaster was sent out one night to ascertain the enemy's +intentions. He found the Welshman ahead, and in whispers explained his +object. The sniper bade him follow, and the scoutmaster quickly found +himself less than twenty yards from the German trenches, undiscovered +and unsuspected. This little Welshman in private life is a revivalist +preacher." + + * * * * * + +An American correspondent who witnessed the British monitors[71] +shelling the German trenches tells us the following story of a gallant +British naval officer who fell while trying to aid the stricken +Belgians. "As we watched the fighting we were joined by a Belgian +captain, who told us the story of an English lieutenant[72] who had +landed that morning. This officer came ashore from the monitor _Severn_ +with twenty men and three machine guns. Reaching Nieuport, he saw that +the Belgians by losing a farm that morning had weakened their position. +Accordingly he started with his twenty men across the bullet-swept area +right to the trenches. Men who saw him say he walked as calmly as if on +a tour of inspection, calling orders to his men, and signalling with his +hands. In vain the Belgian officers shouted that their position was +already occupied by Germans. Either he did not hear or he was determined +to accomplish the task at all costs. When fifty yards from the coveted +goal the young officer fell dead, a bullet having struck him between the +eyes. The men retreated, carrying with them the guns and the memory of a +hero worthy in all respects of the high traditions of the British navy." + +[Illustration: French Officers examining a German Prisoner. + +(_Photo, Central News._)] + + * * * * * + +A lance-corporal of the 2nd South Lancashire Regiment describes how he +and his comrades saved a gun which they were working in the loft of a +cottage. Some 200 Germans having broken through the British lines, tried +to rush the cottage. "I crept on my stomach," says the lance-corporal, +"and made for my gun, which was nicely pointed at them, fetching them +down like sheep, thinking every minute they would get at me, especially +when I heard footsteps on the stairs. Two of my comrades now came to my +assistance. When they saw who it was they patted me on the back, and one +of them said, 'Let's have a go at the gun, Len;' which I was glad of, as +I was nearly done up. My chum did splendid work, fetching the remainder +down. While he was firing Lieutenant Fulcher went downstairs just in +time, as five Germans had got round without being seen. The brave +officer killed the five, and returned to us in the loft. . . . Then, +seeing we were all right, he once more returned to headquarters. + +"Half an hour later we were surrounded with shells . . . A piece struck +the sergeant. Without delay we carried him into the house and did our +very best for him. It was a pity that he should come to his end, as only +the day before he received a telegram congratulating him on his splendid +previous work, for which he was mentioned in dispatches. + +"We gave the alarm to the men down the cellar. It must have been God who +told me to shout them up. In one more minute there would have been +another seven killed, as no sooner had they got up than a shell burst in +the cellar. I told the men to make for headquarters, which they did +under heavy shell fire. How they got there without being hit I do not +know. Myself and two others stopped, as we had our best friend in the +roof (the gun). Another shell came and took the two men off their feet, +luckily doing no harm; only I got a few splinters after the falling of +the house. I found that I was the last, so I crawled out in the smoke +and the dust, and made for headquarters. I reported to Lieutenant +Fulcher that the sergeant was killed, and had died in my arms, and that +I had been forced to leave the gun. There were tears in his eyes. He +told me to lie down, but I could not, and he asked where I had left the +gun. I told him, and said, 'I expect it is smashed.' He then asked for +volunteers to go and fetch it, and two other lance-corporals at once +offered to go with me. We saved the gun, everything else being smashed, +and got back without being hit. General Haldane congratulated us, and +granted us six days' special leave to England." + + * * * * * + +The following story comes from the German side. There are three +characters in it--a Bavarian lieutenant, Sepp his servant, and Caro his +dog. "Sepp could play the mouth organ[73] beautifully, rendering folk +songs, dances, etc., and we had many a pleasant hour with his music. One +day, when the shells were bursting not far from us, the lieutenant said +to his servant, 'Sepp, if I am ever hit, play my burial song for me, as +you know how, and send my mother a remembrance. Everything else, +including money, you can keep.' The dog Caro was not allowed to go into +action, but had to march all day with the baggage, and at night slept at +his master's door, allowing no one save Sepp to enter. Often he managed +to get loose from the baggage carts, and, in spite of the colonel's +scolding, reached the firing-line, where he shared the danger with his +master. + +"One fine day on the Yser a hostile bullet struck our dear young +lieutenant in the forehead, so that he never moved again. On his face +there was a pleasant smile, such as we had never before seen on the +dead. Our grief was great; but a soldier never has much time for +weeping. We dug his grave in a small pleasure garden, and laid the young +hero to rest. We doffed our helmets, while some one said a brief prayer. +On the mound we laid a last rose, and the soldiers made a cross. When +the captain had said the last word Sepp at once began to play, more +beautifully than we had ever heard before. No organ music had ever +pleased me so much. Tears stood in the eyes of us all. Again and again +he played funeral hymns and soldiers' songs, until we had to go. + +"We could not get Sepp away from his master's grave. He continued to sit +there, weeping and playing on his mouth organ all the songs his master +had loved best. Just as we were going, up came the dog Caro from +somewhere, as though he knew of his master's death. He whined and +howled, while all about this farewell scene the guns thundered and rifle +bullets whistled. Deeply moved, we went away. The English made an +attack, but still in the twilight Sepp continued to play, until he had +to be removed forcibly to prevent him from falling into the enemy's +hands. Only Caro remained; he would not budge. + +"When, two days later, we had beaten the English and came back past the +same spot, there lay the faithful Caro, dead on his master's grave. We +knew not whether he had perished of hunger and grief, or whether a +fragment of shell had struck him, but we found no wound on his body. We +buried the faithful animal at his master's feet. Since that day Sepp has +never played another tune." + + * * * * * + +I will conclude this chapter by giving you a brief account of the heroes +who were awarded the Victoria Cross between October 1 and 30, 1914. They +are as follows:-- + +Private Henry May, 1st Battalion the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). On +October 22, 1914, at a village about four miles south-west of +Armentières, he went out of his own free will, and under a heavy +cannonade tried to rescue a wounded man who was, unhappily, killed +before he could save him. Later, on the same day, he carried a wounded +officer a distance of 300 yards into safety, while exposed to very +severe fire. + +Drummer William Kenny, 2nd Gordon Highlanders. On 23rd October, near +Ypres, Drummer Kenny, an Irishman, whose parents live at Drogheda, +showed wonderful bravery in rescuing wounded men on five different +occasions. Each time he carried his life in his hand, and showed the +most fearless courage. Twice previously he had saved machine guns by +carrying them out of action, and frequently he had conveyed urgent +messages over fire-swept ground. Like all true heroes, Drummer Kenny +showed himself the most modest of men. Here is his own account of his +repeated acts of bravery: "There were men lying about wounded, and I +simply brought them in. The Maxims had to be fetched, and I did +it--that's all." + +Lieutenant Arthur Martin-Leake, R.A.M.C. This gallant officer was the +first man in the British army to be awarded the Victoria Cross for +conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty in two separate campaigns. +During the South African War he went out into the firing-line to dress a +wounded man while forty Boers, who were only 100 yards off, rained +bullets on the position. When he had done all he could for the stricken +soldier he went over to a badly wounded officer, and while trying to +place him in a more comfortable position was shot three times. He only +gave up his merciful work when thoroughly exhausted, and even then he +refused water until other wounded men had been served. For this splendid +self-sacrifice and steadfast bravery he was rightly awarded the Victoria +Cross. During the Balkan War he served with a British Red Cross +contingent, and throughout the present war, and especially at Zonnebeke +between October 29 and November 8, 1914, he repeatedly went out under +heavy fire to bring in wounded men, some of whom were lying close to the +enemy's trenches. Again the coveted distinction was awarded to him, and +a clasp was added to the Cross which he had won in South Africa. + +Lieutenant James Leach and Sergeant John Hogan, 2nd Battalion the +Manchester Regiment. Lieutenant Leach had only received his commission a +few days before he won the Victoria Cross on October 29. "When I joined +the Manchesters," he said in an interview, "there were only six officers +and forty-five men, whereas the proper strength of the battalion was 30 +officers and 1,100 men. The regiment had been badly cut up at Le Cateau +and La Bassée. On joining the regiment I was immediately put in command +of a company which was in an advanced trench near Festubert.[74] The +trench was large enough to hold thirty-five men; it was about 150 yards +from the main trench, and 120 yards from the German trenches. + +"At seven o'clock on the morning of 29th October I had just started to +have my breakfast, when a man to the right of me shouted, 'Look out, +sir, look out; they're coming,' and began firing as fast as he could. I +looked over the parapet, and saw about 250 of the enemy with fixed +bayonets approaching the trench at the double, firing as they came on, +and making a peculiar wailing noise. Before the Germans reached the +trench we shot down something like 150 of them. With only such a short +distance to cross from their trenches to ours, about 100 of the enemy +managed to reach our trench and jump into it. By sheer weight of numbers +they carried the trench, and killed about twelve of my men. + +[Illustration: How Lieutenant Leach and Sergeant Hogan recaptured a +Trench from the Germans. + +(_From the picture by F. Matania. By permission of The Sphere._)] + +"At nine o'clock I called up the communication trench, and asked how far +the enemy had got, and found they were occupying three of the four +traverses.[75] When I went up again by myself two hours later, I found +the Germans were occupying all the four traverses. Well, I thought, if +we leave it much longer they will be down the communication trenches +into the main trench. + +"The same evening we heard we were to be relieved by the Gurkhas, and I +felt it would be rather bad on my part to leave the recovery of the +trench to them. I therefore determined about two o'clock to regain the +trench before dark. Calling for volunteers, Sergeant Hogan and ten +others came forward, and we began to crawl up the communication trench. +I fired anywhere with my revolver, only exposing my hand, with the +intention of pushing back the enemy along the trench as far as we could. +The idea was to force them to run back to their own trenches, so that we +could shoot them down as they went. + +"All along the trench we crawled over dead and wounded Germans, so you +see my revolver had been doing some execution. When we got to the left +traverse I was surprised to hear an English voice round the corner +shout, 'Don't shoot, sir.' I chanced this being a bit of treachery, and +was surprised to see one of my own men coming round the corner. He had +been captured in the morning rush, and he said a wounded German officer +round the corner had asked him to tell me that they wanted to surrender. + +"I went round the corner, and found sixteen Germans on their knees with +their hands up, shouting, 'Mercy.' I told the officer that he and his +men had got to go into the main trench. This they did after they had +taken off their equipment, holding up their hands as they went. About +twenty wounded Germans crawled in with them. . . . Was I surprised when +I heard I had been awarded the Victoria Cross? Yes, I was. I was +mentioned in dispatches, and there I thought the matter had ended." + +Sergeant Hogan, when interviewed, showed the same pleasing modesty as +Drummer Kenny. "I only did," he said, "what others would have done, and +what others have done." + +A few further details as to this remarkable feat may be added. The +following account is taken from the _Manchester Guardian_:--"Lieutenant +Leach and Sergeant Hogan left the main trench with ten men, and, +crawling along the communicating trench, they established themselves at +a point where the trench, which had been captured by the Germans that +same morning, turned sharply at right angles. Leach and Hogan then +advanced. The aim of the two men was to drive the Germans back along the +narrow trench to the opposite end, from which there was no exit. Leach +and Hogan commenced from their corner. Leach, being armed with a +revolver, could reach his hand round the corner and shoot along the +sections without exposing his body; whilst the German soldiers, armed +only with rifles, could not fire without exposing part of their bodies. + +"While Leach was shooting along the section Hogan watched the parapet to +ward off attacks from above, as the Germans might crawl over from the +section attacked and shoot them down from above or take them in the +rear. Leach had now to fire with his left hand. When the section had +been cleared by the two men, they took their stand at the next corner, +and repeated the manoeuvre. As they advanced, section by section, Hogan +put his hat on the end of his rifle and raised it above the parapet, to +indicate to his platoon how far progress had been made, so that his +comrades would not fire at that part of the trench that had been +retaken." This went on, corner after corner being captured, until the +two men heard one of their comrades who had been made prisoner that +morning cry out, as described above by Lieutenant Leach. + +Lieutenant James Anson Otho Brooke, 2nd Gordon Highlanders. This officer +received the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery and great ability +near Gheluvelt on 29th October, when he led two attacks on the German +trenches under heavy rifle and machine-gun fire, and regained a lost +trench at a very critical moment. By his marked coolness and alertness +he prevented the enemy from breaking through our line[76] at a time +when a general counter-attack could not have been made. Lieutenant +Brooke made the supreme sacrifice that day: he gave his life to save his +fellows. + +[Illustration: Diagram to illustrate Trench Warfare.] + +[Footnote 70: Sharpshooter, who hides himself outside the trenches and +fires on the enemy when occasion offers.] + +[Footnote 71: See p. 92.] + +[Footnote 72: Lieutenant Wise.] + +[Footnote 73: British soldiers are also fond of performing on the mouth +organ.] + +[Footnote 74: See map, p. 59.] + +[Footnote 75: A study of the diagram on p. 128 will explain the meaning +of "communication trench" and "traverse." Lieutenant Leach's company +was holding a trench such as that marked A on the diagram.] + +[Footnote 76: See p. 108.] + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + THE CRISIS OF THE FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES. + + +On Saturday, 31st October, came the crisis of the fierce and +long-continued struggle. Day by day the enemy's attacks had been growing +stronger and stronger. Across the lines the British could hear the +Germans singing patriotic songs, as though they were working themselves +up to a berserk rage.[77] An order taken from a prisoner showed that the +Kaiser had ordered the British line to be smashed at all costs. "Before +the sun was high on that morning," writes an American correspondent, "a +British aviator volplaned down to his own lines with a wing damaged by +shrapnel. He dropped from his seat pale and shaken. 'A close call?' they +asked. 'It isn't that,' he replied; 'it's what I have seen--three corps, +I tell you, against our First!' So he jerked out his story. He had seen +the roads and ridges like ant-hills and ant-runs with men; he had seen +new batteries going into position; he had seen, far away, the crawling +gray serpents, which were still more German regiments going to their +slaughter. 'And we're so thin from up there,' he said, 'and they're so +many.'"[78] + +[Illustration: The French and British Commanders in the Field--General +Joffre and General Sir John French. + +(_By permission of The Sphere._)] + +The little map on page 131 will show you the British position against +which the Germans were now about to hurl themselves in vast strength. +You see that the 1st Division held the village of Gheluvelt, and lay to +the right and left of the main road from Ypres to Menin. On the left of +the 1st Division lay the 2nd Division, extending the line as far north +as Zonnebeke. The South Wales Borderers, who were on the extreme left of +the 1st Division, were posted in the sunken part of the road between +Gheluvelt and Reutel. The 2nd Worcesters, who belonged to the 2nd +Division, were stationed in the wood which you will see to the +south-west of Zonnebeke. On the right of the 1st Division, continuing +the line up to the canal from Ypres to the Lys, lay the 7th Division. + +[Illustration] + +At daybreak on the 31st, von Beimling, with at least 100,000 Bavarians, +attacked the centre of the British line. A heavy fire was directed +against Gheluvelt, and when the way was thus prepared, the infantry +dashed upon the place, but were repulsed. Again and again the Bavarians +advanced, but nowhere could they make headway. The big guns reduced +Gheluvelt to a heap of blazing ruins; but the British could not be +shifted from them. The trenches of the Welsh were searched from end to +end by German shells; but still they stuck to them. Every spot in front, +and even the wood in the rear where the Worcesters were posted, was +raked by the murderous German fire. But every time the enemy pushed +forward they were beaten back. + +Having thus failed to pierce the British line at Gheluvelt, the +Bavarians were ordered to fling themselves against the British to the +south of the Menin-Ypres road--that is, against the 1st Queen's (Surrey) +and the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers, the latter unit being the flank +regiment of the 7th Division. Advancing in force, they got between the +village of Gheluvelt and the Surreys on their left flank, and then, with +their great numbers, were able to get round to the right flank of that +regiment, which was almost surrounded and cut off. Only some seventy of +the Surreys fought their way back into the woods in their rear. The +British line was broken at last. + +What the Germans had now to do was to enlarge the breach. The retreat of +the Surreys had laid open the flank of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, and +the Bavarians tried to deal with them as they had dealt with the +Surreys. Again they were successful, and the Scots were surrounded and +cut off from their division. They would neither surrender nor give way, +and only a remnant fought their way out, and followed the Surreys +towards Ypres. Their brigadier, in describing the fighting, said, "I +think it was perfectly splendid. Mind you, it was not a case of 'hands +up,' or any nonsense of that sort; it was a fight to a finish. Why, even +a German general came up to the colonel afterwards and congratulated +him, and said he could not understand how his men had held out so long." +The Royal Scots Fusiliers had suffered terribly. They had landed in +Flanders over a thousand strong; they now numbered seventy men, +commanded by a junior lieutenant. + +Thus the British line was successfully broken. The 1st Division could +not maintain its ground, and as it retired the 1st Coldstreams were +almost wiped out. Against the exposed flank of the 7th Division a strong +infantry attack was now launched. It seemed as if nothing could stay the +German advance, and that the British were bound to be overwhelmed with +disaster. Enemy aeroplanes discovered Sir Douglas Haig's headquarters, +and a shell burst in the house. Haig himself was at Hooge, on the +Menin-Ypres road, at the time, and so escaped; but the general of the +1st Division was wounded, and six of the staff officers were killed. + +A day's march away from Ypres is the ford where, two thousand years ago, +Cæsar was in dire peril of being overwhelmed by the Nervii.[79] In that +battle he snatched a shield from a soldier, and, plunging into the fray, +rallied the Roman army, and turned defeat into victory. It was now Sir +John French's part to play the part of Cæsar. He jumped into his motor +car and sped towards the 1st Division. He found Sir Douglas Haig riding +up and down trying to learn what had happened, and to settle what was to +be done. As commander-in-chief and general greeted each other, +orderlies, one after the other, rode up with the news that the British +line was broken, that regiments were in retreat, that Gheluvelt had at +last been taken, and that the Germans were advancing in overwhelming +force. It was the most critical moment of the great battle. + +The 7th Division was now ordered to retreat, and this exposed the left +flank of the French division on their right. It was under the command of +General Moussy, who was struggling hard to keep his line intact. He had +come to the assistance of the British at the very moment when all seemed +lost, just as the French had come to the aid of the British at +Inkerman[80] sixty years before. He was now terribly assailed, and again +and again it seemed that his line must be staved in. At one point the +Germans nearly broke through, and without reinforcements they could not +be held back. Immediately the general sent off a corporal of his escort +to scour the country, and to bring up every man that he could lay hold +of. The corporal dismounted the sixty-five men of the general's escort, +and called on lorry drivers, motor men, servants, cooks, anybody and +everybody he saw to join him. With this motley array, many of them +unarmed, he hurried to the trenches, and in a few minutes his scratch +force was making a bayonet charge, practically without bayonets. The +Germans thought that reinforcements had arrived, and therefore retired. + +This incident will remind you of the turning-point in the Battle of +Bannockburn,[81] six hundred years before. While the English were +struggling to break the Scottish line, they thought they saw a new army +approaching. What they really saw was a band of camp followers and +servants who had made banners of sheets and blankets tied to sticks and +tent poles. They had formed themselves into ranks, and were now marching +down a hill towards the battle. At this sight the English broke and +fled. When General Moussy's corporal came up with his scratch regiment +of 250 men the old incident of Bannockburn was repeated. + +The Germans were now not only pressing hard from the north of Gheluvelt +to the canal, but were making headway against Allenby's cavalry, who +were holding the whole line from Klein Zillebeke to the south of +Messines.[82] Allenby's sole reinforcement consisted of exhausted +Indians who had been sent up from the Second Corps. You will learn later +how at this juncture Sepoy Khudadad,[83] of the 129th Baluchis,[84] won +the Victoria Cross for his magnificent steadfastness in working his gun +till every man of his detachment had been killed.[85] + +So terrible was the pressure round Hollebeke that Kavanagh's cavalry, +who had been on the Menin road behind the 1st Division, were now hurried +south to hold the line at this point. Even with this assistance +Allenby's men were almost at their last gasp. Two nearly fresh German +corps were attacking them, and hours must elapse before other +reinforcements could arrive. + +[Illustration: The Scratch Force that saved de Moussy's Line. + +_Photo, Daily Mirror._] + +Now came the most critical hour of this most critical battle. Between +two and three o'clock on the 31st the whole issue of the campaign in the +West trembled in the balance. Just when the outlook seemed darkest, and +all hope of saving the day seemed to have vanished, an orderly galloped +up to Sir John French with the startling news that the German advance +had stopped. Then came another piece of good news: the 1st Division was +re-forming its line, and Gheluvelt had been retaken! What had happened? +I will compile my account from a narrative issued by the Worcestershire +County Council:-- + +"Although the line of the 1st Division had been broken, the whole of it +had not fallen back. The Surreys and the Scots had been practically +wiped out, but the dauntless Welsh still stood firm. Posted in the +hollow road to the east of Gheluvelt, where they were slightly sheltered +from the German fire, the Welsh still held their ground, thus forming a +pivot upon which, if reinforcements were forthcoming, the line could be +re-formed and the position linked up. + +"Holding back by their fire the mass of Germans with whom they were +still engaged, the Welsh were covering the flank of the 2nd Division and +checking the German advance. If they could hold on and keep the flank +covered until help arrived, the 1st Division could re-form and the gap +could be filled up. The position was critical, and a very severe trial +for the Welsh; but they belonged to a regiment which bore on its colours +the word "Talavera,"[86] and where, as here, the British line had been +broken, but the steadiness of a single regiment had saved the day. The +Welsh had been told to hold the post to the last. They had done so. + +"When von Beimling advanced in the morning, hurling on them attack after +attack, the Welsh held the road against him. When the Germans surrounded +the Surreys and drove off the Scots, still the Welsh held on, firing, +steadily firing, keeping back the Bavarians. When the Germans carried +Gheluvelt and the British line gave way, the Welsh remained firing and +held their ground against all comers, so delaying the German advance. +Now at last, when orders had been given to begin the retreat, the Welsh +still remained where they had been originally stationed, just as if the +line were still intact, and no retreat had been ordered. Could help be +sent to them so as to enable them to reap the reward of their heroic +constancy? + +"Stationed in a corner of a wood about a mile from Gheluvelt, towards +Ypres, near the Menin-Ypres road, was a body of some 600 men, four +companies of the 2nd battalion of a regiment that the Duke of Wellington +once described in a letter as 'the best regiment in his army' (the +Worcesters, whose famous and well-deserved motto is 'Firm'). To them +now, more than a century later, was given the opportunity for Sir John +French to say whether he concurred or not in Wellington's high opinion. +They were ordered 'to advance without delay, and to deliver a +counter-attack with the utmost vigour.' + +"No one who knew the regiment doubted for an instant that they would do +it. Every one was doubtful whether they could do it with success. They +were only four companies; the Germans were legion. But whether they were +to be successful or unsuccessful, their plain duty was to attack the +Germans, however many, with their handful of men, however few. The Welsh +had to be supported; the Germans had to be repulsed. Everything depended +on their advance. + +"On receipt of his orders Major Hankey, who was in command of the +battalion, sent Lieutenant Haskett Smith with six scouts to reconnoitre +the ground, and cut any wire entanglements that would delay the advance. +The A company, under Captain Wainman, was sent forward to occupy and +hold a trench between the wood and the village. Not the least of the +exploits of the Worcesters on that day was the advance of A company to +occupy and hold this trench. It was in effect asking an English company +to advance, and, as it proved, to advance successfully, against the +whole German force at that point. The trench was occupied, and not +merely occupied, but held. + +"Some 600 yards in front of the battalion was a small wood forming some +sort of cover. Here B, C, and D companies deployed for the attack, in +two lines. The Worcesters set out on their terrible task. For about half +a mile they had to advance under a very heavy fire of shrapnel. Over +part of the ground they could rush from one bit of cover to another, but +at one place for about 200 yards there was no cover at all. Here they +had not only the shrapnel on their front, but on their right flank the +Bavarians pouring in a hail of bullets from rifles and machine guns. It +looked as if no one could pass through that fire unhurt. The Germans +were constantly bringing up reinforcements with fresh ammunition. + +"It appeared that the Worcesters were going to certain death. The +appearance was not deceptive, for in crossing the 200 yards without +cover the three companies had no fewer than 100 casualties. Even this +did not cause the Worcesters to flinch. They pressed onward, reached the +road, and formed up on the left of the Welsh. In front of them, at a +distance of some 300 yards, was a small wood filled with Bavarians. On +these the Worcesters opened fire with such success that the enemy +gradually retreated. + +"But although the Worcesters had gained the road, supported the Welsh, +and thus had enabled the 1st Division to re-form its line, their +position was far from safe. Their right flank was open to the enemy, +who, from the cover of the ruins of the village, was able, without much +loss to himself, to pour in a continuous rifle fire. From time to time +parties of Germans from the village got round the Worcesters' right +flank. They became so troublesome that the Worcesters stormed the house +nearest to their trench, and made it into a bastion for their defence, +so that the German flank attacks ceased. The effect of this charge was +to change the entire position. The Worcesters were now able to threaten +the right flank of the Germans, who, on perceiving this, at once +desisted from any further advance. Their offensive died away." + +The narrative then goes on to tell how those units of the 1st Division, +which had retreated were brought back to the original line, how the +cavalry cleared the Germans out of the woods, surprising and killing a +good many of them, and how as it grew dark the Germans fell back. At +last by 10 p.m. the British line as held on the morning of 31st October +was re-formed. Thus a terrible disaster was averted by the cool courage +and the devotion of the Welsh and the Worcesters. The crisis had passed; +the fighting was not yet over, but the battle had been won. + +The Worcesters had lost heavily, but they had covered themselves with +glory, and the whole army united to do them honour. A month later Sir +John French paraded all that was left of the battalion that retook +Gheluvelt, and told them that though they bore on their colours the +names of many famous victories, they had added lustre to their former +reputation by their splendid bravery that day. + + * * * * * + +Next day (1st November) French reinforcements were hurried up, but +before they could arrive the Germans had made two attacks--the one +against Klein Zillebeke, the other against Allenby's cavalry around +Messines. The first attack was driven back, but the second was +successful, and Hollebeke and Messines were both seized by the enemy. +The Germans swarmed across the low ridges, and their artillery found gun +positions from which Ypres and Messines could be shelled. The village +was speedily levelled with the ground, and all attempts to retake the +ruins failed. Allenby had in reserve four battalions from the Second +Corps to the west of Messines, and he now called them into the firing +line. Amongst them were the London Scottish, the first of all infantry +Territorial regiments to go to the front. They were now about to undergo +their baptism of fire. + +The London Scottish in civil life are clerks, young lawyers, doctors, +architects, engineers, and literary men. They are a kilted regiment, +clad in sober gray with blue facings, and in times of peace are +remarkable for their smart uniform and their excellent drill. They were +now to prove that citizen soldiers in the hour of their country's need +can fight as valiantly and bear themselves as heroically as their +comrades of the regular army. + +The accounts of the fighting in which the London Scottish were engaged +differ widely, but I think you will get a good idea of what actually +happened from the following description by a dispatch rider:-- + + "I was talking to some London Scottish; they had had a terrible + time. They were only supposed to be in support, and had no + machine guns with them, when news came of a highly critical + situation, and they were led up to the trenches under shell and + rifle fire over open ground--a thing very seldom undertaken even + by Regulars. They made a perfect advance as if they were on + parade, and then later on came an awful attack. The Germans came + on in masses, with bands playing, and, as I heard later, the + Kaiser in person looking on (from a safe distance); and the + Scots mowed them down and down till their ammunition gave out, + when they leaped out of the trenches and went for the enemy with + the bayonet. They were driven back into the trenches by force of + numbers, and a desperate fight took place. Their medical officer + was actually bayoneted in front of their eyes while bending down + attending to two wounded men. It was bright moonlight, and he + had a white badge and red cross on his arm, and even a blue + tunic on, and was, of course, without arms of any sort. The + Germans behaved like inhuman fiends; every wounded man they + bayoneted at once, and when the Scots saw this foul work they + gave the order, 'No prisoners.' They drove the Germans back + eventually, giving no quarter, and getting none."[87] + +While the London Scots were proving their mettle, the Germans broke +through the line of the 1st Cavalry Division, and captured a village +about 1½ miles north of Messines, on the Ypres-Armentières road. Next +day, however, this village was retaken, though Messines still remained +in German hands. There was also heavy fighting that day at Le Gheir, +south of Messines, and in the course of it Drummer Bent of the East +Lancashires won the Victoria Cross,[88] as you shall hear later. + +[Illustration: The Charge of the London Scottish at Messines, November +1, 1914. + +(_From the picture by Dudley Tennant._)] + +For five days afterwards the battle resolved itself into an artillery +duel, and our weary men had a breathing space. Reserves were brought up +from the Second Corps, and two Territorial battalions and two Yeomanry +regiments were put into the firing line. On 6th November the Germans +made a sudden attack on the Klein Zillebeke position, and drove in the +French, who were holding the right towards the canal. This left the 4th +Cavalry Brigade unsupported; but the Household Brigade,[89] under +General Kavanagh, came to the rescue, and the French were able to +recapture their trenches. Once more, however, the French were driven +back, and to stem the rush Kavanagh doubled a couple of dismounted +squadrons across the road. There was a moment of wild confusion, in +which British, French, and Germans were mingled together in the village +street. When the confusion was at its height Major Dawnay of the 2nd +Life Guards led his men to the charge, and the village was cleared with +great loss to the enemy. Unhappily, Major Dawnay was killed by a +shrapnel shell, but not until the British position was saved. + +You are accustomed to think of the 2nd Life Guards in all the glory of +their peace uniform, in their steel helmets with horse-hair plumes, +their gleaming breastplates, their white buckskin breeches and gloves, +and their long knee-boots. Very different was the picture which they +presented in the village street on that fierce day, their drab khaki +uniforms splashed with mud and blood, their horses far in the rear, and +they, on foot, lunging fiercely at the oncoming Germans with the +bayonet. There is no pomp or glamour of gold lace, nodding plumes, and +burnished steel on the modern battlefield. + +Kavanagh's Brigade stemmed the torrent and held its trenches far into +the night, until the 4th Brigade had strengthened its position. Next +morning (7th November) our men made a counter-attack; but though German +trenches were brilliantly captured, they could not be retained. It was +during this attack that Captain J. F. Vallentin of the South Staffords +won the Victoria Cross.[90] + +Once more there was a lull. Nothing worthy of mention happened on the +8th, 9th, and 10th, but on the 11th the storm broke out again in all +its fury. + +You will remember that at Waterloo, when the cannon of the advancing +Prussians were heard in the distance, and Napoleon saw defeat staring +him in the face, he staked all on a charge of his Old Guard--the Guard +that "dies but never surrenders." Six thousand of these men, the very +flower and pride of his army, were hurled at the long-tried British. As +they rushed up the slope, the British Guards, who had been lying down +behind the top of the ridge, sprang to their feet and poured a volley +into the enemy. The advancing columns wavered, and our men, charging +with the bayonet, thrust them down the hill in utter confusion. + +The Kaiser was now about to follow the example of Napoleon and make one +mighty effort to snatch victory out of defeat by launching his famous +Prussian Guards against the stubborn foe. The Prussian Guards are the +very apple of the Kaiser's eye; they are all picked men, over six feet +in height, of wonderful discipline and unquenchable courage, and they +count it the highest honour that life holds to be selected from the +ordinary regiments for service as the bodyguard of the Emperor. If +living men could "hack their way through," these were the men to do it. + +True, the Guards had not yet covered themselves with glory. They had +suffered heavily at Charleroi[91] and Guise;[92] they had been badly +beaten in the marshes of the Gond,[93] and had lost many of their +numbers at Rheims;[94] but now, under the eye of the Kaiser himself, +they were to sweep all before them and succeed where their comrades of +the line had failed. Thirteen battalions of them were brought up from +the Arras district with great speed and secrecy, and on Wednesday, 11th +November, they were thrust against the point of the salient to the north +and south of the Ypres-Menin road. The day opened with the most furious +artillery attack known up to that time. The British trenches were +continuously assailed with lyddite[95] and shrapnel; but our gallant men +hung on, wondering how long they could exist in that tornado of spouting +earth and flying shard. + +For eight hours the terrific cannonade continued. About seven in the +evening, when the sky was dark and rain was falling, British aeroplanes +appeared overhead and began to sweep the plain with their searchlights. +In their glare our men saw to their amazement the Prussian Guards +advancing towards their trenches with the high, prancing step of a +Potsdam parade--the officers with their swords at the "Carry," and the +lines of men as steady as a rock. On they marched, with flags flying and +drums beating, but never a rifle snapped from the British trenches. +Already the Guards felt the thrill of approaching victory; to them it +seemed that the Allied line had been destroyed by the terrible +cannonade. In a few short hours they would be in Ypres; a few days more +and they would gaze across the narrow seas to the white cliffs of that +hated land which they had sworn to subdue. + +They were eighty yards from the British trenches now, and their pace +quickened. Suddenly they were caught in a whirlwind of fire; shrapnel +hissed among them, machine guns clacked viciously, and French and +British rifles spat death at them from front and flank. They went down +in hundreds, but the gaps were filled up, and the line moved on +unbroken. Battalions melted into companies, companies into platoons, and +platoons into files, but still they were unchecked. Again and again they +re-formed, only to see their ranks shattered once more; nevertheless +their advance was not stayed. + +So fixed was their resolution and so strong was the force of their +assault that the Allied line was broken in three places. Our first-line +trenches were swamped with the gray flood, some of which poured into the +tangle of woods behind, where a wild, desperate battle raged amidst the +trees for two days. Furiously counter-attacked, and enfiladed by +machine-gun fire, the Guards were finally driven back to the two short +sections of trench which they had won. Even here they were not secure. +The "Fighting Fifth"[96] held a salient between them, and took merciless +toll of them while fresh attacks were being prepared. + +On the hundredth day of the war the Prussian Guard came, it saw, it was +conquered. At nightfall the larger part of it lay dead in the wood--in +some places eight ranks deep. The mighty effort of the Kaiser had +failed; the flower of his army had been flung away, yet Ypres was as far +off as ever. + +On the 12th and the following days there were further assaults, during +one of which Lieutenant Dimmer of the King's Royal Rifles won the +Victoria Cross for heroic fighting, which will be detailed later.[97] +All the German efforts were fruitless, and on the 17th, when French +reinforcements gave the sorely-tried British a respite, the enemy began +to vent his baffled rage on the famous old Cloth Hall of Ypres. So far +it had been spared in order that from its ancient walls the Kaiser might +announce to the world that Belgium was his. Now that the Guard had +failed, and Ypres still defied him, he spitefully ordered his artillery +to batter down the historic building which seemed to mock at his +discomfiture. + +The story of one other German failure must be told to round off this +account of the First Battle of Ypres. While the Prussian Guard was +making its vain effort, the left wing of the Würtemberg army was +attacking the extreme left of the salient between Zonnebeke and +Bixschoote. This portion of the line was held by Zouaves, French +Territorials, and cavalry. Against them was flung an overwhelming force +of Germans, including the left wing of the Würtemberg army. Around +Bixschoote the fight raged with such fierceness that the place was +choked with dead. Had it been captured the enemy would have carried +Ypres from the north. The Zouaves, always famous as dashing fighters, +excelled themselves in the defence of Bixschoote, and at no point of the +Allied front did the enemy lose more heavily. For nearly a month the +Zouaves held the pass until the weather broke and the high winds and +snow blizzards of winter set in. So the storm of battle died away in a +tempest of nature's making. + +[Footnote 77: In olden days Norse warriors, or _berserks_, worked +themselves up before a battle into a fierce madness, known as the +"berserk rage."] + +[Footnote 78: Quoted from Mr. Will Irwin's account of the battle in the +_Daily Mail_.] + +[Footnote 79: In Shakespeare's _Julius Cæsar_, Act iii., Scene 2, Mark +Antony, in the course of his speech over the dead body of Cæsar, says, +"That day he overcame the Nervii." They were a tribe of Belgic Gauls +holding territory from the Sambre to the North Sea. Cæsar overcame them +B.C. 57.] + +[Footnote 80: Fought during the Crimean War on November 5, 1854.] + +[Footnote 81: Fought 1½ miles south of Stirling on June 24, 1314. The +bore-stone in which it is said Bruce's banner was fixed still exists on +Brock's Brae.] + +[Footnote 82: _Mes-seen´_, between four and five miles south of Ypres.] + +[Footnote 83: The name is equivalent to our Theodore, "gift of God."] + +[Footnote 84: So called because recruited from Baluchistan, a British +territory between Afghanistan and the Arabian Sea.] + +[Footnote 85: See page 165.] + +[Footnote 86: Forty miles west by north of Toledo, Spain; scene of the +famous battle (July 28, 1809) in which Wellington defeated Joseph +Bonaparte.] + +[Footnote 87: See also the account given on pp. 161-3.] + +[Footnote 88: See p. 165.] + +[Footnote 89: So called because they form the sovereign's escort. The +Household Cavalry consist of three regiments--1st and 2nd Life Guards, +and the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues).] + +[Footnote 90: See p. 167.] + +[Footnote 91: See Vol. II., pp. 23-25.] + +[Footnote 92: See Vol. II., pp. 117, 118, 139.] + +[Footnote 93: See Vol. II., pp. 213, 214.] + +[Footnote 94: See Vol. II., pp. 282 ff.] + +[Footnote 95: A high explosive, consisting of picric acid, used as a +bursting charge for shells.] + +[Footnote 96: Northumberland Fusiliers.] + +[Footnote 97: See p. 167.] + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + THE PRICE OF VICTORY AND THE PASSING OF A HERO. + + +In the old days a battle lasted a day or two at most; victory frequently +came within a few hours, and couriers were speeding away with the news +of victory or defeat before night had shrouded the stark bodies of the +slain. But in this war battles have continued for weeks; one contest has +merged into another, so that it is hard to say where one ends and +another begins. The great series of fights which we call the Battle of +Ypres began on 19th October, and did not end until 17th November; it +lasted for thirty days! + +The First Battle of Ypres was not only remarkable for its long duration, +but also for the mighty armies that were arrayed against each other. +Never before in the history of the world have such huge forces struggled +for victory. During the battles of the Seven Years' War the combatants +on both sides did not exceed 120,000, and in the Napoleonic wars the +opposing armies at no time reached a total of 450,000. At Waterloo there +were but 170,000 engaged, and at Inkerman, in the Crimean War, there +were not 90,000. Some 320,000 men fought at Gravelotte[98] during the +Franco-German War of 1870-71, and at Mukden, in the Russo-Japanese War +of 1904-5, the forces engaged totalled about 510,000. These numbers sink +into insignificance compared with the multitudes who fought in Artois +and West Flanders during the thirty days of the Ypres battle. Germany +alone had not less than a million men. + + * * * * * + +Great was the price of victory. Britain lost at least 40,000 men, the +French and Belgians 70,000, and the Germans probably 250,000--that is, +360,000 in all--a number far exceeding the total of the whole armies +engaged in any single battle of modern history down to the close of the +nineteenth century. Whole battalions of the British army +disappeared--the 1st Coldstreams, the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers, the 2nd +Wiltshires, and the 1st Camerons were practically wiped out. One +regiment went into the campaign 1,100 strong, and came out with only 73. +Another took 1,350 to Flanders, and had but 300 when the Battle of Ypres +was won. + +[Illustration: The Defeat of the Prussian Guard near Ypres on November +11, 1914. (See page 143.)] + +(_By permission of The Sphere._)] + +You have already heard how the 7th Division was reduced to a shadow of +its former strength. Sir Henry Rawlinson tells us that when the division +was withdrawn to England to refit it was found that out of 400 officers +who set out from England there were only 44 left, and out of 12,000 men +only 2,336. One general, two brigadiers, nearly a dozen staff officers +had fallen, and eighteen regiments and battalions had lost their +colonels. Junior lieutenants frequently found themselves in command of a +battalion, while a brigadier was left with one or two companies. History +records no such tale of slaughter. More men fell in the Battle of Ypres +than the North lost in the whole of the American Civil War.[99] + +Two striking features of this long series of contests must detain us for +a moment. The first is the extraordinary valour of the boys and elderly +men who formed a large part of the German levies. They charged in mass +again and again, and went to death in droves. The second is the even +more extraordinary defence which the British--never more than 150,000 in +number--made against overwhelming odds. There have been instances of +armies holding forces which outnumbered them four or five times for a +single day; but the British resisted for weeks against forces five times +as great. Around Ypres during the worst part of the fighting we had but +three divisions and some cavalry to meet five army corps, three of them +belonging to Germany's first line. For the best part of two days the 7th +Division of 12,000 men held a front of eight miles against 120,000! In +all the long fighting annals of Britain no such feat had ever been +performed before. + +The Allies merely held their lines, yet really they won a great victory, +because they had achieved their object. They had defeated a turning +movement and a piercing movement, and had blocked the German advance to +the sea. Thereafter in the west the enemy was not free to move, save at +the will of the Allies; he was besieged from the Vosges to the North +Sea. + +The British played the lion's part in the great struggle; but without +the splendid support of the French and the Belgians they could have +achieved nothing. The regular regiments of the line proved themselves to +be composed of the finest fighting material in the world; the cavalry, +playing the part of infantry, on foot and in the trenches, were no less +wonderful; and the gunners, though outmatched in numbers and weight of +artillery, showed marvellous skill and tenacity; while the citizen +soldiers, called from their peaceful pursuits to the unfamiliar work of +war, displayed the spirit of veteran troops. The great struggle round +Ypres was a soldiers' victory. There was little room for generalship; +nevertheless Sir John French, by his coolness and doggedness, by the +confidence with which he animated his men, and by the cheery good will +with which he encouraged them, must be regarded as the real inspirer of +victory. + + * * * * * + +In the centre of Calcutta is the famous Maidan,[100] or Esplanade, a +great space of turf and trees and gardens, which is the special glory of +the city. Here you will find monuments to the great soldiers and +statesmen who have won and kept for us "the brightest jewel in the +British crown." Perhaps the noblest of all these monuments is that which +commemorates the martial fame of Lord Roberts of Kandahar.[101] +Frederick Sleigh Roberts was born at Cawnpore[102] five years before +Queen Victoria came to the throne. He was educated in England, but when +his school days were over he returned to the land of his birth, and +became an officer in the Indian army. + +Hardly had he returned when that terrible uprising of the native +soldiers which we call the Indian Mutiny began, and the first warfare +which young Roberts knew was against the well-armed and well-trained +sepoys[103] who had broken their oath of loyalty to the Queen, and were +striving to drive the British out of the peninsula. + +Some years ago, when I visited India, I went, as in duty bound, to +Delhi,[104] the present capital, and the great storm centre of fighting +during the Mutiny. Memorials of that terrible time abound in Delhi. +About a mile to the north of the city is the "Ridge," a low, narrow hill +on which a band of Britons, the mere skeleton of an army, hungry, +fever-stricken, "stormed at with shot and shell," held its own against +an army of sepoys during the awful heat of an Indian summer. + +From the Flagstaff Tower in which the women and children took refuge +during that dread time a road runs directly to the city, and on the +right of it is a little garden in which stands a bronze statue to John +Nicholson,[105] the hero of the siege. Close by the Nicholson statue is +the Kashmir Gate, preserved in its ruinous condition to recall the +marvellous daring of the six Britons who blew it up, and thus opened a +way for the British troops to enter the city. Roberts, as a young +subaltern of twenty-five, saw Nicholson lying wounded and dying by the +side of the road not far from this gate. Nicholson was the most +distinguished of that group of young men who by almost superhuman +devotion saved India for the Empire during the Mutiny. It was under the +influence of such men as Nicholson--men of lofty ideals of duty, of iron +resolution and unfaltering courage--and amidst scenes of the most +glorious heroism, that Roberts began his military career. Nicholson was +his type and model. When the Mutiny was at an end Roberts was a veteran +of ability and experience, and he wore the Victoria Cross on his breast. + +For forty-one years he served India, taking part in all the important +campaigns, and gradually rising in the service until, in 1885, he +became Commander-in-Chief. He won great fame in the Afghanistan +campaigns, and became the idol of the Indian army, to whom he was known +as "Bobs." No Indian commander-in-chief has ever been so admired and +loved by the troops under his command. He never strove for popularity, +but he could not escape it. His men assayed him, and found him pure gold +throughout. + +[Illustration: Earl Roberts of Kandahar.] + +By no means was his life-work done when he left India. When disaster +succeeded disaster during the early months of the Boer War, the nation +looked to him as the one man who could pluck victory out of defeat. With +his appearance on the veldt came the turn of the tide, and after his +great march to Pretoria[106] the issue of the contest was no longer in +doubt. Full of years and honours, he might have retired from public +life, conscious that he had served his country greatly, and that his +fame was secure. But he ever "scorned delights and lived laborious +days," and when he had long passed the allotted span he devoted himself +to the task of trying to bring home to the British people the danger of +allowing their young men to grow up unprepared for that great European +war which he was convinced would come within a few short years. Alas! we +did not heed him, and when the day of battle arrived it found us +unprepared, and forced to improvise armies while strife was raging and +the fate of the Empire was hanging in the balance. + +Soon after the beginning of the great war which he had foreseen, Lord +Roberts addressed the following message to the children of the Empire:-- + + "CHILDREN OF THE EMPIRE: + + "You have all heard of the war; you have all heard of the + fighting forces sent from every part of the Empire to help the + Mother Country. Why are we fighting? Because the British Empire + does not break its promises, nor will it allow small nations to + be bullied. + + "Now, the British Government promised, with all the Great Powers + of Europe, including Germany, that no army should set foot on + the territory of the little nation of Belgium without her leave; + in other words, she 'guaranteed the neutrality of Belgium.' + + "Germany, however, was bent on war, and on dominating other + nations. Britain did her best to keep the peace, but Germany + (breaking her word) marched her armies into Belgium to try and + conquer France. + + "Children of the Empire, this is why we are at war--to hold our + promise, to help our friends, and to keep the Flag of Liberty + flying, not only over our own Empire, but over the whole world. + + "God save our King and Empire." + +When Indian soldiers were summoned to help the Mother Country in her +hour of need, Lord Roberts felt a great desire to go over to France in +order to meet them face to face once more, to greet them in their own +languages, and to inspire them with some of his own dauntless courage. +"I must go and see the Indian soldiers," he said. "It is the most useful +thing I can do at this moment." He arrived in France on Wednesday, 11th +November, and next day he saw the men to whom he was bound by such +strong ties. Everywhere they greeted him with admiration and affection. +On Friday evening he was found to be suffering from chill; disease of +the lungs set in, and the old warrior, now in his eighty-second year, +had no strength to resist the attack. He gradually sank, and at 8 p.m. +on Saturday, 14th November 1914, within sound of the guns thundering +around Ypres, he died. + +Lord Roberts was a man of war from his youth up, and it was fitting that +he should pass away on a battlefield, amidst the soldiers who adored +him. Officers from every corps in the British and Indian armies, and +representatives of the French army, escorted the coffin to the hall at +St. Omer where the body was laid in state, and a simple but affecting +funeral service was held. The Prince of Wales[107] was there, as well +as Prince Alexander of Teck, and all the chiefs of the army who could be +spared from their duties. By the head of the coffin stood Prince Pertab +Singh,[108] taking a last farewell of the warrior who was his old friend +and ideal.[109] The hymns, "Now the labourer's task is o'er," and "O +God, our help," were sung, and it seemed quite natural that Christian, +Hindu, and Mohammedan should all join in the service. + +[Illustration: Funeral of Field-Marshal Lord Roberts: the Procession in +the Rain, on the way to St. Paul's Cathedral, London. + +(_By permission of The Sphere._)] + +"It was a gloomy day," says one who was present, "with frequent cold +showers; but as they took the coffin out the sun shone forth +brilliantly, drawing across a dark bank of cloud opposite a vivid and +most perfect rainbow. An aeroplane was flying out of the cloud into the +sunshine, and the trumpets of the French cavalry rang out triumphantly. +Then the minute guns started booming; the coffin, draped in the Union +Jack, was placed in a Red Cross car; and so the gallant little hero went +home from the war. + +"I thought during the service of Lord Roberts, almost a boy, attending +John Nicholson's funeral at Delhi, and of all the span of life between, +and the link of simple courage and devotion to duty binding all the +varied incidents of it together, and was glad of the privilege of having +known him." + +Last scene of all to end this strange, eventful history. Beneath the +dome of St. Paul's, the resting-place of Nelson and Wellington, amidst a +vast throng of the great and good of our nation, and with a sorrowing +people outside, the last words of prayer and hope were said; and when +all was over, thousands of citizens passed reverently by his grave. + +"It is the most useful thing I can do at this moment:" this was the +keynote of Lord Roberts's life--to be of use to his country. There is a +lesson in these simple words for you and me. Lord Roberts was happy in +his life; he would be happier still in his death were all his +fellow-countrymen to ask with heart and voice, "What is the most useful +thing I can do for my country now and hereafter?" + +[Footnote 98: See Vol. 1., pp. 102, 104, 105, 107.] + +[Footnote 99: Fought between the Northern and Southern States of what is +now the United States of America, mainly on the question of slavery in +the Southern States, during 1861-65.] + +[Footnote 100: _My´dan._] + +[Footnote 101: Important city of South Afghanistan. In 1880 British +troops in Kandahar were besieged, but Roberts made a great march from +Kabul and relieved them.] + +[Footnote 102: City of North India, on the Ganges; the scene of two +tragedies during the Indian Mutiny of 1857.] + +[Footnote 103: Native infantry soldiers of the Indian army. The native +cavalry soldier is a "sowar."] + +[Footnote 104: On the right bank of the Jumna. It was created capital of +India in place of Calcutta in 1911.] + +[Footnote 105: British general, of great physical strength and lofty, +winning character. Born 1821, killed at Delhi 1857.] + +[Footnote 106: Capital of the Transvaal. Entered by Roberts on June 5, +1900.] + +[Footnote 107: The Prince of Wales went to the front as a member of Sir +John French's Staff in the middle of November 1914.] + +[Footnote 108: Ruler of Jodhpur, the largest state of Rajputana, India. +He was born in 1844.] + +[Footnote 109: In his book _Forty-one Years in India_, Lord Roberts +gives us a story showing the valour of this most famous of Indian +soldiers. Roberts had wounded a boar, which attacked Pertab Singh, whose +horse had fallen with him. The prince held the boar with his bare hands +until Lord Roberts was able to come up and dispatch it. The boar's head +was presented by the prince to Lord Roberts, and became one of his +cherished possessions at his country house of Englemere, Ascot.] + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + TALES FROM THE TRENCHES. + + +The long struggle round Ypres was a series of combats in which +everything depended on the courage and endurance of the rank and file +and their regimental officers. Incidents abounded, and almost every man +in the firing line had experiences worth relating. Before I give you +some of these experiences, let me refer again to the extraordinary +courage of the Germans in pressing on against our line to what, in many +cases, must have been certain death. No doubt this was largely due to +patriotism and to the iron discipline of the German army, but we have +evidence that frequently the men were driven forward by the revolvers of +their officers. "Eye-witness" gives us the following statement of a +wounded German prisoner:-- + +"On the 28th October my section received orders to go forward to the +attack, and the officers warned us that if we gave way fire would be +opened upon us from behind. This threat was carried into effect when the +losses which we suffered compelled us to retire. Indeed, it was by a +German bullet that I was wounded. Having fallen on the ground, I +remained between the lines without food or care for two days, at the end +of which time I dragged myself to a ruined house. During the whole of +this time the German shells, which were short, were falling about my +shelter. . . . Officers told us if we fell into the hands of the French +we should be sent to the Foreign Legion,[110] and certainly massacred by +Moroccans." + + * * * * * + +In the diary of a German soldier we find a very severe condemnation of +his officers for their bad leadership. "Before noon," runs the diary, +"we were sent out in a regular storm of bullets by order of the major. +These gentlemen, the officers, send their men forward in the most +ridiculous way. They themselves remain far behind safely under cover. +Our leadership is really scandalous. Enormous losses on our side, partly +from the fire of our own people, for our leaders neither know where the +enemy lies nor where our own troops are, so that we are often fired on +by our own men. It is a marvel to me that we have got on as far as we +have done. Our captain fell, also all our section leaders and a large +number of our men. + +"Moreover, no purpose was served by this advance, for we remained the +rest of the day under cover, and could go neither forward nor back, nor +even shoot. A trench which we had taken was not occupied by us, and the +British naturally took it back at night. That was the sole result. Then +when the enemy had again entrenched themselves, another attack was made, +costing us many lives and fifty prisoners. + +"It is simply ridiculous this leadership. If only I had known before! My +opinion of German officers has changed. An adjutant shouted to us from a +trench far to the rear to cut down a hedge which was in front of us. +Bullets were whistling round from in front and from behind. The +gentleman himself, of course, remained behind. The 4th Company has now +no leaders but a couple of non-commissioned officers. When will my turn +come? I hope to goodness I shall get home again! + +"Still in the trenches. Shell and shrapnel burst without ceasing. In the +evening a cup of rice and one-third of an apple per man. Let us hope +peace will come soon. Such a war is really too awful. The English shoot +like mad." + + * * * * * + +Now that I have shown you the Germans in an unfavourable light, let me +tell you of an incident in which they appeared to advantage. Corporal J. +Reardon of the 1st Grenadiers wrote home to his mother as follows: "The +night our battalion got cut up the Germans shouted, 'Guards, fetch your +wounded.' We did so, and they did not fire a shot. I think they were a +crack regiment; anyhow they were jolly decent." + + * * * * * + +You have already heard something of the courage and devotion of our +young artillery officers, who frequently went far in advance of the guns +to direct the fire of their batteries. Here is another story[111] of +similar heroism:-- + +"Early in the day our gunners had found it impossible to locate certain +German guns which were fast rendering our trenches untenable. The +country was so flat that there was no possible point of vantage from +which the gunners could 'observe,' except the steeple of a church. But +the Germans knew that as well as we did, so the church was being +vigorously shelled, and already no less than twelve lyddite shells had +been pitched into it. + +"It was the duty of Lieutenant Davidson to 'observe,' so he calmly went +to the church, climbed the already tottering tower, and, seated on the +top, proceeded to telephone his information to the battery. In +consequence, German battery after German battery was silenced; the +infantry, which at one time was in danger of extermination, was saved; +and the position, in spite of an attack in overwhelming force by the +enemy, was successfully held. The church was reduced to a scrap-heap, +but still Davidson sat tight on the remnants of his tower. For seven +solid hours, expecting death every moment, he calmly scanned the country +and telephoned his reports. + +"At dark his task was done, and he came down to rejoin his battery. As +he left the ruins a fall of timber in one of the burning houses lit up +everything with a sudden glare. There was the crack of a rifle--the +German trenches were only a few hundred yards away--and a bullet passed +through the back of his neck and out through the mouth. But without +hurrying his pace he walked to his battery, gave them his final +information, and then said, 'I think I'd better go and find the field +ambulance, for the beggars have drilled a hole in me that needs +plugging.' And he walked half a mile to the nearest 'collecting point.' + +"In the infantry of the 14th Brigade men can talk of nobody else but +'Davidson of the Gunners.' They themselves face death every hour of the +day and night; they themselves do unrecorded deeds of heroism worthy of +the 'V.C.'; but with one voice they declare, 'Davidson is the real +thing. If he doesn't get the V.C.--well, nobody deserves it.'" + + * * * * * + +In telling you stories from the battlefield I always try to include one +or more which show you the zeal, skill, and devotion of those whose duty +it is not to take but to save life. Here is the story of a French doctor +who tended the wounded during the bombardment of Ypres. + +For four days, with the help of volunteer assistants, he cared for +fifty-four German wounded, and the hospital had been frequently struck +by shells, one of them intended to set it on fire. The supply of bread +was failing, but the doctor and the nurses shared their portion with +their patients. The doctor was urged to quit this dangerous post, but he +said, "The mission of France is to elevate the Germans to our own level. +So I shall remain here and continue to look after wounded Germans, +showing them that a French doctor laughs at their shells, and only knows +his duty." Unhappily this heroic man was killed by a shell on 13th or +14th November. The surviving wounded, in the sole charge of two nuns, +were then removed to a safer place. + + * * * * * + +Soldiers' letters to their friends at home are full of accounts of the +fierce fighting about Ypres. Corporal G. Stuart of the Camerons, one of +the regiments which was nearly wiped out, thus describes how he was made +a prisoner by the Prussian Guard, and how he escaped:-- + +"My regiment, or what was once a regiment, was holding a part of the +trenches outside Ypres, and about half-past five in the morning the +enemy's guns opened an awful fire on our trenches, and continued till +about nine o'clock. + +"To make matters worse, there was a very heavy mist on, and we could +hardly see a yard in front. About this time the mist cleared up, and +there, about 200 yards in front, were the Germans--the famous Prussian +Guards--advancing on us, a solid mass of men. + +[Illustration: How the Breton Marines held Dixmude. (See page 96.)] + +(_From the picture by Paul Thiriat. By permission of The Sphere._)] + +"We immediately opened fire on them; but, rapid as it was, it was +impossible to stop them. They managed to get right through on our right. +Then the next thing I saw was that I was properly surrounded, with no +earthly chance of escape, so I was made a prisoner. Well, what do you +think the Huns did? There would be about a dozen of us, I think, made +to advance in front of them, to get shot at by our own people, who had +retired to take up another position. Any man who made the least sign of +resenting was immediately shot, and not yet being tired of life, I went, +thinking I might have a possible chance of escape. + +"We advanced a few hundred yards, when they halted, and this time they +made us put on their packs. Anyhow we had to advance again. This time we +came under our own artillery fire, and I don't know yet how I was not +blown to pieces. Really it makes my blood creep every time I think of +it. + +"Well, we had to lie down, and I just turned to speak to a chum, when I +got one right through the neck. I rolled up in a heap, but came to +myself a few minutes after, and managed to make my way to a farmhouse, +where I found the Germans were dressing their wounded. + +"I asked one of them to put my bandage on; but instead they made me go +and look for 'Vater, vater.' I looked around for the 'vater,' but +finding none, I went round to the other side of the house, and from here +could see our guns just about 300 yards off. Now comes my chance. I had +a good look round to see if everything was clear, so I dropped the jug I +was to carry the 'vater' in, and 'hopped' it. Well, if the time was +taken for that run, I bet a champion sprint winner would not have a +look-in." + + * * * * * + +"I shall never forget the first night attack," writes Bombardier N. +Tully of the R.F.A. "We had many guns in position--apparently more than +the Kaiser's hordes bargained for. They came on out of their trenches +shouting, 'Hoch! hoch! hoch!' but a few minutes afterwards they were +screaming and cursing. Our shrapnel was mowing them down wholesale. . . . +We gave them a bit of old England that night; the din of the guns and +rifles was indescribable. We had a few spasmodic attacks the next few +nights, but they gave me the impression that they were half-hearted and +discouraged. I think it is the enemy who is fighting an uphill battle +now. Our fellows are full of confidence in the final result. + +"I am awfully glad I am British. It does one good to see how cheerful +our boys are, no matter how bad the weather; but, like me, I am sure +they will long for the slaughter to cease, and to return to the best bit +of land under the sun." + + * * * * * + +"It is the shell fire," wrote a correspondent, "which has made the +Battle of Ypres a test of endurance such as no army has experienced +before. Officers and men say that it has been ten times worse than on +the Aisne. It has been persistent, and it has been deadly. Day and night +there has been a succession of 'Oompahs,' 'Oompees,' 'Bowlers,' and +'Pipsqueaks'--'Oompahs' being the big shells, 'Oompees' the smaller +ones, 'Bowlers' the projectiles thrown by trench mortars,[112] and +'Pipsqueaks' shrapnel. Atkins has a name for them all. The soil around +Ypres is not a holding soil, but shifty and difficult to trench--unlike +that on the Aisne--and constantly the trenches were being blown in by +shells." + + * * * * * + +A private in the Honourable Artillery Corps tells an amusing story. "The +first time we manned the front trenches," he says, "we had just got +in--it was, of course, pitch dark--and we were peering cautiously about +to see where we were. There were a few weird noises and strange lights, +and I moved towards our corporal to ask him something, when suddenly a +wild, unearthly wail went up apparently at my very feet. My blood ran +cold, and I grasped him by the hand. 'What was that?' I cried. 'You're +standing on a cat, I think,' he replied. And, indeed, I was! What it was +doing there I don't know, but it remained with us off and on all day. + +"Later, when it was dark, there was a German attack on our left. We were +ordered to man our trench, and then suddenly the order came along, +'Sights at zero,[113] and fire low.' We waited, quivering with +excitement, when all at once I saw something feeling its way cautiously +over the trench in front of me. I sprang up to bayonet whatever came. It +was not only a cat, but the same old cat! Twice it had pulled my leg in +twenty-four hours." + +[Footnote 110: See Vol. II., p. 7.] + +[Footnote 111: From _With French in France and Flanders_, by an Army +Chaplain.] + +[Footnote 112: The _Minenwerfer_, or trench-mortar used by the Germans, +has a range of some 500 or 600 yards, and throws a bomb loaded with high +explosives, weighing up to 200 lbs. It is fired at extreme elevation +from the bottom of a pit in the trench.] + +[Footnote 113: No elevation.] + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + MORE TALES FROM THE TRENCHES. + + +A private of the London Scottish thus describes his experiences during +the fighting at Messines on Halloween[114] and the following day:-- + +"We roused out at 4 a.m., and spent the morning wandering about from +wood to wood, being followed by aeroplanes--beastly things. Finally, we +entered a village, and a spy in a windmill gave them the range, and we +had our first shells--horrible 'coal boxes,' and then shrapnel. We lost +five men wounded there; then we went on, and finally extended to open +order, and the battalion attacked up a valley, and we had to lie in a +gutter about two feet deep along a road with poplars. There we stuck for +two and a half hours, getting shelled all the time. It was dreadful. The +big 'coal boxes' kept shaking the ground and covering us with dirt. I +got a bit of shrapnel through my pack, and had my things spoilt, but +wasn't touched. + +"Then we had to advance across a field about a quarter-mile under fire, +and get into a deserted trench. There we stopped till dark, still being +shelled, and hearing the regiment snapping away in the distance. At dusk +we made another trench, and seven of us went into it. There we had a +fine time--moonlight, and Germans only 200 yards off. We could spot them +through the glasses, and made very good practice; some of them crept +down a hedge to twenty yards, but we did them in. You could hear them +all talking; and twice they came on in force, but we beat them off, and +they left any amount on the ground. + +"Finally, at 12.45, they came on five or six deep, singing their +national anthem, and walking quite slowly. Not liking German music, we +gave them rapid fire; but they were too many. At last the cavalry had to +hop it on both sides of us, and we ran like hares for our main trench; +there we were thirty-two, and had the Germans in front, left, and rear +five or six deep. There were thousands of them, all creeping up, and +bullets everywhere. We all thought it was U P. I even took off my +overcoat so as to be freer for the bayonet. + +"Then they lit a farm, and the black smoke from the wet thatch blew +across our front. They were only fifty yards away, still creeping; so we +dashed out to the right, and all got through except six. Then we got +separated, and nine of us, including our lieutenant, had to wander +round, with one shot through the back, looking for the regiment or +British troops. We kept running into shell fire and rifle fire, but +finally got to a village, and found some officers at 4.45, very tired; +there we reported, and went to join a cavalry regiment about two miles +off. We had only had one biscuit and jam since the previous breakfast, +except some lozenges. Well, for breakfast we had to attack the same +village we had been driven out of the day before. It was most +exciting--shells and bullets everywhere. + +"Then we got mixed up with the Germans, and got the order to clear the +houses with the bayonet. That was great sport; no shells, and only +scrapping in a decent sort of way. We took four prisoners and scuppered +the rest of them, about 200; then we were just examining the slain for +pistols and other handy little souvenirs, when the shrapnel started +again all among us. It was very hot, and we had to hop the twig behind a +big bank; we were all laughing and joking. . . . One bullet turned my +bonnet round on my head, and I sat down in the mud, and I got one +through my kilt. + +"Finally, they came behind one of our trenches in kilts, and said, +'Schotlant for effer and London Schottish;' but a volley put an end to +that. At last the French arrived in force, and we had a stand easy, and +were sent back for a rest. I am longing for another dig at them; it is +the finest excitement going. One thing we have done--no more sneering at +'Terriers' out here by the Tommies; they are all very proud of us now, +and somehow we feel different now that we have been through the hoop." + +[Illustration: A Pleasant Scene in the Grand Place at Arras. + +(_From the picture by D. Macpherson. By permission of The Sphere._) + +A correspondent says: "In the early afternoon I saw in the huge Grand +Place at Arras (one of the relics of the long occupation by the Spanish) +the prettiest of scenes. A squadron of French dragoons had halted there, +and the men had dismounted. The long row of horses had each a new +master, for the dragoons had put children into the saddle, and each +child had on its head a dragoon's casque."] + + * * * * * + +The following extract is from the diary of a subaltern in the London +Scottish: "I have succeeded in getting hold of a motor 'bus to go for +supplies. It is a London 'General.' There are dozens of them here, and +it seems difficult to realize that we are so far away when we see the +usual advertisements around us.... + +"It is a funny thing, but a fact, that our fellows bear pain much better +than the Germans. To-day I had a small bugler of a British battalion +with a shocking shoulder wound, who sat there simply hanging on to +himself, and not uttering a sound; while a tremendous German near by, +with a bullet wound in his hand, sat nursing himself, weeping at +frequent intervals, and making no end of a row." + + * * * * * + +In the defeat of the Prussian Guard on 11th November the Black Watch +played a splendid part, and pursued the enemy for over a mile. A _Daily +Chronicle_ correspondent says: "It was only when a batch of wounded and +prisoners of the Prussian Guard arrived at ---- that our fellows +actually realized the kind of men they have been fighting during the +last few days. Huge fellows they are, all over six feet in height, one +of them nearing seven--an exceptional giant, of course, but still not +looking so very big among his fellows. When one realizes that this +magnificent regiment has now been severely handled by our troops for the +third time, and that they are looked upon as the flower of the German +army, then one also realizes just what a magnificent performance our own +men must have put up. + +"After submitting for over eight hours to a terrible shell fire of both +lyddite and shrapnel, our men, as may well be imagined, were getting +very tired, and it was next to impossible to send relief to our advanced +trenches until after dusk. The Germans, anticipating the condition of +things, and realizing that it was now or never, massed in force their +Prussian Guards and some other forces, and drove our troops back through +sheer weight of numbers. + +"Back they went, contesting stubbornly every trench as they vacated it. +When within about sixty yards of where our artillery was hidden, our own +men, acting under orders, suddenly split their line and dispersed on +either side, leaving a huge gap--the break in the British line which +the enemy had been trying to make for weeks. Into this break came the +Prussian Guard, wildly shouting and cheering--into the jaws of death +came the finest of the Kaiser's troops. They had advanced within fifty +yards of the muzzles of our field guns when they belched forth fire at +point-blank range, while our Maxims fired into the 'brown' from either +side. Imagine those shells tearing their whistling and shrieking way +through masses of men who a moment before were shouting in gleeful +confidence of victory already won. + +"Not even the Prussian Guard could stand up to a terror like this. They +broke and wavered and fled! But they had penetrated to within a few +yards of our artillery. They turned back in headlong flight--a flight +which was aided by a savage charge made by the Black Watch. The whole +thing was beautifully timed by both artillery and infantry alike. Not +only were the Germans driven back over the trenches, which but a short +time ago they had taken from our men, but they were pursued by the +Highlanders for over a mile beyond. The net result was that the enemy +lost over 1,000 men killed and some 3,000 men wounded, as well as their +own advanced trenches." + + * * * * * + +The following soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross for deeds of +valour done during the period from 31st October to 30th November 1914:-- + +Sepoy Khudadad, 129th Duke of Connaught's Own Baluchis. Sepoy Khudadad +had the signal honour of being the first Indian to win and wear the +Victoria Cross, which, prior to this war, was only conferred on +British-born soldiers. On 31st October, at Hollebeke, Sepoy Khudadad +showed extraordinary courage and steadfastness. Though the white officer +in charge of his detachment had been shot down and the other Maxim in +the trench had been put out of action, Khudadad remained working his gun +until all his five comrades had been killed, and he himself was badly +wounded. The King in person pinned the decoration on the gallant Sepoy's +breast during his visit to the front on December 3, 1914. + +[Illustration: How Drummer Bent saved a Wounded Comrade. + +(_From the picture by S. Begg. By permission of The Illustrated London +News._)] + +Drummer Spencer John Bent, 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment. On +the night of the 1st-2nd November, near Le Gheir,[115] the officer, +sergeant, and section commander of this hero's platoon were struck down, +and the unit was without a leader. Drummer Bent at once took command, +and with great presence of mind and coolness succeeded in holding the +position. He had previously distinguished himself on the 22nd, and again +on the 24th October, by bringing up ammunition under a heavy shell and +rifle fire. Again, on the 3rd November, he went out and brought into +cover several wounded men who were lying exposed in the open. He rescued +one of his comrades by hooking his feet under the wounded man's arms and +by dragging him in this manner for twenty-five yards to the shelter of a +trench. + +Captain John Franks Vallentin, 1st South Staffordshire Regiment. On 7th +November, at Zillebeke, Captain Vallentin very gallantly led an attack +against the Germans, but while doing so was struck down. He struggled to +his feet, and tried to press on, but was immediately killed. His men +carried the trenches, and this was due in great measure to the +confidence with which their captain's repeated acts of bravery and +ability had inspired them. + +Lieutenant Walter Lorrain Brodie, 2nd Battalion, the Highland Light +Infantry. On the night of 11th November Lieutenant Brodie, who was in +charge of a machine-gun section, moved up to the trenches near +Becelaere[116] to relieve a unit of another regiment. When darkness +fell, and the men on guard had been posted, the remainder prepared to +take what rest they could. Lieutenant Brodie and several men were +occupying a section of the trench which formed an angle with the other +sections. All was quiet, when the alarm was given, and the enemy swooped +down on the trench and managed to capture a part of it. They then made a +rush towards the section in which Lieutenant Brodie was stationed, in +the hope of capturing his machine gun. At once the lieutenant led his +men against the Germans, and there was a furious fight in the trench, +during which he bayoneted several of the enemy. So gallantly did his men +second his efforts that eighty Germans were killed and fifty-one taken +prisoners. There is no doubt that Lieutenant Brodie, by his prompt and +inspiring courage, relieved a very dangerous situation. Subsequently he +was promoted captain. + +Lieutenant John Henry Stephen Dimmer, 2nd Battalion, the King's Royal +Rifle Corps. As a boy Lieutenant Dimmer won a London County Council +Scholarship, and was transferred to Rutlish School. Always fond of +soldiering, he started a Boys' Brigade at Wimbledon, and brought it to a +high state of efficiency. At fifteen he left school, and entered the +office of a civil engineer; but the drums called him, and he offered +himself as a recruit for the regular army. His inches were, however, +against him; so he joined the 7th Battalion of the King's Royal Rifles +(Militia). In his first year he was promoted sergeant, and soon after +was transferred as a private to the regular battalion, which saw service +in South Africa. In 1903 he was promoted corporal, and his military +sketching received high praise from General Lyttelton and General Ian +Hamilton.[117] In 1905 he received another step for his services as +scout and signaller in the Mounted Infantry, and in the following year +was sent to Belgium and Germany to study army methods. Later on he was +employed abroad as an intelligence officer, and in 1908 received a +commission as second lieutenant. + +[Illustration: Major J. H. S. Dimmer, V.C.] + +In a letter to his mother Lieutenant Dimmer wrote a brief account of how +he won the V.C. on November 12, 1914, at Klein Zillebeke. He says: "Here +is how it all happened. On Thursday last, at about one o'clock, we were +suddenly attacked by the Prussian Guards. They shelled us unmercifully, +and poured in a perfect hail of bullets at a range of about 100 yards. I +got my Maxims going, but they smashed one up almost immediately, and +then turned all their attention to the gun I was with, and succeeded in +smashing that too; but before they completed the job I had been twice +wounded, and was finally knocked out with the gun. My face is spattered +with pieces of my gun and pieces of shell, and I have a bullet in my +face and four small holes in my right shoulder. It made rather a nasty +mess of me at first, but now that I am washed and my wounds dressed I +look quite right." + +Lieutenant Dimmer's commanding officer declared that by holding on to +his gun after he had been shot five times, he saved the whole battalion, +if not the whole line, on at least three occasions. + +I have told you Lieutenant Dimmer's story thus fully because it shows +very clearly how a man of grit and ability and devotion can win his way +by sheer merit in the British army. In the German army, as you know, +only men of a certain social class are appointed as officers. Major +Dimmer (to which rank he was subsequently promoted) is only one of +thousands who have risen from the ranks to distinction in the service of +Britain. The story of his career and of how he won the highest award of +valour sets a fine example to all young soldiers. + +Bandsman Thomas Edward Rendle, 1st Battalion, the Duke of Cornwall's +Light Infantry. In time of war bandsmen serve as stretcher-bearers, and +their duty is to convey the wounded from the field of battle to the +dressing stations and ambulances. How Bandsman Rendle won the Victoria +Cross on 20th November, at a village about a mile and a half west of +Messines, is best told in the words of an officer of the Cornwalls:-- + +"Two shells pitched into the trench only about thirty yards from me, and +blew ten men to pieces. They also blew down the front part of the +trench, and the earth filled up the dug-out part. This was very +annoying, as it divided our trench into two parts, and made it +impossible to get from one half to the other without running across this +open piece of ground, about five or six yards wide. Of course, the +Germans realized this at once, and put up a machine gun to cover this +space, so that any one who crossed it carried his life very much in his +hands. + +"Lieutenant Colebrook was shot that afternoon, in that part of the +trench which had no communications. He asked for me, so I went along to +him. This meant that I had to cross the gap, but luckily they failed to +hit me. We decided it was quite impossible to move him until dark, as +there was no way of getting him across the gap; so I sat down to chat +with him, when suddenly the Germans started again with their shells. + +"The first two went over the trench, but the next one pitched just in +front and buried me with mud. This I thought was a bit too much, so I +said that Colebrook must be got away. I was called away to the other end +of the trench for a few minutes. In the meantime Bandsman Rendle, one of +the stretcher-bearers, lay on his stomach in the gap under fire, and +tried to clear the earth out of the original trench to get a safe path +for Lieutenant Colebrook to pass. But another shell came that decided +him to risk it. So he took Colebrooke on his back, and wormed his way +across the open space on his stomach, getting him to the right half of +the trench, where it was all plain sailing, and from which Colebrook was +sent back to battalion headquarters." + +Naik[118] Darwan Sing Negí, 1st Battalion, 39th Garhwal Rifles. Less +than a month after Sepoy Khudadad won the Victoria Cross, another Indian +soldier proved himself so supremely brave that the highest award of +valour was given to him. On the night of the 23rd-24th November, near +Festubert, the Garhwal Rifles were engaged in retaking trenches and +clearing the enemy out of them. Naik Darwan Sing Negí greatly +distinguished himself in this work. He was one of the first to push +round each successive traverse, and though wounded in two places in the +head and also in the arm, he fought on in spite of severe fire from +bombs and rifles at the closest range. Great was the naik's delight when +his Majesty himself pinned the cross to his breast. + +Lieutenant Frank Alexander de Pass, 34th Prince Albert Victor's Own +Poona Horse. Near Festubert, on 24th November, Lieutenant de Pass +entered a German sap[119] and destroyed a traverse in the face of the +enemy's bombs. Subsequently he rescued under heavy fire a wounded man +who was lying exposed in the open. Unhappily this gallant officer lost +his life on the same day in a second attempt to capture the sap, which +had been reoccupied by the enemy. + +[Footnote 114: The eve before All Saints' Day (1st November).] + +[Footnote 115: About two miles south of Messines.] + +[Footnote 116: About a mile north-east of Gheluvelt.] + +[Footnote 117: Appointed commander of the British forces in Gallipoli in +March 1915.] + +[Footnote 118: Corporal in the Indian army.] + +[Footnote 119: A narrow ditch or trench burrowed out towards the enemy's +lines.] + +[Illustration: The German Colonies are marked in solid black.] + + + + + CHAPTER XIX. + + GERMANY'S COLONIAL EMPIRE. + + +About the year 1880 the rulers of Germany began to think of founding a +colonial empire. There were many reasons why it seemed to them advisable +that they should extend their dominion overseas. Germany had become a +great manufacturing nation, and she needed new markets in which to sell +her surplus goods, and tropical lands which would give her large and +cheap supplies of the raw material for making them. Further, many of her +people, anxious to better themselves, were emigrating to America,[120] +where they were lost to Germany. It was thought that, had she possessed +colonies, Germans would have settled in them instead of going to +America, and thus would not have reduced the strength of the Fatherland. +Many patriotic Germans wished to see their country a great naval power, +and they knew that colonies could neither be obtained nor maintained +without a big navy. They, therefore, were in favour of colonial +expansion, because it would force Germany to become powerful on the +seas. + +About this time the attention of the world was specially directed to +Africa. The travels of Livingstone[121] and Stanley[122] and other +explorers, British, French, German, and Italian, were revealing the +"Dark Continent" as a new sphere for the expansion of the European +Powers. Almost immediately they began to "peg out their claims." A +number of clever writers in Germany began to point out to their +fellow-countrymen that unless they set up a colonial empire they would +be left behind in the race. Before long they had persuaded the people +that overseas trade, ships of war, and colonies were the three things +that Germany must provide herself with, or be content to continue as a +second-rate Power. Most of the writers thought that colonies could be +obtained in a lawful way, but a historian[123] who had great influence +on the ruling classes taught openly that the best method of winning a +colonial empire was to defeat and despoil Britain. This teaching suited +the German mind exactly, and gradually it gained such ground that it +became almost a national policy. + +In 1886 what is known as the "great scramble for Africa" began, and +Germany played her part in it. In Eastern Africa her explorers had made +many important discoveries, and as far back as 1860 one of them said, "I +am persuaded that in a short time a colony established in East Africa +would be most successful, and after two or three years would become +self-supporting." Not, however, until 1884 was an attempt made to set up +a German colony in this part of the world. In that year three German +political agents, in the disguise of needy travellers, crossed over from +Zanzibar to the mainland, and began making treaties by which the local +chiefs signed away their country. + +Some of these treaties were not worth the paper they were written on, +for the chiefs were vassals of the Sultan of Zanzibar, who was under +British protection. Nevertheless, a German fleet was sent to Zanzibar, +and the Sultan was forced, at a price of £200,000, to yield up his +territory on the mainland from Cape Delgado to a line drawn from the +mouth of the Umbe River to the Victoria Nyanza. The British afterwards +proclaimed a protectorate over the remainder of the Sultan's African +dominions. + +At the beginning of the present war German East Africa covered an area +of 364,000 square miles--that is, it was almost double the size of +Germany, and had an estimated population of over 7½ millions, the whites +numbering a little over 5,000. From the low-lying coast lands it rises +to lofty and irregular mountains, which form the outer buttress of a +plateau some 3,000 or 4,000 feet in height. From the middle of this +plateau streams are thrown off north to the Victoria Nyanza,[124] west +to Lake Tanganyika,[125] and east to the Indian Ocean. Parts of this +plateau are mere desert, waterless and scrub-covered, with loose +shingle, dried-up water-courses, and bare, fantastic rocks. Other parts +are well watered and fertile, and in these favourable regions the +Germans have developed agriculture greatly. Prior to the war, rubber, +copal, bark, fibre, teak, mahogany, coffee, tobacco, sugar cane, cotton, +etc., were largely grown and exported; gold, coal, graphite, iron, salt, +and precious stones were mined; and ivory was obtained from the +elephants, which still roam the forests in large numbers. When the war +began, German East Africa was making good and steady progress. + +The Germans did not win the colony without considerable fighting with +the natives, and one of the risings which took place in 1904 cost East +Africa the lives of about 120,000 men, women, and children. The Germans +have no genius for dealing with natives; their brutal, blustering +methods are certain to provoke strife wherever they obtain a foothold. +They have, however, a genius for organizing, and this is seen in the +towns which they have built, and the eight fairly good harbours which +they have constructed on the coast. The name of the capital, +Dar-es-Salaam, means "the harbour of peace;" it is a good port and a +delightful place. German East Africa suffered a great shock when the +Uganda railway was built by the British and the trade of the lake region +was thus captured. The Germans replied by building two lines which gave +the quickest access to British Central Africa and to the Southern Congo. + +[Illustration: British Native Troops preparing to embark at Freetown, +Sierra Leone, for the Kamerun. + +(_Photo Central News._)] + +The most valuable colonies of Germany, however, were established in West +Africa. Third in order of size, but first in commercial value, is the +colony of Kamerun,[126] which forms a rough wedge between British +Nigeria and French Congo, with its point at Lake Chad. The colony of +Kamerun has an area of 190,000 square miles, and an estimated population +of 3½ millions, whites numbering less than 2,000. + +The country was going a-begging when the Germans in 1884 sent an +expedition which took it over. When the British agent arrived five days +later he found the chiefs bound to the German Empire. He, however, +declined to agree to this arrangement, and came to terms with the tribes +on the British frontier; but the Home Government would not support him, +and thus the Germans were allowed to become masters of Kamerun. Many of +the natives refused to be taken under the wing of the German eagle, and +were only persuaded to acknowledge their new masters by means of rifles +and big guns. After thirty years the proud Fula[127] tribes in the +hinterland still remained unreconciled to German rule. + +Kamerun is a rich and largely unexplored territory, very similar in +character to the southern part of our colony of Nigeria. The Germans +have spent much time and money in developing the country, and have built +excellent towns, good roads, and some railways. Along the coast and in +the deep, long valleys between the mountains the oil palm abounds; and +in the forests, which are full of elephants, there is a wealth of ebony +and other valuable timber. There are great mineral resources, too, but +they have not so far been largely worked. Kamerun was very rapidly +advancing when the war broke out, because the traders were backed from +the Fatherland, and the officials were ready and eager to do everything +that would advance its interests. It must be confessed that in the work +of colonial development the Germans showed an energy and resource which +put Britain in the shade. + +In 1883 the only unclaimed strip of West African territory between the +Gambia and Nigeria was Togoland, which lies between British Ashanti and +French Dahomey, and is in all respects similar in character to these +countries. The coast line is but thirty-three miles in length, and the +Germans having secured it, laid claim to a huge expanse of +hinterland--an area of 33,000 square miles. Britain and France, after +much discussion, allowed the claim, and thus Germany became possessed of +Togoland, her smallest but by no means her least valuable colony. She +has spent much money on roads and railways, and in building the fine +town of Lomé, one of the best in all West Africa. For the last twenty +years Togoland has been self-supporting. When the war began Togoland +possessed one of the greatest of all German wireless stations at +Kamina.[128] It could communicate direct with Berlin, and was one of an +important chain which linked up the Fatherland not only with Togoland +but with Kamerun, East Africa, and South-West Africa. + +[Footnote 120: In the nineteenth century more than 3½ million Germans +emigrated to America and became citizens of the United States.] + +[Footnote 121: The great missionary explorer, discoverer of the Zambesi, +the upper course of the Congo, Lake Nyassa and other Central African +lakes; also founder of Nyassaland. Born 1813; died 1873, at a village +south of Lake Bangweolo. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.] + +[Footnote 122: Sir Henry Morton Stanley, who did for the Congo what +Livingstone did for the Zambesi, and further verified and added to the +great discoveries already made. He made what has been called "the +greatest journey in African exploration." He laid the foundations of the +Congo Free State. Born 1841, died 1904.] + +[Footnote 123: Treitschke (_trysh´ke_), German historian and bitter +enemy of Britain. Born 1834, died 1896.] + +[Footnote 124: Great lake of equatorial Africa, 26,000 square miles in +area, discovered by Captain Speke in 1858, and circumnavigated by +Stanley in 1875 and 1889.] + +[Footnote 125: Lake lying south-west of Victoria Nyanza, 13,000 square +miles in area. Its only outlet is to the Congo.] + +[Footnote 126: Spelt in many British maps, Cameroons.] + +[Footnote 127: Fulas or Fulahs, the ruling native race in Nigeria, +French Sudan, Kamerun, etc.] + +[Footnote 128: Near Atakpame, at the head of the railway which runs +north from Lomé for a hundred miles.] + + + + + CHAPTER XX. + + GERMANY'S VANISHING COLONIES. + + +We now turn to German South-West Africa, which has an area of 322,450 +square miles and a native population of about 80,000. The whites number +nearly 15,000, of whom 12,000 are Germans. In 1884 Great Britain seized +Walfish Bay, the only good harbour, and also some of the guano islands +off the coast. Further, Cecil John Rhodes,[129] who had constantly urged +the British Government to take over the territory, had obtained mining +rights from the local chiefs. + +Less than fifty years ago German missionaries, in the territory then +known as Damaraland, appealed to the British Government to annex the +country. The appeal was rejected. In 1883 a Bremen merchant, F. A. E. +Lüderitz, whose name has been given to the settlement at Lüderitz Bay, +set up a trading station under the sanction and approval of Bismarck. On +the strength of Lüderitz's trifling commercial claims Germany annexed +the country. It is said that when Rhodes heard the news he threw the +papers signed by the local chiefs into a safe and slammed the iron door, +with the remark, "Let them lie there until the country is British." The +extent of Germany's trading interest in her new possession may be +gathered from the fact that the little steamer employed by Lüderitz was +known as "The Bottle Mail," because she imported full bottles of beer +for the German trader, and carried back the "empties" as exports! + +Germany rejoiced in her new possession, but she had hard work to occupy +it. For five or six years the Hottentots fought hard for their +independence, and until they were put down there was scarcely any +attempt at settlement. In October 1904 the brutal methods of the +officials led to a great rising of the Hereros, the bravest of the +native peoples. During this revolt the Germans did many of those deeds +of shame and horror which afterwards covered their name with infamy in +Belgium. It took 19,000 Germans to put down the Hereros, and they were +not completely subdued until 1908. + +[Illustration: German Camel Corps in German South-West Africa. + +_Photo, Underwood & Underwood._] + +German South-West Africa is not an inviting land. Much of it is +waterless desert, but there are large areas of splendid grass land very +suitable for grazing, and upon them the Herero raise huge herds of +cattle. Sheep thrive well, and so do goats. Many Boers from Cape Colony +have settled in the country, and their flocks and herds have prospered +greatly. It was these Boers from Cape Colony who "made" German +South-West Africa. + +The Germans have done much to foster agriculture, and have opened up the +country by good roads, and by railways which in 1913 had a total length +of 1,304 miles. They have also bored largely for water. Despite all +their efforts, however, the colony did not pay its way until 1912, when +diamonds were discovered in the Lüderitz Bay district. Copper was also +found and mined, and before the war some 27,500 tons of this metal were +exported annually. + +When the great struggle began in Europe, the German Empire overseas +covered an estimated area of over 1,000,000 square miles, of which +nearly 90 per cent. was in Africa, and by far the bulk of the remainder +in certain islands of the Pacific Ocean. Of the fourteen islands +comprising the Samoan group, which lies 1,600 miles to the north of New +Zealand, Germany held eight of the best, and America the remainder. To +most people the mention of Samoa recalls Robert Louis Stevenson,[130] +the sweet singer and stirring romancer who spent the last years of his +life at Vailima, in a deep cleft of the mountains near Apia, in the +fertile island of Upolu, the largest island of the Samoan group. Here he +wrote several of his books, and worked hard at clearing the rank +tropical jungle and at making roads. He died in his island home Dec. 3, +1894, and was buried on the summit of a mountain. Thanks to his +descriptions,[131] the Samoans and their beautiful sunny islands are +familiar to the readers of English books all the world over. + +Apia, near to which Stevenson lived, was the capital of the German +islands; it has an excellent harbour. On March 19, 1889, when the +harbour was full of shipping, including German and American men-of-war +and H.M.S. _Calliope_, one of the disastrous hurricanes which +occasionally sweep over the islands of the Southern Seas began to blow. +The only possible way in which these ships could escape wreck was to put +to sea and there ride out the storm. All the ships tried to leave the +harbour, but the only one that was able to make headway against the +fearful wind and sea was the _Calliope_. All the other ships were +wrecked, and many lives were lost. When King George V., then Prince of +Wales, visited Wellington, the seat of the New Zealand Government, he +passed under an arch of coal with this inscription: "The coal that saved +the _Calliope_." + +The German Samoan islands were acquired in 1899. The two largest of them +have a united area of 1,000 square miles; the total population of the +islands is about 35,000, and the annual trade was reckoned at £120,000. +Amongst other Pacific possessions of Germany when the war began were the +southern islands of the Solomon group, an archipelago of high wooded +mountains, lying to the east of New Guinea. The Bismarck Archipelago, to +the west of them, the coral reefs of the Carolines, Pelew, and Marianne +(or Ladrone) Islands,[132] and the Marshall Islands still farther north, +were also in German hands. On Neu-Pommern, one of the Bismarck group, +there was a powerful wireless station. + +By far the largest island possession of Germany was a portion of New +Guinea. This huge, lizard-shaped island--the second largest island in +the world--lies about eighty miles north of Australia, and stands like a +stepping-stone between that continent and Asia. The Dutch held the +western half, and the remainder was divided between Germany and Britain, +the south-east part being ours and the remainder German. The German +portion was known as Kaiser Wilhelm Land, and had an area of 70,000 +square miles. Most of it is unexplored, but there is no doubt that it is +exceedingly rich in wild tropical products, and that it possesses great +mineral wealth. The Germans have not made much headway in Kaiser Wilhelm +Land or in the "Spice Islands," already mentioned; but they spent much +money in developing the country and in fostering trade. + +The Australians have long feared that the possession of part of New +Guinea by an unfriendly Power would be a danger to them, as it would +afford an enemy a base for operations against the island-continent. The +Queensland Government tried to get a footing in New Guinea about thirty +years ago, but the British Government would not then lend its support. A +few years later the home authorities were brought to see the necessity +of occupying that part of New Guinea which faced Australia, and in 1887 +it was added to the British Empire. It is now governed by the Australian +Commonwealth. + +Germany had only one other possession besides those which I have +mentioned. This was Kiao-chau, on the east coast of the Chinese province +of Shan-tung. Germany obtained it by force and fraud, as you shall hear. +In the autumn of 1895 Japan emerged as victor from a war with China, and +by the treaty of peace she was to hold certain parts of the Liao-tung +peninsula. The Kaiser professed to fear the growing power of Japan, and +he had a picture[133] painted to point a moral to the Powers of Europe. +It showed the European nations confronted with what is called the +"Yellow Peril," and called upon them to defend their holiest +possessions. + +The German view of the Japanese has been put as follows: "It is for +Europe to look continually eastward. There is a yellow cloud rising +there which betokens a coming storm. Who are these Japanese who desire +to control the teeming millions of China? The Japanese are +highly-educated barbarians. They have fresh minds, and they are the most +imitative beings on earth if one excepts the smaller species of monkeys; +they are not a civilized people. You may put a clever savage into a +European dress or into a European-built battleship, but he remains a +savage. Races do not become civilized in twenty years. Europe cannot +allow the Japanese to control the Chinese millions, for the Japanese +are without a soul." Well might the Japanese retort that if the Germans +represent civilization with a soul, it would be to the benefit of the +world if mankind remained savage. + +[Illustration: Landing of British Forces on Tsing-tau Peninsula, +September 23, 1914. + +_Photo, The Sphere._] + +Professing to stand forth as the champion of soulful civilization, the +Kaiser persuaded France and Russia to join with him in robbing the +Japanese of the fruits of their victory. He only needed an excuse to +interfere, and an excuse is easily found if you set yourself to look for +it. In the autumn of 1897 two persons, said to be German missionaries, +were murdered somewhere in the heart of China. At once the Kaiser was +filled with righteous indignation; he shook his "mailed fist," and +sending his brother, Prince Henry, to China with a couple of old ships +which broke down on the voyage, bade him "declare the gospel of your +Majesty's hallowed person." With these ancient craft the Kaiser seized a +piece of Chinese territory for himself, and demanded that it should be +leased to him with sovereign rights for ninety-nine years. In this way +he obtained Kiao-chau, his Asiatic "place in the sun." + +The protectorate of Kiao-chau has an area of about 200 square miles; it +contains thirty-three townships and a native population of about +192,000. The whites number about 4,500, the greater part of them being +Germans. Before the war, Tsing-tau, the port, was a powerful fortress, a +first-class naval station, and a great entrenched camp, strong both by +land and sea, equipped with the latest type of forts, and defended by a +strong garrison. Twenty millions of money had been spent on the harbour, +fortress, and naval station. The colony was very dear to the heart of +the Kaiser, and he spoke of it as "a model of German culture." From +Kiao-chau German influence was to radiate throughout the Far East, until +the yellow peoples stood in awe of the Kaiser's name. + + * * * * * + +The great struggle which I am describing in these pages has been well +called "the World-wide War." Immediately the Kaiser flung down the gage +of battle in Europe the Allies began to attack his colonial possessions +in Africa, Asia, and the Southern Seas. The German fleet was bottled up +in its ports; no German transport dared cross the ocean; no help could +come to them from the Fatherland. The German forces in each possession +had to fight their own battle with such resources as they then +possessed. It was clear to everybody that without sea power Germany +could not hope to hold any of her colonies very long; they were bound to +fall, and fall rapidly. + +The Australian navy, assisted by our China squadron, put to sea +immediately, and scoured the Pacific for German cruisers. A force of New +Zealanders set sail from Wellington on 15th August, and, under the +escort of H.M.S. _Australia_, H.M.S. _Melbourne_, and the French cruiser +_Montcalm_, crossed the sixteen hundred miles of sea between them and +Samoa. They reached Apia on the 28th, and the islands surrendered +without a blow being struck. Before the war was a month old Robert Louis +Stevenson's body was lying in British soil. + +The next attack was on Neu-Pommern, the chief island of the Bismarck +Archipelago, where, you will remember, there was an important wireless +station. On 11th September a British force arrived at Herbertshohe, the +port at the northern end of the island. A party of sailors landed at +dawn and pushed through the bush towards the wireless station. The roads +had been mined, rifle pits had been dug, and snipers were hidden in the +trees. The British fought their way for six miles, losing ten officers +and four men; but when they reached the wireless station the whole enemy +force surrendered. The German flag was hauled down, the Union Jack flew +triumphantly in its stead, and thus the Bismarck Archipelago was lost to +the Kaiser. + +Two days later our troops sailed for the Solomon Islands, which were +captured without difficulty and without bloodshed. A force was then sent +against Kaiser Wilhelm Land, where it was thought that the Germans would +show fight. Again there was a bloodless victory, and the British flag +was hoisted above the chief port, which was left in the possession of +British troops. Early in November the Japanese occupied the Marshall +Islands and some of the other northern groups. + +By this time the Pacific possessions of Germany had vanished, save for a +few small and unimportant islands, and her wireless stations had been +destroyed. These rapid successes were largely due to the Australian +navy, which had worked with the highest speed and efficiency. H.M.S. +_Melbourne_, for example, covered no less than 11,000 miles of sea in +the first six weeks of the war. + + * * * * * + +Togoland was the first of Germany's African colonies to fall. Its +geographical position made it easy of attack and very difficult to hold. +You will remember that it had British and French territory on its +flanks, and that its sea coast was open to bombardment by British ships. +So situated, and held by military forces which did not number more than +250 whites and 3,000 natives in all, it was certain to fall quickly and +easily. + +Soon after the outbreak of war the cables connecting Togoland with +Germany were cut by the British, so that only by means of wireless +telegraphy could the colony communicate with the Fatherland. Native +troops were rushed down from Kumasi[134] to the Gold Coast, and all +Britons in Accra[135] were sworn in as volunteers. On 6th August a +British advance guard pushed across the western frontier, and a few days +later was followed by the main column, under Colonel Bryant. Meanwhile +the French made a similar movement from Dahomey, on the eastern +frontier. When the British advance guard reached Lomé, it found the town +deserted, and the Germans retiring northwards along the railway line. On +the arrival of the main column arrangements were made for an advance on +Kamina, where the great wireless station had been established. There +were two or three skirmishes on the way, but no engagement of any +particular importance. On the river, south of Nuatja, the enemy was +found to be strongly entrenched, and fighting continued from early +morning until after dusk. During the night the enemy abandoned Nuatja, +and at daybreak the British marched in. Our losses in this engagement, +including those of the French troops from Dahomey, were very high. + +Two days later the advance was continued towards Kamina, near the +Government station of Atakpame, at the railhead. Here the enemy had dug +trenches, built blockhouses, laid in provisions, and made other +preparations to stand a siege. During the advance our men spent two or +three nights in the mud huts of filthy native villages. Several rivers, +swollen into rushing torrents by the heavy rain, impeded the advance, +for the Germans had blown up the road and railway bridges. Meanwhile the +advance guard pushed forward, and as they did so the enemy sent two men +with a flag of truce to Colonel Bryant, offering to surrender on certain +terms and with the usual honours of war. Colonel Bryant told them that +they were not in a position to ask for terms, and that they must +surrender unconditionally. Next day (10th August) the enemy agreed to +do so. + +A telegraphist with the Togoland Field Force thus describes the +surrender: "I rode in with the Headquarters Staff, and, arriving at +Kamina, found the Germans, all white men (their native troops having +deserted), drawn up in front of the acting Governor's residence, with +himself, a smart-looking man, at their head, and all their rifles, +machine guns, ammunition, and other weapons of war piled in front of +them. + +"We formed up on the other side in the shape of a triangle--the British +troops on the right, French on the left, guns at the apex, and +Headquarters Staff in the centre. Our adjutant, with the Union Jack in +one hand and the French flag in the other, accompanied by a native +soldier of each nation, planted the two flags in front of the massed +troops, who all presented arms. We saluted, and in that brief +half-minute, while we were at the 'present,' Togoland, which had been a +German colony for over thirty years, passed into the hands of Britain +and France. It was most impressive, and something I am not likely to +forget. We took at this place alone 206 white German prisoners, three +machine guns, hundreds of rifles, and thousands of rounds of ammunition. + +"The Germans had destroyed their powerful wireless station--a tremendous +place, three miles long, with nine masts 250 to 410 feet high--two days +before we arrived; otherwise I might have been able to get into +communication with Whitehall direct, instead of sending the news of the +surrender to the Secretary of State on a little field buzzer set, tapped +in on the telegraph wire by the side of the road. + +"This town, Atakpame, is in the half of Togoland allotted to the French, +so the British troops have left the place. It is now occupied by +Senegalese (French native troops, and fine fighting men). . . . This is +a magnificent country, and Atakpame is beautifully situated up in the +hills. . . . This letter leaves by the last English mail out of +Atakpame, which has been under three different flags in less than three +weeks--German, British, and French. + +"Quick work, eh?" + + * * * * * + +By this time Kamerun, German South-West Africa, and German East Africa +had been attacked. I will tell you how they resisted later on, when we +come to the period at which they were finally conquered. + +[Footnote 129: Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902), for nearly a quarter of a +century the most powerful man in South Africa. Rhodesia was named after +him.] + +[Footnote 130: Born 1850, died 1894. Scottish novelist and poet. All +boys and girls should read his _Treasure Island_, _The Black Arrow_, +_Kidnapped_, and _Catriona_. Many of his verses are in the earlier books +of the _Highroads of Literature_.] + +[Footnote 131: See Stevenson's _A Footnote to History_.] + +[Footnote 132: With the exception of Guam, the largest, which belongs to +the United States.] + +[Footnote 133: Reproduced in Vol. I., p. 142.] + +[Footnote 134: Capital of Ashanti.] + +[Footnote 135: Capital of the Gold Coast.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXI. + + THE STORY OF THE "EMDEN." + + +When the war broke out there was a German squadron of ships of war in +Eastern waters, its base being Tsing-tau. Admiral von Spee, who +commanded it, did not attempt to go to the rescue of the Pacific islands +when the British attacked them, but departed with most of his ships for +the west coast of South America. Two of his smaller cruisers--the +_Königsberg_ and the _Emden_--were, however, detached to prey on British +commerce in the East. You have read[136] how the _Königsberg_ caught +H.M.S. _Pegasus_ unawares, in Zanzibar harbour, and disabled her. I +shall tell you later how this vessel was finally destroyed. In this +chapter we will learn something of the career of the _Emden_. + +A ship of war can do as much mischief amongst peaceful merchantmen as a +cat among pigeons. Ordinary trading ships are entirely at the mercy of a +fast cruiser armed with big guns. They have no means of resisting, and +must surrender when called upon to do so. During the American Civil War +a ship, afterwards known as the _Alabama_, was built at Birkenhead for +the Southern States. By some mistake she was allowed to leave the Mersey +and proceed to the Azores, where she was fully equipped as a vessel of +war. In August 1862 she began to prey on the merchantmen of the Northern +States, and by June 1864 she had captured and destroyed about +sixty-eight of their ships. By hoisting the British flag she decoyed +them within reach of her guns, and then they were obliged to yield. In +the end the _Alabama_ was chased by a Northern ship of war to the +English Channel, and a fight took place off the French shore near +Cherbourg. In an hour the _Alabama_ was shattered, and her career was +ended for ever.[137] Up to the time when the _Emden_ left Kiao-chau, in +August 1914, the _Alabama_ was the most successful commerce-raider of +history. The Emden, however, soon deposed her from that pride of place. +In two short months she did more damage than the _Alabama_ did in two +years. + +The _Emden_ was a light cruiser of 3,544 tons displacement, and she +dated from 1908. She had a speed of 25 knots, and her armament consisted +of ten 4.1-inch guns, four 2.1-inch guns, and four machine guns, as well +as two torpedo tubes. Her captain, was Commander Karl von Müller, who +has thus been described: "Picture a young man of about thirty, tall, +clean-shaven, with closely-cropped hair and keen eyes, a +neatly-proportioned figure, a man with the manners of a drawing-room, +possessed of a keen sense of humour and an extensive knowledge of the +sea and its affairs." As the story proceeds you will learn that +Commander Müller was a man of quick, ready, and inventive mind, and that +for two months he played a successful game of hide-and-seek with the +many Allied ships of war that were bent on his destruction. + +The _Emden's_ adventures began almost before she was out of sight of +Kiao-chau. She knew that Japanese men-of-war were near at hand, and that +she was more than likely to fall in with one of them. Sure enough, a +Japanese vessel was sighted; but it was not the three-funnelled _Emden_, +under the black, white, and red flag of Germany that passed the enemy +warship, but a vessel of four funnels flying the British white ensign. +The Japanese were completely deceived, especially when the _Emden's_ +crew lined the rails and greeted them with three hearty British cheers. +By means of this clever trick the _Emden_ gained the open sea +unmolested. + +What she did up to 10th September we do not know. Just when the first +Indian contingent was leaving for Marseilles she appeared in the Bay of +Bengal and began her career of destruction. Inside four days she had +seized and sunk five ships, and before seven weeks were over had +destroyed seventeen vessels of 70,000 tons burden, and worth more than +£2,000,000. Captain von Müller fell in with some of these ships; others +it is said that he decoyed by sending out the S.O.S. signal[138] in +defiance of the rules of war which Germany had signed at the Hague. His +practice was to close in upon his victim very quickly, destroy its +wireless apparatus before the alarm could be given, put the crew on +board one of his prizes, take what coal and provisions he required, and +then with a mine or a few shots send the captured vessel to the bottom. +It is said that when he overhauled the _Kabinga_ he discovered that the +captain's wife was on board, and released the ship. The captain's wife, +on taking leave of him, hoped that he would soon be caught, but that his +life would be spared. Commander Müller was generous to his prisoners, +and in no case were they treated harshly. + +[Illustration: Captain von Müller. + +(_Photo, Record Press._)] + +On 22nd September the _Emden_ was off Madras, that great straggling +seaport which fronts a strand on which the sea foams in unceasing +billows. One of the _Emden's_ crew had worked in Madras, and he pointed +out to the captain the position of the oil tanks at the entrance to the +harbour. At 9.30 that night the _Emden_ crept in, turned her +searchlights on the tanks, and fired two broadsides to find the range. +Then the searchlights were turned off, and salvos were fired which set +the tanks on fire. While great flames were shooting skyward and making +the night as bright as day, the _Emden_ retired full speed northward. +The shore batteries opened fire, but their shells fell short. + +[Illustration: The Emden, the famous German Commerce-raider. + +_Photo, Central News._] + +Next day the _Emden_ turned her nose north-east, to give the impression +that she was sailing for Calcutta, but when out of sight of land turned +southwards. Off Pondicherry[139] she paused, but perceiving that the +town was defenceless, refrained from firing a gun. She then ran past the +east coast of Ceylon to the island of Diego Garcia, in the Chagos +Archipelago, a group of low coral islands between Mauritius and Ceylon. +Diego Garcia was reached on 10th October. The few European families on +the island had not yet heard of the war, as they are only visited by a +steamer once in three months. The _Emden_ coaled at Diego Garcia, and +took on board supplies of cocoa-nuts and fish. + +About the middle of October she lost her attendant collier, and with it +her reserve of ammunition, coal, and food. By this time it was clear +that her course was practically run, and that she had better do what +mischief she could to the warships and war material of the enemy before +meeting her doom. + +Early on the morning of 28th October the _Emden_ was ten miles outside +Penang, in the Straits Settlements,[140] and the carpenters were set to +work rigging up a dummy funnel, to make her look like a British cruiser. +She then hoisted British colours and entered the harbour, in which +several ships could be seen, with an unknown cruiser well in front of +them. When the _Emden_ entered the harbour she discovered that this +cruiser was the Russian ship _Jemtchug_. Mistaking the _Emden_ for a +British man-of-war, the _Jemtchug_ did not attempt to prevent the German +cruiser from getting between her and the land. The _Emden_ then let fly +two torpedoes, the first of which struck the Russian cruiser just under +the after funnel. The other torpedo, fired at closer range, struck her +below the bridge, and caused a terrible explosion. Meanwhile the _Emden_ +was firing salvo after salvo at the _Jemtchug_, which made but a feeble +reply; all of her shots missed, but some of them hit ships in the +harbour behind. + +As the _Jemtchug_ sank the _Emden_ turned and left the harbour at full +speed. Thirty miles out she fell in with the British steamer +_Glenturret_, which had signalled to the shore for a pilot, who had just +reached her in his launch. The _Emden_ had swung out her boats to take +possession of the prize when a warship appeared on the horizon. The +_Emden_ immediately recalled her boats and made off, as the warship +appeared to be a large one. This, however, was only the effect of the +early morning _mirage_.[141] At about 6,000 yards distance the newcomer +was found to be the French destroyer _Mousquet_. + +The _Emden_ opened fire, and the _Mousquet_ replied, though, of course, +the destroyer was quite outclassed by the cruiser. The first few shots +from the _Emden_ hit the _Mousquet's_ engine-room, and apparently +wrecked her. "Cease fire" was then ordered, to enable the French +destroyer to surrender; but instead of doing so she showed fight once +more. A few more shots from the _Emden_ were sufficient to sink her, +bows first. About thirty-six of the crew were rescued. While this +merciful work was going on, another destroyer was seen approaching from +Penang; whereupon the _Emden_ steamed off at full speed for the Indian +Ocean. The destroyer chased her for three hours; but a heavy rainstorm +came on, and the _Emden_ escaped. + +There was a good deal of discontent in England when news arrived that +the _Emden_ had sunk ship after ship, and had not been brought to +account. The Admiralty explained that searching for the _Emden_ over +vast expanses of ocean was no easy task, and that the many thousand +islands of the East Indies afforded her plenty of hiding-places, and the +straits between them numberless avenues of escape. To catch the raider +was a matter of time, patience, and good luck. The Germans were highly +delighted that their ship had proved such a will o' the wisp, and one of +their papers contained a caricature showing the _Emden_ as a +Jack-in-the-box that continually popped up to the annoyance of John +Bull. It was inscribed, "_Emden_ über Alles," and underneath was the +following rhyme:-- + + "When you think you have him tightly, + He springs forth again so lightly." + +We are soon to hear how, by a stroke of good luck the _Emden_ was caught +tightly and destroyed. + +[Footnote 136: Vol. II., p. 170.] + +[Footnote 137: She left, however, a legacy of trouble. The United States +said, with justice, that the British Government was responsible, for the +ship ought never to have been built by a neutral Power nor permitted to +leave a neutral harbour. In the end, Britain had to pay the United +States three millions of money as damages.] + +[Footnote 138: The wireless signal sent out by ships in distress, +calling for immediate help.] + +[Footnote 139: Chief French settlement in India, 90 miles +south-south-west of Madras.] + +[Footnote 140: British Crown colony in and off the Malay Peninsula, in +south-east Asia. In the Straits Settlements are included Singapore, +Malacca, the Dindings, Penang, and Wellesley Province.] + +[Footnote 141: Caused by the rays of light being bent in their passage +through layers of air of differing density, and therefore giving a +delusive appearance to objects.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXII. + + THE LAST OF THE "EMDEN," AND THE SEA FIGHT OFF CORONEL. + + +If you look at a map of the Indian Ocean, you will see, some 700 miles +south of Sumatra and 1,200 miles south-west of Singapore, a group of +about twenty atolls,[142] known as the Cocos-Keeling Islands. They are +covered with palm groves, and they export cocoa-nuts and copra. The +"king" of the islands is Mr. Sydney Ross, a descendant of the Captain J. +C. Ross who settled on them in 1825. It was to these remote islands that +Captain von Müller brought the _Emden_ in the early days of November. +His object was to destroy the important British wireless station +established on Direction Island. + +On the morning of 9th November the operators in charge of the station +saw a cruiser in the offing. At first they believed the vessel to be a +British warship, but they were soon undeceived. Before a boat could be +lowered and a landing-party sent ashore, the operators at the wireless +station, with true British coolness, sent off distress signals, and +warned the adjacent stations, by means of the three submarine cables +which come ashore on the island, that the Germans were about to land. +One launch and two cutters, containing three officers and forty men, +arrived about 7.30; the wireless mast was blown up; the instruments were +smashed, the storerooms and workshops were completely wrecked, and a +dummy cable and one real cable were cut and a third damaged. The +remaining cable was left uninjured, probably because the Germans did +not know that it existed. In less than two hours the work of destruction +was completed. Then suddenly loud and repeated siren calls were heard +from the _Emden_. Before the boats could return she was off at top +speed. + +She had been trapped at last. In the wireless room of H.M.S. _Sydney_, +then engaged in escorting Australian transports, a message had been +received: "Strange warship off entrance." In a moment Captain Glossop +guessed that it was the raider that had so long eluded him. Immediately +he worked up to twenty knots an hour, and with the "white bone" in his +ship's teeth sped towards the island. At 9.15 the feathery tops of the +cocoa-nut trees were sighted, and a few minutes later the _Emden_ was +seen bearing down on the _Sydney_ at a great rate. Captain von Müller +knew that the _Sydney's_ 6-inch guns could destroy his ship at a +distance too great for his 4.7-inch guns to do much mischief. He +therefore tried to close in with the _Sydney_, which endeavoured to keep +sufficiently far off to obtain the advantage afforded by her bigger +guns. + +Then began a running fight which lasted for an hour and forty minutes. +At first the _Emden_'s fire was very rapid and accurate, but as the +_Sydney's_ shells began to burst on her decks it slackened quickly. The +foremost funnel of the _Emden_ was shot away, then the foremast, then +the second funnel, and lastly the third funnel. She was now burning +furiously, and her deck was strewn with dead and dying. A few minutes +later and she was seen to be making for the beach on North Keeling +Island, where she grounded at 11.20 a.m. Captain Glossop gave her two +more broadsides, and then left her to pursue a merchant ship which had +come up during the action. + +The merchantman was overhauled, and found to be a captured British +collier in a sinking condition. As she was past repair she was sent to +the bottom, and the _Sydney_, with the crew of the collier on board, +returned to the _Emden_, now a dismal wreck amidst the surf foaming on +the reef. Her colours, however, were still flying at the masthead. When +called upon to haul them down her captain replied that he would never +surrender. Very reluctantly, Captain Glossop again fired at the _Emden_. +Five minutes later white flags fluttered aloft, and her ensign was +hauled down. + +[Illustration: German Landing Party on the Cocos-Keeling Islands. + +_Photo, The Sphere_ + +The yacht shown in the photograph is the _Ayesha_, in which the landing +party escaped from the island.] + +About six o'clock that night the _Emden's_ landing-party seized and +provisioned Mr. Ross's 70-ton schooner, the _Ayesha_, and made off. For +months they were unheard of, though all sorts of rumours were current as +to their fate. On March 1, 1915, it was reported that they had reached +Damascus, and were on their way to Constantinople. + +Captain von Müller was captured unwounded, and amongst his officers was +Franz Josef of Hohenzollern, a nephew of the Kaiser. As a tribute to the +gallantry and humanity which Captain von Müller had exhibited, he was +permitted to retain his sword. While the German soldiers were making +their name a byword of loathing in Belgium, Captain von Müller had been +behaving as a sailor and a gentleman; consequently he was regarded in +Britain as something of a hero. He had fought staunchly, and although he +had perhaps violated the laws of war on several occasions, his sins were +forgiven him because he had been merciful to the defenceless and the +captive. + +The _Emden_ lost some 250 killed and wounded, while the _Sydney_ had +four killed and twelve wounded. Only about ten hits seem to have been +made on the British vessel, and the damage done was surprisingly small. +Australians were overjoyed to hear that a ship of their own navy had rid +the seas of the famous raider. Their satisfaction was all the greater +when they remembered that the victorious crew consisted largely of young +and untried sailors. + +Let me tell you of a pleasing little incident that happened when the +_Sydney_, with prisoners on board, returned to the transports which she +and the _Melbourne_ were convoying. Captain Glossop had given orders +that there was to be no cheering, as he had German wounded on board, and +some of them might be dying. The _Sydney_ steamed past forty transports, +whose decks and rigging were crowded with patriotic men; but not a cheer +was raised, though all were deeply stirred by the good news. Two German +officers asked Captain Glossop the reason of the silence. When he +explained, they were much affected. One of them shook him by the hand +and said, "You have been kind, but this crowns all. We cannot speak to +thank you for it." + + * * * * * + +The news was received with great delight by our soldiers in Artois and +West Flanders. At one place where the opposing trenches were close +together the men cheered, and passed on the information with appropriate +comments to the enemy, who replied with a vindictive volley. At +Lloyd's[143] the old _Lutine_ bell[144] was rung, and when, amidst tense +silence, the crier announced that the _Emden's_ career of destruction +had ended, underwriters,[145] brokers, and clerks burst forth into +excited cheering, which was repeated again and again. During the past +two months the insurance companies had been heavily hit; freight for the +East had been difficult to obtain, Indian tea had gone up twopence per +pound, the jute trade had been paralysed, and tin and rubber had largely +increased in price. All this was now over, and shipping in Eastern +waters resumed its normal course. + + * * * * * + +Almost equally good news arrived the same day. The _Königsberg_, after +her attack on the _Pegasus_ in Zanzibar harbour, had gone into hiding +somewhere along the German East African coast. A diligent search was +made for her by H.M.S. _Chatham_, and on 30th October she was discovered +in shoal water about six miles up a river opposite Mafia island. The +_Chatham_, owing to her greater draught, could not ascend the river; but +she sank colliers in the only navigable channel, so that the German +cruiser could not come out. She lay amidst dense palm groves, and was +aground, except at high tide. Part of her crew had been landed and +entrenched on the banks of the river. Both the entrenchments and the +_Königsberg_ were shelled, but owing to the thick foliage shrouding the +ship it was not possible to estimate what damage had been done. + +From the end of October 1914 until the beginning of July 1915 the +_Königsberg_ lay in this position. She was most difficult to attack, as +only shallow-draught ships could get sufficiently close to engage her. +In May 1915 the Admiralty decided to send to German East Africa two of +the monitors--the _Severn_ and the _Mersey_--which had done so much to +foil the coast dash towards Calais. Aircraft accompanied the vessels, +and discovered the exact whereabouts of the _Königsberg_. On 4th July +the monitors entered the river and opened fire. The _Königsberg_ +replied, and fired salvos of five guns with great accuracy, twice +hitting the _Mersey_, and causing some casualties. + +The aeroplanes found great difficulty in "spotting" the effects of the +monitors' fire, because of the dense jungle. For six hours the monitors +continued firing, and the _Königsberg_ was hit five times, though her +masts were still standing. Then a salvo struck her, and she burst into +flames. For a time she continued to fire with one gun, but during the +last part of the engagement she made no reply, either because her +ammunition had run out or because her guns were disabled. On 11th July +another attack was made, and the _Königsberg_ was battered into +shapeless ruin. + + * * * * * + +During November 19 a British squadron approached the harbour of +Dar-es-Salaam,[146] in which three German vessels had taken refuge. The +entrance had been blocked by a floating dock, and only vessels of light +draught could pass the obstruction. On November 28 a British flotilla +supported by a cruiser entered the harbour, and after a parley the +governor of the town hoisted the white flag. Commander Henry Peel +Ritchie, R.N., who was in charge of the operations, now boarded the +German ships, but soon discovered that the surrender of the town was a +trick to destroy him and his men. A heavy fire was opened on the boats +from trenches on shore, and Commander Peel Ritchie had the greatest +difficulty in getting them safely out of harbour. He himself was one of +the first to be hit, but he continued at his post until his eighth +wound, received twenty-five minutes later, rendered him unconscious. The +cockswain of his pinnace, though hit twice, gallantly stuck to the wheel +until the boat was out of gunfire. For his splendid courage, and for the +inspiring example which he set to his men, Commander Ritchie was awarded +the Victoria Cross. The cockswain, Leading Seaman Thomas Arthur +Gallagher, received the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal. + + * * * * * + +We will now follow the fortunes of the German squadron under Admiral von +Spee. You will remember that it left Kiao-chau early in August for the +South American coast. Von Spee's squadron, which consisted of modern +ships, comprised two armoured cruisers, the _Gneisenau_ and the +_Scharnhorst_; and three light cruisers, the _Dresden_, _Leipzig_, and +_Nürnberg_. The first two vessels had a speed of at least 23 knots, and +were armed with eight 8.2-inch guns, six of 5.9-inch, and eighteen +21-pounders. The _Dresden_ was a sister ship to the _Emden_, the +_Nürnberg_ was slightly smaller, and the _Leipzig_ smaller still. The +object of this squadron was to prey on British commerce in the Pacific. +The _Emden_, as you know, was detailed for similar work in the Indian +Ocean, and the _Karlsruhe_ in the South Atlantic. + +I have told at length of the short and merry life of the _Emden_. The +_Karlsruhe_ was not so successful, but she destroyed no fewer than +thirteen steamers in the course of a week or two. She was remarkable for +the number of attendant vessels which accompanied her, some of them her +own captures. These she employed as scouts to warn her of danger, and to +give notice of vessels which might be seized. It is said that she had +many hairbreadth escapes from British cruisers. Towards the end of +November she disappeared, and though many rumours were afloat, nothing +was certainly known of her whereabouts. In March 1915 it was reported +that she had gone down off the West Indian island of Grenada. + +[Illustration: Destruction of the German Raider Emden by H.M.S. Sydney +of the Australian Navy, November 9, 1914.] + +You can easily understand that without a regular supply of coal and +provisions the German commerce-raiders could not long keep the seas. +When a fighting ship in time of war puts into a neutral port, she may +not receive more coal and provisions than will carry her to the nearest +harbour of her own land, and she may not obtain any further supplies at +that port for three months. Some of the South American states, however, +were very slack in observing the rules of naval warfare, and two of +them--Ecuador and Colombia--actually permitted German coaling and +provisioning bases to be set up on their coasts, and allowed their +wireless stations to be used for the purpose of ascertaining the +movements of the British cruisers which were trying to catch the +raiders. When Admiral von Spee sailed for the western coast of South +America, he was going into waters where there were many harbours in +which he could coal, and many friends who would see that he was well +supplied. German merchants abound in Chile. + +On 14th September von Spee's squadron touched at Apia, and on the 22nd +two of his cruisers arrived off Papeete, in Tahiti, one of the loveliest +of the Pacific Islands. A small French gunboat was sunk, and the town +was bombarded. Then his squadron of five warships with attendant +colliers concentrated near Valparaiso, and he was ready, like a +twentieth-century Drake, to prey ruthlessly upon the merchantmen that +came round the Horn. + +Von Spee did not expect that he would go unmolested. He knew that +Britain had a squadron which was even then cruising northwards along the +coast of Chile, under the command of a renowned seaman, Sir Christopher +Cradock. But this squadron was all too weak to meet him in fair fight. +It consisted of two armoured cruisers, the _Good Hope_ and the +_Monmouth_, the light cruiser _Glasgow_, and an armed liner, the +_Otranto_, the latter being incapable of engaging a ship of war. None of +the vessels was speedy, and none was heavily armed. The _Canopus_, a +seventeen-year-old battleship, was on its way to meet him, but had not +yet arrived. Von Spee could count on sixteen 8.2-inch guns, and to +oppose them Cradock had but two 9.2-inch guns. When the _Canopus_ joined +him his big-gun armament would be increased by four 12-inch guns, but +even then the British squadron would be inferior in weight of broadside +to the German squadron. Nor had the British any advantage of speed. The +_Glasgow_ could do 26 knots an hour, but the _Monmouth_ could only do +23. In big guns, speed, and armour the Germans were greatly superior. +Cradock was hourly expecting reinforcements, but for some reason they +were not forthcoming. One of his officers wrote as follows on 12th +October: "We think the Admiralty have forgotten their trade-route +squadron 10,000 miles from London town. Five German cruisers against us. +Pray that we may prevent them concentrating." + +They had concentrated, as we know, and Cradock had now to decide whether +he would give battle with his three cruisers or wait for the arrival of +the _Canopus_. He was a dashing, fearless officer, and he took the risk. +He sent off a wireless message to the _Canopus_: "I am going to attack +the enemy now," and ordered speed to be increased to 17 knots. It is +doubtful whether the _Canopus_ ever received the message, for the enemy +was "jamming the wireless"--that is, was sending out bogus messages to +interfere with the messages of the British flagship. At any rate, the +_Canopus_ did not join Cradock, and he steamed without her towards the +foe. + +The _Glasgow_ swept northward, and about four o'clock in the afternoon +of 1st November sighted the enemy. She sent off wireless signals to the +flagship, _Good Hope_, but they were jammed. The _Monmouth_ and +_Otranto_ joined the _Glasgow_ soon after, and at five o'clock the _Good +Hope_ came up. Both squadrons were now moving southwards, the Germans +having the inshore course. At the head of the British line was the _Good +Hope_, with the _Monmouth_, _Glasgow_, and _Otranto_ following, one +behind the other. The German line was headed by the _Scharnhorst_, with +the _Gneisenau_, _Dresden_, and _Nürnberg_ following. + +Try to imagine the scene. The sea was running high; there was a stiff +wind blowing, and away in the west the sun was sinking in a flaming sky +of crimson and gold. Against the bright sunset the British ships stood +out sharp and clear, while the German vessels were shrouded by the +gathering gloom and the dark background of the land. Behind them were +the long ridges and lofty peaks of the Andes, their eternal snows +glowing red in the light of the setting sun. Amidst the roar of sea and +wind the two squadrons raced south in the teeth of the gale. The day was +speeding fast to its close, and the German admiral, owing to the +superior speed of his ships, was able to choose the range at which the +battle was to be fought. + +The sun sank into the sea, and eight minutes later, at a range of about +12,000 yards--roughly, seven miles--the leading German cruiser opened +fire with her biggest guns. Shells shrieked over and short of the _Good +Hope_ within a hundred yards of her, and the _Otranto_ began to edge +away to the south-west. The _Good Hope_ and the _Monmouth_ replied as +best they could to the _Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_, but their fire was +ineffective; the two 9.2-inch guns of the _Good Hope_ could not be +brought into action, because they were mounted so near to the water's +edge that the waves washed over them. Meanwhile the _Glasgow_ was +exchanging shots with the light cruisers _Leipzig_ and _Dresden_. The +shooting of the enemy was deadly, and in a few minutes all was over--the +British ships were pounded to pieces by guns which quite outranged those +which they carried. "It was as though a man standing at Charing Cross +were attacked with deadly accuracy by a foe on Ealing Common, without +any possibility of replying." Think of the horror and hopelessness of it +all! + +Broadside after broadside of powerful guns crashed on the British +cruisers. The third salvo set the _Good Hope_ and the _Monmouth_ on +fire. The range had now narrowed down to 5,000 yards, and darkness was +coming on apace. Many of the shells falling into the sea threw up huge +geysers of white spray, which gleamed ghost-like in the twilight. The +British could fire only at the flashes of the enemy's guns, and often +even these slight indications were hidden from the gun-layers by the +heavy head seas. + +The _Monmouth_ had been heavily hit, and was rapidly becoming +unmanageable; the fore turret of the _Good Hope_ was burning fiercely, +and she began to fall away out of line towards the enemy. Suddenly, at +about a quarter to eight, there was a roar louder than that of the +booming guns; the flames had reached the magazine of the _Good Hope_, +and a terrific explosion took place. A column of fire shot up 200 feet, +and the sea was strewn with _débris_. The _Good Hope_ never fired her +guns again. Down she went headlong into the stormy deep, with gallant +Sir Christopher Cradock and his crew of nearly 900 officers and men. + +[Illustration: The Good Hope going down with her last Guns firing. + +(_From the picture by Norman Wilkinson. By permission of the Illustrated +London News._)] + +The _Monmouth_, too, was in dire distress. She was so badly damaged by +the terrific cannonade that she could no longer fire. She was down by +the head, and was obliged to turn away to get her stern to the sea. The +little unarmoured _Glasgow_ was now left alone, and on her the +_Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_ concentrated their fire. Again and again +she was hit, but fortunately not dangerously. The sea was now running +higher than ever; rain and mist came on, though the moon was rising. The +_Glasgow_ could render no aid to the _Monmouth_; she could not rescue +her crew in the raging sea, and she could not contend with the +heavily-armoured vessels of the enemy. There was nothing for it but to +abandon the _Monmouth_ and seek safety in flight. If she stayed to the +end she would be needlessly sacrificing herself and her crew; and the +_Canopus_, now coming up from the south, could not be warned of the +destruction that awaited her. + +So with a heavy heart Captain Luce swung his vessel to the north-west, +and steamed off at full speed. As he did so the doomed men on the +_Monmouth_ gave her a pealing cheer. Before the sinking vessel was lost +to sight another and another cheer was heard. At twenty minutes past +nine o'clock Captain Luce counted seventy-five flashes of fire stabbing +the darkness. The _Nürnberg_ had come up, and was dealing the _Monmouth_ +its death-blows. It is said that the British ship in her final throes +made a gallant attempt to ram the enemy. For a few seconds the watching +men on the _Glasgow_ saw the play of her searchlight. It disappeared, +and all was over; the _Monmouth_ had gone down with her flag flying. + + "Toll for the brave--the brave that are no more." + +The sole survivor, the _Glasgow_, sped away at 24 knots an hour, and as +she gained on her pursuers she bore round gradually to the south. Her +wireless was working in the hope of picking up the _Canopus_; but the +enemy again jammed her messages, and only after several hours did she +get in touch with her sister ship. At length they fell in with each +other, and steamed in company southward, threaded the wild, +glacier-fringed Strait of Magellan, and in due time reached Stanley +Harbour, in the wind-swept Falkland Isles. + + * * * * * + +This disastrous sea fight will go down to history as the Battle of +Coronel, for the little Chilian port of Coronel was the nearest place to +the stretch of wild waters in which the _Good Hope_ and the _Monmouth_ +went down. We shall never learn the full details of the action, for +those who played the leading part in it on the British side are no more. +The Germans have called their victory "the fairest sea fight of the +war." No more misleading description can be imagined--even in Germany. +The enemy had swifter, better armed, and more heavily armoured ships +than we had, and his victory was due to superior speed and greater gun +power. + +Captain Luce tells us that "nothing could have been more admirable than +the conduct of the officers and men throughout. Though it was most +trying to receive a great volume of fire without the chance of returning +it adequately, all kept perfectly cool. There was no wild firing, and +discipline was the same as at battle practice. . . . The serious reverse +sustained has entirely failed to impair the spirit of officers and +ship's company, and it is our unanimous wish to meet the enemy again as +soon as possible." We need no assurance that on that dread November day +our tars fought and died as Britons are wont to do. + + * * * * * + +The Falkland Islands lie some three hundred miles to the east of the +Strait of Magellan. They were discovered by John Davis, the Arctic +explorer, as far back as 1592, but were first settled by the French in +1764. Seven years later they became British. The group consists of two +large islands and of about one hundred islets, rocks, and sandbanks. The +two large islands are East Falkland and West Falkland, and the only town +of importance is Stanley, in the north-east of the former island. +Berkeley Sound and Port William are the two most important sounds in +East Falkland. Stanley Harbour, on which the capital stands, is a large, +safe, and easily entered inlet of Port William. + +If New Zealand may be said to be the most English of all British +possessions, the Falkland Islands are certainly the most Scottish. In +appearance they resemble the Outer Hebrides, and a large part of the +population is of Scottish descent. The winters are cold and misty, but +not very severe. So violent are the winds that tennis and croquet can +only be played on sheltered grounds, and unless walls are erected the +cabbages in the gardens are blown clean out of the soil. There is only +one real tree on the islands, and that stands in the governor's garden. +Penguins are so numerous on the smaller islands and in the lagoons, that +the governor is sometimes nicknamed King of the Penguin Islands. The +total population is about 2,300, and the people are mainly occupied in +sheep-farming and seafaring. The colony is prosperous, and Stanley, +which has a wireless installation, is a refitting and coaling station +for ships rounding Cape Horn. + + * * * * * + +When the _Canopus_ and the _Glasgow_ reached Port Stanley, and the +defeat off Coronel became known, great was the alarm of the colonists. +They felt sure that the victorious German squadron was about to swoop +down on the islands. Their alarm was increased when the two British +battleships were ordered by wireless to proceed to Rio de Janeiro,[147] +where they were to be repaired. + +One morning the church and dockyard bells pealed out an alarm; the +lookout on the hill above the town had sighted a cruiser, cleared for +action, and making straight for the wireless station. The volunteers +paraded; non-combatants streamed out of the place, and all waited for +the firing to begin. Signals were exchanged between the vessel and the +shore, and the colonists breathed freely once more. It was a false +alarm. The newcomer was not a German cruiser, but the _Canopus_. + +Obeying orders, she and the _Glasgow_ had made for Rio de Janeiro, but +when two days from that port she had been instructed to return to +Stanley, for a reason which we shall learn later. She came about at +once, and tried to get into touch with the wireless station. As she +could not do so, she concluded that the Germans had raided the island +and destroyed the wireless station. Decks were immediately cleared for +action; the guns were loaded and trained; and with every man at his +post, ready to fight the whole of von Spee's squadron if necessary, the +_Canopus_ steered into Stanley Harbour. You can easily imagine the +relief of the colonists when they discovered that the newcomer was a +friend and not a foe. + + * * * * * + +Von Spee was a victor, but even while celebrating his victory he knew +that his hours were numbered. He was well aware that the British would +take good care to send an overpowering squadron against him, and that +there would be only one end to the battle which could not be long +delayed. It is said that when the German colony at Valparaiso gave a +banquet to the admiral in honour of his victory, the steps near the door +of the hall were strewn with flowers. Von Spee noticed them, and said, +"I think you had better keep these for my grave; they may be wanted." He +spoke the simple truth: they were wanted--in less than forty days. + +[Footnote 142: Coral islands, consisting of a more or less oval belt of +coral rock, within which there is a lagoon.] + +[Footnote 143: At the Royal Exchange, London. The chief business of +Lloyd's is connected with the insurance of ships.] + +[Footnote 144: _La Lutine_, a 32-gun frigate launched in 1785. It +originally belonged to the French navy, but was captured by Admiral +Duncan. + +It sailed from Yarmouth Roads on the morning of October 9, 1799, for +Hamburg, and was wrecked the same night off the island of Vlieland, one +of the Frisian Islands. All on board were lost, except one man. + +The frigate had on board a large amount of specie--gold and silver--the +destination of which appears to be somewhat of a mystery. If the specie +was merely sent by London Merchants to Hamburg on purely commercial +transactions--as is alleged--how was it that a frigate ship was +employed, and how did it come to be so near the Zuider Zee? To explain +this some say that the specie was intended for the pay of British troops +then in the Netherlands. + +Up to the present, treasure to the value of £100,000 has been recovered; +but it is estimated that gold and silver worth a million pounds still +lie buried in the shifting sands north of the Zuider Zee. + +Various attempts have been made to recover the specie. On July 17, 1858, +divers brought to daylight the bell of the frigate. It was well +preserved, and weighed 80 lbs. It now stands at the footboard of the +table in the library at Lloyd's, where other relics of the _Lutine_ are +also to be found.] + +[Footnote 145: Men who undertake the insurance of ships.] + +[Footnote 146: See p. 173.] + +[Footnote 147: Capital of Brazil, on the beautiful bay of Rio.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII. + + THE FALL OF KIAO-CHAU. + + +We must now hark back to Kiao-chau, and learn what was taking place in +that "model of German culture." I have already told you how Germany +played the chief part in ejecting the Japanese from the Liao-tung +peninsula, and how, while professing to be China's friend, she stole +from her 200 square miles of territory, on which she established the +fortress and naval base of Tsing-tau. A few years later, when a mixed +force of British, American, German, French, Russian, and Japanese troops +invaded China during the "Boxer" rising,[148] the Kaiser's soldiers +treated the Japanese with the utmost contempt. Japan had therefore old +scores to pay off. She was Britain's ally, and, as such, was Germany's +foe. Friendship for Britain and hatred of Germany made her eager to take +a hand in the great struggle, though it is said that many high-placed +Japanese believed that Germany would win. Nevertheless Japan did not +hesitate for a moment to throw in her lot with the British. She was +staunchly loyal to her plighted word; while the Germans, who scorned +her, were tearing up their bond in Belgium. + +The war was not three weeks old when Japan declared war, and undertook +to make a clean sweep of German sea power in the Far East. She proposed +to wrest Kiao-chau from the Germans, and at the end of the war restore +it to China. Japan has a fine navy of six Dreadnoughts, six other +battleships, four first-class battle cruisers, and large classes of +other cruisers, destroyers, and coast-defence ships. A squadron of her +fleet at once co-operated with the British in Eastern waters. Her army, +which had been trained on the German model, numbered 250,000 on a peace +footing, and could be increased to 1,100,000. It was admirably equipped, +especially with heavy guns. Japan was thus formidable, alike by land and +sea. + +Before I describe the blockade, siege, and storming of Tsing-tau, let us +have a clear idea of its geographical position. The map on the opposite +page shows you the German protectorate of Kiao-chau and the surrounding +country. Kiao-chau Bay, which has an area of about 200 square miles, is +almost land-locked. At the southerly point of the peninsula on the +eastern side of the bay you see the fortress of Tsing-tau, from which a +railway twenty-two miles long runs north, skirting the shore and +sweeping round the head of the bay to the station at Kiao-chau. The +peninsula itself is flat and low-lying, except along the south coast; +but here and there a number of low hills rise from the plain, and these +the Germans had strongly fortified as the outer defences of Tsing-tau. +You will see several of them on the map; one is marked Bismarck Hill, +another Moltke Hill. Several rivers cross the peninsula, the most +important being the Chang-sun, which enters the sea almost opposite to +Potato Island in Kiao-chau Bay. The ground is marshy in the course of +this river, and also along the coast farther north. + +On 27th August an Allied fleet appeared off the south coast of the +peninsula. A small island was seized as a naval base, and the sea was +diligently swept for the mines with which the Germans had strewn it. So +thoroughly was the work done that only one Japanese vessel was blown up +by mines during the whole of the operations. The line of warships now +extended east and west, so that all communication with the fortress by +sea was cut off. Then the bombardment of the forts and harbour began. + +[Illustration] + +On 2nd September the Japanese were ready to begin their land attack. The +Gulf of Pechili lies directly to the north of Kiao-chau Bay. On the +Shantung coast of this bay you will find Lai-chow. It was near this +place that the first Japanese force landed. You will notice that the +Japanese had to cross a strip of Chinese territory before reaching the +boundary of German territory. When they crossed the boundary they found +themselves held up and brought to a standstill. The autumn rains, always +heavy in Shantung, had been heavier than usual; all the rivers had +overflowed their banks, and had spread out into wide lagoons. Until the +floods subsided it was impossible to reach Tsing-tau by this route. +Nevertheless the Japanese by 13th September had reached the town of +Kiao-chau, and had seized the railway station, twenty-two miles from +Tsing-tau. General Kamio, who commanded the force, sent aeroplanes over +the fortress, and bombs were dropped on the wireless station, the +electric power station, and on the ships in the harbour. Soon the +floods began to fall, and Kamio found himself able to advance. By the +27th he had reached Prince Henry Hill, the chief of the outer defences +of the fortress. Next day he assaulted and captured the hill, from the +crest of which all the forts around Tsing-tau could be bombarded. He was +now in much the same position as the Germans when they had broken +through the outer line of the Antwerp defences and were enabled to shell +the inner forts. Prince Henry Hill was the key to Tsing-tau, and it is +surprising that the Germans did not make a greater effort to retain it. + +[Illustration: Landing of the Japanese at Laoshan Bay. + +_Photo, Record Press._] + +Meanwhile the Japanese had made another landing at Laoshan Bay, on the +south side of the peninsula, where they were within the boundary of +German territory. Japanese engineers erected a solid pier, by means of +which men, guns, and stores were brought ashore, and on 23rd September +transports arrived with a British force consisting of 1,000 of the South +Wales Borderers and 500 Sikhs, under General Barnardiston, who was in +command of our troops in North China. The British force was landed +easily and rapidly, and all was now ready for a march on Tsing-tau +itself. You will notice that the Allied force at Laoshan Bay had only a +short distance to march before joining hands with General Kamio's men. +The floods were no longer a great obstacle, and the advance was not +delayed. On the evening of 28th September, just after the capture of +Prince Henry Hill, the Allied forces were only five miles from +Tsing-tau; and their lines stretched right across the peninsula, so that +the fortress was shut in both by land and sea. German warships in +Kiao-chau Bay attempted to do what British monitors afterwards did on +the Belgian coast--that is, shell the right wing of the enemy. Japanese +aviators, however, showed such skill and daring that the warships were +driven off. + +The Kaiser had ordered his troops to defend Tsing-tau as long as breath +remained in their bodies. The feeble defence of Prince Henry Hill did +not seem to show that they were disposed to hold out to the last man. +During the next month General Kamio was inclined to think that their +defence was largely make-believe, for they fired their shells in the +most wanton and reckless fashion, sometimes discharging 1,000 to 1,500 +projectiles a day. He therefore determined on a grand assault instead of +a long, slow siege. + +From the sea a vigorous bombardment was kept up, and on 15th October the +Japanese general offered a safe-conduct to all non-combatants who cared +to leave the fortress. The American consul, several ladies and children, +and a few Chinese took advantage of the offer. On 31st October, 140 +Japanese siege guns were in position, and as it was the Emperor's +birthday a royal salute was fired with live shells. Before, however, the +guns were fired, the Japanese signalled, "Are you now quite ready, +gentlemen?" The reply came in the shape of a whizzing bullet. Then the +shells began to whistle. All the forts were bombarded; fires broke out +near the harbour; the oil tanks were speedily in flames, and black smoke +filled the heavens. The forts were assailed by guns of practically the +same calibre as those with which the Belgian fortresses had been +battered down. A British officer who witnessed the bombardment said, "It +really was a wonderful sight, and the Japanese shooting was magnificent +. . . . Every shell seemed to find the mark. There was hardly a stick left +in the forts and redoubts; concrete platforms, trenches, guns, and +barbed-wire entanglements, all were destroyed. Our small force did their +full share." + +The German warships in the harbour replied, but before evening one of +them had disappeared, and a second sank two days later. On 1st November +H.M.S. _Triumph_, in seven shots, silenced the forts on Bismarck Hill; +on 2nd November Fort Iltis was put out of action, and the Allies drove +the Germans off a hill which they were holding. Next day the electric +light station and the wireless station were wrecked; and, under heavy +shell and rifle fire, the besiegers advanced still nearer to the +fortress. By the night of the 6th the Germans were almost ready to +surrender. + +Throughout the darkness the guns of the enemy roared at intervals. The +Allies, however, pushed on and occupied central positions on the main +line of defence. By this time they had dug their trenches to within a +score of yards of the redoubts. When the Germans attempted to leave one +of their strongholds they found enemy rifles and machine guns covering +the only exit. Early next morning (7th November) all was ready for the +final assault. Between six and seven o'clock, while the troops, in tense +silence, were awaiting the order to storm, white flags appeared above +the observatory and several of the forts. Then the little Japanese +soldiers broke into loud shouts of "Banzai![149]" Tsing-tau had yielded, +and the Kaiser had no longer an Asiatic "place in the sun." + +At 7.50 in the evening terms of surrender were signed. Honours of war +were accorded to the defenders, and it was arranged that they should +march out the next day. At 10 a.m. on 10th November the governor, 201 +officers, and 3,841 men laid down their arms as prisoners of war. The +German casualties were heavy; the Japanese lost 236 killed and 1,282 +wounded out of a total force of about 23,000; the British 1,500 were +reduced by 12. In addition, the Japanese lost a cruiser, a destroyer, a +torpedo boat, and three mine-sweepers. + + * * * * * + +In Japan the news was received with delighted surprise. There were great +rejoicings in the island kingdom, and when General Barnardiston reached +Tokio he was accorded a welcome such as had never before been given to +any stranger. He was greeted by parades of troops and thousands of +cheering school children. The whole Japanese nation made holiday to +rejoice in its victory, and the capital was gloriously decorated and +illuminated. The National Assembly was called together, and the greatest +enthusiasm prevailed. The German officers had been allowed to retain +their swords, and the people showed them the utmost kindness. + +The rapid fall of the fortress was a great blow to German pride. One of +the newspapers wrote as follows:-- + + "Tsing-tau has fallen. The history of the German leased + territory is henceforth at an end. It was short but glorious. + From a decayed Chinese fishing village had been made a shining + testimony to German culture. That the most beautiful, the + cleanest, and the most progressive town in the Far East had + sprung up in a couple of years from the soil was calculated to + awake the jealousy of the slit-eyed people of the East. Never + shall we forget the bold deed of violence of the yellow robbers + or of England that set them on to do it. We know that we cannot + yet settle with Japan for years to come. Perhaps she will + rejoice over her cowardly robbery. Here our mills can grind but + slowly. Even if years pass, however, we shall certainly not + often speak of it, but as certainly always think of it. And if + eventually the time of reckoning arrives, then as unanimously + as what is now a cry of pain will a great shout of rejoicing + ring through Germany. 'Woe to Nippon.'"[150] + +[Illustration: The city of Warsaw looking north-west across the Vistula, +which here flows under the three bridges connecting the city proper with +its suburb, Praga. + +Warsaw is beautifully situated on the left bank of the Vistula, which is +here about as wide as the Thames at Gravesend. Most of the city is built +on a low hill which rises from the broad plain to a terrace 120 feet +above the river-level. Though dating from the Middle Ages, Warsaw is +very modern in appearance. It is a large manufacturing centre, but has +none of the smoke and grime which characterize most industrial towns. +There is no livelier or gayer city in the east of Europe. Its buildings +are fine, and its well-laid-out public gardens are a great attraction. +In Sigismund Square is the former royal castle, round which the life of +the city is centred. Four main thoroughfares radiate from it, and on or +near these are the chief public buildings, churches, and statues. The +Church of the Holy Ghost contains the heart and monument of the great +Polish musician Chopin. The population of Warsaw in 1911 was 872,478, +one-third of the people being Jews. Praga is the junction of six great +trunk lines which converge from Vienna, Berlin, and Danzig on the one +side of the frontier, and from Petrograd, Moscow, and Kiev (South +Russia) on the other.] + +[Footnote 148: Europeans gave the name "Boxers" to members of a +widespread society in China which had for its object the ridding of the +country of foreigners. The German Minister at Pekin was murdered in +1900, and several of the legations were besieged. The expedition +referred to above relieved the besieged on August 14, 1900, and exacted +a penalty of sixty-four millions from the Chinese Government.] + +[Footnote 149: Literally, ten thousand years; "Japan for ever!"] + +[Footnote 150: The Japanese Empire.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV. + + THE FIRST ATTACK ON WARSAW. + + +It is high time that we returned to the Eastern theatre of war. In +Chapter XXXIV. of Volume II. you were told that at the end of September +1914 the Russians, after their crushing defeats of the Austrians, had +advanced through Galicia to within a hundred miles of Cracow. At that +time it seemed to us in the West that the Russian left would be almost +certain to capture the great Galician fortress, and advance into Silesia +and across the Carpathians towards Vienna within the next few weeks. +Meanwhile we believed that the Russian right would be over the German +frontier in full march for Berlin. It was rumoured--falsely, as we now +know--that the Austrians shared our belief, and that their Government +had decided to leave Vienna for Salzburg[151] or Innsbruck.[152] Though +the Allies in the West were held up by the Germans on the Aisne, the +prospects of their rapid and complete success in the East seemed very +bright indeed. + +Then suddenly came a great disappointment. We learnt that, instead of +advancing on Cracow, the Russians were retreating from Galicia. By the +middle of October they were back again on the San, with nothing to show +for their victories and their weeks of hard fighting. Why had they +retreated? They were not pushed back by the Austrians; they were +retiring of their own accord in order to meet a new and dangerous +movement which the Germans had begun to make in Russian Poland. + +On the frontier of East Prussia there was a deadlock, and von Hindenburg +had come to the conclusion that all the victories that could be won in +that deadly region of lake and swamp would avail him nothing. His +business was to destroy the Russian armies, and that could not be done +by even a dozen successful campaigns in East Prussia. He must strike +hard at the Russian centre--somewhere across the Polish plain, which was +then but lightly held by his enemy. + +At what point in the Russian centre should he try to break +through?--that was the question. There was one point that seemed to +beckon him with the promise of full and speedy success. I have already +told you that on the Vistula, half-way between the German fortress of +Thorn and the Galician frontier, stands the great city of Warsaw.[153] +It is not only a great place of manufactures, but a powerful fortress +and the capital of Russian Poland, which contains twelve million +people--Poles, Germans, Russians, and half a score other races. Amongst +these mixed peoples Germany had many friends who would spy for her, and +otherwise help her to win the city. Though the Tsar had promised to set +up the old kingdom of Poland again if all went well with his arms, +nobody yet knew whether the Poles would be loyal to Russia, or whether +they would throw in their lot with the Germans. The Kaiser's agents had +been secretly at work amongst them, striving hard to show that Codlin +was their friend and not Short.[154] They believed that if the Germans +could seize the capital of Poland the Poles would declare for them. + +There was another and more important reason why von Hindenburg should +launch his attack against Warsaw. The city is a great railway junction. +Four railways, with cross lines to relieve the pressure on any one line, +meet at Warsaw. One of these lines runs northwards to East Prussia; a +second goes north-east to Petrograd; a third eastwards to Moscow; a +fourth south along the right bank of the Vistula to Novo Alexandra, +where it sweeps eastwards, and links up with the main system of South +Russia. If Warsaw could be seized the Russian communications would be +cut; a wedge would be thrust in between the northern army and the +southern army in Galicia, and, so divided, they would be an easy prey. +Clearly, Warsaw was the place at which the Russian centre must be +broken. + +The task was by no means easy. Warsaw itself lies on the west bank of +the Vistula, with strong forts and lines of entrenchments in front of +it; but the main railway stations are on the east bank of the river in +the suburb of Praga, which is connected with the city proper by three +bridges--the fine Alexander Bridge, for foot passengers and ordinary +traffic, in the middle; the new road bridge to the south of it; and the +railway bridge, protected by the guns of the citadel, to the north. +Between the city and the main railway stations flows the river Vistula, +broad, deep, and rapid--the greatest military obstacle in Eastern +Europe. The capture of the city alone would not be sufficient for von +Hindenburg's purpose. If the Russians could hold the eastern bank they +could still bring up reinforcements, and could still maintain +communications with their armies to the north and south. If, however, +the stations in Praga could be seized, the Russians could not use their +railways, and, as you know, a modern army cannot live long without +railways. Further, the Germans would be in an excellent position to +carry the whole line of the Vistula; and, once this was won, the +Russians could be kept at bay by means of comparatively small forces, +and prevented from making war in Poland until they had retaken the line +of the river. The bulk of the German armies would then be able to leave +the Eastern theatre of war and fall in strength upon the Allies in the +West. + +Now, it was highly important that von Hindenburg should capture Warsaw +without loss of time. The autumn rains were setting in, and the Polish +roads, never good, would soon be quagmires, through which heavy guns and +wagons could only be hauled with great difficulty. The Russians believe +that General Winter always fights for them; in Poland, General Mud is +their equally good friend. + +In the early days of October, by means of the gridiron of railways which +Germany has constructed on her eastern border for the express purpose of +invading Russia, von Hindenburg massed about a million men all along the +frontier from Thorn southwards, and soon they began to move across the +rolling ridges and low boggy valleys towards the Vistula. The left (A) +advanced towards Warsaw along both banks of the Vistula; the centre (B) +pushed eastwards from Kalisz; while the right (C) moved north-eastwards +from Silesia. The right consisted of three columns, the most southerly +of which was composed of Austrians, who were to push along the Upper +Vistula. This Austrian column was to work with the column on its left, +and both were to strike at Josefov, which stands between the confluence +of the Vistula and the San and the fortress of Ivangorod. + +A glance at the map below will explain why an attempt was to be made to +force the river at this point. There is no railway on the eastern bank +of the Vistula between Novo Alexandra and the San. The railway strikes +off south-east from Ivangorod, and the nearest point on it to Josefov is +Lublin, thirty-three miles away. All the roads in this region are bad, +and the forces fighting in it are at a great disadvantage, because they +have no railway by which to bring up troops, food, ammunition, and big +guns. The Russians defending Josefov had no railway on the eastern side +of the river within thirty-three miles, while the Germans had a railhead +about ten or twelve miles away on the western side. + +[Illustration: Von Hindenburg's First Advance on Warsaw.] + +If von Hindenburg could force the river at Josefov, and cut the railway +at Lublin, while his northern columns seized Warsaw, the Russians would +be in a bad way. They would have to retreat from the line of the +Vistula, and for months to come would be unable to take the offensive in +Poland. The German plan was excellent if only it could have been carried +out secretly. The Russian cavalry, however, soon let the Grand Duke +Nicholas know that the German columns were advancing, and he was clever +enough to guess exactly what von Hindenburg was trying to do. He knew +that if his armies remained to the west of the Vistula they would be +badly supplied with food and munitions, because the railways of the +Polish plain are few and far between, and also because his forces might +easily be divided by the German centre, one column of which was pushing +along the north bank of the broad, muddy river Pilitza. He determined to +risk nothing, and leaving a screen of light horse west of the river to +keep in touch with the enemy, ordered the rest of his forces to fall +back behind the San and the Vistula. The march on Cracow had, therefore, +to be abandoned; the grip on Przemysl to be loosened; and the Russian +army in Galicia brought back for fifty miles, as you have already heard. + +All Russian Poland west of the Vistula was thus given up to the enemy. +The Russians have always had the courage to retreat when the way of +safety lies to the rear, but they only recoil for a stronger and fiercer +leap forward. They were not greatly disturbed even when the German +centre entered Lodz, the Manchester of Poland. The capture of this great +industrial city was, of course, a great loss to Russia, but an attempt +to hold it would have resulted in disaster. Nor were they dismayed when +the German right centre, pushing through Radom, reached the Vistula +below Ivangorod, and began to cross. + +The German advance was slow, but it was very thorough. As the columns +proceeded eastwards they felled whole forests to form corduroy roads by +which their guns could cross the marshes. Even the gauge of the railway +from Kalisz by way of Lodz to Warsaw was altered so that German rolling +stock could be used. They advanced as though they intended to occupy the +country for all time. + +They were full of confidence. Captured Poles had told them that the +Grand Duke did not intend to defend Warsaw, and that he meant to give up +the valley of the Vistula. German aviators reported that they had seen +troop trains moving from the capital and from Ivangorod eastwards. Van +Hindenburg was completely misled, and began to dream of a new +Tannenberg.[155] + +By 15th October the Germans were attacking the line of the Vistula in +force. An attempt was made to cross the river between Ivangorod and +Warsaw. Raft after raft crossed the stream, and soon two battalions of +infantry were drawn up on the eastern bank waiting for their fellows to +arrive. Suddenly from the woods and coppices the Russians sprang forward +in overwhelming numbers. The two battalions were wiped out, and the +crowded rafts on the river disappeared as the Russian shells crashed +down upon them. A strong assault on the bridgehead at Ivangorod met with +the same terrible fate. A pontoon bridge was thrown across the stream, +but when it was thick with marching men, shrapnel began to burst above +it. The river ran red with blood, and the stream was choked with +corpses. + +These two attempts to cross the river were but feints. The real attempt, +as we know, was being made at Josefov, where the river narrows. The +eastern shore seemed to be held lightly; there was no sign of the enemy, +and a large German force with guns crossed the river by means of +pontoons, and pushed on towards the railway from Ivangorod to Lublin, +fully believing that it had turned the Russian left. Then came a rude +awakening. On 21st October General Ruzsky fell upon them at a village in +the midst of swampy flats, eight miles from Novo Alexandra. The Russians +plied the bayonet with deadly effect, and few Germans escaped to tell +the tale. Next day Ruzsky was over the river, driving the Germans before +him. + +He counter-attacked both north and south of Ivangorod, and thus was able +to cut off the German centre and left from the German right. The +invaders were now in two groups, the one to the north and the other to +the south of the Pilitza. Advancing with great spirit, the Russians +thrust the enemy out of the open country near the river into the great +spruce woods which extend westwards for ten miles. Countless +hand-to-hand engagements took place in their marshes and forest glades. +The slaughter was terrible. At a village north of the railway between +Radom and Ivangorod, the Russians buried 16,000 dead, their own and the +enemy's. When the tide of war had rolled by, the forest seemed as though +it had been swept by a hurricane. The Germans were forced into the open +country beyond the woods, and as they emerged the Russian guns caught +them and mowed them down in thousands. + +The Germans fought desperately, but every attempt to make a stand was +crushed, and the remnants were forced back. By the 25th they were at +Radom, and the Crown Prince, who had been waiting to enter Ivangorod in +triumph, boarded the train which was waiting with steam up, and hurried +westwards into safety. The Russians gave the retreating enemy no rest +day or night. Near Kielce[156] they stood at bay. The strongest position +in their line was a graveyard, with a little white church in the middle. +The Caucasians[157] poured like a torrent over the wall and seized the +gate, which was the only outlet. In the darkness, amidst the graves, men +fought with clubbed muskets and cold steel until the ground was +literally soaked with blood. Ringed round by foes, the Germans and +Austrians strove with the fury of despair, but they were no match for +the Caucasians. The enemy's loss was very heavy, and 12,000 prisoners +and fifty guns were taken. At one o'clock on 4th November the Russians, +horse, foot, and artillery, poured into Kielce. Meanwhile the extreme +left of the Russians had won Sandomir[158] after storming a triple line +of defences, and the routed enemy was flying south-west towards Cracow. + +[Footnote 151: Picturesque town on the Eastern Alps, 155 miles west by +south of Vienna.] + +[Footnote 152: Capital of the Tyrol; on the Inn, a tributary of the +Danube.] + +[Footnote 153: See Vol. II., p. 58.] + +[Footnote 154: See Dickens's _Old Curiosity Shop_, chap. xix. Each of +these worthies tried to prove to Little Nell that he was the friend to +be trusted and not the other.] + +[Footnote 155: See Vol. II., p. 71-72.] + +[Footnote 156: _Kyel´tseh_, on the railway, about eighty miles as the +crow flies south-east of Ivangorod.] + +[Footnote 157: Natives of the Caucasus, a Russian territory between the +Black Sea and the Caspian. The Caucasians are very fierce and warlike.] + +[Footnote 158: On the left bank of the Vistula, a few miles above its +junction with the San.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXV. + + VON HINDENBURG FOILED. + + +Meanwhile, what was happening at Warsaw? The coming of the enemy was +heralded by airships and aeroplanes, which hovered over the city, +dropping bombs on the railway stations, and showers of leaflets urging +the Poles to take sides with the Germans. The city was full of spies, +and many of the Jew inhabitants were friendly to the enemy. Spies were +shot and hanged daily. The coming of the aircraft created a panic, but +the terror soon passed away. Then Uhlans appeared eight miles from the +centre of the city, and numbers of well-to-do residents fled into +Russia. Despite these "excursions and alarms," most of the people in +Warsaw went about their business or pleasure quite unmoved. + +On Friday, the 16th, the fight for Warsaw began. Von Hindenburg himself +directed the operations of the five army corps which were to make the +grand assault. On Sunday, the 18th, the Germans were on the edge of the +city, and the shells from their field howitzers were bursting in the +suburbs. The windows of Warsaw shook with the roar of guns, and at night +the western sky was bright with the flashes of artillery and the flames +of burning homesteads. Fierce warfare was raging only a few miles away, +but the citizens seemed as gay and light-hearted as ever. They thronged +the pavements, the cafés, and the cinema shows in the old accustomed +way, and save for the cannonading, the streams of wounded, the +occasional appearance of a Taube, and the soldiers in the streets, there +was nothing to indicate that a desperate battle was being fought five +miles away. + +Outside the forts to the west of the Vistula the Grand Duke had dug +lines of trenches; but when the fight began they were but thinly held. +It is said that there was a period of seven hours during which the +Germans might have entered the city unopposed. Along one of the main +roads leading directly to Warsaw there were no Russians capable of +holding back the enemy for a single hour. For some unknown reason the +Germans failed to take advantage of this gap in the line of defence. + +Just at the critical moment reinforcements arrived, and the people +poured into the streets to welcome them. The first corps to reach the +city consisted of Siberians, who were so eager to meet the enemy that +they leaped down from the cars and formed up without a moment's delay. +In a very brief time they were swinging over the Vistula bridge, through +the main street, and on their way to the trenches. These men had been +brought by rail from Moscow. The people cheered them to the echo, flung +flowers amongst them, and pressed cigarettes and other gifts on them. + +[Illustration: German Infantry moving across the Plain towards Warsaw. + +_Photo, The Sphere._] + +The big stubborn Siberians bore the brunt of the German attack, and made +a most determined defence. They were assisted by their old enemies and +present friends, the Japanese. Several batteries of heavy guns, served +by Japanese gunners who had travelled from the Far East by the Siberian +railway, now came into action. Nevertheless, the situation was still +full of peril. + +More reinforcements followed, and soon the Russians were so strongly +entrenched as to defy all von Hindenburg's efforts. Many of the +newcomers had marched from Galicia amidst terrible weather along the +right bank of the Vistula, over roads deep in mud or flooded by swollen +streams. We do not know exactly the strength of the relieving army, but +a Russian writer tells us that in one day "four columns, each 250,000 +strong, crossed the Vistula over sixteen pontoon bridges," and deployed +on the left bank ready for an advance. + +By the evening of Monday, the 19th, the German attack slackened and died +away, and "on Tuesday there returned to the city thousands of tired-out, +woe-begone Siberian Cossacks and Caucasian cavalrymen--the soldiers who +had turned the scale. All Warsaw turned out in the rain to give them +cakes and cigarettes, handshakes and cheers." + +Why had the Germans given up their attempt on Warsaw? The Grand Duke was +not content with merely holding Warsaw. While the German guns were +hurling their shells at the Russian trenches, General Rennenkampf[159] +was making a flank attack on the Germans from the fortress of Novo +Georgievsk, lower down on the Vistula. We do not know exactly what +happened in this part of the battlefield, but one thing is certain--the +German left was attacked with crushing force. It was rolled back from +the Vistula, but was still fighting hard; but when Ruzsky, on the 22nd, +began to carry all before him south of the Pilitza, it was bound to +retreat. Rennenkampf followed it up and retook Lodz, while von +Hindenburg sullenly retreated towards his frontier, fighting innumerable +rearguard actions by the way. Thousands of his men were sacrificed to +prevent stores and guns from falling into the hands of the Russians, and +the whole country over which he passed was turned into a desert. In one +case the lives of 2,000 men of the rearguard were thrown away in order +to save a convoy. The roads which von Hindenburg had made during his +advance were blown up; railway lines, stations, bridges, and towers were +destroyed, and even the rails were twisted into the shape of corkscrews. + +When the Germans ran short of explosives they found other means of +destruction. A water-tower, for example, was destroyed by sending a +railway engine full tilt against it. Telegraph wires were cut into +sections, the posts were broken or sawn through, and the insulators were +smashed in pieces. It looked as though the Germans did not intend to +travel that road again. But there was method in von Hindenburg's +madness. He was devastating all Poland _except the northern quarter_. +This he left intact, because he meant to make another advance through it +when the time was ripe. For this reason he retreated, not through the +northern quarter of Poland, but towards the south-west. + +What were the Austrians in Galicia doing while disaster was thus +overtaking the German armies? In the first two months of the war they +had been badly led, and had suffered much. But under new leadership they +proved themselves far more successful. They swept through Galicia, +seized Jaroslav, relieved Przemysl, and nearly recaptured Lemberg. The +starving garrison at Przemysl received food and supplies, and was thus +given a new lease of life. When, however, the Germans farther north were +forced to retreat, the Austrians were bound to do so too. They were, +however, in no hurry to retire. They only withdrew to the south of the +Upper Vistula when the Russians were beginning to envelop them. + +[Illustration: The Grand Duke Nicholas.] + +Thus ended the first attempt to capture Warsaw. The nut was too hard for +von Hindenburg to crack, though he had by no means given up his attempts +to crush it. He had been foiled; but, as we shall learn later, he was to +come on again and again with wonderful perseverance. For the moment, +however, he had failed, and failed badly. While the Allies in the West +were only just holding back the desperate assaults of the enemy from +Arras to the sea, the Russians were rejoicing in victory, and British +newspapers were painting rosy pictures of the Grand Duke leading his +triumphant armies within a few short weeks into the German capital. +Alas! the hope was vain; rivers of blood were to flow before that happy +day was even in sight. + +[Illustration: Homeless and Ruined. + +_Photo, Daily Mirror._ + +The Germans have burned down the houses of these Polish peasants, and +have destroyed their little all. The latter are here seen raking over +the ground in the hope of finding something which has escaped +destruction. The bitter Russian winter is rapidly approaching, and they +have no where to lay their heads.] + +[Footnote 159: See Vol. II., p. 65.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXVI. + + STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELDS. + + +During the Russian retreat to the Vistula it was necessary to destroy a +bridge over which the Germans must pass. It had to be done at the moment +of their crossing, and no body of men could be spared to remain behind +for the purpose. A simple soldier, well aware that only a miracle could +save him, offered to do the work alone. Breast deep in icy cold water, +he placed the charges of dynamite beneath the bridge, but had no time to +fix wires to the fuses and lead them away to a safe distance. Still in +the water, he waited for the Germans; and when they were tramping across +the bridge above his head, he fired the fuses, and the whole structure +crashed into fragments. Strange to say, he escaped unhurt, and swam +ashore miles down the stream. When he told his tale he simply added, "It +wasn't meant for me to be killed just yet." + + * * * * * + +On another occasion four sappers with their officer were told off to +blow up a bridge immediately the Russians had crossed it, and before the +Germans, who were close on their heels, could reach it. There was no +time to make the usual preparations. The officer handed out charges to +the men, who fixed them to the bridge. Then he gave each of them a +cigarette and took one himself. They lighted their cigarettes and lay +down, each man close to his charge. "Mind, boys," said he, "that the +cigarettes don't go out. Smoke quietly till the enemy reaches the +bridge; then when I say 'One, two, three!' put them to the fuses and run +if you can." + +The men smoked quietly as they watched the Germans rushing down the bank +towards the bridge; then, as the officer counted, "One, two, three," +they placed their cigarettes to the fuses and ran for their lives to the +Russian bank. In a few moments there was a loud explosion, and the +bridge simply disappeared. The baffled Germans opened a furious fire, +but to no purpose. Their path was blocked by a deep, rapid river. + + * * * * * + +Here is another story of heroism at a bridge. When the Russians were +following up the Germans during their retreat from the Vistula, they +reached a bridge across a tributary of the Warta. The fact that it was +standing was clear proof that it was mined, and that sappers had been +left behind to blow it up as soon as the Russians began to cross it. The +rearguard of the Germans had trained guns on the bridge. A Russian +engineer officer thought that it might be cleared of mines and +preserved. He therefore called for volunteers to undertake the delicate +and difficult task. Everyone of his Caucasian sappers volunteered, but +he only chose those who had no parents alive. + +It was ten o'clock at night, and quite dark, when the attempt was made. +In the thick gloom the seven chosen men silently wormed their way on to +the bridge. They groped about, and discovered that it was covered with +planks nailed on to it in various directions. At once they guessed that +the charges were laid under these planks. Almost noiselessly they +removed the boards and the charges, and then cleared away every inch of +the fuses round the woodwork under the bridge. To do this they had to +hang down over the water, holding on with one hand and unfastening the +interlacing fuses with the other. In some places they hung by their +feet, head downwards, in order to have both hands free. + +Their comrades waited breathlessly on the bank for a full hour, and then +the seven men who had been working on the bridge reappeared and quietly +said, "The way is clear." Thanks to their extraordinary skill and +devotion, the bridge was now safe, and the Russians crossed without +mishap. + + * * * * * + +The Grand Duke Nicholas, the Commander-in-chief of the Russian armies, +is a man of the most fearless courage and the idol of his soldiers. A +correspondent says: "During the terrific fighting to the north of the +Radom-Ivangorod railway, the Grand Duke's motor car, marked by a blue +and white flag, drove slowly down a road on which German shells were +falling. The Siberians, with whom the Commander-in-chief is particularly +popular, raised such a cheer that their comrades in the trenches +imagined that a great victory had been won. The omen was fulfilled, for +next day the Germans were driven along the Pilitza, and were obliged to +abandon four guns. 'Big Nicholas' let down the roof of his motor car and +praised the soldiers as '_Molodsti_' (fine fellows)--the usual +salutation of a general. A chorus of '_Radi staratsa_' ('We are +delighted to do our best') was the reply." + + * * * * * + +You will remember that there were very fierce struggles in the woods +which lie to the west of the Vistula and to the north and south of the +Radom-Ivangorod railway. A correspondent[160] thus describes the +fighting in the woods, and their condition when the Germans had been +driven out of them:-- + +"Day after day the Russians poured troops in on their side of the wood. +These entered, were seen for a few minutes, then disappeared in the maze +of trees, and were lost. Companies, regiments, battalions, and even +brigades were quite cut off from each other. None knew what was going on +anywhere but a few feet in front. All knew that the only thing required +of them was to keep advancing. This they did, foot by foot and day after +day, fighting each other hand to hand, taking, losing, and retaking +position after position. In all of this ten kilometres[161] of forest I +dare venture to say there is hardly an acre without its trenches, rifle +pits, and graves. + +"Here one sees where a dozen men had a little fort of their own, and +fought furiously with the enemy a few feet away in a similar position. +Day after day it went on, and day after day troops were poured into the +Russian side of the wood, and day and night the continuous crack of +rifle fire and the roar of artillery hurling shells into the wood could +be heard for miles. . . . The forest looks as though a hurricane had +swept through. Trees staggering from their shattered trunks, and limbs +hanging everywhere, show where the shrapnel shells have been bursting. +Yard by yard the ranks and lines of the enemy were driven back, but the +nearer their retreat brought them to the open country west of the wood +the hotter the contest became; for each man in his own mind must have +known how they would fare when, once driven from the protecting forest, +they attempted to retreat through the open country without shelter. + +"The state of the last two kilometres of the wooded belt is hard to +describe. There seems scarcely an acre that is not sown like the scene +of a paper-chase; only the trail here consists of blood-stained bandages +and bits of uniform. Here also there was small use for the artillery, +and the rifle and the bayonet played the leading part. Men, fighting +hand to hand with clubbed muskets and bayonets, fought from tree to tree +and ditch to ditch. . . . + +"But at last the day came when the dirty, grimy, blood-stained soldiers +of the Tsar pushed their antagonists out of the far side of the belt of +woodland. . . . Once out in the open, the hungry guns of the Russians +got their chance. Down every road through the wood came the six-horse +teams, with the guns jumping and jingling behind, with their +accompanying caissons[162] heavy with shrapnel. The moment the enemy +were in the clear, these batteries, eight guns to a unit, were +unlimbered on the fringe of the wood, and were pouring out their death +and destruction on the wretched enemy, now retreating hastily across the +open." + + * * * * * + +The Russians, as perhaps you know, are a deeply religious people. A +soldier thus tells us how he went into battle during an assault:-- + +"Our hearts were beating wildly. I felt a choking sensation in my +throat, and my spirit boiled up within me. I heard myself shouting, and +in my brain something was urging me to 'run, run' against the enemy. +Some one in the front ranks began to sing the majestic hymn, + + 'O Lord, save Thy people.' + +Before he had finished the first line the rear ranks have taken it up +and continued it, + + 'And bless Thine heritage.' + +The waves of the melody seem to dash against the faces of the enemy. At +first only a few voices joined in the hymn. More and more began to sing. +The whole column seemed to give forth one vast wave of sound. It seemed +as though even the dying lying around joined in with their last breath. +A dark-faced Jew lad who ran beside me joined in too. I saw his open +mouth and heard his rich baritone voice. Death seemed to have no terror. +We felt that our death was necessary, as is the death of the autumn +leaves which fall from the trees to fertilize the soil for the future +harvest." + + * * * * * + +You have heard of General Ruzsky, who commanded the army which wiped out +the German troops across the Vistula, and then flung his legions across +the stream to drive the enemy before him in rout. He was then a man of +sixty years of age, with wrinkled brow, gray hair and moustache, and a +stoop in his shoulders. In battle he exposed himself without fear, +believing that his example would inspire his men. Not only was he famous +as a fighter, but also as a student. At home, he lived a simple life in +a small flat at Kiev.[163] He did not drink or smoke, and his spectacles +gave him the look of a professor. Ruzsky drove about in a motor car with +orange-coloured tyres, which caught the eyes of his soldiers and told +them that their general was amongst them. + +[Illustration: Siberian Cavalry crossing a River. + +_Photo, Record Press._] + + * * * * * + +Russian boys were very eager to go to the war, and some of them followed +regiments to the front. A group of three rosy-cheeked schoolboys from +Petrograd--Pete, Jack, and Eustace--carrying home-made pistols roughly +carved out of chunks of wood, with cartridge cases for barrels and wire +hooks for hammers, hung on to a detachment of Guards, and actually +reached the war zone, but were caught by a policeman as they were hiding +behind a railway embankment, cooking porridge at a fire. The policeman +took them to the nearest officer, who asked,-- + +"Where did you get those weapons?" + +"I made them," Jack explained. "I can cut one out in three hours." + +"And why," inquired the officer, "have you a pistol without a barrel?" + +"It flew off when I fired," replied Eustace. + +The officer laughed, and the policeman searched the would-be-soldiers' +pockets. He found in them some home-made gunpowder, a pipe-lighter, and +a bottle containing some liquid. He discovered that the pipe-lighter was +for the purpose of making a fire, and that the bottle contained spirit +to put in the pipe-lighter. The boys had come prepared with everything +for the campaign. To their great distress they were taken to the railway +station and sent back to their parents. The Russian writer who tells the +story thus concludes: "God grant, little children, that you may preserve +the fire of your loyal little hearts till the day when you are men, and +then Russia will have need of you." + + * * * * * + +You know that the Germans and Austrians made great efforts to win over +the Poles by all sorts of lavish promises. Professor Bernard Pares, an +Englishman with the Russian army, tells us that most of the Poles +remained faithful to the Tsar, and that they were confident that he +would set up their old kingdom again when he was victorious. "I saw at +Kielce," he says, "ample evidence of the enthusiasm of the Poles for the +Russian cause. They show the greatest courtesy and kindness to Russians, +especially in the villages. I am told on good evidence that when a +German soldier defaced a portrait of the Tsar, a Polish official struck +him in the face, and for this was bound to a telegraph pole for two +days, and then taken down and shot. . . . Yesterday the commander of a +Russian army corps at Radom,[164] where the Germans had remained over a +month, issued the following letter of thanks to the people of the +town:-- + + "'Poles,--Our wounded officers and soldiers, and also our + prisoners who had fallen into the hands of the enemy, and had + passed through the town or province of Radom, speak with deep + gratitude of your cordial treatment of them. You have tended the + wounded, fed the starving, and clothed and sheltered from the + enemy those escaping from captivity. You have given them money + and guided them to our lines. Accept from me, and from all ranks + of the Army entrusted to me, warm and hearty thanks for all + your kindness, for your Slavonic sympathy and goodness.'" + + * * * * * + +A correspondent thus describes the touching spectacle which was to be +seen every day at the Sacred Gate of Vilna,[165] when the fate of Warsaw +was hanging in the balance: "Above the gateway is a chapel with wide +open doors showing a richly-gilded and flower-decked image of the +Virgin. At one side stands a row of leaden organ pipes, at the other +stands a priest. Music is wafted through the air with incense and the +sound of prayers. Down below in the narrow, muddy roadway kneel many +poor men and women with prayer-books in their hands. They are Poles. But +through the gateway come incessantly, all day and all night, Russian +troops going to the front. And every soldier or officer as he comes +lifts his hat and passes through the praying throng uncovered. This is +beautiful. Let Russia always be so in the presence of the Mother of +Poland." + + * * * * * + +The following story illustrates the doggedness of the Russian soldier. +"A detachment of twenty Russian cavalry met a hundred of the enemy's +horsemen, and, being so greatly outnumbered, decided to beat a retreat. +One of the Russians, however, was slightly wounded, and thrown from his +horse. As he lay on the ground he took up his rifle and began to pick +off the Germans who were pursuing his comrades. His shooting was so good +that he killed three of them. Peasants came up and offered to carry him +to a place of safety; but he said, 'No, I will not hide from Germans,' +and went on firing. Meanwhile the enemy, suspecting an ambush, gave up +the chase. When they returned and found that they had been foiled by a +single man they at once finished him off. He died happy, knowing that he +had by his self-sacrifice secured the safety of his comrades." + + * * * * * + +Here is a grim story which illustrates the splendid patience and +uncomplaining endurance of the Russian wounded:-- + +"A tall, thin soldier stopped near. 'You are wounded, old chap?' +inquired the general. + +"'Yes, sir,' the man replied, not recognizing the general in the gloom. +'How do I get to the hospital?' + +"'You ought first to find your regiment, and give up your rifle and +cartridges. But can you get there? where are you wounded?' + +"The soldier threw open his cloak, and the general examined him with a +pocket electric torch. The entire shirt and the inner part of the cloak +on the breast were soaked with black blood. One knew that underneath was +an enormous gaping wound. The soldier stood erect, slightly supporting +himself on his rifle. + +"'Go to the hospital,' said the general. Then he turned to me. 'You saw? +That is what they are like, and all are the same.'" + + * * * * * + +Professor Pares gives us the following picture of the Russian soldiers +on the march:--"We travelled in the midst of troops all hurrying forward +to participate in the taking of Kielce. They moved slowly along the road +in straggling groups like an enormous family on its way to a huge +picnic; but the unit of each regiment is never lost, and all meet at +'the appointed place.' When they come to a barrier in the road they show +great readiness and resource in removing it, and all work together like +brothers. Any number of men run up from their loose ranks to push a +motor or cart or transport wagon over a marshy stream, and those who are +so assisted call back, 'Thank you, brothers.' It is like a current that +slows up and takes thought against some barrier, but whose general +movement seems not even to be checked. Some of the side-tracks looked +very bad indeed, but every one somehow got through, no matter what the +size of their carriage. Often at such points there were companies that +rested along the grassy banks of the road; in other places one saw by +the side large numbers of gray transport wagons. Those carrying straw +for the bivouacs were in front; sometimes one came upon a resting +battery. The brotherhood between officers and men is another notable +feature of the march of a Russian army." + + * * * * * + +"The next day we returned to Radom, occupying seats in the motor of a +Russian general. The great stream of troops was still flowing on. There +were troops of all kinds. We called to ask the names of each regiment, +which they always gave in a kind of jovial chorus. There were food +transports, field kitchens, pontoons, and, not least important, the +post. At one point we saw a large body of Austrian prisoners sitting by +a wood drinking water with their very small escort. These men helped +some of our motors over difficult places. The great current of men and +wagons still flowed on. Teams of white horses which, because they can be +so clearly seen, are only allowed to serve in the transport, were +dashing through mud and water with an ardour as great as though they +were on the field of battle. At one place a bread wagon dropped all its +cargo and turned over on its side; but horse and driver, evidently not +noticing, carried it on into the stream without checking the pace, one +wheel flying in the air and the other broken beneath the wagon. + +"Our general spoke frequently with the men, who helped us in getting our +motor over difficult places. When the trouble was over he said heartily, +'Once more, thank you, brothers.' Nothing will remain with me longer +than these endless, irregular lines of big, sleepy, almost +stupid-looking men, moving at a walk which might last for ever, and all +in one direction, and all with set eyes--the people that lies down to +sleep at the roadside, that breakfasts off stale biscuit soaked in +water, that carries nothing but what it can put to a hundred uses, that +will crouch for days without food in flooded trenches, that can die like +flies for an idea, and is sure sooner or later to attain it--the people +that never complains, the people of brothers." + +[Footnote 160: Mr. Stanley Washburn, special war correspondent of the +_Times_. The quotation is from his "Field Notes from the Russian +Front."] + +[Footnote 161: Between six and seven miles.] + +[Footnote 162: Ammunition limbers.] + +[Footnote 163: Or Kieff, chief town of Little Russia; on the Dnieper, +660 miles south of Petrograd.] + +[Footnote 164: On the railway, about thirty miles west of Ivangorod.] + +[Footnote 165: Town of Russia, on a tributary of the Niemen, 190 miles +east of Königsberg in East Prussia.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXVII. + + THE SECOND RUSSIAN ADVANCE ON CRACOW. + + +At the close of Chapter XXV. we left the Germans, who had been beaten +north of the Pilitza, retreating rapidly towards the Warta, and those +who had suffered defeat south of that river hurrying towards Cracow. As +you know, they wrecked the roads, railways, and bridges on their line of +retreat, and the work was done with such thoroughness that a whole army +must have been detailed for the purpose. So rapidly, however, did the +main bodies of the Germans move that they did not even pause to bury +their dead properly. Consequently, they left behind them but few +prisoners and guns. In some places they had prepared strong positions, +but these they abandoned almost without striking a blow. + +You know that the Germans had set their hearts on Warsaw, because it +would enable them to control the sheaf of railways by means of which the +Russians were able to maintain their armies in Poland. The Russians, on +the other hand, had set their hearts on Cracow, because it would give +them a road along the river Oder to Berlin, and another across the +Carpathians to Vienna. Now that the Germans and Austrians were in +retreat, the Grand Duke was able to advance again towards Cracow. When +the Germans attacked him along the line of the Vistula he had four +armies, which we will call A, B, C, D, holding that river. The army A +extended from the fortress of Novo Georgievsk to the south of Warsaw; +the army B continued the line to the south of Ivangorod; and the armies +C and D lay still farther south up to the junction of the San with the +Vistula. Along the San was Brussilov's army, which had retreated from +Galicia. + +The Grand Duke knew that while Brussilov advanced again through Galicia +he must protect Brussilov's flank, so that the Germans could not +interfere with his movements. In order to do this he must hold the +Germans who had retreated towards the Warta by means of armies A, B, and +C. If fortune favoured him he might, by means of the army A, roll up the +left flank of the Germans, and hem them in between C and his fourth +army, D, which was now marching south-east towards Cracow. He therefore +hastened the advance of his troops all along the line. Army A advanced +along the Vistula towards Thorn, and the cavalry screen of Cossacks, +riding hard, was not twenty miles from that fortress on 9th November. +Army B struck at the Warta in the neighbourhood of Kolo, and on 10th +November its vanguard was actually across the German frontier, and had +cut the railway from Posen to Cracow. Meanwhile Army C was striking at +the Upper Warta, while Army D was pushing south-east. By 12th November +the cavalry of this fourth army had got within twenty miles north of +Cracow. While these movements were going on Brussilov was pushing +westward once more, and had already reached and reoccupied the main +passes of the Western Carpathians. + +Everything was going well, and many people in this country fully +believed that the Russians would be in Cracow before long. But wiser +folks wondered what new move von Hindenburg was about to make. It was +not likely that the Germans would sit still under the terribly rough +handling which they had recently received. They had lost very heavily, +and they had been beaten back to their frontier, but they were still +full of fight. On 13th November it was evident that they were going to +make a very powerful counter-attack. + +Let me remind you of two facts which it is important that you should +remember. The first is, that along the Polish frontier the Germans +possess a network of railways which enable them to move troops from +north to south very rapidly; the second is, that though the Germans had +devastated much of Poland they had kept the roads and railways intact in +the northern quarter of the country. As soon as von Hindenburg had +withdrawn his left and centre behind his own frontier, he put his troops +into trains, and hurried them northward to the neighbourhood of Thorn, +where he had large reserves. Some of these reserves came from Germany, +and some were brought from the Western front. Altogether he gathered in +an astonishingly brief time a striking force of about 800,000 men, and +behind them he had many thousands more. He now began to push eastward on +a forty-mile front between the Warta and the Lower Vistula towards +Warsaw once more. + +[Illustration] + +As the roads and railways in this region were good, he hoped to make a +rapid advance, and fall on Warsaw before the Russians could bring up +reinforcements along the broken railways and ruined roads farther south. +Even if his centre were heavily attacked he had the means of retiring +rapidly. It was a very ingenious plan which he was now about to carry +out. General von Mackensen was to command the armies in the field. + +The Russians, you will observe, were very badly placed to meet the +sudden thrust that was now about to begin. They were strung out upon a +huge curve of a thousand miles in length, and their communications were +bad. As the railways had been destroyed, reinforcements from the south +would take a long time to come up, and before they could appear von +Mackensen hoped to be in Warsaw. The Army A which he had to meet was +only about 200,000 strong. Of course it might be strengthened by new +forces brought up from behind Warsaw, but in this case, too, there would +be much delay. Everything promised a speedy victory for the Germans. + +In the next chapter we will see how they fared. In this chapter we will +follow the fortunes of the two armies that were advancing on Cracow. I +have already told you that the cavalry of Army D under General +Dmitrieff, a Bulgarian, who fought bravely in the Balkan War and +afterwards offered his sword to Russia, was twenty miles north of Cracow +on 12th November. At that time the main body was about sixty miles +behind. For three weeks it pushed on slowly but steadily, and meanwhile +Brussilov had recaptured Jaroslav, had again besieged Przemysl, and, +leaving a force to mask that fortress, was pushing into the passes of +the Carpathians, which, as you know, form a great natural barrier +between Galicia and the Hungarian plain. As the Carpathians figure +largely in this and in future fighting, I will give you a brief +description of them now. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: The Tatra Range of the Carpathians. + +_Photo, Exclusive News Agency._] + +The Carpathians curve for 1,000 miles like a huge sickle round the +Hungarian plain from the deep trench of the Danube, known as the Iron +Gates, to what is called the Moravian Gate, beyond which lie the +Bohemian mountains. The southern portion of this range, which barricades +Hungary against Rumania, consists of high and bold ridges and lofty +rocky tablelands; it forms a stronghold so well fortified by nature that +it has been called the "Eastern citadel of Central Europe." That +portion of the range which overlooks Galicia may be called the "waist" +of the Carpathians, for here it is at its lowest, and is crossed by a +number of passes, over which roads and railways have been made. Still +farther west, fronting Silesia on the north is the loftiest and boldest +part of the range--the High Tatra. Here we find a great mountain wall of +granite, with steep, rocky ramparts and jagged crests, varied by +beautiful lakes, which lie in the cup-shaped hollows. The High Tatra is +as grand in its way as the Alps of Switzerland. Nowhere, however, do the +Carpathians reach the snow-line, so the range contains no glaciers such +as you find in the Alps. The lower slopes are generally covered with +forests of beech, oak, and fir; but higher up, amidst the rocks, even +the hardy pine can find no foothold. In the forests of the High Tatra +the bear, wolf, and lynx are still to be found. + +The part of the Carpathians which chiefly concerns us now is neither the +high, bold ridges which look towards Rumania, nor the great rocky +wilderness of the High Tatra, but the "waist" which lies between Galicia +and the Hungarian plain. No great range of mountains is so easily +crossed as this section of the Carpathians. It consists mainly of +sandstone, which, for the most part, affords easy slopes, rounded tops, +and wide valleys. Here we find the five principal passes by which +traffic across the range is maintained. All of these passes are low and +easy. They rise from flats in the foothills, which are themselves one +thousand to twelve hundred feet above the sea-level, and the highest of +them does not rise two thousand feet higher. The summits of one of them, +the Dukla Pass, are less than six hundred feet above the last flats of +the foothills. + +As these passes will occur again and again in the course of our story, +it is necessary that we should know their position and something about +each of them. The first of them to the east is the Delatyn Pass, the +highest of all; then, going west, we reach the Beskid Pass, across which +the railway from Lemberg runs down to the Hungarian plain. Still farther +west is the Uzsok Pass, which is less than three thousand feet above the +sea-level, and carries a good road and a railway. It is probably the +most difficult of all the passes to force. The next gateway in order is +the Lupkow Pass, which is not two thousand feet above the sea, and is +also crossed by road and railway. About twenty miles to the west is the +Dukla Pass, which is the lowest and easiest of all. Though it does not +carry a railway, it is nevertheless the key to the Western Carpathians. +Its saddle is only 1,500 feet above the sea; it is ten miles wide, and +can be crossed even in winter by a large army. Whoever holds the Dukla +Pass can turn all the passes to the east against an invader coming from +either north or south. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration] + +Now let us return to the Russian armies invading Galicia. While +Brussilov was seizing and holding the Uzsok, Lupkow, and Dukla Passes, +Dmitrieff, commanding what I have called Army D, was pushing his way +towards Cracow. As he moved westwards he had some heavy fighting to do. +He carried a strongly fortified town by assault, and his men waded up to +the neck in ice-cold water through the river Raba in the face of a heavy +fire. One bitter day they carried trenches and wire entanglements at the +point of the bayonet. They were seasoned by forty-five days of almost +continuous struggle, and were in the highest spirits. By the end of the +first week in December his Cossacks were in the suburbs of Cracow, and +his main force was about twelve miles east of the fortress. His right +was preparing to wheel round so as to close in on the city from the +north, where it was hardest to defend. On 4th December it was only three +and a half miles from the outer fortifications. + +A month previously, when the Russians were within a hundred miles of the +fortress, it was ill prepared to stand a siege. While they were retiring +to the San and advancing again, the Austrians had been busy +strengthening its defences by making a wide circle of trenches around +the city, and putting big movable guns into them, as the French had done +at Verdun.[166] No field army, however, had been placed in these +trenches, because it was hoped that Mackensen's new move on Warsaw would +be sufficient to cause the Russians to retire again. By the end of the +first week in December it was clear that Brussilov and Dmitrieff were +not going to be drawn off by any threat in Poland, but were going to +leave the defence of Warsaw to the other Russian forces. The Austrians +now saw that they must attack the Russians in Galicia, unless they were +prepared to see Cracow fall into the hands of the enemy. + +Two armies were, therefore, launched against the Russians. The first +army, which consisted largely of Hungarians, pushed up from the plain to +the south through the Carpathian passes in order to sweep Brussilov out +of them and then threaten the Russian rear and its lines of +communication. Meanwhile a second Austrian army moved from the +south-west amongst the foothills of the Carpathians, and struck at the +left of the Russians in front of Cracow. The two armies attacked at the +same time. On 8th December, while Brussilov was heavily engaged in the +mountains, Dmitrieff fought a battle on the outskirts of the city. He +held his own well, but he found that the Austrian right was working its +way through the higher glens so as to reach the valley of the river +Donajetz[167] and threaten his rear, and that at the same time a third +force from the direction of the Warta was strongly attacking his right. +He was, therefore, obliged to fall back. + +[Illustration: Position of the Russians in Galicia at Christmas.] + +Four days later the Austrians succeeded in seizing the broad and easy +pass of the Dukla, and were in a position to pour their forces down upon +Galicia, and hold up the rear of Dmitrieff's army while the other army +strongly attacked it from the west. The position of the Russians was now +very dangerous, and another retirement was necessary. Dmitrieff fell +back behind the line of the river Donajetz and its tributary the Biala, +so as to cover the mouth of the Dukla Pass. His front now curved from +the Vistula to the east of its confluence with the Donajetz, Tarnow on +the Biala, past Krosno, and almost to the head-waters of the river San. +Brussilov continued the line south-eastwards, and covered the northern +exits of the Lupkow Pass and the Uzsok Pass. + +There was great disappointment in France and Great Britain when the news +arrived that the Russians were again retreating. So far, however, there +was no disaster. As long as the enemy could be held in the passes all +might yet be well. If, however, the Uzsok Pass, which carries a railway +from the Hungarian plain to Przemysl and Lemberg, could be captured by +the Austrians, Brussilov would have to retire northwards, in which case +the enemy would be able to regain the besieged city of Przemysl. While +the struggle was raging in the mountains, the Russians heavily bombarded +the city, in the hope of capturing it and setting free the troops that +were around it. Unhappily, the bombardment had no effect. + +[Illustration: Russian Artillery in the Carpathians. + +_Photo, Record Press._] + +A few days later the Austrians seized the crest of the Lupkow Pass, and +began fighting hard for the Uzsok Pass. Before, however, they could +become really dangerous, Russian reinforcements arrived, and a +counter-attack began. About 20th December, when the snow lay thick on +the mountains and icy blizzards were sweeping across the passes, the +Russians once more advanced. The left, swinging south-west from Krosno, +seized the mouth of the Dukla Pass, and cut off and captured more than +10,000 Austrians. Meanwhile the centre and right moved forward to the +position shown on the map (p. 249), and by Christmas Day Brussilov was +holding the mouths of the Lupkow and Uzsok once more. He did not fear +fresh attacks by way of the passes, for the wild wintry weather forbade +the passage of troops even across the lowest gaps in the chain. At the +end of the year the Russians were still besieging Przemysl, and their +right was within forty miles of Cracow. + +The city had been saved by the valour of the Hungarians. But for their +stubborn fighting in the passes, Dmitrieff would have eaten his +Christmas dinner on the banks of the Oder, and his joyful toast to his +soldiers would have been, "Onward to Berlin." + +[Footnote 166: See Vol. II., p. 280.] + +[Footnote 167: _Doon-a-yetz´_, rises in the Carpathians and flows north +to the Vistula, about forty miles east of Cracow.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + + THE SECOND ASSAULT ON WARSAW. + + +We must now learn how von Mackensen made his swoop on the threatened +city of Warsaw. When the Cossacks in Galicia were within an easy day's +ride of Cracow, and North Poland was shrouded in white, clammy mists +which no eye could pierce for more than a few hundred yards, his troops +set out from Thorn on the second great venture. The first had failed, +but the second might be a triumph. Who could say? + +About 13th November Ruzsky's outposts along the Vistula were driven in, +and his scouts reported that a very strong force of Germans was +advancing along both banks of the river. The Russian general had far too +few troops to meet the large numbers now flung against him, and, as I +explained in the previous chapter, he could not expect reinforcements +either from the south or from beyond the Vistula for a considerable +time. He was, therefore, forced to retire, and by the 16th November the +Germans were fifty miles to the east of their frontier, and half-way to +Warsaw. No doubt during their advance they captured many prisoners and +many guns, but owing to the straggling character of the Russian march, +which was described on page 239, the losses of our ally were not so high +as they would have been in the case of a Western army. The +Turkomans,[168] mounted on fine horses, and wearing orange and scarlet +sheepskin coats, flashed to and fro in the midst during many rearguard +actions, and managed to delay the enemy's advance. One of these +delaying fights took place on the night of the 15th-16th November, and +was claimed by von Hindenburg as a great victory. He reported that he +had captured 28,000 prisoners, and Berlin went mad with delight. The +commander-in-chief was at once rewarded--he was made a field-marshal. + +Ruzsky's idea was to fall back in good order behind the river Bzura, +which rises near Lodz, flows northwards for twenty or more miles, then +runs eastwards for about forty miles, and finally flows north to join +the Vistula, some ten miles below Lowicz.[169] During its eastward +course the river flows through a great belt of marshes, which lie partly +in the course of the river and partly to the west of it. The marshes are +crossed by a few small paths totally unfitted for the passage of large +bodies of men with heavy guns. All the bridges along the river had been +broken down, but in its upper reaches the river could be forded. Look at +this little map. You will find on the railway from Thorn to Lowicz the +town of Kutno, and almost due south of it, beyond the Bzura, you will +see Piatek. Between these two places the marshes are crossed by a great +causeway, along which the heaviest traffic can make its way. From what I +have told you of the Bzura, you will gather that an army lying behind +the marshes of the river would be in a very strong position to meet a +frontal attack. They could only be assailed in front along one road--the +causeway already mentioned. They might, of course, be outflanked by a +force crossing the river below Lowicz (A), or fording the stream to the +south of the marshes (B). The Germans, as we shall see, made not only a +frontal attack along the causeway, but also flanking attacks at A and B. + +[Illustration: Diagram showing the Russian Position behind the Marshes +of the Bzura. + +Notice the causeway leading from Kutno to Piatek. Along this causeway +the Germans made their frontal attack.] + +About fifteen miles to the south of Piatek is Lodz, the "Manchester of +Poland." It contains half a million people, and has grown more rapidly +than any other city of Europe. Its chief industry is cotton, but there +are also large factories in which silk, woollen, and linen fabrics are +made, as well as numerous dye-works, flour mills, distilleries, and +machine shops. The Germans had captured it during their first march on +Warsaw, but had lost it during the retreat. They were now to make a bold +bid for it again. + +Accordingly the German right now pressed hard against the Bzura at B, +south of the marshes. While the right was crossing the river at B, the +extreme left moved towards Plock, so as to outflank the Russian position +by crossing the river at A. The main attack, however, was to be made not +on the flanks but in the centre, across the causeway at C. Now I want +you to notice that if Russian reinforcements could have come up from the +south, the German flanking forces at B would have been hemmed in between +the Russians to the north of Lodz and those advancing on the city from +the south. Von Hindenburg, however, felt quite sure that the Russians +from the south could not arrive in time owing to the broken roads and +railways. Long before they came up he hoped to be in Warsaw. + +[Illustration: A German Battery overwhelmed by Cossacks. + +This grim picture illustrates the fate of the Germans who were trapped +in the "pocket" as described on page 255.] + +An extraordinary state of things soon occurred. At first the Russians +beat off attacks on the causeway, and held the German army in the +villages north of the marshes. But on 19th November von Mackensen made a +huge effort. He crossed the causeway, and pushed the Russians well south +of Piatek. For the next four days his troops tramped across the +causeway, and the Russians fell back more and more, till there was a +deep sag in their line east of Lodz. Von Mackensen pushed this sag +deeper and deeper, and wider and wider, until it resembled a pocket, and +on 23rd November the bottom of the pocket fell out, and the Russian army +was split into two parts, as shown in the diagram on the next page. The +Germans burst through the gap, and the Russians were now in a most +dangerous plight, especially as the enemy was bringing up strong forces +both from the south-east and the south. Lodz was now being attacked from +the front, from the flank, and from the rear. The Germans appeared to +have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. + +"There's many a slip between the cup and the lip," says the old proverb. +The Germans now expected to envelop the divided forces of the Russians, +and make an end of them altogether. But when the cup was almost at their +lips, the slip took place. The Russians had hastily summoned guns and +men from Asia, and troop trains had been rolling for weeks past at top +speed along the Siberian railway. The Siberians were detrained at a +station on the railway south of Lowicz, just as reinforcements from the +south were at last coming up. On the 24th the Siberians appeared on the +field; another day, and they would have been too late--the Russian left +would have been destroyed for ever. + +Ruzsky, now reinforced, did his utmost to close up the mouth of the +pocket, and thus cut off the 90,000 Germans who were within it. For two +days he pressed together the edges of the top of the pocket, and more +and more shut in the trapped corps. More troops were needed to close it +completely, and Rennenkampf, on the extreme right, was ordered to push +forward with the utmost speed. Unhappily, he arrived a day too late, and +the pocket was never wholly shut up. + +[Illustration] + +Von Mackensen strove hard by bringing up reserves to force back the +Russians who were pinching him on either side, and by doing so managed +to provide an exit for his trapped troops. From 24th to 26th November a +furious struggle continued night and day. Battalions were broken into +fragments, and the men roamed about the frozen and deserted land "like a +pack of hungry wolves." By the 26th something like 40,000 men had +escaped, and had reached their own lines. Amongst them was a remnant of +the Prussian guards. Not only had thousands of Germans been killed and +wounded, but multitudes of prisoners were in Russian hands. A few days +later Warsaw was swarming with them. But for Rennenkampf's late arrival +Russia would have accomplished a new Sedan. + +[Footnote 168: Natives of Russian Central Asia.] + +[Footnote 169: _Lo´vitch_, 44 miles west-south-west of Warsaw.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXIX. + + WARSAW AGAIN SAVED. + + +Fresh troops were now brought up from Germany, and a determined effort +was made to envelop the Russians by striking hard at their left while +the rest of the line was strongly held up. The Russian left wing was +pushed back, chiefly because it had broken roads and railways behind it, +and was farthest from its base of supply. Lodz, to the rear of the +Russian lines, now formed an ugly salient, much like that at Ypres. +Ruzsky knew that if he were forced to retreat through the seven miles of +the Lodz streets he could only march slowly and in crowded formation, +and would probably be badly cut up in the process. It was a risk which +there was no reason to face. Lodz was of no value in his plan of +campaign, though, of course, it was valuable to the enemy because of its +resources. Ruzsky therefore determined to give it up, and to straighten +out his line by falling back. Accordingly, on the 27th he slowly +retreated. His withdrawal lasted more than a week. German shells began +to fall in the streets of Lodz on 5th December, and the next day the +enemy entered the city, and were received with great joy by their +fellow-countrymen, who form a large part of its population. For the +second time the Germans were masters of Lodz. + +There was much joy in Berlin, and the capture of the city was acclaimed +as a great victory, in which "we did not lose a single man." As we have +seen, the Russians gave it up of their own accord, because the game of +holding it was not worth the candle. As a matter of fact, there was no +battle and no victory. It is said that for fifteen hours the Germans +shelled empty trenches, from which the Russians had withdrawn on the +previous day. Nevertheless they still speak of the Battle of Lodz, and +consider it a feather in their caps. + +A few days later von Hindenburg thus addressed his men:-- + + "In the course of severe fighting, lasting several days, my + troops have brought to a standstill a Russian army superior in + numbers. Over 60,000 prisoners, 150 guns, and about 200 machine + guns have fallen into our hands. But the enemy is not yet + annihilated. Therefore, forward, with God, for King and + Fatherland, till the last Russian lies beaten at our feet." + +No doubt the Germans had made large captures, but so had the Russians. +Von Hindenburg, though he called upon his men to rejoice, knew that he +had really failed in his object, which was to make the Russians retire +from Galicia and come to the help of their hard-pressed comrades in +North Poland. They had done nothing of the sort. As you know, the +Galician campaign went on without interference. + +Von Hindenburg had promised his troops that they should eat their +Christmas dinner in Warsaw. He was still seventy miles from the city, +and December was already six days old. There was no time to be lost if +his promise was to be kept. + +He now hurled his left against the Russian right wing, which lay north +of the Bzura and well east of Lowicz. At the same time he increased his +forces in East Prussia, and ordered them to march southwards from Mlava +so as to cut the main railway from Warsaw to Petrograd. Had this move +succeeded, the Russians would have been obliged to abandon Warsaw. +Happily, a force advanced from the fortress of Novo Georgievsk, and +drove back the Germans from East Prussia almost to their frontier. For +the time being, the Russian right flank was secure. + +[Illustration: The Battle of the Bzura. Russian Field Artillery in +Action. + +_By permission of The Illustrated London News._] + +The Russian wing just south of the Vistula was not, however, well placed +to meet the other attack. It was cut into two by the river Bzura, and +its communications were very bad. So, with great wisdom, Ruzsky +determined to withdraw this wing behind the Bzura and its tributary the +Rawka, which flows north to join the Bzura, a few miles east of Lowicz. +Behind these rivers he would have good communications, by means of +which he could easily bring up food, munitions, and reinforcements. So +far the winter frosts had not been severe; there was only a thin coating +of ice on the Polish bogs, and the Vistula and the Pilitza were still +open for river traffic. Just when Ruzsky was planning his retirement a +complete thaw set in, and in a few days the whole countryside was one +slough of despond. The Germans advancing against his new position would +have to flounder through many feet of mud to get at him. + +For a fortnight the Russians slowly fell back all along the line, and +the towns to the west of the line of the Bzura and the Rawka were +occupied by the Germans. By the 18th of December the Russians were in +their new position, which soon proved itself to be as strong as the +Allied position from Arras to Nieuport. The same kind of warfare now +took place both in East and West. The Russians dug themselves in close +to the shallow, muddy streams, and on the other side the Germans +occupied the fairly high bank which marks the rim of an old channel. + +Attacks and counter-attacks were nightly incidents of the struggle. When +the early darkness set in, the Germans, in close formation, crashed +through the cat-ice along the shore, waded breast-high through the +bitterly cold waters, and, in spite of severe losses, frequently gained +the Russian bank. Sometimes they captured an advanced trench, but rarely +could they hold it, and all the time they were losing heavily. Warsaw +was only thirty-five miles away, and the roar of the German guns was +clearly heard in the city. But there was no panic; the Russian lines +were proof against every assault. By Christmas Eve the enemy was doing +no more than hold his trenches. In East and West alike stalemate had set +in. + + * * * * * + +A writer thus describes Christmas Day in the Russian lines: "The Bishop +of Moscow," he says, "arranged a solemn Christmas Day service, with +trained singers who were serving in the army. He later visited the +hospitals, giving short and plain addresses, and blessing each branch of +the service in turn. There was a great Christmas tree in the station, +where presents were distributed to the wounded. Gifts were also +distributed under fire by the hospital workers to the soldiers in the +trenches. In the evening I took part in a Christmas gathering in one of +the big hospitals. Every one's health was drunk in turn; the persons +toasted were mentioned by their Christian names, and all was woven into +a long song. Afterwards we sang songs of the Volga." + + * * * * * + +The failure of the second attempt to capture Warsaw brings us down to +the end of the year 1914, and the moment is convenient for summing up +the work of the Russian armies during the first five months of the war. +In common with her Allies, Russia was not ready to take the field when +war was declared; most of her soldiers had yet to be called up, and she +had not sufficient rifles, ammunition, and uniforms for them. Further, +by means of her very imperfect railway system, she had to transport such +forces as were ready many thousands of miles before they could reach the +theatre of war. In spite of all these difficulties, she had a force +prepared to strike a full fortnight before the Germans believed that she +could put her men into the field. + +While the Kaiser's hosts were swinging through Belgium, in the hope of +overwhelming the French and the British, the Russians, though still too +weak for the purpose, invaded East Prussia, the sacred land of the +German squires, and by doing so relieved to some extent the strain in +the West. Dearly did Russia pay for this act of chivalry. She suffered +one of the most terrible defeats in her history at Tannenberg; but she +was still undismayed. In Galicia, on the other hand, she crushed the +Austrians in two mighty battles before the Germans could come to their +aid, and captured the whole eastern half of the country. + +Her troops were rapidly approaching Cracow, which alone barred the road +to Silesia and Berlin, when the Germans, who from the first were greatly +superior in numbers, made a dangerous move against Warsaw, the great +railway centre which it was essential for Russia to hold if she was to +maintain the war on the enemy's frontier. To meet this grave threat, the +Grand Duke ordered his forces to fall back from Galicia, and hold the +long line of the Vistula against the determined invader. Then when von +Hindenburg had made his furious thrust, and had been flung back almost +from the gates of Warsaw, the Russians sprang forward once more, and +drove the Germans in rout behind their own frontier. Again they swept +into Galicia, and there they were maintaining themselves when the year +1914 came to a close. + +By means of the network of railways on the German frontier von +Hindenburg rapidly massed troops for a march across the undevastated +north of Poland towards the city which had already foiled him, hoping +that this new threat would have the former effect. It failed in its +purpose. The Russians met his many with their few behind the marshes of +the Bzura, and the late arrival of Rennenkampf's troops alone saved the +Germans from being completely wiped out. As it was, they suffered +terribly, but reinforced, made another frenzied attempt on Warsaw. Again +the Russians retreated, and behind a river front of great strength +defied the Germans to do their worst. By Christmas Eve the Germans had +failed, for the second time in three months, to capture the city of +their desire. + +[Illustration: Christmas in the Trenches of Poland. + +_Photo, Alfieri._ + +This photograph shows an advanced trench in Poland as held by the +Germans on Christmas Day. It will be noticed that two sentinels in full +marching order keep watch, and that the rifles of the defenders lie in +position, ready to be discharged at a moment's notice. A typical German +officer is seen sleeping close to the sentry in the foreground.] + +Such in the briefest possible outline is the record of Russia's part in +the war during the year 1914. The Russians had most loyally supported +the Allies; they had sacrificed thousands of men in order to draw +against them the greatest number of Germans, and by their stubborn and +persistent efforts they had caused the enemy after 15th November to +abandon his offensive movements in the West. Their commander-in-chief +and most of their other leaders had shown fine generalship and great +resolution, and their soldiers had given fresh proof of the dogged +courage for which they have always been renowned. + +All this came as a great surprise to those who remembered that the +Russian armies had been utterly baffled and overthrown in the war which +they had waged ten years before against Japan. Then they were badly +trained, badly equipped, and badly led; but Russia had taken to heart +the bitter lessons of defeat, and during the intervening years had so +thoroughly reorganized her forces that they were now able to inflict +defeats upon the foremost military nation of the world. As an armed +power Russia had been born anew. + + + + + CHAPTER XXX. + + AT WAR WITH TURKEY. + + +At the beginning of the great struggle King George sent a message to the +Sultan, in which he referred to the friendship which had existed between +the United Kingdom and Turkey for more than a century. Two days before +the fall of Tsingtau this old friendship was broken; we were forced to +declare war on the Power which we had so often befriended during more +than a hundred years. The fact was that Germany had become all-powerful +in Turkey, and the Sultan was merely a puppet in the Kaiser's hands. + +I have already told you how the Kaiser courted the Sultan in 1889,[170] +and won for Germany many important industrial and commercial advantages +in Asia Minor. In July 1908 an event took place in Turkey which seemed +at first to be a great blow to Germany. Up to that time the government +of Turkey had been Oriental; the Sultan was absolute; there was no +parliament, and bad governors robbed the people right and left. Western +ideas, however, had gradually been gaining ground, especially amongst +the younger men. In July 1908 the Young Turks, after long preparation, +rose in rebellion under a vain but very pushing man named Enver Bey. The +Sultan, the Kaiser's friend, was deposed; his younger brother was placed +on the throne, and a new form of government, in which the people had +some share, was set up. Before long, Enver Bey became the most powerful +man in the country. He was a simple captain when the reform movement +began, but he rapidly rose to be Chief of the General Staff and +Secretary for War. + +This revolution seemed to have overturned Germany's plans, and to have +robbed her at one blow of all the power and influence which she had +gained in Turkey. Thanks, however, to the army which von der Goltz had +drilled and trained and officered, Germany managed to retain her +influence. Enver Bey and other leading Young Turks were won over, and +Germany continued to hold the reins of military power. Then came the war +with Italy, and in 1912 the sudden and unexpected Balkan War, in which +the German-trained Turkish army was badly beaten. When all was over, +Turkey had been reduced to a little country less than twice the size of +Wales. + +After this disaster the Turkish army was practically handed over to +Germany, lock, stock, and barrel. German officers were poured into the +army, and nearly all the divisions and brigades had German commanders. +In January 1914 General Liman von Sanders became commander of all the +thirteen corps of the Turkish army. + +Now, I think you can understand that when the great European war broke +out it was highly improbable that Turkey would remain neutral. We were +most anxious to keep Turkey out of the fight, and on 7th August Sir +Edward Grey promised, on behalf of Great Britain, France, and Russia, +that if she would refrain from war we would guarantee her independence, +and would see that she lost no territory when the struggle was over. We +also undertook to make no change in the government of Egypt, which, as +you know, was then supposed to be under the overlordship of the Sultan. + +When we declared war on Germany there were in this country two +men-of-war which Messrs. Armstrong, Whitworth, and Company had built for +the Turkish Government, but which had not been handed over to their +owners. According to what is called International Law,[171] a nation +going to war has a perfect right to acquire any warships which have been +built or are building in its ports, but have not left the country. Our +Admiralty very properly bought these vessels from the builders. Sir +Edward Grey telegraphed to the Sultan on 25th August, expressing his +deep regret that the Government had been obliged to take this course, +and promising to restore the ships at the end of the war if Turkey would +remain strictly neutral. There seemed to be a good deal of angry feeling +against Britain in Constantinople when the Turks learnt that we had +taken over their ships. The Turkish Prime Minister, however, assured us +that this angry feeling was largely pretence, and meant nothing. Turkey, +however, was soon to show herself in her true colours. + +In Chapter XXI. of our second volume I told you that the two German +cruisers _Goeben_ and _Breslau_ were chased by a British squadron in the +Mediterranean, but that they managed to escape, and on 10th August took +refuge in the Dardanelles. It was the duty of Turkey as a neutral Power +to see that these ships did not pass through the Strait, and that they +were either sent off to sea again in the course of twenty-four hours, or +were disarmed and interned until the end of the war. Next day, to the +astonishment of the world, the Turks announced that they had bought the +cruisers from Germany because Britain had seized the ships which had +been built for them on the Tyne. I have already told you that Britain +had every right to take over the Turkish ships. On the other hand, +Turkey had no right whatever to buy warships from a nation that was at +war with another nation. To do so was a friendly act to Germany and an +unfriendly act to Britain, France, and Russia. If the Turks had acted +according to international law, they would have ordered the _Goeben_ and +_Breslau_ out of their waters, in which case the Allied ships in the +Mediterranean would have captured them. By buying them, the Turks +prevented Britain from reducing the enemy's naval strength, and at the +same time they assisted Germany by paying over their price. By means of +these ships the Turks hoped to make themselves masters of the Black Sea. + +This unfriendly act in itself afforded Great Britain good grounds for +declaring war on Turkey; but she was very patient, and confined herself +to protests. The Turkish Government promised to send away the German +officers and crews of the _Goeben_ and _Breslau_, but did not do so. All +the while the Turkish Prime Minister was protesting that Turkey wished +to be neutral; but he was merely playing for time. Attempts were being +made to stir up rebellion in Egypt and India, and Turkey was holding her +hand until the Moslems in these countries should be ready to rise. + +Towards the end of October the British Government learned that Turkish +ships, without any declaration of war, and without warning of any kind, +had wantonly attacked open, undefended Russian towns on the Black Sea. +It was well known, too, that Enver Bey, the Turkish Minister of War, was +strongly pro-German, and that since the war began German officers in +large numbers had poured into Constantinople. Certain rights enjoyed by +foreigners living in Turkey had been abolished; the army had been +mobilized, and there was no doubt that an attack was being prepared +against Egypt. On 29th October a horde of Bedouins[172] invaded the +Sinai Peninsula,[173] and seized certain wells. The same day Turkish +torpedo boats raided Odessa, sank and damaged several ships, and +bombarded the town. + +Next day the ambassadors of the Allies had interviews with the Sultan +and his advisers. The Sultan and the Prime Minister were in favour of +peace, but Enver Bey and the military party overruled them. On 1st +November the ambassadors left Constantinople, and four days later the +King issued a proclamation which began as follows:-- + +"_Owing to hostile acts committed by Turkish forces under German +officers, a state of war now exists between Us and the Sultan of +Turkey._" + +Before I describe the part played by Turkey in the war during the year +1914, let me tell you something about the army which she was able to put +into the field. Every man in Turkey is supposed to serve, but as a rule +only Mohammedans are called upon to do so. The conscript belongs to the +army for twenty years--nine in the Nizam, or first line; nine in the +Redif, or Active Reserve; and two in the Mustafiz, or Territorial +Militia. Probably, at a pinch, the Turks could put into the field +between 700,000 and 800,000 men, providing there was equipment for them. +Their artillery had suffered heavily in the Balkan War; but since then +Turkey had bought many quick-firing guns from Krupp and the famous +Austrian firm of Skoda. Germany had also provided the Turks with a +number of heavy batteries. + +The Turkish foot-soldier has always been famous as a fighting man. He +is, as a rule, strong and well built, his nerves are steady, he is very +stubborn in defence, and he can bear fatigue wonderfully well. But, as +you know, he did not come off with flying colours during the Balkan War, +probably because the German discipline to which he had been subjected +had robbed him of his old dash and go, and because he was not in full +sympathy with the German officers who commanded him. As a soldier, he +was half Turk, half German; he had lost many of his Turkish virtues as a +fighting man, and had not fully acquired those of Germany. Nevertheless, +he is still brave, still dogged, still much enduring, and will always +prove a formidable foe. + +An American caricature of the time showed the Sultan laying his head +upon a block and chopping it off with his own hand. Most observers in +Western Europe felt that by acting as the cat's-paw of Germany, Turkey +was deliberately committing suicide. She was solving the century-old +problem--Shall Turkey remain a European Power? However the war might +end, Turkey was bound to be wiped off the map of Europe as an +independent state. There were many people in this country who were +deeply sorry to see a brave people thus tricked into disaster for a +cause which they could not understand, and for which they had no +sympathy. Before long, however, the children of Osman[174] were fighting +and dying amidst the snows of the Caucasus or on the sands of the desert +in their old fearless, uncomplaining fashion--fighting and dying for no +purpose save to ensure the destruction of their race as a ruling power. + +[Illustration: Constantinople, the ancient Byzantium. + +_Photo, Exclusive News Agency._] + + * * * * * + +Naturally the Turks wished to fight in the Balkan Peninsula, and to +recover, if possible, some of the territory which they had lost during +the recent disastrous wars. This, however, they could not do, because +Greece and Bulgaria, their neighbours, remained neutral. The Germans +wished to use the Turkish army to create diversions--that is, to attack +the Allies at a distance from the main theatres of war, and thus compel +them to divide their forces. The frontiers of Turkey in Asia touch that +wild, mountainous region in which Russia holds sway beneath the towering +masses of the Caucasus; they also touch the bounds of Egypt, in which +Britain is supreme, and draw near to the head of the Persian Gulf, which +for generations we have watched and guarded in the interests of our +Indian Empire, and have long regarded as a British sphere of influence. +In these three regions the Turks might be of real assistance to their +German masters. If they fought in Transcaucasia, they would draw off +Russian troops from the thousand-mile line which the soldiers of the +Tsar were then holding from the Niemen to the Dniester. If they attacked +the Suez Canal, they might bar Britain's short road to India, and force +her to keep a large army in Egypt. Further, when the Turks advanced, +their Moslem brethren in Egypt and India might rise in rebellion, and +force Britain to withdraw troops from the Western front to put them +down. Then, again, the Turks might push down to the shores of the +Persian Gulf, and obtain a foothold from which India might be threatened +and the oil fields of Persia secured. The Turks, therefore, attacked on +the Persian Gulf, in Transcaucasia, and in Egypt. With their descent +upon the Suez Canal I shall deal in our next volume; in this and the +next chapter I will describe the fighting at the head of the Persian +Gulf, and afterwards I will tell you something of the operations in +Transcaucasia. + + * * * * * + +South of Transcaucasia lies the Armenian plateau, which consists of +lofty ranges of sterile mountains, with fertile vales and wide plains +between them. The highest peak of this plateau is Ararat, on which it is +said that the Ark rested after the flood. Ararat stands where the +Russian, the Turkish, and the Persian empires meet, and from its +southern slopes that famous river the Euphrates goes leaping through the +mountain gorges on its way to the distant Persian Gulf. In the mountains +to the south-east of Ararat rises the Tigris, which also flows towards +the Persian Gulf, and gradually draws nearer and nearer to the +Euphrates, with which it finally unites. Between the two rivers is +Mesopotamia, which in early times was a wonderfully fertile country, +but under the blighting hand of the Turk has become a wilderness, though +it might again "blossom as the rose" if the waters of the rivers were +properly distributed over the land. + +On the plain of the Euphrates and the Tigris are the ruins of cities +which were famous at the very dawn of history. Near the busy town of +Mosul, on the Tigris, is the site of the ancient city of Nineveh; and +near the Euphrates, not far from the town of Hilla, are the ruins of +Babylon. Two hundred miles below Mosul is Bagdad, which recalls the +"Arabian Nights." Above Basra, the city of Sindbad the Sailor, the +Euphrates and the Tigris unite, and the combined stream flows for about +seventy miles to the Persian Gulf as the Shat-el-Arab. On the eastern +side of its lower course is Abadan Island, on which about 1,000 tons of +crude oil are refined daily. The oil comes down a pipe line from the +wells, which are about 150 miles north-east of the refinery. + +[Illustration: The Persian Gulf.[175]] + +The region between Basra and the Persian Gulf is the ancient land of +Chaldea, the original home of Abraham, the father of the Hebrew people. +Britons and Turks were now to meet in warfare on the river flats where +the written history of the world began. + +You can easily understand that the refinery at Abadan and the pipe line +from the oil wells would be open to attack if we should go to war with +Turkey. To lose this great source of supply would be a grievous blow to +us, for more and more of our warships now raise their steam with oil +instead of coal. As soon as the European war began the Government of +India dispatched an Anglo-Indian force, consisting of the 2nd Dorsets +and of Indian infantry and artillery, to the Persian Gulf. This force +was landed on the island of Bahrein, but when war was declared with +Turkey it re-embarked, and on 7th November reached the bar at the mouth +of the Shat-el-Arab, near the village of Fao. A gunboat bombarded the +mud fort of this village, and reduced it to silence in about an hour. A +force of marines was then landed, and the place was occupied. + +The transports then sailed up the estuary, passing Abadan on the left +bank, and after a voyage of about thirty-five miles, disembarked, +unopposed, at the Turkish village of Sanijeh,[176] where trenches were +dug. While General Delamain, who commanded the British expedition, was +waiting for reinforcements he was attacked by a force of Turks from +Basra. The Indians quickly checked them, and later in the day showed the +utmost gallantry in turning them out of a village in which they had +established themselves. + +On 13th November, soon after daybreak, two Anglo-Indian brigades, +including the 1st Oxford Light Infantry and the 2nd Norfolks, arrived, +under the command of Sir Arthur Barrett, off the bar of the +Shat-el-Arab, and by the 15th were ready to disembark at Sanijeh. It was +no easy task to get men, guns, and stores ashore on the slippery mud +banks of a broad tidal river, but the work was accomplished before +sunset. Meanwhile General Delamain attacked the village of Sahain, four +miles to the north. A short, sharp action took place; but the 2,000 +Turks who were posted in a date grove were not entirely cleared out of +it. On the 16th the newly-arrived forces rested, and received the news +that the Turkish garrison of Basra was advancing to give battle. There +were Europeans in Basra, and General Barrett was eager to capture the +place speedily, lest evil should befall the foreign residents. + +[Footnote 170: See Vol. I., p. 148.] + +[Footnote 171: A name given to all those usages which civilized states +have agreed to observe in their dealings with each other. It is not real +law because there is no superior power to enforce it.] + +[Footnote 172: Arabs who wander with their flocks and herds from place +to place. They are found in the Syrian and Egyptian deserts, in +Mesopotamia, and especially in Arabia where they form one-seventh of the +population.] + +[Footnote 173: The southern half of the triangular and hilly tract of +country between the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Akabah, northern arms +of the Red Sea.] + +[Footnote 174: Osman I., founder of the Ottoman Empire, born 1258, died +1326. Every new Sultan is invested with the sword of Osman, which is +preserved in a mosque at Constantinople.] + +[Footnote 175: For some account of the Bagdad railway (shown in the +inset map), see Vol. I, p. 148.] + +[Footnote 176: See map on p. 277.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXXI. + + FIGHTING IN CHALDEA. + + +On the morning of the 17th the British advanced to the village of +Sahain,[177] only to discover that the Turks had abandoned it. Nine +miles farther up the river, at a place called Sahil, the enemy lay in +force ready to attack. An officer with the expedition thus describes the +Turkish position:-- + + "Imagine a billiard table, only, of course, thousands of times + bigger, and instead of being green cloth it is sandy desert. + Imagine that one end of the table is high ground held by the + Turks with guns in position, and the infantry entrenched, and + then imagine us attacking them from the other end. Not a scrap + of cover of any kind; absolutely flat and unbroken; no cover for + the guns or infantry advancing, no cover for the hospital or + wounded as we advanced--nothing; simply a wide, flat, sandy + plain!" + +To make matters worse, recent rains had made the plain a slough, so that +the cavalry and guns could scarcely proceed at more than a walking pace. + +Early on the morning of the 18th our batteries and gun-boats began +bombarding the Turkish trenches. The artillery of the enemy replied, but +the marksmanship was bad, though General Barrett had a narrow escape +from a shrapnel shell which buried itself in the ground at his feet. The +Turkish infantry, however, made excellent practice, and their bullets +swept the front with a withering fire. Nevertheless, our men advanced +with admirable steadiness. The honours of the day went to the 2nd +Dorsets, who, without a moment's wavering, crept nearer and nearer to +the enemy, until they were near enough for the final bayonet charge. +When they leaped to their feet and dashed forward the Turks broke from +their trenches, and, flinging away their arms, ammunition, and even +their clothes, fled to the rear. + +Owing to the soggy nature of the ground and to a mirage which screened +the flight of the enemy, pursuit was well-nigh impossible. About 4 p.m. +the little battle was practically over--the trenches, two guns, and the +camp of the enemy were in our possession. The Dorsets lost 130 men in +this engagement out of a total casualty list of 353, which included +three officers and thirty-five men killed. More than 1,500 Turks were +dead or wounded. + +[Illustration: Hoisting the Union Jack at Basra. + +_Photo, Illustrated London News._] + +On the 21st news arrived that the Turks had abandoned Basra, and that +Arabs were looting the place. A British force was at once embarked on +river steamers, while other troops were sent forward across the desert +on foot. About eight miles beyond Sahil the Turks had attempted to +impede the navigation of the river by sinking ships in the fairway; but +the business had been badly done, and our gunboats, after silencing a +battery of Krupp guns on the bank, got past the obstruction. About ten +on the morning of the 22nd the river force entered Basra without +opposition. Later in the day the desert column arrived; the German flag +was hauled down, and the Union Jack was hoisted in its stead. During the +remainder of the month the British prepared a base camp a few miles up +the river. + +At the beginning of December news arrived that the Turks had reassembled +at Kurna, some forty-nine miles above Basra, and were about to put their +fortunes to the test once more. The sketch map on page 277 shows you the +position of Kurna, the highest point on the river to which ocean-going +steamers can ascend. You will notice that the old and now +partly-blocked-up channel of the Euphrates unites with the Tigris at +Kurna, and that the town occupies a strong position in the angle between +the rivers, with broad waters on two sides of it. Some people tell us +that Kurna stands on the site of the garden of Eden, though others say +that the abode of our first parents lay to the north-west of Bagdad. + +Not much opposition was expected at Kurna, so only a small force, +including a detachment of the Norfolks, was sent upstream on 3rd +December. It was accompanied by three gunboats, a yacht, and two +launches, all armed. Next morning the troops were landed on the eastern +bank about four miles below Kurna, while the gunboats went ahead to +engage the Turkish artillery and to shell the town. By midday the +British force was looking across the three-hundred-yard-wide stream +towards the palm groves which surround Kurna, and was attacking the +village of Mezera, which stands about a mile from the left bank of the +Tigris. The Turks were driven out of the village, and withdrew to the +bank of the river, where they kept up so heavy a fire that our men were +compelled to retire. It was now evident that the Turks were holding the +place in force, and that the task of the British was much harder than +had been supposed. + +The attackers dug themselves in, and sent back to Basra for +reinforcements, which arrived on 7th December. On that day the action of +the 5th was fought over again, but with far better results. Mezera was +recaptured, the Turkish trenches on the bank of the river were cleared, +and the survivors escaped across the stream. The gunboats did excellent +work, and several of them were hit. + +It was now clear that Kurna could not be taken by a frontal attack. The +only way was to cross the river above the town and fall upon the place +from the rear. Early on 8th December two battalions with two mountain +guns were marched a long way up the river; some daring sappers swam the +stream carrying with them a wire. Snipers fired at them repeatedly, but +they managed to get across safely, and construct a sort of flying +bridge. By this means, and also by the use of a dhow which had been +seized, our troops and their guns crossed the river. By evening they had +entrenched themselves amidst the trees to the north of Kurna. All was +ready for the final assault. + +It was never delivered. On the night of the 8th + + "a small steamer came down from Kurna showing all her lights, so + we did not fire on her. She turned out to be carrying three + Turkish officers who had come to offer the surrender of Kurna! + Of course we knew we could get into the town, but thought most + of the garrison would escape up the river Euphrates. They wanted + to be allowed to march out with their arms, but, of course, we + would not agree to that, and after about an hour they agreed to + an unconditional surrender." + +Thus Kurna fell into British hands. The whole garrison surrendered, and +the Turkish officers gave up their swords; but as a compliment to the +commander his sword was returned to him. Chaldea was now in our +possession, and we were well placed to beat off attacks from the north. +There were still, however, many Turkish troops in the neighbourhood, but +they did not make any serious attack on us. We had achieved our purpose, +and had built up a strong barricade against an enemy advance to the +Persian Gulf and a threat to the security of India. + +[Illustration: Basra and Kurna.] + + "We are now," wrote an officer on December 13th, "in a big + entrenched camp outside Kurna. . . . Although this is my own + regiment, and one is naturally proud of it, I must say they have + behaved splendidly. They are a jolly good lot, always merry and + bright, and never any trouble. By the way, I heard a rather + funny remark last night by one of the men. The mosquitoes are + rather bad here, and in the middle of the night, about 1 a.m., I + woke up and heard the man say to his neighbour: ''Ere, Bill, if + this is the garden of Eden, I wonder what Adam and Eve did with + these 'ere mosquitoes a-buzzin' around them.'" + +[Footnote 177: See map on page 277.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXXII. + + THE CAMPAIGN IN THE CAUCASUS. + + +While Anglo-Indian troops were winning easy victories on the desert +sands of Chaldea, Russians and Turks were locked in deadly combat amidst +the rocky uplands of the broad isthmus that extends between the Black +Sea and the Caspian Sea. The most striking natural feature of this +region is the great chain of the Caucasus, the most stupendous mountain +mass of Western Eurasia. It strikes from north-west to south-east right +across the country like a huge frowning wall, and in this respect +resembles the Pyrenees, though its peaks are vastly higher and much of +it is crowned with perpetual snow. So formidable and complete is this +great natural barrier that no railway crosses it, and only two main +roads have been constructed over its passes. The railway which carries +the traveller from the north to the south of the chain has to creep +round by way of the strip of low land between its eastern end and the +Caspian Sea. + +One would suppose that this huge barrier would mark off race from race, +civilization from civilization, and religion from religion; that Europe +would stop short on its northern slopes, and Asia begin on its southern +side. This is true in a general sense, but the whole tangled region of +lofty mountains, with its maze of spurs and plateaus and foothills, with +towns and villages five or six thousand feet above sea-level, is +inhabited by many more or less Christian tribes, and is part of Russia. +It forms the government of the Caucasus, and its southern boundary +marches with Turkey on the west and with Persia on the east. The Turkish +fortress of Erzerum is only about seventy miles from the Russian +frontier. + +This mountainous region has been a cockpit of struggle from very early +times, but the difficult nature of the country has enabled the wild and +turbulent highlanders to maintain their independence against Turk and +Persian and Russian alike. Not until 1835 did Russia begin to annex the +country; she did not come into full possession of it until more than +forty years later. + +Before I describe the actual fighting let us look a little closer at +this Russian government of the Caucasus.[178] Its main features are the +great block of the Caucasus range and the lower mountain region to the +south, known as Georgia. Between the two, at a distance of about sixty +miles from the high ridge of the Caucasus, is a natural trench which +rises gradually from the Black Sea for 3,000 feet to the watershed, and +then slopes down to the Caspian Sea. Along this depression from Batum, +on the Black Sea, to the great oil town of Baku, on the Caspian Sea, +runs the railway which I have already mentioned. On it, about half-way +between Batum and Baku, and also on the chief road which crosses the +Caucasus, is Tiflis, the capital. It stands on the valley floor, +surrounded by gray heights rising from twelve to fifteen hundred feet +above it, and occupies both banks of the river Kur. + +The fighting which I am going to describe all took place to the south of +Tiflis, between the depression mentioned above and the Turkish border. +You will notice that a railway runs south from Tiflis amidst the +Georgian mountains, and then swings eastwards to the frontier. This +railway has to climb two ridges of fairly high mountains, and at its +railhead of Sarikamish it is 6,000 feet above sea-level. The whole +country through which it passes is a wild confusion of high hills with +summits of 10,000 feet in elevation, and deep gorges, leading up to the +Armenian plateau which I mentioned on page 270. It is impossible to get +from one valley to another, except by the railway, without climbing +steep and snow-clad ridges. You can scarcely conceive of a more +difficult country in which to carry on the operations of war. + +[Illustration: The Campaign on the Caucasian Frontier. + +(Inset--The Turkish Advance.)] + +For the Caucasus campaign which the Turks were now about to begin they +collected at Erzerum an army of 150,000 men with which to oppose the +Russian army, which was not more than 100,000 strong. The object of the +Turks was to capture the fortress of Kars, and thus open the way to +Tiflis and to the Caspian oil fields at Baku. In order to do this they +proposed to entice the Russians from Sarikamish across the frontier, and +hold them at some point as far from the railhead as possible. While the +Russian front was thus held, the Turks intended to make a wide +encircling movement with their left centre and fall upon Sarikamish. At +the same time, their left was to push up the Choruk River, cross the +mountains to Ardahan, follow the road to Kars, and thus take the +fortress in the rear. + +Fighting began in the first fortnight of November. The Russians advanced +from Sarikamish, and crossed the frontier to within about forty or fifty +miles of Erzerum. Now that they were sufficiently far from their +railhead, the great Turkish plan was put into operation. You will +understand more clearly what the plan was if you study the little inset +map on the opposite page. The 11th Corps was ordered to hold the +Russians in the direction of Erzerum, while the 10th Corps, at Id, was +to follow a bad mountain road which crosses the passes and comes down to +the railway between Sarikamish and Kars. Between the 10th Corps and the +11th Corps a third corps, the 9th, was also to strike across the +mountains directly at the railhead. + +Meanwhile the 1st Corps was carried in transports to Trebizond, on the +Black Sea. It was to follow the valley of the Choruk until it came to a +mountain road which climbs a pass of more than eight thousand feet, and +runs to the town of Ardahan, from which there is a fairly easy road to +Kars. + +About the middle of December the 11th Corps took the offensive, and, +after fierce fighting, pushed back the Russians for about a dozen miles. +On Christmas Day the Russians made a stand. At that time they were +strung out along the railway and the road that runs by the side of it +for about thirty miles. Meanwhile the 9th and 10th Corps had struggled +over the high hills, and were descending upon Sarikamish and the railway +to the east of it; while the 1st Corps, on the extreme Turkish left, had +climbed the mountains at the head of the Choruk valley in the teeth of +fierce blizzards, and had reached a position from which in the pauses of +the storms they could look down on Ardahan. On 28th December it seemed +as if the Turkish plan had succeeded. + +But the forces which had toiled over the mountains and had battled with +the furious storms and the deep snow were worn out and utterly incapable +of meeting the Russians. Their transport and big guns could not follow +them over the rocky steeps; so they were without artillery, ammunition, +and a proper supply of food. Many of the men were starving, and their +hands and feet were frost-bitten, while thousands of others could only +crawl along in a dazed and numb condition. It was impossible for these +hungry, cold, and toil-worn men to make a great united attack, and the +Russians were therefore able to deal with them piecemeal. + +First they dealt with the 10th Corps. On January 1, 1915, after three +days of hard fighting on the railway, they forced this corps to retreat +into the hills. This retreat left the 9th Corps unsupported. The +Russians had pushed forward their right in pursuit of the retreating +enemy, and at the same time their left had advanced, so that the 9th +Corps was taken on both flanks. It fought with the fury of despair, and +on January 3, 1915, when it had almost been wiped out, the remnants laid +down their arms. It is said that the Turks yielded rather to cold and +hunger than to the onset of the Russians; that they surrendered as much +to the Russian field kitchens as to Russian steel. + +Meanwhile the 1st Corps had entered Ardahan, but could not advance any +farther. The Russian force which had been detached to cope with it drove +the worn-out Turks from the town, and thrust them back in complete rout +into the mountains and towards the Choruk valley, by which they had +advanced. The 10th Corps, now in flight, was also heading in the same +direction. The 11th Corps, which had been holding up the Russians on the +road from Erzerum to Sarikamish, now made a big effort to save the +situation. It had been unable to rescue the 9th Corps, but it might do +something to cover the retreat of the 10th Corps. Accordingly it +attacked vigorously, and pushed back the Russians to within twenty miles +of Sarikamish, where three days' heavy fighting took place amidst the +snowdrifts. By January 17, 1915, the 11th Corps had also been broken, +and was forced to retreat on Erzerum, with a great loss of men and guns. + +While this struggle was going on, the Russian right was pursuing the +1st Corps and the remnant of the 10th and was driving them towards +Trebizond. The Turkish navy attempted to bring reinforcements and stores +to these harried corps; but Russian warships sank several of the +transports and provision vessels, and hunted the _Breslau_ and the +_Hamidieh_, which accompanied them, back to Constantinople. The _Goeben_ +had already been crippled and put out of action for several weeks. + +So, in hopeless and utter failure, ended the great adventure in the +Caucasus. The plan of campaign had been prepared by German generals, who +worked from the map without any actual knowledge of the terribly +difficult country in which the troops were to operate. They did not +foresee that the mountains and gorges, the broken tracks, the fierce +storms, the deep snow, and the biting cold were of themselves sufficient +to defeat any army, however brave and determined. Neither did they +foresee that the Turks would have to fight when worn out with marching +and privation. They set their allies an impossible task; but the Turks +fought like heroes. More than 50,000 of them were killed or wounded, or +led away into captivity. For many months to come, Russia had nothing to +fear from the Turks in the Caucasus. + + * * * * * + +Immediately war was declared on Turkey several of our submarines were +sent to the Dardanelles, to destroy, if possible, some of the Turkish +warships. Submarine B11 was most successful in this work, and its +commander, Lieutenant Norman Douglas Holbrook, R.N., was awarded the +Victoria Cross for a conspicuous act of bravery on 13th December. On +that day he entered the Dardanelles, and, notwithstanding the difficult +current, dived his vessel under five rows of mines, and then torpedoed +the Turkish battleship _Messudiyeh_, which was guarding the mine-field. +After this exploit he brought his vessel back safely, though it was +fiercely attacked by gun fire and torpedo boats. So beset was he that on +one occasion he had to submerge the submarine for nine hours. + +[Footnote 178: See map on next page.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIII. + + THE BATTLE OF THE SERBIAN RIDGES. + + +During some hundreds of pages I have told you nothing about the part +which gallant little Serbia was playing in the great struggle. On page +76 of our second volume I briefly summed up the situation at the end of +August 1914. At that time the first Austrian invasion had failed, and +the country was almost clear of the enemy. The Austrians had suffered a +serious set-back. + +Early in September they prepared a second army of invasion. Before I +follow its fortunes, I want you to look closely at the little map on the +opposite page. You notice that from the railway uniting the Lower Drina +with Shabatz on the Save, right away to the southern frontier, the +country is criss-crossed in all directions by great uplands, almost as +difficult for an army to traverse as those of Georgia. The river valleys +alone give access to the interior, and afford railway routes. There are +a few good government highways, but most of the roads are mere tracks, +which in wet weather become quagmires. When once the autumn rains set +in, the work of transport in Serbia is greatly hampered. + +All the lowland parts of Serbia lie along the right bank of the Save and +the Danube. This district is open, though hilly. East of Shabatz the +lowlands form a rough triangle, with the course of the river Save as its +base, and the highland town of Valjevo, on the river Kolubara, as its +apex. It was across this triangle of easy country that the Austrians +made their second invasion. + +The Serbians did not wait for the Austrian attack, but pushed over the +plain, and in the darkness of night on 6th September crossed the Save at +several points, and made a dash on the Hungarian town of Semlin, +opposite Belgrade. They occupied the place on the 10th, but were unable +to hold it, and were driven back with heavy losses into the Tser +Mountains, which you see marked on the map. + +The Austrian commander-in-chief proposed to turn the Serbian left, and +at the same time hurry forward mountain troops to Valjevo, and thus cut +off the retreat of the Serbian army. During September and October +attacks and counter-attacks were constant, but neither side made much +headway. The Austrians could not drive the Serbians off the crests of +the mountains, and the Serbians could not drive back the Austrians, who +were advancing up the Drina to turn the Serbian left. At length, +however, the Serbian ammunition began to fail, and the Austrian numbers +began to tell. On 6th November the enemy won the summits of the Tser +Mountains, and the Serbians, in order to avoid being enveloped, were +forced to retreat eastwards. This they did in perfect order. + +[Illustration: Map to illustrate the Campaign of November and December +1914.] + +The Austrians pushed on, and occupied Valjevo on 14th November. While +the Serbians retired to the summit of a range south of Valjevo, the +invaders pillaged the whole Kolubara valley and their line of march was +marked by fire and massacre. Belgrade was abandoned, and on 2nd December +the Austrians made a state entry into the undefended capital. Telegrams +of congratulation were sent to old Franz Josef, and Vienna was full of +rejoicing. The Austrians boldly declared that the campaign was over, +that the Serbians were finally defeated, and that the fruits of victory +were about to be reaped. So certain of success was the Austrian general +that he sent back three of his corps to help his fellow-countrymen, who +were now about to begin their attack on the Carpathian passes from the +south. + +For a whole fortnight the Austrians dallied in Valjevo and on the skirts +of the ridges occupied by the enemy. During this period the Serbians +were by no means idle. Every available man was brought up, gun positions +were prepared, and trenches were dug and strengthened. Best of all, the +Western Allies sent them ammunition for big guns and small arms, and +these supplies now reached the hard-pressed Serbians, despite the +efforts of Turkish and Bulgarian bands to capture them. + +[Illustration] + +Serbia was about to make her last stand. Everything had to be staked on +the issue of the coming battle. If the Serbians should be driven back +they would be almost certain to lose Kragujevatz,[179] their arsenal and +chief industrial centre, and without it they could scarcely continue the +struggle. They would also lose Nish, the old capital, now the sojourning +place of the government. The Serbians, however, held a very strong +position on the Maljen ridge, to the west of the main road leading from +Valjevo to Kragujevatz, and were also posted on the still higher Rudnik +ridge to the east of this road. + +The plan of the enemy was to advance its centre against the Rudnik ridge +along the single-line railway which runs up the valley of the Lig, a +tributary of the Kolubara. At the same time the right was to move up the +head waters of the Kolubara and attack the Maljen ridge, while the left +was to swing round in a wide sweep, and thus enclose the Serbian army. +By 3rd December the Austrian centre had gained the western part of the +Rudnik ridge, and the wings were making good progress. + +The critical hour has struck; the fate of Serbia hangs in the balance. +Old King Peter rises from a sick-bed and joins his soldiers, to die, if +need be, with them. He addresses them in burning words which recall the +speech of King Henry before Agincourt[180] and that of Robert Bruce +before Bannockburn. He recalls the bitter struggles of their +forefathers, recounts the ancient glories of their race, and paints the +bright future which waits upon victory. Thus nobly he concludes:-- + + "Heroes, you have taken two oaths--one to me, your King, and the + other to your country. I am an old, broken man, on the edge of + the grave,[181] and I release you from your oath to me. From + your other oath no one can release you. If you feel you cannot + go on, go to your homes, and I pledge my word that after the + war, if we come out of it, nothing shall happen to you. But I + and my sons stay here." + +Every Serbian feels himself uplifted by the noble words of his leader; +not a man leaves the ranks; all are ready to do and die with their king. +The weary and ragged soldiers pledge their faith anew, and steel their +hearts to sweep the cruel hordes of invaders from the soil which they +have profaned. + +At sunrise on 3rd December the two centre divisions of the Serbian army +begin to advance across the bare, sharp ridges, now thinly powdered with +snow. Fog hides them from the Austrian battalions which are descending +from the plateau which they occupy to attack the Rudnik ridge. The sun +shines out and dissipates the fog. Suddenly the Serbian guns, which have +been dumb for many days, begin to speak, and the soldiers, fired with +new courage, dash forward. So fierce is the onset that the Austrians, +unable to deploy, fall into confusion. Panic seizes them, and they fly +back a terrified mob to the plateau from which they advanced a few +minutes ago full of confidence. + +Fresh Austrian troops are hurried up, and for three days the battle +rages fiercely. On the afternoon of 5th December the left centre breaks, +and crowds of discomfited men stream northward down the Lig valley. The +fugitives think only of their own safety; they fling away arms and +equipment, and on the mountain roads and in the deep ravines abandon +their artillery and baggage. Then the Austrian centre suffers the same +fate, and the road to Valjevo is crowded with beaten troops hurrying +into safety. There is good news, too, from the Serbian left, where a +great victory has been won, and the enemy is in full retreat along the +head waters of the Kolubara. By the dawn of the 6th the Austrian centre +and right have everywhere given way, and the routed enemy is a mere +panic-stricken mob, hot-foot for the frontier. + +The Serbians follow up the pursuit with great vigour, and sweep the +Austrians over the Drina and the Save with fearful slaughter and the +capture of thousands of prisoners and many guns. The Austrian left tries +to make a stand, but all to no purpose. It is thrust back to a position +already prepared on the crescent of hills to the south of Belgrade. Here +it holds out till the 13th, when it, too, is broken, and its remnants +strew the streets of Belgrade with rifles and equipment, and stampede +wildly over the Danube bridges whipped by the merciless flail of the +Serbian guns. A rearguard sacrifices itself in the northern suburbs to +cover the retreat, but all is over; and on the 15th old King Peter is on +his knees in the cathedral, giving thanks for the great victory +vouchsafed to his arms. A few days later, and the Serbians are able to +boast that not a single armed Austrian remains on their soil. + +[Illustration: King Peter watching the Battle of the Ridges.] + +[Footnote 179: _Krar-goo´ye-vatz._] + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIV. + + THE BATTLE OFF THE FALKLAND ISLANDS. + + +The disastrous battle off Coronel took place on 1st November. Ten days +later, in silence and secrecy, the _Invincible_ and the _Inflexible_, +the first two battle cruisers built by Britain, left Plymouth, and +steamed at full speed across the Atlantic to the West Indies. On board +the _Invincible_ was Vice-Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee, who was to take +command of the avenging squadron. On his voyage to the Falklands he +picked up the three armoured cruisers the _Carnarvon_, the _Kent_, and +the _Cornwall_; also the light cruiser _Bristol_, the _Glasgow_, now +repaired, and the _Macedonia_, an armed liner. He was thus in command of +a very formidable force. Each of his two battle cruisers carried eight +12-inch guns, so mounted that they could be fired on either broadside. + +How to get into touch with the German squadron was the problem that +Sturdee set himself to solve. It is said that he managed it by means of +a remarkable piece of "bluff." While his ships were steaming south he +sent off a wireless message ordering the _Canopus_ to proceed to +Stanley, where she would be perfectly safe under the new guns which had +been sent out to strengthen the forts. This message was picked up by the +Germans, as it was meant to be. They believed that it was a trick +intended to mislead them as to the safety of the _Canopus_, and that all +the talk about forts and new guns was simple nonsense. But one thing the +message did tell them, and that was that the _Canopus_ was proceeding to +Stanley Harbour, where she would have only the remnants of Cradock's +beaten squadron to support her. Von Spee thought she would be an easy +prey. He therefore resolved to capture her, and while Sturdee's +squadron, all unknown to him, was speeding towards the Falkland Islands, +he headed for Cape Horn, and steered towards Stanley. + +The British squadron arrived in Stanley Harbour on the morning of 7th +December, and coaling at once began. Within the inner harbour lay the +_Canopus_, _Glasgow_, and _Bristol_; in the outer gulf were the battle +cruisers and the remaining vessels of the squadron. All were perfectly +hidden from an enemy in the open sea. + +At 7.30 on the morning of 8th December the look-out on Sapper's Hill +reported as follows: "Eight ships sighted about twelve miles off, +south-east, all making for Stanley." It was von Spee's squadron +descending upon Stanley to smash up the unprotected _Canopus_ and +destroy the wireless station. The German admiral proposed, when that was +done, to dash across the Atlantic to the coast of German South-West +Africa, and prevent the landing of a force from Cape Town. + +Speedily the great good news that von Spee was walking straight into the +trap laid for him reached the British warships. Officers were roused +from sleep, and the flag-lieutenant of the _Invincible_, so the story +goes, dashed down to the Admiral's cabin clad only in pyjamas. Sturdee +was shaving, and he received the information with the utmost calmness. +"Well," he said drily, "you had better go and get dressed. We'll see +about it later." I hope this story is true, because it recalls the +famous incident when Drake was informed that the Spanish Armada was in +sight. + +Screened by the land, Sturdee waited for the Germans to draw nearer, so +as to make victory doubly secure. At about a quarter to nine the _Kent_ +steamed down the harbour, and took up a position at the entrance. The +advance ships of the enemy came boldly on, anticipating an easy victory +against the feeble force which they imagined to be in the harbour. Then +they turned broadside on, with the intention of destroying the wireless +station. Directed by officers on the hills above the town, the _Canopus_ +from her moorings opened fire over the narrow neck of land, and five +shots in quick succession fell around the German ships, which +immediately hoisted their colours and wheeled round to close in with the +other three vessels of their squadron. Soon the British admiral knew +that the ships in the offing were the _Scharnhorst_, _Gneisenau_, +_Leipzig_, _Nürnberg_, and _Dresden_. He could hardly believe his good +luck. He had come out to seek this very squadron, and it had come to +find him instead. + +A few minutes later the two leading cruisers of the enemy altered their +course and made directly for the harbour mouth, where the _Kent_ was +ready to engage them. Meanwhile the British battle cruisers were rapidly +raising steam by means of oil fuel, and while doing so were sending up +dense clouds of smoke with which to shroud themselves. Nearer and nearer +came the leading ships of von Spee's squadron, and soon their commanders +and crews had the surprise of their lives. They could now see the masts +and funnels of the battle cruisers, and they knew for the first time +that the British were waiting for them in great strength. Van Spee was +well aware that he could not cope with such a force. The British ships +were faster, and their guns were heavier and of longer range. He had +played into the enemy's hands, and only a miracle could save him. +Immediately the ships of his vanguard changed direction and hurried back +to their consorts. + +It was a beautiful morning. The sun was bright, the sky was clear, and +the sea was calm--one of those rare days which come to the foggy, +wind-swept islands like angels' visits, few and far between. Leaving the +_Canopus_ in harbour, Admiral Sturdee about ten o'clock ordered the +chase to begin, and the _Glasgow_, followed by the _Kent_, _Invincible_, +_Cornwall_, _Inflexible_, and _Carnarvon_, steamed out to sea. The +colliers and supply ships of the German squadron at once retreated to +the south, and the _Bristol_ and _Macedonia_ followed them up. The +remainder of van Spee's ships turned tail, and at top speed hurried away +eastward. Their only hope lay in flight. + +The great gray warships tore through the sunlit seas, the white foam +streaming from their bows as they furrowed the waves. The _Invincible_ +and the _Inflexible_ soon drew ahead, but had to slacken off to enable +the slower cruisers to keep up with them. At about eleven o'clock the +position of the ships was as shown in the diagram on the next page. + +Von Spee now saw that he was being slowly but surely overtaken, and that +he could not escape by flight. He therefore detached his three light +cruisers, the _Leipzig_, _Nürnberg_, and _Dresden_, which made off +towards the south, followed by the _Kent_, _Cornwall_, and _Glasgow_, +while the two British battle cruisers and the _Carnarvon_ steadily +gained on the _Gneisenau_ and the _Scharnhorst_. They were soon within +striking distance; 15,000 or 16,000 yards of sea separated them from the +enemy. Admiral Sturdee however, was in no hurry to engage, and ordered +his men to dinner. He even gave them time for a comfortable smoke after +their meal. Just after a quarter to one he made this signal: "Open fire +and engage the enemy." + +The men flew to their stations, and with the utmost eagerness obeyed the +short, sharp orders. The ranges were signalled, the big guns were aimed, +and suddenly the air quivered with the thunder of their discharge. There +was a gleam of fire at their muzzles, followed by dense clouds of smoke, +as the shells screamed over the sea. The morning promise of a fine day +had gone. The sky became overcast, and the air was thick with a drizzle +of rain. + +[Illustration: Battle off the Falkland Islands, December 8, 1914.] + +We will first follow the fortunes of the British battle cruisers now +engaged in a fierce duel with the _Gneisenau_ and the _Scharnhorst_. +About two o'clock it was discovered that the British vessels were +diverging from the enemy, who, seeing this, turned to starboard, in the +hope of getting away. At once the British ships turned starboard too, +and this brought them again within effective range. The smoke was now +impeding the firing, so Admiral Sturdee worked up to top speed, and got +on the other side of the enemy, from which position the _Scharnhorst_ +was pounded mercilessly. You can picture the scene for yourselves: the +roar of the guns, the scream of the shells, the loud crashes as shots +went home, the wash of the waves, the whistle of the rising breeze, the +grinding of the hydraulic machinery as the turrets swung round, the +throb of the engines--all uniting in a chorus of deafening and incessant +noise. + +The _Scharnhorst_ was soon in the throes of her last agony. Clouds of +smoke rose from her, and spurts of bright flame. Shot after shot struck +her, and though she returned the fire, the British vessels were too far +away for her shells to do much damage. Her 8.2-inch guns could not cope +with the 12-inch monsters of the battle cruisers. At three o'clock +Admiral Sturdee, seeing that the end of the _Scharnhorst_ was near, sent +out this signal to his ships: "God save the King." By 3.30 the masts and +funnels of the enemy had been shot away, and at five minutes past four +she listed to port and turned bottom upwards. In a cloud of steam and +smoke she disappeared amidst the swirling waters, her propellers still +going and her flag still flying. Seven hundred and sixty brave men and +their gallant admiral had gone to their doom. + +Fire was now concentrated on the _Gneisenau_, and soon she was done for. +At half-past five, when her upper works were a total wreck, when one of +her turrets had been blown overboard and flames were raging, she ceased +firing. Several times her flag had been shot away, but every time it had +been replaced. The three British vessels now closed in on her; her +engines were smashed to fragments, but with one gun she still fought on. +Soon after six o'clock she began to settle down, and Admiral Sturdee +signalled to his consorts, "Cease fire." Six hundred of her crew had +been killed, and the survivors were now lined up on deck waiting for the +end. Then she suddenly heeled over, her stern rose high in the air, and +a few moments later she too disappeared. The sea was dotted with men +battling for life amidst the waves. + +An officer on board the _Invincible_ thus describes the errand of mercy +on which the British were soon engaged:-- + + "Now came the awful part. The _Inflexible_, _Carnarvon_, and + ourselves hurried up to where she had disappeared, shown by + slightly discoloured water, and on coming up close saw a good + amount of wreckage with men clinging to it. Never shall I forget + it: they were mostly calling out, and it sounded like a wail to + us. We all lowered boats as quickly as possible, and picked up + as many as possible; but heaps must have sunk, as the water was + 40 degrees and they were all numb. It was awful being on the + ship, because when all the boats were away they kept floating + past, some swimming, some unconscious, just beneath the water. + We lowered people down on bow-lines, and hauled them up the + ship's side; some of them were quite dead when they came in. + Altogether this ship saved about 115, of which fourteen were + dead." + +Meanwhile what had happened to the _Dresden_, _Nürnberg_, and _Leipzig_, +which were being chased by the _Glasgow_, _Kent_, and _Cornwall_? The +battle between these light cruisers was more equal than the fight which +I have just described. All day the struggle continued. The _Kent_, which +was chasing the _Nürnberg_, got far out of sight of land, and lost touch +with her consorts. It was feared that she had been lost, especially as +no reply was received to the numberless calls sent out to her. Late in +the afternoon of the next day she returned safely to Stanley with her +wireless shot away, and showing every mark of fierce combat. Her silk +ensign and Jack, presented by the ladies of the county of Kent, had been +torn to ribbons. + +The _Nürnberg_ could steam a knot faster than the _Kent_, but the +British stokers and engineers worked like heroes. They piled her +furnaces high with fuel, and strained her engines to the utmost. When +the engineers reported that coal was running short, the captain replied, +"Very well, then; have a go at the boats." Accordingly the boats were +broken up, the wood was smeared with oil and passed into the furnaces. +Shortly afterwards the wooden ladders, doors, and almost everything that +would burn followed the boats. She managed to work up to 25 knots--a +knot and a half more than her registered speed--and slowly but surely +came within range of the enemy. + +[Illustration: The Sinking of the Nürnberg by the British Light Cruiser +Kent. + +(_Drawn by Montagu Dawson from a sketch by an eye-witness. By permission +of The Sphere._)] + +The _Nürnberg_ was well fought, and the _Kent_ was hit several times. A +bursting shell set fire to some cordite charges, and a flash of flame +went down the hoist into the ammunition passage. Sergeant Charles Mayer +instantly picked up a charge of cordite and hurled it into safety. He +then seized a fire hose, and by flooding the compartment averted all +danger. But for this heroic action there would have been an explosion, +and the _Kent_ would probably have been put out of action, if not +destroyed altogether. By about seven o'clock the _Nürnberg_ was in +flames, and less than half an hour later she sank, her guns firing to +the last. As she disappeared some of her crew waved the German ensign +from the quarter-deck. + +The _Glasgow_ and the _Cornwall_ came within range of the _Leipzig_ +about three in the afternoon, and for six hours they engaged her. From +time to time she turned and fired a salvo at her pursuers; but though +shells fell fast and thick around the _Glasgow_, there were few +casualties, though many narrow escapes. Not till nine o'clock was the +_Leipzig_ finally disposed of. As the darkness of a wet night closed in, +she heeled over and went down. The German transports and colliers had +been sunk and their crews saved earlier in the day by the _Bristol_ and +the _Macedonia_. Of von Spee's squadron, only the _Dresden_ and the +armed liner _Eitel Friedrich_[182] remained. + +The battered _Dresden_ had managed to escape early in the fight, and she +was lost sight of for many weeks. Ultimately she was cornered by the +_Kent_ and the _Cornwall_ off Juan Fernandez[183] on March 18, 1915, and +after a five minutes' action was forced to hoist the white flag. When +her crew were taken off she was in flames. Finally her magazine +exploded, and she sank. + + * * * * * + +Such was the first decisive naval battle of the war. It was a triumph +not only for the officers and men of the British squadron, but also for +the Admiralty, which had so skilfully and secretly planned the whole +enterprise. The British victory was well-nigh complete; only one warship +escaped, and our loss was small. The _Invincible_ had no casualties; the +_Inflexible_ had one man killed. The _Kent_, which fought the most +stubborn engagement, lost four men killed and twelve wounded; while the +_Glasgow_ had nine killed and four wounded. The German loss was +terrible. Some 3,000 men must have perished, including von Spee and two +of his sons. Let us do honour to those of our foes who sank beneath the +waves on that dread day. "The German admiral fought as Cradock had +fought; the German sailors died as Cradock's men had died. There can be +no higher praise." + +[Footnote 180: See Shakespeare's _Henry V._, Act iv., Scene 3.] + +[Footnote 181: King Peter was born in 1844.] + +[Footnote 182: She was afterwards interned at Newport News, on the +northern shore of the estuary of the James River, Virginia.] + +[Footnote 183: Rocky island belonging to Chile, 400 miles off the coast +of that country. Alexander Selkirk lived four years on this island, and +his story formed the basis of De Foe's _Robinson Crusoe_.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXXV. + + NAVAL RAIDS ON THE EAST COAST OF ENGLAND. + + +Every British boy and girl remembers Campbell's stirring lines:--[184] + + "Britannia needs no bulwarks, + No towers along the steep; + Her march is o'er the mountain waves, + Her home is on the deep." + +In these days of fast warships, aeroplanes, and airships, we can no +longer say that "Britannia needs no bulwarks, no towers along the +steep." While it is probably true that no invasion of Great Britain +could be successful while the British Navy remains undefeated, it is +likewise true that the Navy in war time cannot guarantee that an enemy +with bases on the North Sea will not be able to make sudden swoops upon +certain parts of the British coast. During the darkness of night or +amidst the obscurity of fog, fast warships can dash across the North +Sea, turn their guns on seaside towns for a short time, and then hurry +back to the safety of their own waters before a British fleet can catch +them. Aeroplanes and airships can also fly across by day and drop bombs +on coast towns by night. Of course, such attacks can never decide the +war. At the best they can only cause panic and spread dismay amongst the +people. The British, however, are not easily frightened or dismayed. +Those who know the British temper best will tell you that such naval +raids and air attacks can only make our people more determined than ever +to defeat the enemy. + +Perhaps you think that the Navy ought to protect coast towns from sudden +raids. You must remember that the business of the Navy is to destroy the +fleets of the enemy, and that it must always be ready to give battle +whenever occasion offers. Were our warships to be strung out along the +coast for the protection of towns, they would be an easy prey; they +would be quite unable to concentrate rapidly in order to meet the enemy +when he came out in strength or to fall upon him in the open sea on his +way to or from an attack on our coasts. + +During the month of October, when the German guns thundering against +Ypres could be heard across the Channel, we began to prepare seriously +against raids and even invasion. Mine fields were laid along the +threatened shores, and within easy reach of all possible landing-places +Yeomanry and Territorials were stationed, trenches were dug, wire +entanglements were erected, and anti-aircraft guns were mounted. Over +and over again there were false alarms that the enemy were coming. In +the early days of November he made his first appearance. + +Late on the afternoon of 2nd November eight German warships steamed out +of the mouth of the Elbe, and cleared for action, ready for a descent +upon the east coast of England. Probably some of the many German spies +who then swarmed in the eastern counties had reported that the coast was +clear, and that a sudden swoop had every prospect of success. The +squadron consisted of the _Seydlitz_, the _Moltke_, and the _Von der +Tann_, battle cruisers; the _Bluecher_ and the _Yorck_, armoured +cruisers; and the _Kolberg_, the _Graudenz_, and the _Strassburg_, light +cruisers. All but the _Yorck_ could steam 25 knots an hour, and the +battle cruisers mounted 11-inch guns. Early on the morning of the 3rd +they ran through the nets of a fishing fleet about eight miles east of +Lowestoft, and sighted an old coast patrol boat, the _Halcyon_. Shots +were fired at her, but she managed to get away unpursued, with her +wireless apparatus, bridge and funnel damaged, and one man wounded. + +By eight in the morning the German ships were ten miles off Yarmouth, +and had begun to aim their guns at the wireless station and the naval +air station. Their shells ploughed the beach or plumped harmlessly into +the sea. For a quarter of an hour they kept up their cannonade without +doing any damage. Then they retired, and while doing so threw out mines +to prevent pursuit. Later in the day a British submarine, D5, ran on one +of these mines and was blown up. Before the voyage ended the engineer +was hoisted on his own petard.[185] The _Yorck_ collided with another of +the mines, and went to the bottom with all her crew. + +The destruction of von Spee's squadron off the Falkland Islands aroused +much anger and bitterness in Germany, and many Germans loudly complained +that their great and expensive fleet did nothing but skulk in its ports. +Stung by these reproaches, and eager to avenge the defeat in the +Southern Seas, the German naval authorities now prepared a raid upon the +Yorkshire coast. The distance between Heligoland and Scarborough is +about 320 miles. A ship leaving Heligoland at five in the evening, and +steaming between 20 and 25 knots an hour, can easily reach Scarborough +about eight in the morning, spend an hour in shelling the town, and be +back again at its base before midnight. + +On the evening of 15th December, seven days after the Battle off the +Falkland Islands, a German raiding force steamed westward from +Heligoland. We do not yet know exactly what ships were included in it, +but probably Rear-Admiral Funke had with him most of the vessels which +took part in the former raid, as well as the _Derfflinger_. Before +daybreak, when a thick, cold mist lay low on the coast, the squadron +arrived off the mouth of the Tees. There the forces were divided. The +_Derfflinger_ and the _Von der Tann_, with another vessel, probably the +_Bluecher_, were sent north against the Hartlepools; while two light +cruisers, along with, probably, the _Seydlitz_ and the _Graudenz_, +sailed south against Scarborough. + +According to the laws of war, which Germany has undertaken to recognize, +unfortified towns may not be bombarded. Nobody in his senses could +possibly call Scarborough a fortified town. On a green promontory there +are the picturesque ruins of a castle, now crumbling to decay, and +formerly there was a battery below it. But when the German ships +appeared off Scarborough, its only weapon of defence was an old +60-pounder Russian gun captured in the Crimea, and sent to the town as +an interesting relic. True, there was a wireless station on a hill +behind the town, and some battalions of the new army were in the +neighbourhood. Otherwise the Germans had not the shadow of an excuse for +attacking Scarborough. + +A few minutes before eight o'clock, when the all-the-year-round bathers +were taking their morning dip, four strange warships were seen looming +through the mist, and a few moments later the booming of guns was heard. +Shells began to crash on the coastguard station and in the castle +grounds, and shortly afterwards the ships steamed in front of the town +to within five hundred yards of the shore. Quite unmolested, they +proceeded to bombard every large object within sight. The Grand Hotel +was struck by three shells; churches, public buildings, and +hospitals--one of them flying the Red Cross flag--were hit, and large +numbers of private houses were wrecked. Many shells were directed +against the wireless station and the gas works. + +For forty minutes the bombardment continued, and probably some five +hundred shots were fired. Eighteen persons, chiefly women and children, +were killed, and about seventy were wounded. One house was struck by a +shell which glanced off a railway bridge about twenty yards distant. The +whole place crumpled up as though struck by a giant's hammer, and a +child of nine, another of five, the mother, and a soldier son, were +instantly killed, while the father and another son were severely +wounded. The number of narrow escapes was great. In some cases roofs +were torn off and walls crushed in, yet the occupants remained unharmed. +By a quarter to nine all was over, and the hulls of the raiding vessels +disappeared round the castle promontory. + + * * * * * + +Some fifteen miles north of Scarborough is the pleasant seaside resort +of Whitby, built on both sides of the estuary of the little river Esk. +Those of you who have spent your holidays in the town will remember the +red-tiled cottages of the fishermen, the gray walls of the quays and +houses, the little bridge, and the ships sailing up the river at high +tide. Most of the town is on the West Cliff, and across the river, on a +high, treeless headland, are the roofless ruins of an abbey on the site +of an older monastic building, which has always been regarded as the +cradle of English song. It was on this spot that the first English poem +composed in England flowed from the lips of Caedmon, a humble man who, +in the seventh century, tended the cows and slept in the byre of the +monastery, which was then under the rule of the abbess Hilda. For this +reason Whitby is sacred all the world over to lovers of English +literature. This quiet seaside place, without a vestige of +fortification, was now to receive a visit of destruction from the +sailors of a nation which has always professed to reverence art, +learning, and literature. + +About nine o'clock the coastguard at Whitby saw through the haze two +warships rapidly steaming up from the south. Ten minutes later they +began firing at the coastguard station on West Cliff, where many +townsfolk gathered to watch the bombardment, which continued for a +quarter of an hour. Some of the shots damaged the coastguard station, +destroyed the western gateway of the ancient abbey on the East Cliff, +and wrecked a number of private houses. Shells fell at Ruswarp, a mile +inland, and damaged a school at Meadowfield. Happily, the scholars, who +had just begun their morning lessons, were unhurt. In all, three persons +were killed and two were injured. After the bombardment the cruisers +turned northwards, and were quickly lost to view in the haze. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: The Bombardment of Hartlepool, showing shells falling on +the Battery at the end of the Pier. + +(_By permission of The Illustrated London News._)] + +Meanwhile the other division had visited the Hartlepools, which stand on +Tees Bay, to the north of the wide estuary of the Tees. West Hartlepool +and Hartlepool proper are really one town, with important docks and +shipbuilding yards, which at this time were busily engaged on Government +orders. The port is defended by two small batteries of 6-inch guns, so +the Germans were able to say that they were attacking a fortified place. +West Hartlepool had no defence whatever--it was without a single gun. +There were some companies of the new army in the town, and in the bay a +gunboat, a destroyer, and a submarine were stationed. + +About the time when the bombardment of Scarborough began this British +flotilla encountered the _Derfflinger_, the _Von der Tann_, and the +_Bluecher_ about eight miles from the coast, on the north side of the +peninsula on which Old Hartlepool stands. The British flotilla was, of +course, hopelessly outclassed by the German cruisers, but with great +gallantry it tried to close in and torpedo the enemy. Shots were +exchanged, and the British patrol vessels were obliged to run for +safety, with some five men killed and twenty-two wounded. The German +cruisers now approached within 2¼ miles of the shore, and their guns +opened fire. At once the two batteries, which were manned by +Territorials of the Durham Garrison Artillery, who had never before +fired a shot in anger, engaged the German ships with the greatest +gallantry, and fought like veterans; but their 6-inch guns could not +cope with the 8-inch and 11-inch guns of the enemy. Shells from the +German warships burst in and around the "Heugh" battery, and killed +several men. + +The _Bluecher_ now engaged the batteries while the other vessels moved +farther north, shelled Old Hartlepool, and fired over the peninsula at +West Hartlepool and the docks. Both the shore batteries claimed to have +made hits. The streets of the old town suffered greatly; many houses and +the gas works were destroyed, churches, hospitals, workhouses, +factories, schools, and private houses were struck, and one of the +shipbuilding yards was damaged. The docks, however, were untouched, +though seven ships in them were injured. The streets were full of people +when the bombardment began, and little children going to school and +mothers with babies in their arms were killed. The total death-roll was +119, including nine men of the King's forces, and over four hundred +persons were injured. Some six hundred houses were damaged or destroyed. + +At 8.50 the fire ceased, and the cruisers disappeared, throwing out +mines to prevent pursuit. That night three steamers making for the port +struck some of these mines, and went down, with much loss of life. + +The temper of the townsfolk was admirable. There were confusion, of +course, and some panic, but for the most part the people remained calm +and collected. The girls at the Hartlepool Telephone Exchange, for +example, worked on steadily through the cannonade. The moment the danger +was over the work of rescue and relief was begun, and the ordinary +business of the day was resumed. It is said that one old lady, hearing +the crash of the bursting shells, asked what was happening. When she was +told, she remarked, "Hey! is it only Germans? I was frightened it was +thunder!" Many of the little children who had been injured by the +bursting shells or by the fall of houses showed wonderful courage in +their agony. + +Between nine and ten o'clock on that December morning the German vessels +came together again, and started on their homeward voyage. Unhappily +they managed to escape, but only by the skin of their teeth. Before the +first shell was fired our Grand Fleet knew that the German squadron was +off the Yorkshire coast, and immediately two battle cruisers and half a +dozen battleships were sent off to engage the enemy. The fog, however, +thickened as they ran south, until it stretched across the waters in a +series of belts. Nevertheless the battle cruisers came within eight +miles of the German vessels, which at once changed course. Just when it +seemed that they were at our mercy the fog grew denser, and in the +obscurity they made good their escape. + +Though the German warships had escaped, they had certainly suffered. The +captain of the _Bluecher_ afterwards confessed that he had ten killed +and twenty wounded, and two guns put out of action. The _Von der Tann_ +probably suffered even more severely, and the _Seydlitz_ did not go +scot-free. + +When the news reached the Fatherland that a German squadron had +bombarded English coast towns and had returned in safety there was great +rejoicing. Soon, however, America and other neutral nations began to +express their horror that undefended towns should have been attacked, +and the Germans tried to excuse themselves by declaring that they had +only attacked fortified places and an important naval signal station. As +you know, the only town of the three with a semblance of defence is +Hartlepool. As a matter of fact, the Germans simply killed unarmed and +peaceful townsfolk in order to terrify the British people, and convince +them of the hopelessness of continuing the struggle with Germany. The +only result was to send a flock of recruits to the colours, and to heap +further disgrace on the German Government. Mr. Winston Churchill summed +up the situation exactly: "Whatever feats of arms the German Navy may +hereafter perform, the stigma of the baby-killers of Scarborough will +brand its officers and men while sailors sail the seas." + +[Footnote 184: From _Ye Mariners of England_.] + +[Footnote 185: A proverb meaning caught in his own trap. The petard was +a kind of bomb employed for blowing open gates, etc.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVI. + + WINTER IN THE TRENCHES. + +We must now return to the Western front and briefly follow the course of +the fighting down to the end of the year. With the failure of the +Kaiser's great and costly effort to break through the thin British lines +before Ypres the critical moment had passed. Thenceforward through the +rain and sleet and snow of winter the armies faced each other in +trenches, and though the guns were rarely silent, and there were attacks +and counter-attacks without number, nothing decisive took place. On both +sides the combatants were more anxious to make their positions secure +than to win new points of vantage. + +During the closing days of November there were several gallant assaults +on the German trenches by British troops, and in some of them Victoria +Crosses were won. On the 23rd the Germans captured 800 yards of the +trenches held by the 34th Sikh Pioneers, but a desperate counter-attack +across the frosty snow in the darkness won them back again. It was in +this fighting that Naik Darwan Sing Negi, as related on page 170, won +the highest award of valour. + +In December the trench fighting was keener and more frequent. In the +first days of the month the French captured the ferryman's house on the +east bank of the Ypres Canal, between Dixmude and Bixschoote. For weeks +they had striven to secure this post, and it was only won by much +bloodshed. Shortly afterwards information was received that the German +lines had been weakened by the withdrawal of troops sent to help von +Hindenburg in the East, and that a good opportunity afforded itself for +an attempt to improve the Allied position, especially where it was +weakest--that is, from Klein Zillebeke to Messines, where the Germans +were posted on low ridges which gave them good gun positions. On 14th +December at seven in the morning, our guns heavily bombarded two wooded +spurs to the north of Messines, which were then in possession of the +enemy. The Royal Scots advanced against one of these spurs, and the +Gordon Highlanders against the other; but though they showed the +greatest gallantry in the attack, only the western edge of one position +was won. Neither we nor the Germans could make headway in this +direction. + +It was in the neighbourhood of La Bassée that the most extensive +operations were undertaken. On the first two days of December Maud'huy's +left wing carried the Château of Vermelles,[186] three miles south of +the canal. Guns posted at the château forced the Germans to retire +behind the railway and abandon a village. It was at once occupied, and a +gain of a mile and a half was registered. + +[Illustration: The Fighting near La Bassée, December 19, 1914.] + +Sir James Willcocks now decided that the time was ripe for an attack by +the Indian Corps on the advanced trenches opposite to them. Two Indian +divisions then held a position from Cuinchy[187] across the railway and +canal through Givenchy, and east of Festubert to Neuve Chapelle. The +brigade on the right attacked at 4.30 on the morning of 19th December, +and carried two lines of trenches, but found at daybreak that it had no +supports on either side. It held on until dark, when it had to retire. +The same fate overtook the brigade on the left. At first successful, it +was finally driven back to its own lines. + +Next day, 20th December, the Germans attacked the whole Indian front. +Big guns and trench mortars prepared the way; then the German infantry +swarmed out of their trenches and attacked the brigade which lay north +of Givenchy. The Indians were forced to fall back, and by ten o'clock +the Germans had captured a large part of the village. Farther south our +line stood firm; but the capture of Givenchy was a serious blow, for it +formed the pivot of our front. Reinforcements were hurried up, and to +the 1st Manchesters, the 4th Suffolks, and two battalions of French +Territorials was assigned the task of recovering the lost position. At +five in the evening the Manchesters and Suffolks dashed upon the +village, retook it, and cleared the enemy out of two lines of trenches +to the north-east, though they could not dislodge them to the north. + +Meanwhile General Macbean with an Indian force delivered an attack on +the German position; but it failed, and the whole of his troops were +driven back. Farther north there was serious trouble too. The advance of +the Germans north of Givenchy had exposed the right of an Indian +brigade, which included the 1st Seaforth Highlanders. All the afternoon +of the 20th the Germans shelled the Indian left fiercely, and the troops +suffered severely. Sir John French tells us that they were "pinned to +the ground by artillery fire." North of the Seaforths a battalion of the +2nd Gurkhas gave way, and though the 2nd Black Watch managed to close +the gap, there was a dint in our line which became a serious danger. + +That afternoon Sir Douglas Haig was ordered to bring up the whole of the +1st Division to the support of the battered line. His troops attacked +with great vigour, and by nightfall on 21st December most of our +original trenches from Givenchy to Festubert had been won back. +Meanwhile the 2nd Brigade was fighting hard farther north, and by 10 +p.m. had carried the support trenches of those from which the 2nd +Gurkhas had been driven. The fire trenches which the Gurkhas had +occupied had been utterly destroyed by the enemy's shells, and could no +longer be used. By the evening of 23rd December the whole line had been +restored, and there was no longer any immediate danger. The Indians who +had given way had only done so when worn out with two months' struggle, +and when they had lost some ten thousand men. Thanks to Sir Douglas +Haig's prompt help, the situation had been saved. + +[Illustration: The Prince of Wales making a Tour of the British Lines in +Flanders. + +(_Photo, Central News._)] + + * * * * * + +The following Victoria Crosses were awarded for outstanding deeds of +gallantry during December 1914:-- + +Private Henry Howey Robson, 2nd Battalion Royal Scots (Lothian +Regiment). On December 14, 1914, near Kemmel,[188] during an attack on +the German position, Private Robson gallantly left his trench under a +very heavy fire, and brought in a wounded non-commissioned officer. +Later on he attempted the rescue of another man, and though wounded, +persevered in his efforts until a second shot rendered him helpless. +Private Robson, who belonged to South Shields, subsequently received the +freedom of his native town as a tribute to his splendid bravery. + +Private James Mackenzie, 2nd Battalion Scots Guards. On the 19th +December, near Fromelles, about five miles south by west of Armentières, +a stretcher-party tried to reach a wounded man lying in front of the +German trenches, but was compelled to abandon the attempt owing to the +fierce fire of the enemy. Private Mackenzie thereupon went out in the +midst of a storm of bullets and succeeded in bringing the poor fellow +into safety. Later in the day he tried to rescue another wounded man, +but unhappily was killed in the attempt. "Greater love hath no man than +this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." + +Lieutenant Philip Neame, Royal Engineers. On the same day, near Neuve +Chapelle, Lieutenant Neame, under a very heavy fire and a shower of +bombs, held back the enemy, and succeeded in rescuing all the wounded +men whom it was possible to move. For this display of courage and +devotion he was rightly awarded the highest token of valour. + +Private Abraham Acton, 2nd Battalion Border Regiment, and Private James +Smith, 3rd Battalion Border Regiment. These two soldiers on 21st +December, near Fromelles, volunteered to go out and bring in a wounded +man, who for seventy-five hours had been lying exposed close to the +enemy's trenches. They succeeded in rescuing him, and later in the day +again left their trench, in order to bring another wounded man into +cover. While carrying him into safety they were under fire for a full +hour, and every moment of it they ran the risk of being shot down. + + * * * * * + +On the last day of November our troops were greatly delighted to hear +that his Majesty the King had come to visit them. The Prince of Wales, +who was a student at Oxford, and an enthusiastic member of the Officers' +Training Corps when the war broke out, had already been at the front for +some months as a member of Sir John French's Staff. Britons all over the +world were delighted to know that the heir to the throne had set such a +fine example to the young manhood of the nation, and that he had thrown +himself into his military duties with great zeal and devotion. From the +moment our troops left British shores the King's thoughts had been with +them, and as soon as circumstances permitted he crossed over to France +to cheer them by his presence, to show his personal interest in their +welfare, to visit the wounded, and to pay the highest compliment in his +power to our gallant Allies. Never since George II. had fought at +Dettingen, in 1743, had a British sovereign taken his place among his +troops on the field of battle. + +Accompanied by the Prince of Wales, his Majesty first visited the +hospitals, where he spoke with great sympathy to many of the wounded +men, not only British but German. Many a poor fellow lying on his couch +of suffering found himself better able to bear his pain because he knew +that his King had a kindly thought for him. His Majesty also visited the +Indian hospital, and talked with many of the men, who were delighted to +learn that in some cases he knew the circumstances under which they had +been wounded. One Sepoy sprang from his bed as his Majesty appeared, and +called out in the only English that he knew: "God save the King!" + +Later on, his Majesty made a tour of the whole British front, and +inspected all the troops who were not actually in the trenches. It is +said that he also visited the bivouacs by night, and in every way made +himself acquainted with the conditions under which the men were living +and fighting. He also presented the Distinguished Service Order and +Distinguished Conduct Medals to a number of soldiers who had been +mentioned in dispatches, and conferred the Victoria Cross on some of +those who had won the award early in the war. An officer of the Royal +Engineers thus describes the inspection of his division:-- + + "Punctually at 1.30 the sound of distant cheering announced the + arrival of the King. The troops all along the road gave three + cheers, by regiments. . . . The King then walked right round the + line of troops, through mud and slush. I found myself bringing + up the rear with the Prince of Wales just beside me. Not a word + was spoken all the way round; it was really a most impressive + sight--one of those showery days with spells of fine weather and + blue sky; all round the field warriors with fixed bayonets and + drawn swords; in the centre the King and his suite; and up + above, against the blue, two British aeroplanes, purring away, + keeping off the hostile Taubes. . . . After this inspection, the + King presented the medals. The men came up in turn, and the King + pinned the medal on each and said a few words to each with a + smile; they _did_ look proud as they went away. As soon as the + presentation was over the troops gave the 'Royal Salute, Present + Arms,' which the King graciously acknowledged from the middle of + the field. . . . At 2 p.m. all the guns in the line let off a + round in his honour." + +Another account tells us that the King was specially interested in the +Leicesters, who had only come out of the trenches the previous midnight. + + "They were in a lovely state of mud and unshavedness. The King + simply revelled in them. He stopped and chatted to quite every + one man in three, wanted to know all about trench fighting, and + didn't seem to mind a bit their being covered in mud and + unshaved for days. The Prince was just as interested. He + wandered about at will, chatting with all and sundry. One man + was wearing a pair of German boots, which interested the King + very much. He spent quite twenty minutes with the Leicesters, + and they deserved it. They have done splendidly all through." + +During the visit the King was taken to a commanding point on the line +between Gheluvelt and Messines, from which he could see a wide stretch +of Flanders and many of the places associated with the recent fighting. +On his left he saw much-battered Ypres, and could clearly distinguish +the Cathedral and the Cloth Hall. Afterwards he saw the woods east of +Ypres, in which some of the hardest fights had been fought, and where so +many British and their brave allies rest for ever from their heroic +labours. He also met the President of the French Republic, General Foch, +and other French generals, and conferred the Order of Merit upon General +French. His final act before leaving for England was to confer the Order +of the Garter on King Albert. Belgian troops were drawn up to receive +him in the little town of Furnes, and he told them how greatly he +admired the courage and constancy which they and their King had +displayed during their terrible ordeal. So ended a visit which not only +put new heart into our men, but welded the Allies into still closer +friendship. It was felt by all who were present that the enemy's guns +would boom in vain against an alliance so strengthened by the presence +of Britain's King at the battle front. + +[Illustration: "Three Cheers for the King!" + +His Majesty the King, followed by the Prince of Wales and the Staff, +passing along the lines of British troops drawn up to greet him. + +(_Drawn by F. Matania from a sketch by an eye-witness. By permission of +The Sphere._)] + + * * * * * + +Before I close the record of the year, something must be said of the +fighting between the French and the Germans during the month of +December. We must not forget that the British then held less than +one-tenth of the Allied line in the West, and that the French trenches +extended from La Bassée to the borders of Switzerland. During December, +save for continuous sniping and artillery duels, there was little +fighting except in the Argonne, along the Moselle, and on the steeps of +the Vosges. In the Argonne, the left wing of Sarrail's army of Verdun +and the right wing of the Crown Prince's army struggled in the wooded +country between Varennes and Vienne.[189] You will remember that during +October the Germans had made a bold bid to capture this pass which +enabled Sarrail to join arms with Langle's army in Champagne. + +In the wooded country, and in the hamlets north and south of the road +crossing the forest, the Germans made many attacks during the winter, +but all failed, and in the intervals the French showed that dash and +enterprise for which they have long been famous. Some day wonderful +tales will be told of scouting enterprises amidst the dark trees, where +every figure showed up against the white ground; of adventurous snipers +concealed in the branches of lofty firs; and of fierce night assaults +amidst the snowy glens and frosty ravines. Verdun was safer than ever. +Almost every week Sarrail pushed his lines out farther, till on the east +he threatened the railway by which the Germans were supplied, and they +had to build another, out of range. At some places the opposing trenches +were only twenty yards apart. The Germans still clung to the bridgehead +at St. Mihiel, on the west bank of the Meuse, but they could advance no +farther. + +The army of Lorraine, strongly entrenched on the east bank of the +Moselle, not only maintained itself, but on the left wing gained ground; +while in the Vosges the Chasseurs Alpins,[190] mounted on skis, made +fierce attacks on the crests amidst the deep snow, and by their +mountaineering skill and dashing enterprise carried many of them. In +this section of the front there was no trench warfare, but open fighting +such as the French love. When they won a German signal station on one of +the crests they advanced with bugles blowing, singing the +_Marseillaise_, and carrying before them the tricolour. Over and over +again the Chasseurs, making sudden descents along mountain tracks, fell +upon the enemy, and caught him unawares. They hauled their guns into +almost impossible positions, and bombarded him from unexpected quarters. +They gave him no rest, day or night. + + * * * * * + +Elsewhere, however, trench warfare was the order of the day, and +something must be said about its main features before I conclude this +volume. Let us pay a visit to the Flanders front in December. We find +that the hastily-constructed trenches of October have been turned into a +series of strong fortifications. We notice that the advanced firing line +consists for the most part of a number of short, separate trenches,[191] +each of which the enemy must win before he can advance and all of which +he cannot command by flank fire. Many of these advanced trenches, though +at least five feet deep, are not more than two or three feet wide. They +are connected with the next line of trenches by means of zigzag +communication trenches, and are but lightly held, being employed chiefly +as observation posts. + +[Illustration: Christmas Greetings from the Trenches. + +_Photo, Photopress._] + +The stronghold of each series of trenches is the main firing trench in +which the bulk of the defenders live. These trenches are wide and deep, +and are floored with wood or hurdles. Each trench is divided into +sections by means of a wall or traverse, jutting to the rear, and +leaving but a narrow passage round it. By means of these traverses each +section of the trench becomes a separate trench, and the whole of it +cannot be enfiladed. The front towards the enemy consists of a parapet +of sand-bags with loopholes, from which the men fire. As a rule, each +trench is supplied with one or more machine guns. + +In many places the trenches are so close, and so keen a watch is kept, +that it is highly dangerous for a man to show his head above the +parapet. The enemy is observed through an arrangement of mirrors called +a periscope. Some of the main trenches are roofed to afford head cover, +and in the walls or in pits a little to the rear are the +"dug-outs"--that is, caves into which the men retire to sleep or to take +shelter when the shelling becomes hot. Some distance in front of the +parapet there is a strong wire entanglement. If the wire has not been +previously destroyed by artillery fire, it must be cut before the enemy +can get into the trench itself. + +You notice that the trenches are not a fixture. Both sides "sap" towards +their opponents' line, and drive mines forward until they are close to, +or even under, the opposite trenches. In these mines charges are fired, +and if successful, part of the trenches is blown in, and an infantry +attack follows. More than once the miners of one side have found +themselves separated from the miners of the other side by a mere wall of +soil. Then there is feverish haste to fire a charge before the other +side can do so. + +All through the day "snipers" are busy on both sides. They occupy pits, +or craters made by shells, or ensconce themselves in ruins, or hide +amidst the branches of trees, and try to pick off all opponents who show +themselves. At night patrols steal out to the "No Man's Land" between +the lines, and sometimes fall in with an enemy patrol and rush it with +the bayonet. What are called "listening patrols" creep as near as +possible to the opposite trenches, and try to overhear conversation, +and find out what is going on in the enemy's lines. Each side burns +flares to light up the darkness and make visible all movements in "No +Man's Land." + +[Illustration: Bomb-throwers at Work. + +_By permission of The Sphere._] + +In this war every device which science can suggest is in use. In trench +fighting, however, we have gone back to the ways of our forefathers. +Mortars are employed to throw bombs into the enemy's trenches, and hand +grenades, such as those used by the earliest grenadiers, are flung by +each side. A correspondent of the _Times_ thus describes the +bomb-throwers:-- + + "Around their middle they carry some twenty or thirty bombs, + little cylinders fastened on a long stick, around which fall + streamers of ribbon. The clothing of ribbons suggests a mixed + breed of Scotsmen and Red Indians who have taken to wearing the + Red Indian head-dress as a kilt. In action they are stranger + still. Crouching down among the barbed wire, the bombers, with + their supporting infantrymen with fixed bayonets, raise + themselves a little from the earth, and seizing one of these + rocket-like bombs from their belts, grasp it by the stick and + hurl it high above the parapet. It twists and travels + uncertainly through the air, and then finally the streamers + settle it in its flight, and it plunges straight as a plumb line + down into the trench. There is a noise as though a gigantic + Chinese cracker were jumping along the zigzag trench, and clouds + of greenish smoke rise up, through which hurtle lumps of earth + and stone and fragments of the outer iron ring of the bomb which + constitute its shrapnel."[192] + +Life in the trenches must always be uncomfortable, and may be very +trying indeed. During the winter West Flanders was a huge bog; the +canals and rivers overflowed their banks, and many of the trenches were +always knee-deep in slime and icy water. Large numbers of our men +suffered from frost-bite in the feet. Though they were clad in sheepskin +coats, and everything possible was done for their comfort, they had to +bear trials and hardships such as few troops have ever endured before. +The cheerfulness of our men during those bitter, dreary, and trying days +was amazing. The British food supplies were excellent and unfailing. +Never before has an army been fed so well. Arrangements were also made +for giving the men a hot bath and a change of clothing when they +returned from the trenches to their billets in the villages behind the +firing line. + + * * * * * + +So the year wore on, and the season of "peace and good will towards men" +arrived. On Christmas Eve a hard frost set in, and Christmas Day broke +cold and misty. On that morning every officer and man in the field +received a card from the King and the Queen, bearing portraits of their +Majesties, and this greeting copied from the King's own handwriting: +"With our best wishes for Christmas, 1914. May God protect you and bring +you home safe.--Mary R. George R. I." The special card for the sick and +wounded bore these words: "May you soon be restored to health." From +Princess Mary's Soldiers' and Sailors' Christmas Fund came a box with an +embossed cover, and inside a small gilt casket, containing a photograph +of the Princess, and a card on which was printed: "With best wishes for +a Happy Christmas and a Victorious New Year from Princess Mary and +friends at home." Smokers found a pipe, an ounce of tobacco, and a +packet of cigarettes in the box; while non-smokers discovered a supply +of chocolate. An immense number of parcels containing other Christmas +gifts also arrived, and everywhere Christmas fare was abundant. + +Strange scenes were witnessed in parts of the firing line during the +festive season. A member of the London Rifle Brigade says:-- + + "We had rather an interesting time in the trenches on Christmas + Eve and Christmas Day. We were in places less than 100 yards + from the Germans, and held conversation with them across. It was + agreed in our part of the firing line that there should be no + firing and no thought of war on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, + so they sang and played to us several of their own tunes, and + some of ours, such as 'Home, Sweet Home,' 'Tipperary,' etc., + while we did the same for them. The regiment on our left all got + out of their trenches, and every time a flare went up they + simply stood there, cheered, and waved their hats, and not a + shot was fired on them. The singing and playing continued all + night, and the next day (Christmas) our fellows paid a visit to + the German trenches, and they did likewise. Cigarettes, cigars, + addresses, etc., were exchanged, and every one, friend and foe, + were real good pals. One of the German officers took a photo of + English and German soldiers arm in arm with exchanged caps and + helmets. + + "On Christmas Eve the Germans burned coloured lights and candles + along the top of their trenches, and on Christmas Day a football + match was played between them and us in front of the trench. + They even allowed us to bury all our dead lying in front, and + some of them, with hats in hand, brought in one of our dead + officers from behind their trench, so that we could bury him + decently. They were really magnificent in the whole thing and + jolly good sorts. I have now a very different opinion of the + Germans. Both sides have started the firing, and are already + enemies again. Strange it all seems, doesn't it?" + +So with a soldiers' truce ended the first five months of the war. In the +West, deadlock had set in; Allies and Germans were facing each other +over a front of well-nigh five hundred miles from the sodden fields of +Flanders to within sight of Alpine snows, winning here and losing there +a few yards of fiercely-contested ground, and enduring with what +patience they could command the icy showers and the biting frost of +winter. In the East, from the East Prussian wilderness of lake and +morass to the wind-swept passes of the Carpathians, there was the same +deadlock. On both of the main fronts of war the forces of the Central +Powers were held up, and their dream of a swift and easy conquest had +vanished. Nevertheless, with nearly all Belgium, a large part of +industrial France, and a considerable portion of Russian Poland in their +possession, they felt confident, at least, of an advantageous peace. + +Amongst the Allies, however, there was no thought of peace. Unprepared +for war, they had, nevertheless, foiled the first and most dangerous +onslaught of a foe that, according to all the rules, should have swept +them away like chaff before the wind. They had gained time in which to +make up for their lack of readiness, and they now began to realize that +they must put forth every effort if they were to defeat the mighty +forces arrayed against them. + +In Britain men flocked to the colours, and on every open space in the +country drilling was going on. Already we had a million men in arms, and +within six months we hoped to put double that number into the field. +Time was with us. Every day saw us growing greater in men and resources, +while every day the enemy was bound to decline in strength. So the +Allies, strong in friendship and undaunted by their heavy losses, faced +the future with unshaken courage and undaunted hope. "We shall never +sheathe the sword, which we have not lightly drawn," said the Prime +Minister, "until Belgium recovers in full measure all, and more than +all, that she has sacrificed, until France is safe against the fear of +invasion, until the rights of the small nations of Europe are placed on +an unshakable foundation, and until the military tyranny of Prussia is +wholly and finally destroyed." Such was the determination of Britons all +over the world at the close of the year 1914. + +[Footnote 186: _Ver-mell´._] + +[Footnote 187: _Quin´she._] + +[Footnote 188: Five miles south-south-west of Ypres.] + +[Footnote 189: See Vol. II., p. 281.] + +[Footnote 190: French soldiers specially trained for fighting in the +Alps. They are splendid mountaineers, and were quite at home on the high +crests of the Vosges.] + +[Footnote 191: See diagram, p. 128.] + +[Footnote 192: Sometimes bombs are made in a rough-and-ready fashion out +of jam-pots and bully beef tins charged with explosives and loaded with +stones or scraps of iron.] + + + END OF VOLUME III. + + + PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN. + + + =Transcriber's Notes:= + hyphenation, spelling and grammar have been preserved as in + the original + Page 1, Pas de Calais ==> Pas-de-Calais [Ed. for consistency] + Page 29, Pas de Calais ==> Pas-de-Calais [Ed. for consistency] + Page 38, Book VI., Chaps. ==> Book VI., (Chaps. + Page 59, A Pont Fixe ==> At Pont Fixe + Page 62, Wilcocks ==> Willcocks + Page 109, Zandevoorde ==> Zandvoorde + Page 150, June 5, 1900 ==> June 5, 1900. + Page 163, decent sort of way ==> decent sort of way. + Page 198, See p. 173 ==> See p. 173. + Page 228, garrison at Przemsyl ==> garrison at Przemysl + Page 264, Tsingtau ==> Tsing-tau [Ed. for consistency] + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Childrens' Story of the War, +Volume 3 (of 10), by James Edward Parrott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHILDRENS' STORY OF THE WAR, VOL 3 *** + +***** This file should be named 35355-0.txt or 35355-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/3/5/35355/ + +Produced by Marcia Brooks, Ross Cooling and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Canada Team at +http://www.pgdpcanada.net (This file was produced from +images generously made available by The Internet +Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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